Baekhyun's POV~

I can't believe Mina slept throughout the whole car ride to Busan. Just who in the world does that? Doesn't she ever get sick of it? Even Bacon stayed awake to keep me company. 

We finally arrived at our hotel and I pulled into the parking lot. I looked at Mina, peacefully sleeping, and decided it was best to not wake her for now since I was going in to check-in. 

I quietly got out of the car and stepped into the hotel with a greeter greeting me. I bowed back and made my way to the receptionist desk. 

"Hello sir, how may I help you?" the man said with a warm smile. 

"I'm here to check-in for the room I reserved," I answered and the process of checking in took place. It wasn't long though before he handed me the key card for our room and I thanked him. 

I walked out and headed to the car to see Mina still asleep. I shook my head in disbelief and opened the driver's side. 

"Mina," I said her name. No response. "Lee Mina~"

"Mm," she whined in her sleep with a frown. I snickered and crouched into the car to poke her. 

"Okay Sleeping Beauty, I think it's time for you to wake up," I grinned and gently poked her arm. 

"Give me 5 minutes," she mumbled. 

"I gave you almost 5 hours," I chuckled and lightly pinched her cheek. She frowned even more and pushed my hand away. "C'mon, I'll let you sleep more in the room."

She groaned and slowly opened her eyes, rubbing them, like a little kid. I swear, she's so cute. 

"Gah, I'm still so tired," she yawned and opened the door. 

"Should I kiss you to wake you up?" I teased and she shot me a glare before exiting the car. I laughed a little and got out of the car myself. 

I grabbed our suitcase and bags while Mina carried Bacon in his carrier; thank goodness I switched our hotel to animal-friendly too or else Bacon wouldn't have been able to join us. 

Mina and I both walked up to our room and settled in. Well, I basically unpacked all of our stuff while she laid in bed with Bacon. 

"Can't you show me some love too?" I grumbled as I watched the two cuddle against one another. "Didn't you hate him yesterday?"

"Doesn't mean I can't like him today," she said with a shoulder shrug. I rolled my eyes and put in the last piece of clothing in the drawer. 

"My mother will be coming to Busan in the evening and she'd like to have dinner together," I said and sat on the edge of the bed. 

"Is it formal? Cause I didn't bring any formal clothing," she said, uninterested. 

"No, I think we're at the point where we don't have to dress up anymore," I softly smiled, acknowledging our progress in this relationship. 

"But what about Bacon?" she asked. 

Right; I forgot about him. It's not like we can just leave him alone here, but he's not allowed in restaurants either. I pressed my lips together to think. 

"You haven't thought about it, have you?" she teased with a smirk. I pouted at her and let out a sigh. 

"I guess we'll have to have dinner outdoors or something," I said and she let out a sigh. "What? Is eating outside too much for you?"

"No, I'm used to it, but...I don't think it'd be right for your mother to eat outside," she said while Bacon's back. This was my first time hearing her be so considerate, especially towards my mother. It made me smile a little. 

"Then what do you suggest we do?" I asked and rolled onto my stomach to look up at her. She took a glimpse of me before turning away. She hummed as she thought of what to do. 

"Well," she began. "We could just cook ourselves. I mean, we do have a mini-kitchen after all, so we could make something instead."

I looked over my shoulder to see the tiny kitchen we had in our hotel, then turned back to her with a smile. 

"And who may be the one cooking?" I asked and she hummed once again. 

"Me?" she questioned herself and I chuckled. "Yah, if you don't trust me then you cook yourself!"

"I never said I didn't trust you," I said with a wide grin. "It's just amusing to hear you volunteer to cook, that's all."

I saw a hint of pink on her cheeks and I couldn't think of how much cuter she could get. 

"Besides, I trust you," I said and she slightly widened her eyes. "Although I've never had a meal made all by yourself, I trust you. You'll make something delicious."

She didn't respond and just looked away, turning even more pink at the face. It made my heart race and I couldn't help, but feel my own face heat up. 

"You're seriously too much for me," I said and rubbed Bacon's head to divert my attention from her to make it seem as if I was talking to him. "You're too cute."

Mina's POV~

I haven't been feeling normal the past few hours since we entered the hotel room. It was getting harder to look at Baekhyun in the eyes and my chest was only getting tighter the longer I stayed with him. I had to keep my eyes on Bacon to steady my breathing; to distract my thoughts of Baekhyun. 

"Hey," Baekhyun said from the desk as he was doing more work on his laptop. "So I texted my mom about the change of plans and she agreed to do it. She's quite excited to eat your first homemade meal for her."

