Eun Ji was chatting with Mrs Choi. They seemed to get along well and Minho knew what his mother was thinking: she was chatting with her future daughter-in-law. He smiled, amused by how well he knew his mother.

- Minho! You're back! I was getting to know your friend. I'm glad you asked her to help you with your English lessons.

-Yeah, I want to pass international law so I asked Eun Ji. Sorry, I'm late. Traffic.

Eun Ji brushed it off and after Mrs Choi insisted they take a plate of peeled and cut fruits, they settled in Minho's room. Between two bites of apples and oranges, Eun Ji browsed Minho's documents. She asked him to highlight important vocabulary words that he already knew, then, vocabulary words he didn't know but seemed important.

Eun Ji was curious to know more about Minho's studies. She asked him questions and details about international law, Minho answered in hesitant English. Eun Ji wanted to laugh but in an affectionate way, she found Minho adorable when he spoke English with an audible Korean accent. 

When Minho caught her smile he stopped speaking and frowned but in a cute way again, which made Eun Ji want to a bit.

- Oh sweetie, don't stop, it's so cute when you speak! With that little lisp you have on some of the sounds, I'm dying! Eun Ji said in a chuckle.

- Stop it! Are you here to help me or to make fun of me? I'm already so self-conscious of my accent...

- Sorry, sorry! Let's work on your syntax before we worry about your accent, you're taking a written test anyway. Some words are oddly placed and some are missing. 

Minho nodded and went back to work but secretly, he was taking in little details about Eun Ji that made her look so charming, so endearing. A dimple on her right cheek when she smiled, the way she'd bite the tip of her thumb when she was concentrated, the way she sat with one foot resting on the chair and the other one on the floor. Gosh, she was gorgeous and adorable at the same time. As she was reading one of Minho's old papers to use it as a base to work on essay writing, a strand of hair fell from her ear and obstructed Minho's view of her pretty face. Like someone with Alien Hand Syndrome, his hand seemed to move by itself to gently tuck it back behind her ear. She abruptly looked up from the sheet of paper she was examining, her eyes fixated on him, making him shy.

- I... sorry...

Her first moment of surprise was gone and a small smile spread on her lips.

- It's fine. Thank you. 

She went back to reading but her smile stayed. She mechanically tucked her hair behind her ear again even though it was not on the verge of falling down. Minho's heart was pounding and he had trouble bringing his heartbeats back to a more normal and bearable pace. Touching her hair wasn't enough. He wanted her cheeks, her lips, her neck. 

She brought him back to reality when she handed him back his paper with many pieces of advice to improve his writing style. They worked on connecting sentences to develop his arguments. Minho kept mixing the connecting words thus changing the meaning of his sentences.

- Don't use "furthermore" here, it doesn't mean anything that way. Put "however", it's better.

- I'm so done with connecting words! Minho let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his eyes, sorry, I'm getting tired.

Eun Ji suggested a break and Minho nodded with a grateful look. They both sat on Minho's bed in silence, busy with their phone. Minho had difficulties focusing on the news article he was reading because Eun Ji kept shifting next to him, one minute she sat cross-legged, the other she extended her legs, then, she stretched her neck until it cracked to release some tension in her muscles and brought her knees to her chest.

- You're a fidgety one, aren't you?

- Sorry! I'm tired and no position feels comfortable... except maybe... would you mind if....?

She didn't finish her sentence but instead, she lay down on the bed and rested her head on Minho's lap. He looked down at Eun Ji's face which bore a cheeky but cute smile. 

- Much better! she said happily and went back to checking her phone.

Minho let her do as she pleased, a bit taken aback by her boldness. A bit later, she seemed to be done with her phone but in no rush to get back to work. She closed her eyes to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. The young man didn't notice right away as he was playing a game on his phone but after losing for the fifth time, he briefly checked on Eun Ji to ask her if they should get back to connecting words, only to see her sleeping.

He hesitated for a moment but, putting his phone aside, he got the courage to bring his trembling fingers to slowly caress her soft hair. It didn't wake her up so he kept going. It was soothing to do this, he could have done it for hours without getting bored and, somewhere in her sleep, Eun Ji seemed to enjoy it as well. She looked so tranquil, so relaxed that it was difficult to decide whether or not he should wake her up. An invisible hand painfully tugged at his heart when he recalled Taemin sleeping peacefully on his bed and him, having the same desire he felt now, having to wake up the sleepyhead even though he wanted to watch them sleep to his heart's content.

- Eun Ji, hey...

The young woman stirred and lazily opened her eyes. She met Minho's, his face being just above hers. 

- Sorry... your bed is so comfortable. Shall we go back to studying?

