Two years and a half later.

Gohee had always been busy with her sewing projects. She found it most comfortable to be able to work from home. After two years and a half, she was still unable to walk. She could stand on her feet, but her legs couldn’t took it for long. Even though she wasn’t able to go out and had fun like other young people, she was happy in her own world. In the morning she would be busy with finishing her clients’ orders until late evening. After that she would just rest with her family or read. Most of other times she would be on the internet, managing her little online clothing store or skype-ing with Minsun. She was happy enough to see her precious people in good condition.

After lunch, Gohee would retreat back to her room and continued her work. She buried herself under the loud noise of the sewing machine that she didn’t realize that her mother had been calling her multiple times.

“Gohee.” Her mother peeked from behind the door. Gohee looked up and paused her work. Her mother added with a smile, “someone is here to see you.”

“Tell her to come in,” it must be one of her customers. They were usually the mothers around the neighborhood, ordering a handmade hanbok or clothes for their children. Gohee was getting ready to turn off her machine, ignoring the soft sound of footsteps intruding her room. She looked up and smiled, about to greet her client, but her voice stuck in . Her jaw hung open in shock.

“Long time no see,” the guest greeted, in a deep voice of a male. He was wearing a pair of washed out jeans and a black t-shirt underneath a baseball jacket. He was definitely not a client, but she was happy all the same. Those twinkling eyes and mischievous smile; she had missed those so badly.

“Jae,” Gohee said softly. One of her hand was resting on her chest, rubbing the spot gently to tell her eager heart to calm down. Jaebum walked to her and bent so she could wrap her arms around his neck. To her surprise, Jaebum reached around her small waist and pulled her up and twirled her around. Her feet dangled in the air as Jaebum held her close to him, supporting her whole weight against his body to make sure she didn’t fall.

They stared into each other’s eyes, causing Gohee to blush at their intimate proximity.

“Did you finish your service already?” Gohee asked.

“Yeah. I arrived home this morning,” Jaebum grinned when he saw Gohee pouting.

“You lied to me. You said your service ends next week.”

“I want to surprise you.”

Gohee giggled gently. “I missed you so much.” She told him.

“I missed you too.” Jaebum swooped her up into his arms and brought her to her bed. He was gently putting her down when Gohee suddenly decided to be playful and pulled him down along with her. Jaebum laughed as he rolled to her side. He was about to get up but Gohee pulled him down again.

“Aren’t you letting me go?”

Gohee shook her head, “no. Not yet.”

Jaebum gave up and offered his arm to pillow her head instead; which Gohee gladly accepted the offer. She rested her head on Jaebum’s arm, lying on her side so she could stare at his face as much as she wanted. Gohee’s arm crept up his chest, her fingers fiddled with the collar of his jacket.

“Have you been good?” Jaebum asked.

Gohee nodded. “I’ve been making little progress with my rehab. Full recovery is unlikely though.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Jaebum reached for Gohee’s hand that was resting on his chest and kissed her fingers. Gohee’s smile widened. It had been so long since she felt babied in his arms like this. She was glad that Jaebum finally finished his compulsory military services. It was so difficult to see him during his service period because of her limit in travelling. They mostly communicated through letters.

“I really missed you.”

Jaebum chuckled. “You already told me that.”

“Did I? What about this?” Gohee cupped his face and dropped a peck on his lips. Jaebum wasn’t satisfied with her offering. He decided to get up and hovered above her. Gohee’s hands were still glued to his cheeks, warming it up slightly. Jaebum let out a slight contented sigh before he leaned closer to her and let his lips softly crushing on hers. After he pulled away, he continued to stare into her eyes with much adoration, his fingers fiddling with her locks.

“Let’s go on a date.” Jaebum simply suggested with a big grin on his face. Gohee nodded.

-

It was past midnight, but the three guys and three girls of the undergraduate students were still forcing their eyes open to finish their presentation slide for the day after tomorrow as well as the report to be submitted on the same date. They were lucky to be able to ‘borrow’ a seminar room at Faculty of Architecture which usually allow students to occupy the building 24/7. Naturally, working late into the night called for growling stomachs, so the leader of the group, Junsu, decided to call for delivery. All of them agreed to have Korean food; noodles and the such so he made a call at his favorite Korean restaurant nearby.

