Young Jae’s POV

Weeks go by and things aren’t exactly back to normal with Hye Jin and I yet. But we’re getting there. I’ve forgiven her and have moved past it but it seems that Hye Jin can’t seem to forgive herself and I’m doing whatever it takes to get her to forget about it. We finally finished our English assignment and very happily aced it. 

It’s getting closer to exam time and we both have to decide what University’s to apply for. We decided to study together for exams and we’re trying not to influence each other’s Uni choices because we don’t want to regret anything. I want to major in Music and Hye Jin wants to major in Writing. More importantly though, the prom is coming up and I assumed that Hye Jin and I are going together but Jackson says I have to ask her. I don’t get it though, we’re dating. Isn’t it a given that we would go together? 

I ask her while we’re having lunch one day. 

“Jinnie, what are you wearing to prom?” she doesn’t look up from her lunch when she answers.

“I didn’t think we were going.” 

“Why wouldn’t we? Do you not want to go?” I ask, turning to face her. Finally, she looks up at me. 

“I didn’t think you would want to go with me anymore.” I sigh, getting a little frustrated. 

“Hye Jin, we’re still together. Why wouldn’t I want to go with you? We’re going.” I cross my arms turn away from her. I know I probably look like a two year old throwing a tantrum but if it’s going to get the point across then so be it. I hear her sigh and I turn my head slightly, glancing at her out of the corner of my eyes. I give up my temper tantrum and turn back to my girlfriend. 

“Are you still upset?” she shrugs. “Do you hate me?” 

She turns to me, tears b her eyes. She frantically shakes her head. 

“I’ve forgiven you Jinnie, you know that right?” she nods. Before I can say anything else the siren rings signalling the end of the lunch break. When school finally ends I quickly take Hye Jin’s hand and lead the way out. I can feel her hands fidgeting in mine and whenever it seems like she’s going to let go I grip her hand tighter. I turn to smile at her and she shyly smiles back. 

“We should go out this weekend.” I say and she just nods. “Do you want to go anywhere in particular?” 

“Not really. You decide.” I sigh. 

“How long are you going to be like this? I miss my Hye Jin.” I say, turning to look at her. She stares at the floor as we keep walking. “Look, you made a mistake. I forgave you. Why are you still beating yourself up about it?”

“Because it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.” 

“But it did.” We both stop in our tracks and Hye Jin’s eyes widen. I whip my head to face the horrid voice. I was wondering why he hadn’t been around lately. I got my hopes up too soon. “It did happen Jin Jin, and the reason you feel so guilty about it is because you liked it.” 

I step in front of Hye Jin, blocking her off from Hyun Woo’s sight. 

“You’re delusional.” I say as Hye Jin grips on to the back of my shirt. 

“No, my friend. I believe it is you that is delusional. Hanging on to a girl when she wants to go back to her true love.” I scoff. “She still loves me. I can see it. I feel it.” 

“No. I love Young Jae.” Hye Jin says, quietly. So quietly that only I hear it. Hyun Woo doesn’t and keeps talking. 

“If you weren’t in the picture she would have come back to me already. When we kissed it was like time turned back and she was mine again. Wait. She still is mine. Just because you’re temporarily in the picture it doesn’t mean she isn’t mine anymore.” he says, looking as if he’s talking to himself more than to me. 

“Tell me Hyun Woo. Did Hye Jin fight you when you kissed her?” A smirk appears on his face and oh, what I would give to wipe it off of his face with my foot. 

“She did. Only because she felt bad for you. See, if you weren’t here then she would’ve kissed me back.” I feel Hye Jin’s grip on my shirt tighten. 

“How did she fight you? Did she try to push you away? Hit you? Turned her face?” the look on his face tells me I’ve hit the nail on the head. “Do you know what a real kiss looks like? It’s usually done between two people who have mutual feelings towards each other. Kind of like this.”

I pull Hye Jin out form behind me and look into her scared eyes for a second before pulling her in by her waist and placing my lips on hers. I feel her relax in my arms and her arms travel up to wrap themselves around my neck. I move my lips and she responds instantly. I let my tongue dart out and her bottom lip. She sighs and opens a little, letting me slide my tongue in. The kiss deepens and it’s as if we aren’t in the middle of a footpath kissing in front her ex-boyfriend. 

After a few more intense seconds I pull away from Hye Jin, leaning my forehead on hers and bringing my hand up to her cheek. I smile at her and she shyly smiles back, biting on her bottom lip. I lift my head and look back at Hyun Woo who is fuming, hands balled up into fists beside him. 

