6. Sweetheart's Secret  

Seulgi would have certainly loved to know what Jongin would have answered but he happened to pass out right on her after that question. What a big bummer.

Baekhyun tried to help her get him off her and decided to call it off after this incident: it was time to go home. The party was over.

"What do we do with him?" Seulgi asked after glancing to Jongin who was sleeping soundly on Baekhyun's couch after everyone was out of the apartment.

Baekhyun, to whom she had asked this question, was pacing around the room, trying to clean up the floor that was definitely going to get sticky with all the food and alcohol that fell on it and didn't hear Seulgi.

"A whole jungle passed by and I didn't even notice," Baekhyun exclaimed when he fell onto some which made Seulgi laugh. "Seoul's elite my , they're all the same with two drops of alcohol in the system."

He then went into to his room to change into comfortable jeans and a t-shirt to be able to clean up without too much trouble and returned looking better than ever. His hair was a bit tousled and he had taken off all his accessories which made him look like a puppy but also a hot guy at the same time. Really, Baekhyun's duality was something Seulgi could never understand.

"Where the hell is Chanyeol when we need him?" Baekhyun grunted after picking up the rest of a broken (and probably expensive) glass that was on the floor.

Seulgi sighed at the sight. His place was a mess and by mess, she meant it. There were unknown designer clothes on the floor, candies, spilled drinks and even money. Seoul's elite was indeed quite particular Seulgi thought.

"Do you need help?" she asked after seeing him struggle to take a bottle of vodka out of one of the vases decorating his living room. Why the hell would someone think this belonged here?

"No I'm fine, I don't want you to touch nasty things Seulgi," he answered still focused on his task.

"Then is there anything I can do?" she asked again as she got closer to where he was standing.

"Not really," he said before looking over her. "Seulgi please put your heels on, there are shards of glass on the floor and you're going to hurt yourself."

"I'm fine if I stay on the carpet, though," Seulgi answered before looking where she was putting her feet. "There are only 2 broken glasses."

"That wasn't a question, go put on your shoes," Baekhyun ordered. "And don't touch anything that looks like a cup with liquid in it. Who knows what's really inside."

There he goes, baby-ing me again, Seulgi internally sighed. Sure, it felt nice to know someone was so concerned with her well-being but at the same time, Seulgi always wondered if his feelings weren't just that. He used to play along with his boyfriend's role and then suddenly act like the overprotective older brother he wasn't. Baekhyun would kiss her or tell her he adored her while calling her out for not wearing gloves around the oven among many other things. Really, it was confusing.

Baekhyun's voice took her away from her memories and brought her back to reality.

"Would you please get Jongin a glass of water for when he wakes up?"

Seulgi nodded but couldn't help but cringe as she looked at the man in question.

"You think he will wake up any time soon?"

"Jongin usually sobers up in no time."

"Even in this state?" Seulgi asked dubiously.

"Don't worry too much about him, Jongin is a beast," Baekhyun chuckled.

Seulgi shrugged as she wasn't very convinced. Especially when she tried to kick him in the shin and he didn't even budge. Hopeless case, she thought.

She joined Baekhyun in the kitchen who was starting to gather all the cutlery into his sink to get Jongin some water.

"Everything obviously won't fit, Baekhyun," she said with a raised eyebrow while looking at him putting 16 used glasses onto three plates.

He chuckled.

"I always found it funny how you drop honorifics however you want Seulgi," he smiled as he turned to her. "Oppa this, Baekhyun that. 'I'm old enough don't treat me like a kid' and then suddenly 'I like it when you call me baby'," Baekhyun laughed. "You're confusing."

Then that makes two of us, Seulgi thought.

She hit his arm before blushing.

"When did I?"

"You just did! I noticed that you use oppa, when you feel helpless and Baekhyun when you try to teach me something."

Seulgi blushed harder. He was right. She has done it out of habit since forever but she had never thought he noticed.

"I mean, I don't mind since it can be cute and all that but you should make up your mind Seulgi," Baekhyun grinned at her. "It's oppa or Baekhyun, not both," he ordered.

