“Ga-in ssi! Don’t move!” Kwill mumbled as he struggled to get Ga-in out of the car. As soon as Ga-in got out, he remembered he wasn’t supposed to be seen there. He then put on his sunglasses and a cap before supporting Ga-in into the block.

As he looked towards the building, he was reminded of the security guard. “Aish… how do I pass the guard office?” He mumbled, frowning.

BURP! Ga-in’s jerked a little and her hands covered which alerted Kwill. “Ga-in ssi… Wait!” Kwill held on to Ga-in tightly before rushing towards the building. Just like expected, the security guard stopped him.

“Wait a minute! Who are you? Wearing sunglasses… You look suspicious… What’s your relationship to Gainnie? I’ve never seen you here before…” He asked in doubt.

Kwill was tongue-tied. What is his relationship with Ga-in? He can’t reveal his true identity so… “Ahjussi…” Ga-in murmured,” He’s Kwonnie’s friend…” She then dragged Kwill pass the gate while waving goodbye to the ahjussi.

He rushed her to her apartment on the third floor. She guided him with directions as to where to head as she was unable to walk him there.

“U…unit 2.” She spoke so softly and vaguely. She had no energy to stand straight, let alone to talk coherently. Ga-in was never good at drinking. As to why she even drank knowing she is alcohol intolerant, it’s because…

Flashback

“Ga-in-ah, why can’t you tell us? Aren’t we your best friends?”

“Unnie…”

“What did Kwill do? Are you two dating?” Jinwoon teased Ga-in further.

“Let’s play Truth or Dare!” Even umma JeA suddenly joined in.

“Be careful… it may work against you…” Seulong warned her which made JeA confused. Miryo, being the smartest of all, knew what he meant. JeA proposed the game to make Ga-in confess her feelings. Similarly, JeA may be in the same situation with Ga-in if Seulong… Miryo felt jealous. She didn’t feel good. The best she could do is to try smiling even though her lips looks straight no matter how hard she tried to maintain her expressions. Again, she bottled her feelings…

“I don’t want to… Unnie…” Ga-in whined.

JeA then stood up and walked towards Kwill who was at the corner serving the other guests.

“Unnie… Unnie. Unnie! Hajima! (Don’t!)” To no avail, JeA did not relent. Just when she was a table away…

“Unnie! Fine!”

…

After ten minutes, the bottle never faced Ga-in or JeA who was oblivious to the others’ plan of sabotaging her along with Ga-in. It’s only when Kwill was a table away from them, the bottle pointed to Ga-in.

“Asa!” It was Seulong’s turn to ask. “Truth or Dare?”

Ga-in calmly said, “Dare. You think you can win me?”

Seulong smiled slyly. “I dare you to tell Kwill the truth.”

“What?! YOU! IM SEULONG!”

“You thought you chose the right choice? Do you?”

“But what truth do I have to tell him?!”

” You like him!”

“No! I never did!” Ga-in desperate to escape from her fate.

Jokwon saw Kwill walking towards their table. He had to stop the rest before Kwill overhears the conversation. No way could he let Kwill have excuses or give him hope to try advance his relationship with Ga-in.

“Just give up, noona.” He told her. “Seulong-ah…”

He agreed willingly to the others’ surprise. Ga-in had to drink a whole bottle of alcohol instead. Wouldn’t that spoil the game?

They do not know what was his plan…

END OF FLASHBACK

They finally reached Ga-in’s apartment after what seemed like years after they left the restaurant. Ga-in rummaged her keys in her handbag before she fumbled to open the door. Kwill took the keys from her after Ga-in’s failed attempts.

After the successful attempt to open the door, Kwill barged into the apartment, brisk-walking towards the bedroom while supporting the owner of the house. He supported Ga-in to the bed before rushing to the kitchen to get some water. As soon as he went into the bedroom, Ga-in tried to rush to the kitchen to vomit. Unfortunately, she did not notice Kwill entering the room and crashed into him which made Ga-in vomit over his shirt and him dropping the bucket of water. As much as he wanted to retreat, he stayed there as he was worried Ga-in might lose her balance. He brought her back to the bed.

After a quich removal of his jacket and shirt for washing, he filled the bucket with water again before entering the bedroom to cool Ga-in’s body. However, her clothes were stained with vomit. Being a gentleman not to take advantage of her, he only removed her cardigan. Even so, he removed it with extra caution. He then removed her high heels from her feet.

Ga-in began to sleep after Kwill cooled her forehead. He, after making sure Ga-in’s asleep, walked out of her room, shutting the door softly to avoid waking her up. He walked to the living room. Hoping to seek entertainment since he had to stay until the next morning, he looked around for the remote control.

