Hye Jin’s POV

Young Jae asked me to be his girlfriend. I toss and turn in my bed, smiling to myself as I remember our moment in the kitchen and in the lobby. I ruffle my hair and kick my legs, smiling up at my ceiling. I pick up my phone and contemplate messaging him our codeword but then I remember that Hyun Woo is around. I lock my screen and throw my phone to the other side of the bed. It’s not fair on Young Jae to accept him when it seems like my previous relationship isn’t quite done yet. It’s done and over with on my end but with Hyun Woo around me now, it’s made things complicated. I need a sure fire way to get rid of Hyun Woo once and for all before I can properly start dating Young Jae. 

Dating Young Jae could be a solution, I know that. But I would feel like I’m using him. I’m kind of using him now but he’s also using me to protect him from Na Ri’s advances. Why is it all so complicated? I decide to sleep on it and think about it a bit more. I roll onto my side and close my eyes. I slowly start to fall asleep, smiling as I think of Young Jae. 

The next morning I wake up, still smiling. I get up and go to Tae Jin’s room, waking him up to get ready for school.

“Noona, I don’t have school today.” he says, rubbing his eyes sleepily. 

“Who says?” I ask. He points to a note on his bedside table that he says he showed me last night. I don’t remember such thing. But for some reason the kindergarten is closed today. I walk out to the kitchen where I find my Mum, making breakfast. 

“Omma, are you going to be home today?” I ask. She shakes her head.

“No, I have work today. Why?” I panic a little. I can’t leave Tae Jin at home alone. But I can’t exactly take him to school either. 

“Tae Jin’s school is closed today.” I say, running my hand through my hair.

“Well, if we were at our old place we could have just asked the neighbour to look after him.” she says quietly, but I still heard her. I sigh before turning around and going into my room. 

I can’t take a day off school. I decide to take a shower while thinking of a solution. I’m half way through washing my hair when I get an idea. I quickly finish rinsing my hair out and then jump out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my body as I run back into my room. I lock the door behind me and jump onto my bed, searching for my phone. I dial Young Jae’s number and sit on the edge of my bed, waiting for him to pick up. I’m about to hang up when he answers. 

“H-Hello?” Young Jae’s half asleep voice greets me from the other end of the line.

“Jae? Did I wake you?” I ask, unconsciously smiling to myself at the sound of his voice.

“Huh? Jin-nie? Oh! No. I was awake. I was always awake.” I hear some rustling sounds followed by the sound of him clearing his throat. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to say good morning.” I say, blushing even though I know he can’t see me. 

“R-Really? Good morning.” I can’t help but laugh. 

“Actually, I wanted to know if you can do me a huge favour.” 

“Oh, yeah. Sure. What is it?”

“Tae’s school is closed today and I need to find someone to look after him.” I start. 

“Mhmm. How can I help? We have school today.” he says. I roll my eyes. 

“I know. But do you think you can ask your hyungs from the ice cream shop to watch him? He seemed to be okay with them and I don’t really know anybody else.” 

“Of course. I’ll call them now and call you back.” Before I can say anything else the line goes dead. 

I get up and get dressed. Just as I finish up my phone rings. I rush over to pick it up on the second ring. 

“Jae?” I say. I hear him chuckling on the other end. 

“Yeah. Hyung said it’s cool. They’ll be working all day but they can watch him at the shop. I’m actually meant to be meeting them there after school anyways so it’s kind of perfect.” he says. 

“Awesome. Thank you so much.” 

“No worries.” A comfortable silence falls between us and after a few minutes I clear my throat. 

“So, I’ll see you soon?” I say. 

“Oh! Yeah. I’ll just get ready and head over. See you. Soon.”  I can hear the smile in his voice as I hang up the phone. I quickly do my hair and get Tae Jin ready to go too. He’s excited about spending the day in the ice cream shop. 

I go downstairs a little earlier than usual but Young Jae isn’t there yet. I decide to start walking because I figure I’ll bump into him on the way. Tae Jin and I walk hand-in-hand when I hear footsteps behind me. I feel the hairs stand up on the back of my neck but I don’t want to turn around and see who is there. Luckily for me, Tae looks over his shoulder and I see his eyes widen at whoever is behind us. He tugs on my arm and puts both his hands up, whimpering. I pick him up in one swift movement and quicken my pace. I turn my head slightly to whisper in his ear.

“Who is it Tae? Is it the bad guy?” I feel him nod before he buries his face in my hair, clinging onto me with his four limbs. “Don’t worry, Tae. Young Jae hyung will be here soon.” I say. More to myself than him. 

As if on cue, I look up and see Young Jae running towards us. I smile as I see him and he smiles too, until he looks past me and sees Hyun Woo behind us. I see his expression stiffen and he all but sprints up to us. He quickly puts an arm around me, easily falling into step beside me. 

