Dressed in casual business clothing, his crisp outfit automatically fits him into the environment of the store. "Yejin," he politely addresses, in that unchanged kind tone. "You remember me?"

A friendly smile forms on my face. "Of course I do," I assure. "I don't think it'll be easy for me to forget someone, who has helped me out as much as you have, sunbae."

Kyungwook chuckles slightly, as he now steps into a better speaking range. "I see you're still as kind as ever," he softly notes.

This makes me laugh, because I'm suddenly reminded of all the times, when a certain whiney male, would use the word 'evil', to describe me. "It's true though," I dismissively say. "Even though you had your own things to do, you still made sure to step by every now and then, to help me out. Do you still visit the university?"

He shakes his head at me. "I don't," he answers. "I'm a lot busier now, so I can't."

I frown a little. "Oh, that's a shame," I say. "I'm pretty sure the current students—or any student, really—would love your help."

And as I say this, I have Jongup and Junhong's beaming faces pictured in my mind.

Kyungwook ponders for a bit. "Well, if I ever get some free time, then I guess a visit wouldn't hurt," he agrees. "So," I hear him suddenly say, and this indicates a change in topic. "Are you out shopping by yourself?"

I respond with a small shake of my head. "No," I reply, with a tiny smile. "I'm here with someone; he's just in the bathroom right now."

"Oh," says Kyungwook. "Is it Yongguk?"

His guess amuses me, as I tell him no once more. "It's not," I casually say. "He's my, um...boyfriend?"

My slightly unsure tone causes him to lift a puzzled brow, and this small gesture signals for me to continue on.

I give him a sheepish smile. "Well, it's just...kind of complicated right now..." I quietly say. "Anyway, what are you doing here, sunbae?"

The blank look on his face now changes into a warmer one. "I'm just making sure that things are running smoothly," he nonchalantly says.

I do a double take at him. "Do you own this place?" I question, in bewilderment.

My wide eyes appear to entertain him. "I do," he responds, with a chuckle. "I've worked for Matos for quite a long time, and have only just been offered a higher position."

"Wow," I mumble out. "That's...really amazing, sunbae."

Kyungwook responds to my praise with a pleased expression. "It's nothing, really," he says, sounding modest. "You just have to keep working hard."

I nod my head at him in agreement. "So does that mean that you...got to design some of these dresses?" I slowly say.

He gives me the affirmative. "Yes," he replies. "Did you see the new arrivals? I designed those."

At the mention of the new arrivals, I'm instantly reminded of the talk that Himchan, I, and the female worker had discussed a while ago.

So Kyungwook is the new designer that Himchan was badmouthing?

"Oh, I see," I carefully say, with a convincing smile. "Your designs are...nice."

And thankfully, my fib is bought, as he appears to easily accept it. "Thank you," says Kyungwook. "Your thoughts mean a lot to me, so I appreciate that."

I give him an indifferent shrug. "It's okay, really," I say, with yet another artificial beam.

Kyungwook now gestures towards my purple outfit. "That dress is very flattering, by the way," he compliments. "Sadly, I didn't design it, but will you be buying it?"

This time, the smile on my face, is a genuine one. "Thank you, sunbae," I say. "And as much as I want to, I don't think I will be..." The frown on my face now lights up by a tad. "Unless you want to give me a huge discount, then maybe I will," I jokingly say.

That same blank expression makes its way back onto his face, and worried that he might not have understood my joke, I then make sure to confirm it with him. My reassurance makes him chuckle, where he then goes on to tell me that he is well aware, of how I was just playing. Our small talk goes on for a little more, until his phone beeps out a text message. He then tells me how he has to prepare for a meeting within half an hour, and because he needs to be heading there now, we eventually say our goodbyes.

And as he bids me his farewell, Kyungwook tells me that he wants to see me again, but I just politely smile at him.

"Think of it as that coffee outing, that you still owe me," he good-humouredly remarks.

"Okay," I kindly say. "I'll see."

I watch as he now makes his way out to speak to the female worker there, and after he finishes conversing with her, he then exits the store.

And right when this happens, I glance over to my right, just in time to see Himchan preparing himself for a poke.

Although, he doesn't need to go through with that, because his sudden appearance is enough to make me do a tiny, startled, jump.

"Oh my goodness, don't do that!" I scold. "And did you just get here?"

But instead of answering me, he seems to be rather occupied about something else.

