Four hours later…

“Yah, wake up, sleepyhead.”

You stirred a bit in your sleep and rolled to the other side so that your back was facing the person trying to awaken you from your dreamland.  You never knew that the ground would be this comfortable.

“Hey!  Wake. Up!” You felt a kick on your lower back.

That does it.  “YAH!” You sprang up, ready to confront the diva guy for kicking you during your peaceful slumber, but was met with a shocking surprise.

 “Hahaha!  Kim Myungsoo, you really are coldhearted!  But, you finally got her to wake up, chukahae!” Sungjong cheered.  You looked towards the bed and glared at him with the most deadly expression you could muster.

“Haerin, right?” The guy who kicked you asked calmly.

“Yeah, but how do you know my name?” You curiously questioned.

He chuckled, “That Lemon Candy guy over there invited us over here for a playdate,” Fine, ignore my question.  “And your sleeping is in the way of our game.”

I hate this guy already.  And it was then that you realized a pack of five other guys in the room.  You boldly spoke up, “Play somewhere else, then.  I don’t care where you play, as long as it’s not disturbing me from sleeping.”

Myungsoo scoffed, “Like I’m going to listen to a girl that just woke up with yellow stuff dripping down her face.  What is that stuff anyways?” He made a disgusted face.

You were confused.  “What..yellow stuff?”  You wiped a hand across your mouth, and it came in contact with a sticky yellow substance.  Your face grew warm and crimson red.

“Eww,” Sungjong commented from his place on the bed.  “HAHA!  Did you fall asleep with the candy I gave you still in your mouth?  That’s disgusting, man!” He continued his laughing fit hysterically.

“Hey, leave the poor girl alone,” You heard a voice from the group of guys say.  “It’s clear that she’s embarrassed right now.” Well you don’t have to point it out, thank you very much.  Someone walked towards you and pulled you up by your wrists.  “I would pull you up by your hands, but I’m afraid that would give you cooties.” He plainly said.  What the heck…?

“EEWWW, Nam Woohyun!  So greasy!  Yuck!”  The six guys, including Sungjong, cringed.

The guy named Woohyun pouted cutely and ducked his head a bit.  He directed the next sentence at you, “Run.”

You didn’t even have time to understand what or where he meant to run to, but you just followed him as fast as your scrawny legs could carry you and made it outside the front door.  The sky was turning into a dark shade of purple, almost black.  You could hear the six guys, who were left behind, yell and scream things you could barely make out, but nevertheless, you kept running against your will, since the “greasy” guy still kept a grip on you.

Finally, you guys stopped at a river stream that looked vaguely familiar.  Isn’t this where I was just this afternoon?  Putting that thought aside, you sat down on the damp riverbank soil to catch your breath.  You were panting heavily, as you never had to run for anything at home.  Your parents would always be there to tend to your needs.

Woohyun sat down next to you and laughed lightly.

“Bwo?!  Why are you laughing at me?” You yelled at him.

That didn’t stop his laughter, but instead, made it come out even louder than before.  “Ok, ok, Mian,” he apologized as his laughter died down a bit.  He then took your hand and led you closer to the river.  He crouched down and scooped up a bit of water.  “Lift up your chin,” he ordered.

You knew that he was attempting to be nice and help you clean the lemon candy stickiness, thanks to the diva.  But you wanted to do it by yourself to show this guy that you were capable of being independent.  “It’s fine,” you said, gently pushing his hand away.  Water splattered onto his shoes.

“Hey!  Look what you did!” he whined at his soggy shoes.

You couldn’t contain your laughter, earning a glare from him.  “Oh please, like a crybaby is going to make me scared.  It’s just shoes,” you .

“But they’re my favorite pair!”

“Whatever,” you chuckled, and crouched down to splash water on your cheeks to wipe away the stickiness.  Dumb Diva., you thought as you roughly scratched away at your face.  Wait until I get my hands on you!

Woohyun noticed how you were violently scratching your face and exclaimed, “Hey!  Be gentle, or else you’re going to get scars!”  He moved over so that he was right next to you and cupped some water from the river.  You didn’t flinch as he held your face and gently rubbed the water in the stickiest areas.  You were too busy planning on ten different ways to make that diva pay.

Woohyun finished up and noticed your angry expressions.  He chuckled lightly.

After a few seconds, you realized how dark it was and decided it was time to go back.