“Are you okay? He didn’t do anything did he?” he asks, only loud enough for me to hear. I shake my head. I see him turn his head and I listen out for the extra set of footsteps but I can’t hear them anymore. “He’s gone. I’m so sorry, Jin-nie. I should have gotten there earlier.” 

“It’s fine, Jae. You’re here now. That’s all that matters.” I say, smiling up at him. He sends me a small smile back but his brows are still furrowed and he’s clearly still thinking about it.

Tae Jin puts his head up then and looks over at Young Jae then looks behind us. 

“Is he gone?” he asks. I nod. He sighs, relieved. 

“Tae, come with hyung. Noona will get tired if she has to carry you for much longer.” Young Jae says, holding his hands out to him. 

“No, he can walk.” I say, but Tae Jin is already leaning towards Young Jae and the older boy is already pulling him into his arms. I cross my arms and look at Tae. “Tae, you’re six. You don’t need to be carried everywhere.” 

“But Noona…” he says, pouting.

“Hey, don’t be so hard on him. I don’t mind carrying him, really.” I huff, knowing that I can’t argue with him. 

We arrive at the ice cream shop nice and early, just in time to catch Jr and JB opening up. 

“Hyung!” Young Jae calls out and the two turn around and wave to us. We all walk into the shop and Young Jae puts Tae Jin down. 

“Thank you so much for this. You guys are real life savers. I owe you one.” I say to them as I give Tae Jin his bag full of things to do. 

“We’ll hold you to that.” JB says, leaning in close to me. I gulp thinking of what favour he could possibly ask me in return. Luckily, Young Jae steps between us, making JB stand straight and take a step back. “Ooh, protective.” 

“Save it, hyung.” he says and JB puts his hands up as if to surrender. 

“Umm, I’ve packed a bunch of colouring books and stuff that he can do so that he isn’t taking too much of your time. I’ve also packed lunch for the three of you in here.” I say, handing a lunch bag to Jr who takes it gladly. “If there is anything you need to ask me just give me a call, my number is there.” I point to the top of the lunch bag where I stuck a note. 

“Too easy. You don’t need to worry. We’ll take good care of him.” Jr says and I smile at him. 

“Speak for yourself. I still have a score to settle with that little brat.” JB says, glaring at Tae who is sitting at the table we sat at last time we came. 

“Hyung, behave.” Young Jae says. JB just turns and pokes his tongue at him. I laugh at the childish ‘hyung’ before going over to Tae. 

“Tae, you be good okay? Noona will come and get you after school.” he nods, before reaching out to give me a hug. 

“I love you, Noona.” he says as he pulls away. “Have fun at school.”

“Love you too, baby. Don’t give your hyungs too much trouble okay?” he nods. 

“Bye hyung!” he waves to Young Jae behind me. As I stand up Young Jae makes his way over, giving Tae Jin a hug and then ruffling his hair. 

“See you later buddy.” Young Jae says. 

“Thank you again. We’ll see you after school.” I say to the two older boys who are about to start working. 

Young Jae and I make our way out of the store and head to the school in a comfortable silence. 

Young Jae’s POV

Every time we catch each other glancing at one another we would smile, and I’m guessing the smiles don’t go unnoticed by Na Ri. During the lunch break she approaches us again. 

“So, does Oppa know yet?” she asks Hye Jin. 

“I do. So drop it, Na Ri.” I say, not even glancing at her. 

“You know, and you still want to be with her?” she asks, almost screeching. Hye Jin stands up from her seat beside me. 

“And how would you know the whole story?” she asks, her hands turning into fists. 

“Because I had the chance to meet Hyun Woo-ssi and he told me all about you.” she says, smirking. 

“You know nothing about me Kwon Na Ri and I can bet that half of what he told you was a lie.” Hye Jin says. She’s practically trembling with anger now and I stand up and put an arm on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. 

“So you didn’t sleep with him and then throw him away?” I freeze. What? I look at Na Ri, who looks like she just won a gold medal before turning to Hye Jin who’s mouth is agape. She looks down and then turns to me, her eyes b with tears. 

“Jin-nie…” I say, looking into her eyes. I don’t know what expression I have on my face because I don’t know how to feel about everything right now. Hye Jin quickly turns on her heel and runs out of the class room. “Hye Jin-ah!” 

I go to run after her but Na Ri holds me back by grabbing onto my arm. 

“Oppa, don’t. You don’t want to be associated with someone like her.” I swing my arm to get it out of her grip, not realising that I used enough force to make her fall over. 

“I don’t want to be associated with someone like you.” I spit at her. I turn around and run out of the classroom in search of Hye Jin. 

