He traced his finger lightly down her cheek and stopped at her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. She was utterly lost now, drowned in his eyes. Bending down slightly, he brought his lips to hers; a light kiss that sent her nerves haywired. He pulled away, a smirk slowly curling his mouth up.

“You taste sweeter than I thought you would.” An opinion that brought a burning blush to her cheeks. She hid her face behind her blanket and whined.

“Jonghun…aniyo…” Hyosung mumbled quietly, a small, embarrassed giggle slipping through her lips.

“Jeon. Hyo. Sung!” Doojoon yelled from her doorway and turned her lights on, an amused look written all over his face. “Who’s Jonghun?”

Hyosung gaped at him as a real blush heated her cheeks up. “No one! Out so I can get ready!” She threw her pillow at his retreating figure that was shaking with uncontrollable laughter. Burying her face into her covers, she groaned, wanting to die a hundred times over from embarrassment. Doojoon was going to over and over until she spilled about Jonghun so she was already devising plans on how to avoid her dear brother.

As she went through her morning routine, her thoughts wandered back to the day before. So much has happened in that span of 24 hours that she honestly couldn’t wrap her mind around everything. Thankfully, her ankle wasn’t as badly injured so she only walked with a slight limp now.

Once she was finished getting ready, she peeked out of her bedroom door and inhaled the smell of freshly made pancakes that was right in her line of sight, resting atop of a plate, taunting her to eat them. Her stomach made a pleading growl, urging her into the kitchen cautiously.

Doojoon was causally leaning against a counter, waiting for his little sister to worm her way to the food. “Yah, you need to stay healthy. Come eat~”

“Pfft, you’re not worried about my health. You just want to gossip like a little old lady.” Hyosung marched into the kitchen with her head held high, her nose turned ever so slightly to the left until she sat down and stabbed her food with the fork. With full, she glanced at her brother. “Was umma upset when she left last night?”

When Hyosung had made it back to her apartment, she was slightly disappointed to find her mother had already left. A part of her had hoped that maybe her mother would have stayed just a little longer to see how Hyosung was holding up – maybe ever console her and apologize. But that was wishful thinking all the way.

“Hm. Ani, not really.” Doojoon shrugged, averting his gaze somewhere else which only proved Hyosung’s assumptions correct.

“You’re a terrible liar, oppa.” She bit her lip before pushing the rest of the pancakes away, her appetite had suddenly flown the coop.

“Aish, look who’s talking – Jonghun.” At the mention of Jonghun, Hyosung found herself blushing for the umpteenth time. She stood up a little too quickly and grabbed her bag

As she was heading out the door, she yelled back at him. “S-..Shut up! Aigoo, I’m off~”

While she made her way to her school, something inside of her hoped that she’d bump into Jonghun again. The slight chance that it was possible made her a little giddy on the inside and she truly felt like slapping herself for being such a girl. She paused a little at the café they were supposed to have had lunch together and as much as she tried to fight it, a small smile crawled onto her lips.

“Hyosung?” At the voices, Hyosung turned around and found herself face to face with her best friends, Jieun and Sunhwa. With her cheeks puffed, Jieun poked Hyosung’s arm and tried to feign anger. “Yah! Where were you yesterday?”

“Ah…at hom–”

Before Hyosung could finish her sentence, Sunhwa interrupted, her words rushed and full of excitement. “We were paired up for our final exam project and since you weren’t here yesterday, you’re with that one guy who wasn’t here either…um, what was his name again? Choi…ah, Jonghyun!”

Jieun laughed and pulled Sunhwa behind her. “Pabo. It’s not Jonghyun – it’s Jonghun! Choi Jonghun! Lucky Hyosung, I heard he’s really charming~”

“Wait, what?” Hyosung cupped her cheeks to prevent her from grinning since it was a little obvious by the way Jieun was swooning that she was already entranced by someone she hasn’t even met yet. But how could Hyosung blame her when she herself wanted to see Jonghun again? Now she has a reason to actually go talk to him.

“Eh~ someone looks happy. You know him?” Sunhwa rested her chin on top of Jieun’s shoulder, watching Hyosung with a grin.

“You know him?! Since when?” The slight jealousy in Jieun’s voice rang clear and it made Hyosung uncomfortable on how to answer so she shook her head.

“I just ran into him the other day. It’s not like we’re friends or anything!” Oh, what was she saying? Hyosung shook her hands in front of her, trying to dispel their imaginations before they went haywired. She let out a small ‘eep’ when an arm draped onto her shoulders. “Ah! J-Jonghun. You scared  me.”

He graced her with a sly grin and tilted his head to the side. “We’re not friends? I’d think inviting you into my apartment yesterday warrants friendship, don’t you think?”

“Is that where you were?! Hyosung-ah!” Jieun stamped her foot, attempting to look as if she was taller than the other.

“It’s not what you guys think!” Hyosung groaned quietly and hid her face behind her hands. Between the guy who already invaded her dreams and her jealous friend who wished they would switch places, Hyosung could feel her head reeling around.

“Yah, Jieunnie, let’s go~” Sunhwa, oblivious to the tensed air, pulled a reluctant Jieun away and winked playfully at Hyosung. “Tell us all the details, okay?”

Pouting, Hyosung nodded and watched her friends stroll away before turning her undivided attention to Jonghun who still had his arm around her shoulders. As much as she was fuming over the situation, she didn’t want him to take his arm off of her – it felt nice and incredibly comfortable. But then he slipped his arm away and the cold breeze that shoulders made her shiver.

“What was that about?” Jonghun asked as he started walking in the direction the other girls went, most likely to the university.

“Ah…it seems we’re partnered up for a project.” She slowly followed him, the feeling of being a stalker made her eye twitch somewhat so she hastened her pace and fell in step with him.

“Not that part. About us not being friends.” Did he sound…hurt?

Hyosung glanced up at him but couldn’t tell with his poker face. “We just met yesterday…and it’s not like we really know…all that much about each other either.”

“Then let’s use this time wisely~” Jonghun grabbed her arm and pulled her into a jog – this time away from the university. “We’re ditching again!”

- x -