“Helloooow newlywed lovebirds, watcha doin’?” That sentence became Suyeon’s and Hana’s staple way of greeting each other as one went into the front desk booth to commence their shifts.

Screw the annual passive aggressive mails from Han the HRD guy, nobody’s going to stop them from talking and giggling like highschool girls. It wasn’t that they were doing their job badly, no. Truthfully, people began to say of how the enthusiastic smiles of the front desk ladies were making their days better. How was that a bad thing?

Although, today Suyeon wasn’t looking as bright as she used to. In fact, her mood could be seen visibly to be declining day by day in a steady rate.

“I don’t know,” was her answer when Hana asked what was wrong, “I just feel… Less. Is that even a thing you could use to describe your feeling?”

Hana only shrugged, “is it job related? Family? Friend?” She paused for a bit before continuing with a cheeky smile, “love?”

Suyeon looked at her in resign, “really? A relationship problem THIS early in our relationship? Who told me dating him was a great idea?”

Suyeon could do nothing but sigh in defeat when Hana silently pointed her finger at her.

“Well, how ‘bout yours then? Running smoothly as ever?”

“As ever!” Hana gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up, before she commenced on jotting down a meeting note while humming a cheerful song just like a… Well, just like a love stricken bird. 

And Suyeon could only sit there with this unknown sensation in her heart.
 

“Su, I’m sorry I couldn’t go tonight. Have to do emergency reshoots till 11PM. Is it ok? I’m sorry.”

That was Kyuhyun's message that came buzzing to her phone 30 minutes before their planned dinner. Planned. From a week ago. Cancelled just when Suyeon was done fixing her makeup and everything.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?! I’m all jazzed up now!”

She huffed and threw herself on her messy bed. Had to wait around 10 minutes for him to answer back.

“I’m sorryyy~ Put it on the tally and I’ll see you soon.”

“Put it on the tally…” Suyeon mumbled, the annoyance was clearly showcased in her mocking tone, “as if that was enough.”

And at that moment Suyeon realized what’s been bothering her this last few weeks. His behaviour. It’d changed. She would’ve thought that being in a relationship would bring them closer together, but no! His calls are far and few in between, Messages scarce and short, Meetings? She’d only seen him less than a dozen times after their departure from the beach.

What? He was cheating? But it’d only been three weeks! Was she THAT uninteresting? Suyeon knew for sure the risk and downsides that came with dating an overworked person, but why could he bother her with a text message every half hour when he was just trying to annoy her but now that they were dating, were unable to do the same thing?

Was she just a game for him? Now that he’d catch her, there was nothing more to do?

But, it wouldn’t be Suyeon if she didn’t act on a whim, driven by impulse stemming from her brewing emotion. Nope. Of course she had to do something stupid without thinking what effect it might bring to her future.

“You know what? I just really want to eat out tonight. Meet me at the usual mandu stall after you finish. Or else.”

She could’ve just say ‘yea, that’s fine, we can always reschedule.’

But not tonight. Not tonight.
 

Notice I mentioned how Suyeon never calculate how stupid her action might be? Added to that, the fact that she also have a massive ego, and now she was stuck sitting alone on a crowded mandu stall.

It was only the matter that she was close buddies (with how often she visited that place, it’d just be natural) with the owner and workers of that stall that she wasn’t politely asked to go away.

Eating alone on a Friday night, surrounded by groups of families and even more couples acting all romantic and by feeding each other. The whole stall was animated and lively but the tiny corner she was camping at. It was like there was a gloomy shadow surrounding her and thus the patrons tried to avoid her deathly stares because they were afraid her negative energy were going to rub off to their happy time.

She’d waited for like what… one, one and a half hour? Already ate almost two dozens of grilled mandu and already ordered another two dozen, but he hadn't show up. There wasn’t even any message that may act as a confirmation of his arrival, if any. And in that silent times of slowly munching on her food, Suyeon wondered if this could be a personal record for the shortest living relationship she’d ever got.

Might be. Because she’d made a pack for herself, that if Kyuhyun didn’t show up when the clock strike 1, she’ll just holler and played so hard to get he’ll have to get a chisel to prick his way back in.

