I stared up at Seungyoon’s face, not feeling shocked at his deal. I glanced at the others, who were standing around us, waiting for my answer. I turned my gaze up to Seungyoon, who was staring at me intently. I sighed. Maybe I can run away with my book?

“Hand me the sketchbook first,” I demanded. Seungyoon turned his head to Rokhyun, who handed me the sketchpad. I took it and then counted down in my head. 3. 2. 1. GO! I made a dash for it, breaking through the wall of guys and clinging onto my sketchpad for dear life. I wasn’t able to get far, thanks to the shoes I had put on today. In a few seconds, Seungyoon had caught up to me and wrapped his arms around my body in a tight back hug. I could hear his breathing in my ear. Then he sighed.

“Why am I not surprised you would do something like this? I need your answer now Joo,” he said. I sighed.

“Will you let go of me if I say yes?” I asked.

“Of course,” he sounded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Then my answer is yes,” I sighed and wriggled out of his hug, turning to him. He just stood there, looking shocked. I put my sketchbook down and waved my hands in front of his face, trying to get his attention.

“Hey! Seungyoon?” I snapped my fingers. He blinked and shook his head, looking at me.

“Did you really just say yes?” he asked me, wanting to confirm it.

“Yeah, did you not hear?” I was a bit confused at his reaction. Then he scooped me up into a tight hug and we spun around together a few times before he set me down again, his eyes shining. I heard running and peeked around Seungyoon to see the rest of WIN jogging over to us. They grouped around us, saying things like “About time!” or “Congrats, when’s the wedding?” I heard my name behind me. I turned to find Hojeong standing there, catching his breath. I rushed over to him.

“Hojeong! What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home by now? Your hyungs will get worried!” I began to scold him. He stopped panting and looked at me.

“I should’ve checked back here first. Choa, Hyei, Jiyoon, and I were all frantically looking for you this past hour! I even called my hyungs and when they said you weren’t there, I began to panic. They said they’d send out a search team if we couldn’t find you!” Hojeong grabbed me into a hug. I tightly hugged him back.

“Sorry Jeong…” I apologized into his chest, my speech muffled. I felt a hand on my shoulder pull me away from Hojeong. I turned to see Seungyoon glaring at Hojeong, who immediately began staring Seungyoon down. We heard more footsteps and Yoonsan appeared around the corner along with everyone else. They stood behind Hojeong, feeling the tense atmosphere. We were all silent. Seungyoon grabbed my wrist.

“Let’s go Hyo,” he said, starting to pull me away. I stumbled towards him but Hojeong ran forward and grabbed my other hand.

“She’s not going anywhere until you explain what’s going on Seungyoon,” I could hear the fierceness in his voice.

“You really wanna know what’s going on?” Seungyoon pulled me towards him, bringing Hojeong along as well. Seungyoon smirked. “Hyojoo’s my girlfriend now, isn’t it obvious?”

I felt Hojeong’s grip on my hand get tighter and winced. Junhyuk came forward and pulled Hojeong away gently, breaking his grip on my hand.

“Don’t do anything rash Jeong,” he said to him.

“I don’t wanna hear this from him. Let me talk to Joo,” Hojeong stared at Seungyoon, who let go of my wrist and backed away a few steps. I looked down at my wrist to see it a little red but it wasn’t hurting. Hojeong grabbed my wrist and examined it. He sighed.

“Joo, what on earth is going on right now?”

I began to explain what had happened after Daesung had taken off running with me in his arms.

“And now I’m stuck with him for who knows how long,” I concluded. Hojeong and his brothers stared at me and then looked at each other. Junhyuk nodded to them and stepped forward.

“Sorry Joo, pardon me…” he quickly scooped me up bridal style. Then with everyone surrounding us, they began to run. I heard Seungyoon trying to catch up but his footsteps faded away. We ran until we got back to their house, where Junhyuk plopped me onto the couch in the living room. The rest were all gasping for air but Junhyuk just sat down calmly in another seat, not breathing heavily like the rest. Everyone sat down and looked at me. I began to apologize.

“I’m really sorry you guys, I knew what I was getting myself into but I went along with it anyway because I was desperate to get my drawings back plus I made you all worry about me…”

Hojeong pulled me into another hug. “No need to apologize Joo. For now, just go along with it. We’ll figure out something.”

I relaxed into his arms. “I hope so.”