A/N: Somewhere out there is a parallel universe where I update exactly when I said I will lol. Unfortunately, life kept me busy, but I’m back with another chapter!! Welcome new subscribers -  I can’t believe we crossed 50!! Thanks for subscribing everyone :) And thank you so much for your comments and upvotes!! They make me so happy!! Hope you like this chapter!!

Song: MONSTA X’s Incomparable

Enjoy!!

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Chapter – 8: Incomparable

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‘Ji Hyun, take my hand.’

She looked back at him from a few feet ahead and shook her head at him before she continued to try and walk while keeping herself upright.

‘Aishh.’ Wonho muttered under his breath out of frustration. She’d nearly slipped thrice already, and his heart had leapt into his throat each time. The rain was coming down on them in an icy shower, and that helped neither the visibility nor the condition of the old road beneath their feet. It also didn’t help that she’s treated him with a frosty silence since they’d started their trek to the studio, which was now seeming to take forever.

There was a short shriek and he looked up to see that Ji Hyun had managed to catch herself before she fell yet again, only this time one of her feet had landed deep in a puddle with an off-putting squelch. She glanced down at her totally ruined mud-covered heels. Her lower lip trembled miserably.

‘Ji Hyun, I’m sorry, I really am. There’s no way I meant for this to happen I – ‘

She blinked at him in surprise before abruptly glancing at something over his shoulder, but he couldn’t have cared less.

‘Wonho – ‘

‘No, look, I’m sorry about your heels I – ‘

He never got to finish the sentence as she grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and pulled him forward. He fell harshly, catching his balance as his hands landed on each side of her head against a shuttered shop window.

There was a loud zoom as a lone car barreled past where he had just been standing earlier.

Wonho turned towards her, both of them panting hard in the aftermath.

Her fists were still clenched in his shirt as her head fell forward against his shoulder and she took a shaky breath.

There was no sound apart from the fat drops hitting the street from the lip of the overhang they were under.

Ji Hyun pulled back slowly to lean against the shutters, her grip loosening and relieved eyes meeting his.

‘They’re just . . . stupid shoes . . .’ she muttered weakly.

The next moments were silent, and Wonho knew he was standing too close to her, that he should probably step away, but he couldn’t, rooted there as he took in her features. Her drenched auburn hair was red-tinged chocolate against her fair skin, some of the loose fine strands that had escaped her bun plastered against her pretty face.

He stared so unabashedly, even though he could feel her gaze on him.

A lone drop fell from the ends of his inky hair to land against her cheek, and though her hand came up to wipe it off, he beat her there. His palm covered the side of her face as his thumb brushed away the moisture, lingering much more than needed, but as his gaze fell to her red lips, parted so slightly, he felt like he just had to touch her.

Her hazel eyes were wide, and so open that he could see every thought she had in that moment, that they were both dancing around each other once again. He knew that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, right there, alone in the middle of the street like this. Wonho could feel her breath hitch as he leaned lower a little, as if pulled in by her gravity.

Then she blinked, and he saw her eyes grow clouded again, the doubts and hesitancy taking over anything else.

‘We should get to the studio.’ She said, and he pulled back to let her leave, the finality in her tone stomping down at every thought in his head which just told him to pull her back to him.

But he wasn’t going to give up just yet.

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‘Oppa! What happened to you?!’ Yeojoo asked worriedly as her brother walked in like a wind-swept sparrow and carefully set his umbrella aside.

‘Got caught in the downpour.’

‘What? Didn’t you have a coat or something?’

Much to her surprise, color rose to Kihyun’s face.

‘Forgot it at work. I’m going to go bed. Dinner’s in the fridge.’ He said brusquely and she stared after him, wondering what was up with his weird behavior.

The keypad beeped again, and this time the door opened to reveal a slightly disheveled Shownu pulling his tie loose.

For a brief moment, Yeojoo considered what she had done to deserve this before regaining her senses.

‘Welcome back, Oppa.’

She immediately stilled in embarrassment as she realized just how domestic that sounded, but Shownu just gave her a smile and a ‘Hey,’ as he set his shoes aside and walked to the kitchen.

She followed after him to get the food Kihyun had made out from the fridge.

Ten minutes later, Shownu and Yeojoo were seated at the dinner table, a steaming bowls of soft tofu stew and various side dishes before them.

‘How was your day?’ she asked conversationally.

‘Fine, you?’

‘Not too bad, things have been getting busier.’

‘Hmm.’

Out of the corner of her eye, the young woman watched her phone light up once more. Another text from Dodo no doubt. All day long she’d been pestered about finding a date to the theatre opening, or more accurately about asking Shownu to be said date. She knew very well that it would be awkward to show up by herself, especially at such a formal event, so she’s finally caved and texted Jooheon for advice, who’d sent back a simple reply – ‘Ask him, you won’t know unless you do. And it’s Shownu hyung – you’ve known him all your life.’

That had both helped and not helped, and there was nothing more confusing than that.

‘Problem?’

‘Ah, um, something like that.’ She said, ‘There’s a theatre opening that I have to attend this weekend.’

‘Sounds like fun.’

‘It can be,’ she grimaced, ‘but I have to bring a date and I don’t have one.’

‘How’s that possible?’ Shownu asked in his usual matter-of-fact manner, and she ducked her head as a blush spread across her face. There it was, the perfect opening to ask him, to just say something like ‘Do you want to go with me?’, but she looked at him, finding his dark gaze on her, and she chickened out.

‘It-it just happened that way, I guess. I don’t want to ask Kihyun oppa to go . . . ‘

‘I could go with you.’

Everything stopped. She wasn’t sure she’d heard that right. Could it really be true?

‘Huh?’

‘If you want, I mean, I could go with you.’ He said nonchalantly as he absently scratched at his chin, his ears a curious shade of red.

‘Yes! I – um – that would be really nice.’

Wow, way to not be overenthusiastic. It’s not a date.

He gave her a small smile that turned her insides to jelly.

That was going to be hard to remember.

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By the time they made it up the uneven road, despite her earlier protests, Ji Hyun was clinging onto Wonho’s arm. She felt bad for the way her nails practically dug into his hard bicep through his white shirt, which was translucent thanks to the rain, but she was trying really hard not to think about that since he was the only thing keeping her upright. And she wasn’t about to take a chance with that, no matter the way her heart stuttered when she felt his muscles beneath her touch.

Especially since she hadn’t gotten over what had happened earlier. In the deepest corners of her heart, she could admit that she’d wanted his kiss.

With shivering, shaking fingers, she unlocked the studio door, feeling very much like she was locking herself into the devil’s lair. Like there would be