"What about Baekhyun oppa?" she for teasing her.

"I guess that works too."

Baekhyun passed behind her and grabbed a cup filled with some unknown liquid before throwing it out in the trash can.

"So are you going to give Jongin that glass of water or should I do it myself sweetheart?"

"We already talked about this."

"It's a habit, sorry," Baekhyun said as he pushed her aside a bit to open a cupboard. "Here you go, Miss Seulgi."

Seulgi grimaced a bit at him before making her way to the living room where Jongin was still sleeping like a bear.

"Oppa," Seulgi called from the couch. "Do you have aspirins?"

"Why? Your head hurts?" Baekhyun asked with concern as soon as he came out of the kitchen.

"Not me, but I think Jongin will need them," she said as Jongin groaned in his sleep.

"I told you he will be fine, stop worrying about him," Baekhyun said before going back to the kitchen. "Do you think it's the first time he drinks?"

"Does he drink often?" Seulgi asked a bit surprised to know that the calm and collected Jongin she knew was used to the party life.

"Not exactly but he has a high tolerance," Baekhyun said. "That's probably why he didn't hesitate to take all these shots for you, quite literally."

"I didn't ask him to drink for me," Seulgi claimed as soon. "He could have minded his own business."

"It was technically his business," Baekhyun countered as he moved to the living room with a bag filled with the pink plastics cups that were reserved for the candy bar. "Suzy and Naeun were being extremely insensitive with those questions about your past relationships Seulgi and you know how Jongin likes to keep his things private."

"Maybe he is a bit too secretive," Seulgi said while glancing to the man in question as she bit her lip. She never got her answer after all.

"Ok, I admit he keeps things bottled up for too long but my party was definitely not the best place for you two to talk things out," Baekhyun reasoned as he cleaned his coffee table with a rag. "By the way, what you did to my carpet was downright cruel."

"Don't you have a maid or something anyway?" Seulgi dismissed. "Why are you cleaning up now? It's 2 in the morning."

"Yes I do but I don't like to go to sleep knowing my things are so... I don't even know how to describe this," Baekhyun said before looking over his apartment with a sigh. "I don't remember having invited animals to my party."

Seulgi grinned.

"But really what should we do with him?" Baekhyun asked after looking at Jongin. "I have a room upstairs but I don't think he will like sleeping here."

"Why?" Seulgi asked.

"Jongin doesn't like to sleep fully dressed in someone else's house."

Seulgi looked at him in disbelief.

"Don't misunderstand me, I didn't mean it as but more like not wearing his own pyjama," Baekhyun laughed. "You're quite the ert Seulgi."

"You should choose your words carefully," she blushed.

"Who would've thought that Kang Seulgi was a ert," Baekhyun mocked before making his way to the bathroom. "Do you want to sleep here or do you want me to drive you home?"

"I have my car," she said bashfully. Did he really just propose her to stay at his apartment for the night? Did Baekhyun think she was this naïve or he thought of her so comfortably that he didn't see the awkwardness in his proposition?

"You do? Then could you..."

Before Baekhyun could finish his sentence, Chanyeol and Wendy opened the main door and barged inside the apartment with grins.

"Where the hell were you two?" Baekhyun groaned at his friend.

"We went to the Han River for a walk," Chanyeol explained before taking off his coat. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know, maybe you missed the party," Baekhyun answered sarcastically.

"It's only two in the morning, though," Wendy commented with a curious expression.

"Something happened," Seulgi said as she pointed to the living room.

Chanyeol and Wendy walked to the living room and both gasped at the sight.

"Baekhyun your house is a mess," Wendy said.

"Thanks Wendy I didn't notice," Baekhyun said as he picked up another pink cup.

"That's not what I was talking about," Seulgi said before pointing to Jongin who looked half dead on the couch to her friend.

"Oh," Wendy let out. "Hi there Jongin, didn't see you."

Seulgi nudged her friend who pretended to not having noticed that the man in question was dead asleep.

"What happened to him?" Chanyeol said before reaching over to the younger male. "Did he pass out?"

