I could barely control my excitement as I walked beside Hyunseung down the streets. I was going on a date. With Hyunseung. I don't care how he worded it or what this really was, but it sure as hell seemed like a date to me.

Almost immediately, my excitement was crushed and I grew nervous instead. I've never been on a date before. that, I've never even LIKED a guy before. How should I act? What should I do?

"Where do you want to eat?" He asked, suddenly interrupting my hyperventilation.

"U-umm.....w-wherever you want to go," I stammered nervously.

Hyunseung raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you care about other people's opinions before your own?"

Ah, . He's right. I looked away, my cheeks probably as red as my hair. "Sorry......I feel nervous."

When he didn't answer, I peeked up. He was looking away, and I could have sworn his ears were red. "Ah, yeah. I am too."

My head shot fully up at that. "You are?"

He frowned. "Don't make a big deal out of it. I AM human."

"You are?"

He rolled his eyes and lightly flicked my forehead. It obviously didn't hurt -- I've had much worse -- but I still scowled at him and rubbed the area slightly. "Fine, then. Let's eat something cheap, I didn't bring a lot of money."

"Ramyeon, then?" Hyunseung pointed to a ramyeon shop across the street. 

"Oh, sure."

As we neared the shop, I started to relax a bit. We were conversing like we always did -- teasing and snappish, but still making a good conversation. Like always. I wouldn't mind going on dates more often if they were as comfortable as this one.

As we entered the shop, a loud honking sound blared throughout the restaurant, and balloons and streams flew out at us. I yelped in shock and clung to Hyunseung's arm on reflex, completely freaked out.

"Congratulations!" The restaurant workers chorused with big smiles. "You are our one thousandth couple!"

A nearby worker held out a small piece of paper. "This coupon will give you and your boyfriend 50% off on your orders, miss. You're very lucky -- we only give this prize to couples who enter our restaurant."

"My b-boyfriend?" I stuttered cluelessly. That's when I realized I was still clinging to Hyunseung's arm, and I quickly let go. " N-no, that's not it, we're not a --"

Hyunseung suddenly put an arm around me and smoothly took the coupon. "Thank you very much," he said with a cool smile. "My girlfriend and I are very pleased."

I was pretty sure steam was coming out of my ears as Hyunseung led me towards an empty table. Everyone in the store was watching us, and I noticed a few girls giving Hyunseung some waaaaay too interested looks to be polite.

"What the are you doing?" I hissed at him as we sat down. "Now everyone here thinks we're a couple!"

Hyunseung shrugged coolly. "You said you wanted it cheap. Now we have it 50% off. Why not lie a little?"

I scowled and sullenly glared at my menu. It wasn't just the lie that bothered me -- it was the fact Hyunseung looked so indifferent at the fact that we were just pretending to be a couple. I admit, I felt really disappointed and kind of crushed. I mean, yeah, I like this guy -- I'm not going to deny it anymore -- but it didn't seem like he noticed or cared.

Oh, god, was I turning into one of those sulky, whiny girls? Oh god no. My pride wouldn't allow it.

I forced my bad mood out of the way and tried to focus on getting delicious ramyeon. I would NOT hold a grudge, because I am NOT just another simple girly-girl.

After we ordered, there was a slightly awkward pause where we had no idea what to say to each other. I fidgeted and twiddled my fingers, desperately looking for something to say.

Suddenly, we both looked up. I said "How do you like Incheon so far?" and Hyunseung said "Incheon is very nice, isn't it?" at the same time. We stared at each other and then laughed a bit. The mood relaxed.

"It's sunny," I said with a grin.

"Sunny is an understatement," Hyunseung rolled his eyes with a scoff. "The weather in Seoul."

"That's for sure."

Okay, so yeah, talking about the weather was one of the least interesting topics we could have chosen. But at least we were talking about something.

Soon, the conversation changed from weather to grades, and then to our individual talents.

"So, what can YOU do?" I with a grin. "Besides make up insane battle strategies? I bet you kick in chess."

"All forms of chess," Hyunseung added smugly. "Chinese chess, chinese checkers, normal checkers. Any sort of strategy game, I always win. Always."

"Well, that's kind of geeky."

"No, that's smart. I can do other stuff too, you know. Physical activities. I can dance and sing. I play the piano."

"You can play the piano?" I said with interest. "When the hell did you learn?" No matter how I looked at it, it didn't really fit that a gangster could play the piano.

Hyunseung's face darkened a bit, but at that exact moment a worker arrived with our food, and his face lightened up. "Food's here, thank god. I'm starving." I wondered if I only imagined his change in expression.

We ate in comfortable silence, for once not feeling awkward. I liked that. I myself am the kind of person who doesn't really like filling every single space with random words. Hyunseung obviously felt the same.