Something near him on the game console caught his attention.

It was a picture of a young Ga-in. She had her long hair wavering in the wind. Her eye smile was apparent. Her lovely, young face that he did not at all forget all these years… To see it again was the greatest happiness he could experience.

“First year anniversary in Jo Orphanage^^” He read from the caption above the picture on the frame. He quickly calculated. She was nine then.

The regret of not being able to spend their childhood days together… If only they never separated… What would his life be like then? Although it’s a bitter memory, the present is good enough for him.

…

Kwill walked to Ga-in’s bedroom to check on her. Opening the door, even with the repugnant smell of the vomit, her floral scented perfume managed to cover the repulsive smell. He took a slow sniff. Heavenly. Unlike a story tale, he walked towards the sleeping beauty…

With a slight smirk.

His footsteps were slow. Tension was building up in the room. His hands were trembling. His heart was palpitating. Nothing could describe his anxiety. After all, he was finally alone with a lady after so long. The lady being drunk was a bonus. He was after all a celebrity. Being alone with a beautiful lady in a private space was a rare thing to happen. He could not let this precious opportunity pass so easily. She won’t know. She’s drunk. She should be blamed for being overly trustful. It was her fault for being gullible.

He ed his shirt and lightly sat on Ga-in’s bed… (shall leave the rest to your imagination)

…

Kwon woke up. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Was he dreaming? Was he? He tried to remain calm and collected himself. “I… it’s just a d…dream…” He mumbled incoherently. No matter how hard he tried, he can’t. To him, it was a bad omen. His heart felt heavy. His mind was in a turmoil.

…

It was 8am in the morning when he left the house for Ga-in’s apartment. It was a 1 hour drive to her house and he was terribly worried that during that one hour…

Upon arriving at her door, he was in a dilemna. Knock or not to knock the door…

What if Kwill isn’t in her home… What will he say? He came to check on them?

What if he’s in her home? How should he react to it? Splash the hangover soup he brought over onto him?

Just then he heard something…

Moments before then…

Her eyelids opened slightly. Everything was blur to her. She felt a sharp pain in her head. She could make nothing out of what was in front of her eyes. That was until she saw a figure beside her bed. She was shocked since she remembered almost nothing the night before.

A familiar figure…

A familiar face…
She finally recognised him. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her idol… in her apartment… sleeping beside her (bed)… She flinched, even though as a fangirl, she was uncomfortable with the sudden, unexpected fact that a topless guy was sleeping right beside her. She tried to leave without alerting Kwill whose head was on the bed.

Unfortunately, he began to wake up after he felt the bed move and the shocked Ga-in quickly ran out from the bedroom. Being so focused only to escape from her embarassment, she skidded over the soft rug beside the bed and hit her already hurting head against the side table. She let out an involuntary yell. At that moment, the half-asleep Kwill quickly crawled across the bed to see Ga-in rubbing her forehead, yelping in pain.

Before Kwill could even react to the sight before him, they heard someone outside the apartment screaming.

“Ga-in noona! Noona!!! Are you okay? Open the door! ” Jokwon yelled from outside while knocking (more like punching) the door which to the annoyed residents of the neighbouring apartments was an unwanted ruckus made early in the morning.

Ga-in, recovering from the aftershock of being knocked on the head, realised it was Jokwon’s voice. She knew he must have heard the scream and was worried. She looked at the door while trying to get up to answer the door and stumbled. Kwill got the hint. He walked to the door instead. He opened the door to the known person but what was unknown to them was…

Upon opening the door, he was punched right in the face. He fell to the ground, covering his bruised eye. Jokwon rushed into the bedroom, leaving the injured Kwill at the door.

“Noona!” He exclaimed when he sees Ga-in with a bruise on her forehead. He grabbed her arms. “What’s wrong? Did he hit you? I’ll teach him a lesson!” He continued without giving her a chance to help defend Kwill.

He stood up and turned his body. Almost immediately, Ga-in held on to his wrist. “Kwon-ah! Don’t! It’s a misunderstanding!” She rushed through her words before he releases his wrist from her grasp.

…

“Why are you are still here? It’s already 9am? Shouldn’t you have left? What will people say if you are seen here?” Jokwon questioned him with an intimidating stare after placing a bandage on Ga-in’s bruised forehead. Kwill, although not outwardly intimidated, replied softly and politely. “I was wearing a disguise. Thanks for your concern.” He smiled gently.

Ga-in who fully knew what Kwon was driving at glared at him. Having always been fearful of Ga-in’s intense glare, he softened at the immediate sight of it.

