--Soomin's (Your) POV--

It's been almost a week since Seoyeong arrived. Having her around feels great. I finally have someone to share my feelings with. Though I have the guys to talk to, it's really different when you're having girl-to-girl talks with someone, especially someone you know is genuinely concerned about you. On the weekend, of her first week in Seoul, she said she wanted to meet the guys. She hasn't met them, besides Himchan oppa, just yet. Everyone has been busy over the week days. I didn't know if I wanted to let her or not, but I lost to her insisting the idea in the end. And since we're bringing Mingguk along, everyone can see him again! They'll be really happy.

Seoyeong: Is that Daehyun guy gonna be there?
Me: Yeah. I think he said he was going there before I left the house.
Seoyeong: Does he treat you well?
Me: He's very nice. He acts like he doesn't give a sh*t about me, but he's actually very caring.
Seoyeong: Sounds like you're getting close! 
Me: Well, I do feel like how we are towards each other has drastically changed, compared to the first time. We're more at ease with each other now.
Seoyeong: I have to see what made you live with him.
Me: What do you mean "What made you live with him"? I told you, it was only because of our deal!
Seoyeong: But why can't you answer my question? Why can't you tell me if he's handsome or not?! He's handsome, isn't he?!
Me: Seoyeong!
Seoyeong: I just really want to know.
Me: My tastes aren't the same as yours, so you need to tell that for yourself.
Seoyeong: But is he handsome, based on your tastes?
Me: Seoyeong!
Seoyeong: Fine. I'll give it a rest. I'll see him soon anyway .... Ah!! I'll ask Mingguk! Mingguk is definitely smart enough to understand. Mingguk, Is Uncle Daehyun handsome?

 

She's crazy. Of course, Mingguk couldn't answer. I just laughed at how silly she looks now in my head, without looking back as I walked, but when I turned to look at them, Mingguk smiling, and excitingly making movements that look like he's acting out "twinkle twinkle little stars". 
 

Seoyeong: Ha! Does that mean he's handsome?
Me: How does that mean he's handsome?
Seoyeong: He's saying twinkle twinkle, which probably means his handsomeness shines the brights!
Me: *laughs* You're really crazy! 

If we don't get there soon, Seoyeong's gonna lose it. Good thing we're already right in front of the bar. It's broad daylight, and I don't see anyone around outside at all. Usually, they keep the front door open, but it's usually closed during the day. I pushed the door open fast, but was stopped by something hitting the back of the door. I could hear someone yell "OUCH!" very loudly!
 

Zelo: Noona! Be more careful!
Me: Junhong-ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I didn't see you! *lightly taps his shoulder* Are you okay now?
Zelo: Noo-noona. 
Himchan: *sees us* *laughs* HAHA! The kid is as red as a tomato!!!
Me: Huh?


 

Himchan oppa was point at Zelo. I stopped tapping his shoulder to look at his face, and he was bright red!


 

Me: Junhong-ah! Are you sick?!
Junhong: N-no! I'm not, noona!
Me: *puts my hand on his forehead* You don't feel sick.
Himchan: He's not sick. You just hit him hard!
Me: I did?!
Himchan: Yeah! Right in the arteries!
Me: Arteries?
 

I will never understand Himchan oppa's jokes. Never. I just focused on trying to check Zelo's temparature more, when I feel someone taking my hand, and yanking it away from Zelo's forehead. It was Daehyun, who took my hand away from Zelo! He's already here? 

Daehyun: What are you doing?
Me: I hurt him when I opened the door, so I wanted to see if he's okay.
Daehyun: He's fine. 
Me: Why are you here already? I thought you were busy at home.
Daehyun: I just packed some food I wanted, and some food for Mingguk.
Me: You should've told me, so I could help you. 
Daehyun: It's fine. I already did it. It's no use saying that now.

 

As we were talking, everyone else gathered around and greeted Seoyeong.

 