When we finished, I grabbed my wallet to pay. Hyunseung was quicker. He stood up and walked to the register with money and the coupon in his hand.

I ran after him. "Yah, Jang Hyunseung! I can pay for my share --" I started to say, but he cut me off.

"It's fine. I have more money in my wallet, and I have the coupon." Hyunseung smoothly said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Fine. But I get to treat you to something else afterwards, alright?"

He gave me one of those quirky, genuine smiles again, and I felt my heart flutter. "Fine."

******************************

I bought us both ice cream and we headed towards the riverbank to eat. (I have absolutely no idea if there is a riverbank in Incheon, but whatev)

We sat side-by-side on the slightly-tilted, grassy hill, and stared at the river as boats lazily passed by and children laughed loudly and played in the water. The sun was bright and hot, but we were comfortably hidden underneath the shade of a big tree.

I felt happier than I've ever been in a long time. I didn't have to worry a thing about SHINee. Teen Top was taking care of my family. The weather was beautiful, and I was on a sort-of-quasi-date with the guy I liked. Life was great.

"Apple?" He suddenly said. I remembered that was my nickname.

"What is it, Hippo?" I snickered, lazily on my ice cream cone.

"Why did you become a gangster?"

I froze. That was a weird question, and one nobody ever asked of me before. I turned to look at him, but he was still staring out into the water. His face was serious.

I slowly turned back to stare at the water, and I didn't look at him when I spoke. "I dunno. I guess I just had a lot of anger in me. I lived in a pretty ed-up neighbourhood. We couldn't help it. Dad didn't have his promotion back then, and the area we lived in was Pusan's worst. People kept on bullying me and taunting me because of my red hair. They said it was stupid and ugly."

I unconciously reached out to touch my red hair. It was the first time I ever told anyone how insecure I felt about my strange looks.

I saw movement at the corner of my eye, and Hyunseung's hand reached out to touch my red strands of hair as well. "It's beautiful," he said simply. "I've always thought so."

I blushed and looked at him, but he was already looking back out onto the river. I hesitated before continuing my story.

"And then, well.....I dunno. I took lots of martial arts classes when I was younger. And I was really strong for a girl. At first, I used my absurd strength to do good things. I beat up bullies who were messing with other kids. I chased down purse thieves. I knocked out guys who tried to take advantage of other girls.

"But then, after awhile.....I started to see Pusan as it really was. Everyone was bad there. All I could see was the gangsters selling drugs on the street, or beating people up in alleyways.....I just hated it so much. Why, I kept asking myself. Why are there people like this in the world?

"So I fought them. I beat up people I thought shouldn't be a part of this world. And the more I fought, the more I got noticed. The more I fought the more I hated. I just hated, and HATED......and soon enough, I became a gangster myself." My voice turned bitter. "I became the very thing I hated the most."

Hyunseung stayed silent, but I had a feeling he was looking at me. I resolutely stared out into the river.

"People began to call me the Red Lion. Probably because of my stupid red hair again. They didn't know who I really was, I made sure of that. I made sure none of them got near my family."

Hyunseung was quiet for a moment, but then he said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Why did you want to quit?"

This was going to be a painful topic, but I knew I would feel much better telling someone than just letting it get bottled up.

I took a few deep breaths, and began to speak. "You know my little brother, Baejun?"

Silence, but I think he nodded.

"Well, I used to have another sibling. A sister, actually. A baby sister called Jiyeon. She was so cute, and happy. She had no idea what kind of hole she was living in." I choked up just remembering her.

"But one day, I wasn't careful enough. A few gangsters seeking revenge because I beat up their buddies tailed me home. They found out where I lived. When we were sleeping, they snuck into our house. They entered a room -- Jiyeon's room. I heard footsteps, and then I heard Jiyeon crying. I ran over as fast as I could.....but I was......too late....."

Tears were streaming down my face now, but I couldn't stop talking. I had to let it all out.

"We never found her body. Those bastard gansters escaped through the window before I could find them and KILL them. They got caught, and sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder and the possession of illegal drugs, but they never told us where the body was and we never found out. I don't think I wanted to find out either.

"It was all my fault. My baby sister was killed because of who I was and what I had done. Mom and dad never blamed me, but that's just because they couldn't blame anyone. I don't think they're capable of hating people. They told me everything happens for a reason, and maybe Jiyeon's death was something that happened because of fate, and it was meant to be.

"But it was my fault. I had no baby sister anymore. I was sickened with myself, what I became. I knew that it wouldn't stop there. Sooner or later, my parents would get hurt. Baejun might be next. So, I stopped fighting. Altogether. And I disappeared off the face of the gangster world. When dad got promoted, we moved here. End of story."

I took a deep breath. My throat hurt from talking so much. "Pretty stupid, I guess. You guys always wondered why I didn't want to be a gangster anymore."