"Wow," I hear him suddenly murmur. "You look—" Himchan's tender gaze meets with my slightly irked expression. "You look beautiful."

His delicate words make me soften, and I smile at him, relishing in his sincere praise, that's making me feel all warm. "I really like this dress, too," I quietly say. "Too bad it costs a limb and a half, though."

Himchan chuckles at this. "Mission accomplished," he cheekily says. "Now you know the heartbreak that I go through, when I can't buy a certain thing."

I frown at him, while placing a firm hand on my hip. "So you did this on purpose?" I accuse, feigning anger. "You made me fall in love with this dress, just to watch me cry, because you know I won't be able to buy it?"

This causes Himchan to laugh a little more. "Hmm, a little dramatic, are we?" he muses, in an entertained tone.

I smirk back at him. "What can I say?" I airily state. "I learn from the best."

Further amused, Himchan now goes to envelope me into a hug, so that I'm completely smothered by him.

I let out a giggle, and then tilt my head up, to give his jaw a soft peck. "Okay, let me just get myself out of this, so that we can finally shop for you," I gently say.

Himchan gradually lets go of me, but the impish look on his face, lets me know that he's having some not-so-pure thoughts. "Can I help you?" he questions, with a smirk.

His suggestive offer makes me decide to play along with him, as I secretly snicker to myself.

So to make sure that I look believable, I then very casually, brush my long hair over my shoulder, to expose my neck a little more. "Sure," I coyly say.

Judging from the flicker of surprise on his face, I don't think Himchan was expecting me to agree, because when I see how his eyes glance at my neck, where they then make their way down towards my chest for a bit, I inwardly laugh some more.

Because when he follows me behind the curtains, the stunned look on his face is priceless, when I go to hand him the pile of dresses.

"Here you go," I cheerfully say.

Himchan is baffled. "What?" he manages to voice out. "What are these for? I thought we were going to—"

"—You wanted to help me," I smoothly interject. "So you can help me, by putting these away."

It's finally set into his mind, as the unamused look on his face, tells me that he's just figured it out. "Why are you no fun?" he mopes.

I scoff out a laugh. "Oh please, did you really think that I was going to have a hot makeout session with you, in a public changing booth?" I skeptically say.

"Um, yes?" replies Himchan, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

My doubtful expression continues to stare at him. "Seriously?" I dully say.

Himchan rolls his eyes at me. "Duh," he obnoxiously responds. "Because after all, who wouldn't want to have a hot makeout session with me, in a public change room?"

I flatten my eyes at him, and then breathe out a sigh. "Can you just put those back?" I order.

Obviously not pleased by my request, Himchan makes a face, but then grabs all of the garments, to take them outside with him.

I laugh at his displeasure, before focusing on undressing myself.

———————————————

After I'm finished, the two of us then make our way over towards the men's section, for Himchan to browse.

We take roughly half of the time that we took with me, since the variety of dress shirts and formal pants, is, I guess, less complex to decide on. From pale yellow, to sap green, Himchan eventually decides on plain white, saying that sometimes, the simplest things are the best ones. It makes me quirk up an eyebrow at him, because it goes against his spontaneous personality trait. Himchan picks out a regular pair of black trousers, and to accompany his shirt, he chooses a dark grey tie, with some thin, silver stripes.

Happy with his choice, I then tell him to go and purchase the items, while I help put the clothes that he had just tried on, all back onto the racks. We finish our separate tasks at the same time, and just before we leave the store, we say a friendly goodbye to the female worker there. She smiles back with a well-mannered bow of her head, where she once again, repeats her thanks. The two of us are soon out the revolving door in no time, and as soon as we're descending down from the escalator, Himchan then suddenly hands me some cash.

I stare at the money for a bit, before looking at his face, to give him a inquiring look.

But my silent confusion only makes him nudge the money into my hands, where he then proceeds to gently force my fingers to curl themselves around the notes. "It's yours," he says. "The lady says that the suit I picked out has a massive discount on it, so it's yours."

"A discount?" I repeat. "I didn't see anything like that, on the pricing labels..."

Himchan shrugs a shoulder. "Me either," he says. "Maybe it was my handsome face?"

His snickering causes me to give his arm a light slap, as I go to shake my head at him. "Yes, that must be it," I sarcastically say. "You were just so charming, that she was completely smitten by your aura." 

"Obviously," snorts the cocky male. "Because after all, who can resist the Himbear?"

