‘I’m fine, Xing. Jongin beat up the guy for me already,’ Kyungsoo reassured her friend for the fifth time over the phone. ‘I’m staying here til two to help him with his Biology assignment…I know, I’ll tell him to give me ride back. Don’t go all mother hen on me.’

Opposite to her, Jongin was listening with mild amusement while devouring fried rice. A grin spread on his face when she finally put down the phone and returned to her breakfast.

‘I didn’t know that I have a Biology assignment,’ he teased. Blushing, she tried to excuse her blatant lie. ‘It was the best reason I could come up.’

He waited for her to finish eating then washed the dishes. On his couch, Kyungsoo laid still, pretending to watch television as she waited for him. Everything felt surreal. And yet, her mind was troubled by the consequences coupled with her mother’s disappointment. She had a feeling that she was going to regret this later on. But for now, she would enjoy her moments with him, making the most out of it.

Once he finished, Jongin walked over to the couch. Upon seeing him, she sat up, making space for him. He sat down with legs spread wide then patted the space between them, motioning her to sit there. Hesitantly, she sat down, back straight and body going slightly stiff.  She had never been this intimate with a guy before.

Jongin was confused briefly before coming to the realisation that Kyungsoo was shy. Pulling her toward his torso, he said, ‘Relax your body. Cuddles are meant to be comfortable.’

Ten minutes later, her back was beginning to ache from the rigid posture. She leaned down tentatively, little by little until her back was against his chest, and finally resting her head. He tightened his hold, his chin rested on the crown of her head.

‘Don’t sniff me. I smell bad from yesterday.’

‘It’s alright, I don’t mind,’ he grinned. Shying away, she said, ‘But I do.’

He didn’t say anything in reply; instead he inhaled the scent of her hair just to prove his point. She squirmed slightly at the action. ‘Jongin.’ She balanced the question on the tip of her tongue. ‘Can we keep our relationship a secret?’

‘Of course, we can’t risk the school knowing.’

‘No, I don’t mean the school. I mean… your friends and mine.’ She knew she was being selfish, but the thought of disappointing her mother and friend was too overwhelming. ‘Why?’ he asked, turning her around so that they were facing each other. Avoiding his eyes, she mumbled, ‘I’m not ready to face their reactions yet. Especially my mother and Yixing’s.’

‘Luhan and Sehun won’t judge us. They knew about us for a long time already.’

She knew about Luhan. But Oh Sehun? ‘Sehun? How did he know?’ Her eyes dilated. Jongin fought the urge to roll his eyes. ‘He’s my best friend. And I wasn’t exactly being subtle with my crush on you as well.’

‘I guess we can’t do anything about him and Luhan knowing. But can we keep the number as two, please?’

He didn’t look very happy about the idea of hiding their relationship from his other friends, but he agreed to it anyway. ‘If that eases your worry, then we will keep our relationship a secret. But Soo, don’t think that I’ll do this for free.’

‘What do you want?’ she suggested. ‘I can cook for you or I can clean your house. It looks like it needs a good clean up.’

‘I want you to come here every afternoon to cuddle like this.’

‘Don’t be silly. Did you forget that I work after school?’

He turned her so that her back was leaning against his front body again. ‘How about four times a week and a whole weekend day.’

‘My mum will be suspicious. Can’t risk that.’

‘How about Friday and Saturday?’ Pursing her lips in contemplation, she said, ‘I guess that would be okay. As long as you promise to give me a ride back.’

He hummed in reply while giving her a kiss on the temple. Once the issue was settled, they lapsed back into the comfortable silence for some time before Jongin unexpectedly asked, ‘Do you want to go somewhere?’

She peered up at him, confused. Rocking her back and forth, he explained tersely. ‘A date.’

‘Oh,’ she said dumbly, surprised by the sudden suggestion. Excitement promptly followed with the list of ‘Places To Go With My Boyfriend’ flashed through her mind: the aquarium, museum, beach(before sunset) and in capital AMUSEMENT PARK. But then the thought of being caught by someone that they knew dampened her spirit.

‘Well?’ he asked after giving her a few minutes to consider, taking in the different facial expressions on her face.

‘I don’t think we should go on public dates. We might get caught.’

