Thank you for being patient and sorry for the long wait. I hope this chapter is worthed your wait.

Enjoy!

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The mysterious place turned out to be the beach that they came last holidays. Without the breaks in between, it took Jongin and Kyungsoo just under two hours to reach there, roughly fifteen minutes until sunset. He parked his bike in a parking lot and walked her along the shoreline, one hand intertwined with hers while holding her flats and his shoes in the other.

‘This is our first date,’ he said. She wrapped an arm around his, smiling happily.

They were more comfortable with showing their affection in public as the chance of being caught by someone they knew was significantly less. Kyungsoo was constantly paranoid of being caught. She’d deny Jongin’s initiation for any closure in public and checked around several times for observant eyes before allowing him to come into her vicinity. But here, far away from everyone, she was able to fold away her worries, her fear of the consequences and relaxed for once.

Sitting down, they looked out to the beach, waiting for the sun to go down while enjoying the cool breeze flapping against their skin. They’d been here last summer, now it was mid-autumn.

Time really does fly, Kyungsoo thought.

Basking in the calmness that she hadn’t felt for quite a long time, she freed herself from the worries of being caught and school work momentarily as she rested her head against Jongin’s shoulder. Kyungsoo loved her boyfriend’s broad and sturdy shoulders, it made her feel protected as though they could shield her from any storms. They made her forget about the between them because she didn’t think someone younger than her could make her feel this safe.

In the horizon, the sun was descending, painting a pink orange hue to the sky as it slowly disappeared.

‘I never get sick of seeing the sunset,’ she said.

Smiling, he asked, ‘Do you feel less stressed now?’

She nodded. Then suddenly, it dawned upon her his intention of taking her to this place. Her heart swelled with gratefulness and affection as it beat faster.

‘Thank you, Jongin,’ she said.

Instead of verbally replying to her, he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to his side. They sat in silent for a while.

‘I really like you.’ Jongin’s sudden statement surprised Kyungsoo. Sincerely, she replied, ‘I really like you, too.’

‘I know your career is important, but please look after yourself,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to see you pass out from over-exertion.’

‘I do look after myself.’ It was nice to hear how much he worried for her, but at the same time, Kyungsoo felt slightly embarrassed. It made her feel like a child. She was the older one here for goodness sake. 

‘No, you don’t. You skip meals and sleep. Look at the black bags under your eyes. Is this how you take care of yourself?’

She looked at him, holding onto her breath then exhaled and said, ‘Alright. I promise to take better care of myself from now on.’

‘Keep your promise.’ She nodded.

Giving her a kiss on the cheek, he asked, ‘Do you want to stay here for a bit longer or should we start heading back?’

‘Ten more minutes?’

‘Okay.’

Kyungsoo came to realise that she was falling for him harder by the days. His thoughtfulness and the way he cared for her – she was slowly growing accustomed to it. It was too much for her liking because what if they were no longer together tomorrow? It would only hurt her even more.

Evidently, she didn’t see all of this when she gave into her emotions and decided to be with Jongin.

Kyungsoo wondered whether she had made a mistake or not. And even if she had, how can she fix it?

------

It was one of those nights where Kyungsoo got to relax for once during the hectic term. She should be home, watching the new episodes of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ that she had missed while indulging herself in unhealthy junk food. Yep, that was the plan.

But recently, Kyungsoo had just found out one thing about herself and that was, her plans rarely got followed through. This night was just another example as presently, she was sitting opposite to Yixing in a café, having her second glass of strawberry smoothies under her friend’s judgemental eyes. Usually, she would have mocha, but it was close to night time and Kyungsoo didn’t want to risk losing her sleep to caffeine.

‘Soo, do you remember my childhood friend, Taekwoon?’ Yixing asked excitedly.

‘The really quiet, athletic guy who moved overseas?’

‘Yep, yep, that’s him,’ Yixing nodded. ‘Guess what? He’s back now.’

Finishing the last sip of her drink, Kyungsoo asked, ‘You are so excited about him. Don’t you think Kris will get jealous?’

‘Nah, Kris trusts me. I told him about Taekwoon and how we’re not each other’s type.’

‘Okay, so, is he back for good?’

‘Uh huh. And I was thinking…’ She looked at Kyungsoo with a glint of mischief. Kyungsoo had a feeling she wasn’t going to like whatever her friend was about to tell her. ‘– maybe you and him would make a good couple.’

‘What? What on earth are you thinking? No, just no.’ Kyungsoo nearly knocked the empty glass onto the floor.

‘Relax. Just hear me out first,’ Yixing said. ‘Firstly, you and him are both single. Secondly, he likes quiet and small women, which is you, while you like mature and quiet guys like him. And lastly, my sixth sense told me that I’m right.’

Kyungsoo rolled her eyes at Yixing’s last reason. She was definitely not single but she wasn’t going to disclose this fact to Yixing. Right now, she needed to find way to convince her best friend to drop her match-making plan.

