"Good morning, sleepyhead."

I slowly open my eyes against the harsh light streaming through my blinds. Zico's peeking his head in through the crack in the door, beaming at me. I smile back, despite my groggy state. "Morning," I rasp, sitting up with quite a bit of effort. Zico walks over to my bed and sets something heavy at the foot of it. Before I can see what it is, he blocks my view and leans down close to my face. "Don't," I warn him. "I have morning breath."

He kisses me anyways, despite my protest, and I can't help but think that this is the way things should always be. I wouldn't mind it one bit if Zico were here to wake me up every morning, filling my senses with soft lips and warm skin, still smelling of after shave.

"You're perfect," I mumble into his mouth. Zico pulls back and laughs, raking a hand through my tangled hair. "Far from it," he says. "Now get up." On any other day I would've listened to him, but today I feel like being difficult. "You get up."

Zico hand pauses in my hair, and he looks down at me quizzically. "What?"

"You get up," I repeat, hiding my smile against his shoulder.

And suddenly I'm being knocked back against the mattress, Zico's calloused hands sliding up under my shirt to tickle at my sides.

I gasp and arch my back against the unfamiliar feeling, sticking my hands out to push at his broad shoulders. "Stop, stop!" I laugh, trying to wiggle out of his grip.

I kick my leg out and something hard knocks against my ankle, sending a sharp pain all the way up my leg. Zico seems to have noticed, because he stops tickling me to look back at the object causing my pain.

"What is that?" I grunt, reaching down to rub circles into my tender ankle. "Sorry about that," Zico apologizes, holding out the object. "It's a jar."

 A jar. I stare blankly at the glass until Zico speaks. "It was supposed to be a nice surprise. Look," He gestures to a stack of multi-colored sticky notes laying next to the jar. Okay then. I slowly shake my head. "I'm not sure I'm following."

Zico takes a pen from my desk and scribbles something onto a bright pink note, then flips it around to show me. Write something, it says. He then hands me a yellow note and places the pen in my hand, smiling encouragingly. It doesn't take me long to think of what I want to write. I like you a lot! I scribble in my messy handwriting.

I feel like I'm back in grade school, passing 'do you like me's back and forth between a crush. It's funny how Zico brings me back to these things. Late night swims and dandelions. A part of my childhood that I hadn't even realized I had lost.

"Hey."

I snap back into reality, only to see Zico scrutinizing me with a serious expression, his mouth set in a thin line. "Yukwon," he starts, "'I like you a lot. And I trust you." I give him a small smile and wait for him to continue. He doesn't say anything for a while, instead choosing to slide a sticky note between his fingers. When he does start up again, his voice is small. "Can you...come with me?"

---

Twenty minutes and an outfit change later, we're sitting in Zico's car, parked outside of a small, run down shop.

"Where are we?" I ask, not making a move to get out of the car.

Zico's hesitating, like he's not sure how to start. "This," he nods towards the shop. "Is...was my home."

"Is this the shop that Hanhae was talking about?"

He nods. "Yeah. This was my work."

Even with Zico being as tough as he is, I couldn't imagine him working in- or rather, living in- a rugged, beat up place like this. It's made of all metal, with big dents and rust covering the surface. It reminds me of a place where you would dump old car scraps and unwanted appliances.

"What did you work on?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Come inside and you'll see."

---

The inside of the shop looks about the same as the outside. It smells of oil, grease, and smoke. I cling to Zico's arm and squint through the dimness, absorbing my surroundings. There are cars parked inside of a big garage area, being inspected by men in jeans and white tank tops.

"So it's a repair shop," I state. Zico nods and leads me to the men. "Yeah. I used to work on the cars over there, with those guys. Here, I'll introduce you."

I don't really have the heart to say no, I'm nervous and I don't want to meet your friends, so I just walk with him and smile as we get closer. One of the men hears our footsteps and turns around, jaw dropping once he sees Zico. "Holy you guys, c'mere. it's Zico."

The five other men (or should I say boys) turn around as well and stare at my boyfriend with disbelieving eyes. "No way, Yongguk's really not kidding," one smiles, walking up and pulling Zico into a hug. Zico returns the hug, patting the boy on the back. "Hey, Jongup. Long time, no see."

When Jongup pulls away, he's still smiling. "What are you doing over here? Who's this?" He jabs a thumb in my direction, and five other heads turn to look at me curiously.

"This is my boyfriend, Yukwon." I smile and wave awkwardly. Zico places a hand on my shoulder and continues with the introductions. "Yukwon, this is Jongup." Jongup's smile is so bright, that I can't help but genuinely smile back. "The guy who saw us first is Yongguk." Yongguk gives me a gummy smile and a nod. Zico smiles, then continues. "Daehyun's the one with the big lips, Zelo's the tall one, Youngjae has the cheekbones, and Himchan is...Himchan." The guy named Himchan smacks Zico on the shoulder and sticks out his tongue. Yongguk chuckles and leans against a counter piled with tools. "So what are you doing here? Because I really doubt you came just to give your boyfriend a tour."

"No, actually, that's exactly what I came here to do." When Yongguk looks at him in confusion, Zico explains further. "Yukwon is...special. I don't want to have to hide things from him. I want you to know everything about me," Zico says sincerely, directing the last part at me.

Himchan makes a thoughtful noise in his throat. "That's really sweet," he says with absolutely no emotion whatsoever. "And looks who's coming to ruin the atmosphere." We all turn around to look at Hanhae, who's making his way over to our circle. "Hey, Zico," he greets once he's close enough. He looks at me with distaste. "And I see you brought the kid along."

I frown and cross my arms. "I'm not a kid. I bet I'm only a few years younger than you." Hanhae blows smoke from his mouth, looking mildly surprised that I even responded to his remark. He stares at me for a few seconds before turning back to Zico. "So, you need something? How's the truck doing?"

"It's good. I'm actually just showing Yukwon around a bit."

Hanhae purses his lips around his cigarette. "Of course you are. I'm sure he'll be needing a good, detailed tour of the place. Since he's gonna be sticking around for a long time and all, huh?" It's easy to detect the sarcasm in his voice. And it's obvious that he doesn't want me around.

Zico frowns. "Why do you have to be such a ?" He asks, snatching the cigarette from Hanhae's mouth and crushing it under his foot. Hanhae glares at the burnt remains on the ground, then up at Zico. "I've gotta look out for you. I'm practically your brother."

Zico glares back. "Well you sure as hell aren't acting like it, Hanhae." He takes my hand in his and starts walking out of the shop. "I'll see you guys later."

~*~

OMFGGG I'm sorry that I'm so horrible at updating. Thank you for all of the people that are patient enough to wait for my rare updates! ♥