"But I can't do anything," you protested, holding up your hands in an attempt to placate Jinki who was slipping on his tennis shoes at the door.    

    "Let's go out," Jinki repeated, and you could tell that he was having trouble slipping on his tennis shoes. With a grunt, he pulled at his left shoe, trying to slip it onto his foot. It didn't cooperate with him.

    "Try loosening the laces first," you sighed, awkwardly maneuvering yourself down beside him and taking the laces of his shoes in your hands. With some deft hand movements, you quickly had them loosened and watched with satisfaction as Jinki pulled on his shoes, albeit still with some difficulty.

    "Good," Jinki said, gruffly, and you could see a light dusting of pink of his cheeks. "Let's go now." He didn't wait for your protest, instead grabbing your wrist and all but dragging you out of the door. Luckily, you had just gotten the a-okay from your doctor to begin walking on your leg without crutches again, so you wouldn't be too much of a hindrance.

    "Where are we going?" you asked, slinging your arm around Jinki's shoulder as he helped you down the stairs. Was it just you or did his hand linger around your waist longer than before?

    "The park," Jinki replied cheerfully, steadied from tripping at the bottom of the steps by your firm grip. "Exercise has never hurt anybody before."

    "Except maybe you," you murmured, torn between amusement and worry that Jinki would actually manage to injure himself today.

    The walk to the park was quick and uneventful. Jinki didn't even come close to your hands again, sticking his hands into the pockets of his shorts and humming a joyous sounding tune as the two of you walked along.

    "That sounds nice," you remarked as the two of you entered the park and Jinki steered you toward the scenic route around the lake.

    "Ah, I dreamed of it last night," Jinki replied, smiling widely enough to make you falter in your step slightly before catching yourself. "I haven't thought of any lyrics yet though…"

    You closed your eyes and continued to walk, listening to Jinki's hummed tune. It had a very rhythmic flow and a repetitive bit that seemed to be the chorus. Overall, you thought it was very nice. "I didn't know you composed," you murmured without opening your eyes.

    "I love music," Jinki said in reply, and you smiled. Of course he loved music. He was majoring in broadcasting music. A warm grasp on your wrist made you open your eyes and look at Jinki who just so happened to be observing the lake thoughtfully at the moment. You glanced down at your wrist, which was enveloped in his hand, and carefully shook it free before quickly taking his hand.

    "Ah! Look! Ice cream!" you pointed out, ignoring the sweatiness of your palm in favor of dragging Jinki toward the ice cream station.

    "I'll pay," Jinki immediately offered, but you shook your head, instead ordering a single vanilla ice cream cone with your own pocket money.

    "Come on then," you said, tugging Jinki gently toward a bench where you sat down with great relief and began to eat your ice cream cone. It only took you a few seconds to notice Jinki's eyes flickering toward the cone, and you immediately held it to him, only to miscalculate the distance between you and smear it all over his lips.

    A sharp sound of surprise left your lips, and Jinki's tongue darted out to swipe at the vanilla mess on his mouth.

    "Sorry," you mumbled, reaching into your pocket to pull out a spare tissue and reaching toward Jinki's mouth. You were surprised when he caught you by your wrist and shook his head.

    "It tastes good," Jinki offered, sheepishly looking down at the ground as his tongue darted out once again and cleaned up the remaining vanilla from his lips.

    "Don't do that," you muttered, wiping at his mouth gently with your tissue anyway. "…It's embarrassing." You immediately regretted your words as Jinki frowned and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, you quickly amended your statement. "But…it's also cute."

    Jinki motioned for you to hand him the ice cream cone, and you did so, completely unprepared for him ing it at your face. The cold caught you by surprise, and you snorted in a very unladylike fashion as you felt it drip down your nose and drop onto your shorts.

    You were about to yell something when Jinki began to laugh, softly as first and then quickly becoming louder by the second.

    "Yah!" you exclaimed, pushing him gently and beginning to laugh too. "Yah, did you do that on purpose?"

    "No," Jinki protested, holding up his hands, but you were already shoving the ice cream back at his face, laughing as it got slathered onto his cheeks. It was only a few moments before the two of you were wrestling, and the ice cream cone had dropped to the pavement, completely forgotten.