“Hey, Munhwa. What do you want to eat?” Junsu asked. Apparently, Junsu and Munhwa were enrolled to the same university.

“Um... Jjajangmyun.” The girl briefly looked up and then continued her work. She faintly heard Junsu ordering three of it into his phone along with other meals. Munhwa continued to discuss with the other girl who was working on the report together with her. In about thirty minutes, the delivery arrived. Munhwa looked up and was surprised to see that it was Seo Jin; the same look plastered on his face.

“Hey, Seo Jin,” Munhwa smiled at him. He smiled back, looking relaxed after her greeting. He seemed to be taller than the last time she saw him. Munhwa still remembered a couple years ago when he was a freshman in the basketball team. She was a couple of centimeters taller than him. Ever since then, she had met him a few times whenever the team had a gathering. Right now she probably barely passed his shoulder.

While he took out their orders from the stainless steel box, the rest of the people there, including Junsu began to get curious of Munhwa and the delivery boy’s interaction. Turned out the order was made at Seo Jin’s father’s restaurant, and he was helping out since it was the weekend. Munhwa briefly introduced him to her friends as her junior from high school who was now the current captain of the famous high school basketball team.

“Still studying at this time?” Seo Jin casually asked Munhwa while counting the bills that one of the guys handed to him just now.

“Yeah, we actually have a submission this Monday, and decided we finish up before tomorrow. How’s your practice going?” Munwha asked.

“Everything is good. We had a gathering with the former members last weekend. Too bad you didn’t join.”

“Ah, that. My family was visiting my grandparents at the time.”

Seo Jin nodded, returning the change to the guy who paid him.

“I’ll get going. Good luck with your assignment. Thank you for ordering from us. Don’t forget to leave the bowls outside later.” Seo Jin waved to Junsu and then Munhwa and the rest of the people in the room. After he left the room, one of the guy wiggled his eyebrows at Munhwa.

“I’ve never seen you smile like that to a guy,” one of them teased.

“Like what? He is just a junior of mine,” Munhwa shyly brushed them away.

“Like this!” The previous guy tilted his head and pretended to brush his locks behind his ear, imitating Munhwa’s act which she did probably out of conscious. Everyone broke into laughter. Junsu nodded enthusiastically, agreeing with them. Munhwa just smiled and shook her head. A girl subtly elbowed Munhwa and whispered to her.

“He’s cute. Do you have his number?”

“Guys, seriously,” Munhwa laughed.

“Hey, Munhwa. That kid gave me extra ten thousand won for the change.” The guy who paid just now told her.

“Munhwa, take this chance to go after him!” One of the guys told her.

“Me? Wh- Guys,” Munhwa sighed when the guy put the note in her hand and shoved her out of the room. Everyone seemed a little bit too eager to set her up with a guy, probably because she was infamous for turning down seconds dates after a couple of blind dates she went on previously. Plus, she never really joined any drinking or parties even with the girls. She guessed it was fun to tease someone with such ‘clean’ reputation.

Munhwa could see Seo Jin already climbing onto his scooter. He was about to turn on the engine so Munhwa quickened her steps.

“Seo Jin, wait!” Munhwa yelled, waving the note at him. The boy alerted to her request and looked up.

Munhwa stretched out her hand, handing him the extra bill. “You gave extra ten thousand won for the change.”

“Oh, thanks,” the younger guy took the note form her hand, the tips of their fingers barely brushing. For some reason, the little contact caused her heart to race. Munhwa mentally shook off the thought. It was probably form her little run just now.

“Um, that’s it. Bye.” Munhwa smiled to him and turned around. Munhwa began to move further away from Seo Jin, one step at a time.

“Munhwa.”

Munhwa stopped her steps. She turned around with a surprise look n her face. It was her first time hearing that name from his lips. Usually, he would just call her sunbae, just like the rest of the seniors. It wasn’t like she hated it or anything. In fact, it sounded nice; his voice calling her name like that.

“Truthfully, my parents would rather I focus on my study than on basketball, but you know how much I love the sport and look up to Wooyoung sunbae.” Seo Jin added. Munhwa nodded, even though it was kind of random to be talking about the sport all of a sudden. Seo Jin continued.