‘I’m too busy to date now; I won’t have any time to spend with him even if we date so I think you should find another girl for him,’ she said. ‘How about Sohee?’

‘No, you can’t use that excuse. Are you just going to let go every opportunity just because you’re busy?’ Yixing refused adamantly. ‘Plus, Taekwoon is a really nice guy. Not really good as a boyfriend but definitely a perfect husband-material that you mother would not have a single complain about.’

‘You don’t know my mum.’

‘I had enough talks with your mum to know her standards for your husband. No tats, no piercing, a stable career, tall and muscular, good manners. See? I know,’ she said. ‘Except for the piercing, which we can get rid of, Taekwoon ticks all the boxes.’

‘Seriously, Xing. No.’ Kyungsoo shook her head, her tone a little harsh. ‘You need to stop trying to hook me up with people.’

Yixing pouted, ‘I’m just looking out for you. You’re my best friend and I want the best thing for you.’

Letting out a sigh, Kyungsoo softened down her tone. ‘I know. And I’m grateful for it. But I really don’t want to date now.’

‘Alright then, if you don’t want to date now then can you at least meet him and befriend him? For my sake? I want my friends to be friends.’

‘I don’t know, Xing. You can introduce him to Kris’ boys, they would probably get along with him better than me.’

‘Come on, Soo. Don’t use that excuse. Just meet him. For me, please?’ And she proceeded to use her puppy eyes. Groaning in earnest, Kyungsoo reluctantly agreed after considering the favour. Her reason was that she was merely meeting up to make a new friend so there couldn’t be any loss.

Yixing gave a victory grin. ‘This Sat?’

‘How about Sunday? I’m busy this Sat marking the grade nine exams,’ she lied. Saturday was reserved for Jongin and thus unless it was her mother or a meet up with Kris’ group, she wouldn’t allow any other things to be allocated on this day.

‘Okay. Sunday. At three?’

‘Any time is fine.’ As she replied, her phone vibrated, signalling an incoming message. Kyungsoo panicked for a second when she saw Yixing glanced at the screen. Crap, she should have renamed him when she had the chance.

‘Jongin?’ Yixing raised an eyebrow. Kyungsoo felt her palms began to sweat. ‘Uh…yeah.’

‘Aren’t you going to check the message?’ Nervously, Kyungsoo picked up her phone, trying to appear as casual as possible.

From: Jongin

What r u doing? Come and tutor me, I need ur help.

A wave of relief washed over her, though the tutoring part was a bit surprising, considering how he usually hated it whenever she forced him to study. She looked up at Yixing and told her confidently, having regained her composure, ‘He wants me to tutor him. I’d better go.’

‘You’re just going to ditch me for him? What is this? I thought I was your best friend.’

Kyungsoo texted him the address to pick her up then replied to Yixing, ‘My student needs me so I’m sorry to say, at the moment, you are second in my priority list.’

Shoving her friend playfully, Yixing made a sneering face, motioning her friend to leave. Kyungsoo let out a laugh and walked out of the café, heading to the parking lot where she was going to meet up with Jongin.

He arrived five minutes after her. Climbing onto the back, she wrapped her arms around him as he took off.

‘I should rename you on my phone. I got a fright back in the shop when Yixing saw your name,’ she told him. His shoulder slightly shook, a sign which told her that he chuckled. ‘What name are you going to use?’

‘Sloth,’ she replied.

‘What? Why am I a sloth?’ he asked, indignant.

‘You look like one,’ she said. ‘That is your name from now on.’

‘Then I’ll have you under owl-eyed,’ he retorted and subsequently received a slap on the back. ‘Rude.’

‘Look who is talking. Who was the one that called me a sloth?’

She pinched him, earning a whine from him. ‘You are so violent, I swear.’

And she gave another pinch. Just to prove his point. He grumbled, ‘Fine, I won’t call you an owl.’ He took a short pause then continued, with mischief in his voice this time. ‘I’ll just call you ‘midget’’.

Without hesitance, Kyungsoo squeezed her fingers hard around his waist, a smug on her face at the groan coming from him. ‘Well deserved,’ she jeered as they arrived in front of his apartment.

Kyungsoo spotted several books laying open on the table as she entered the living room. So Jongin was studying. He actually listened to her when she told him to study harder. Turning to him, Kyungsoo asked, ‘What do you need help with?’

‘Chem,’ Jongin replied as he passed her the past exam paper. She grimaced. ‘You do realise I’m a Biology teacher, right?’

‘But you told me you also majored in Chem. I don’t think grade twelve problems are going to be difficult for you,’ he said.

Kyungsoo took a look at the paper, solving some simple questions as she went down the page, they looked similar enough, she had done a few of them during her final high school year. Sitting down by the table, Kyungsoo said, ‘I’ll try my best to explain to you.’