Himchan: Nice to see you again!
Seoyeong: You too! This place looks great! I was a little worried when Soomin said a "bar", but this doesn't look any different from a resto or care of something.
Himchan: Uhhh. Thanks. I guess.
Yongguk: Well, It's been so long, Seoyeong.
Seoyeong: Oppa! You never come back to visit at Ijjak-do. Everyone wants to see you.
Yongguk: Sorry about that. I've been very busy, but I hope I can meet everyone again soon too.
Jongup: Annyeong! I'm Moon Jongup! Soomin noona told me you're older than me, so is it okay if I call you noona too?
Seoyeong: Of course! I'm Han Seoyeong. You can call me Seoyeong noona whenever you want. 
Jongup: Thank you, noona!
Zelo: I'm Choi Junhong! Everyone calls me Zelo. Noona can call me Zelo too. Can I call you noona?
Seoyeong: Of course! You're the adorable maknae Soomin tells me about! You really are cute.
Zelo: N-noona! *blushes*
Seoyeong: Soomin told me you and Jongup play with Mingguk alot. Thank you for helping take care of him.
Zelo: You don't have to thank us, noona. We like Mingguk, he's fun to have around.
Youngjae: Hello. My name is Yoo Youngjae, but you can call me Youngjae. *offers hand*
Seoyeong: *shakes hand* Nice to meet you!
Himchan: Hello! My name is Kim Himchan, but you can call me handsome!
Seoyeong: *laughs* Oppa! You're being funny again!
Himchan: But I was serious! *pouts*
Seoyeong: Anyway, I think i've seen you somewhere before, Youngjae.
Youngjae: Really? But i've never be to Ijjak-do.
Seoyeong: Oh no, it wasn't at Ijjak. It was on the internet. I remember seeing a video of you singing somewhere. You were really great.
Youngjae: *blushes* T-thank you.
Himchan: We sing and perform mostly every here, when we can. Maybe people take videos of Youngjae and us.
Seoyeong: I guess. It did look like a fancam. But your musice is really really good. I hope I get to see you guys perform live.
Himchan: We're performing tonight, so you should come by later if you want to see it.
Seoyeong: Great! I'd be happy too!
Youngjae: We'll reserve special seats just for you two.
Seoyeong: Aww! Thanks! *smiles*
 

She's amazing. They all got along the instant they met, but I guess these guys are really friendly themselves too. They talk like they've known each other for a while. It took me a while to get to know these guys, but Seoyeong's getting to know them way more than I did in mere seconds. For a while, she was busy chatting with them, and all I could was look. Later on, she looked over at me and Daehyun.

Seoyeong: Now that we have this one settled, let's talk about him.
Me: Who?
Seoyeong: That guy *points at Daehyun* You're the "husband", right?
Me: How did you know that?!
Seoyeong: *points at our hands* You've been holding hands since we got in here! Don't think I didn't notice!
Me: What?!

 

I looked at where Seoyeong was pointing, and she's right! We were still holding hands! I could feel my cheeks heating like crazy, and then I yanked my hand off of his. Why didn't I notice?! I'm so embarrassed. We were just holding hands there! I hope my cheeks aren't flushing red! I looked over at Daehyun, and he was trying to look away, and act like it was nothing.

 

Daehyun: S-sorry.
Me: I-it's okay.
Himchan: Look at them! Their faces are both as red as tomatoes! They're so cute!
Youngjae: Seriously guys! Get a room! 
Me: Y-youngjae!
Seoyeong: I'm upset I wasn't invited to the wedding. You owe me a lot, Daehyun!
Daehyun: You already know my name?
Seoyeong: Well, of course. Still, it wouldn't hurt to still introduce yourself.
Daehyun: What's the point? You already know.
Seoyeong: Oh, i'm sorry Mr. Rudepants.
Me: S-seoyeong! He's just---
Seoyeong: Relax. I'm just kidding! *smiles* He gets a little cranky when he's embarrased huh? Must be tough living with him.
Himchan: Tell me about it. 
Seoyeong: Well, it's looks like they get along pretty well. It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Jung Daehyun. You two look adorable together. I won't be surprised if whatever you're supposed to be pretending as here is actually not just pretend. Are you sure you aren't dating for real? You two seem so ... natural.
Me+Daehyun: N-no! W-we're not!
Seoyeong: Aww! You even talk at the same time! Adorable!
Himchan: Adorable!!!

 

Everyone continued teasing us. This is why I was hesitant in bringing Seoyeong here. She's, like, the Female Kim Himchan. They're really crazy. But I wonder why it didn't feel unnatural at all. I feel like it's normal to just hold hands. Maybe we've been pretending for quiet a while now, that I actually just got used to it.

I didn't expect we'd be staying there for a long time. Everyone gets busy a lot, so it's nice to just have this time to relax, even though they're all crazy today. Daehyun spent a lot of time playing with Mingguk. It looked like he really did miss him, because he's playing with him more that we're not at home now compared to before. Or maybe he's just trying to avoid the teasing, because we were teased a lot throughout the entire day. After a while, when it looked like the sun was about to set, Daehyun looked at his watch, stood up and said he needed to go home.

 

Youngjae: But it's still early, Daehyun! Plus, we're performing tonight! You should stay.
Daehyun: I've seen too much of that to think i'll be missing someone important.
Yongguk: Are you not feeling well?
Daehyun: No. Don't worry about me, hyung. I just have some work to finish at home.
Himchan: Aren't you gonna eat here?
Daehyun: I'll eat at home. Gotta go.
Yongguk: Be careful on your way.

 

He waved his hand once, and left. He didn't even look at me when he left. Just when I thought our we were getting closer, it looks like I still have to work hard on that. For some reason, I also stood up and headed for the door.
 