"No, I understand." Hyunseung said quietly. I turned to stare incredulously at him, wiping the last of my tears away. He raised an eyebrow at me. "What? So I can't tell you my depressing life story?"

I shook my head and urged him to continue. He sighed deeply.

"Alright, the reason why I can play piano was because I came from a rich family. I was brought up to be the son of a million-dollar entrepreneur, to take over the family business. And, like most stories like these go, I hated it. I wanted freedom. The one thing I liked to do most was martial arts and strategic games.

"I met Doojoon, and we became best friends. We both liked to fight, and we started to do bad stuff. Breaking windows, beating gangsters up. It was the most fun I've ever had. The most freedom I've ever felt. And when my parents found out, they were furious. They locked me in my room and told me I could never see him again.

"But I broke out, all the time. Doojoon and I met the others. We formed a gang. We called ourselves Beast. It was incredible, and amazing. I didn't care about the consequences. If my father hit me, I was okay with it, because I had much worse from other gangsters. If they locked me in my room, it was okay, because I could always break out so easily. They couldn't stop me, and I cared less what they thought.

"But then I got in trouble with the mafia. I accidentally messed with one of their members at a club, and they were pretty pissed. They found out who I was. They broke into my house. And they gunned down my family."

Hyunseung's voice was full of guilt and bitterness. "I never got to apologize to my family. I never got to tell them I'm sorry for turning out this way. I acted like a wild animal, an idiot. And even though I hated my parents and my stuck-up siblings to no end, I was still sorry. It was my fault, that my entire family was dead within ten minutes once the mafia entered the estate.

"The mafia disappeared, and the police never found me. Father was pretty ashamed of my gangster roots, so he did a pretty thorough job of making sure no one knew I existed. I think he even managed to destroy my birth records. The mystery case dried up, and my uncle took over the business. To this day, nobody knows I am connected to the Jang Incorporation, except for Beast....." he turned and gave me a dry smile. ".....and you."

I stayed silent, mulling it through my head. Hyunseung understood me more than I ever thought.

Very slowly and shyly, I reached out and lightly touched his hand. "I'm sorry," I said, as sincerely as I could.

Hyunseung shrugged. "Don't be. Beast changed after that. We became a bit more careful, we weren't as wild as before. We didn't go to clubs. We stayed within the limits, defending our territory and only picking fights with DBSK or Teen Top. And it wasn't like I loved my family anyway. Not like you. You loved your baby sister. It was ten times worse for you."

"Still, I'm sorry." I insisted stubbornly. "I know it's not my place to apologize, but I feel like someone has to, right? Besides, it doesn't matter whether you loved them or not. Family is family. I kind of understand you a bit more now."

His mouth turned up on one side. "Really? How?"

"When I first met you, you seemed so cold and indifferent. I guess you were scared, weren't you? That if you got closer to anyone, you would hurt them. You push people away by reflex. I was like that too, in the beginning."

Hyunseung nodded, softly smiling from the memories. "I was really cold to the others for a long time. I told them lots of things, like how we were nothing but a group of people who got together for similar reasons, and that we weren't 'brothers' or 'friends' or like that. I probably hurt their feelings more than once. We're a real family -- we're as close as brothers can get. But....." he smirked in my direction. "....I changed because of you."

"M-me? Why me?" I stammered, feeling heat rise up into my cheeks.

"I dunno, you just changed me." He shrugged. "For some reason, you just made me feel warmer."

I didn't know what to say. Did this count as a love confession or something? My heart was beating like crazy, and I was pretty sure I could fry an egg on my face.

"That's why....." he suddenly grabbed my hand and yanked me closer to him. He smirked. "Date me."

I froze. "E-eh?"

"Honestly, Saja Ringo, I expected you to be a bit more competent than this. Date. Me."

I felt like all wheels in my brain stopped moving. I couldn't process what he said. Date me? Was he seriously saying......

He sighed. "Seriously, Apple, all you have to do is say yes or no."

"Uh....u-um......uh....." I couldn't formulate a single word.

He stopped smiling. "If you don't want to, all you have to do is say no."

"N-no!" I blurted out. Realizing what I just said, I hastily began to babble out, "N-no, that's not it! Yes! I meant yes, not no! I meant that 'NO', I didn't mean to say 'no'. Y-yes, that is --"

Hyunseung burst into a fit of laughter. I stared at him, both incredulous and furiously embarrassed, as his shoulders shook.

When he finally stopped, he said, "Fine. Now the next time we go to that ramyeon shop, we're going as a real couple. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah," I scoffed, but I was unable to stop the huge smile spreading across my face. I felt like butterflies were dancing around in my stomach.

We silently turned to watch the river. We didn't say a word, but his hand was wrapped tightly around mine the entire time.