My eyes can only go on to blink at him in bewilderment, as I somewhat struggle to digest in what Yongguk has just said to me.

I am shocked.

Completely, and utterly, shocked.

And it’s as though every spiritual being out there wants me to give him a response right here and now, because the gentle dancing music, at long last, comes to an end.

My hands go to slowly withdraw themselves from him, as he carefully does the same with me. Neither of us moves from our spot, and our silence tells me that he's waiting. I know us standing in the middle of nowhere, is probably a hassle for a couple of people, but that's honestly the least of my worries right now. Yongguk's gaze, filled with anticipation (and a pinch of anxiousness), makes me swallow. My mind can't seem to form any coherent sentences right now, as I'm blank, from being stunned to the core.

And the more I start to think about why I feel this way, the more I realise that...Yongguk is right.

Because if he had told me this sooner, then maybe, I would have happily handed my heart over to him, while tenderly embracing his one in return...if a certain someone else, hadn't managed to already attained it for himself.

These thoughts make me sadly frown, because I have waited so long to hear him say these words to me.

I have waited so long for this to happen, but I don't want to go through with it any longer, because it’s gone.

My feelings—they’ve managed to progressively dissolved, and morphed itself, into a type of care, that is only shared between two really good friends. The eagerness, and the delightful feelings that I once felt, when hearing him, or seeing him, is now different—I don’t feel my heart giddily skipping away like it used to, any more, because that now only happens, when I see—

The sound of someone suddenly clearing their throat, makes us turn away from each other, and then over to them.

Himchan's eyes flicker over both Yongguk and I, and although he doesn't say anything, Yongguk understands that three's a crowd.

However, just before he politely excuses himself, for Himchan and me to be alone, I reach out for his wrist, to stop him.

"Yongguk," I apprehensively start off. "I can't—"

But he quickly turns around to face me again, before I can finish off my sentence. "No," he quietly says, which effectively silences me. "Yejin, no."

My concerned eyebrows slowly begin to draw together, as Himchan's face is now sporting a curious expression.

"Like I said, I want you to think about it," he softly remarks.

This makes me frown. “But I already have...” I slowly say.

Yongguk responds to my quiet reply, by curling his fingers around my own, and by doing this, I can see that the look on Himchan's face, is demanding me for answers. "No, I want you to really think about it," pleads Yongguk.

"But—"

He cuts me off again, with a small squeeze of our connected hands. "Yejin, please," he says—almost begging—and because of that painful tone, (along with Himchan watching us) I hesitantly agree, hoping to temporarily set aside, this heartbreaking moment.

Himchan doesn't fail to narrow his eyes in distrust at Yongguk, and proceeds to soundlessly do so, until the brunette is away from us, and somewhere else, across the room.

With folded arms, he now turns his head back over to me, with an unimpressed frown. "What the heck was that all about?" he sneers, in a rather interrogative voice. "Geez, and I thought I was dramatic."

I finally allow myself to exhale out a slow, distressed sigh. "Don't worry about it," I mumble. "It's—" My eyebrows crumple again. "He's just—" I pause once more, as I’m unable to find the right words. "It's just best friend stuff." 

Himchan quirks a brow, obviously not believing my fib. "And what's this 'best friend' stuff, huh?" he presses on, with a prying tilt of his head.

But I shake my head at him, signalling for him to dismiss it. "Honestly, don't worry about it," I quickly say. "The main thing is, I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

The scrutinizing look on Himchan's face, now changes into one of confusion. "Huh?" he blurts out. "You were planning on going somewhere?"

His adorable cluelessness brings a tiny smile onto my face, but before I can respond, Himchan gives his fingers a swift click.

"Oh, I know where you're going!" he suddenly exclaims, with a child-like serious expression. "You were planning on being in my arms, right?"

I blink at him for a bit, before letting out a small chortle, when his arms go to engulf me into a lively hug.

Himchan now releases me, as he goes to straighten himself up. "Okay," he brightly begins, while holding out his palm to me, with a slight bow. "Will Jinniebear, accept Channiebear's invitation, to dance?"

Maybe if he didn't add in the flirty wink, then his offer would come out as really cute.

But because of that sly gesture, I can't help but laugh at his attempt on being classy. "And what if Jinniebear says no?" I teasingly say.

Himchan is skeptical. "So Jinniebear gets to dance with Mr Angry Eyebrows, but Channiebear doesn't?" he huffily says. "Fine, then I'll just go and see if Sunhwa wants to dance with me, instead."

"Sunhwa?" I repeat, in a tone that gestures for him to continue on.

Himchan nods his head at me. "Yeah," he smugly says. "She'll be nice enough to—"

"—Dance with Kwanghee?" I finish off.