“I’ll be graduating from high school in three months. At the same time, there haS been a couple of scouts from professional companies who haS been paying attention to me recently.  If, say, if I get signed as a professional player after graduation... Would you be my girlfriend?”

The question was so sudden that she was caught off guard. Her eyes widened, her breath hitched. Munhwa took a deep breath to calm down. She smiled gently at him despite feeling a bit too worked up herself.

“Sure.” She said simply. The boy grinned wide. Seo Jin his scooter while Munhwa turned around to leave. When the engine roared louder as he made a turn, Munhwa paused and turned around to see him leave. She smiled to herself.

Even if you don’t, why not?

-

Eyes to eyes. Chests heaving up and down, breathing hard. Tongues clicked. Nichkhun dribbled the ball harder. His sweat rolled down his temple like a running water as a result of being directly under the glaring sun for almost an hour. He tried to get past Taecyeon, but apparently, Taecyeon had always had the upperhand in this game. He was the university’s basketball player afterall. Taecyeon successfully snatched the ball away from Nichkhun and dribbled towards the basket effortlessly. He did a lay-up shot and succeed at it. His team members all ran to him and congratulated him with high fives and hugs.

Nickhun rolled his eyes as Taecyeon walked towards him with a big smile on his face.

“Can’t you cut me some slack? It’s just a casual game, man,” Nichkhun gave him a playful punch on the chest as they both walked towards the benches to take a break. Taecyeon simply chuckled at him.

“I thought you didn’t want me to,” Taecyeon replied, sitting down with a subtle sigh.

Nichkhun opened a water bottle and handed it to Taecyeon after he took a few sip off the drink. Taecyeon received the bottle gladly. The other people who hung out with them were all doing the same too.

“’Sup with Wooyoung? I heard he moved out of his parents place?” Nickhun asked. Other than Taecyeon, he wasn’t as close with the rest of Miryung’s ex-basketball team members.

“Yeah. The company decided to get him an apartment close by for his convenience. Afterall, he has been a professional player for the team for two years already.”

“Nice. It’s really great to start your career at young age. Being a university student is fun too, I guess.”

“How about Minsun? Is she going to continue her study after receiving her diploma in performing arts?”

“Yeah. She said she’s going to continue her study here. I guess she’s sorting out stuffs to move here right now. Don’t tell Wooyoung though, she said she wants it t be a surprise.”

Taecyeon chuckled. “That’s great. Wooyung would be thrilled. Or pissed that everyone keeps from him.” The two guys laughed together.

“When I went to see her at London last week, she couldn’t stop asking about Wooyoung. I can’t help but feel jealous. Do those two actually keep in touch or not? Or are they having a fight?”

“Khun, those two are fighting all the time. I guess it’s a good thing. It keeps their relationship intact. If you’re still jealous of Wooyoung, get a girlfriend.” Taecyeon laughed and playfully punched the upper arm of the guy. Nichkhun elbowed Taecyeon’s rib as a counter attack. The boys continued to slap and strangle each other.

“Why? Are you saying that you have your own girl now? Huh? What’s with those rumors about you going all over the place with this one particular girl?” Nichkhun ducked out of Taecyeon’s headlock and pushed the guy away from him. Taecyeon seemed uneasy when Nichkhun brought up the topic. If his eyes didn’t fail him, Nichkhun could see Taecyeon’s cheeks reddening.

“Rumors are just rumors. She is just a girl I’m paired up for an assignment, that’s all,” Taecyeon dismissed the topic with a sigh.

“Uh-huh,” Nichkhun made a rhetorical nod. “And you have a thing for her.”

“Dude,” Taecyeon said seriously, “she thinks I’m gay, and that I’m dating you.”

“You gotta clear that up to her!”

“Do you think she’ll like me? I mean, she’s different, you know.”

 “Different as in?”

The conversation took an abrupt halt when a girl strode towards the open court, yelling Taecyeon’s name at the top of her lungs. She had her hair tied up in high ponytail and dressed casually in a pair of straight cut jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. She was dragging along a guy their age by his ear. The guy seemed like he was suffering badly.

“Hey, Taecyeon! Oh, hi, Khun!” She briefly greeted Nichkhun, who smiled back warmly at her. The girl told the guy she dragged along to kneel in front of Taecyeon, scaring him by verbally showing him those ‘rock hard muscles’ of Taecyeon’s.