The two of us soon step off of the escalator together, as it's finally reached the end. "Why are you so full of yourself?" I laughingly say. "You know, I still shake my head at that one time, where you were approached by that girl, to ask if you wanted to sign up for some paintball."

"Ohhh yeah..." Himchan's snigger tells me that he remembers the incident. "But it's true though," he coolly says. "I had to reject her invitation, because I'm too precious, for anything that involves putting paint on my face."

His silly reasoning makes me laugh some more. "Sometimes, I honestly have no idea what to do with you," I say, with a sigh.

Himchan purses his lips a little, to the side. "Well," he begins, as if thinking about something. "You can do me on the kitchen bench, the coffee table, in the shower—"

My hard, unamused expression has finally caught his attention, and it makes him blink at me.

"What?" he says, with fake innocence. "You're thinking about it, aren't you?"

The silence of my flattened stare, meeting with his wriggling eyebrows, eventually has him laughing out loudly, as my hand goes to meet with my forehead.

"Okay, okay," says Himchan, after a while. "Let’s go and get some lunch, because I'm hungry."

Taking a hold of my hand, he then begins to lead the way, where the two of us come to throw out some options, in discussing what we're in the mood to eat.

And because Himchan is still in his erted little mind of his, his sly remark, ("I'm actually in the mood for you,") earns him an elbow, in the gut.

———————————————

Now that our stomachs are filled, the two of us have decided to roam around the city for a bit.

I feel so relaxed, with my arm linked around Himchan's, in the great weather, and it's amazing. The two of us do some more window shopping together, which then leads us into doing a few various other things. Like walking into the nearest bookstore, and picking up the first book that our eyes set themselves on, to see who can do the most dramatic reading of a random paragraph. It's obvious who won with that, and Himchan's animated self, had even managed to make the bookstore owner laugh from afar, at his counter.

After exiting the place, and walking past a couple of other stores, the two of us were then approached by a giant black bunny. Someone was dressed in a one-suit rabbit costume, and I recognised the character to be those Matoki figures. It was handing out flyers, and upon accepting one, we both took notice of how it was promoting the new bakery store, from a couple of shops away. Our curiosity eventually took us there, to buy a few sweet pastries, to sample them. They turned out to be delicious, and as we made our way outside into the open, we continued to feed each other bits and pieces of the cream bread.

Himchan went and fed some of the pigeons nearby, by tearing off little itty-bitty parts, and watching them fight over it, seemed to be very entertaining for him. He wouldn't stop nudging me, when one of the pigeons supposedly 'slipped', and because I had missed that little action, Himchan then decided to act it out for me. I couldn't stop laughing at his absurd imitation, as he continued on, to ramble on about how 'weird' it looked. And my laughing only grew, when Himchan's face became a little frightened, at the increasing amount of pigeons, all cooing at him from afar.

In the end, the two of us arrive back home with enough time to relax for a bit, take a shower, and then get dressed for Jieun's event.

So because of that, right now, as I'm in the middle of fitting myself into my plain, one shoulder, black dress, I result to letting out a huff, at the realisation of me being stuck; the zipper on my side, isn't pulling up as smoothly as it usually does.

This makes me breathe out yet another grumpy sigh, and right when this happens, I see Himchan enter my room, just in time for me to blurt out my need of help.

"Himchan," I begin, in exasperation. "Can you help me with this?"

Not expecting the sudden request, he blinks at me for a bit, just before lifting his eyebrows up in interest. "Help you out of that?" he cheekily questions.

But as soon as he sees the unamused look on my face, he lets out an entertained chuckle.

"Alright, calm down, y lady," he playfully says. "I was just kidding...sort of."

Taking a few steps closer to me, I then show him the zipper, and instruct for him to assist me in pulling it up. Himchan fiddles with it for a bit, and with the help of me tugging the tight fabric in one way, it allows for him to easily connect the garment together. I thank him, and with a small smile, now proceed to smooth out the form-fitting dress, along with my hair. When I'm done, I then grab my purse, and then make my way outside to slip on some matching black pumps. Himchan's already put on his dress shoes, and it's only then that I'm aware of how striking he looks, in his outfit.

We're soon out of the house, and after the gazillion amount of stairs, (with Himchan laughing at me and my high shoes) the two of us are now waiting for a taxi.

My eyes continue to search around for an approaching cab, but as they do that, I can't help but notice how Himchan's gaze is on me.