Zelo: Noona, you're leaving already?
Me: Uhh ... I need to ... 
Seoyeong: Need to what?
Me: Well ... I ... Uhh ... I still ... I still have a lot ... homework to do. I need to go home now too.
Seoyeong: What about me?!
Me: You already know the way home.
Himchan: We'll drive you home later, Seoyeong.
Seoyeong: Really? Thank you! Soomin, be careful.
Youngjae: I'm sure you can still catch up to Daehyun.
Me: Okay. I will. Bye!!!

 

I literally ran out of the door and looked for Daehyun. I didn't really have homework to do, something in me is just saying that I wanted to go out and go to Daehyun. When I finally see him, I ran towards him as I called his name. He seemed pretty surprised I was there.
 

Me: DAEEEEHYUN!
Daehyun: Why are you here?!
Me: *huff* *huff* I just *huff* *huff* I thought we should go home together.
Daehyun: Oh. Sorry I didn't ask if you wanted to go home with me or not. Are you okay?
Me: It's okay. I'm okay.
Daehyun: You didn't have to run though.
Me: You walk too fast! *inhales* *exhales* Anyway, I'm sorry about Seoyeong.
Daehyun: Why?
Me: I don't ... know. Maybe she said something you didn't like?
Daehyun: Nah. Everything she said was true. I just didn't know how to talk to your friend. She's someone that knows you so well ... I didn't wanna ...
Me: Wanna .... What?
Daehyun: I didn't wanna screw up ... but it looks like I did.

 

He's starting to blush, and he's trying to look away. Maybe she just caught him off guard, and he's embarrassed by the way he acted.

 

Me: Don't worry about it. You didn't screw up. She was provoking you into a fight, but she was joking. She's just upset she didn't know anything about what we're doing up until now. I'm sure she's over it now, she probably just wanted to see how you'd react or whatever.
Daehyun: I hope so ...
Me: So, now that one problem is solved, what do you want for dinner? I'll cook anything you like!
Daehyun: Anything?!
Me: Anything!
Daehyun: Well, i've been wanting to eat grilled meat for a while.
Me: Then we can have a small samgyeopsal party at home! But I think I forgot to do some grocery shopping, so we'll need to do that grocery shopping first.
Daehyun: Okay then!
Me: You're always ready for anything when it comes to food!
Daehyun: Duh? No one should say no to food!  Let's go. *holds his hand*
Me: *looks at his hand* What?
Daehyun: Nn! *shakes his hand*
Me: Huh?
Daehyun: Hold my hand!
Me: E-eh? Why?
Daehyun: We still need to look like husband and wife.
Me: O-oh! Right! Sorry. *holds his hand*
Daehyun: *blushes* Let's go.
Me: *nods*

 

He never asks for my hand. This just started to feel more awkward, compared to when he grabbed my hand. It's more awkward when i'm aware of the situation, but it's not bad. Holding his hand makes me feel like i'm protected, like no matter who comes and tries to hurt me, i'll always have him around to protect me. 

Soon after that, the awkwardness just fades away on its own. Grocery shopping with Daehyun felt more like playing him with in the park as kids. He would joke around whenever I point at something I like, like i'll get fatter or whatever. Or I look like the pig mascot or some other animal on the packaging of some products. Still, he's still showing his gentleman side by insisting on pulling the shopping cart. While I was looking around the grocery for what else we could buy, I noticed Daehyun wasn't following me anymore. He stopped by some shelf, looking at something. I approached him, to see what it was and ...
 

Me: Animal ears headbands?
Daehyun: And with matching noses! Aren't they cute?
Me: I guess so ... but I didn't think you like stuff like these.
Daehyun: Huh? What are you talking about?
Me: Hmm ... *looks at headbands* I think these fit you.
 

I took the puppy ears headband and nose. He looked so confused as I put the nose on him first, then the headband. 
 

Me: It looks great! It really fits you!
Daehyun: W-why a dog?!
Me: I see it more as a puppy! Puppies are cute! And you're like a puppy.
Daehyun: That's still a dog! Who are you calling a dog?! How am I any close to being like a dog? And I wasn't looking at them because I liked them, I was looking at them because I thought this one fit you!

 

He moved quickly, and took a pink headband and nose. I didn't see what it was exactly, but he quickly placed the nose and headband on my head. After that, he started laughing like crazy.

 

Daehyun: Bwahahahaha! You look perfect with that!
Me: What did you put on me?
Daehyun: What else looks like you?
Me: D-don't tell me it's a pig!
Daehyun: Bingo! It fits you perfectly!
Me: H-hey! That's mean!
Daehyun: Says the girl who said i'm a dog!
Me: It's a puppy! And it's cute! You look so cute!
Daehyun: Yours looks way better on you. You're like an adorable, little piglet!
 

