Palms sweaty and knees shaking, Sooyoung looked back at the pair of hazel nut eyes that stared at her. She lightly brushed off his hold from her wrist.

Everything was happening just too fast for her to take in. Such a revelation rocked her world like never before.

She took one step back as the distance between them overwhelmed every inch of her body.

“I-I-like you too…” Her voice quivered as she darted any eye contact.

“I mean, as Yuri’s friend…as my sister’s friend…of course I like you…”

The awkward atmosphere which surrounded the two now hovered over them like a dark cloud.

“Can you just SERIOUSLY look at me for one second?” his voice cut through the thick air like a sharp knife.

“I like you too.” She exclaimed.

He wanted it to end right there…right at that particular moment. That sentence containing those four simple words was enough for him, perfect for him.

“…as a friend…” Sooyoung softly continued.

She lied to herself, but she had no idea.

Those little spikes of excitement, the sense of longing, the butterflies in her stomach --- the reason for it all COULD be standing right before her eyes; yet she was just too blind to analyze the situation.

Changmin saw every little hesitancy in her voice, calling what he only believed to be a bluff. He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to wake her up from this deep sleep that seemed to overtake her in order for them both to dream together.

Once again, he reached for her wrist, grabbing it ever so firmly. Her touch no longer surprised him; instead it felt like home --a feeling of comfort and acceptance.

He dragged her along the crowded sidewalk as he headed towards his extravagant slick black car parked nearby.

For a second he let go of her hand; although, promising in his mind that ‘letting go of Sooyoung’ can never happen…won’t happen.

He opened the passenger side door and bent down.

“Noona, get out.”

Sooyoung’s eyes naturally fell down at the sound of the word noona come out from Changmin’s mouth. She never knew that such a word fit in his vocabulary, after all he strongly refused to call her that.

She widened her eyes in disbelief.

“Get out.”

“Whyyyyy~~” a female’s voice whined from inside.

“I’m sorry, but I said get out.” His voice was gentle, yet all the while completely serious.

Changmin reached inside and lightly pulled a girl out, but not just any girl.

It was a girl Sooyoung knew very well; slightly short with chocolate brown curls that fell down along her shoulders. Sooyoung watched the girl step out in confusion.

Sunny?!?

“Sunny is that you?!?” she called out to her friend in which she had not seen for what seemed to be light years.

Before she could say anymore, Changmin pulled Sooyoung by the elbow and assisted her to the car. As she was still hesitating to follow his lead, Changmin had no choice but to lightly push the girl’s head down and into his car.

To some it may be called kidnapping or abduction, but to Shim Changmin, it was simply called taking his girl out for a drive...whether or not she wanted to.  

Sunny slapped on the passenger window with her small beaded handbag.

“Sooyoungg!!! What are you doing? What’s going on???” she screamed in frustration.

“Changmin!! Shim Changmin!!” she called out to the figure that was now headed to the driver’s seat.

He wasn’t interested in what she had to say. From now on he decided that Sooyoung was his only interest…no one else.

Sooyoung exchanged her glances between Sunny and the guy that now held her captive. What the hell is going on??

She watched her childhood friend slowly disappear from her view in the window, slowly becoming a small dot. From the looks of it, she too didn’t understand the situation either. The only one that knew would be the very same person sitting next to her at the moment…Shim Changmin.

She didn’t quite know how to bring up any sort of conversation with him at the moment, after all – he had just confessed to her. She shyly stared at the kid from the corner of her eyes. He held on a concentrated gaze at the road as he continued to drive.

In an instant the car took on more speed, there they were on one hell of a ride. With a single push of a button, the top began to fall down revealing the beauty that a convertible holds. The cool wind fell through their hair as above them bright stars shimmered down along their faces. They drove down the busy streets of Seoul in complete silence aside from the roar of the aggressive engine.

“It takes five minutes.”

Changmin’s voice finally broke through the quietness.

Sooyoung turned her head halfway in order to face him. “Hmm?” She scrunched her eyebrows at him.

“It takes exactly five minutes to get to your house.”

“…”

“So in that time, you have to answer my question. Do you want to go out with me? Yes or no?”

Sooyoung brought her head back as she now stared to the side. She was a little taken aback from his sudden declare of an ultimatum. Her eyes flickered with nervousness by just the thought of it.

“If you don’t answer me in those five minutes, I’ll drive to the West Coast.”

“W-west Coast???” She replied surprisingly.

Sooyoung looked over to the gutsy individual. He did not even once look at her ever since---his eyes stared straight ahead…

“W-w-wait!!” Suddenly, she started to panic. She felt her blood rushing to her head.

“w-w-w-w-waitt!” she pleaded.

Changmin finally broke off his gaze and looked at her through the front mirror as he raised his eyebrow at her.

“First, how do you know Sunny? What’s your relationship with her?”

“We went out for a tiny bit before..maybe in junior high…”

He brought his eyes down to Sooyoung.

“Why, are you jealous??” A lopsided smile formed across Changmin’s lips, he was getting excited by just the thought of it.

“Stop meeting with her! She has a boyfriend…and he’s pretty awesome actually…” her voice trailed off at just the thought of the 'awesome' individual.

Changmin tightened his grip on the steering wheel after hearing the girl he liked compliment another man. He turned his head once more towards the front.

“Maybe I should head over to the East Coast instead. 3 minutes and 10 seconds!” He sternly replied.

Sooyoung gasped as she pulled up her sleeve and fidgeted at her watch.

He’s actually counting?!?  She bit her bottom lip, not knowing what to do...

“3 minutes and 5 seconds.”

He pulled down on the shift and stepped on the accelerator. The black car sped down the road quicker as the wind wisped more violently. The tires burned through the concrete as he commanded the car to take sudden twists and turns.

Sooyoung grabbed onto the seatbelt that wrapped her securely onto her seat and tightly closed her eyes.

She screamed in her mind as her thoughts jumbled along. Dizziness accompanied from the fast movement of the car made her feel unsettling.

When is this going to end?? When will it all stop?!?!

Before she knew it, a loud screech arising from the four tires surfaced in the quiet night.

Sooyoung peeked open her eyes. She was home.

In the speed of light Sooyoung unlatched the buckle and reached for the car door handle, but before she could pull it open the sound of the lock abruptly interrupted her.

Slowly, she turned to face Changmin.

“5…4…3…2…1.”

"..."

"Time is up...answer."