"Thanks for walking me home anyway," I smile at Minhyuk, who is standing outside my front door rubbing the back of his neck shyly.

"No problem," Minhyuk gives me a thumbs up and a grin, before turning serious, "but Hei, remember if you need anything...don't hesistate to come and find me, okay?"

I smile at his worried expression, and turn to my house, before the nagging sensation in the pit of stomach convinces me to turn back around to Minhyuk. "...Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?!" I blurt out, "you used to be such a casanova at school - and you never really cared about what others feel! So why are you suddenly noticing my emotions and trying to be all helpful?" I bury my face in my hands, "You're only confusing me, Minhyuk, I don't know how to feel about you now..."

And when I peeked up to look at him again through my fingers, his face was stained with a strange mixture of ecstatic surprise and free-flowing tears.

"Woah, sorry! What did I say?!" I hurried cup a hand to his cheek.

"Hei, do you think you'll ever be able to like me?" he suddenly asks, pressing his face closer into my palm, "because I told you ages ago that I liked you, and you rejected me because you liked Hyunsik hyung, right?"

Well...more or less...it was also to do with the disgust I felt towards him for making out with girls in the men's bathroom. "Partly I guess...so...?"

"So...now that you and Hyunsik...you know...aren't really possible anymore..." Minhyuk trails off, looking to the concrete ground for moral support.

"And you were wondering whether I could be your girlfriend?" I smirk, enjoying the short moment of power in the relationship as he glances up with hopeful eyes. "Nope, sorry man, it's not going to be that easy."

His head droops down once more, before shooting up in sudden surprise. "Wait, that didn't sound like a rejection to me - are you going to rephrase that to make it sound more like 'sorry but I don't like you', or something along those lines?"

"I choose my words carefully before I speak," my eyes crinkle into tiny crescent moons as I grin at him, "so no, I'm not going to rephrase it; I'm just saying it's not going to be that easy to make me date you."

"Not that easy...but not impossible..." Minhyuk taps his chin thoughtfully, "so basically you're telling me...to court you properly?"

"Y-yeah...I guess so..." I blush at his honest words, "if you want to, that is."

"OF COURSE I WANT TO!" he wraps his arms around my shoulders in a bear hug, "Hei, you have no idea how heartbroken I was when I found out that the first boy you talked to since high school was Hyunsik. I had no chance, no possibility of ever gaining your love, because I was almost sure that he was your first love. But this," he laughs in delight, "this is beyond my imagination! You're actually giving me a chance and some hope for the future!"

Uh oh...I feel really guilty now... I mentally scold myself, I like the new and gentle Minhyuk, but it feels like I'm just using him to fill the hole in my heart left behind by Hyunsik's absence... "Minhyuk?" I break him out of his excitement with a guarded tone, "actually, I think I shouldn't give you so much hope."

I scrutinize his expressi