Although, something happened that made her reconsider that thought. Her other order of mandu came, and was followed closely with a disheveled looking Kyuhyun.

Knowing that look of hunger, Suyeon motioned for the owner lady to send in another portion. A thumbs up and a wink was her response.

“How did it go?” She asked. A bit too much aggressive hints on her voice, but well, what’s out was out. Couldn’t really be helped.

Although, she started to feel slightly, slightly bad when Kyuhyun didn’t answer and only plopped down in silence and frantically shoved the dumplings into his mouth.

“Sweet Jesus, have you eaten anything today?!”

Kyuhyun's mouth was too busy munching to give an audible answer and in result could only shook his head.

After downing down the glass of iced tea and contently sighing a breath of garlic fume, Kyuhyun finally rested his back onto the chair and for the first time in the night, stared at Suyeon in the eye.

He looked puzzled. Rightfully so.

"You seem to be..." He squinted his eyes trying to see what seemed off with her that night.

"Pissed?" She tried to help him, but he rebuked her answer.

"So eager to eat out." The smile on his face showed that he was happy with his guess, although Suyeon wasn't.

Not being a wishy washy person, she jammed her fingers right into the center of what's been bothering her, "you are not taking this seriously."

Kyuhyun looked so offended with that accusation, "WHAT?! I ALWAYS took mandu eating seriously!"

"Kyuhyun!" Suyeon's exasperated yell managed to gain several curious onlookers. They must've felt so bad for her. After waiting two hours for her man, he came and they only fight. 

"I'm being serious!" And she did look the part. Her face was contorted into a combination of anxiety and frustration. Her fingers nervously fiddling with each other, deep sighs cutting most of her sentences in halves, all a tell tale for a no--taking Suyeon. 

And so, this once, Kyuhyun noticed it and realized that this WAS indeed a time for him to be sober.

"What do you think of me?" She opened up again when she saw that he had collected himself, "a getaway? A challenge? A game? What?"

He wanted to answer, but Suyeon swerved in and didn't give him the chance, "why do I feel that you already lost any ounce of interest in me, not merely a month into whatever this thing we're trapped in."

"What did I do to warrant this from you?" His said it slowly, carefully. A tone that was low and mature that she never heard before coming from him.

"What you DIDN'T do was," Suyeon firmly pointed her finger on the plastic table, as if it was a physical manifestation of their relationship. 

At the other side of the table, Kyuhyun sat in silence and struggled to take in everything that was laid out to him. He dreaded for this day to come. He wished for it to show up much, much later in the relationship, although he should've known. With Suyeon, you either speak up or she'll pry it out of you with a crow bar.

And so Kyuhyun sighed. After a few uncomfortable wriggle around the plastic stool, he spoke,
"This..." He went on and flicked his finger in the air that separated them, "this is huge. This is different."

He seemed to have difficulty in conveying the thoughts in his head, "I... I've... Never. Never thought I could..." He stuttered, he refused to look at Suyeon for more than a fraction of a second. At that moment, Kyuhyun was, amazingly, flustered, "I could even achieve this with someone."

Once again he took a sharp intake of air before he blurted out the next sentence. A way to make sure he didn't stutter, "I get bored easily."

"Or maybe you are afraid of getting into anything serious." Suyeon smacked down the real deal. Note the clear emphasis on the word 'serious'.

Kyuhyun nodded his head slowly at that, "yes, maybe that too. But the point is... I was afraid... That once I got you..."

Suyeon again chimed in to fix his wordings, "once we are in a relationship." 
'I got you' made it sound like she was only an unwanted stray kitten. 

Kyuhyun looked at her with apologetic eyes when he noticed his mistake before continuing on his explanation, "once we are together, I'll loose everything I felt when... We were not."

"Have you lost it, then?" He couldn't pinpoint the emotion inside Suyeon's tone. Not anger, not annoyance. He almost guessed pity, but that was so unlikely he didn't really took any further notice from them.

His head swayed from side to side as an answer to her, "but I'm afraid I will..."

The silence that enveloped them was unbearable and Kyuhyun had to look up, meeting the gaze of Suyeon. He imagined she'd look angry, or maybe she'd stare at him with a degrading grin. When in fact she only oversaw him with an understanding light on her eyes. It made him feel so much better.