He understood as well, and without saying anything, began to lead you back.  A few steps away from the river, the sky was completely enveloped in darkness, making your body overcome with fear.  You were normally fearless when it comes to darkness at your family’s house, since you knew each and every corner by heart.  But here, every turn seemed foreign to you.  You unknowingly walked closer to Woohyun.

He didn’t notice the sudden closeness, because he himself was afraid of the dark.  “Hey,” he whispered.  “I’ve n-never been outside this late before.  I know the way back, b-but it’s really dark right now.  Do you, by any chance, remember how to get back to Sungjong’s house?” he asked sheepishly.

You were at a loss for words.  How could he take you someplace without knowing how to take you back?  You started panicking. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!”

“W-well, I know the way, it’s just that I’m afraid of getting lost in the dark.” He replied with a shaky voice.

Without thinking, you forcefully grabbed his hand out of panic and started racing to wherever you saw a speck of light.  “Where are we going?!” he asked, shocked.

“Someplace where it’s bright and you can think straight, you pabo.” You answered while running.

A while later, you guys reached a street with a few functioning lamp posts.  You turned to him and smirked in satisfaction.  “See?”

Woohyun’s surprise was clearly written all over his face.  “A girl is smarter than me.”

You beamed proudly.  “Yup, accept the fact, Grease Boy.”

After a moment of silence where Woohyun was still trying to get his mind around being saved by a girl, you spoke up.  “Ok, done now?  We still haven’t made it back yet.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” he acknowledged.  “My house is on this street.  I know the way back to Sungjong’s house from here since I go there every day.”  He took your hand in his and led the way.

At home, you were always the one to give orders.  Why do I always feel like I’m the one following today?

Sooner than you expected, you guys arrived at Sungjong’s doorstep.  Woohyun knocked on the door, “Sungjong!  Open the door!”

Footsteps approached from the inside, and instead of Sungjong, you guys were greeted by his mom.  “Haerin!  Woohyun!  You don’t know how worried I was!  Two little kids like you ought to be at home and instead you go running outside in the dark.” She stepped aside to allow you in.  “Get inside before you freeze to death.”  Woohyun stood outside, unsure of whether to stay or walk back to his house in the darkness.  “You too, sweetie, get inside.  It’s too dangerous for you to walk home alone.”  Woohyun did as he was told and entered the house.

Just as you were removing your shoes, Sungjong jumped into the room.  “WOOHY- What are you still doing here?” He looked at you strangely.

You kept quiet and continued taking off your shoes, which have now lost their vibrant pink color due to the mud puddles down by the river.  My shoes are ruined. You complained in your head.

“YAH, DON’T IGNORE ME!”  You just walked away from the scene and into his room, where you sat on the ground.

You heard, “Your mouth is really loud, Lemon Candy.  Let the girl get some quiet time.  She’s tired,” as the owner of the voice joined you on the ground and played with his toys.

You looked over to him, “Thanks, Woohyun,”

He was shocked, “For what?  I just took you to the river and almost made us lost!”

You smiled, “For being the first person to make me smile today.”

“I think I’m going to throw up,” a voice said.  Sungjong was standing by the door.  “You two should be called the Grease Couple.  If Infinite was still here, they would all agree with me.”

You had no idea what Infinite was, but it seemed like Woohyun was embarrassed by Sungjong’s comment.

“Aish, who cares,” Sungjong declared.  “ Woohyun, you can share the bed with me since you’re  staying over.  And you,” he pointed to you.  “Sleep wherever, just don’t disturb us.”

You rolled your eyes.  “Sure, sure.  Like I want to even get near you, Diva.”

“SHUSH UP!”

You stuck out your tongue at him, making Woohyun laugh amusingly.  You laid on the ground and scrunched up so that you could keep your body heat close to you.  It was still freezing.  Nevertheless, you were exhausted from the day and soon started to drift off.  Just as dreamland began to envelope you, a soft object hit your head, followed by something fuzzy.  You peeked open your eyes to see who had just thrown these at you and were about to yell at them, but then realized that they had just given you a pillow and a blanket.  It was Woohyun.

“Sungjong told me to give these to you, but he’s too shy to admit to it,” Woohyun said with his eye smile.

“AM NOT!” Sungjong screamed.

Woohyun chuckled.  “Good night, you guys.”

“GO TO SLEEP ALREADY!”

“Good night,” you whispered back, and closed your eyes.