It doesn't seem to be leaving at any time soon, and so out of curiostiy, I then finally turn over to face him. "What?" I curiously ask.

Himchan blinks at me for a bit, before a miniature smile, curves onto his lips. "Come here," he gently says, with small motion of his hand.

I arch up an eyebrow, but move myself closer to him, to see what he wants.

And when I see the softness of his eyes, looking into me, I feel myself ease up, where I momentarily forget about my puzzlement.

Without a word, Himchan's fingers go to delicately lift up my chin, and when I see him lean forward, my eyes automatically go to shut themselves close. His lips tenderly press down onto my own, and as this happens, I feel that well-known burst of happiness, pulsating inside my chest. I smile into this sweet kiss, but when he moves back a little, to slightly brush his nose again my own, it makes me quietly giggle. We soon pull away from each other, and just when I'm about to wrap my arms around him, to give him a hug, something passing by, in the corner of my eye, makes me jerk my attention over to it.

And when I come to notice that three taxis had just literally driven past us, one after another, it makes me stare at the disappearing vehicles, in bewilderment.

Himchan is now laughing away, but I can't tell if he's laughing at my surprise-confusion, or the fact that we just so happened to miss three cabs, all at once.

So for the remainder of the time, I make sure that I'm well alert, for any signs of an incoming taxi, but this just makes Himchan all the more eager to poke me.

———————————————

Stepping out of the car, we then pay the driver, and then tell him our thanks. The two of us now enter through a huge brick building, and as we're walking across the dark sea green carpet, I mentally groan to myself, upon the sight of some stairs. Himchan seems to be aware of the unpleasant thought as well, because his eagle eyes, manage to spot a small, golden coloured elevator, situated a little over into the corner. Relieved, the two of us instantly make our way over to it, to give the button a push. It doesn't take long, for the vintage looking contraption to start working, because the doors slide open for us, in no time.

Himchan presses the top floor's button, and as soon as that's confirmed, the two of us are concealed inside, where we then begin to raise. A soft 'ding' is eventually heard, and at the signal of that sound, the doors of the elevator, start to open. We take a right turn, and, ascending a couple of more steps, we're then met with a glass door. Himchan pushes open, and when we both step inside, we're greeted with an opening, which leads into a huge room. There's a receptionist at the front, and upon mentioning Jieun's name, she then eagerly gestures for us to go inside.

The room is big and grand, where the beige floral wallpaper designs, designed with intricate flecks of gold, cover all of the walls. They shine and glistening from the small orbs of light, that are plastered onto the walls, along with a couple of huge chandeliers, hanging from above. On the right hand corner, crimson red couches accompany that space, while the area on the left, occupies many long tables, filled with food. There's a small opening just a little in front, and from what I can see, it appears to be a balcony of some sort; a good place for people to get a breather, I suppose.

I'm still feeling so in awe at my surroundings, that when my gaze finishes on circling around the room, to then land on the small fire place right in front of me, I'm filled with more surprise, at just how posh this venue is.

I now turn my attention over to Himchan, to see how his reaction is, but he looks a little perplexed.

The way that his eyes are studying the place, clearly tells me that something's on his mind, and so I go to ask him about it.

Himchan snaps out of his thoughts, to blink at me. "Huh?" he hums. "Oh, I just...have a really weird feeling about this place..."

"And why is that?" I question, encouraging for him to continue on.

He frowns a little, and then goes to slowly cross his arms together, with that pondering look on his face. "I just...I feel like I've been here before, but..." Himchan pauses slightly, to give his head a minor tilt, as if giving his environment a closer study. "I...I don't know."

I now frown too, as I watch him look rather troubled, in trying to piece his missing thoughts together.

Our attention is suddenly grabbed, when a melodic female voice, chimes her greeting to us, from afar.

Jieun, wearing an off shoulder cream dress, eventually makes her way over, to properly greet us, like a good hostess. The three of us make some small talk, and when she mentions a particular sparkling wine, it causes Himchan's interest to perk up, so she then offers to bring him towards the table, to show him. They indicate for me to follow, but when the corner of my eye, catches sight of a particular male, standing all by himself in a corner nearby, I tell them that I'll be over there with him instead. Himchan and Jieun look rather blankly at me, but eventually go to their sparkling drink.

