♠ TWENTY FIVE ♠

"Thanks for dropping us off, L. Owe you one!" Byunghee grinned at Myungsoo, who was conversing to him from his rolled-down car window. The baby in the arms of his wife stirred lightly in her baby blanket. "Oh Sarang's awake! Say bye-bye to the handsome Uncle L."

Myungsoo scoffed at his friend's silliness but nevertheless bade them goodbye as they entered the hospital premises. Myungsoo was in all honesty surprised that Byunghee chose to have his newborn baby girl checked at such a high-end hospital like the Samsung Medical Center, but the guy had reassured him about being able to afford under insurance purposes, and that despite the cost, he only wanted the best of everything for his child.

Myungsoo also suspected that this was a ploy conspired by Eye Candy to get him to visit Seulbi. This hospital was also where she admitted after all. He already received an assurance that she was okay, so he had no business here. Myungsoo was just about to pull his car away from the driveway, but a familiar someone had passed by and recognized him.

"Ah. It's you! You're right on time!"

Of all the people who could have spotted him hanging here, it had to be Kim Sunggyu. Before Myungsoo could even bat an eyelash, the guy had already clambered into the front passenger seat. "What are you doing in here?!?"

"Listen up, buster. I didn't want to do this as well, but you can't be seen here. I could, but I'd rather not be seen associating with you, so crashing was the best option for both of us," huffed Sunggyu as he nestled himself comfortably in his seat. "Let's cut to the chase. You're here for Seulbi, aren't you?"

"Byunghee's child needed to come in for a check-up," was Myungsoo's honest response.

The look on Sunggyu's face was skeptical. "Byunghee. Sure." Myungsoo wanted to protest that he was telling the truth but schooled it. If he reacted right now, Seulbi's odd cousin was going to rub it in his face all the more. The last thing he wanted to hear right now was anyone gloating. "Well, since you're already here, go in. Only Shimgoon is there assisting her. The rest are at home, so you're in the clear."

Seeing that Myungsoo was showing no signs of getting out of the car, Sungggyu cleared his throat awkwardly; he must have told the truth about Byunghee. “Okay, in related news, she’s getting discharged today if that’s what you’re also concerned about. Her gargantuan appetite has returned, and if that isn’t indicative that she’s feeling much better, then I don’t know what is.” Still no response from the Jeguk heir. "If we're done, you can drop me off at the corner from the exit."

"Funny, are you the car owner?"

"No, but is the media after me and my every move?"

Knowing he couldn't win with that argument, Myungsoo shifted the car from parking mode back to drive. On cue, Seulbi made her way out of the hospital entrance with her small backpack to wait for the family driver to come pick her up.

This was going to end up with nothing. The two were too prideful and stubborn to meet up. Sunggyu knew he had to create an opportunity and fast. The idea that came to mind was rather crazy, but it was worth a longshot anyway. "This is a rather vintage common car for someone of your status," he commented from out of the blue. "It looks like it came straight out of Reply 1997."

"It's a hand-me-down I've inherited way back when I was still with the band," Myungsoo retorted, peeved by the unnecessary commentary. "It may be an old model but I’m not going to let go of this car so easily.”

“Good. That means my plan is going to work if I do this.” Without warning, Sunggyu slammed a solid fist into the car horn, much to Myungsoo’s shock. The loud blearing was enough to catch Seulbi’s attention.

Myungsoo looked livid. “Are you an idiot?!? Sick patients are resting—you’re not supposed to do that in a hospital area!“

“Tough luck, because I just did!” Sunggyu retorted back, looking extra pleased after seeing the Jeguk heir’s expression change from stoic to furious (and maybe even panicked). “Oh look, she’s looking this way. Oh look, I think she recognises your car!”

The moment Seulbi waved at them Myungsoo knew he was done for. Sighing, he hit the hazard lights again, putting the car on standby before stepping out of the driver’s seat. If ever the girl had been surprised at his unexpected appearance, she didn't show it. Myungsoo beat her to it before she could even ask. "What are you doing here?"

“What am I doing?" an off-guard Seulbi repeated. The question was supposed to be addressed the other way around. "Oh! I’m... err... waiting for our family driver. Abeonim had his regular check-up and I came to accompany him today."

Myungsoo carefully took her hand, inspecting the little plaster that covered the puncture wound from the IV cannula that had been newly removed. “You’re a really bad liar, do you know that?”

