Chapter Twenty

“Come on...food. Let’s go eat!” She motioned to the door, slipping out of Minwoo’s reach to tangle her arms with Hyemi and Briley, Lily linking on to Hyemi’s other side. The women led the way out of the tournament and down the street to the River Market where they ate and had a great time. After eating, Dongwan took Briley by the hand to guide her out to walk along the path by the river.

“Does anyone want to go up on the bridge? We can walk across. There’s a great view up there.” Nik pointed out over the lake.

“None of us do, but you and Pilkyo should go,” Junghyuk said.

Nik frowned and Pilkyo made an annoyed face at his leader. Nik looked from between the two but didn’t say anything. She reached out her hand and looked up at Pilkyo, waiting for him to take hers in his. Once their fingers were laced, Nik led the way to the many flights of stairs that would bring them up to the bridge.

“Hyung, what was that about?” Choongjae asked. “I wanted to go up there.”

Junghyuk gave him a wicked smile. “Nothing, just thought we could go rent some of those two person bikes outside and take the girls for a ride.”

“Oh that sounds like fun!” Lily said. “Would you want to do that?” She smiled excitedly up at Choongjae gave in quickly.

“That sounds boring. Can we go ride the train?” Aaron asked, looking up at Sunho and Minwoo.

Sunho looked like he was about to say no, but Aaron started pouting and gave him the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. Minwoo reached out and squished Aaron’s cheeks. “Oh come on, you can’t say no to that face, can you?” He then proceeded to make the puppy dog face as well and Sunho sighed in defeat, leading Aaron and Minwoo to cheer excitedly.

The two couples said goodbye to the childish trio and everyone went their way to their individual activities.

Back up on the bridge, Pilkyo and Nik had just made it up the last flight of stairs still hand in hand. It was almost completely empty, seeing as most people were getting ready for the weekend events. “We should come back up here tonight after the festivities. It’s really beautiful when the stars are out.” Pilkyo nodded but didn’t say anything. Nik frowned. She didn’t understand what was going on, Pilkyo had become more withdrawn today. Huffing out a small sigh, she released his hand and pulled herself to be seated on the railing.

“That’s really not safe. You should get down so you don’t fall,” Pilkyo scolded.

“Or you could just make sure I don’t fall,” she replied cheekily. Letting her legs dangle and her back to the water, she stretched out her hands and waited for Pilkyo to come closer.

“It’s still not safe. I don’t want you to fall,” he said, even as he complied with the Texan’s wishes.

She smiled happily as Pilkyo rested his hands on her waist, stepping in between her dangling legs, and she reached up to hold on to his biceps. Nik’s smile faltered when she saw that Pilkyo was still not smiling. She pulled him in closer, arms reaching up to wrap around his shoulders instead, and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. She gave him a small peck there and asked quietly, “What’s wrong?” She could feel him sigh as he tightened his grip around her, stepping even closer.

“It’s nothing.” Nik shook her head and prodded him to speak. After several long minutes of silence, Pilkyo pulled back enough to look her in the eyes. “Why did you not want us to come this morning? Even after we were there, it was like you didn’t want me there.”

Nik closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. “Honestly...there are a few reasons. I truly did want you to get more sleep. I have dragged y’all out on this little adventure and I wanted you to get more time to relax.” She chewed her lip a moment, hesitant to continue. “Also, I got nervous. I don’t get stage fright, not when I compete and definitely not when I test...but suddenly, knowing y’all were here...knowing you were watching me...I was afraid I was going to make a mistake. I didn’t want to fail in front of you.”

Pilkyo smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “I guess that makes sense. But what about the way you introduced me to that instructor?” He frowned again, but seemed a lot less upset than he had previously.

Nik blushed and stared at the freckle on the side of his neck. “I...I didn’t know how to introduce you. I mean, he knew who you were obviously. That made it harder to know, though.”

“You didn’t know how to introduce me?” he looked confused for a moment, until the realization hit him. He tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. “You weren’t sure if I was comfortable publicly admitting that we are in a relationship?”

She shook her head. “We are not in a relationship.” A smirk formed on her face when he frowned. “I don’t remember being asked to be your girlfriend or to be in a relationship with you. I was asked to go on a single date.” Her grin grew when he rolled his eyes. She gave him a peck on his jaw. And then his cheek. And then close to his ear. “But seriously, I wasn’t sure how familiar you wanted people to know we are. We’ve only known each other a week...less than, actually.”

“Feels like we’ve known each other a lot longer.” Pilkyo kissed her nose and laughed when she scrunched it up.

Nik suddenly pulled back and scowled at him, then hit him in the chest. “You didn’t tell me that y’all had been watching our videos for months.” She crossed her arms childishly, but tightened her knees around him to make sure she didn’t fall off while throwing her temper tantrum-that she totally was not having because she was an adult.