“That, my friend. Is what a real kiss looks like. A real kiss shared between two people who love each other. Now if you’ll excuse us.” I turn around leaving my hand around Hye Jin’s waist as I turn her around to continue in the direction of Tae Jin’s kindergarten. 

“Why did you do that?” Hye Jin asks as we approach the school. I shrug.

“I had to show both of you that you’re mine and I’m not letting you go.” I say. I stop in front of the kindergarten as Tae Jin comes out of the door. I feel arms wrap around my waist and look down to see Hye Jin smiling up at me.

“Thank you.” she says. Before I can ask what for a force tackles my legs.

“Me too! I wanna hug hyung too!” Hye Jin laughs and lets go of me, allowing me to lift Tae Jin up and sit him on my hip. 

“How was your day, buddy?” I ask him and he giggles as he hangs onto my neck. “Did something good happen?” 

“Yoo Mi talked to me today.” he whispers in my ear, before giggling again and hiding his face in my neck. My eyes widen as we start walking and Hye Jin looks at me questioningly. 

“Who is Yoo Mi?” I ask him and he quickly sits up, placing his tiny little finger to his lips. 

“Shh…!” he says, glancing at his sister. Whoops. Too late. She already heard. 

“Kim Tae Jin. Who is Yoo Mi?” she asks and he glares at me. I shrug in apology and he sighs. 

“Yoo Mi is the prettiest girl in the class.” he says, staring dreamily into the air. I have to bite my lip to stop from laughing and I see Hye Jin doing the same. 

“Really? Do you like her? Maybe we can take her out for ice cream sometime. Oh! We can invite her over for your birthday!” Hye Jin says excitedly, clapping her hands together. 

“Noona! If you invite her, you have to invite everyone else too otherwise it’s too obvious.” he says and that does it. I lose it laughing and Tae Jin looks at me confused. “What’s so funny, hyung?” 

I shake my head as Hye Jin playfully hits my arm. “Nothing, nothing.” I say, pinching his cheeks. 

“Hyung, are you staying over today?” he asks. I nod.

“For al iittle bit. Hyung and Noona have to study.” 

“Noona, I feel like cake.” he says, suddenly turning to face Hye Jin. She nods. 

“Funny you should say that Tae, because Noona feels like cake too.”

“Did something good happen to Noona today too?” I look at Hye Jin as her cheeks flush red and I can’t help but smile. 

“Maybe~” she sings, speeding up her footsteps so that she is ahead of us. Tae Jin giggles and turns back to hug me, placing his chin on my shoulder. 

“Thank you hyung.” he sighs. “For making Noona smile again.” 

Later that night we’re sitting in front of the TV, a cake sitting in front of us and the three of us with a fork each, digging in while watching, wait for it… Transformers. You’d think we’d be sick of this movie and honestly, Hye Jin is but Tae Jin and I will never get sick of it. 

Half way through the movie the door opens and Hye Jin’s parents come in. I stand up and bow to them and they both wave to me. 

“Young Jae, my boy! How are you?” Mr Kim says, coming over to pat me on the back. 

“I’m good, sir. How are you?”

“Just fine, son. Just fine. Are you staying the night?” I rub the back of my neck. 

“Uhh, not tonight I don’t think.”

“Why not?”

“I haven’t asked my parents yet and it wasn’t really in the plan.” I trail off. 

“Nonsense, boy. Call your parents right now. Let them know you are staying the night. We’ll order pizza!” he says as he walks away. 

“He’s in a good mood today.” Hye Jin says as I sit back down beside her.

“He got a promotion.” Mrs Kim says as she sits down on the couch behind us. “If you want to ask him for anything, tonight would be the night to do it.” 

“Are you okay with me staying over?” I ask Hye Jin quietly, so her mum won’t hear. 

“If you’re okay with it then I am too.” she says, smiling at me. I smile back and take out my phone, dialling my mum’s number. I tell her I’m staying the night and she happily agrees and hangs up without saying much else. 

Hye Jin and I have to convince Tae Jin to stop eating cake so that he will have room for pizza and that he can eat the cake later if he is still hungry. Knowing him, he will be. Mr Kim comes out from his room not long after that and he’s dressed comfortably. He plops himself down on the couch beside his wife and puts an arm around her. I smile at the sight. I hope Hye Jin and I can be like that one day. It’s been almost 30 years into their marriage and you can still see the love they have for each other.