Caught, the heiress gave him a grin. “Yeah... about that. Actually, I was just discharged from the hospital. I was in for a case of pneumonia."

"I know," he affirmed.

"You...uhhh... you know?"

"You told me yourself the night you were admitted."

"My call... went through?" Seulbi's cheeks turned pink as she remembered the atrocities her fever-heated mind made her do. Her embarrassment quickly shifted to self-chastising, as she thought about how much of an idiot she was for doing that, bothering a person's sleep in the middle of the night.

"Yeah. Right when they were about to put in your IV line, for self-reassurance," Myungsoo narrated in amusement, watching as she lowered her head and bit the inside of her own cheek, her face contorting into a tiny pout. "Kid," he teased slyly (Seulbi could have sworn he was chuckling), slipping his hands into the pockets of his coats. "You haven't changed one bit. Do you still need to hold someone's hand when you get your yearly flu shots?"

"At least I didn't scream my head off for every vaccine, unlike someone I know. I hope you aren't still like that at the doctors as well," Seulbi countered, reaching up and ruffling his hair affectionately. She had almost forgotten the feeling of Myungsoo's fluffy mop of hair and decided to let it sink back in, even for a short while.

"Touche," Myungsoo agreed, taking the jab lightly. "But you can't run to me anymore for things like that. You'll always have Nam and the rest." It was him who had to set clear boundaries again. Seulbi showed she understood by regretfully pulling her hand back, given that her gesture of touch wasn't reciprocated.

From his view point at the front passenger seat, Sunggyu watched the two's interactions. The twinkle in Seulbi's eyes as she looked at her Myungsoo was so obvious, and now that he thought about it, he realized that certain look had been there all this time. Anyone looking carefully enough should be able to figure out her true feelings.

That aside, the real world was too cruel. To have something as genuine as friendship built over the years get torn apart and destroyed by something as trivial as competition, family names and money was a reality not only for Kim Myungsoo and Lee Seulbi, but for people elsewhere as well. So seeing the two old friends reunite like this at all odds, despite how small and casual, brought a sense of hope that things would turn out okay in the end.

But if it was so heartwarming, then what was this sense of heaviness in his chest? Sunggyu found himself at a loss, unable to exactly decipher the newly-surfaced feeling. He had been so caught up with trying to straighten his thought process out that he failed to see Seulbi walking up to the sedan. The heiress rapped curtly on the window before tucking her hands behind her back.

“Sunggyu?" she called out, giving the car passenger a mini-heart attack. "I know you're in there. Time to get out of the car.”

Caught red-handed, he had no choice but to roll down the windows of his side of the car. “You?!? H-H-How did you know I was here?" a stunned Sunggyu stammered.

“Well, anyone who recognises you could immediately see you. The car isn't that far and the windows aren’t THAT tinted," Seulbi added with a light tap on the windows just to prove her point. "I take it that it was you who honked the car horn earlier? Idiot. Sick people are resting in the hospital.” Despite the sharp jab, she was smiling at him, happy to see him and he found himself at a loss for words.

"Let's go home, shall we?"

At her word, Sunggyu shuffled out of the passenger seat, tailing after Seulbi, thankful that Shimgoon came around with the car just in the nick of time. He gave Myungsoo a weird nod of acknowledgement as he passed the guy and clambered into the sedan. Seulbi gave a small polite nod as well as she boarded the car. Time that had temporarily stopped for them had started once again, and things were back to the way they were in the real world with their friendship invalidated.

The ride back to the Lee estate was a quiet one for most of the time, save for the short conversation which was brought up by the heiress.

"Hey Sunggyu..." Seulbi began.

He knew very well what she was about to say. She wasn't the least bit cross. Rather, she was genuinely curious as to why any sane cousin of hers would actually allow her to be within the presence of their family's sworn mortal enemy. "He's your best friend," Sunggyu reasoned. "I don't think that warrants any further explanation."

A small affectionate smile graced Seulbi's face. The girl was honestly touched by his unwarranted act of kindness. "Idiot," she couldn't help bur murmur partly in fondness and partly in disbelief, easing back into her side of the car seat. "You're really an idiot, Kim Sunggyu."

"For eff's sake, that's the nth time I've been called that today. I don't have an IQ range of 0-25, for everyone's information!"