I run down the hallway, running into Bam Bam and Yu Gyeom on the way.

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” Yu Gyeom asks, realising the rush I’m in. 

“Have you seen Hye Jin?” I ask them. 

“Noona? Nope.” Bam Bam says. Before they can ask me what’s wrong I turn and run down another hallway. I run up to the rooftop and out and around the grounds of the school but I still can’t find her. The bell rings and I have no choice but to go back to class. I go back and sit in my seat, realising that Hye Jin left her bag behind, which probably has her phone in it. Damn it. 

I can’t focus on the rest of my lessons as I try to think about where Hye Jin could have run off to. I pull out my phone and rest it in my lap. When the teacher turns around I open up a new message. 

To: Jr. Hyung. 

Hey, hyung. Everything okay?

I don’t want him to think something is wrong so I just ask, in case Hye Jin went to pick up Tae Jin before going home. I get a reply within seconds. 

From: Jr. Hyung.

Everything’s is fine. JB keeps arguing with Tae Jin though… He’s losing. 

I smile at the message before putting my phone back in my pocket. 

After what feels like forever, it’s finally the end of the day and I collect Hye Jin’s things before heading out of the room. 

I run out past the gates and head straight to the ice cream shop. I burst through the doors, gaining weird looks from some of the customers there.

“Hyung!” Tae Jin yells and runs up to me. I bend down to give him a hug as I glance around the store, looking for Hye Jin. She’s not here. I let Tae Jin go and he returns to his table. I look up at realise there are two other guys at his table that aren’t Jr and JB. I walk over and sigh in relief when I recognise them. 

“Hey hyung.” I say,  tired from running. I figure she’ll have to come here to get Tae Jin, so why not wait for her. 

“Young Jae!” Jackson says, standing up and pulling me into a hug. 

“Hey!” Tae Jin yells. Jackson lets go of me and rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah. Young Jae is yours. I know.” he says, ruffling Tae Jin’s hair. When did they get so close? “Don’t worry, Tae. I just haven’t seen him in a long time. That’s why I’m hugging him.” 

Mark stands up now and glances at Tae Jin. 

“Tae, I haven’t seen Young Jae in a long time too. Is it okay for me to hug him?” I can’t help but laugh at the situation. I look at Tae Jin and he nods. 

“Okay, Mark hyung. But only because you asked so nicely.” We all laugh at that as Mark and I hug each other. 

“It’s been ages, hyung.” I say to him. 

“Too long. I see things are going well for you.” he says, glancing at Tae Jin. I chuckle and rub the nape of my neck. I hear the store doors open and turn around. There she is. 

I know she’s seen me but she quickly stares at the floor. 

“Hey Noona!” Tae Jin calls from his seat, waving to her. She looks at him and smiles, kind of sadly at him. 

“Come on, Tae. Let’s go.” she says, standing a few feet away from us. 

“Wait Noona. This is Mark hyung and Jackson hyung. They’re my new friends.” he says, indicating the two older guys with a big grin on his face. 

“Hi, we’re friends of Young Jae’s too. We were all going to meet here so JB and Jr put us in charge of looking after him. I hope you don’t mind.” Jackson says. Hye Jin just bows, not really meeting them in the eyes. 

“Th-Thank you.” she says. She turns to JB and Jr who are behind the counter. “Thank you again. We should get going now.” 

She walks over to our table and grabs Tae Jin’s bag. She puts her hand out to me and I hand her her bag. 

“Noona, what about hyung?” Hye Jin doesn’t answer and is practically dragging Tae Jin away but I stop her before she gets to the door. 

“Don’t avoid me, Jin-nie. Please.” I say, just loud enough for her to hear. 

“Let me go, Young Jae.” she says, still not looking at me. 

“My offer still stands. I’ll be waiting for you.” I say, letting her go. She hesitates for a second before leaving the store. 

I feel a hand on my back and turn to see Jackson beside me. 

“Tough break, Young Jae. Do you want to talk about it?” I shake my head. 

“No thanks, hyung. I want to talk to her first.” I freeze for a second, remembering that morning and how she was followed by that psycho ex of hers. “Hyung, I’ll be back okay? I just need to make sure she gets home okay.” 

Before they can say anything I sprint out of the store in the direction of their house. After running for a short while I catch up to them. I quickly fall into step beside Hye Jin, placing a hand on the small of her back, before leaning in close to her ear. 

“You don’t need to talk to me if you don’t want to. I just need to make sure you get home safe.” I look at her and she looks surprised. I smile at her and she quickly turns her head. 

“Hyung! You came.” Tae Jin says from the other side of Hye Jin. I lean forward to see him better. 