"Just a few drinks he couldn't handle for acting like Seulgi's dark knight at a game," Baekhyun explained before opening the door of his apartment. "I told you to ring the bell and stop knocking Sehun."

"I thought ringing would be annoying at 2 AM, sorry I guess. What's going on here?" Sehun asked as he walked inside the living room where everyone else was.

"Why is he here?" Wendy asked with a confused expression. "I swear I saw him leave with Bae Joohyun earlier."

"Happy to see you too midget," Sehun sighed.

"What did you say? I'm sorry I don't speak snake language."

Sehun rolled his eyes as Seulgi let out a chuckle. Wendy and Sehun's usual banter was completely normal for everyone who knew them and everybody stopped caring about it a long time ago although it always amused Seulgi. They were like water and oil. Or even fire and oil sometimes, making everything explode at some point with a remark the other couldn't take.

"So what's up with Jongin? Did he pass out?"

"Apparently," Chanyeol answered Sehun with concern. "He probably drank too much."

"Indeed, Seulgi and Jongin were a match made in heaven: two people who don't know when to stop," Sehun smiled as he took off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves. "Too bad it was so short. 2 months right?" he turned to ask Seulgi. "I don't think I'm mistaking you for Soojung."

Seulgi scrunched her nose at Sehun's pitiful remark. He could have at least gave Taeyong credits for attacking her with the same words he got hurt with earlier.

"Four months," Seulgi corrected him even if she knew she was giving in to his game for it. "Why are you here, anyways? You should have gone home."

"Just wanted to help Baekhyun hyung clean up, don't mind me," he said as he turned to Baekhyun for instructions. "So what do we do?"

"First we need to take care of Jongin," Baekhyun started. "I need someone to take him home."

"I'll do it," Sehun proposed as soon.

"No, I'll do it," Chanyeol said as he got up to take his car's keys. "I didn't drink."

"Don't you have to bring the midget home?" Sehun asked while Wendy glared at him.

"We live together," Chanyeol informed Sehun before putting back on his coat. "One more stop won't kill her."

"Actually, it might," Wendy awkwardly said as she was starting to feel the clusters on her feet because of her 6-inch heels and a headache pounding in her head from drinking too many margaritas.

"I'll do it, oppa," Seulgi said out of the blue while Sehun and Chanyeol continued to argue over who was the one who should bring Jongin home. "I don't need to bring back anyone else, I didn't drink and I feel perfectly fine," she said. "Plus it's a bit because of me that's he is in such a state, right?"

"You?" Sehun asked her incredulous. "What did you do to Jongin?"

"It's a long story," Baekhyun terminated quickly. "Are you sure Seulgi?" he asked as she nodded. "Good, I'll give you his address."

In about five minutes, Seulgi was in front of her car talking to Baekhyun while Jongin was peacefully sleeping in her passenger's seat. Baekhyun complained that Jongin was too tall for nothing which made him heavier than he looked as he carried the younger male on his back all the way down to the parking lot.

"You understand this map right? If you get lost, call me right away."

"I think my GPS can read a map, yes," Seulgi joked as she took off her high heels and changed them for slippers to drive more comfortably.

"You have my number, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Don't hesitate."

"I know," Seulgi said for the second time. "Is it a second nature to stress like that with you?"

"I'm being careful," he defended himself. "If Jongin ever throws up in your car I allow you to leave him on the road."

"That's cruel."

"I'm joking," Baekhyun laughed. "Be careful alright?"

"I will," Seulgi said with a reassuring smile.

Baekhyun smiled back and hunched closer before putting a quick kiss on her forehead before she could push him away.

"See you later!" he said as he waved goodbye while running away with a cheeky smile.

"You can't do that!" Seulgi yelled back as he was entering the building. "I'm blocking your number next time," she mumbled to herself. "That's forbidden for any horseman."

Seulgi sighed again and got into the car.

"You better stay still," she threatened although she knew Jongin couldn't hear her in his deep sleep. "If you do anything, I'm leaving you on the road. Baekhyun said I could."

Jongin shifted uncomfortably in his seat with a groan to which Seulgi chuckled.

"And off we go."

. . .

Seulgi was parking into