Her initially bright smile turned a bit somber at her next words. "Though you shouldn't have forced him against his will if he didn't want to come and visit. It's okay. I understand--"

"Is what your higher mental capacity and rationale dictates," Sunggyu cut across, his tone serious as he looked at her. "But is that really okay with you? Would you have really wanted to let him pass just like that? It's okay to be a little selfish sometimes. If not now, when? When will you learn to put yourself first, do something for yourself and not feel guilty about it, Lee Seulbi?"

Seulbi grew quiet for the remainder of the car ride as his words had her thinking in introspect. 

<<<<< >>>>>

Finals week was fast approaching. That only meant exams, more exams, term papers, jam-packed libraries and study areas, sleepless nights, unlimited cups of coffee and an army of highly-tensed university students.

As much as they'd like to concentrate very well on their studies, the Lee family had no choice but to resort to other means to get by finals week. The last thing they needed were admirers hovering over them at the library (and practically everywhere they went), squealing about how cute Hoya was in glasses, or how adorable Sungyeol was when he tied his bangs up and away from his face, or how Dongwoo’s gorgeous smile was still so bright despite the stress, or how more prince-like Woohyun looked even when serious and studying. Seulbi, on the other hand, despite keeping a low profile and evading attention well for most of the semester, still received notes of encouragement and snacks from her fair share of admirers and well-wishers.

Even Sunggyu and Sungjong were no exceptions, gaining a rather (un)healthy mob of admirers as well who found their unique personal charms appealing: Sungjong for his cute-boy-that-noonas-would-love pheromones and Sunggyu for his unorthodox, somewhat rebel bad-boy vibe that made girls weak in the knees. Now the two understood why the Lee family sought isolation from the maddening crowds. It was not easy basking in all of this unwarranted attention.

And so each one opted to head straight home after classes ended and become a temporary recluse in their own private bedrooms. This particular night was no different, with everyone staying in, locked up in their respective bedrooms drowned in work once again. Save for two people who coincidentally needed a change of atmosphere for once.

"Are you serious?" Seulbi asked out loud as she opened the family room door. She had just settled herself in and had begun on her school work when she heard someone knocking rather impatiently on the door.

She was greeted by Sunggyu, who was standing outside with a laptop, charger and several other wirings in one hand, his heavy backpack strapped to his shoulder, holding a bunch of pillows and snacks on the other hand.

“Aren't you going to let me in?" Sunggyu asked in wry sarcasm. "Don't look at me like that. This place doesn’t have your name on it.”

"Go away. I have a final paper to finish and a test to study for. You're only going to distract me,” Seulbi snapped, but he brushed past her, so she had no choice but to let him in, watching as he dumped all his belongings onto the nearest couch. "What is with all this stuff?"

Sunggyu began to settle in and make himself at home as well, plopping himself down on the remainder of the couch space. "If I stay one more minute in the silence of my own room alone facing a book and a laptop, I’m going to go crazy.”

"I don't think it was necessary to bring your whole entire bedroom over."

Sunggyu pulled out a large bag of chips, wagging it in front of her face. “One bag of Lays all to yourself as toll fee and we call quits.”

Completely sold on the offer, Seulbi had her hungry gaze locked down on the chips. “Cheddar & Sour Cream! Make that two, I’ll call it.” Sunggyu dug through his snack pile and tossed her the extra bag, which she caught in her excitement, signifying that he was making terms with his end of the deal. “Welcome, welcome! Please sit anywhere you like! Would you like to have some tea, coffee, juice care of the kitchen?”

Seulbi stretched her arms upward while yawning, deciding to finally call it a night and head back to her bedroom. She reached towards the couch behind her to collect her blanket, but instead of smooth velvety couch cushions, she felt the hard back of a living, breathing person.

Turning back, she saw that Sunggyu had fallen asleep on the couch with his back to her. His book was on top of his face, with the rest of his things piled neatly at the other end of the couch. It was almost enviable how relaxed he looked like that, sleeping as if he had 

“No way. My blanket…”

Mortified, Seulbi quickly grabbed the tiny part of her knitted blanket corner that was peeking out and into sight with both hands. She tugged and tugged, but it was firmly stuck under Sunggyu’s entire weight.

“Sunggyu, wake up,” Seulbi whispered, shaking him awake. “Wake up, please?”

