"Go away." You narrowed your eyes at the man intruding in your private bedroom.

    "I'm sorry that the press conference didn't go exactly as planned," Kibum apologized. It seemed sincere, but you couldn't trust the smirk on his face while he said it.

    "My dress ripped," you all but growled before standing up, perfectly comfortable in your sweats and slightly baggy t-shirt, and trying to close the door to your bedroom in Kibum's face.

    "You must've grown half a size since I fit you in the dress," Kibum replied innocently, shrugging.

    "You fit me in the day before yesterday!" You picked up the book lying on your dresser table and actually hurled it angrily at the man in front of you. It was quite possibly the biggest moment of your life—announcing to the public that you and Jinki were an item—and your dress had ripped as you walked away. How embarrassing, humiliating, and utterly degrading. Did you mention that you were utterly embarrassed, humiliated, and degraded?

    Kibum suavely stepped to the right, avoiding the book, though it wasn't like he needed to, seeing that it fell a few feet short. You hadn't thrown it with as much conviction as you'd thought.

    "Jinki told me to come get you," Kibum said, jerking his head to motion that you needed to follow him.

    You sighed and shrugged. "Well, then at least let me change my—"

    "No time," Kibum cut in, moving forward and grabbing your wrist. "Jinki has a very tight schedule to make and so do I." As he said this, his other hand pulled out his seemingly ever-present Blackberry from his pocket and began to flick through screens. "You'll be in the hands of Taemin once we make it outside, but I'm sure that you'll like him. Girls seem to."

    You spluttered and fumed, but Kibum kept a tight, commanding grasp on your wrist until you were blinking in the sunlight of the day.

    "Has anybody told you that you're really bossy?"

    "Many have tried," Kibum replied with a tight grin, staring at the cell phone in his hand. "Look, there's Taemin. The one who kind of looks like a girl. I've got to go."

    "See you later," you mumbled as Kibum dashed off, looking for all the world as rich and as business-oriented as he was in his freshly pressed suit and tie. You turned forward and jerked back in surprise.

    "You're a boy, right?" you asked, frowning slightly at the person in front of you.

    "Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure I am," he replied, awkwardly tugging at one of his long strands of brown hair. "This is just…it's temporary. It's a long story." He stared shyly at his shoes, and you stood awkwardly for a few seconds before clearing your throat.

    "Um, so Kibum—"

    "Key," the boy corrected, staring at you. "You have to call him Key around here."

    "Um, right, Key," you corrected. "He told me that Jinki was looking for me and that you're going to be my guide while I'm outside. You're Taemin-ssi, right?"

    Taemin introduced himself, all the while staring at his shoes, and you got the impression that he was a little shy at first. Though from the stories that Jinki had told you the day before after the press conference to try and take your mind off of your horrible impression, you knew that he could be a real rascal at times.

    "Shall we go?" you offered when an awkward silence fell, and Taemin smiled at you before offering you his arm. You stared at it and then looked at Taemin who grinned sheepishly.

    "Sorry, habit," he apologized and simply motioned for you to walk with him. The two of you walked for what seemed like forever before reaching a garage.

    "Can we just like…walk?" you asked weakly, intimidated by all the fancy cars. You didn't really like fancy cars and weren't really a car buff, but you could tell that there were definitely some really expensive cars in there.

    "How about the Honda Accord?" Taemin replied, jingling the keys around his finger.

    "That sounds nice," you said, letting out a breath of relief as you followed Taemin and slipped into the car seat. It smelled like new car, all leather and aerosol spray. "Where are we going anyway, Taemin-ssi?"

    "Jinki doesn't want me to tell you," Taemin replied, and the two of you fell into a comfortable silence.

    "So, am I being kidnapped or just dragged out of the house against my will?" you asked dryly, staring down at your sweatpants glumly. "I'd just ordered some fruit from the kitchens too."

    "Sorry about this," Taemin apologized, "but Jinki really felt bad about what happened yesterday and wanted to make it up."

    "He doesn't have to," you muttered, turning to the side and leaning your head against the window. Yesterday's events had truly drained you.

    "But he promised, didn't he?" Taemin said, a little too quietly for it to be a joking tone. "And Jinki always keeps his promises. That's just the kind of guy he is."

    "Yeah," you replied slowly. "I guess he is."

    Jinki's hand was warm in your grasp as you held on tightly, feeling your feet seek even footing.

    "Just a little farther," he urged, stumbling himself which then resulted in you rearing back and tugging to keep him from falling to the ground. At least, you think that if you hadn't pulled him, he would've fallen to the ground. It was a little hard to tell because of the blindfold surrounding your eyes.

    "It's only about five minutes away now," he murmured. "There's no rush." His hand squeezed yours reassuringly, and you smiled in the general area that you heard Jinki's voice. You would ask where you were going, but you were pretty sure it would be a failed cause.

    "Jinki," you said after you were sure that five minutes (and probably more) had passed. "Jinki, do you know where we're going?"

    "Of course I do," Jinki replied, and you could hear the tension in his voice. He was frustrated, but you didn't know why.