The atmosphere became awkward all of the sudden. No one had anything to say. Kwon broke it by asking Ga-in if she still had headache from her hangover. He brought out the hangover soup he brought from home. He walked to the dining table with the soup while the other two walked from the living room to the dining table. When Ga-in and Kwill were seated, Kwon put a bowl of soup in front of Ga-in and one in front of himself. Kwill was embarassed as he put his hand out to receive Kwon’s bowl of soup which he thought was his. Jokwon, when he noticed it, he smirked, “Sorry. Didn’t buy your breakfast.”

Ga-in put down her spoon and She bowed slightly to Kwill, apologetic for kwon’s childlike behaviour. “I’ll get something for you to eat.” She assured him.

Kwon stood up from his chair. “you don’t have to. He’ll be leaving soon anyway. Am I right?” He implied.

“Ga-in ssi, it’s okay. I’ll be eating outside.” Kwill reassured her as he left his chair for the door.

Unable to stop him from leaving, She hissed, “Jokwon! ” and gave him her intimidating glare with her cat-like eyes.

“He’s faking it!” He tried to lipsync his words without being heard by Kwill. “Let him go!”

Irritated, Ga-in dragged him back to his seat by herself. “Stay. Don’t listen to him.” She then walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Just before Kwill wanted to follow her to the kitchen to help out, Jokwon stopped him.

…

Ga-in walked into the kitchen and took the pancake mix out of the refrigerator. While heating up the pan, she remember Kwon had a crush on her. “So that’s why he’s so protective… He’s jealous…” She thought and smiled unconsciously.

She poured the pancake mix into the pan. When she made about two pancakes, she hesitated to make more for Kwon…

…

Meanwhile…

“Ya!” Jokwon called. “Ga-in noona isn’t what you think she is.”

“Eh? What do you mean?” Kwill replied, confused.

“You know what I mean. I don’t have to elaborate further, do I?”

From his tone, Kwill could kind of guess what he meant.

“You must have misunderstood…” He started defending himself but was stopped by Kwon.

“Even if I misunderstood you, you will bring noona harm. You two are from two very different worlds. As a friend of hers, I don’t wish to see her get hurt over disappointment or by your sasaeng fans. Noona was one of your sasaeng fans back in high school. She didn’t do well academically and wasted her time. It was not easy for her to pick herself up again. I know Ga-in won’t return to her old ways. She matured a lot over these years. I just don’t want her to get hurt over love. Don’t keep her hopes too high, please.” Kwon explained.

“G…ga-in u…used to be my s…sasaeng fan?” He stuttered. His long-lost childhood friend was his sasaeng fan. He was surprised.

“So your’re afraid now?” Jokwon felt he won the battle. He can tell Ga-in all about how Kwill is not at all sincere in his ‘friend-making’.

“No. I..I never knew Ga-in had a past like this.”

“There’re many things you don’t know about her and her past. She cannot get hurt and I will stop anyone who may hurt her one day.” (NOTE: Kwon didn’t know Kwill’s relationship with Ga-in so he thought Kwill wouldn’t know Ga-in was an orphan.)

…

Ga-in came out of the kitchen with a plate of 2 pancakes. Jokwon looked at her expectantly, until he saw that she was only carrying one plate. “Maybe we’re getting a pancake each?” He thought and smiled widely. It all ended when she placed the plate right in front of Kwill. Being prideful, he acted like he didn’t care and wasn’t expecting to eat her pancakes. Nothing could excape Ga-in’s watchful eagle-like (it’s small and observes tiny details) eyes. As much as she wanted to laugh, she acted chicly, especially in the presence of her idol.

She sat on her chair as Kwill lifted his fork and knife and yet, he wouldn’t start eating as Kwon was staring at him. He felt uncomfortable, especially when Ga-in too, was staring at him affectionately as part of her plan to see Kwon jealous.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Ga-in asked softly in her slightly higher pitched voice.

Kwill looked at Kwon, as if for permission to eat the pancakes, who responded with a forced smile. He can’t reject what she cooked for him with much effort, especially when she had a headache. He started eating hungrily and it was so delicious he started to eat so quickly a speed he finished everyhting within two minutes, ignoring Kwon’s uncontrolled stares. Ga-in caught how Kwon was reacting to this scene secretly and was inwardly pleased.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sorry for the 3 weeks of not updating. This is a long chapter and I hope you liked it.

There’ll be more Adam interaction next chapter.

I may not be updating for 3 weeks since it’s going to be my mid-year exams which will end on the 16th of May…

Please comment???

PSY’s Gentleman