The guy wouldn’t even budge in his sleep, dead-tired from being up all night burning the midnight candle for several nights in a row. Seulbi felt bad for being selfish and childish at her age over something as trivial as a blanket, so in the end, she decided to pack up and make her way back to her bedroom, not before giving her poor blanket a sad look of goodbye.

It couldn’t be that bad. It was just a few hours without her blanket and she was really tired anyway.



Thirty minutes later, she admitted that she was absolutely wrong! Seulbi ended up tossing and turning on her bed the whole time, unable to get even a single ounce of sleep. It just wasn’t the same without her precious blanket. 

“AAAAGGHHH~!” The heiress let out a grumpy scream of frustration into her pillows before shooting up and off her bed. Seulbi decided to march back to the family room to reclaim what was rightfully hers, by hook or by crook. Unfortunately for her, Sunggyu hadn’t moved from his position on the couch. He was still warming her blanket for her, pressing it between the couch and his . 

“Get. Off. My. Blanket!”

Every word was punctuated with a good sharp tug of her blanket, which still refused to free itself, instead latching onto Sunggyu like second skin. She attempted lifting and shoving him out of the way, but to no avail. She gave the couch a good kick to startle him awake and only ended up hopping around the room as pain shot through her big toe.

Desolate, Seulbi gave up after running out of strength and plopped down onto the nearest armchair, pouting grumpily at the offending blanket thief.

“It's impossible, it's like I'm wrestling with a baby whale here. Why are you so goddamned heavy?" she groaned in her frustration. "Besides, what are you, six years old? Sleeping with your belly out in the open…”

Seulbi bit her lower lip in embarrassment as the realization dawned on her. She didn’t understand why she was feeling so shy over a teensy bit of exposed skin. Woohyun, Hoya and Dongwoo took off their shirts all the time when playing sports or exercising at the gym and she has never been conscious of that since her younger years. So why the sudden shy reaction now?

To make her problem worse, Sunggyu had slipped one arm underneath his shirt and started scratching his belly in his sleep, all the more lifting his shirt to expose his bare stomach. Seulbi grabbed for the nearest throw pillow and covered her now tomato-red face.

Seriously, what in heck was wrong with her? This was Kim Sunggyu, her eldest cousin, for crying out loud, not a ripped Calvin Klein model!

Lowering the pillow, Seulbi cleared , attempting act normally to make light of this awkward situation. “Contrary to what your band of worshipping fangirls say, you have no abs,” she half-whispered and ended up laughing to herself at the absurdity she was spouting. Way to put herself at ease by taking a jab at him, but at least that dissipated the initial awkwardness.

His fast-growing flock of fangirls would have also killed to see Sunggyu in such an opportune unguarded moment of his. Seulbi wondered how many of them would turn and high-tail the other way after surviving a day of Sunggyu's outright bluntness, how many of them would be disappointed when they found out how completely smitten he was with GFriend (which she saw through by the looks of his dopey smile, however vehemently denied by him). She felt strangely possessive and protective of him. Her newly-found eldest cousin, no matter how annoying most of the time, was indeed growing on her. Resting her head on the arm rest, she took the chance to continue watching over Sunggyu's sleeping figure in contentment to pass the time.

And Kim Sunggyu, oblivious to all of this, was still happily frolicking around in his little dreamland before the waking hours came.



That was a good night's rest.

Refreshed and ready to take on the world, Sunggyu sat up and stretched his arms. A thick piece of clothing article fell on his lap after dangling off his shoulders, catching his attention. How on earth did his jacket get here?

He probably must have grabbed it over from the next couch and snuggled into it in his sleep. No househelp in her right mind would be so kind and brazen so as to do that for him. Sunggyu somehow considered that it might have been Seulbi's doing, but quickly discarded the thought. The world would freeze and burn ten times over first before she would even consider being so nice to him.

Pulling his maroon fleece jacket off and slinging it around his left shoulder, Sunggyu got up and decided to move back into his bedroom to prepare for the day, not before straightening and patting down the knitted blanket that had somewhat crumpled up from last night's occasional tossing and turning. Picking up his bath towel from the rack, he hopped into the bathroom for his morning shower.

Black. The soap suds covering his hands after he had lathered it on were unusually pitch black. That really woke him up from his robot-like state.

What on earth?

