“You didn’t answer my calls yesterday,” someone’s sudden exclamation made my heart jumped a bit. I looked up and saw Mingyu walked to me with scowl in his face. I grinned shamelessly. Yeah, when I found out that Mingyu had tried to call me, I didn’t bother to call him back or send him text. For the first time, I was feeling too lazy to reply him. Usually, I’d delighted to take his call or reply his texts. But yesterday was somehow an exception.

“Sorry. I fell asleep,” I muttered. Mingyu’s expression immediately changed. He pouted and ruffled my hair, before walking past me and took to his usual seat. I turned my head, following him.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” I asked, watching he put his bag down and sat down. He looked back at me, raising his brows as he shook his head.

“Nothing. Just want to hear your voice that’s all,” he winked before taking out his headphone and drowning himself in the music.

I was left in confusion. I turned back to the front and put my hand over my chest. My heart beat rapidly at what I just heard. Did he just flirt with me? Mingyu? The demi-god Mingyu? I turned over once again and was greeted with his peacefully-closed-eyes figure. A smile crept onto my face.

 

I and Mingyu had gotten a lot closer now. With regular text-message exchange and phone calls, we got to know each other better. Mingyu was quite a dork if I could say. He liked to throw jokes or made funny faces. I laughed a lot whenever I was with him. And now, he also became my partner during lunch break. I could’ve never asked for more. This was the one of the happiest moment of my life.

Today, after the school ended, Mingyu and I walked together; heading towards the gate. I was laughing when he told me about how he caught our teachers kissed at the back of the school. “I can’t believe Mr. Jo had a thing for Mrs. Ahn!” I whispered eagerly. Mingyu laughed too.

“I know right!” he nudged my shoulder playfully. I responded by lightly slapping his arm.

“Song Hera.” Our talks were interrupted by a sudden call on my name. We both turned our heads from each other and I saw Taehyung stood near the gates. I squinted at him. What is he doing here?

Upon seeing us, he walked up. He greeted me with a small hi and acknowledged Mingyu with a nod of his head. Mingyu nodded his head back but there was this obvious frown on his face.

“Who is he?” he whispered close to my ear. As if Taehyung heard Mingyu, he extended his hand as he smiled. My eyes widened in shock.

No no! Mingyu can’t know about Taehyung!

Before I could react, Mingyu had accepted Taehyung’s hand and they both shook their hands. Mingyu couldn’t get his doubtful eyes off Taehyung which Taehyung only replied wih a smile. Wait, was that a smirk?

“I’m Kim Taehyung, Hera’s-“ before he could say anything, I immediately took Mingyu’s hand as I cut Taehyung off.

“Cousin!” I said a little bit too exaggeratedly. Mingyu turned to me, looked confused. Taehyung also turned his attention to me but with raised eyebrows and amused eyes. “Taehyung is my cousin,” I repeated and Mingyu nodded timidly.

He turned back to Taehyung. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Mingyu,” he said to him with a small smile.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Taehyung, almost in annoyance. Taehyung chuckled.

“Your mother told me to pick you up,” he simply replied. I wasn’t convinced by his excuse but Mingyu was. He nodded approvingly and motioned me to go first. I turned my head to Mingyu with an apologetic smile. He gestured that it was okay and ruffled my hair gently.

I then left with Taehyung to his car.

“I don’t know you have a boyfriend,” he joked. I pouted and hit his shoulder lightly.

“That’s because I don’t,” I denied.

Taehyung nodded scornfully as he jutting out his bottom lip; starting the engine. “Sure you don’t,” he replied sarcastically. I shot him a look and he laughed.

“You were so afraid that I might introduce myself as your soon-to-be-husband. That guy must mean something to you,” he concluded. I didn’t bother to deny nor lie. I sighed in defeat. He could read me even though I knew him like just yesterday.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes,” he said again. “Whatever,” I replied grumpily.

Taehyung laughed wholeheartedly. “God… I’m just joking. I won’t get upset if he really means something to you. I’ll support you even,” he promised. I looked at him gratefully and I smiled a little.

“Hey I am sorry about your brother,” he suddenly said, earning my attention. I tore my eyes from the window and turned to him. I had nothing to say so I just nodded. “I want to visit him, can I?” he questioned.

“Why would you want to visit him?”

“I just want to.” I thought about it for a while but agreed. I told him the hospital my brother was in. His car immediately brought us there and in few minutes, we were arrived.

 

“Mom, Haru,” I greeted my family as Taehyung and I entered the room. Both of them turned with smiles on their faces and soon looked surprised to see who had come with me. I gestured Taehyung to get in and closed the door behind us.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Song,” he chimed. Haru looked at Taehyung questionably. Right. He didn’t know about Taehyung yet.

