Narrator’s POV

Ha Neul closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. Jonghyun on the other hand grinned satisfied. Hearing these words from a guy on her friend’s phone that Park Hyo Rin surely wouldn’t dare call anymore! Hmpf!

He couldn’t understand though why Ha Neul was this alarmed.  “Why are you so terrified? Just tell that friend of yours that you had a little get-together or something.” He smirked.

But Ha Neul just looked at him even more pitifully. “That wasn’t Hyo Rin…” She whispered. “That was my oppa…”

Jonghyun faltered. “Your… oppa?”

Ha Neul gave an ironic laugh. “Yep… you just told my oppa who used to call the police if I didn’t return home within a quarter of an hour past my curfee that he shouldn’t call me anymore because ‘I’m busy’… and that right after he’d heard me scream and call someone a ert…!”

Right on cue, Ha Neul’s cell phone started ringing. Jonghyun looked at the caller ID and his eyes widened; it clearly said ‘Woohyun oppa’. And it slowly dawned to Jonghyun that he was in trouble. Damn, why was he following Ghosty’s Law now too?! …but wait…! “Isn’t it alright though? He doesn’t know where you are or that it was me anyway…” Ha, for a second he’d been seriously scared! Haha!

“You know that’s not gonna stop him…” Ha Neul answered darkly. “I once forgot to call home and say that Hyo Rin and I were staying over at a friends and he called the National Security Intelligence because the local police wasn’t able to find me! I don’t know how he did it either!” She exclaimed at his doubtful face. “But at half past four in the morning an emergency squad had surrounded the house and demanded my release or else they’d raid the house! I’m telling you! He’ll call the CIA and Interpol to find me if he has to! So give me my phone so I can assure him I’m alright!”

Jonghyun grudgingly handed it over. “Put it on loudspeaker!”

Ha Neul threw him a look but still complied. He needed to hear anyway…

As soon as she picked up Woohyun’s hollering voice filled the room. “HA NEUL??!!! WHAT HAPPENED?!!! WHY IS A GUY ANSWERING YOUR PHONE??!!! DID HE DO SOMETHING TO YOU??!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!!! I’M GONNA RIP THAT BASTARD’S GUTS OUT!!!!”

Ha Neul held the phone away from her ear and looked at Jonghyun. “See?! I told you!” She mouthed. Back into the phone, she cooed: “Woohyun oppa! I’m fine! No need to worry!”

“HOW CAN I NOT WORRY WHEN YOU’RE BEEING ASSAULTED AS WE SPEAK??!!! TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE THIS INSTANT!!!!!” Woohyun was anything but appeased.

Ha Neul: “I’m really fine! And no one’s assaulting me!”

Woohyun: “Then, why did you scream?! Or tell him to put on some clothes?! And why would that bastard say that ‘you’re busy’, huh?! WHERE.ARE.YOU.HWANG.HA.NEUL??!”

At the mention of the absent clothes, Ha Neul’s eyes automatically darted to Jonghyun’s still exposed torso. Why was he still not wearing anything except that freaking towel?! Didn’t he have some self-awareness?! Didn’t he know how… distracting it was?!

“HA NEUL-AH?!!!” Her oppa’s panicky shriek tore her out of her thoughts.

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” She reassured while casting Jonghyun a questioning look. “What should I tell him?” She whispered.

“How should I know?!” Jonghyun whispered back. “He’s your brother! You think of an explanation!”

“Aish! This jerk!” Ha Neul huffed in a low voice. “Not helpful at all! …should I just tell him the truth then, oh?”

“Ghosty~!” Jonghyun warned and wagged his index finger at her. But since he wasn’t wearing anything on top Ha Neul could see every tiny muscle flex as he moved. She inhaled sharply. Distracting didn’t even come near it! It was downright hypnotising! And it didn’t help at all that Jonghyun was leaning towards her to hear what Woohyun was saying…

“What are you looking at?” Jonghyun whispered with a smirk when he noticed her stare. “Who is the ert now, huh?”

“Ha Neul-ah, who are you whispering with?!” Woohyun saved her an embarrassing reply.

“No one!” She hastily replied and fixed her eyes on something irrelevant. Something that did not make go dry...

Seeing her avert her eyes the smirk on Jonghyun’s face grew even wider. This flustered Ghosty was unexpectedly cute… Earlier as well. When she’d screamed her lungs out at the sight of him and had stutteringly demanded for him to put on some clothes it had cost him a lot of self-control to maintain the angry glare instead of laughing out loud. Ha Neul’s shocked face had just been too droll…

It was funny; he should have been feeling scared because this brother of hers was obviously out to kill him, yet he felt nothing but exhilaration at watching the girl in front of him who was fidgeting to calm her brother while trying not to blush at the sight of his bare chest.

He wanted to some more. See more of that flustered expression of hers. He silently moved behind Ha Neul who was too busy ignoring him to notice. He bit his lower lip and his eyes glinted with mischief as he lowered his head onto Ha Neul’s shoulder. He immediately felt her stiffen and he had to bite back a smile.

He turned his head slightly such that his mouth was almost touching her free ear. “You dare call me ‘no one’?!” He whispered with faked indignation.

He intently observed Ha Neul’s face and felt elated at her reaction: She just stood there, completely frozen; Jonghyun wasn’t sure if she was even breathing. She stared into space with wide eyes and was agape because she’d broken off midsentence.

Jonghyun eyed her with delight. He was thrilled at how completely he’d managed to occupy her thoughts. Not even her oppa’s worried shouts from the phone right at her ear could get through to her. Jonghyun had no intention to move even an inch.

Ha Neul’s system was in turmoil. Never before, she had been this close to a guy. Not even with Woohyun oppa. And definitively not without him wearing a shirt! She herself wasn’t wearing much either and thus could feel his firm chest clearly against her back… And the close proximity of his mouth… Every breath that escaped his lips and brushed her ear sent shivers down her spine… Her heart was working overtime even though her lungs had stopped delivering oxygen… And this scent… His damn scent! It lay like fog in her mind and kept her from forming even one straight thought!

“Please don’t forget to breathe, Ghosty,” Jonghyun then said softly. “I’d like to avoid having to dispose of your corpse…” Ha Neul could feel his lips twitch into a grin. And like her body had just waited for his permission her lungs picked up their work again and she gasped for air.

With the numbness finally broken, Ha Neul made a dash for her room. Typical Ha Neul tactic; if she can’t handle something, she runs away. Jonghyun stared at the door, a smile crawling onto his lips. It turned into chuckles and eventually a full-grown laughing attack. He clutched his stomach and collapsed onto the bed. Although he tried to calm down every time he recalled her flustered expression he found himself unable to do so…

But then, what had happened in the entrance earlier replayed in his mind… That was no laughing matter… Why had he acted that way? Why had he reached out for her? He stared at the ceiling like the answer was written up there. Somehow, when Ha Neul had stumbled over her shoes his body had just moved on its own. He’d instinctively caught her waist to keep her from falling… And her waist had seemed to fit perfectly into his arm…

Jonghyun sat up abruptly and shook his head. What the hell was he thinking?!

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Hi, dear readers!! Hope you all had a nice christmas...! ^^ I think I might actually do a double update... but the next chapter needs to be revised first, so for now it's only this one... ^^

And a bigh THAAANK YOU to all the commenters, subscribers, and silent readers!!! I really enjoy reading your comments or seeing that someone actually reads what I write... XDD Really, thank you so much!!!