In my perfect world, I would have woken up to the sound of morning birds gloriously singing a song outside my window. My long eyelashes would gracefully flutter, my eyes slowly opening to a beautifully sun-lit room with high white ceilings. I would be nestled comfortably in a luxurious king-sized bed, wrapped in a lavish white duvet and matching fluffy pillows. My hair would be a beautifully tousled, wavy curtain that hung around my bright face and cascaded down my shoulders like a soothing waterfall. I’d look to my right, and lying next to me like a prince would be pink-haired Byunghun, his lips curled into a smile and his eyes shining bright as told me how beautiful I looked in the morning. Then we’d passionately share a good morning kiss…

Sadly this is not my perfect little world, and I awoke to quite the opposite.

Despite the door being closed, it sounded like the entire household was running a marathon outside my bedroom. Footsteps pounding past the door, up the stairs, down the stairs. I heard shouts and laughter but I couldn’t make out exactly who they came from, or what they were about. I sat up abruptly, wearing nothing but a gray tank top and my pink and white striped . I was utterly confused for approximately three seconds, until I turned to the right and saw a shirtless body sleeping on his stomach beside me, his pink head facing the other way. I looked down at the floor beside me; Byunghun’s black sweatpants, my gray sweatshirt and my jeans were lying in a heap on the floor. Memories of last night came flooding back to me like a tidal wave but I shook my mind clear. I’d have time later to freak out over what happened between us last night.

I turned back to Byunghun. I didn’t want to wake him up at all; he looked perfectly peaceful sleeping soundly next to me. I wished I could wake up to find Byunghun beside me every morning…

Then it hit me.

 I hooked up with L.Joe last night.

I wanted to freak out right then and there, but I forced myself to calm down by taking deep breaths. More shouts and laughter were coming from downstairs. How on earth had Byunghun not woken up yet?

I turned to face him. “Byunghun,” I whispered softly in his ear.

Still, he didn’t wake up.

“Byunghun,” I said a little more forcefully.

He still didn’t move.

“Byunghun,” I hissed in his ear, touching his hair softly. “Oppa, wake up!”

Suddenly he deeply breathed in an out. He moved slightly, waking up. Finally his head turned towards me and his beautifully dark eyes slowly opened.

I smiled. “Good morning, babe,” I whispered, propping myself up on my elbows beside him. “How’d you sleep?”

Byunghun’s almond shaped eyes a little opened wider. “Good,” he croaked, stretching his arms out underneath the pillow he had slept on. “Better than ever before.”

“Good,” I said with a little smile in return, leaning down to kiss him good-morning softly. The second I felt his soft lips on mine, I felt like rewinding time and replaying last night over and over again. I wanted it to still be nighttime. I still wanted to cuddle up beside him under the soft purple covers of my bed, feeling his heartbeat through his chest as he my hair softly, thinking quietly to myself, That did not just happen…that did not just happen…

Byunghun ran his fingers through my hair. I stopped kissing him just to look at him. He looked beautiful as ever, his pink hair messy and fluffy and his eyes still squinted slightly.

Footsteps pounded past the door. Byunghun scrunched his eyebrows together and shot a glance towards the door. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I woke you up,” I admitted.

Byunghun smiled and kissed me again. “Let’s go find out,” he replied. He kicked the purple covers off his body and stood up, wearing only his red boxers. I had to blush, and I swore I saw him blush too. He grabbed his black sweatpants off the floor and pulled them on, which just reminded me of last night even more. Thinking quickly, I sprang to my dresser, fished out a pair of black and white striped pajama bottoms and slid them on. There. I had been wearing these all along.

I tied my hair in a messy bun at the top of my head and headed for the door. Before I turned the knob, I sent Byunghun a smile. I got a wink in return.

When we stepped out, no one was upstairs. The door to the guest bedroom was wide open, and the queen bed inside was unmade, both of the pillows still dented from two sleeping heads and the sheets hanging off the bed.

Byunghun and I stopped and stared inside for a moment before shooting each other curious glances. We were thinking the same thing: we were obviously not the only ones who were together last night.