    "Just take your time," you soothed after he stumbled on the uneven ground once again. "There's no rush, is there?"

    "I have a chairman's meeting this afternoon," Jinki replied apologetically. "But after that, I promise that I'll have time to spend with you. Where shall we go?"

    You bit your lip to keep your first reply from slipping out and instead said, "How about a dinner to a nice restaurant?"

    "Really?" Jinki asked, tone surprised. "Are you sure there's not anywhere else you want to go?"

    There was someplace that you really did want to go, but you were sure that if you said it Jinki would feel guilt. You wanted to go home, back to your dusty apartment where the wallpaper was peeling off and roof just beginning to leak a bit. The angry text messages you had received from your parents last night had not only dampened your mood, but you had ended up in a screaming match with your mother, which ended with her screeching that even if she couldn't return home she could cut you off if you didn't end it.

    "Because," your mother had said, scathingly though accurately, "if Onew is that rich of a man, don't you think he has better things to do with his time other than play around with college students? I know this might seem perfect now, but look at the future. When you two are over, what are you going to do?"

    You had swallowed and replied quietly, "Go back to my old life. You know, classes and such. Maybe eventually get a new boyfriend."

    Your mom had sighed and then said your voice in the same tender tone she used whenever you were sick with a fever during your younger years. "I know you. You're already in way too deep for that. You've always been a bleeding heart. Remember when that other boy—what's his name?—Himchan, that's right, rejected you?"

    "No," you lied, and your mother laughed softly.

    "You've always been a little stubborn, haven't you?"

    "No!"

    "Well," she had finally said after a long period of silence, "I can't tell you how to live your life, but you've listened to my advice before. My advice to you now is to end it before you get even more attached. It'll be better in the end. Onew and you live in two completely different worlds. Eventually, one of you is going to have to give up."

    "Give up on what?" you asked, confused as what your mother was saying, but that was nothing new. Your mom often liked to speak in cryptic phrases at times. This time, however, your parent was unusually blunt.

    "Give up on each other."

    "Jinki wouldn't give up on me," you whispered because with him, you felt like this relationship would last quite a while.

    There was another silence, and you could swear that your mom was shaking her head on the other side of the line.

    "That's not what I'm worried about. Goodnight, sleep tight."

    "Goodnight," you echoed as the phone clicked off. What did your mom mean exactly? If she wasn't worried about Jinki, what was she worried about? Was she worried about you…? You hadn't wanted to spend anymore time thinking about it. It had just been adding to the embarrassment of the day, so you had slept. But it seemed like your mom's weird words still hadn't completely left your mind.

    Beside you, Jinki let out a whoop of joy, and you felt your heart stutter out of surprise and then let out a gusty breath.

    "You scared me," you complained, but you saw that Jinki's smile wasn't apologetic as he lifted the blindfold off of your eyes.

    "You have to look," he said excitedly, and you turned to see what he wanted to show you.

    "It's a creek," you queried, staring at the running stream in front of you. You must've been really caught up in your thoughts to not hear the babbling water.

    "I used to come here a lot," Jinki continued, and his eyes were shining. "It was the only place where I could get away from the steel buildings. Isn't it…" He paused as he struggled to find the words. "…lovely?"

    "Yeah," you said, smiling at Jinki's expression. "Yeah, I think it really is."

    Jinki's cheeks turned pink, and he shrugged. "I know it's not…big…or anything, but it's been a special place to me ever since I was a child, and I just wanted to share it, with you…"

    "Is that why you have a picnic basket in your hand?" you asked, motioning to the conspicuous object.

    "Bingo!"

    Jinki laid down the blanket in the picnic basket and began to unpack the food. Your mouth watered upon seeing all the delicious dishes, and you reached for a walnut before realizing that there wasn't a nutcracker anywhere in sight.

    "I'll do it," Jinki said, and before you could stop him, he brought down one finger and cracked the walnut open with a loud snap.

    Your mouth dropped open, and you stared. Jinki grinned breezily and handed you the broken nut.

    "Sorry if it's a little crushed, but…I forgot the nutcracker."

    "Oh my gosh! I love you!" you gushed, throwing your arms around Jinki's figure. It was only when he stiffened when you realized the full impact of what you had said.

    "For doing that," you quickly tacked on, offering Jinki a small smile. That didn't cut it, and Jinki frowned at you before shrugging off your arms.

    "Why do you always do that?" he asked suddenly.

    "Do what?" you asked, feeling as if you had committed a very large faux pas without realizing it.

    "Never mind," Jinki replied and smiled at you, but you couldn't help but feel like this smile was different from the ones you usually received. "Kimbap?"

A/N: So...I finished the story in a really angsty bad way. We will just have to see what happens ;DDD, but all the chapters should be posted up before next Friday. It's up to me to decide the posting schedule though MUHAHAHA. But considering my math, it'll probably be all over the place. As you can see, the last part is part 18. Also, I'm really disappointed in how this story eventually played out, but I just really wanted to end it. At least, it will be over soon and complete for ALL YOUR READING PURPOSES. Don't kill me if the rest of this story disappoints you. I really can't resist angst.