“Hyung… what’s wrong with Noona?” Kwangsoo still confused in the car. He felt guilty he may have annoyed her and he was unaware of it.

Gary smiled “She’s not in her best mood today”

“But she looks happy when you were taking selfie just before I came” He knew Gary is hiding something from him. Gary can’t lie, he stayed silent for too long. Kwangsoo stared at him waiting for his answer making him uncomfortable in the driver’s seat. “Just tell me already.. what did I do?”

“She was jealous” he can’t keep it in anymore. That didn’t help answer Kwangsoo’s question but got him even more confused. “She was jealous because you’re always next to me… She got annoyed”. His confused face turned to shock.  Eyes wide, mouth hung open in shock. “Are you two dating now???”

Gary smiled.  He didn’t know how to answer that question but he is happy at the idea of dating her. “Seriously, hyung??” Kwangsoo is suddenly excited. “I wouldn’t say we’re dating yet… We went out for a movie once. That was it.” Kwangsoo is now laughing in amazement. “You went to the movies?! Nobody noticed??” Gary nodded his head and did a hand gesture to tell him they had masks on.

“Daebak! You’re so cool!” Kwangsoo always thought Gary is the coolest brother he can ever ask for. “She asked me out.. She planned all of it. I just went along” Kwangsoo could not be more amazed by Gary at that moment. “That woman asked you out?? And I thought she wasn’t interested all this while! I knew she is not that good in her acting!” He figured why Jihyo could act so naturally with Gary. She was not acting! Gary instantly looked to the side, surprised that Kwangsoo was saying less of his girlfriend’s talent.

“No hyung, I didn’t mean to say that…” he was denying full force with hand gestures and shaking of his head. Gary had to laugh at his comic. “She was so natural with you… the smile, the look in her eyes.  I was amazed she could act so well. I should have known! But she doesn’t talk about you when we hang out.”

“Is it true? I mean the look in her eyes?” He needed convincing. Kwangsoo nodded. “You’re like the Casanova! How can you tame that beast of a woman?? She always tell me and Joongki to protect her from you” Gary laughed out loud. So she had her bodyguards guarding her all this while and yet she was the one approaching him.

“Kwangsoo… do you think we would go far?” He finally find someone he could talk to about her.  “How would I know hyung?? I don’t even have a girlfriend right now. But I will support you all the way.  Let me know if you need help. If you want her, I’ll help you get her.” He was so excited about helping him pursue the girl that he had to laugh again. “She’s a nice girl… I don’t want to manipulate things to get her.  I’ll let it happen naturally” Kwangsoo is impressed with him. He put it in his mind he wants to be like him.

He picked up his phone and made a video call. “Noona! Guess who I am with now?” He turned his phone so she can see Gary driving by his side. “Ya! Kwangsoo! Why are you calling her now?” Gary was having a hard time concentrating on the road “I can’t focus on the road!” He noticed Jihyo was smiling at his words when kwangsoo turned the phone back to himself.

“Noona… why do you smile so sweetly at me?” he picked on her. “Ya!” she realized that was the smile for Gary and changed it to a frown for Kwangsoo. “Hahahaha! By the way, we are going for dinner and hyung is going to stay late at my place.”

“So??” she trying to be unaffected although she wished she had been invited to join them. “So… you can just go to bed early because he won’t be calling you tonight!” he ended the video call before she had a chance to response.  He was having a good time laughing while Gary quietly smiled and shook his head.  He enjoyed watching them bickering.  They reminded him of old times with his sister.

“So I am hanging out at your house until late tonight?”

“Hahaha! I just said that to annoy her.  My mom’s cooking good food tonight.  You can stay until dinner. You can rest in the guest room” He was tired so he accepted the offer.  The moment he got the guest room and laid down on the bed, he was out in slumber land.

By the time dinner’s over it was late.  The family sure talk a lot and joked a lot too.  He had fun.  It has been a while since he joined a friend’s family dinner.  Mostly it’s always him eating out alone or with a few friends that often lead to some drinking .  Once a month he would take the time to go back to his family home for a few days to relax and catchup. That was it.

