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heart, open sesame // I need to turn the page in this storybook // but you have the key

“Going back to being a skirt-chaser, huh?”

“No! Well- Yes! She’s the type I honestly like!”

“Honestly?! So we were just a lie?!”

Hyori quickly went in between the two men and placed a hand on each of their chests, keeping them away from each other. “Calm down!”

The taller man sighed and looked away. “… Sorry…” he whispered.

Ren was another matter.

He slapped her hand away, the glare he had for her was harsher. “What an amazing coincidence we have here! So the date you have today so happens to be someone I used to be with? What a small world!” he said, the evident sarcasm making her flinch.

Hyori quickly raised up her hands in defense. “It was just-!”

“Did you choose him because he was my ex?” he said with a scowl, interrupting her and not bothering to hear her reply.

“No!” Hyori denied immediately. “I didn’t know!”

Ren was angry, livid. She knew he wasn’t the gentle and soft-spoken guy as he appeared and she had gotten used to his feisty personality, but being on the brunt of such raw anger was making her panic and scared. 

“Didn’t know? He was there when we first met, wasn’t he? To so plainly go out with someone who…” He laughed dryly. “You’re a lot more conniving than you look. Was he actually the guy you were after? I bet you just befriended me too-“

“No!” she said. “I befriended you because I like you-!”

“Is that so? So did you want me so badly that’d you go for my leftovers?” he said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at her.

Hyori quickly shook her head at his question, not trusting herself to speak lest he hear her cracked voice. His loud voice and condensing tone was enough for her to get hurt and have tears forming behind her eyes.

The reason for their dispute quickly intervened. “Look, Ren. We had no idea about either of our connections with you – calm the down.”

What surprised him wasn’t Ren’s reaction… it was his lack of reaction.

Ren’s glare remained on Hyori, not even acknowledging the other man’s words. “Did you think ‘Oh, since I can’t get him, I’ll get his ex! I can seduce him easily to prove to him that my can get all the guys I want!’”

“Ren,” his past boyfriend warned, taking a step forward. “Stop-“

“Stop,” Hyori whispered, looking down. “… Please…” she mumbled.

Ren stared at her for a moment… but then his arms fell to his side and his eyes widened.

Her bangs were covering her eyes, but the tears falling down her cheeks were so clear and evident and-

What did he just do?

“I’m sorry!” he quickly said, reaching out to her.

She looked up at him with tear-stained eyes and a hurt expression – things he had caused. He felt the regret and guilt washing over him and he took a step towards her, but she quickly took a step back in response. “… G-Go home, Ren…”

“Hyori-!” Before he could continue, his ex roughly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the exit door. “Let go of me!” he said, trying to pry the taller man’s grip away.

“You’ve done enough – listen to her, why don’t you?” he said, easily dragging him outside.

“This is none of your damn business!” he said, before facing Hyori again. “I snapped! I didn’t mean-“ But by the time he was brought outside, she had closed the door in front of him and he heard the audible click of the lock.

It was then that he was free from the grip. He ran to the door and slammed on it with his fists. “Hyori! My anger got the best of me! Believe me, I didn’t mean anything I said back then!…” he trailed off. At the lack of response, he sighed and fell silent.

But then he heard a faint sob.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, matching the volume of her cry so he knew she could still hear it through the wooden boundary between them. He sank down to the floor, his fists sliding down the door and his forehead resting against it now. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

He heard faint shuffling… and then footsteps… She had left.

Ren’s fist hit the door lightly again. “… Hyori…” he whispered, as if that would make her come back.

“… You said too much,” a voice suddenly said, making Ren realize that his ex was still present.

Ren made no move to look at him, and instead hissed out in reply, “Go away.”

He didn’t though. He just crossed his arms and let out a deep breath. “… You’ve always had a bad mouth, but when you get angry… you always go too far.”

“I said, go away,” Ren repeated through gritted teeth, still not looking up to his former lover.