“Damn,” Byunghun said slowly. “That was fast.”

I scoffed and slapped his arm. “Byunghun!” I hissed.

“What?” He cracked a smile and flipped his messy pink hair. “At least we waited a few months before we slept together! Looks like the maknaes got right to it!”

I rolled my eyes. “Would you behave?”

“Oh now you want me to behave?” He was smirking. “’Cause you certainly did want me to last ni—”

Suddenly Chunji froze at the top off the stairs. “Uh…”

The three of us stood there like wax figures, staring at each other with wide eyes, L.Joe pretending he didn’t say what he just said and Chunji pretending he didn’t hear what he just heard.

Suddenly L.Joe nervously blurted “Uh, good morning!”

“Good morning,” Chunji replied wearily. “Uh, are…you guys hungry?”

“Hungry? Yes, oh yes, we’re hungry!” L.Joe was wearing his fake, nervous smile. “Uh, right?”

“Yes, we’re totally hungry!”

“Good,” said Chunji, “because we’re trying to make breakfast.” He his heels to walk down the stairs and L.Joe and I followed him. “I bet you’re hungry after last night,” Chunji snickered quietly.

L.Joe jabbed him in the back and hissed, “Yah, shut up!”

We reached the bottom of the staircase, rounded a right turn and strolled through the archway into the kitchen. Bright light cascaded through the wide windows and flooded over the countertops and gray tile floor. There was a bowl of fruit on the top of the island and I knew there was pancake mix in the pantry.

“We could make pancakes,” I suggested, heading for the pantry.

“Sounds go—” Byunghun was suddenly cut off by Changhyun and Minsoo, who came sprinting through the archway from the dining room to the kitchen. The oldest seemed to be chasing his dongsaeng, who had a cell phone gripped tightly in his small hands.

“For the last time, Ricky,” Minsoo announced slowly, “give me the phone.”

“You want it? Come get it!” Changhyun cried, holding the phone out. Minsoo reached out to grab it but he was too slow; Changhyun took off running.

“Whoa!” Byunghun exclaimed, watching them sprint.

“What’s going on?!” Umma-Chanhee boomed.

“He took pictures of Hyerin and me last night!” Minsoo accused, pointing to his dongsaeng.

“It wasn’t me!” Changhyun cried innocently. “It was Niel!”

“I don’t care who did it! You can’t keep those pictures!” the leader cried.

“But they’re cute. We thought you’d like them, hyung!” Changhyun defended.

Minsoo sighed. “Ricky, if anyone ever saw those pictures, I would be dead!”

“What are you doing in those pictures?” Chanhee smirked.

Minsoo blushed. “Kissing.”

“Ricky, you gotta delete them.” Byunghun crossed his arms.

“You don’t have to show them to anyone!” Changhyun rolled his eyes.

“True,” I said, placing a hand on Changhyun’s shoulder, “but just to be on the safe side, those pictures have to be deleted. Fans can’t know C.A.P has a girlfriend, and you know that. Okay?” I smiled sweetly at him, letting my words sink in.

Changhyun examined my face a moment. Suddenly his gaze dropped to his phone. He clicked some buttons and looked back up. “Fine. I deleted them.”

Minsoo let out a sigh of relief. “Kamsamnida.” He turned to me. “Kamsamnida, Kirin.”

I gave him a smile. “You’re welcome, oppa.”

“Is that why I heard so much noise this morning?” Byunghun asked, squinting his eyes tiredly. “When Kirin woke me up, all I heard was shouting and stomping.”

“Sorry, hyung.” Changhyun looked down a moment. Suddenly, a smirk formed on his face and he looked back up. “Wait, Kirin woke you up this morning?”

Byunghun and I exchanged nervous glances. “Um...yeah.”

“Hyung!” Changhyun cried with wide eyes.

“Alright, who wants breakfast?!” Chanhee interrupted louder than he needed to.