My mother hugged him and patted his back. She was obviously happy that I came with Taehyung. I hugged Haru and gave him a pat on his head. Haru gleefully played with my hair for a moment before turning his head to Taehyung. “Noona, who is this?” he asked; innocently blinking at us.

Taehyung approached my brother and introduced himself. “I’m Kim Taehyung,” he said; smiling.

My mother then took the charge to introduce Taehyung to my brother who was still confused. She explained that Taehyung was someone that would marry me. He protectively hugged my arms when he discovered this.

“You are going to marry my Noona?” he eyed Taehyung like he was a prosecutor. Taehyung nodded his head.

“Yeah Haru,” he confirmed. Haru looked up to me, “Is it true Noona?”

I shot him a smile and ruffled his hair. “It is true Haru.”

“You better take care of my Noona,” he warned cutely. We couldn’t help but laugh at his cuteness while he crossed his arms; pouting.

 

Taehyung engrossed himself in some talks with my mother while I accompanied Haru watching some cartoons. My mother was in obvious delight. Taehyung was being a nice companion for my mother and I sensed that my mother liked him a lot. Now that I came to think of it, Taehyung was such a sweet talker. He had proven it when we went to the ice cream shop before.

When it was getting late, I excused myself to leave. Taehyung and I bid them goodbye and with then, we left the hospital.

“Your brother looks cute,” he complimented.

“I know. Just like his sister,” I sassily said. Taehyung froze for a second before burst out into laughter. I inwardly smiled. See? He looked better when he was smiling or laughing, not the usual blank scary face.

I breathed deeply. “But it always breaks my heart to see him like this. He doesn’t deserve this,” I shook my head. I looked at the ground as tears threatened to fall. Taehyung noticed the change in my mood as I felt his arm draped over my shoulder. I cupped my face in my own palms. I really couldn’t stand it to think about my brother without crying. I always cry after visiting him. It always happened.

Taehyung patted my shoulder in attempt to comfort me. I sobbed once but quickly wiped the tears and looked up. I blew the air through my mouth to prevent me letting out anymore sob.

“You don’t deserve this either,” he observed. “Just let it out Hera. Let it go.” After he said these, I just couldn’t hold myself. I broke down crying and Taehyung pulled me into his embrace. This sounded crazy but yeah, Taehyung hugged the crying me in the parking area of the hospital.

---

It was another normal day at school. After Taehyung and I visited the hospital last week, he constantly asked about my brother’s condition. He kept asking whether he was better, if my brother needed something or even if my brother wanted something. I found this a little odd. Really, Taehyung had been a lot a lot kinder lately. Starting from when he took me to the ice cream shop as his apology, when he wanted to visit my brother, and when I cried and he comforted me. I wondered why he became so nice when at first he really showed that he disliked me and this whole marriage thing.

Mingyu’s soft call on my name woke me up from my thoughts. “A penny for your thought?” he appeared in front of me out of the blue, bending over my desk. I looked up to him, matching his stares with rather questioned look. “What?” I retorted.

“I saw you zooning out moments ago. So, mind to share me what’s in your pretty little mind?” he joked, petting my chin as if I was some sort of puppy. I slapped his hands away as I threw him a look, earning a laugh from Mingyu.

“Hey, are you free tonight?” he suddenly asked. I gave him skeptical look. “Are you asking me out?” I blurted out. I watched his face reddened at my question. He scratched his nape shyly but nodded with a grin.

“Let’s watch a movie,” he suggested. I thought about it for a moment. It was like now-or-never chance. I mean, it wasn’t everyday Mingyu would ask me to hang out with him. I beamed and nodded at him. Mingyu smiled before telling me a place to meet up. When he left me to go to his own desk, I put a hand over my crazily-beating hard. Oh my God…

 

I tried my best to look nice tonight. I didn’t want him to notice that I dressed up for him but I also didn’t want to look ordinary. See the hardship here? I decided to put on a white one-piece dress. I tied half oh my hair into a ponytail and applied some light make up. It was forty five minutes before the meeting time so I decided to get going.

Mingyu wasn’t there yet when I arrived. I decided to stroll around the cinema as I texted Mingyu; asking where he was.

A certain couple attracted my attention abruptly. I took a step back in reflect as I observed the couple. The man looked a lot like Taehyung. He wore a white tee and jeans. His arm held a girl beside him closely. The girl wore tight jeans which fitted her perfectly. She also had this sleeveless top that hugged her shape in a very nice way. With a jacket over her nicely-shaped body, she looked like a model from international magazine. No wonder Taehyung worked so hard to fight for their relationship. A girl like her was worth pretty much everything.