"That's only putting more pressure on me," I said, playing with Bacon's floppy ears. 

"Don't worry so much about it," he lightly laughed. "Since we're cooking tonight, we should get some groceries. My mom will arrive in half an hour, so this is the best time we should do it."

"But we can't bring Bacon with us," I said, only thinking about him. Baekhyun gave me a quick jealous glare and sighed. 

"Well, if you want, I can stay with Bacon and we could go pick up my mother together while you shop. You like your alone time anyways, don't you?" he asked and I felt a bit disappointed. 

Did I expect Baekhyun to come with me? I don't know. 

"Yeah, I do," I answered his question, but I wasn't necessarily being honest. "I guess that's the best choice."

He smiled and returned to his work without another word. I just stared at him as if I was waiting for more; he seemed to have had felt me watching, so he turned to look at me again. 

"What is it? Do you want me to lend you my credit card?" he asked and I shook my head. "Are you not feeling well then?"

"That's not it either," I softly said and the longer we stared into each other's eyes the more suffocating it got. He smirked and leaned over the chair a bit. 

"Perhaps you were admiring me?" he asked and the feeling I just got disappeared in a flash. 

"I was thinking about how annoying this trip will be being stuck with you for a week," I scoffed and turned away. I heard him softly laugh followed by the chair squeaking. I glanced over my shoulders and he was walking towards me. 

I felt the feeling come back and I looked away to feel the bed sink in a bit; it was sinking deeper as he got closer to me. I held Bacon closer to me as I scooted away from him to only be trapped against the head board and him. It wasn't long when his hands were placed on either side of my head, trapping me.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked, refusing to look at him. "Do you want me to hit you?"

He snickered, his breath hitting against my cheek and I felt my heart race faster. 

"Do you wanna know what I think about us being on a trip for a week?" he asked in a low, husky voice. I swallowed hard and shook my head. 

"I don't want to know. I don't care at all," I said and slouched down to try and increase our distance. That was the worst decision made because I was now underneath Baekhyun. Bacon didn't seem to like this new position, so he squirmed away and trotted to the end of the bed. 

"You know, I was never the type to really listen to you like this," he smirked and repositioned himself over me. "I think we'll be able to gain something from this trip."

"W-what would that be?" I asked and the bed sunk in deeper; he was getting closer to me. 

"Who knows," he whispered. "Perhaps...love?"

I felt my heart stop for a second and I pushed him off of me. I quickly got off the bed and was now breathing heavily. 

"Don't say such a thing. That's never going to happen," I said, feeling my chest tighten. "Haven't I told you already that-"

"Love doesn't exist," he said and sat up on the bed. "I know."

I swallowed hard and let out a long sigh. 

"Good," I said and headed to the closet to get my cardigan. "Always keep that in mind."

I put on my cardigan and headed to the door after putting on my slip-ons. 

"Mina-"

"I'm going shopping, I'll be back," I said and left the room. I headed towards the emergency staircase exit and felt my knees grow weak. 

I had to sit on the stairs and leaned my head against the wall to calm myself down. I took slow, deep breaths and closed my eyes. 

Why is he always teasing me? Especially with love? It's not like he loves me, so why?

I let out one last sigh and opened my eyes. 

"Why am I so upset?" I whispered to myself and placed my hand on my chest. "Why am I getting all of these feelings? Just what is it?"

I felt my phone vibrate beneath my and pulled it out of my back pocket. It was a message from Baekhyun. 

"I'm sorry about earlier, I took it too far," it read, then there was another quick buzz. "There's a grocery store not too far down the block. Be safe and come back quickly. Again, sorry for earlier."

I looked at the messages a bit longer before I stood up and slipped my phone back into my pocket. I headed down the stairs then out of the building, walking to the store. 

Baekhyun's POV~

I laid in the bed while staring up at the ceiling. I felt bad for what I did, but I wasn't teasing her...I don't think I was being too serious about it either. I mean...well...is that something I wish to gain from this trip? Love?

"Bacon, what do you think the feelings I have for Mina are? I already know I like her, but just how much do I like her?" I asked, but there was no response. I pushed myself up while speaking, "Why are you always ignor--Yah!!!"

I gasped with wide eyes when I saw the pile of poop on the bed. Bacon barked and wagged his tail as if he was proud of what he had done. 

I gagged and covered my mouth. I always had a weak stomach for things like this. 

I quickly got out of the bed and picked him up to set him down on the floor. I headed to the phone and called for a maid. 