    You began to squeal as Jinki poked at your sides, laughing loudly enough to draw the attention of a couple walking by the lake. "No! Stop! Jinki! Stop!" Eventually the tickling stopped, but you were still out of breath for a few minutes afterward, wiping the stray tears that had escaped from your eyes.

    "Jagiya," Jinki said, and you stopped, stock-still and staring with your mouth wide open. Did he really just say that? A warm feeling began to spread throughout your being, starting from your toes and reaching your cheeks as they turned red.

    "Ah, that's…okay," you said lamely, at a loss of any other words to say. "I mean…"

    Jinki said nothing, simply stood up and took your hand. "The lake is pretty today," he remarked, leading you down the well-trodden path to the edge of the lake. Upon reaching the shore, Jinki sat down on the pebbled ground and patted the area beside him. You raised an eyebrow but sat down nonetheless, wincing as some of the pebbles poked at your tailbone as you leaned back slightly to stare at the sky.

    "The sun is really bright," you remarked, raising up your hands to block the rays of light. After a few seconds, you closed your eyes and simply let your head loll back, enjoying the heat that the sun brought. When you opened your eyes, you met Jinki's gaze steadily and grinned, shyly ducking your head. "Ah, why are you staring?"

    "No reason," Jinki murmured, smiling as well. "The weather is just very nice today."

    "Ah," you muttered, bringing up your hand in front of your face. "Your smile is more dazzling than the sun. Don't smile at me so easily; my heart can't take it."

    "Hmm?" Jinki asked, turning back toward the lake. "Did you say something?"

    "No," you trilled, looking out toward the lake as well. Your hands found the smooth rocks at your sides, and you grabbed handfuls in both hands, letting them slowly trickle out back onto the shore. "Have you ever skipped rocks before?" Without waiting for a reply, you grabbed a smooth rock in your dominant hand and flung it out at the water. It skipped three times before sinking with a loud plop!

    You picked up another smooth stone with your left hand and pressed it into a surprised Jinki's palm. "Here, you try it."

    Jinki's stone maybe made a total of half a skip, wobbling and sinking quickly and quietly. The boy quickly picked up another stone and tried again. This time the stone skidded against the sandy shore and splattered sand everywhere before resting in the shallows of the lake.

    "You really can't do this, can you?" you asked, amused. "First of all, you have to find the right stone." You dug around through the pebbles around you until coming up with an almost perfectly flat, dark green stone and stood up. Your fingers curled around it, marveling at how it was warm in the palm of your hand. "And then…you have to kiss it for good luck." You brushed your lips lightly over the warmth of the stone and then pressed into Jinki's palm.

    Jinki glanced at the stone and then back at you, standing up as well, and you made a hand motion for him to raise it to his mouth. He did so, touching his lips to it as well before looking back to you for guidance.

    You prayed for your heart to stop beating so wildly as you brought your dominant hand to rest over his, curling your fingers around his knuckles and holding out his arm before drawing it back. "Loosen your fingers," you stated and waited until Jinki's arm was flexible enough for you to move it easily with your light touch on his knuckles. "Now, swing!" You drew back his arm and flung it forward, watching the stone fly out of his fingers and falling onto the water of the lake before skipping six…seven…eight…nine times!

    Jinki's excitement was contagious as he whirled around, promptly tripped over his own two feet, and sent the two of you sprawling onto the hard pebbles. It would have been much more romantic if not from the pains shooting up your spine from the sharp rocks. Jinki seemed to notice your grimacing face and immediately helped you up, apologizing profusely. You quickly put a stop to that with a quick "jagiya" and shy smile.

    This time when you walked back from the park, your hand was firmly anchored in his as his joyous humming filled your ears, occasionally cracked by a punny joke which sent you into small fits of laughter.

    It was only when you got home when the atmosphere changed. The first thing you noticed when you stepped into the apartment was the shattered vase on the kitchen floor. You had previously been keeping the nice bouquet that the flower shop clerk had given you in the glass vase, but now it was in pieces on the floor, quite strange seeing that it had been in the middle of the table.