“Breakfast? I’m starving!” Min Neul’s voice filled the kitchen as she strolled into the room with Jonghyun at her side. Min Neul’s hair was in a messy ponytail and she wore short her jeans and purple shirt from yesterday, this time with a baggy black hoodie ironically identical to the one Jonghyun wore yesterday. Jonghyun wore the same striped tank top from yesterday, minus the sweatshirt of course, and same jeans. The sleeveless top showed off his strong arms and broad shoulders and his black hair that had been neatly styled yesterday flopped in a y mess over his right eye. He quickly took his hand off Min Neul’s hip and reached up to run his fingers through his bed-head.

“Good morning,” I said to the couple.

“Good morning,” Jonghyun replied in his deep voice.

“How did you sleep?” Chanhee asked as he pulled a box of pancake mix from the pantry.

“Amazing.” Jonghyun smiled, glancing sideways at Min Neul. She nodded in agreement.

Chanhee and Minsoo were pulling out bowls and spoons and other ingredients. “Good, good,” Chanhee replied.

“You missed the movie,” Minsoo replied.

“Oh, it wasn’t that good anyway.” Suddenly Hyerin appeared in the kitchen. She gracefully walked up to Minsoo, who smiled and planted a good-morning kiss on her forehead.

Min Neul shrugged. “We had fun upstairs.”

“Obviously,” Byunghun muttered quietly.

“What?” Hyerin asked.

“L.Joe!” Min Neul hissed.

“What?” Byunghun giggled innocently.

“Alright, alright, everyone calm down!” Umma-Chanhee declared, wooden spoon in hand. “What happened last night happened last night. Enough talking about it.”

I caught Min Neul breathe a sigh of relief and Hyerin glare at her. I also caught Byunghun and Jonghyun smiling and snickering to each other like they were sharing an inside joke.

Chanhee smiled as he turned around. “Now, who’s going to help me make breakfast?”

About an hour later, I was seated at the dining room table beside Byunghun, a plate of pancakes before us. Chanhee was seated at the table next to Byunghun. Jonghyun was next to Chanhee on the other side, and Min Neul was beside him at the end of the long table. Everyone was munching away on the messy pancakes we quickly made.

Byunghun and I launched for the syrup at the same time. He grabbed it before I could, jerked it away from me, and stuck out his tongue in my direction. I smoothly confiscated his plate in return.

 “That’s fine,” he shrugged. He picked up the serving plate of pancakes and popped them right on front of him. “I’ll use this plate.”

I scoffed playfully. I swiftly picked up my fork and jabbed it into the center of the plate, captured two pancakes and transferred them onto the plate in front of me.

Chanhee laughed and shook his head. “Sometimes I think you two are secretly brother and sister.”

 “Oh God I hope not,” I exclaimed.

 “Yeah, then we couldn’t get married,” Byunghun stated flatly.

 “Really? That’s not what I meant,” I teased. “I’d be ashamed to be related to you.”

I got a laugh from Chanhee and a stuck-out tongue from Byunghun. “Forget about marrying you,” he scoffed, shoveling a forkful in his mouth. “I don’t even want to sit next to you.”

 “Oh shut up.” I elbowed his arm.

 “Hey, play nice!” Chanhee elbowed Byunghun in the other arm.

 “She started it.” Byunghun glared playfully at me. “She always starts it.” He winked. My heart stopped momentarily.

I raised an eyebrow in response. “You always continue it.”

Byunghun squinted at me, the corner of his mouth curled into a y smirk. I couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in the morning. His pink hair was tousled and looked softer than ever. Wearing simply his black sweatpants and a slouchy white t-shirt, he looked better than ever. I fought the urge to drag him upstairs, shut the door, and relive last night all over again.

Suddenly, L.Joe’s rap from “Let’s Dance” rang out loudly from somewhere in the living room. Slightly embarrassed by the eight pairs of eyes that were now on me, I blushed and sprang up from the table to retrieve it.

Byunghun raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Nice ringtone, babe.”

I was blushing. “Shut up,” I defended. I found the iPhone wedged between two couch cushions, obviously due to sliding out of my pocket sometime last night. I ordered everyone in the dining room to shut-up before I answered my Mom’s call.