After my conversation with the person at the front desk, I hung up and looked down at Bacon with a sigh. 

"Mina must never know about this," I said and just then, he squated and started peeing. I scrunched my face up to keep in my frustration. "She must never know about that too."

Bacon finished peeing and trotted away like nothing happened. Baekhyun could only look at him in disbelief. 

"We seriously need to get you potty trained," I sighed and there was a knock at the door. It was most likely the maid, so I leashed up Bacon and let her in. 

I had a little over an hour before my mom comes, so I decided to explore with Bacon. I've only been here, in Busan, once and that was to meet my potential wife. Of course, it never worked out cause I was too picky and stubborn. Not only that, but I wasn't able to experience the beauty of Busan so now was my chance. 

We were close to the ocean, so I decided to make my way there. Bacon seemed just as excited as I was when I was able to smell the ocean. It was refreshing; something new. 

"Let's come back next time with Mina," I smiled down to Bacon and we made our way to the beach. There were a lot of people today, especially foreigners, but it is summer and that's when it gets busy so that's no surprise. 

"Look~! There's a puppy!" I heard a little girl's voice and I saw a group of 4 kids run towards us. Bacon received their energy and got excited himself. 

"Uwah~ it's so cute!" a little boy, the only boy of the 4, said this time and looked up at me. "Can we pet him?"

"Sure," I smiled and they bent down to pet him. They made comments about how cute he was and how soft he felt. 

"What's his name?" another girl with pigtails asked. 

"Bacon," I answered and they laughed. 

"That's a funny name for a puppy!" she giggled. "But it's adorable! I like it!"

I chuckled and looked at the time on my wrist watch. It was fifteen minutes to the time my mom would be arriving, so I had to cut it short with the kids and make it in time to pick her up. 

"Bacon and I have to go back, it was nice getting to be with you kids," I smiled and they grinned up at me. "Bacon was happy to be around you guys."

"He's really cute. I wish I could take him home," the boy said and I chuckled. 

"If only," I said and bent down to his eye level, ruffling his hair. "But if he were to go home with you his mommy would be very sad."

"His mommy?" a girl asked and her eyes sparkled. "Is it possibly your wife?!"

I smiled and nodded. The girls squealed and blushed. 

"How lucky she must be!" the girl with pigtails exclaimed. These girls are seriously adorable. 

"If only she knew," I said and we parted ways after saying goodbye to one another. By now, the sun was starting to set, revealing the sky's beautiful evening colors. 

Once we returned to the hotel, I quickly grabbed Bacon's carrier and headed back out to the car to pick up my mother. I texted Mina that I was going and for her to be at the hotel by the time I come back because she shouldn't be out too long. 

She texted back immediately, "I'm at the register right now, buying my stuff. I'll be back before you guys come."

I smiled, relieved at the fact that she didn't try to go off anywhere else, knowing her. Then another text came. 

"Will bibimbap be okay?" it said. 

"It's perfect," I replied with a chuckle and drove off to get my mother. 

The drive wasn't long and I waited outside of the airport for my mother. I leaned against the car's hood and looked at every person who walked out of the building. 

I was getting a little impatient and looked at my wrist watch to make sure I was on time. 

"Baekhyun-ah!" I heard her familiar voice and my head snapped up to see my mother. I gave the biggest smile and jogged up to hug her. "Oh my! Why, aren't you just so happy to see me."

I chuckled and gave her one last squeeze before I let her go. 

"Well, who wouldn't be happy to see their beautiful mom?" I asked and she pinched my cheek.

"Aigoo~ you never change," she giggled with a light blush. "Continue to stay as you are, Baekhyun."

"I have no plans to change," I said and grabbed her suitcase with one hand and wrapped my other arm around her shoulders. "Let's get going. I don't want to keep Mina waiting."

She nodded and we started walking to the car when someone called out to me. 

"Baekhyun?" I heard a familiar voice and I stopped in my track. I glanced over my shoulder and saw someone I wouldn't have expected to see. 

"Mrs. Kim?" I questioned and wondered why, of all places and time, is Mina's mom here? It can't possibly be a coincidence, right?

Mina's POV~

I finished cooking the vegetables as it was the easiest for me to do. All that was left were the sauce and beef. 

I began cutting the beef into small pieces and looked at the clock, wondering where they were. They should've been here by now...I was beginning to miss Bacon too. 

I finished cutting and marinating the beef when I heard a beep, followed by the door opening. I quickly wiped my hands with a wet wipe and headed to the door to greet Mrs. Byun. 