‘Don’t worry about that. You just need to wear a mask to cover your face.’ She made a face at his idea. ‘No, that would be weird. And I’d probably end up embarrassing both you and I.’

‘No, it wouldn’t be that weird. If you want, I will wear one too,’ he said. ‘So com’on, tell me where you want to go.’

‘We shouldn’t. It’s really risky.’

‘We will be extra careful.’ He was being persistent as he patiently waited for her answer. With a sigh, she chose the option with the least risks. ‘Maybe we can go to see the sunset at the beach.’ It was her second most wanted place anyway.

‘Ah, a cheesy romantic soul, aren’t you?’ he teased. ‘But that can’t be considered as a date ‘cause all we do is just watch the sun.’

Turning around with a slight pout, she smacked him lightly on the chest. A grin spread on his face. ‘Okay, we will go wherever you want.’

She leaned up to his face and pecked him on the cheek. ‘I need to go back to Yixing’s place now. So, give me a ride?’

-------

Being together with Jongin meant that Kyungsoo no longer needed to stop hanging around with Kris’ team. Two days later, upon seeing a positive change in her friend’s mood, Yixing convinced Kyungsoo to come along with her to Kris’ welcome back dinner. Kyungsoo was more than happy to say yes to the invitation. It had been quite some times since she last saw them and she missed them a lot. Evidently, Kris’ team shared the same feeling as her. The moment she stepped into the room, Jongdae and Chanyeol stood up from their seat and ran to her to give a tight hug.

‘Where the hell did you disappear to?’ Chanyeol said, squeezing her with his long arms. Jongdae added, ‘We thought that we’d freaked you out.’

Despite feeling a little suffocated by the tight embrace, Kyungsoo was very happy to hear how much they missed her. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you guys feel like that. The last school term was just really hectic.’

‘Yixing told us but those two idiots wouldn’t believe her,’ Kris said from his seat.

Except for Luhan and Sehun, who were ignoring her and maintaining his apathetic expression respectively, everyone else was smiling at Kyungsoo. Luhan still hadn’t forgiven her. Letting out a sigh in her head, she diverted her gaze to Jongin and found him staring daggers at both Chanyeol and Jongdae. The two of them only released her after Baekhyun complained about his hunger.

She moved from the door and sat down in between Jongin and Xiumin. They ordered a big hot pot and a large-sized plate of beef. Jongin must have forgotten about their promise as he kept on picking up food and putting them into her bowl. She pinched his thigh from below the table to stop him, but that only managed to make him jolted before continuing.

‘Why is Jongin so nice today? Picking food for other people instead of himself?’ It turned out that Baekhyun had been paying attention to them the whole time. His words caught the attention of the rest of the table to them. Jongdae looked at her bowl and joined in the teasing. ‘Yeah, what happened to the glutton Jongin?’

‘Is there something that you two would like to announce to us?’ Of course, the teasing would never be complete without Chanyeol. It would be funny if Kyungsoo wasn’t getting panicked, trying to come up a reply that wouldn’t seem suspicious.

‘Don’t make things up.’ Jongin was faster than her. ‘I’m just repaying her for the free tutoring lessons she’s been giving me this holidays. Sharing my food is the best way to show my gratitude.’

‘I tutored you Chemistry last time, how come I didn’t get any food from you?’ Baekhyun said. ‘You are playing favourites. Not fair.’ Then he proceeded to pretend crying dramatically into Chanyeol’s shoulders.

‘Well, I barely passed from your crappy tutoring so no, no food for you from me.’

‘My tutoring is not crappy. You’re just too dumb.’

With the childish bickering between Jongin and Baekhyun, everyone’s attention was no longer on them. Kyungsoo mentally swiped sweat from her forehead as she turned to begin a conversation with Xiumin.

Half way through dinner, Luhan stood up to use the toilet. Seizing the opportunity, Kyungsoo excused herself and followed her shortly after. Jongin never told her who the friend was, but it wasn’t like Kyungsoo needed his confirmation. There were only Sehun and Luhan who knew, and Kyungsoo was certain that it wasn’t the former as she was well-versed with their personalities by now.

Even though that it was Luhan who gave that stupid yet effective idea to Jongin, Kyungsoo felt she owed the female student an apology for her outburst that afternoon.