“… You were jealous and got mad.”

“I was not jealous over you!” Ren exclaimed, finally looking up to glare at him.

He saw the tears of frustration and regret b in Ren’s eyes. “Of course, you weren’t… But remember before… when you did get jealous over me because of a guy, you never cared about him… you always got mad at me.”

Ren looked back down, understanding what the other man meant with his brief recount.

He uncrossed his arms and smiled softly at Ren. “So I guess who you got jealous over is pretty damn obvious, huh?”

Ren didn’t reply.

He just let out another sigh. “… I can’t say it was nice seeing you again, but… Actually, I hope we never meet again.”

“Stay out of my life.”

“Yeah, yeah-“

“And stay away from hers.”

“… Yeah, yeah.”

Hyori was laying down on the couch, a canister of mint chocolate chip ice cream on the floor beside her. She was staring up at her floral designed ceiling, spoon dangling from .

Ice cream was a great friend. It didn’t say mean things to her or make her feel bad… Of course, that friend could negatively impact her on the weighing scale, but she wasn’t concerned about that right now.

“Ugh…” Hyori rolled over to her side, her arm now dangling from the couch’s side. She groaned again and let her spoon fall to the ice cream container.

A rasp knock was heard. “Hyori! Open up, you lazy bum!” her land lady called from outside.

Hyori groggily stood up and went over to her door. She opened it briefly to see the old lady glaring at her. “It’s not even trash day today-“

“It’s tomorrow, so I’m reminding you now. You better sort it out properly this time!” But then she tilted her head to someone standing beside her. “Oh, and your girlfriend is here to see you. Don’t have me picking up your guests for you again!” she chided before leaving.

Before Hyori could close the door, Ren quickly took hold of the door knob and pulled it open even wider. She quickly took several steps back when he entered the room and closed the door behind him. He stared at her, while she refused to look away from the floor.

He took a step forward. She took a step back. He continued advancing, and she continued retreating… until her back hit a wall. She inwardly whimpered at her plight.

“Hyori,” he finally said.

Her back slid down the wall, until she was seated on the floor. She hugged her knees and buried her face to hide it from him. “I really… really… really don’t want you to look at me right now,” she mumbled.

Ren crouched down in front of her. “… Why?”

“I look really miserable and ugly.”

“Just because you didn’t look at my face, didn’t mean I couldn’t see yours,” he said, a bit amused. “I already saw your miserable face.”

She groaned and just hugged her knees tighter.

“And… I’m sorry for causing it.”

Hyori raised up her head a little to finally peek at Ren. It had been around three hours since she kicked him out of her apartment. He was wearing the same clothes… but had a beanie over his hair, for some reason. She lifted up her hand to tug lightly at the side of his headwear. “… It doesn’t match your clothes,” she mumbled instead.

He frowned at her. He took hold of her outstretched hand. “That’s not what I want you to comment on right now.”

Hyori looked at their hands as he intertwined his fingers with hers. “… You apologized.”

“Yes-“

“Say it again.”

“… I’m sorry.”

“Again.”

“I’m sorry.”

She smiled. “Okay. I forgive you.”

Ren was about to apologize again, but then stopped… He glanced at her wearily. “… That’s it? I just had to say it three times?”

She tilted her head in confusion. “Did you have something else in mind?”

“Don’t forgive me so easily!” he chided in disbelief. He knew his friend didn’t have the capability to get mad, but this was pushing it, wasn’t it?!

“But… I heard… your apology from earlier,” she said, giving him a small smile. “You really sounded like you regretted your words… So I forgive you for it.”

Ren sighed and lowered his head, both his hands wrapped around her own. “… How can you forgive me so easily?”

“Well… you’re my friend,” she began… before shyly muttering, “And I do love you, remember?”

Ren’s head shot up, catching her slightly off guard. “What? How can you still like me after everything I said to you?”