"Hello, Mrs-" I started to say when I saw the last person I wanted to see. My heart began to race rapidly. "Y-you...."

"Now that's not how you greet your mother," she said with a smirky smile. "Greet me properly."

I looked at her, then to Baekhyun who was standing behind her. He looked sorry. 

"I'm waiting," Mrs. Kim said and I turned my attention back to her. 

"H-Hello," I stuttered and bowed to her. Once I straightened myself up, she smirked at me, satisfied. 

"Good evening, Mina," Mrs. Byun said and walked over to me, giving me a hug. "Its been awhile since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"

"It has," I answered, but my eyes were only on Mrs. Kim. I heard Baekhyun's mother sniffing and she said, "Something is burning."

I gasped and quickly pulled away from the hug, rushing over to the skillet. I had it on top of the stove but with nothing in it, so the skillet burnt a bit. It was quite an embarrassing situation. 

"Look what we have here," Mrs. Kim said looking over my shoulder. Just having her near me made my blood boil. "If you can't cook then don't try, Mina. You weren't made to cook."

"She was distracted," Baekhyun stepped in and stood in between us. He wrapped his hands around my shoulders to calm me down. "It's nothing serious."

"She could've burned down this whole building-"

"But she didn't, did she?" he cut her off. 

"Baekhyun, that's no way to speak to an adult," Mrs. Byun softly said, as she was always was the type to speak softly. 

"My apologies," he said. I wasn't able to see any of their reactions since my back was faced to them, but I knew my mother was smiling. 

I heard soft footsteps approach and it was Mrs. Byun. She looked at me with a kind smile and held my hand in hers, softly patting my hand with her other hand. 

"Its okay, Mina. It's my fault for distracting you," she said and I felt my heart clench. "You would've been able to cook peacefully if it weren't for me."

I looked at her, then hung my head low. 

"Its not your fault," I said, shaking my head. "I should've stayed focus."

With my head still hanging, I felt a small hand on top of my head, me. I slightly widened my eyes and looked up to see Mrs. Byun stoking my head. 

"Let's just say we were both at fault," she smiled and I felt my eyes well up. 

So this is what a mother's touch is...it's kind of nice, but nothing as good as this lasts for long when I heard my own mother's scoff. I took a glance at her and she rolled her eyes with a glare. 

"Why don't you continue on with dinner and if there's anything you need help with, I'm here," Mrs. Byun said and I nodded, thanking her. 

"Umma, I'll show you the hotel's garden at the back in the mean time," Baekhyun said and escorted her to the door. "Will you join us, Mrs. Kim?"

"Go on ahead. I'll catch up," she said, but her eyes were only on me. I swallowed hard under her stare. 

"Uhm," Baekhyun said unsure and looked at me. I gave him a signal, telling him it was alright. He frowned, worried, and walked up to me. 

"Call me if anything happens. I don't care if you cut your finger or stubbed your toes, just...just call me," he whispered and I nodded. "We'll be going then."

He gave me one last concerned look before he left the room with his mother and Bacon. The only ones left were my mother and I. 

"Well, just look at what we have here," she said, already filled with annoyance in her voice. "Haven't you just gotten soft over the past few months."

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" I asked through gritted teeth. She scoffed and crossed her arms with her hip popping out to the side. 

"Work of course," she said. "I came to attend the same conference your future husband is attending."

"You and this whole 'marriage' thing," I scoffed. "Do you really think I'd continue on with this plan of yours?"

"If not you then who?" she wondered. "You're my only child, dear."

I snorted and said, "You've gone mad."

She raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Have I?"

I clenched my teeth and glared at her. 

"How long do you plan to go on with this whole marriage?" I asked and she shrugged. 

"Until I get what I want and I must say, I am close to it," she said. "Soon, I will be the wealthiest and the most powerful person in this country."

"You've really gone mad," I said in disgust and she laughed. 

"Maybe I have, but darling, this is only the beginning," she said. "And I'll make sure you don't ruin it for me, but by the looks of it...it seems like it may work after all."

"Don't have so much hope," I said and turned my back to her. "Why don't you join the others in the garden, maybe you'll finally become sane."

She giggled and I heard her step towards the door. 

"As you wish," she said and I heard the door open, but it didn't close. "There's also something else I'd like to mention."

I glanced over my shoulder to her. 

"There's been rumors flying around within your circle of trashy friends," she said and I felt my heart pounding. "It seems that you're good with men. Is that how you were able to seduce Baekhyun?"

I widened my eyes and turned around to face her. 