Without saying anything, Suyeon reached out and softly grasped his hands, pulling them toward to the center of the table. Not saying anything. Just a small smile on her lips as she traced wide circles on the back of Kyuhyun's palm.

"Let's just do this until then, then," Suyeon was glad. She was afraid of a lot of things when she sat down on the stall that night. It no longer felt that way, "thankyou for speaking to me."

Kyuhyun let out a long sigh that signified his contentment of the outcome of his honesty, "thankyou for listening too."

For a while they sat like that, holding their hands, looking deeply into the eyes of each other with small, silly smile on their face. It wasn't a contest of who would look away first, it also didn't feel like a way to show their affection. It just felt right, and nice, and comforting in the middle of all the noise that surround them, to be able to find a moment of intimacy like that. 

All of a sudden, there was a spark of realization and Suyeon jumped slightly on her chair, "oh my god."

"What?" Kyuhyun, in confusion, cocked his head slightly to the side. Will this night ever end in a high note?

"We've never even kissed before," so straightforwardly she said it, it almost sounded funny. 

"We've never, haven't we?! Like... Hana! Hana and Jungsoo, they kiss ALL THE TIME," it wasn't that she was angry or anything, she was more... Upset. As her rant went on, her volume also went up. Kyuhyun looked around the crowded stall, hoping that all the people wouldn't dare eavesdrop to this embarrassing fact about their relationship. Oh, they all listened.

"Come on, come on we should at least try it? If you didn't like it we can practice or something? Although I swear you're not gonna get bored with this pair of lips right here," someone must've slipped something into her drink, Kyuhyun thought. One sniff of her glass revealed it all. Coca cola. She was in a sugar high that would only keep inclining if he didn't do anything about it. The heads of patrons sitting nearest to them had begun turning to their direction and he realized that he wasn’t wearing any of his disguises. He forgot his creeper goatee at Liara’s glove compartment and he still had his contact lenses on. He was also pretty sure there were still traces of eyeliner left on his water line. It was already way too late into the night for cases of people recognizing who he was, so Kyuhyun immediately jumped to his feet and dragged a still babbling Suyeon behind him as he swiftly paid the giggling mandu lady.

“Good luck with her,” she waved at the panicked Kyuhyun who had one hand behind his neck and bowing down as if saying ‘sorry’ over and over again.

“We should do it,” and now back to this lady right there. She had both of her hands on a tight grip around his arms, staring up with eyes shining so brightly with uncharted excitement, “just a tiny bit, just a try? Come on!”

Even outside, she was making such a ruckus that people who were standing around the dimly lit street began to turn their heads toward them. With that, Kyuhyun slowly led themselves to a section of a dark alley that contained all the dumpsters from the surrounding shops and restaurants. Not the safest of hiding places, but where else would he go? He parked too far away and… Deep inside, he was kind of curious of where she was going to take this.

“Don’t you think that it should be done in a more… Appropriate time and place?” Kyuhyun pointed out when Suyeon cornered him between a damp brick wall pressed tightly onto his back, and a big blue garbage bin that was almost filled to the top with unknown material that smelled like oranges that’d sat far too long under a scorching sun.

She didn’t care, though. The sugar high had thrown all that care out from the window far, far too long ago. Not even when her sleeves caught on the lid of the garbage bin, leavung a weird dark stain on them. Not when there wasn’t anymore room for her to get any nearer to an awkwardly standing Kyuhyun. She just stood there, looking up, expecting for him to do something.

“Come on then, do it?” Her eyebrows began to furrow when he only stood there, chin tucked in and a perplexed expression on his face.

“Um… Close your eyes?” She immediately did so, following the vague instruction given by the equally confused Kyuhyun.

A confused Kyuhyun. A rare form for him to be. He wasn’t so because he never kissed before. Ooh no. Kyuhyun the casanova, he loves to kiss, he lives for the kisses. One thing that was starkly different in this situation compared to his past relationships was that his partner was the one who instigated it. He loves to have the upper hand. Once that condition was taken from him, Kyuhyun was no more than a bumbling wreck.