“Who told you? Was it Junghyuk hyung?” He grabbed her wrist when she went to hit him again.

“Dongwannie told Briley, and she told us!” She used her other hand to hit him and he fully released her from around her waist to grab both of her wrists.

“So you’re just going to keep hitting me?” Pilkyo held tight as she made to get both of her hands back. “Stop wiggling, you’re going to fall and die!” She was strong, her martial arts training making it difficult for him to keep a hold on her. He mustered up all of his strength and pulled her hard. She slid off the ledge and back onto her feet. He held Nik’s wrists up against the ledge she had been sitting on, and leaned down to kiss her. She struggled a while longer, but eventually gave up and returned this kiss, sighing as she felt his grip loosen and she was able to wrap her arms back up around his neck.

As soon as they broke the kiss, Nik reared back and hit him again. “Stop distracting me. I’m mad at you. You didn’t tell me the truth.”

He caught her arm mid-swing this time. “Will...you...STOP!” He sighed when she stuck her tongue out at him. “Are you really that mad that I didn’t tell you?”

Nik scrunched her face, unhappy that both of her wrists were being restrained again. “Maybe.” She started wiggling again. “If I wasn’t afraid of falling to my death, I would totally be able to break free, just so you know.”

He smirked down at her. “Keep telling yourself that. Maybe we’ll go a few more rounds back at headquarters before I have to leave.” Nik’s eyes lit up in excitement. “But first,” he went back to trying to be serious, “are you really mad?”

Nik sighed and completely stopped struggling against him. “No…” Pilkyo let out a sigh of relief and released her arms again, instead wrapping them around Nik’s waist again. “Just annoyed that Wannie told Briley but you didn’t tell me.”

“Would it have changed anything if I had?”

“I wouldn’t have hit you,” she said as she smirked up at him. She braced her hands on the ledge and lifted herself back up onto it, pulling Pilkyo back to keep her from falling back.

“You’re insane, I hope you know that.”

“And yet you chose me.”

“I could always change my mind.”

“Then do it.” She stared pointedly into his eyes.

He stepped in closer and ran his hands up her sides. He bit his lip, eyes trailing between her eyes and her lips. He cocked his head to the side and lowered his voice and she could feel it rumbling in his chest as he spoke. “Is that what you want? Do you want me to change my mind?”

A shiver ran down her spine. “Not in a thousand lifetimes,” Nik breathed. She cleared and tightened her grip on one of his biceps, the other hand running to tangle in the back of his hair. She smiled. “Do you forgive me now?” She smiled when he nodded, wrapping both her arms tight around his neck. She turned her head and leaned out to look out at the water and could see Dongwan and Briley walking hand in hand down the river. She awwed then squeaked.

“What? Are you ok? What happened?” Pilkyo tightened his grip, worried she thought she felt like she was going to fall. He let out a deep sigh of relief when Nik pointed down to their friends, where Dongwan had pulled Briley in for a kiss. “You nearly gave me a heart attack with the sound you just made.”

“They are so cuuuuute!” Nik cooed, completely ignoring Pilkyo’s complaining.

“I thought you were about to fall!”

“Look how cute they are. Ou, Wannie looks like a good kisser. Totally going to have to ask her about that when we get home.” She turned to see Pilkyo glaring at her again. The tilted her head in confusion. “What?”

“First you scare me and make me think you’re losing your balance or that you are hurt, now you’re wanting to know if my brother is a good kisser?”

Nik couldn’t help but laugh. He was being ridiculous. But that’s part of his charm. She gave him an eskimo kiss, rubbing their noses together and looking the sulking vocalist in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to kiss him, I promise.” She pecked him on the lips. “I’m just curious because they look cute together. Don’t you agree?” When he returned the smile, she brushed her lips against his one more time before sliding back off the ledge.

“Ready to go back down?” He asked. Nik nodded and they walked back down the stairs.

When they got back downstairs, the three other couples had returned. Dongwan was carrying Briley on his back and she looked happier than either of her friends had ever seen her.

“They’re so cute,” Lily squeed excitedly. Hyemi and Nik agreed, and the men all rolled their eyes.

Pilkyo leaned in to whisper to Dongwan, “Nik saw you kissing,” and Dongwan burst out laughing.

“Dirty old man better not hurt my baby sister,” Nik threatened intimidatingly, but then leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek.

“I could never,” he promised. “Wait, did you just call me old?”

“Ten years older than me, you’re old.” Nik winked and everyone was laughing. This ordeal started a round of teasing that went on for over an hour. By the time they were winding down, Minwoo, Sunho, and Aaron were arriving back from their train ride and it was almost time for Family Fun Night.