He did a double-take, only to find out that someone had practically made a mural out of his stomach, drawing in a whole pack of imaginary abs with a black permanent marker. Only one possible suspect came into mind, and there could be no one else who had enough guts to make fun of him like this.

“LEE SEULBI!”

<<<<< >>>>>

“Spawn of Satan. When I get my hands on you, I’m really going to strangle you and I don’t care if your grandfather is going to kill me for it— YAH, LEE SEULBI!”

Sunggyu had spent a good hour scrubbing off the permanent marker, leaving his skin red, angry and extremely sensitive, and that was good time he could have instead used to do final touches on a few of his papers. He proceeded to the Lee's hangout room the moment he got to the university, opening the main door with a large bang. True enough, everyone was already there, having sought refuge here before their respective exam schedules came. Seulbi herself was slumped over the table, resting her head on her arms, as she snoozed the morning away. “LEE SEULBI! YOU LISTEN HERE--”

"SHHHHH!"

He had been so focused on Seulbi that he shut out the rest of her cousins who were at the periphery from his sight. Of all the times these obsessive idiots had to be obsessive, it had to be now. He couldn't care less if she was their precious baby, he was going to put his foot down right now. "That-- that thing needs some telling of after she deliberately violated me!"

"SHHHHHH!"

"And don't call your baby cousin a thing, how could you?" Dongwoo tutted. "Oh, she's up."

But Sunggyu already knew that, because he was currently exchanging glares with an equally pissed-off and recently-awoken Seulbi. He wanted to knock his head into the nearest wall in disbelief at her reaction right now. And she had the audacity to be angry with him after what she did!

Warning bells started ringing in Woohyun's head after seeing the two act like angry bulls about to lock horns and he knew he had to stop them before a repeat of their previous swashbuckling could happen. "Hey, hey, hey. Hold up-- what's going on this time?"

The two paid no heed to his words, advancing towards the other in a menacing manner. Before any of them could rain down fury, they had been pulled apart by the rest of the gang who had taken the hint after hearing Woohyun's words. "Leave her alone, hyung," Sungjong pleaded, his grip fastened tightly on the hem of Sunggyu's shirt. "She hasn't had a single ounce of sleep."

"That is such a half-assed excuse. Don't we all? But do you see anyone being an about it? No!" Sunggyu huffed. "Besides, staying up the whole night was her choice!"

In the midst of their whole squabble, the guys were unable to notice that Seulbi, irritated by the noise, decided to drag herself off to somewhere quieter where she could continue her much-needed shut-eye. They didn't even hear the club room's door click close after her.

"Hyung," Sungyeol began, pulling a seething Sunggyu aside from the heat of the argument. "Remember what I told you before about Seulbi's extra quirky sleeping habits? Well, here's the thing. That favorite baby blanket of hers that we're speaking of..."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Think about it. Where did you last see it?"

"Why? Is that why she's being so cranky? Is it lost?"

Sungyeol only shook his head in reply, patiently waiting for the older guy to put two and two together. Their current conversation jogged Sunggyu's memory. He did recall seeing the blue knitted nautical-themed blanket last night with them at the common room, perched on the couch's arm rest. Seulbi should have brought it with her for comfort purposes, probably so she could curl up in it later on while she continued to type out all her papers.

The last time he saw it was in the morning when he woke up. And it had been squashed underneath him the whole night.

"Well, crap."

<<<<< >>>>>

Myungsoo had been going over his notes for the past hour when he heard the fire exit door unlatch and squeak open. Before his usual visitor could even make her presence known, he had beaten her to it. “This spot is already taken.”

“Surely this big of a place has some spare room for one more soul?” Seulbi pushed on, closing the main fire exit door behind her and descending down the small flight of steps that led to the balcony landing where Myungsoo usually stayed at. "Look, I won't even bother you. I just need somewhere quiet for the next ten minutes. Cousins are on high-tension because of finals."

He noticed the dark bags under her eyes and her tired, slumped posture. Lee Seulbi looked like she had just come out as a battered survivor from that Train to Busan movie. "You don't look too well," Myungsoo couldn't help but voice out. Was she sick again?

"Tell me about it," she sighed, stiffling in a big yawn as she sat down on the bottom of the steps. "A ten-minute power nap should do the trick."

"Sure it helps. And just how many power naps have you already had today? Six?" 

"You know me all too well."