    The second thing you noticed was the open refrigerator door and scattered vegetables on the ground. The third thing you noticed was the fact that you had opened the door to your apartment with ease even though you had previously locked it before.

    The shock value of it sent you scrambling into the room, falling into the ground near the vase and picking up the scattered flowers before picking delicately at the glass pieces and trying to organize them into a pile.

    "What happened?" Jinki asked, and you simply made a choked noise in your throat before deserting the broken glass and trying to tidy up the vegetables on the floor instead. You eventually ended up dumping them onto the counter before rushing back to the door, closing it, opening it again, and letting out another choked cry.

    "I think we've been robbed," you said faintly, falling onto the couch. "Quick! Check the rooms to see if anything's been taken." As soon as Jinki disappeared from your line of vision, you dropped down and crouched to see beneath the couch. You released a huge sigh of relief at the sight of your money box still there and then promptly fell back onto the couch again.

    "Ah!" Jinki exclaimed from your bedroom, and you immediately made your way to your bedroom where you nearly had a heart attack at the mess that used to be your bed. The blankets were thrown across the room, and the bedsheets were torn off the bed and left on the floor in a heap.

    "What did they take?" you asked, falling to the ground in a heap and clutching at your blankets.

    "I don't think they took anything," Jinki replied, frowning as he grasped you by the arm and hauled you up into a fierce hug.

    You hugged him back, extremely shaken by the events and environment around you. "Jinki, Jinki," you murmured, clutching tightly at his back as he slowly sank to the ground, carrying you with him.

    "Shh," Jinki hushed, and his hand came up to your hair gently as you bit down on your lip hard, trying to stop the shock from affecting you.

    "But why?" you asked, completely lost as to how this could have happened to you. At least there didn't seem to be many damages done, but you were sure that your landlord would have something to say about your irresponsibility. There was no way to prove that you had actually locked the door, and the landlord already had complaints over that time your rice cooker had accidentally caught on fire. You didn't need this when you had worked so hard to convince your parents that you were responsible enough to live in an apartment by yourself.

    "I don't know," Jinki replied, beginning to rock you back and forth as if you were a baby. It was surprisingly comforting, and you sniffled on his shoulder for a while before finally pulling back and realizing—

    "Your cell phone!" Jinki quickly exclaimed as said object buzzed on your dresser. He reached over for it, keeping a tight grip on your shoulders as he did so. You glanced at the alert for the new text message and quickly slide open your phone before nearly dropping it.

    "What is it?" Jinki quickly asked, taking it from your lax fingers and glancing at the text message as well. His grip tightened on the phone, and he quickly set it down on the ground as if it were a poisonous snake to be avoided. "Don't reply." His voice was tight now, and his hand on your shoulder squeezed tightly, eliciting a small hiss of pain from you. "Don't reply, and don't do what it says. Promise me."

    "I-I promise," you replied, quite unsure of why Jinki was reacting this way, but all that really mattered at the moment was that you felt safe in his arms and that you needed to figure out a way to explain this whole mess to your landlord.

    "Don't be scared," Jinki said, and you realized that you were shaking as he tightened his arms around you. "Don't be scared," he repeated. "I'm here." He was surprisingly warm and surprisingly strong despite the outward clumsiness that he displayed at times. It was strangely comforting to know that beneath a gentle facade lay a strong man who was very much capable of protecting you if needed.

    "Thank you," you replied, meaning the words with every fiber of your being. And at that moment, you knew that there was absolutely no way that Lee Jinki was leaving your life anytime soon, not when he had already wormed his way in so deeply.

A/N: Ehhh. This chapter was pretty meh. See, I had this storyline in my head, but it just didn't work out the way I wanted, so this chapter definitely turned out more melodramatic than I wanted... I think I made up for this later on, but really MEHHHH. :-/ *sigh* I apologize for this chapter you guys.

Also problemo. I'm going to be overseas for the next like three weeks and won't have my computer (and possibly Internet access), so this was what I was planning to do with the story. I was going to post part 9 & part 10 just before I leave and then resume normal scheduling (every Friday) when I get back. How does that sound?

Finally, thank you to all my readers. XD I really hope I'll improve as the years pass on, and then later I can look back at my old writing and laugh about it. :P