“Yes I did. Were you waiting for me?” I ask him, grinning. He nods enthusiastically and I laugh. 

I glance at Hye Jin to see if maybe she’s smiling too but no such luck. 

We walk in silence all the way to their building and Hye Jin is about to take Tae Jin inside when I stop her. 

“Can we talk, please?” I ask her. 

“I really don’t know what to say to you, Young Jae.” she says. 

“Take Tae upstairs. I’ll be waiting for you here.” I say, not really giving her a choice in the matter. She sighs before taking Tae Jin into the building. I wait for Hye Jin to come down and I keep looking at my watch. Eventually 15 minutes passes and Hye Jin still hasn’t come down. I’m about to call her when I look up and she’s walking towards me, head down. She stops in front of me but doesn’t look up. 

“S-sorry for making you wait.” she says, super quietly. Frustrated with her attitude I grab her by the wrist and drag her to a nearby park and sit her down on a bench. I bend down on one knee in front of her and try to get her to look at me, but she keeps her eyes on the floor. 

“Hye Jin-ah, look at me.” I sigh, when she doesn’t. I put my hands on either side of her face and lift it up so that she’s properly facing me. Her eyes, however stay down. “Look at me!” 

She flinches when I yell and I have to take a deep breath to calm myself down. 

“Are you really going to let her get to you like that? Where did the strong, fearless Hye Jin that I met go? Hm?” she stares at me for a few seconds while I stare into her eyes. I see her eyes start to fill with tears and slowly they start to drop. 

I get up and sit beside her, putting an arm around her and pulling her into my chest, patting her back comfortingly. I let her cry for a while before pulling away and wiping the last of her tears away and pushing her hair out of her face. 

“I’m sorry, Jae.” she sobs. “You must think I’m a .” 

“Of course not, Jin-nie. Seriously, in this day in age it’s kind of normal to have at our age.” I say, matter-of-factly. I see Hye Jin scrunch her face up. 

“Do you have to be so straightforward about it?” I laugh a little. 

“Sorry. I just don’t think it’s as big a deal as you’re making it out to be.” I say. She nods. 

“I regret it.” she says, quietly. I take her hands in mine and wait for her to continue. “He kind of pressured me into it. He kept asking me to and I kept saying no and then he started saying things like how I don’t love him and if I did then I should sleep with him. Eventually I just cracked. Pretty soon after that that’s all he wanted from me. He’d take me out but always find a way for us to be alone afterwards. Then some days when he decided he wanted to be an angel he wouldn’t touch me and make me feel bad for sleeping with him. Something about adultery and before marriage being a sin. Even though he was the one that wanted to do it first. I don’t know why I fell for half of his . I regret it so much. But it’s not something I can change and definitely not a mistake I am willing to make again.” 

When I’m sure that she’s done I pull her in for another hug. “It’s fine, Jin-nie. Everybody makes mistakes. But not everyone should have to pay for it like you do. I won’t let him come near you again, okay? And I can promise you that I am nothing like him.”

“I know.” she says, hugging me back. “You’re so different Jae. I would love to be able to say our codeword but I don’t think I deserve you.”

I pull away from her and put my hand under her chin, tilting it up to make her look at me. 

“There’s no such thing. I will wait for you until you’re ready to accept me Jin-nie. You actually deserve better than me, so don’t think too much about it, okay?” she scoffs and I raise my eyebrow at her. 

“I don’t deserve better than you. You’re pretty much perfect.” she says, rolling her eyes. I lean down and place a soft kiss on her lips. I pull away and look at her eyes which are wider than the Pacific Ocean. 

“Trust me, if anyone here is perfect it’s you.” I say. I take her hand in mine and stand up. “I was going to ask if you wanted to start our English project today with Mark and Jackson hyung but I think it can wait.”

It takes Hye Jin a while to snap back to reality and she stands up beside me. 

“Why with Mark and Jackson?” she asks, looking at me as I start to walk back towards her house. 

“Mark hyung is from LA and Jackson hyung is from Hong Kong. They speak fluent English. I always ask them for help for my English assignments.” I say, turning to smile at her. I see her blush before looking away. We arrive at her building and I send her inside, waving to her as she walks in. I spin around and make my way back to the ice cream store to meet the others, whistling and humming the whole way there.

A/N: And after fluffy Jackson, we have fluffy Young Jae! *claps* LOL 

I need a bit more drama in this fic... So I'm trying to think up something super dramati that will leave you guys mind-blown. But I don't think I'm that creative so don't get your hopes up. XP 

I'm so grateful to you all for even spraing the time to read this. I can't even express that enough. Don't forget to leave comments if you want to and if you want to just chat with me then feel free to send me a personal message :D I don't bite. Honest. ;)

Much love to you all

xoxo