Sighing, he turned his back to her, opting to ignore her and go back over his notes for his upcoming exam. With less interaction, hopefully she'd get the hint to leave. "Don't you even think of falling asleep on the stairs," he warned, "I'm really going to kick you out."

Five minutes and a two pages have passed before Myungsoo noticed the uneasy quietness of his surroundings. Just as he predicted, Lee Seulbi had thrown away all care for the world and was snoozing off while seated upright, her head lolling down with her chin meeting the top of her chest. Her deep and even breathing told Myungsoo that she was indeed fast asleep despite such an uncomfortable position.

Sighing, Myungsoo snapped his notebook shut and walked towards her, taking a seat on the steps beside her. Her neck was going to be strained if she kept the position she was sleeping in. He had half a mind to tip her over playfully with one gentle push of her forehead, but schooled it. They weren't children anymore.

This was the first time that Myungsoo had taken a good look at Lee Seulbi up close since he had come back from London, in all honesty. The baby fat in her cheeks that he used to poke at a lot had gone. Her face betrayed tiredness, most likely due to finals week and her on-going recovery from illness, but displayed calmness as well, as if she was relieved to leave all that stress behind, even just for a little while. His hand itched to reach out and tuck away the stray strands of hair that fallen over her face, just like old times, but he hesitated midway and ended up pulling his hand back on his lap before his fingers could even linger on her soft black locks.

Myungsoo decided that he was going to let her sleep in. After all, she looked like she needed it. Before he could safely make his way back to his notebook, Seulbi had finally tipped over in her stupor and would have slammed her head onto the wall if not for Myungsoo catching her.

Seulbi’s eyes snapped open, awoken from her short nap by the sensation of falling, and her eyes widened in panic at the realisation at whom she was staring face-to-face with. How long had she been asleep? Since when had he moved? Myungsoo remained unfazed, his gaze directed straight into her eyes. However, he still didn't let go of his hold on her.

"Sorry," Seulbi mumbled in embarrassment, pulling herself away and up to stand, dusting the skirt of her dress. "Really thoughtless of me. I--I'll be going now! Sorry." She scrambled for the fire exit door afterwards and left in a hurry.

Myungsoo watched as she disappeared through the doors, unable to hide the slight disappointment in his face, which was directed mostly to himself. Idiot. What was he thinking by doing that, really?

Little did both know that a lone shutter had been snapping away pictures of the two of them from a distance.

<<<<< >>>>>

Being the first to finish the day's final hurdle of exams and requirements, Sunggyu returned to the Woollim hangout to wait for everyone else to gather back one-by-one so they could all call it a day and go home. Just when he thought he was returning to an empty club room, Sunggyu froze in his spot at the sight of someone else occupying the place.

He had totally forgotten about Lee Seulbi, who was probably still major pissed and grumpy due to her lack of proper sleep! Not wanting to face her out of embarrassment in figuring out that he was at fault, he attempted to sneak away unnoticed. Of course, it failed miserably. Seulbi's heightened senses were able to sniff him out immediately before he could even high-tail and leave.

"I'm not cranky anymore. Come sit," Seulbi called out, patting the empty couch space beside her. Clearing his throat, Sunggyu approached and sat down as instructed, putting as much distance away from her as possible. A few 70's English songs were playing over the speakers on a low level, which Sunggyu vaguely recalled as the soundtrack to some weird alien movie which she liked so much with a talking space racoon and a walking tree.

He cleared his throat, speaking up to kill the awkward silence that followed. "Being so grumpy over a baby blanket. What are you, six?"

Typical of Kim Sunggyu. While Woohyun and the rest usually try to charm their way around her, Sunggyu always took things with blunt force. Despite his sharp comment, Seulbi let out a soft chuckle and crossed her arms as she leaned back on the couch with her eyes closed. "Funny, I said the exact same thing yesterday."

He didn't understand why she found that so funny. Seulbi must have been really delusional from her lack of sleep. Flustered, Sunggyu continued on with his argument. "This is all your fault. We already had this conversation about putting yourself first, didn't we? You could have just woken me up!"

"Elementary, dear Sunggyu. Did you seriously think that wasn't the first thing that came to mind?" sighed Seulbi. "Believe me when I say I've tried everything. Every single thing." Then ensued a stupid little game of trying to find out which method

"Pulling the blanket? Rolling me over?"
"Yup."
"Ringing alarms?"
"Yup."
"Something louder... like a drum, or gong, or airhorn?"
"Yes, to all of them unfortunately."
"Kicking me?"
"My answer will only piss you off."