Minho nodded, slightly in a daze. Before she stood up, he smoothed the sleepy frown on her face by brushing his finger on the skin between her eyebrows. Her gaze lingered on his lips then on his nose and on his eyebrows. 

- Let's go, she said as she sat up on the bed. 

Going back to work was a bit hard, a mix of tiredness and attraction distracted them. Grammar lessons were not as appealing as capturing her in his arms and holding her tight. When he managed to understand the meaning of 'nonetheless' and 'whereas', he suggested they could stop for tonight and see each other next Tuesday. Eun Ji agreed and told him goodbye. Once she was gone, he sighed loudly and pressed his hands on his eyes. Why hadn't he tried something more obvious? She seemed interested in him, no? Or had he misinterpreted some of her signs? Moreover, she had Taemin already... everything was so confusing.

It didn't get better the following Tuesday. This time, he was home early enough to welcome her and everything looked normal between them but as soon as they came to his bedroom, electricity seemed to hang in the air, filling the space between them. Not the kind of electricity that hung in the air, full of tension, like after a fight or a fit of anger, the kind of electricity that made their skin itch, as if it begged to be touched. The kind of electricity that short-circuited their heart and hitched their breath.

This intimate space of his, which held his dreams and his secrets, anything could happen, shielded from the rest of the world, just the two of them...

"Today", he thought, "Today, I'll do something. Even if it fails, I'll know at least what she feels toward me."

But they had barely begun studying so he was stuck revising vocabulary and quotes from international judges or lawmakers. Actually, he put his heart into it because studying was a good decoy, a perfect way to buy time because he didn't know what to do or how to tell her. He aced the vocabulary pop quiz she had prepared for him and he worked diligently on perfecting his use of the different tenses. He managed to ignore her thumb-biting, the way she sat, the strand of hair that had fallen from her ear. Though their arms touched since they were studying a Minho's small desk, he kept his cool. The only thing he allowed himself to do was discreetly inhale when she happened to shake her head to pull back her hair. She had a fragrant hair product that Minho was obsessed with. 

He read some sentence structures she had highlighted from the international law corpus Mr Paulson had given them. She had written down what they were used for so it was easier for him to remember where to put them in his essay. 

- No matter if... concerning... in extenso... as mentioned in..., he repeated like an obedient school boy.

Neither he nor Eun Ji showed any sign of wishing to stop for a moment to rest their brain so they kept going for a long time. Occasionally, she would simply grab his notes and ask him technical questions instead of helping him with English grammar or syntax. He answered in English to keep practicing. 

Hours had gone by when the both of them felt that it was time to stop or else, their neurons would melt. They were both sitting down at Minho's desk, shoulders pressed together, silent, a bit dazed after such a long uninterrupted study session.

"Now, before she leaves."

He rested his elbow on his desk and his face in the palm of his hand, still staying close to Eun Ji. He gazed at her for some long seconds, not saying anything but gathering some courage to speak.

- Say... can I do something? If you dislike it, you can slap me.

Eun Ji's face scrunched in a perplexed expression but she did not move nor speak. Slowly but with more confidence than he expected to have, he got closer and closer to Eun Ji's lips. She had all the time she wanted to dodge the kiss if she had wanted to but she didn't move until their lips met. She kissed him back softly at first, then a bit more intently.

A surge of heat rose in Minho's chest and head but he didn't stop, on the contrary, his hands cupped her cheeks to deepen their bond. Kiss after kiss, they had gotten so close that Eun Ji was now sitting on Minho's lap. he had lost all control of himself but it felt so good that letting go was the best option. The only thing that kept him from taking the young woman to his bed was his old Teddy Bear that was eying him with his empty eyes, reminding him that they were in his home and one floor below them, his parents were watching TV.

He stopped kissing her for a moment, frustrated he had to stop for such a dumb reason. He rested his forehead on her plexus to catch his breath and let the pressure trapped in his body drop.

- You okay? she asked.

- Yeah, of course! Never been better. So you're not slapping me?

-No, I'm good. Last week...

He looked up to meet her eyes, wondering what she wanted to say.

- Last week, I already wanted to close the gap between us but I don't know... I didn't feel brave enough. I'm glad you did the first step.

He smiled, feeling all warm and fuzzy to have his feelings reciprocated. He only hoped that someone wouldn't be mentioned in the next minutes. That someone lingered in the back of his mind, almost translucent like a ghost but with a clear pained expression on his face. his plumpy lips were pursed, his eyes were furrowed eyebrows as if he was holding back tears

Neither of them wanted to address the complcated situation they were in so they kept it like that. Eun Ji left a moment later, leaving him with the growing presence of Taemin in his heart. 

He had gotten Eun Ji, he could get Taemin and never tell either of them to keep everyone happy, moreover, the couple's blissful ignorance of their mutual cheating would help maintain the status quo.