제15회

The peering sunlight stirred her peaceful slumber. The effect of the couch slowly kicks in with muscle pain. The sensation crawls up to the back of her neck, forcing her eyes to flutter open. Where am I? Yejin woke up to find herself covered in blanket and in unfamiliar surroundings. As she ponders on how, he makes his appearance.

“Don’t scream.” He covered just in time. “Promise?” She hesitantly nodded, quickly averted her gaze from Hoya. Instinctively, she wrapped the blanket around her body and distanced herself from the latter. “W-what happened last night?” She gulped. What did I do? Please don’t tell me that we…

“You fell asleep.” He simply replied. Seeing both of them still fully clothed, that might be the truth. That’s a relief. But how come she did not remember a thing? “You didn’t try anything funny on me, did you?”   

His fingers brushed her hair away from her face. Dongwoo was right. With her long eyelashes, porcelain skin and rosy cheeks she does look attractive. If only she wasn’t too clumsy. His gaze moved on to the newly bruise marks.

Whoever did this to her should not cross paths with him. They had no respect for women and people like that deserved a punch on their face.

He let out a silent laugh. How would she react if she knew he was this close?

“Hoya,” Her voice brought him out of the flashback. “Be honest with me.” She asked, getting more confident than earlier. His late response set her to unease. “You didn’t do anything, do you?” Her eyes searched for truth through the brown orbs belonged to him. “Did you?”

He brought the tips of his fingers along her cheekbones. Her face looked serene and it turned him on. His gaze finally landed on her lips.

What would it be like to kiss her?

She backed away after realizing she was closing in to him with a dangerous gap. Wake up, Yejin. You’re in his house. You’re the one who stayed in last night. He was kind enough to help you. She looked away, missing his flustered expression. “I have to go back. Thanks for your hospitality. I’ll make it up to you later.” She grabbed her bag and Woohyun’s jacket, also fixing her messy hair on her way out.

Yejin left. The house was quiet again. Hoya face palmed himself as he leaned back to the couch.

His neighbor is something.

= = = = = = =

Come to think of it... The last thing  I remembered was watching Hoya working on his computer. I was staring at his back, well his back was facing me, and then...

“Good morning.” Seolhee welcomed her into the house. Leaving some space for Yejin to wash up, she proceeded to the kitchen to check on her cooking. The aroma of the soup spreads throughout the apartment, tempting Yejin to step out of her room. Seolhee’s homemade chicken soup was one of her favorite. Ah, I'm hungry.

Seolhee took a seat across Yejin,w atching her best friend enjoying the soup heartily. “Hoya told me you fell asleep on his couch. So…”  She rested her chin on one hand, eyeing the latter playfully. “Care to tell me the real story?”

“What real story? I forgot my keys and he let me stay until you get back. Which reminds me, where were you last night? I waited for you for hours!” Now it is her turn to retaliate. Yejin focused on Seolhee. “Last time I checked, you were with Kim Sungkyu, weren’t you?”

Kim Sungkyu. The name triggered the memory of the night before. After the photo shoot, he brought her to a restaurant for a dinner. Then, they stopped by the park to watch the first cherry blossom and… “Don’t change the topic. We were talking about you.”

“I told you everything. Now, it’s your turn.”

I'm so happy!!

Sungkyu. And. Seolhee. Kissed! I knew this would happen. Finally!

"That's not what happened…" The latter crossed her arms. “So he kissed you first?” Her face was as red as tomato, regretting for sharing the story with Yejin. Her friend was already squealing in pure joy. "I knew it. Gosh, I'm so happy for you!"

"Tone it down. The neighbors are going to hear you."

"No one is going to hear me. Maybe Hoya will. His living room is right next to ours." Yejin munched another slice of sandwich. I know, I had breakfast earlier. I was dead hungry. My stomach was empty since last night. "Speaking of Hoya..." Yejin sensed her changing tone and stopped munching. "You didn't mention about our new neighbor. He is quite-"

"I see where this is going and I refuse to continue this conversation."

"Something did happen last night." It was her turn to snicker. "He was rather jumpy when we conversed. He told me you fell asleep in his couch and when I checked, you were sleeping with a blanket. The blanket won’t be there unless he put it for you, right?”

“It’s called being nice. No big deal.” Seeing her casually denying was not convincing enough. She had known her for years. Although Yejin had no trouble interacting with people, Seolhee had never seen her associate with guys other than friends and colleagues.

There’s one thing about Seolhee. Although she claimed to be good at reading people, it was the other way around. She can be dense as a rock. Otherwise, she could see through Woohyun easily.

Just to be clear, I do associate with guys. The only ones that I avoid were jerks. Even though one of them is a potential ‘friend in-law’.

Oh, Seolhee my friend…

= = = = = = =

So I decided to skip work for the day. Not that I’ve done it before. I guess this would be a good time to use that emergency leave. Thanks to Woohyun, my car was sent to a workshop although I insisted it was only a flat tyre.

Speaking of Woohyun…

“What are you doing here?” The latter smiled while leaning on his bike. Looking at the time, isn’t he supposed to be clocking in for work? “If you’re looking for Seolhee, she lef