I quickly turned around and walked somewhere when the couple walked into my direction. Fortunately, they didn’t notice me and walked away. They looked good together, I thought. I felt so bad all of sudden, for breaking them apart.

I was too busy in my own world and didn’t notice my way until I bumped into someone. I muttered a soft sorry but then I heard a familiar deep laugh. I brought my head up and met my gaze with Mingyu. He smiled at the sight of me. “I’m sorry for making you wait,” he apologized. How could I be mad at him?

Mingyu looked so perfect today. He only wore a plain green t-shirt underneath the ed green-checkered shirt. With a ripped jeans and messy hair, I could only stare at how flawless he was.

“You looked so pretty tonight,” he complimented. I almost got heart attack when he said that. My life could’ve been anymore better.

I suddenly remembered how I met Mingyu for the first time. When I transferred school to Seoul during my second year, I came with no expectation for my new school. People said there are a lot of cute guys in Seoul but I didn’t really mind that. I mean, I came here because my father now worked here.

One day, I watched some guys playing basketball on the court. A lot of girls were cheering for someone named Mingyu. I also heard Wonwoo and Hansol’s names being mentioned. I only watched because I was bored. In the middle of watching them mindlessly, I realized that my shoelace was off so I bended a little to tie it up until someone called my name with a warning shout. I looked up and my eyes rounded in shock as I saw a basketball was flying right to my direction.

I was frozen at my place as my mouth gaped. I expected the ball to kiss my face but someone appeared out of nowhere and tossed the ball away. I turned to see my savior and it was the almighty Mingyu. He smiled at me for a couple of seconds before running away to continue his game.

I was left stunned. My heart beat like crazy and I was fluttered at his action. Ever since that moment, I seemed to cross path with him often. I mean, I would see him frequently, be it in the hallway, in the front gate, in the cafeteria, even on my way to toilet. Suddenly on our last year, fate brought us together and we were in the same class.

 

Mingyu dragged me to buy the tickets and some popcorn for us. He treated me and not letting me paying for anything. Since the movie was about to start, we immediately got in and looked for our seats. The lamp dimmed right away after we sat down. Mingyu handed my popcorn and I thanked him.

Mingyu was so focused on the movie. I was stealing glances at him most of the time. I didn’t get a chance like this often in my life, to admire his side-profile without afraid of being caught. I really couldn’t get over the fact that he was so handsome. So handsome and kind.

When I started to focus on the movie, Mingyu’s hand suddenly was on top of mine. My breath stopped for a moment. My body tensed at the sudden contact. I turned to him and he was pretending that nothing happened. He even caressed my palm with his thumb to prove that he was intentional. I couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the movie. I got this cold sweat at his hand on top of mine. Mingyu deliberately doing it and my mind was so busy trying to interpret what it meant.

 

Mingyu asked me how the movie was. I cursed him in my mind. How dared he ask that? I mean, he probably knew that his sudden contact squeezed my brain out of my head and I failed to think clearly. I scoffed at him and Mingyu guffawed at my reaction.

“What the hell,” I cussed him. He then apologized to me. I pretended to be angry and left him.

“Wait wait… I’m sorry Hera,” he jogged to catch me up. I threw a look at him and he replied with a wink.

Mingyu decided that it was a good idea to send me home. I told him that I could go home alone but he insisted. It wasn’t really late but he was being persistent. I just sighed in defeat. I led him to take the bus to my home. Mingyu blabbered about his hobby and life. I listened to him responsively. I cut him off when the bus reached my stop.

“Thanks for tonight,” I sincerely said, stopping on my track when we arrived in front of my house. I turned to face Mingyu and smiled at him.

Mingyu’s face was unreadable and he looked hesitant. I didn’t know why he behaved like this because he was so confident and talkative previously. I watched him scratching the back of his neck. He was nervous, I knew.

“I’m way more thankful,” he said at last. I nodded my head and bid him goodbye, “See you.” I turned around but he suddenly grabbed my wrist and made me face him again.

I looked at Mingyu nervously when he suddenly leaned in. My eyes widened and I quickly shut it, afraid of what was going to come. Mingyu took me in surprise when I felt his soft lips met my right cheek. He stayed there for around three seconds before pulled away. He looked at me softly with a hint of blush on his cheeks. I was more than sure my face was as red as tomato.

“Good night,” he bid me goodbye before turned around and walked away. I couldn’t move and only stood there out of words. I watched Mingyu’s back disappeared in the corner.

“Yeah, good night,” I finally found my voice and quickly ran inside my house like a mad fangirl.