I blinked vigourously, my eyes wide as saucers as he pulled away from the kiss.

"That, is a real kiss," He whispered tenderly as he smiled a small, sweet smile, his eyes captivating my whole being.

I swallowed painfully, my throat suddenly dry. I saw the concern in his eyes and my own pain reflected in them and suddenly felt like crying.

No... I must NOT cry. I don't even know this guy. I must not cry. I chanted persistently in my head, but no matter how hard I tried, tears sneaked into my eyes. I pressed my lips into a thin, tight line as I closed my eyes, a single, hot tear falling down my cheek.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, I felt warm, strong arms embracing me. He smelt of cookies and warm milk. And in that instant, I felt so protected and loved. More protected than I ever felt when Siwon fought off the bullies at the playground when I was young and boasted about it for the next 2 weeks. More protected than I ever felt when Siwon saved me from drowning after he let his friend play a prank on me at the swimming pool. More protected than I ever felt after spending my whole life with Siwon.

"Don't cry... He's a jerk... Don't cry..." He hugged me closely and whispered into my hair over and over again.

Donghae POV

I saw the tear that she had been holding in since just now leak out from her dark eyes and in that instant, I felt my heart break. Without knowing what I was doing, I stepped forward and engulfed her in a tight hug. She sobbed uncontrollably and just stood there without resistance, her cries muffled by my body. If you could hear a person's heart break, I heard hers break a million times, over and over again.  My heart hurt for her. I don't know her, but in that instant, I felt like protecting and caring for her. "Don't cry..." Those were the only words I could think of because listening to her cry make me want to punch the guy that made her cry. But somehow, I think it made her feel better, because after 5 minutes, her sobs were few and far between. She looked up and sniffed a little, blinking away the last of her tears as she gave me a small, teary smile.

"Thank you. Truly." She smiled gratefully as she took a small step back. I saw the world in that smile. And I wanted to protect it more than anything. So without thinking, I heard myself say, "Come, let me take you somewhere." Then I grabbed her wrist for the second time that day and led her to my car.

Your POV

I let him lead me away for the second time today. Somehow, I knew that I could trust him. He never said where we were going, but I never doubted this familiar stranger. During the journey there, he was silent and focused on the road, other than for the occasional glances at me to check if I was alright. I was thankful for that. For that understanding and peace, no questions and just... comfortable silence.

He brought me to the beach. "Follow me." He said. We spent 3 hours at the beach screaming to the ocean. We screamed about everything. About the jerks in our lives, about homework and parents, about teachers and friends, about love and heartbreak, about our favourite colours and animals: anything and everything we could think of. I don't think we heard what each other said, but FELT each other's pain. After that, we were both hoarse and exhausted. Panting from exhaustion, we collasped in the sand and started laughing. We laughed for no reason, but I felt better, screaming, laughing, and having someone beside me.

"Thank you Donghae... I feel much better now." I whispered.

"You're welcome. I needed to scream too," He replied with a laugh, but I could hear a sad undertone in his voice.

"Come, let's go eat something!" I stood up and pulled him up. Now it's my turn to try and make him happy. He stood up reluctantly, but with a big smile on his face. We went to a nearby eatery and ordered everything on the menu. I can't remember what we ate or talked about, but I remember drinking a lot of soju, laughing heartily, and falling asleep at the eatery.

The next thing I knew when I opened my eyes was that my head hurt. I was in a unfamiliar room with soft white curtains that blew gently in the breeze, and that there was a pair of hands around my waist, holding me tightly.

Turning around slowly and awkwardly in the embrace, I found myself facing a chest. My eyes went wide and i gasped softly in shock.

"Mmmm..." Donghae shifted a little and I froze immediately. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to not move an inch, pretending to still be asleep.

"Come on, I know you're awake." Donghae smirked mischieviously. 

Caught.

Squirming out of his embrace, I tumbled off the bed and whipped around to face him, wanting to demand an explanation.

Donghae's POV

She dashed off the bed faster than I could catch her, snatching the blanket with her. Maybe she thought she was or something. I eyed the blanket in amusement, and lifted one eyebrow cheekily before looking up and meeting her eyes. When our eyes met, her cheeks burned bright red in embarrassment and she avoided my eyes almost immediately. 

Ahh, I forgot... I'm not wearing a shirt. Damn. 

My heart pounded rapidly. Yet I wasn't sure whether it was due to me being half- in front of a stranger or because she looked really cute when she was embarrassed. I swallowed dryly and my thoughts flitted all over the place, looking for an explanation. Finally, I decided to play it cool. 

"Okay, listen. I know what you're thinking right now, but NO, we did not do IT. You were dead-drunk yesterday and I couldn't get your home address out of you so I had no choice but to bring you back to my house. You puked on my shirt so I had to get rid of it." I explained slowly as I got off the bed and started walking towards her.

She wouldn't meet my eyes and that frustrated me immensely. 

Upset and slightly angry, I slid my arms around her waist in a swift action and pulled her against me, just so that she would look at me.

I heard her breath leave her in a gasp as she was forced to look at either my face or my chest. She chose to avoid my eyes, and stared at my chest. Hmm.

Your POV

That sneaky boy! Fine, I shall believe him about what happened. But that doesn't mean that he can walk around the place without a shirt! I couldn't bring myself from looking into those soulful eyes otherwise I would just turn red and explode. My heart was already racing furiously at the nearness of him...

Distracted now, i pushed him away, and stumbled towards my bag, which I spotted, was near the door. Letting the blanket I was holding around me slip off my shoulders, I took 2 steps towards the door when I felt a cold gust of wind engulf my body. THAT felt weird. I looked down at my body slowly...

Donghae's POV

Oh. . My eyes darted to the edge of the bed and saw her blouse and skirt on the floor near the bed post. 

, , ... Not good.

She turned towards me and opened to let out a ear-piercing scream. My first instinct was to run towards her and cover to stop her. So one hand s around her waist to prevent her from turning around and hitting me, and the other hand gagged her scream. She struggled in my grasp and gave me an accusatory stare that made me feel immensely guilty. Even so, I gave her the up-down look, taking in the full view of her body. Damn, I have an almost- girl in my living room !!!

Maybe I should have told her exactly what happened last night