He kept laughing. I wanted to get pissed at him, but seeing him so happy, and laughing made me happy. I couldn't help but smile at how adorable he is.
 

Daehyun: What are you smiling about?
Me: Huh?
Daehyun: You're really crazy. You were mad, and now you're smiling? Do you really like these that bad?
Me: ... I guess so.
Daehyun: Okay then, i'll buy them.
Me: Even your puppy ears?
Daehyun: I guess. If that'll make you happy. But i'm not gonna keep wearing it. You can keep wearing yours, if you like.
Me: Don't be silly! No way!

 

He just smiled, and took my pig ears and nose off for me, before taking his off and walking off. He's like a puppy because the puppies i've seen always tend to act tough, but no matter how tough they act, there's something about them that makes you want to take care of them. Daehyun makes me feel like that, that's why I chose a puppy for him. For a second, this almost feels like a date. ... What are you saying, Soomin? Snap out of it! He'll get angry if he hears that. I'm not supposed to really imagine we're dating! It's not part of the deal. Snap out of it, Soomin!

--Daehyun's POV--

I don't know what i'm feeling, but seeing her smile makes me happy. I want to keep making her happy. Being by her side makes me want to protect her, but I can tell her that. I can tell anyone that. They'll all say i'm in love with her. I can't be in love with her, I just can't! But I do know that I want to keep making her smile, and being able to act all silly with her and seeing how it makes her happy is enough for me. She seems really happy. I'm glad I can make her smile. I wish I could make her happy all the time, but with my attitude, there's no way. I'm just glad we get to spend time like this. It's almost ... like a date ... but it's not. If she thinks that it is, she might get awkward.  It's only awkward when the guys are around, to make fun of us. when it's just us ... it feels better. Just being able to spend time like this together, without feeling awkward, is enough for me,.

After finishing our grocery shopping, and ending up buying a lot. One bag was fully stuffed with meat, seasonings, and vegetables. The other had toiletries. I don't like getting may bags, if a lot can fit in just one. I took the two bags, but she held one of the bags in my hand.
 

Me: Let me help.
Daehyun: They're heavy.
Me: Which is why I want to help!
Daehyun: I can handle these. 
Me: Just please let me help. Please?
Daehyun: You'll help me more by not holding any of them. You might drop one.
Me: No, I wouldn't!
Daehyun: Are we gonna keep arguing about this? It's already dark.
Me: We won't be arguing if you let me carry one.
Daehyun: Fine. Take these. They're not that heavy.
 

I hand her the bag with the toiletries, and the animal ears. Another reason why I separated them, was because we didn't buy as much toiletries as we did with the food. I knew she would insist on carrying one of the bags, so I planned ahead.

--Soomin's (Your) POV--

He's really a gentleman. He pretends he only cares about himself, but he's really caring towards others. I think he purposely made sure to make one bag lighter than the other. He's really caring. Before we walked, he held his hand infront of me again.

 

Me: What?
Daehyun: Hand.
Me: Huh?
Daehyun: Give me your hand!!!
 

He took my hand, even before I could think of what to do. He was blushing again, and trying to look away. I know this is just his own way of showing that he cares about me, and I really appreciate it. I've never been this happy just because of holding hands. I feel safe, and I can't help but smile.
 

Daehyun: What are you smiling about again? Are you reading into this too much? We need to look like husband and wife.
Me: I know. 
Daehyun: Then what's up with you?
Me: ... Thank you, Daehyun.
Daehyun: For what?
Me: For always being nice to me. You're gonna be mad when I say this, but I know this is just your way of protecting me. I'm glad. It makes me feel safe. I feel safest when i'm with you, Daehyun, because I know you'll protect me. So, thank you. For always being kind to me.
Daehyun: *blushes* W-what are you saying? *puts his hand on my forehead* Are you sick? You're saying weird things again.
Me: I'm not! *smiles*
Daehyun: T-that's what i'm here for. *holds my hand tight* If ... if it makes you feel safe ... I'll keep holding your hand like this whenever I have to. 

 

My eyes widened, and I could feel myself blushing. I think my heart just skipped a beat. I didn't think he'd say something like that. Normally, he would just say stuff like "Are you in love with me now?" as a joke, but he seemed serious. W-why do I suddenly feel weird like this? Now I can't help but read into this too much! Stop it, Soomin! Daehyun's only pretending! He can't possibly mean it like the way i'm thinking. There's just no way. 

As we walked our way home, I heard someone behind me called out for Daehyun. We both stopped walking, and turned to look at the voice. It was a girl, and she said "Daehyun! Is that you?" ... I thought it was Juyeon, but it wasn't ... Who is she? It's the first time I saw her. I looked over at Daehyun, and he seems pretty surprised to see her.