This time, she gave him her usual grin… and he was greatly comforted at the familiar expression. “I saw the worst of you… but I’ve also seen the best of you… and I love both.”

“You… love everything about me?”

She laughed and nodded.

“… Even when your land lady thought I was your girlfriend?”

She nodded.

“Even when we have the same taste in guys?”

She nodded.

“Even when we use the same hair products and perfumes?”

She nodded.

“Even when we have matching manicures?”

She nodded.

“… Even when I get mad at you?”

“Forgiving you is easy,” she answered with a small smile tugging at her lips.

Ren sighed and glanced at her wearily. “What did I do to deserve you?”

This time, she grinned. “You were… you!”

He was about to run a hand through his hair, but stopped when he felt the cloth of his beanie. Meeting her eyes, he removed his hat… to reveal his now short, blonde hair.

Hyori’s breath got caught in her through and she felt a sudden ache in her chest.

It was his way of rejecting her feelings, wasn’t it? Why’d he have to be so creative with it? He had asked so much to her to reveal her unwavering feelings for him… and he was going to reject it without even needing words.

She sighed. “You’re rejecting me,” she whispered, hoping the crack in her voice wasn’t heard. “… I mean you only go for guys with shorter hair.”

“But I only go for girls with longer hair.”

Her eyes widened and her jaw fell.

Ren smiled slightly at her obviously shocked reaction before saying the words she had been desperately trying to get him to say since they first met.

“I love you.”

She lifted up her hand and tugged lightly at his sleeve, pleading. “Again… Say it again,” she requested in a whisper.

A smile found its way on Ren’s lips. “Your three repeat habit, huh?... How about this? I’ll only do that for one thing,” he said, moving his hands to cup her cheeks.

“One thing? What’s there besides your confession-?”

He kissed her.

“Both,” she pleaded when his lips left hers. “I want to see you do both as many times as possible!”

“Aren’t you greedy?” he said with a laugh before saying “I love you” and capturing her lips again.

“Baseball!”

Ren caught the baseball she threw at him. “What? You really want our first date as a couple to be at a baseball field?”

Hyori got into a batting position… clad in fashionable dress and heels. “Just one throw, Ren!”

“Why?” he asked instead.

“It’s a celebration because I successfully swung you back!”

“What?” he asked, still not understanding her obscure words.

“Come on, come on, come on~! Throw it, Ren!” she said, bat still at the ready. “We’ll go that restaurant right after this, promise!”

He sighed before complying with her request. He got into position and threw the ball. She swung the bat with all her might and sent the ball flying far. “… That’s some strength,” he mumbled, watching the ball fall several yards away before facing her again.

“I LOVE YOU~!” she suddenly shouted, her hands cupped around .

Ren flushed red and looked around at a few people on the field that had glanced at their direction. “Don’t yell it, you idiot!” he said, turning back to her with a glare.

Hyori just laughed, loving the red tint on his cheeks.

At her giggle, he sighed and went towards her. He took hold of her hand and quickly began leading her out of the large area. “Come on. We didn’t make a reservation, so we have to get there earlier.”

“Okay!” she said, before falling in step with him.

“… I love you too,” he said in an almost inaudible tone, but with a very distinct blush. Her grip on his hand tightened, a sign that she had heard…

She looked down at their conjoined hands… and matching nails.

“Swing, swing, swing~!” she said, swinging their held hands higher and higher.

“… What is with you and the ‘swing’ word?”

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you're my storybook girl // you're my storybook girl // you're my girl

A/N: And done! I'm sorry for the su~uper long delay for this last chapter D: I actually already had this ending planned on since I started this story, but... real life and laziness are some tough obstacles! XD I hope this last chapter was to your liking :) Feel free to comment!

And and and THANKS SO MUCH TO xXx_LoVe_ReN_xXx for the amazing, beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful cover photo~! Don't hesitate to check out her stories if you're in need of more Ren lovin'! :)