It seemed like I lost control of my own heart beat because as much as I wanted it to slow down, it went far from slowing down and instead, it went faster. Seeing that there was practically no space between my body and Minhyuk oppa’s body right now, it would be impossible if he did not feel how fast my heart beat was. And it was his entire fault! I swear, if I got a heart attack after this, I knew whom I should blame.

Also, to make it worse, my heart beat was not the only thing that I failed to control. Suddenly, as I got more nervous, I felt my face got hotter. I was so sure that my entire face turned red. It was always like that whenever I was nervous or anxious. And this situation gave a perfect example on how to turn Jung Soo Jung into a boiled crap.

How come I was nervous, you might ask?

Well, first of all, him texting me in the middle of the night was already making me feel like there were a thousand butterflies in my stomach. I already gave up hoping for him to reply my message. I knew he was super busy with his schedule and all so I was trying to reserve myself from expecting too much. But then his text came and I was suddenly not sleepy anymore. And when he picked up my phone call, I automatically smiled and those butterflies strike back.

Then, when I saw him standing in my dorm’s car park, smiling even though he looked tired, I felt like I needed to run to him so that he would not go anywhere else because the last one month not seeing each other was unbearable for me. Whatever this feeling is, it became way too much because I knew I liked him, but I was not too sure whether he felt the same way. So I was trying my best not to reveal too much of my feelings.

So when he suddenly pulled me into his arms, and told me that he missed me with his husky tired voice, I felt like I was needed. His sudden confession of longing was like a signal letting me know that he felt the same way. I was that close of saying it back to him, that I missed him too, that I had been wanting to meet him, to see his face, to hear his voice, to be in his arms, exactly like this moment. But I could not be too sure. Not until he said the words.

Yeah, I was nervous. Because my entire being was in danger of falling too deep into Kang Min Hyuk’s embrace. And yeah, his manly scent did not help at all. Because what it did was only reeling me in, without wanting to leave his broad comfortable chest.

“Oppa..” I tried to speak but the best thing I could do was mumbled my voice because the side of my face was pressed to his chest. He must be missing me real bad considering how tight he hugged me.

“Hmm..?” He answered, but he did not let go.

“Oppa.. I can’t breathe.”

Only after I said I needed oxygen, he was willing to release from his muscular arms. By the way, I never realized that he built THAT much arm muscles. Those endless drumming sessions were really something.

“Aigoo.. mianhae Soo Jung-ah.” He said while ruffling my hair like he always did. That particular gesture that had become his habit, I guess. “Come on!” He pulled my hand to the passenger seat and practically shoved me inside.

“Oppa!” I squaled in surprised. But did I have another choice besides agreeing with him and sit in the car? No, I did not.

After he made sure that I would not run away, he closed my door and ran to the driver seat with that goofy smile of his. He looked so excited somehow, due to a reason I was not able to figure out.

“Where are we going, oppa?” I asked him curiously.

“Somewhere.”

“I’d like to ask you again but you’re not going to answer me either, right, Oppa?” I looked at him and he just giggled.

He ruffled my hair, again, while driving the car out of the parking lot, “Smart girl. I guess you’ve known me well.”

“Jinjja.. If you’re thinking about taking me to someplace weird, I’ll call Yong Hwa oppa.”

“No way.” He turned his head to me in disbelief.

“Why not?”

“You don’t know his number.”

“Well, I have Seohyun unnie’s number. I could call her and ask her his number. Or worse,” I gave him a mysterious glare, “I could call Sica unnie.”

“Ya!” It was always fun looking at him turn into a panic mode whenever I mentioned my unnie’s name. It was bad for her, I guess, having the Ice Princess image branded on her made people scared of her. She was not that terrifying, really. Just a bit blunt and loves sarcasm more that she was supposed to. But besides that, Sica unnie was the best!

“You’re not seriously thinking of calling your big sister right now, are you?”

“As long as you promise that you’re not taking me to a weird place.” I stuck out my right hand, with my pinkie straightened up.

He immediately obliged, linked his pinkie with mine, and had our thumbs met. A sign of promise.

“There,” He told me, “Don’t call your unnie, okay? I’m afraid she will eat me alive if she found out I sneaked you out of your dorm in the middle of the night.”

“Actually,” I giggled before I continued, “I left my phone in my room.”

I threw my head back and burst out laughing out loud while he looked at me like he just saw a ghost. His expression was epic! I wished I was lying and had my phone with me so that I could capture his shocked face and showed it to him, letting him know how silly he looked right now.

“Jung Soo Jung, you rascal.” He pinched my cheek until it turned a bit red and I yelped. He laughed at his own silliness at the end, but still, it hurt.

“Oppa..” I pouted, brushing my red cheek with my hand.

“Does it hurt?” Now he looked concern. Gone was the annoyed face that was there earlier.

I nodded, still brushing my cheek. “It’s red, isn’t it?” I asked him. I was sure my cheek was red, but I was not sure why it was red. It could be because of his pinch, but I believed it was because I had not got rid of my nervousness of being around him.

“It is.” He reached out and run his thumb on the place where he pinched me earlier, “Mianhae.”

“It’s okay.” I touched his hand, intending to let go of his hand off my cheek, but apparently, he was not intending to get rid of the skinship just yet. Because what he did next was grabbing my hand, and intertwined his fingers in between mine. And he held it in throughout our journey even though then he had to drive with only his left hand.

I should thank Jong Hyun hyung for teaching me on how to look super cool and keep my calm in front of a girl. If he did not share his knowledge with me (though I was sure that he was always looking cool and calm by default, not by demand), I would not be able to drive this car all the way from her dorm to a park near Han River.

I made a mental note to myself that I should apologize to her when we reached our destination later because it seemed like I was not creative enough to find another spot for us to spend time at. It was always.. always… Han River park. Like there was nowhere else. But to be honest, it was an impromptu thought. Had I had time to plan this beforehand, I would rent the entire Namsan Tower complex and take her there. But no, I did not have time to plan anything, though I wished I did. And no, I did not think that this thing could wait just for the sake of me planning everything out. If I learned from my past relationships, there was only so much that planning can do for you. At the end, all you need was bravery to fight for the one you care about.

Since it was a bit cold outside, I the heater in the car. But apparently the warm temperature did not affect Soo Jung very much because I could still feel cold in her hand.

“Your hand is cold.” I said to her while my thumb on the back of her hand.

She turned and looked at our hands, “I know. It’s always like that, though. It gets cold easily.”

“Well,” I, too, turned my gaze to our hands, then looked up to see her face, “People always say that my hands are warm. You can borrow mine whenever you want to warm up your hands.”

I smiled.

She smiled, though shyly.

“Oppa..” She called my name.

“Wae?”

“One of these days, you’re either going to make me have a heart attack or die from diabetes.”

What? What the heck is she talking about? How can I make her have a heart attack? And what does diabetes have to do with anything?

Apparently, I was showing my oblivious look, that was why she smiled sweetly at me and said, “Just look ahead, Oppa. I don’t want us to get killed because you drove us over the bridge.”

And so I did. Seriously, Jung Soo Jung, I wished you would spare my heart from your cute smile. I only had one and even that was already yours.

They stopped at the park in Han River, one that absolutely had nobody because it was far enough from the neighborhood. Also, Minhyuk had to thank the weather because it