“Skin~ to~ skin~,” Ji Eun bobbed her head as she tucked her iPod into her pocket, dancing around her kitchen as her water boiled.

She adjusted the heavy bowl resting on her potato starch noodles. She attempted to look y as she mixed her vegetables in the frying pan. ‘Yeah, probably not so y. This song is a bop though.’

She started blanching the spinach as she stirred the vegetables, and ran back to the counter. She hated taking the spinach out of the strainer; it just clumped up into a soggy ball of leaves. But if she didn’t make the recipe according to the book it would haunt her for the rest of the day.

“You just got a message!” Park Bom chimed. She reached for her phone and opened her messages.

‘Hey, I’ll be over there in twenty minutes.’ Minseok would be there soon. Ji Eun looked down. She was wearing a ratty tank top and Hello Kitty pajama bottoms topped off by Onew socks.

“Well…” she said out loud. “I should probably make myself more presentable.” She nodded. “After I finish cooking.”

By the time that happened, she had ten minutes to spare. She put her hair in a ponytail, slipped into some yoga pants with the help of a chair, and then debated whether she should put on a bra.

“Do I, but what if it looks like…” she sat there with it in her hands. ‘Should it match my ? Maybe this one’s too tight…’ ”eeehhh…..” she looked down and then looked at the bra and shrugged. “Whatever.” She threw on a tank top and a loose fitting t-shirt.

As she was applying mascara she heard a knock on the door. “One minute,” she said. Her voice trailed off as she struggled to open her lip balm. “euuuugh why??????” she finally popped off the lid, smacking herself in the cheek before she heard another knock. She put it on, threw it back on the desk, readjusted her shirt, and went to the door.

She lost her breathe at the sight of him. His t-shirt sleeves seemed to strain at his biceps, and she could see his clavicle peeking out from his ed collar, the rest hidden by the tank top underneath. He smelled of a light, musky vanilla that began to drive her up the wall.

He had been to her dorm before, just a few times to watch TV. The last time he was there, they fell asleep on the couch. She could still feel her arms around her. And hear Gina’s never-ending questions that followed for a week after.

She let him in without a word, looking down at his while his back was turned. ‘Nice jeans.’ She thought to herself, trying to stifle a smile.

As she walked past him Minseok looked her up and down. He hadn’t seen hear wear yoga pants in a while. He looked away. He could feel his cheeks burning.

She looked back at him. He was looking out the window. She smiled. He was so handsome when he was being thoughtful.  Ji Eun went back and brought out her side dishes from the countertop and set them on the kitchen table.

She opened the containers to reveal spinach, eggplant, kimchi and rolled omelet. She pulled two cans of Coke out of the fridge and set one per placemat. Minseok smiled.

“Aw, when you said you were making lunch I didn’t expect anything so…fancy.” Ji Eun rolled her eyes.

“Fancy? It’s basic. Well, I guess it’s fancy when you’ve been eating burnt frozen pizzas for a month.” Minseok rolled his eyes and smiled sheepishly.

“I can cook…I’m just…not good at frozen pizzas.”

“Well, as you can obviously see, there are no frozen pizzas here.” She smiled widely. “Because I at cooking them too.”

They both sat down over lunch, which had been a long time coming. Ji Eun had been busy for weeks with finals prep and Minseok couldn’t find his way out of work or school.

As Ji Eun was clearing the dishes and putting them in the sink, Minseok came up behind her and put his hands on her hips, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“You know what sounds good right now?” he asked, fodling his arms around her waist.

“No, what?” she asked, her face beginning to feel hot.

“A nap.” Ji Eun rolled her eyes.

“I do NOT like napping.” Minseok tilted his head away and just looked at her. “Are you insane, woman?” he asked. She looked back at him with the most serious face she could muster (which was kinda hard because he looked ridiculous).

“Yes. I don’t like napping. It feels like a waste of time.” His mouth fell open in surprise.

“Waste? Of time?? Are you mad???” he overdramatically threw up his hands in mock disgust. “I LIVE off naps.” Ji Eun shrugged.

“Then you go to sleep, I’ll just be reading.”

“How rude.” He said as she sauntered off smiling. They went into her room. He began to take off his shirt, which made Ji Eun’s ears turn red as she twisted her head away and covered her eyes.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she asked. He turned to her and smirked.

“Taking off my shirt. I sleep in my underwear.” She looked back at him, covering everything below his neck with her hands.

“Normal people wear pajamas.” He rolled his eyes.

“Did you ever think how weird it is that you have separate clothes for the day time that you actually do stuff in, and clothes you just lay down and sleep in?” he asked. Ji Eun turned away and opened her book.

Minseok curled up under her multiple covers, burying his head in her mountain of pillows. A soft floral scent wafted over him as sleep slowly crept in.

After a few minutes, Ji Eun could hear him softly snoring. She looked over. He was out cold, his head turned into a pillow with one arm under it and another arm up behind his head. His chest slowly rose and fell.

She pursed her lips. She did NOT like napping. But she also felt sort of lonely. She put down her book and crept towards the bed.

‘But why am I creeping?’ she asked herself. ‘That’s MY bed. I’ll do what I want.’ She nodded and started walking a little louder, a little faster. She stopped. They’ve fallen asleep together before, but she never did it on purpose. She wanted to back away, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

So she gently pulled back the blankets, and got into bed. She turned away from Minseok, and just lay there. She gently scooted back just a bit.

Ji Eun almost jumped at the arm that wrapped around her and brought her closer to Minseok. He looked down at her with sleepy eyes and smiled.  “Tired?” she shook her head.

“No…just…cold.” He blinked slowly and yawned. She was such a terrible liar. “That’s okay. Come here.” He wrapped both of his arms around her and adjusted the blanket so that it was covering them both. He drew her closer to his chest and gently ran his fingers through her hair.

Ji Eun let her cheek rest upon his chest. The gentle thumping of his heart brought an odd calm. She reached up and gently ran her own hand through his short hair, down the line of his chin, and ran her thumb over his lips.

He let a hand slip down towards her bottom, pulling her closer to his face, his lips brushing her cheek before they met her own in a passionate embrace.

She ran her hands down his arms before putting them through his and running her hands along his back.

His tongue slid down her neck, where he rested, her back arched as she ran her nails down his back. His hands brought her hips to his as he made his way lower

“No,” she whispered, breathless. Her hands had come up to his face, her left thumb in front of his mouth. “Not, not now. I’m….no. I can’t.” her heart beat wildly at the thought of what would have happened.

He took her hand and kissed it. “That’s alright.” He kissed her temple and ran his other hand through her hair. “We can just lay here.” He said, laying back down next to her. She wiggled her way over and rested her head upon his chest.

As they both drifted off to sleep in the lazy afternoon, Ji Eun could think of no better way to waste the time away, than in Minseok’s arms.

‘But,’ she thought. ‘Is my time really wasted when I’m with you? When all I want is to be near you?’

END OF CHAPTER 7