Blinking at me for a bit, Himchan turns his attention over to where I'm looking, to see the dark orange haired girl, indeed, dancing away, with a beaming male.

Himchan returns his gaze back over to me. "How do you know him?" he demands, with a frown.

I shrug a shoulder. "I don't," I nonchalantly answer. "I just overheard his name being said in a conversation nearby, that's all."

This makes Himchan crinkle his nose at me. "Ew, you're a sneaky stalker," he says.

As a response, I give him a skeptical look. "How does that make me a stalker?" I incredibly ask.

"Because!" says Himchan, rather dramatically. "You listened out for his name, to learn about his identity...am I right, or am I right?"

My flattened expression makes him eventually burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay, come on," he beckons, now pulling me forward, to place my hands behind his neck. "Let’s dance now, because as much as I love the attention that we're getting, from standing in the middle of nowhere, I think we should move a little closer, to each other."

My attention has been too distracted by Himchan, to realise that people have been dancing around us (some were even giggling amongst themselves), and because I'm now aware of it, the awkwardness of being in people’s ways, helps me quicken my wanting to slowly dance with him.

Throughout the close dancing, I eventually come to rest my head against his chest, as he gently lays his cheek on top of mine. We would occasionally break away, for him to make me do a little twirl, because even though I'm standing, the comfort of being in his warm arms has this strange touch, to make me somewhat drowsy. Himchan would quietly here and there, pick at people's outfits, whenever we were closely positioned together, and although I rebuked him for being unnecessarily mean, I couldn't...well, secretly agree with him either.

Now, happily gazing up at him, my lips smoothly curve up into a blissful smile, to see him lovingly looking back at me.

And when he leans down, to deliver a soft kiss onto my smiling lips, I automatically respond to the sweet exchange, which is followed up, by a small giggle.

Although, when my eyes suddenly glance over to the left, to see a hurt brunette, standing afar in the back, my chest instantly feels heavy with guilt.

I quickly turn my head away, and go back to leaning my cheek against Himchan's chest, with a concerned bite of my lip.

But because Himchan has those sharp eyes of his, it doesn't allow him to miss out something that's as quick as this.

"You look a little preoccupied there, but in a bad way," he suddenly points out. "What's wrong?"

Not wanting to tell him, I just gently move my head from side to side. "Nothing," I mumble, with my best poker face. "I'm fine."

Himchan isn't convinced. "Hmm..." he doubtfully hums, but eventually surrenders with a small (yet understanding) sigh. "Alright, fine. But just so you know, if you're ever feeling troubled about anything, then don't be afraid to tell me, okay?"

A genuinely thankful smile eases up my face, as I go to quietly nod my head at him. "Okay," I softly murmur.

My agreement makes Himchan grin. "Good," he happily says. "Now let’s get something to nibble on, because I'm in the mood for that cheese biscuit thing."

Himchan is now leading me over towards the food. "Oh, okay, um...care to enlighten me on this...cheese biscuit, thing?" I quizzically ask, with a raised eyebrow. "There are a lot of 'cheese biscuit' things in here, so...I'm not really sure which one you're talking about."

"It's the one that looks like a mini boat!" replies the ecstatic dark haired male. "I like to call it, the 'cheese boat'."

I laugh at him. "Nice," I light-heartedly say. "That's very creative of you."

"Yeah, I know," says Himchan, with mock confidence. "I'm the best. Oh, look—there they are!"

Tugging me along a lot more eagerly now, Himchan's burst of energy continues to make me smile. "Hey, it's not that amazing, is it?" I say. "Because you look as though you're going to bash your head in there out of excitement."

Himchan plays along with my teasing. "Aw," he coos, with a pout. "How'd you know that that's what I wanted to do?"

I lightly roll my eyes at him, all while making sure to give his arm a playful slap.

My actions make Himchan let out a snigger, as he now picks up a long, miniature, biscuit, filled with a savoury cheese-looking filling. A few sprinkles of herbs sits on top of it all, and the more I look at it, the more I begin to see the 'boat' resemblance, that Himchan was talking about. Holding it out for me, I'm about to take the food into my own fingers, when he suddenly moves it out of my reach, to then therefore, plop it into his own mouth. Himchan is amused at the weird look that I'm giving him, but before I can go to choose a biscuit of my own, he picks it up, and then feeds it to me.

It's delicious, and throughout the rest of the event, it seems as though it's Himchan's goal to make it known to everyone, that we're a couple, with how closely he proceeded to stick to me.

And normally, the clinginess of someone being with me would tire me out, but with Himchan, I actually feel a lot more alive.