“What’s going on?” Taecyeon asked, puzzled at the bizarre scene.

“This is the guy who plagiarized our assignment. He attends the evening class. I’m going to drag him to Professor Lee’s office to prove him that we worked on that assignment.”

Taecyeon sighed. So this was the guy who got them in trouble. The professor almost gave their assignment zero mark unless they could prove to him that they worked on it.

“Apologize!” She smacked the back of the guy’s head. It looked really painful that Nichkhun had to wince along.

“I-I’m really sorry... I didn’t know I would get caught...”

The girl grabbed his collar and twisted in her fist. “Are you kidding me? Is that how you apologize?”

Taecyeon palmed his face.

“I mean, I’m really, really sorry! I shouldn’t have done that in the first place!”

“Yeah, I’m sure Eunjae had punished you enough.” Taecyeon looked up at his assignment partner. “Hey, wait here okay? I’ll come with you to Professor Lee’s office. I gotta change first.”

“Sure. Don’t worry, the guy has nowhere to go as long as I’m here.”

Taecyeon stood up, ready to entered the nearest building to change. He looked over at Nichkhun.

“See?” Taecyeon whispered. Nichkhun chuckled.

“Good luck.” Nichkhun said.

-

Wooyoung had just got out of the bathroom, still dripping wet from a fresh shower. He had a piece of towel wrapped around his waists and another over his head. He was wiping dry his hair when the phone suddenly rang. He picked up the phone from the kitchen and leaned his waist against the kitchen counter.

“Hey,” a voice greeted, sweetly so.

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Excuse me?” The voice sounded offended.

Wooyoung left the kitchen with the phone and headed towards his bedroom. His hair was still wet but he already threw the towel away. He rummaged his wardrobe for a comfortable clothe to wear and finally reached a gray wifebeater and put it on.

“You totally ignored me for over three months. How can you pretend like nothing happened? Wow, Seo Minsun, you really-”

“I told you didn’t I? I’ve been busy with lots of things.”

“So busy that you can answer Munhwa and Gohee’s e-mails, but not mine.”

 “Well, you ignored my e-mail a couple of months before that!”

“I told you because-”

“I’m busy too, you know? I have a performance in a couple of hours but I was thinking of you so I gave you a call. Since you don’t seem happy that I did, I’m hanging up.”

“Hey!”

“Goodbye.”

Click.

“Agh!” Wooyoung threw his phone away and grabbed his hair furiously, “this girl is driving me crazy! Why does she have to win everytime?!”

Wooyoung put on a duck patterned pajama pants and threw himself on the bed. He had just returned from a game, he felt like dying. Before he gave himself an eye shut, he reached for his mobile phone and sent a text message to that certain girl who drove him crazy everytime they bickered.

‘I need to sleep right now. We’ll talk later. Beware of my wrath.’

-

Ding, dong! Ding, dong!

The otherwise common sound pierced into his skull like flying daggers. Wooyoung rolled to his side and let out a guttural grunt. He prayed, harder than when he should have, that the noise would go away. His ignorance caused the noise to be more persistent and annoying. It was killing him. Wooyoung grabbed the hair on each side of his head as the pain inside pounded against his skull.

“These people, I swear-”

He left the room in a rush and swung the door open. An unexpected guest showed up with a bright smile on her face, but Wooyoung wasn’t as happy.

“What do you want?” Wooyoung asked, the tone in his voice lacked neither concern nor manner.

Munhwa frowned at his uncivilized welcoming. “Is that how you greet your guest?”

“You do know I just got back from a game, don’t you?”

Munhwa shrugged. “Yeah. Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Why do you want to get in?”

Munhwa pushed him aside and entered on her own. “I’m going to make sure you change into something proper because you’re coming with me.”

-

7.00 p.m.

Miryung Cultural Center

Woyoung was further ticked off when he found out that Munhwa had brought him to the nearest  culture center to help out as volunteer for a cultural festival about to be held that night. He complained a lot, but he still co-operated with the rest of the volunteers. Munhwa seemed to be going easy on him since she assigned him to one of the easiest task around, which was to arrange the chairs for the audience later.