Luhan came out from the cubicle and blatantly ignored her teacher.

‘I’m sorry,’ Kyungsoo began. Luhan pretended not to have listened to her as she continued washing her hands without looking her teacher. She continued, ‘I shouldn’t have raised my voice and spoke to you like that. I’m sorry.’

Seeing the lack of response, Kyungsoo contemplated shortly before making a decision. ‘Jongin and I are together now,’ she said hesitantly. Although she knew that eventually, Jongin would break the news to her, she still felt slightly worried over the fact the other people knew about their forbidden relationship.

As she had expected, the news got Luhan to finally look at her. She looked genuinely pleased for a moment before resuming to her straight face expression. An awkward silence filled the atmosphere. Maybe she should try again another time.

Kyungsoo was about to walk out the toilet when Luhan spoke up. ‘If you had listened to me earlier, we could have avoided all of this unnecessary drama.’

Kyungsoo turned around, not knowing what to say. It was alright since Luhan was going to continue speaking anyway. ‘I was really angry at you.’

‘Was?’

A scowl appeared on the student’s face. ‘Was and still now.’

‘It’s just that I was feeling really stressed out and confused at that moment. But I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.’

‘If you ever do that again, then I’ll ignore your existence forever. I don’t give third chances.’

Kyungsoo smiled. ‘I won’t do that again.’

Finally, a smile appeared on Luhan’s face as she took Kyungsoo’s hand and led her back to the room. ‘So tell me, how did you and Jongin happen?’

------

After dinner, Kris and Yixing promptly took off, wanting to spend some time together as Kris had just got back from his vacation. Everyone stayed for about ten minutes then left at the same time. When the three student trio and Kyungsoo finally got to talk privately, Luhan began to interrogate the new couple.

‘Where have you guys been for dates?’ she asked. ‘I can give you some recommendations if you ran out of ideas. We can go on double dates.’

She squealed at her own suggestion, earning her a judging look from Jongin and a distasteful look from her boyfriend.

‘We haven’t been anywhere,’ Jongin said. And this caused Luhan’s face to twist into an expression of mortification. ‘What? This is crazy. What the hell have you guys been doing then?’ The previous look quickly turned mischievous. ‘Oh, did you guys get to have some y time instead? Tsk, tsk, I never took you for such a person, Miss. Do.’

Kyungsoo’s face turned scarlet at her words, which caused Luhan to misunderstand it as confirmation. From the side, even Sehun was smirking. More teasing ensued from Luhan. ‘Whoa. I am really surprised.’

‘Stop making Kyungsoo uncomfortable. We didn’t do anything that you’ve implied,’ Jongin said.

‘There’s no need to lie, Jonginnie. We are all friends here. We’re not going to judge you,’ Luhan said. ‘Right, Sehun?’

‘We are serious,’ Kyungsoo said, face still flushing.

Sehun raised an eyebrow at Jongin, who merely kept his serious face on. Sehun looked genuinely surprised. The exchange between the two boys was not missed by Luhan. She pulled Kyungsoo to the side and whispered. ‘Why did nothing happen? It wasn’t like there wasn’t any between you and him. Is it because you are not ready?’

Kyungsoo wondered how many times she had sighed because of Luhan during this evening. ‘I’m not ready and I won’t be until I’m married.’

‘What do you mean? Don’t go all cryptic on me now.’

‘I mean that I’m saving my ity for my husband.’ Kyungsoo didn’t think subtlety existed in Luhan’s dictionary, she might as well as be blunt and get it over and done with.

‘You mean that you will not be having with him now?’

Kyungsoo clarified, ‘Not only now.’

‘He’s going to have a serious case of blue balls, man. Gosh. Does he know this?’ She was no longer whispering.

‘Of course he does.’

‘And he still wants to be with you?’ she asked, incredulous. ‘He really likes you, Kyungsoo.’

‘You make it sound as if is like everything needed for a relationship.’

‘Well, I don’t mean that. But this is Jongin we’re talking about. And based on his relationships in the past-’

‘Kyungsoo’s different.’ Both Kyungsoo and Luhan whipped their heads around. Jongin was now standing behind them with an arm slipped around Kyungsoo’s waist. Evidently, he had been listening to their conversation. His words effectively surprised Luhan, silencing her. ‘You and Sehun are the only two people who know about us. I hope you guys would keep our relationship a secret.’