———————————————

It's now later into the night, where things are slowly starting to wrap up, with people gradually leaving, bit by bit. Yongguk had left an hour ago, saying that he had to prepare for some work tomorrow, along with a couple of other people. I wasn't really sure of how to be around him, but when I went to give him a goodbye hug, he gave me a small, understanding smile, just before bidding me farewell. Himchan quirked an eyebrow at our rather mute interaction, but nonetheless, kept quiet.

I now watch, as Jieun goes to say her goodbyes to a few leaving friends, but right when I'm about to grab a hold of Himchan, so that we can leave as well, I see someone emerge through the entrance of the room.

Dressed in a beautiful, long red dress, that has a stylish cut on the side, (to slightly reveal her toned legs) my guess is that she was in a rush to get here, with how she's currently huffing and puffing. Her short, brown hair, whips around her clear-skinned face, as though frantically searching for something, or someone. Jieun is her target, and after seeing her wave goodbye to someone, the red-dressed female then begins to hastily make her way over to her. They talk, and now becoming aware that she's arrived right when everyone is getting ready to leave, she lets out a groan.

A string of complaints about how her work had kept her behind comes up next, which is then followed up by an aggrivated sigh. Jieun, being the optimistic that she is, proceeds to try and cheer her up, by reassuring that she didn't miss out on much, but her friend still continues her moping. I now go to grab a hold of Himchan, where the two of us then make over to Jieun, to inform her of our leaving. She thanks us for joining her, and we in return, politely thank her for inviting us, just before leaving.

And throughout the three of us talking, I can't help but notice the short haired female's gaze on us—or more importantly, Himchan.

I can't explain it, but an odd wave of various emotions, ranging from surprise to confusion, were all over her facial expressions.

It makes me curious, but I decide to keep quiet about it, since we really should be on our way.

Exiting the place, and then heading down the stairs, towards the vintage escalator, Himchan is just about to reach his finger out to give the button a push, when—

"Excuse me!" calls out a frantic female's voice.

Both Himchan and I bring our attention towards the urgent-sounding person, and when I come to see that it's the woman in red from before, now attempting to catch back her breath as she now stands in front us, my curiosity is triggered.

"Channie," I hear her breathe out, upon straightening herself up. "Himchannie, is that...is that you?"

I'm now baffled, and when I go to look over at Himchan, he seems to be just as confused.

"Are you," she speaks once more, still huffing slightly. "Kim...Him...Chan?"

Himchan blinks at her a little, just before signalling her yes. "Yeaaaah?" he carefully says. "And you are...?"

Letting out a gasp, her hands then go to cup , as her eyes now begin to glisten up with moisture. "Are you really?" she shakily says, upon choking out a sob. "I just—I—"

Not only does her familiarity with Himchan confuse me, but her sudden crying makes me really unsure of what to do.

Because when she suddenly flings herself towards him, to continue on, with her loud sobbing, my eyes round to the size of an egg.

"You're alive!" I hear her cry out. "I can't believe it, I just—" Her crying muffles the rest of her sentence, as she continues to shed some more tears.

Stunned, Himchan is greatly startled by her sudden embrace, and is confused to hug her back, or to go on, and keep his arms frozen in mid-air. "Yes..." he confusedly says, while giving her , an awkward pat. "I am...well and truly...alive..." Letting out a small cough, he then turns over to face me. "Yejin?" calls Himchan, with nervousness. "Who is this pretty lady, and why is she reacting this way?"

My concerned eyes study the sniffling brunette some more, (I honestly do think that I have seen her somewhere before, though) just before meeting Himchan's perplexed face, with an equally confused expression.

I'm about to open my mouth to say something, but she beats me to it.

"Yah!" she suddenly explodes. "I know you can move on pretty quick, but how can you just pretend that what we had wasn't special, huh?!"

Another wave of surprise washes over both Himchan and I, as we proceed to stare at her with wide eyes.

The brunette continues on, sniffing slightly. "I refused to believe that you were gone, so every day, I couldn't help but cry to myself, since they said that it was all my fault," she says, with a hiccup. "But deep down, I knew that you couldn't have possibly disappeared so easily, so I prayed. I prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and now that I've finally found you, you say that you have no idea who I am? That you have forgotten me, the one and only, Jeon Hyosung?"

———————————————

A/N: Dun dun dunnnnn, so what happens now?! It seems as though for every question that gets (slightly?) answered, (lol not really) then a gazillion other questions, just appear out of nowhere, haha. But it's okay, because Hyosung will answer everything about Himchan, (at least, to the best of her abilities) in the next chapter >:D I also want to say thank you for reading, subscribing, upvoting, and commenting! Your reactions to Yongguk's confession made me just LOL oh you guuuuys :'D