The bus inches slowly through the traffic that consumes Seoul on a daily basis. Though most of the passengers are slightly agitated by this, Seul doesn’t quite mind. She enjoys the longer bus rides. It gives her a chance to sit back and unwind from the long day as she watches the passing scenery. She suspects Jiyong enjoys them too as it gives him more time to stare at her.

She turns to him after trying for a long while to ignore his reflection in the window, “Don’t you ever get tired of staring at me like that?”

“You never get tiring to look at,” he says after a moment of thought, “So, no.”

She gave him a look. “Greasy ert.”

He laughed slightly at her comment. “Do you have any plans for this weekend?”

“Why? Are you going to follow me around town all day?”

“Maybe. As long as you’re not doing anything boring like getting your hair done or watching re-runs of dramas from 2004.”

She smiled mischievously. “Now that you mention it, I think I might want to do both of those things.”

“Nice try,” he said poking her in the middle of her forehead, “I’ll still come anyways.”

She pouted and pushed away his hand as the bus came to a stop. They both got off at the same place, as usual, but Seul was shocked to find Seunghyun waiting for her in front his car.

“Oppa,” she greeted him, shock evident in her voice, “Why are you off work so early? Is everything alright?”

“Calm down,” he said patting her on the head, an act that she hated since it showcased even more their significant height difference, “I’ve got to head out to the countryside for a few days.”

“A road trip!” she seemed excited at the idea, “Can I come?”

“You’ve got school on Monday. I won’t be back till Tuesday.”

“Damn,” she mumbled under her breath, “Well, stay safe.”

He ruffled her hair a bit, “Will do, kiddo.”

Jiyong, who had been listening the whole time, felt a bit nervous about this new development. Seungri had been quiet for the past few days which was very suspicious. His final threat had been very ominous. As discreetly as possible, he motioned for Seunghyun to come over.

“Hyung, I think Seul is in danger,” he whispered

“What? Why would she be in danger?”

“You know those guys I was fighting in the alley?” Seunghyun nodded, “They know that I hang around Seul and the leader of their group threatened to come after her.”

“They what!?”

“Shh!” Jiyong looked past him to see if Seul had overheard, “She has no idea and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“They threatened to come after Seul?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re 100% sure?”

“I wouldn’t be having this conversation if I didn’t hear his words clearly.”

What Seunghyun said next, he had to force his mouth to produce, “Why… Why don’t you stay over at our place with her? Make sure she stays safe.”

Jiyong seemed a little surprised at this proposition but nonetheless agreed.

“Alright, Seul,” Seunghyun started as he headed back over to her, “You and Jiyong have a nice time. Try not to make a mess in the house while I’m gone, you two.”

“What do you mean by you two?”

“Oh, he’ll be staying over while I’m gone,” he said as he sat down his car, “If you touch my sister, I’ll really kill you. Have fun!”

And with that he drove off, leaving Seul stupefied.

She hadn’t left her room since she got home. She made up the excuse of liking to do her homework as soon as she got it to hole herself up in her little cave. At first she played around on the internet, listened to music and watched variety shows but then decided she might as well do her homework just in case he calls her bluff and asks to see it. She had just finished off her essay for English. She yawned, eyes wandering over to the clock sitting on her desk.

“3 AM!?” that would explain why she practically had tape her eyelids to keep them open.

Without thinking, she closed her laptop and stripped down to her unders, plopping down on to her bed. She enjoyed only a few moments of sleep before her stomach demanded to be fed.

She groaned. “Damn Jiyong not even letting me eat food.”

Poking her head out into the dark hallway, she checked if the coast was clear. No sign of anything but darkness. Making her way down the hall to the kitchen, she flipped on the dimmest light and rummaged through their pantry, pulling out all kinds of food.

“I should drink some tea,” she mumbled sleepily.

The teabags were placed on top of the fridge, though. It was a well known fact that Seul wasn’t the tallest person ever so it took her some effort to even reach it, having to stand on her tiptoes. It was times like these where she cursed her brother for stealing all of the height in the family. She had yet to think of what she’d gotten in return for being stiffed on that one trait.

She almost had it. Her fingertips had just grazed the box. It was just in her grasp when— “What are you doing?”

Seul nearly dropped the whole thing on the ground but she quickly recovered from her surprise as she saw a half-asleep Jiyong staring at her in his pajamas. “I— I was hungry.”

“I can clearly see that but why was it necessary to raid your kitchen in your underwear?”

Her eyes widened as she remembered she was only wearing a bra and . Jiyong looked away, ears red as he removed his t-shirt and handed it to her. “Put it on.”

She accepted it without hesitation, dying from embarrassment at having been seen half by Kwon Jiyong. When she turned her eyes back to him, she registered that he was shirtless. I suppose that we can’t both be fully dressed at the same time. She had imagined that he’d be very strong but she wasn’t expecting the toned body that she saw. The kettle wailed, water finally hot enough, properly expressing her thoughts at the moment.

“Do you want any?” she asked as she got out a cup. He nodded.

To avoid an awkward silence, she the small TV that sat on the kitchen counter as they sipped their tea and ate the copious amounts of junk food placed on the table. Every few minutes, her eyes would subconsciously find their way over to him. He seemed to be lost in his own little world.

Pulling him out of his thoughts, she called out his name, “Jiyong?”

His gaze shifted over to her. “Seul?”

“When we first met, you said there was something you wanted to figure out about me. What exactly was that?”

He stayed silent a moment, thinking it over. “It was just a feeling. I didn’t understand what that strange electric feeling was.”

“Electric feeling,” she repeated softly, “Do you know now?”

He smiled more to himself than to anyone in general. “I think I might.”

She woke up the next morning on the couch. She didn’t remember moving there at all. She didn’t remember sleeping on top of Jiyong either. But here she was, crashed next to him in the living room. They’d stayed up another hour doing nothing and she was so tired she felt like she was going to die. She looked at the wall clock: it was about noon.

Seul observes the slow rise and fall of her current roomie. There was something nice about Jiyong when he was asleep. Maybe it was that he wasn’t talking.

“You know it’s rude to stare,” he mumbles in a sleepy voice.

She immediately pushes off of him as he opens his eyes and gives her an amused smile. She rubs her cheeks which does nothing to stop them from coloring bright red.

“I wasn’t staring. I was just wondering why I was sleeping on you in my living room.”

“You couldn’t even make it to your room,” he said ruffling his hair, “So I just brought you over to the couch. I guess I fell asleep here, too.”

“Hmm,” she narrows her eyes at him, “Likely story.”

He scoffs. “By the way, I’d like that shirt back.”

“What? Right now?”

“Uh huh.”

“ert.”

“Yah, it’s not like I haven’t already seen all of that.”

She hit him on the arm. “Shut up!”

“Come on, just give me the shirt.”

He chased her in circles around the couch before he faked her out and pinned her down on it, assaulting her with tickles. “Come on Seul just take it off. It’s my shirt, anyways!”

She couldn’t answer because she was laughing so hard. Behind them someone cleared their throat. By the look on their face, they weren’t as amused by this scene.