“Wooyoung, are you done with the chairs?” Junsu peeked from behind a door. Surprisingly, Junsu was involved with the festival as well. The event might have something to do with their university since Junsu and Munhwa went to the same university. Wooyoung was too lazy and annoyed to ask. But then, he wouldn’t be surprised if all the former students from Miryung High came to help. Munhwa liked to gather people together. He guessed it rubbed off on her from Minsun.

“Just a bit more. Why?”

“If you’re finished, come to the lobby. We need a hand.”

Wooyoung grumbled alone; or more like nobody liked to pay attention to a grumpy guy in the middle of such cheery atmosphere.

It didn’t take longer than five minutes until Wooyoung finished arranging all the chairs. He did as Junsu told him before and went to the lobby right after. Turned out his instinct was right. Everyone was there. There were Jaebum, Gohee, Nichkhun, Taecyeon, Chansung and Junho helping out. They were all folding pamphlets on banquet tables arranged along the wall. However, he realized that there was someone else who wasn’t as familiar to him joining with the work. The guy looked up when Wooyoung neared the table.

“Hey, Wooyoung. Remember me?” The guy, who was too good looking to Wooyoung’s liking greeted with a wave. Wooyoung immediately recognized that face. How could he not? He was Song Joongki. That bastard who almost- well, he’d rather forget that bit from the past.

“You. How come you’re here?”

The other guys chuckled at Wooyoung’s hostile reception towards the guy, even though he tried hard to be subtle about it. Well, there must be a reason why he seemed to be getting along well with Munhwa and Taecyeon.

Joongki chuckled. “Just helping out, you see. I heard you’re a professional player now? How are things going now?”

Wooyoung shrugged. “Good, I guess. Though I’ve been a bit off the last couple of games. Gotta get back on track.”

Joongki nodded in acknowledgement.

“What about you? What you been up to these days?” Wooyoung asked in return.

“I’ve been going in and out of rehabilitation center these past couple of years. I’m doing great now. It’s been a year since I recovered from my alcohol addiction. I’ve been studying and making new friends too. Decent ones, this time.”

Wooyoung nodded in understanding. “Good for you.” He said, trying to be supportive, awkward as he might be. Munhwa smiled to see that Wooyoung had matured a lot since graduation. After the pamphlet, the rest of volunteers just hung around as stand-by when the visitors started coming in. For some reason, Munhwa let Wooyoung to be excused. In fact, she told him to find a seat at the audience and had a rest. She probably felt bad seeing how tired Wooyoung was.

It didn’t take long until the seats were all occupied. Wooyoung realized that most of the volunteers, including Munhwa and the others chose to be standing along the wall, in case they had to assist a visitor to anything and be ready for any upcoming tasks. Wooyoung tried to enjoy the performances as the rest of the audience did, but his eye lids grew heavier as seconds passed by. The obvious line between being conscious and asleep started to seem blurry to him.

Wooyoung stirred a bit in his sleep when loud melody of a mixture of gayageum, gong, flute and various traditional percussions echoed into the hall. A group of women in colourful traditional garments entered the stage in a line. Wooyoung tried to keep his eyes open, but they kept closing on their own. He shook his head and opened his eyes once again. The women had started dancing. They twirled and travelled around the stage nimbly. This looked familiar. Wooyoung rubbed his eyes to have a clearer look, but he still couldn’t fight off his sleepiness.

One of the girls turned around, revealing the small, alluring smile on her slim face. She looked awfully similar with someone he knew. Seo Minsun. As far as he was concerned, Minsun didn't say anything about going back to South Korea. Wooyoung dozed off once more but he forced himself to be awak just to be sure. She looked more and more similar to Minsun. The way she smiled, the way her light steps gently landed on the stage, the way she kept her gaze locked onto him. Everything reminded him of the first time he saw her dancing. That was when he thought she was actually very beautiful.

His sleepy eyes must be playing tricks.

Even when the heavy lids proceeded to shut themselves, Minsun’s face remained at the back of his eyes. That gentle, mesmerising smile. The small, yet sharp gaze of hers. That face. That face that he longed to touch for so long.

-

10.30 p.m.

Munhwa was holding a box with various decorative items inside. She saw Wooyoung, stilll fast asleep on a chair and walked towards him. She stared at the guy with a little smile on her face. He looked exhausted. His body slid low against the plastic chair, slumped forward with his arms crossed. His eyes tightly shut, his lips slightly pouted because of his posture. All the chairs had been emptied. The festival ended about thirty minutes ago. Staff organizers were running here and there, cleaning up the place and this guy slept through everything.