"I would never do that to him!" I shouted, unintentionally. She was taken aback, but then laughed it off. 

"I hope you've realized that you didn't deny the rumors," she continued to laugh. "You never seem to fail at amusing me! You're dirty to the bone."

I felt a lump form in my throat and I clenched my fists. 

"Like mother, like daughter, right?" I forced a smile and she was no longer happy. She glared at me and stormed out the room, slamming the door behind her. I flinched at the sudden slam and felt a sense of relief escape through my sigh, but my chest was still in pain. 

My legs felt weak and I had no choice, but to fall onto my knees. I really hate that woman...I hate her so much. 

"Mina?" I heard Baekhyun's voice on the other side of the door. I couldn't say anything back, so the door opened. "I thought I'd come back and help-"

He gasped and ran to me, kneeling down to cup my face. 

"W-what happened?" he panicked. 

Now I know why I wasn't able to say anything back to him...I was crying. 

"I told you to call me if anything happened!" he said and I just stared at what seemed to be nothing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't think it'd turn out to be like this."

"I'm okay...I'll be okay," I repeated the same words I always said to myself at times like this; to assure myself. "Its not the first time...I'm gonna be fine...I'm...going to be just fine."

And that's when I broke down. I never wanted Baekhyun to see me at my weakest point. Sure, he has seen me she'd a tear or two, but for me to break down in front of him...that was the last thing I wanted him to see. 

"Mina," he whispered and he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. This kind of contact only made it worse for me; it only made me cry harder. 

I haven't cried this hard since my father's burial. The only difference was that back then, no one embraced me; no one comforted me. I was alone just bawling my eyes out. Not a single person was there, but now was different...I had someone to embrace me, to comfort me. I wasn't alone...I had Baekhyun. 

I wrapped my arms around his back and pulled him closer to me, burying my face into his chest and continued to cry. The only words that he kept repeating was, "I'm here. Don't cry. I'm here."

By the time his mother returned to the room with Bacon, I had touched up my eyes with layers of concealer and foundation. Baekhyun covered for me by saying I was cutting onions. Luckily, his mom was naive and believed him. Dinner went well and Mrs. Byun promised to teach me how to make steamed rice the old fashion way when there's no rice cooker available because I bought instant rice to eat our bibimbap with. 

Eventually, we finished our dinner, cleaned up and escorted his mom to a taxi that came to pick her up, sending her to her hotel. I took a shower after Baekhyun and once I was done, I just looked at myself in the mirror. All I could see was from the collarbone and up, but that was enough to make me feel disgusted. 

Even if I haven't slept with a single man or even if I haven't had my first kiss, I still felt dirty. I guess I dug these lies deeper into my head than I should have to point that it almost felt like my reality. 

"Are you okay in there?" I heard Baekhyun ask with a knock. I snapped out of it and quickly put on my clothes. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered and stepped out of the bathroom once I was fully dressed. As soon as I was out, I saw blankets neatly folded on the floor. "What's all this?"

Baekhyun looked at me then to the blankets with a soft smile. 

"Well, you said it yourself that you didn't want to share a bed with me, so I made my own," he said and I looked back down. 

"Looks comfortable enough to sleep in," I said and went straight to the bed. I slipped underneath the blanket and laid my head on the pillow. 

"I'm turning off the lights," Baekhyun said as he stood by the switch and flicked the lights off. 

I heard him walk around the bed and soon the blankets were ruffling, then it went quiet. I stared at the ceiling since there was a little bit of light from the moon. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened today. I let out a sigh and turned to my side, facing the window with my hands resting beneath my cheek. I heard him shift in his position and I gently pushed myself up to look over the bed to where he was. His back was faced towards me and I laid back down. 

"Baekhyun?" I softly called his name. 

"Yeah?" he said in a tired voice. 

"About what happened today...let's pretend it never happened," I said, but he didn't reply. "I'll make sure it won't happen again."

"Why?" he mumbled. I pressed my lips together and couldn't really think of an answer that was good enough. "Please, depend on me more, Mina."

I lowered my eyes and exhaled. 

"Whatever happened today never happened, so please forget it," I said, trying to ignore what he said, but it only repeated itself in my head. 

"Sure, whatever makes you happy," he said almost as if he was upset. I felt bad, but that was  the right thing to do. 

"And also, if I have a nightmare tonight, just wake me up," I said and he hummed an "Okay". 

It was obvious how upset he was with me, but how can I depend on him? I'll only become a burden to him if I'm too dependent on him. I don't want that.