The two passed out after their first night of intimacy. It was a long day and Jihae dragged out the to last much longer than she normally would have to mess with Kris. Needless to say, this frustrated him and he got back at her. They were thoroughly exhausted.

Sometime around four in the morning, Jihae woke up with a jolt. She looked at Kris sadly and grabbed a blanket to go sit in the living room. She sat in the dark silence on her couch, tears streaming down her face.

Kris turned over in his sleep, arm reaching out for the warm body it craved contact with. He frowned when he didn’t find it. In general, it was hard for Kris to wake up. But he was sensitive to Jihae, even in his sleep. He opened his eyes, scared that everything that just happened was a dream. Nope, he was in Jihae’s bedroom. Not a dream. He looked at the time, eighteen after four. He got up to look for her, grabbing his jeans on the way. He wouldn’t have found her if he hadn’t heard the ruffling of fabric in the direction of the couch.

“Jihae?”

“Hm?” More ruffling.

“Why are you sitting out here in the dark?”

“No reason.”

He frowned. It sounded like she had been crying. He heard her quietly sniffle. What if she regrets it? She must hate me now. I was her only friend. She must have felt obligated to do what she thought I wanted. She’s too easy going like that.

“J-Jihae?”

“Hm?”

“I’m going to turn on the light, okay?”

“Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Just don’t.”

“Okay.” Kris sighed and clumsily made his way over to her. He wasn’t used to navigating her apartment in the dark. He sat down beside her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Even with the lights off, I know you’re crying.”

“You’re leaving aren’t you?” She asked suddenly.

“What?!”

“I knew you were going to leave me, but I was hoping you’d try to keep in contact with me even after being famous. But you’re going to leave me for good aren’t you?” He could see the dim moonlight filter through her blinds and shine on her eyes that were looking straight at him.

“What makes you think I’ll do that?”

“I had this dream.”

“A dream where I left you?”

“A dream I get when the people around me start to leave me.” She said quietly. Her words chilled him.

“I’m not going to leave you, not for good anyway.” Kris sighed. “You’re right about before. SM gets strict, especially on rookies. Dating is a huge no no for us. I was hoping to have resolved all of this and talk it out properly with you, but I always got too scared. I wanted to talk about this earlier, but happened instead, which I’m not gonna complain about at all. I really like you, and I want to be with you all the time. But… I’m about to be put in the group they’re promoting in China instead of Korea.”

“I see.” ‘So you are leaving me.’

“I want to ask you, I need to ask you… Would you be my secret long distance girlfriend?”

“Huh?” She looked over at him, startled. “You want to ask me that now?” She gaped at him. “You have timing.” She scoffed.

They just did the dirty, she was , wrapped in a blanket and crying, it was four in the morning and they were sitting on her couch in the dark. Not to mention she had a runny nose from all the crying. This was not the time to be asking her to be his girlfriend.

“I know. Sorry.” Kris grimaced. “But please answer me.”

“I like you. I’ve never been in a secret long distance relationship before… Actually, I’d never been in a relationship before.” She laughed to herself. “But I like you. A lot. So… yes? I heard nasty rumors about what happens to idol girlfriends… You’re not going to get me killed are you?” She chuckled, using the blanket to clean her face off.

Kris didn’t say anything. He just sat there and stared at her shadowy shape in awe.

“Kris?” Still no response.

She reached out to nudge him. The moment her hand touched him, he pulled her into his lap and readjusted the blanket around her. When he was done, he hugged her tight without moving.

“What are you doing?”

“Sh. Let me do this for a moment.” Kris requested firmly.

She nodded mutely and got comfortable in his arms. After a few minutes, his arms relaxed, but he still didn’t let go. “Good?”

“Yeah.” He was breathless.

This was the best night in the history of nights. be damned, she said yes. Actually no, the was pretty damn good, so no damning the .

“Hey… If you don’t mind me asking, what did you mean when you said you had a dream when people leave you?”

Jihae sighed and was quiet for a while. When Kris was about to take back his question and change the subject, Jihae spoke first.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed that I don’t have people around me.”

“…yes.”

“People leave me. I had a dream where this huge, gorgeous tree hugs me, then dies. It’s creepy, but I just passed it off as another weird dream kids get. The first time I had it, my best friend moved. The second time, my grandfather died. The third time, my grandmother followed. The fourth time, my friends in high school abandoned me, I’m not sure why, no one ever told me. The fifth time, I found out I tennis elbow, so that’s like my athletic career leaving me. The sixth time, my parents got a divorce. Every time, the dreams are the same. Same tree, same hug, same death. Then within a week, I’m left without any intention of coming back. I stopped having the dreams when I stopped having people around me.”

Kris nodded, understanding it now. “But your parents. They didn’t leave you, they just had a divorce.”

“Do you see any pictures of my parents in my apartment?”

“No…”

“I haven’t heard from them since the divorce, and that was when I was eighteen. Almost five years and not a single postcard from either one of them. They only stayed together until I was old enough to take care of myself. Then I just became another piece of the bad memory they wanted to leave behind. Last I heard, they’re both remarried and have new families now. I didn’t get a wedding invitation.”

Kris’ heart hurt for her. He hugged her tight again.

“It’s okay. Like I said; five years. I’m used to it now. I got used to just being alone.”

“And then me.”

“And then you.” Jihae nodded. “For three years before you came along and started stalking me, I was alone. I studied and worked by myself here. Then you came along and made me want to have someone around. Someone tall, awkward, and adorable.”

“That’s what I strive for; tall, awkward, and adorable.” She smiled wryly.

“It’s okay. I like it.” Jihae grinned. “I’m not good at this.” She sighed.

“What?”

“Relationships. I’ve never had one. Not a healthy one at least. Even my friendships weren’t as relaxed as they should have been. It was more like frenemies, always competing. My family was clearly unhealthy. The longest relationship I’ve ever had is with sports, and that ended badly.”

“I plan on being different.”

“You already are.”

Sorry, I planned on putting this out yesterday, but I had familial obligations and whatnot.

He's not going to say he loves her just yet, he doesn't want to scare her. She scares easily. But it'll happen soon enough ^^

Thanks for the subscribers and the comments! Y'all are amazing! @^@

Have a great day guys!

Thank you very very very much for reading!