Seulbi's resilience and stubbornness was really something else if she's wracked her brain for every possible trick in the book known to mankind to retrieve her precious item. “I yield. I’m really sorry about your blanket,” Sunggyu couldn't help but murmur in his disbelief, throwing in the towel for this round.

"Yeollie says it was childish of me. After thinking about it with a clear head, I agree. Over a baby blanket, really," Seulbi yawned, politely covering with the back of her hand. “But yeah, this is me learning to be selfish... for once. Apology accepted."

Sunggyu initially frowned at the response but was unable to hide his amusement at the way she threw his words right back at him. "Just when I thought you were finally coming back to your right senses. Not like that. What a kid, this one!" he chuckled, and he could hear Seulbi's little pleased hum. And all was peaceful and quiet until a full minute later.

“Oi.“

Sunggyu was startled when he felt some sudden weight on his shoulder, only to realise that Seulbi had keeled over and had fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation, using him as a human pillow without his permission. No coherent word was formed in his surprise and any attempt to do so came out poorly garbled.

No matter how much he tried to nudge Seulbi’s head off his shoulder, it just naturally stuck there. What was even weirder was how she managed to remain asleep after so much fumbling movement. The girl was too dead tired to be aware of her surroundings.

In a situation such as this, Sunggyu thought that it was best to let the heiress wake up on her own after all, rather than face her wrath once again for having interrupted her sleep every so rudely. Not even daring to look at the sleeping girl beside him, he shifted awkwardly to a more comfortable position for him, lowering himself a little on the backrest so her head could properly rest and let out a nervous breath, praying that Woohyun wouldn't come and find them like this or there'll be hell to pay for something he didn't even mean to do.

Lee Seulbi would probably be the death of him first though. Still fast asleep, her arm casually draped across him and she shifted her body closer towards him so she could curl up next to him.

His initial apprehension and embarrassment somehow melted away once he turned towards her. Somehow, he understood why Woohyun, Howon, Sungyeol and Dongwoo fawned over their little princess--- seeing her curled up like a small child, comfortable and resting well, away from the stress of the world, was too precious, and he'd like to keep it that way.

Damned Woollim kids, really. Their overprotectiveness was rubbing off on him.

Sunggyu readjusted her every time she nodded off, pulling her more securely beside him so she wouldn't fall forward. Seulbi snuggled more into his warmth in response, drawing a smile on his lips. "Goodnight, Girl Wonder," he cooed.

Five minutes later, Sunggyu's breaths evened out as well.

<<<<< >>>>>

Nam Woohyun was in a hurry.

The day and semester had already ended for most students, and the university was almost practically empty, save for a few students whose exams had just ended and for some who had used the main entrance as a meeting point for their semester termination party.

On the contrary, Woohyun was going against the general flow of students, making his way into the university premises instead. His finals had ended hours ago, he had already submitted the remaining two term papers left, but he couldn't care less. His hurried steps clacked across the empty hallways, almost breaking into a frustrated run, and his neck craned left and right as he seemed to be searching for something. Rather, someone.

And by that particular someone had just entered his field of vision, having just come from clearing out his locker. Woohyun's voice came out in what sounded close to a low, feral growl.

"L."

Myungsoo's gaze hardened as he realized who was approaching him. What business could Nam Woohyun possibly have with him at this time? He came alone without the usual posse, which alerted him almost immediately. Something wasn't right about this confrontation. "Nam," he returned the short greeting rather harshly.

Before another word was exchanged, Woohyun's angry fist connected with sharp hit to Myungsoo's face.

A/N: Howdy-doodie, Bluff is back! Sorry for the extremely long wait friends, here's the final and finished product for Chapter 25, which some of you have been begging for. The story will be picking on from here on out, so I hope you do stay tuned for what's in store for the next chapters. In the mean time, thoughts? Comments? I'd love to hear them.

PS: Hope you loved/hated that cliff-hanger as well, very much inspired by that whole punching scene in BTD. That MV seriously needs a part 2, for crying out loud!!! For those new to Infinite and do not know what intarnation BTD is, I advise you to check that out! ANND, Advanced Merry Christmas folks! May your holidays be happy!