Munhwa felt a bit apologetic for dragging him here.

“Sorry,” she whispered, “but this is going to be worth it,” Munhwa grinned. She held the box with one hand and tapped his shoulder with the other.

Wooyoung frowned when he slowly opened his eyes.

“What?” He enquired.

“What, ‘what?’ Everything is over. People are going to clean up this place so get your up.”

“Do I still have to help?” Wooyoung whined, followed by a big yawn.

Munhwa ignored him and walked away. “Seeing how tired you are, I guess you can go straight home. Ah, but one more thing,” Munhwa paused and turned around, “I suggest you take a look at your phone first before you do.”

Wooyoung blinked, feeling a bit clueless. He watched the girl until she left the hall and then rubbed his eyes before he pulled out his cellphone. There was one unread message. From Minsun.

How dare you sleep through my performance?  

Wooyoung scrambled to his feet. She really is here. Wooyoung looked up, almost wanting to yell at Munhwa, demanding an explanation from her. Instead, he ran towards the exit and pressed the phone to his ear as soon as he pressed ‘Call’ on Minsun’s number. After two rings, she picked up.

“Yah!” Wooyoung yelled into the phone.

“What took you so long? Did you just wake up?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I was going to surprise you, but looking at the situation now, let’s just say I want to revenge instead.”

This girl is...

“Where are you right now?!”

“At the park in front of the building. Waiting for you.”

Wooyoung took a dash from his spot, maneuvering his ways among the volunteers with only one aim inhis mind; Minsun. He exited through teh main entrance and slowed down when her figure –still clad in her performance outfit- came into sight. She had her hair done in a single braid and straight fringe covering up her forehead, which made her looked very cute in his opinion. He calmly stepped closer to her. They both had a disdainful expression on their faces, trying to look like they’re ignoring each other.

“When did you get here?” Wooyoung asked.

“Yesterday.”

“Did you ask Munhwa to bring me here?”

“Maybe.”

“Can you stop doing this?! I might get a heart attack, you know?”

Minsin suddenly broke into laughter.

“Sorry,” she said casually.

“Is that how a person who feels sorry look like?”

“Are you mad?” a small, playful smile spread on Minsun’s lips.

“Forget it.”

“I have chocolate for you,” Minsun held it in front of his face. She thought he was going to shove it away, but he actually grabbed it in his hand. Quite eagerly so.

“Am I a kid?!” Wooyoung continued to yell at her, but Minsun didn’t seem to be affected at all.

Minsun shrugged. “You sure act like one.”

“Are you trying to annoy me on purpose?”

“ Aren’t you happy? That I’m back?”

“I’m still mad at you for ignoring me for three months.”

“I’m sorry,” Minsun repeated with a smile. She cupped his face and tip toed to reach for his lips, but he stubbornly pushed her away.

“Am I that easy?!” His voice raised even louder, causing Minsun to flinch with shock.

Minun let out a sigh. There was a look of disappointment and disbelief reflected in her eyes. She was tired too. She couldn’t sleep at all last night because of her jetlag, and then the next day she had to go for practice and rehearsal for the whole day. She missed her fun banter with Wooyoung but for some reason he wasn’t up for it at the moment. She might as well gave up and go home to get some rest. Without another word, Minsun turned around and left with angry stomps.

“Yah, Seo Minsun! Where are you going?!” Wooyoung quickly ran after her. He grabbed her arm and twirled her around. To his surprise, her eyes were already gleaming with tears.

“Where do you think I’m going? I thought someone would be happy to see me again after a long time but apparently I was wrong. Of course I’m going away. Away from y-”

“Look, I...” Wooyoung sighed. He mentally kicked himself for acting like such a jerk. “I’m sorry.”

Minsun looked away and wiped the tears that already escaped her eyes.

Wooyoung took a deep breath and pulled her to him. He crushed his lips to hers, all in the blink of an eye. He could feel Minsun’s body turning rigid against him, but she softened soon after. Wooyoung channeled his frustration into the kiss, into her lower lips with force before he plunged his wildly roaming tongue into . The intense kiss caused Minsun to have weak knees. She accidentally broke the kiss when she her knees gave way. Wooyoung quickly tightened his arms around her waist, barely stopping her from falling down while Minsun grabbed onto his arm and his shoulder.   