‘You mean not telling everyone else?’ Luhan asked. ‘I understand that your teacher-student relationship is not something you can just go around and tell everyone. But why also our team? They’re your good friends too. I’m sure most of them won’t judge you.’

‘We can’t tell you the reasons but I hope that you can respect our wish,’ Jongin said.

Kyungsoo glanced up at her boyfriend. Guilt gnawed at her conscience. She was selfish for making Jongin not being able to share his joy with his friend, putting him and his two friends in such a difficult position. All because of the fact that she was afraid of the judgemental stares of her mother and Yixing.

‘If they ever find out, you know it won’t be from us.’ Sehun sealed the promise for both him and Luhan. Turning to him, Luhan sputtered, ‘But Sehun - ‘

‘It’s their rights. You don’t get a say in this.’ Sehun cut her mid-sentence. She huffed, clearly annoyed. ‘We’ll leave you now. See you in school after tomorrow.’

Bidding Kyungsoo and Jongin farewell, Sehun patted his girlfriend’s head, as if trying to console her frustration, and walked to his car. The pat somehow brightened Luhan’s mood slightly as she relaxed her eyebrows and ran after her boyfriend.

‘They’re cute,’ Kyungsoo commented offhandedly.

‘We can be cuter than them if you want,’ Jongin said, winking. Making a face, she said, ‘I don’t want to be like them.’

‘I thought you think that they’re cute. Why don’t you want to be like them?’

‘I like seeing couples being cute, but I don’t want to do all those goose bump-inducing things myself. I am a sophisticated and elegant woman. I don’t do adorable.’

Jongin let out a laugh as they walked to his bike. Kyungsoo shot him a glare. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, Soo, but I think you are more cute than elegant.’

‘Shut up, Jongin. What do you know about elegant women?’ she retorted hotly as she climbed onto the seat.

‘I’ve been with enough women to tell the differences between an elegant woman and a cute one.’

He replied with a smirk but it quickly got swept off as Kyungsoo didn’t throw back any snarky reply. He didn’t to look at her to know that she had been offended.

Stupid mouth, he cursed himself.

‘Soo, I didn’t mean – ‘

Lifting her face from his back, she said, ‘Don’t speak another word. Just drive.’

The drive back to her house was tense. Kyungsoo was upset with the sense of insecurity brought about by the fact that Jongin had been with many women. In all honesty, she felt angry by the insecurities rather than feeling jealous. She knew about Jongin’s ual life before so from Luhan but hearing it directly from him shocked her more than it should have.

Unlike him, Kyungsoo had only been in one relationship. Her scarce dating experience and the long period of being single had built up Kyungsoo’s insecurities about herself. She was worried that she wouldn’t be able to sustain his interest in her.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realise that they had arrived a few houses away from her house. Taking off her helmet, she passed it to him and took her handbag.

‘Thank you for the ride,’ she said, her eyes didn’t quite meet his. Jongin hadn’t heard her saying thanks to him since they began dating, as she often gave him a peck, so hearing it now made him realised that she was seriously angry at him. He caught her arm, stopping her.

‘I’m really sorry, Soo. Please don’t stay mad at me.’

‘Please don’t say anything now. We’ll talk tomorrow.’ She pulled her arm away from his grip and walked away. The thought of looking at him made her shuddered. It was as though she was staring at her insecurities.

As she tossed around in the dark on her bed, she received a message.

From Jongin:

Goodnight. I’m sorry, Soo.

00:34

The text eased her worries a little. She remained awake until four in the morning, facing her insecurities. She’d decided to act as though nothing had happened tomorrow. After all, she knew their relationship wasn’t going to last for long anyway. The attraction between her and him, which she had gave in to, would eventually fade away. There was no point in worrying over something that inevitably going to occur. From the moment that she decided to be with him, she had already foreseen the end of their time.

(tbc)

Sorry for the late update, I've been really busy. Uni is starting in a few days and so I will be even busier. I'm NOT going to put the story on hiatus. However, the time interval between each update will be longer ( 2 weeks).

In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Drop your comments, they will be appreciated.