 “Good morning,” I said cheerfully.

 “Oh good, you’re up! I was afraid you were still sleeping!” Mom replied.

 “We’re up,” I smiled. “And eating breakfast.”

 “How late did you girls stay up?” My mom chuckled.

 “Uhhh, I’d say around three.” That was partially a lie. I had no idea when anyone else went to bed except Byunghun. After we had fooled around, we lay side by side and just talked. Kissed, and talked. I’m pretty sure it was around three in the morning when I finally fell asleep on Byunghun’s chest.

 “That’s not too bad,” Mom replied. “You tired?”

 “Kind of,” I chuckled. “How was the wedding?”

 “Beautiful! The food at the reception was the best part though. Your father and I will tell you all about it when we get home!”

“So, uh, what time do you think you’ll be back?” I asked, trying not to sound nervous.

 “Well, luckily the weather’s not too bad, so we’ll be back around noon, alright?”

My heart stopped. It was ten to eleven right now. That gave us basically an hour to put the house back together and get everyone out of here. I felt a panic attack stirring in my stomach. “Oh, good!”

 “So, we’ll see you in about an hour!” Mom chirped. “Love you!”

 “You too,” I squeaked, hanging up the phone abruptly. I ran into the dining room frantically, where Jonghyun was feeding Min Neul a bite of his pancake, Hyerin was laughing at one of Daniel’s jokes and Changhyun was shoveling a syrupy forkful of pancake into his small mouth.

 “My parents are going to be home in an hour!” I cried.

 “WHAT?” everyone barked at the same time.

“Okay, don’t panic!” I cried, my mind spinning. “Uh…everyone stop eating and clean everything up!”

 In an instant, everyone was up out of their seats. Hyerin started collecting the dirty dishes and Minsoo and Chanhee flew into the kitchen to clean up the breakfast-making mess. Daniel and Changhyun raced to the living room and began straightening the couch cushions and collecting the litter everywhere. The rest of us ran upstairs in an amoeba-like mass. Min Neul and Jonghyun ran into the guest bedroom and Byunghun and I ran into my room.

We stood there and looked at the bed. Three fluffy pillows had been thrown haphazardly on the floor, the other three still dented from our sleeping heads. The wrinkled sheets were falling off the right side of the bed. My wrinkly purple comforter was bunched up at the foot of the bed, and the clothes we had worn last night were thrown around the room like confetti. Unused sleeping bags and backpacks scattered the floor.

“,” Byunghun muttered in English. “We did some damage.”

As stressed out as I was, I had to laugh. The room was a complete disaster. “It was fun though,” I said quietly, looking around.

Byunghun slipped his hand in mine. He squeezed it tightly. “It was.” He kissed my forehead.

He let his lips linger on my forehead and I felt myself start to melt. I couldn’t help myself; I stood on my toes and planted a sweet kiss on his lips, backing him against the wall.

He kissed my roughly, until he pulled away. “As much as I’d hate for this to end, I think we should clean up first.”

“You’re right.” I bit my lip, slightly embarrassed by the impromptu make out session I had started.

We started straightening out my bed. We folded the sheets back over the mattress, and then the comforter. We threw the pillows back on and scooped up the clothes from the floor. I dumped my clothes in the closet, Byunghun dumped his in his backpack.

“All finished,” I declared, shutting the closet door.

Byunghun smirked as he walked around the bed to stand beside me. “That didn’t take very long, did it?”

“No,” I giggled.

“Then come ‘ere.” Byunghun was smiling as he pulled me close to him. I laced my fingers behind his neck and stared up at him, my body pressed up against his.

The world just felt right when I was this close to Byunghun. The sky was bluer. The grass was greener. The air was fresher. The sun was brighter. Life’s problems, whatever they may be, seemed to shrink upon seeing his face. Life’s problems melted when Byunghun smiled and life’s problems completely disappeared with his touch. I felt the world around us dissolve when I closed my eyes and felt his lips meet mine. It didn’t matter that my parents would probably be home in twenty minutes. It didn’t matter that the door was wide open.