Turning my head away from the two, I now begin to approach the (rather) uncomfortable looking figure, and when he finally lifts his head up to meet my gaze, the look of relief, washing over his features, makes me smile a little, in amusement.

"Why do you look so awkward over here?" I playfully enquire.

The corner of Yongguk's lips twitch up somewhat. "You know that I don't do well with these types of occasions," he gloomily says. "I would much rather be in some casual clothes, instead of...this."

Yongguk gives the collar of his light blue dress shirt a petty tug, and upon doing that, my eyes can't help but notice how...strange his deep red tie looks.

And the more I stare at it, the funnier it becomes, because I soon realise that the way that he's tied his tie, is quite messy.

"Yongguk, your tie," I point out, with a small laugh. "What did you do to it?"

Looking down at it, and then back at me, the look of confusion, causes for him to slightly frown. "What do you mean?" he cluelessly asks.

This makes me shake my head good-naturedly at him, as I go to motion for him to stand closer. "Ties are supposed to have that triangle shape," I say. "Your one is...well, a circle."

Blinking a little, my chortle eventually makes him undo the red fabric, with an embarrassed smile. I go to poke fun at him some more, just before grabbing a hold of the tie, to begin the correct way of knotting it. And as I go to do this, I can feel a fairly nervous vibe emitting from Yongguk, because when my eyes go to look up at him, he would dart his gaze elsewhere. He also seems rather stiff, and because of this odd behaviour, I'm thinking that he must be worried about what everyone else in the room might be thinking, if they were looking at us right now.

When I'm finished, I then also go to straighten out his collar, so that it's perfect. "There we go," I cheerfully say, with a satisfied smile. "Much better."

Yongguk goes to touch his tie a bit, and when he takes out his phone to use it as a mirror, he nods his head at it, in approval. "I knew you were always good at this," he gently murmurs. "Thank you."

The two of us begin to talk some more, and soon, the room becomes filled with new people, as the volume of talking from each corner, seems to increase. People are either eating, socialising, or just waltzing away, to the soothing ballroom music, being gently played. I manage to greet a few acquaintances here and there, and as I share a polite conversation with them, I can see that in my peripheral vision, Himchan is fitting in quite well. He's managed to gather a decent group of people, (who I've noticed are mostly girls) to animatedly chat away, and have them enjoying whatever it is that he's talking about, with how they're all laughing together.

It makes me secretly smile to myself, to see how he's easily being able to attract people towards him, and before I can watch him anymore, I hear my name being called.

"Hmm?" I hum out, now facing Yongguk again.

He shows me a bright smile, as he tilts his head over towards the left. "Do you want to dance?" he questions.

I look over, to see that the dance floor isn't empty any more. Returning my attention back to Yongguk, I then purse my lips into a tight line. "You, more than anyone, should know that I do not dance," I miserably say. "We've had this conversation so many times, now; I’m a singer, not a dancer."

Yongguk chuckles at me. "I know, I know," he lightly says. "But come on; just one dance, and then never again."

The frown on my face continues, but the more I stare at his hopeful, (with a hint of pleading) face, the soft spot that I have for him, bit by bit, overpowers me.

"Oh...alright, fine," I hesitantly agree, with a sigh. "Only because you're my best friend."

It happens very quickly, but the happy look on Yongguk's face drops by a fraction.

Leading me into the dance section, I become a little distracted, in watching the couples freely waltz around us, with a look of bliss on their faces. My attention then focuses back onto the front, as I now feel my left palm, resting on a broad shoulder, while my right hand, is being interlocked, with some slender fingers. Yongguk has his other hand on my waist, and with a small chuckle, he then begins to move. I'm uncomfortable, and I make that very clear to him, but even though he seems to be thoroughly amused at this, he doesn't laugh at me.

Instead, he just calmly tells me to ease up, and follow his lead, without thinking too much. His soothing order, gradually coaxes me into clearing out my mind, so that I'm only focused on me and him. This makes things a lot easier, and I slowly find myself being able to fall into the graceful rhythm, of the dancing. It makes me smile, and I can see that from the shine in his eyes, that Yongguk is also happy, about this minor progress. The song now starts to slow down, into a more intimate sort of tune, and when I see the couples around me, begin to change the placing of their hands, I'm a little unsure of what to do.

But Yongguk seems to have everything under control, as he casually untangles our linked fingers, to then put my hand onto his other shoulder, just before resting his hand onto the other side of my hip.

"So when did you learn about ballroom dancing?" I query, as we begin to gently sway.

