The rest of the week, I strictly stuck to riding the metro to work, and back home as well. It became a habit that Yoongi and I would sit together in the metro, bought coffee for us and Ji Yong at the station, and met up with latter in front of our company building.

Ji Yong would always jokingly flirt with me, telling me that I looked pretty and that we would make a perfect match. Jonghyun would only look up, throwing disgusted glares at him with his eyes dangerously gleaming from under his bangs.

I actually tried ignoring him the best I could, but working at the project with him made it more difficult than expected. We would mostly work in he conference room, as far apart as the room allowed. Every now and then he would come to me, looking over my shoulder and reading what I had written.

Whenever he was behind me, I could feel his presence strongly, my body hair would stand up and I would hold my breath.

I spent the nights sitting in my room, listening to the music he had bought me over and over again, until I memorized every single band, every single song, every single lyric. Nowadays, Areum would sneak into my room late at night, curling up on my stomach as I sat on my bed, sunken in articles on the internet while listening to music

It was Friday, and I had promised Yoongi and Ji Yong to go out with them. At first, it felt a little strange, since I would be the only woman, and I didn't really want to go, but in the end they persuaded me and they assured me that it would be just a friendly hang out to end and celebrate my first week.

After work, I had come to my room and threw my bag onto my bed, followed by my own body slumping down next to it.

I was exhausted and not really in the mood for going out. Working with Jonghyun had been draining, and on my way home, the metro was so packed that the people in the wagon could only move as one, big human knot.

I could literally feel the sweat of strangers all over my boy, and their smells clung to my clothes.

Burying my nose deep into my pillow, I let out a groan of frustration. I cursed myself for actually agreeing on meeting up with them, but they were such adorable dorks, I couldn't say no. I rolled on my back and sat up, pressing the pillow close to my chest and giving it a sniff.

“I probably should change the covers...” I mumbled to myself before carelessly tossing it off to the side, and got on my feet.

With my towels tucked under my arm, I bounced down the stairs to find the lower floor empty. I peeked out of the window and Jonghyun's car was gone.

“Ah, I can take a shower in peace now!” I cheered, throwing my fist in the air.

In the bathroom, I turned the shower on, the hot water steaming up the entire room. I peeled the clothes off of my body and put the mess on my head into a bun before stepping into the shower cabin. I let out a sigh of relaxation as the hot beam hit my sticky skin, letting it wash away the past week.

Half an hour later, I stood in front of the mirror, trying to comb out the knots in my damp hair. Every now and then, I whined because the comb got stuck in a knot, tucking hard on my roots.

I was so concentrated, that I didn't hear the footsteps coming along the hall, directly stopping in front of the bathroom. The door flung open without a warning and I jumped hard when I saw Jonghyun standing in the door frame, a shocked look appearing on his face as he realized that I was almost .

“Yah!” I covered myself with my arms and took a step forward, trying to shove him back out, but I stumbled.

I pinched my eyes shut, waiting for the impact of hitting the floor headfirst.

Nothing.

Instead, I felt a firm pair of arms wrap around my body, and at that moment, I wished for nothing more than that he wouldn't have caught me. I hesitantly opened one eye to find my stepbrother's face way too close to my own.

If I just craned my neck up a little, my nose would brush against his cheek.

I resisted the urge and forcefully wiggled myself out of his embrace.

“Yah! Don't touch me, I'm almost !” I barked, feeling the blood rush to my face at the speed of light. How awkward.

I saw him roll his eyes, but he put me on my feet, eyeing me up and down shamelessly. I stared at him.

“Are you serious? Do you want to die?” I spat and turned around.

“Leave. I don't have time” I mumbled and continued the combing, even though I was done.

“Whatever” he returned and I heard the door click shut behind me. Immediately, I silently whined and covered my face with my hands.

After I got myself back together, I headed to my room and got dressed into a oversized grey knit sweater with nylons underneath. I wanted to keep it simple since it wasn't a club, but a pub.

I kept down my make-up as well, only wearing winged eyeliner and decent mascara. I let my hair fall down on my shoulders, leaving them a little wavy after drying them off in a braid.

I just finished off my look with a little lipgloss, already wearing a green parka over the sweater, as I heard a soft knock on the door.

“Hmh?” I hummed, a little annoyed since I already knew who was standing outside.

Even though I didn't want to see him, my heart started rummaging in my chest as Jonghyun entered. He must have just come out of the shower, since his hair was damp and the white shirt he had thrown on, clung to his body, making his defined abs visible underneath the fabric.

I felt my jaw drop and I knew I was staring, but he looked so...

”Hot” I mumbled out loud.

He furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head.

“What did you say?” he asked, and I cleared my throat.

“Hot. I uh...the sun...I wondered if it was hot” I stuttered and resisted the urge to face palm myself for being so stupid.

He shook my statement out of his thoughts, deciding to ignore what I just said. And