Their gazes locked, their breathings heavy from the lack of oxygen spent during the previous kiss.

“Stupid. How can I not be happy after waiting for you for so long?”

Minsun wanted to smile, but she was overwhelmed with emotions all of a sudden. She pouted and tried hard to swallow back her tears.

“Hey, stop crying,” Wooyoung gently told her. He felt really bad that he might had hurt her with his harsh speech. Minsun shook her head as a way to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. She tried to speak but her voice wouldn’t come out. Minsun gave up trying to speak and buried her face onto his shoulder. She felt immediately comforted as soon as Wooyoung secured her in his embrace.

“I’m sorry,” Wooyoung repeated with a whisper.

Wooyoung wouldn’t mind holding her like that until the sun rise, but then, he didn’t know that Minsun’s parents were here too. Hanbin, his wife and Seo Jin walked into the scene with an extra cone of cotton candy in his hand, intended for Minsun. However, the scene that unraveled in front of his very eyes instantly sent his blood boiling.

“Hey! What are you doing to my daughter?!” The adult yelled with his deep, booming voice. His scolding sent the two youths, more on Wooyoung part actually, scrambling away from each other. Hanbin widened his steps to get to his daughter. Wooyoung wanted to be the gentleman he was supposed to be and properly greeted Minsun’s parents but the murdering look in Hanbin’s eyes screamed ‘DANGER!’ to Wooyoung. He was left with no choice but to run away, even though that kind of ruined his image in front of his future in-laws. From the distance, he could still hear Hanbin’s murder threat, layered with the sound of laughter from Minsun, her step-mother and Seo Jin in the background.

.

-

3.50 a.m.

Wooyoung’s single aprtment.

Wooyoung scrunched up his nose. It felt itchy tonight, somehow. He rolled to his side, falling back to a deep slumber, but another itchy spot surfaced on his waist. No, that didn’t feel like itchiness. It was probably his new puppy, trying to wake him up for another unlikely hour of playtime. But then, he was staying at his own apartment right now. There was no housemate, no pet. Who would bother him at this hour of the morning?

No way. G-ghost?

Instinctively, Wooyoung pulled his blanket over his head, but an unknown force peeled the blanket off him. Wooyoung hugged himself tight. He chanted over and over again deep in his heart, for God to please protect him. Maybe it was all just a dream. He didn’t want to become the headline of the newspaper tomorrow morning as a ghost’s murder victim. That sounded really lame somehow, despite how scared he was right now.

The hair on his arms and behind his neck stood up stiff. He could feel a slim finger tapping his bare upper arm.

“Jang Wooyoung, wake up,” a small voice whispered, followed by soft giggles. Wooyoung finally gained enough strength to open his eyes to make sure that he was dreaming, but instead, his sight came to a cute girl dressed in a sweater with the hood pulled over her head, her long locks peeking out under it. Her features barely highlighted by the dim orange light from the table lamp on his bedside table. She was sitting on a chair, her whole body curled up into a little ball on the chair. The moment Wooyoung’s eyes widened in realization, her smile spread wider on her lips.

“Hi,” she gave him a small wave.

“Holy crap! Yah, Seo Minsun!” Wooyoung woke up to a jolt. He leaned against the bed head with his hand over his heaving chest. “How the hell did you get here?!”

Minsun pulled down the hood. “Taecyeon sunbae gave me the password to your house.”

Without any delay, Minsun climbed onto the bed and settled herself next to him. Wooyoung watched her incredulously. This girl just grew bolder as years passed by. Wooyoung wanted to nag at her for being so thoughtless in her act; visiting a guy’s place in the middle of the night even if it was his, but Minsun already had her head nestled at the crook of his neck.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time now. I missed you,” she told him. Wooyoung chuckled in his sleepiness.

“I missed you too,” Wooyoung smiled a lazy smile and pinched her cheek. The gesture made her giggle. He loved that sound. He loved the way her lips curved up into such mischievous, yet angelic looking smile in his presence. She didn’t wear that kind of smile anywhere else. It made him feel special.

“When was your last time coming back to Korea though? It felt really long.” Wooyoung stared at the ceiling, thinking.