Not sure how this one would go, he slowly lowered down his head. Slow, jerky movement as he wasn’t used to this slow approach of kisses and things like that. The moment there was only a fraction of centimeters left between their lips, Suyeon broke off into laughter.

“I can’t do this!” She pulled herself from the awkward hug and walked away, fanning herself, “that was just… so weird. How can actors do that naturally?! Not that I haven’t done it before, bu-huurmp!”

Her ramblings were cut midways when something suddenly bumped against her open mouth. Not hard enough to warrant a stich at the emergency ward, but enough to gain her attention to the long awaited kiss that she’d requested.

A kiss that tasted like grilled pork and spring onion, one that smelled strongly of garlic with a whiff of garbage at the side, one, that was set in the most unlikely setting possible. But she would lie if she say it wasn’t the best kiss she ever been involved in.

When somehow he did manage to gain an upper hand on the situation, in that tiny moment of chance when Suyeon lost her grip on him, he swiveled her around and in turn pin her in the corner he was first trapped in. The collision knock a bit of breath out of her, but that only made Suyeon’s grin grew wider as she latched her arms around his neck and hoisted herself up to meet those tasty tasty mandu lips of his.

But those hands, those hands were the stuff of the night. Oh, he really knew where to place them, how hard he should press down around the base of her nape, along the dip of her hips, using the tips of his fingers to play with her earlobes.

It would’ve lasted all night if only he didn’t pull away to take a deep gasp of air.

“My god! How big are those lungs of yours?!” He tried to laugh in bits and pieces, still trying to catch a breath, which was made hard with Suyeon playfully nibbling on his lower lips.

“You should see them in their liberated glory,” she pulled away and started to shake her tatas like they were cheerleader pom poms.

Kyuhyun looked at them, contemplated for a while, and said, “nah, I’ll safe it for next time.” 

Suyeon let her hand drop and looked at him with a challenging expression, “why? Afraid of getting bored too fast?"

“With you?” Kyuhyun left the sentence hanging as he leaned in and gave Suyeon a quick smooch on the tip of her nose, “I hope not.”

With that too cute of an act being done at her, Suyeon could only mumble on with her head hung low, because her face was too red that she might’ve been mistaken for a paper lantern, as she lead their way to his car.

Kyuhyun was left at the back, missing a few paces because he was busy fixing a… defect that suddenly appeared on/around/under his pants.

‘That was a close one,’ he thought to himself in panic, ‘I hope she didn’t notice… But how should I hide it now?!’

“Walk behind me,” as if she could read his mind, Suyeon exclaimed a solution for his problem, which was followed suit by Kyuhyun scuttling near to her rear. To make his awkward walk look less obvious, she pulled him even closer and latched his arms around her waist, “can’t you at least control your thirst? ert…”

“But at least I am YOUR ert,” he retorted back with a poke on her cheek, only that made her blush even more.

“Disgusting,” a defeated Suyeon softly mumbled under her breath, trying hard not to let him know that she was giving the world her widest smile. Kyuhyun knew, nevertheless, and thus rested his chin comfortably on her shoulder.

“Su?”

“Hm?”

“Thankyou.” For listening to me. For giving me a chance. For trying to understand. For standing in front of me so that I didn’t have to show the world this… raging .

She didn’t say a word, only nodding in silence. And that was enough.

“Su?”

“Hm?!”

“I love you.”

He could feel her tripping over nothing on the ground, but she kept on trudging down the lane. In silence contemplating what she should reply on this unwarranted proof that this ‘thing’ did feel so different from those burning pages that were hidden in the past.

Simple. Unpretentious. Sincere. Even with his garlic breath fuming down her neck, it felt right.

And so, she whispered back, “I love you too.”

And that was enough.

A/N: Yoo this chapter is quite long. I couldn't find a midpoint... point to cut this in half so I hope it's ok? I think the end part is so saccharine sweet like omg I love it so much... It might look a bit weird (as usual, writing it in the deepest reaches of the night). And the kissing... And Kyuhyun's 'problem' ohoho. Well... Do you guys like those things? Those y things? If you do, then I'll go a bit more bold the next time around :P