He had too much sleep he can’t sleep.   The moment she answered the phone, his face lit up. She sounded like she was sleeping. “Oh… sorry to disturb your sleep… I’ll hang up now..”

“Wait! Don’t” she instantly woke up to her normal self. “I am awake. I slept for too long anyway.”

“You slept since you went home this evening??”

“Yes. I was so tired. Now, I am hungry. Talk to me while I cook ramyun.” She was walking to her kitchen. “No, don’t cook that.  You haven’t eaten half the day.  I’ll send some food to you.” She was happy to be able to see him but it was already late. She was quietly figuring out what to say. “Don’t worry, I’ll just drop off the food for you and come back home” She realized she took too long to response.

“No, oppa… I just don’t want to bother you.  It’s already late.”

“No problem at all. I slept too long at kwangsoo’s today and now I can’t sleep” he was already taking his car key and heading out of his apartment. “I am already out of the house.  I’ll be there in 45 minutes”  He hung up.

….

She ran from the bathroom to get her phone in the living area. “Hello, you’re here?” She was out of breath from running.  “What’s wrong with you??” he was worried. “I ran to get the phone… out of breath” He was relieved. “I am outside the gate. Are you coming out or do I go in?”

“I’ll call the guardhouse to let your car in. I’ll wait for you at the basement carpark”

She was already standing by her car when he reached. He got out of the car with a bag full of food for her.  “Here, quickly go up and eat. I know you’re hungry” he handed the bag to her. She pulled his arm instead. “I can’t carry all that. You take it upstairs”

He was looking at her trying to comprehend what she was doing. “Yes, you can come up and hangout for a while” she answered the question on his mind. He was still surprised. “It’s ok. I trust you won’t do anything to me”

“I know I won’t… but…” he let his words hover for a while and had her looking at him waiting for him to continue. “but… I am not sure you won’t do anything to me.” A cheeky smile spread across his face.

“Hahahaha! I can’t promise you that” she winked at him and laughed again.

…….

He spread out the food on her dining table.  “You bought so much food!”

“I didn’t know what you would like to eat… so I bought a few”

“Eat with me.” She handed him the chopsticks. “no problem! Let’s dig in!” he was not hungry but he was happy to eat with her.

“So what did you do with kwangsoo today?” He was munching on his food, shaking his head in answer. “The moment we reached his home, I slept until his mother woke us up for dinner. Then we chatted.  They were all so talkative…” She was smiling looking at him talking so animatedly about kwangsoo’s family.

“Do you have any schedule tomorrow?” She was clearing up the table with his help. “Nope. Why?”

“Good.  Stay here for a while and hangout. I don’t think I can sleep anytime soon” She asked so casually he thought she must have really trusted him to not do anything to her. “my pleasure!”

He fell asleep lying down on the daybed.  She was into the romantic movie and was crying her heart out at the end of it. Sitting on the floor leaning against the daybed, she heard a steady breathing. She turned to see a peaceful face deep in his sleep. She sat next to him to wake him up.  He was half awake. “Jihyo ahh… I’m so sleepy” he murmured in his sleepiness. He pulled her down to lie next to him. “Can you please let me sleep for a while?” He was on his side talking into her ears. His hand automatically went around her waist adjusting his posture to get comfortable before dozing off.

She didn’t have time to react to what he was doing. She decided that it felt nice to have him there and stayed in place to get her sleep.

When he woke up, Jihyo was already turning towards him, hugging him close for warmth. He could smell her hair.  He shook her softly to wake her up. “jihyo… ji~~ hyo~~… wake up”

She looked up and saw his face. “Oh! Sorry, oppa…” She recalled her sleeping next to him last night. She sat up with a blush on her face. “No wonder I had such a good sleep!” he said playfully. “I’ll get going… you continue to sleep.” He stood up an got his things, heading out the door. She walked behind him. “Thank you, oppa. See you soon” He touched her cheek “You’re really beautiful in the morning.” He smiled and walked out the door after seeing her lips turning into a wide smile.

She realized, she has fallen too deep to get out of it.  She didn’t want to get out.