I was with Byunghun. Go ahead and let the world collapse.

 “You know what I’ve been thinking?” Byunghun said suddenly, pulling his mouth from mine.

Normally I would have some witty comeback prepared, but I was feeling too much like a melted stick of butter to think properly. “Not at all.”

 “You and I should go on a date. A real date.”

I raised my eyebrows. “A real date?”

 “Yup,” he nodded vigorously. “Just you and me. We could go someplace like the movies, like normal couples do. No Teen Top around, no lying on the couch at the office building. I’ll take you out somewhere on a real date.”

My shoulders fell. “Byunghun, we can’t go out on a real date. We’ve never been able to.”

He grunted, shrugged. “Well…I know. But I really want to. I think I owe it to you to act like a normal couple for a change. After you came up with this whole plan to get everyone together while your parents weren’t home…after last night…I think I owe it to you to be the boyfriend you deserve.”

I smiled a broad, toothy smile. I collapsed in his arms, squeezing him tightly. I pressed the side of my face to his chest and closed my eyes. “Thank you,” I nearly whispered. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Byunghun squeezed me back tightly, resting his chin on my head. “I told you, you’re dating Byunghun, not L.Joe. And Byunghun thinks it’s about time to give Kirin what she deserves.” He looked me in the eye and smirked. “How that sound?”

I laughed. “Good.” I kissed his cheek. “Very good.”

The sound of footsteps running up the stairs was growing. Byunghun and I tore apart from each other and pretended to clean the room up some more. Chanhee appeared in the doorway. “Byunghun-ah—we should probably get going now.”

 “Yah, alright.” Byunghun slung his backpack from off the floor over his shoulder and grabbed his baseball cap from the dresser. The three of us walked out my bedroom just as Min Neul and Jonghyun exited the guest bedroom.

 “Is everything back the way it was before?” I asked no one in particular.

Min Neul nodded. I noticed her hand was laced in Jonghyun’s. “Upstairs is totally clean.”

 “Downstairs is all clean too!” Hyerin called, appearing at the bottom of the stairs.

Chanhee and Byunghun tossed the rest of the backpacks at their respective owners. No one had even touched whatever they brought in their backpacks to spend the night last night; Daniel and Changhyun had passed out on the floor, Chanhee slept on the loveseat, Minsoo and Hyerin had fallen asleep on the couch, Min Neul and Jonghyun did God-knows-what in the guest bedroom, and Byunghun and I had been in my room. Everyone had probably slept in the clothes they were wearing the night before, with the exception of Byunghun and me--and from the looks of it, Min Neul and Jonghyun.

 “Does everyone have everything they brought here?” Umma-Chanhee called over his shoulder as he led the way towards the front door.

 “I think I lost an earring!” Changhyun cried, his hand flying to his ear.

 “No you didn’t.” Umma-Chanhee rolled his eyes.

 “Do you think we could get together again?” I heard Min Neul ask Jonghyun.

 “Definitely,” Jonghyun replied. He squeezed Min Neul’s hand. “Call me later, okay?”

 “Okay,” Min Neul agreed with a shy smile on her face.

Chanhee opened the door. One by one, the six boys filed out. Minsoo lingered behind to kiss Hyerin goodbye and Min Neul playfully refused to let go of Jonghyun’s hand.

I grabbed Byunghun’s arm before he walked out the door. “Did you really mean that?”

 “What? Take you on a real date?”

I nodded slowly.

Byunghun’s smirk turned into a full-fledged smile. “Yeah. I mean it.”

 “Byunghun!” Umma-Chanhee called from the end of the walkway outside.

 “Coming!” Byunghun turned back to me. “I mean it, I swear. I’m going to take you out sometime. Just you and me. Promise.” He stuck out his pinky.

I glanced down at his pinky, and back to his face. “You know you can’t break a pinky promise,” I teased.

 “I know. And I won’t.” He shook his pinky up and down. “Now shake it!”

I hooked my pinky around Byunghun’s and shook it firmly. He smiled, and kissed my cheek. He slapped his baseball cap over his pink head. He was halfway down the walkway when he turned back around, his eyes sparkling, “I’d never break a promise!”