“About a year ago, I think. I came back to visit my grandmother and my dad.”

“Right. Your dad. I remember now. We didn’t get to spend much time together because of your dad. Why does he hate me so much?”

“He doesn’t hate you. He likes you. He is just very protective of me.”

“Right. If he ever knew that you’re here right now, he would have stormed into my apartment and put a knife to my throat.”

Minsun giggled lightly. She rested her cheek on his chest. “He doesn’t have to know,” she added.

Wooyoung cleared his throat when he realized how close they were. For sticking with each other even when they have to be far apart all the time didn’t give them the chance to be all lovey-dovey like other young couples out there. Actually being one sort of made him felt a little shy. If the light were , MInsun could have seen his cheeks turning red.

Wooyoung instinctively wrapped an arm around her small frame, and then gently caressed her hair.

“How long will you be staying this time?” Wooyoung asked, his voice gentle, a little hoarse even; considering the time he woke up.

Minsun looked up so she could see his eyes. Compared to him, she looked bright and full of expectations.

“As long as you want me to.”

Wooyoung’s eyes widened. Is she joking or is she being serious?

Apparently, Minsun had a knack in mind reading, so she cupped his face for emphasize, “I’m serious.”

“You mean, you’re back for real? “

Minsun nodded.

“What about your mother?”

“She’s also working on transferring to Seoul, but that might take a bit long. I’m coming back first since I already started working in a cultural dance group. I’m also thinking about pursuing a degree while I am at it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I told you, I was going to surprise you,” Minsun narrowed her eyes at him.

Wooyoung cleared his throat, a little uncomfortable under such scrutinizing stare. “I’m really sorry for the way I acted towards you previously. I was just tired. I had a bad day, really.”

Her expression softened. Minsun smiled back at him. “I know. I’ve heard form Munhwa. You were just back from a game you lost earlier this day.”

“Yeah. We’re going to have another game on the day after tomorrow though, to determine the third place winner. I’ll be busy practicing the whole day tomorrow, so we won’t be able to see each other until the game ended.”

“It’s fine. I’ll come to watch the game too.”

Wooyoung smiled. “Thanks.”

Minsun seemed to be unsatisfied with their position. She wanted to be closer to him, if that was even possible. Without warning, she climbed onto him, casually sitting on top of his waist line. Wooyoung was caught off guard when she did that; all he could do was to gulp hard. Minsun cupped his face again, gently rubbing her thumbs against his cheeks before she dropped a chaste, yet velvety kiss on his lips. Afterwards, she locked gazes with Wooyoung just long enough for them to exchange smiles and laughed at each other for no reason.

“Actually, I come here with a gift for you.” Minsun told him.

“A gift? For what?”

“For waiting for me all this time.”

Wooyoung laughed. “What is it?”

“Me.”

Wooyoung’s eyes widened when Minsun leaned towards him again and kissed him for real this time. She was ruthless and greedy and demanding, on his lips hard and dominated the wet cavern inside his mouth with her tongue. Her position allowed her arm to reach around his neck to deepen the kiss while the other had her fingers curled underneath the shoulder strap of Wooyoung’s wifebeater.

Wooyoung struggled to break free from her kiss and only managed to do so when Minsun stopped for air. He tried to peel off her hand from him all while gasping for air. He tried to push her away but she persisted.

“Wait, wait, Minsun. Do you know how ‘dangerous’ you are right now?”

“Uh-hm,” she simply answered and then dipped in for another kiss. Her free arm traveled down his clothed  sculpted abs and then lingered at the hem of his wifebeater. Once again, Wooyoung forced them to break free from the kiss.

“Do you have any idea what you are doing to me? I-I don’t have a with me right now,” he tried to warn. Minsun just smiled. She tugged onto the piece of thin cloth, twisting it in her fist, ready to take it off him.

“Don’t worry, I do.”

-

Okay, finally! I'm so tired right now since there was a lot to edit for such long chapter. I hope you don't mind if there were few typos and stuffs. Did I ruin the mood of the story or anything? Hopefully not since the epilogue is meant to happen after a major time jump, which is 2 years and a half. I guess it's fine if they acted a bit more 'adult' hohoho (truthfully I want to see them in a more mature relationship haha even though I didn't show much in this epilogue). 

Thank you for reading!