"Jieun," is Yongguk's simple answer. "She made me take some ballroom dancing before, and...let’s just say that every time, when someone would be partnered up with me, they would cringe."

His response makes me raise an eyebrow. "Why?" I confusedly ask. "Did you step on their feet a lot, or something?"

My guess causes Yongguk to laugh. "Yeah," he reveals, with a sheepish smile. "That's basically it."

"Wow..." I quietly say, with a small nod. "So since you're not stepping on my feet, how much did you have to practice, to train yourself to not do that?"

Yongguk inhales slowly, and the look on his face gives me an idea, of how tedious the process was. "A lot," he replies. "So much, to the point where I would even do it, when I was trying to mix up some beats together."

The imagine of him waltzing in front of his computer, while looking extremely serious, makes me erupt into a giggling fit. Yongguk makes it clear that he's embarrassed to be reminded of his dark tales, with ballroom dancing, so to hear him share these out to me, is really saying something. The conversation between the two of us soon depletes, making me now go on, to look at how the other dancing couples are doing. Some of them look quite cosy together, and seeing this, causes me to now search around the room, for Himchan. I can't seem to find him right now, and even if I could, I wouldn’t have had enough time to do anything, because Yongguk suddenly pulls my attention back towards him.

And the way that he goes to utter out my name, clearly tells me that there's something wrong.

It sounds a little shaky, and although I know of what a shy person he naturally is, it doesn't make sense, to see him actually nervous, around me.

"Yejin, I...I have to tell you something," he informs, looking rather fidgety. "And it's really important that you...hear me out, and...think about it, okay?"

All I can do is slowly nod my head, while feeling a mixture of confused worry. "Sure...?" I carefully say.

I watch as Yongguk gulps in a breath, probably as an attempt to calm himself down. "I actually want to tell you this, after Himchan-sshi remembers, and then goes back to where he's supposed to be..." murmurs the brunette. "But...I don't think I can wait any longer."

Yongguk's sudden eye contact startles me a little, as it takes me aback, but I force myself to push away the surprise, and patiently listen to him.

"To put it simply, I...am an idiot," he confesses, with a sigh. "I've spent so much time focused on one thing, that I've failed to notice at how good something else is, and...to be honest, I think I might actually be too late."      

He’s being very vague right now, so I try my best to comfort his unclear dilemma. "Actually, you're probably not," I say. "I don't think you can ever be 'too late' about something, really."

It's small, but as soon as those words leave my mouth, hope seems to flash across Yongguk's face. The look only lasts for a split second though, before he drops back down into his state of melancholy. "Are you sure?" he quietly questions.

With my most comforting smile, I then nod my head twice.

"Alright..." he softly says. "Then let me ask you something."

I welcome his question. "Of course," I calmly say. "Ask me anything."

There's a minor pause, and for some reason, I can feel my heart skipping in anxiety.

Because as soon as these four words leave Yongguk's lips, I'm hit with a huge wave of surprise, as they’re about me, and not himself.

"Do you love him?" he finally announces, in a murmur.

My eyes round a little, with my eyebrows jumping high.

Do I...do I love—?

In truth, I've never thought about it before, but...possibly?

My composure slips, as I go to give my bottom lip a nervous bite, all while making sure to avoid Yongguk's gaze.

And for some reason, this makes him softly laugh to himself, but I don’t hear (nor feel) any humour coming from it. "I didn't even mention a name, but you thought of someone, didn't you?" he sadly says.

I don't want to voice out at how correct he is, but my mute reply is probably enough to tell him so.

The crestfallen expression on his face makes me ache with concern, but a tiny piece inside of me, is afraid to know why he's looking so solemn.

I’m afraid to know why he looks so upset, because that tiny piece inside of me, has a slight idea, even though that slight idea, seems rather...strange.

"Yejin, I don't want to be your best friend anymore," announces Yongguk, from out of the blue.

His sudden revealment knocks the wind out of my lungs, as I inwardly choke on a gasp, from the invisible (and yet hurtful) punch towards my chest. "I-I'm sorry," I manage to stutter out, too paralysed, to react in a much more upset way. "But...what?"

Yongguk takes in a deep breath, and due to the small pause of that, it anxiously starts up my stunned heart again. "No, what I'm trying to say is that—" I see him nervously swallow. "I don't want to be your best friend anymore, because I want to be your boyfriend."