I hooked my pinky around Byunghun’s and shook it firmly. He smiled, and kissed my cheek. He slapped his baseball cap over his pink head. He was halfway down the walkway when he turned back around, his eyes sparkling, “I’d never break a promise!”

After the boys had disappeared down the street, the girls had closed the wooden door behind them. A silence passed over us, as if we were testing to see who would ask the question first, who would make a statement first.

Hyerin was the first to speak. “That…was…amazing.”

“That was more than amazing.” Min Neul’s eyes were wide with wonder. “That was ing the best night of my life.”

“Tell me about it,” I breathed out, my own eyes wide with wonder. Last night was too complicated, wonderful, scary, amazing and unreal to even explain yet.

Hyerin hit Min Neul’s arm. “Alright. Fess up. What happened last night?”

Min Neul rolled her eyes. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“I’m your unni. You’re obligated to tell me everything,” Hyerin stated.

Min Neul flipped her hair. “I don’t make-out and tell.”

“You just did!” I laughed.

“Then I probably shouldn’t tell you that Changjo is an amazing kisser,” Min Neul danced around the living room until she dropped onto the couch in a dreamy daze. “I mean, really. I always kind of suspected he was great at kissing, but now I know he is for real!” Suddenly her hand flew to her neck. “I don’t have a hickey, do I?”

“God, Min Neul, you’re fifteen,” Hyerin rolled her eyes. “C.A.P, on the other hand, is nineteen. He’s a man.”

 “Oh shut up.” Min Neul rolled over and looked at me. “How about you, Kirin-unni? What happened last night?”

I felt my cheeks turn red. “Oh, just some stuff. No big deal.” I couldn’t tell them I hooked up with Byunghun. My mind was spinning too wildly with the memories of last night, anyway. The way his warm hand felt on my …the way I sloppily kissed his jawbone…the smile he gave me when it was all over…it was all enough to keep me floating on Cloud Nine for the rest of my life.

“’Just some stuff’?” Hyerin repeated, arching her eyebrows.

“Yes,” I said defiantly, trying not to let my cheeks turn red. “Nothing major.”

 Hyerin fell backwards on the couch. “I cannot believe we pulled this off.”

I couldn’t believe it either. Six celebrity boys and two of my best friends snuck into my house while my parents weren’t home; tell me there’s nothing wrong with that.

I collapsed on the couch in a fit of laugher. “I cannot believe we did this!”

“Oh, you two both know you’d do it again in a heartbeat!” Min Neul cried, laughing. “God knows I would!”

We laughed insanely and freaked out for a little while after that. How else were we expected to act? Hyerin covered in her hands and squealed. Min Neul buried her face in the couch cushion and squealed. I strongly bit down my tongue and squealed. We were so giddy we were downright high.

“Min Neul and I should probably get out of here,” Hyerin said, glancing at the clock.

“Oh! You probably should!” I sprang up from the couch and so did the sisters. They grabbed their stuff, which we had dumped in the mudroom, and I opened the door.

“Thanks so much, Kirin!” Hyerin squealed, her grin practically spanning from ear to ear.

“Yeah, thanks SO much unni!” Min Neul chirped.

“I couldn’t have done it without you guys!” I giggled. I high-fived both of them. “Operation Cat’s Cradle was a success!”

At 12:04, exactly seven minutes after Hyerin and Min Neul had left, my parent’s Audi pulled into the driveway. I pretended to be watching TV when they walked through the door. I ran up to hug both of them and they began telling me about how beautiful the wedding was and how tasty the food had been, and asking me how Hyerin’s house was. I answered without hesitation; we stayed up really late doing each other’s hair and makeup and danced crazily on her bed to SNSD.

“Sounds like you had tons of fun,” Mom commented happily.

I smiled a genuine smile. “Oh, trust me. We did.”

What she doesn't know won’t hurt her.

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Thank you all SO MUCH for leaving such nice comments! Really, I love you all SO much! ♥