Wait. Am I thinking about a future with Hye Jin? As in married with kids type future? Relax buddy. You’re only about to finish high school. Marriage thoughts can wait until you’re at least earning a stable income. I mentally face-palm myself and it causes me to snicker. 

“What’s wrong?” Hye Jin asks and I quickly turn to look at her. 

“Hm?”

“You were laughing.” she says. I chuckle again.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just thought of something.” I say, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

After eating pizza and more cake, I get ready for bed in one of Mr Kim’s shirts again and my boxers. I climb into Hye Jin’s bed and wait for her to join me. I close my eyes and let my mind wander, fantasizing being married to Hye Jin and coming home to her beautiful face and the faces of our children. While I let these thoughts roam free in my head I hear Hye Jin come into the room. Instead of opening my eyes, I listen to my girlfriend’s movements, curious to see, or hear, what she would do if she thinks I’m asleep. 

“Jae? Are you asleep?” I keep my eyes closed and breath steadily to make it seem like I am. She sighs and I hear some shuffling before the bed dips beside me and a gust of cold air hits my side as I assume she gets under the blanket with me. I mentally flinch a little when I feel her bare leg on mine. I can hear her breathing and I can slightly feel her breath on my arm. That must mean she is facing me. I hear shuffling and I can feel her warmth beside me. She must have snuggled closer. I hear her sigh again and I have to try and keep still as I feel her finger run over my features. Starting from my hairline, down the middle of my forehead, between my eyebrows and down the bridge of my nose. Her finger drops from my nose to trace over my lips and then finally down to my chin. I feel more movement and then a soft touch to my lips. Did she kiss me? “Even though I don’t deserve you, I love you Jae.” 

Her voice breaks a little and I feel a tiny bit of moisture hit my cheek. She sniffles and quickly wipes the tear from my face before laying back down. I let out a breath and turn over to my side, opening my eyes as I do. The surprise in Hye Jin’s eyes, under any other circumstances, would have been funny. But knowing how upset my girl is, I couldn’t care less how surprised she looked. I reach out and wipe away the few stray tears on her cheeks. 

“You’re right. You don’t deserve me.” I see the hurt flicker in her eyes but I continue. “You deserve better than me.”

Her gaze softens as she looks down, shaking her head slightly. I use my finger to lift her chin up so that she is looking at me. “I love you. Don’t you ever forget that.”

I lean in and place a chaste kiss on her lips. I smile as I pull away and she blushes. She wriggles closer to me and buries her face in my chest. I hold her closer by wrapping my arms around her.

“Jae?” I hum in response. “What were you thinking of earlier today?” 

I think back to the moment she meant and I chuckle. 

“Happy thoughts.” I say simply. She leans back a little to look up at me. 

“What happy thoughts?” 

“It’s a secret.” I say, closing my eyes and pretending to try to sleep. 

“Tell me. Please? I could use some happy thoughts.” Damn. She’s got me. I open my eyes and glare a little at her. She pouts a little and I roll my eyes. 

“I was thinking about us.” she smiles. “In particular, our future.” 

I see the colour spread across her cheeks. “What did it look like?” she asks quietly. 

“It was happy. I came home from a long day at work and you were there to greet me. And so were our kids.” I say, feeling the heat creep into my own face. 

“K-Kids?” Hye Jin stutters. I nod. 

“Too soon?” I ask, scared to hear her answer. 

“A little.” I nod. 

“Sorry.”

“No. It’s not that. It’s just that we haven’t even gotten through high school yet and-“ I cut her off with my lips. 

“I get it Jinnie. It’s just what I thought of after seeing how loving your parents are.” she nods but she looks a little down. Good one Young Jae. “Are you upset?”

“No. Not at all.” she says. I feel her leg brush up against mine and I feel a tingle travel along my spine. I move my legs and let them intertwine with hers, causing a giggle to escape from her lips. “Jae?”

“Hmm?” I hum as I stare at her, slowly caressing her cheek. 

“Are… Are we too young?” she asks, shyly.

“For what?”

“To get married?” My hand stops moving and my heart rate accelerates to a million beats per minute. 

A/N: Not really a million beats per minute but you guys get what I mean. I've decided to do one POV at a time now so that you guys get faster updates and I get more time to write one. :P

They're going to start getting fluffy again now and I think this will be ending soon-ish? Because I don't really know where to go with it after they get rid of Hyun Woo and Na Ri. And I'm thinking of getting rid of them soon. So.. Maybe a few more chapters and that's it. :-/ 

Thank you all for reading.. as always. :D

Love you all super muchly

xoxo