They studied until nine before calling up the chicken store and ordered two boxes of fried wings when Jongin complained that he was dead hungry. As it turned out he hadn’t had dinner yet. After the break, they resumed to their study session, and not long after, Kyungsoo fell asleep on the table while Jongin was doing the exercises. 

Jongin didn’t know she was sleeping, for he was concentrating on the homework, until he finished the last problem. He stared at her peaceful sleeping face. Then he fished out his phone, testing out different angles before taking a snap. Jongin only had a few pictures of Kyungsoo on his phone because she disliked taking pictures. This was a golden opportunity, and he wouldn’t reveal it to her in case she decided that she wanted it deleted.

It was the first time she’d fallen asleep on the table like this. Glancing at the clock, he realised that, indeed, it was late. Jongin shook her shoulders softly, ‘Soo, wake up.’

She rubbed her eyes, yawning. ‘Sorry, I fell asleep. Are there any other questions you need help with?’

‘It’s okay. I’ve finished them. Do you want to go home now? You seemed pretty tired. Have you been working to exhaustion again?’

‘No, I stayed up late yesterday to watch a movie with my mum,’ she replied. ‘I listened to you.’

He patted her head, but she swatted his away, annoyed. ‘Don’t do that.’

To her irritation, he persisted the gesture, smirking. ‘Time for payback.’

They ended up having a tickle battle on the floor with Kyungsoo winning. He’d skilfully allowed her the victory without her knowledge.

‘I win,’ Kyungsoo declared, a smug look on her face as she sat on top of his stomach, looking down at his face.

‘It won’t be the same next time.’

Narrowing her eyes, she asked, ‘You haven’t learnt your lesson, have you?’

Before she could begin another round of tickle, Jongin caught her wrists and pulled her down for a kiss, effectively stopping her. With their lips an inch apart from each other, he said, ‘No more. Another time. Let’s take you back now.’

‘Okay,’ she agreed with a big smile.

-----

Hastily slipping into her pair of skinny jeans, Kyungsoo grabbed her wallet then dashed out of the door, not forgetting to remind her mother that she was going out to see Yixing. Kyungsoo berated herself as she ran to the café where she was supposed be ten minutes ago. Her phone had not gone off correctly and so, her thirty-minute-afternoon nap had turned into a two-hour one, which explained why she was late for her meet up with Yixing’s childhood friend.

Kyungsoo spotted Yixing and her friend, whose back was facing Kyungsoo, sitting at a table next to the café glass window. Seeing her friend at the door, Yixing waved a hand at her. Kyungsoo quickly made her way to them.

‘Sorry, my clock stopped working,’ she lied.

‘You could have sent a message,’ Yixing said, evidently unhappy with her friend’s lateness.

‘I didn’t hear any notification.’ Kyungsoo searched into her jeans’ pocket then realised that she had forgotten it at home. ‘I left my phone at home. Sorry.’

‘Don’t worry about it. Sit down,’ Yixing said while calling for a waitress.

Once Kyungsoo had sat down, she turned to Yixing’s friend and gave greeting nod with a shy smile. The corner of his lips barely raised in return, his eyes sending a seeming intense and potentially intimidating gaze. Kyungsoo was quick to notice his hamster-like cheeks, which did not match the sharpness of his other facial features.

‘This is Taekwoon. He’s older than me,’ Yixing introduced.

‘Hi, I’m Kyungsoo. Nice to meet you,’ she said.

‘Nice to meet you, too,’ he responded in a very low volume, voice unexpectedly high and soft.

As it turned out, Taekwoon was a man of a few words, rarely talked unless spoken to, and even then, he would only reply in a sentence consisted of less than twenty words. Most of the time, he just sat there and listened to them talking with a straight face. It was awkward. But it seemed only Kyungsoo was feeling it because Yixing was obviously oblivious to the atmosphere as she rambled on about various subjects.

‘You must come to my house next week. I’m having a BBQ,’ Yixing told Taekwoon in a tone Kyungsoo knew that it was more of a command more than an invitation. Typical Yixing.

Taekwoon must have known from her tone as he reluctantly said yes. After that, they continued talking for another ten minutes before leaving the café. Kyungsoo felt as though a big rock had been lifted from her chest as she headed off with Yixing.

‘What do you think of him?’ Yixing asked, opening the door of her car.

Kyungsoo pursed her lips, mentally searching for a suitable yet not too offensive adjective. After all, he was Yixing’s childhood best friend.

‘He’s a little awkward and reserved,’ Kyungsoo said.

‘You’ll get used to it after a while. It takes time for him to open up,’ Yixing nodded in agreement. ‘Don’t be scared of him though, he’s actually really kind.’

‘He keeps on staring like he was judging me. It kind of freaked me out a lot.’

Yixing chuckled, ‘It’s a habit. He does that a lot.’ She steered around the corner to the street of Kyungsoo’s house. ‘Taekwoon doesn’t have many friends. I’m worried that he would be lonely. I hope Kris’ team will welcome him like how they did with you.’

‘They will,’ Kyungsoo assured before getting out of the car.