Lying in bed minutes later, I drift into a slow and deep sleep while thinking about the opened-shirt, dampened-haired man in the other room.

Man, I need to get laid.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I jolt up to the sound of my alarm clock indicating that it’s 10am; pretty late for me to be waking up only now. I yawn and stretch my limbs before scrambling out of bed for the bathroom. When I exit my room after doing my business, I run into the sound of two people talking quietly.

I don’t want to eavesdrop on their convo, but being the curious person I am... I have to.

“So, when are you going to tell him?” That’s Min hyung's voice. Who’s the ‘he’ he’s talking about?

“I can't, Minnie. I'm afraid of what he’ll think of me.” And there goes Hyukjae’s voice, catching my attention like a mouse in a cheese trap. Does Hyukjae like someone? I think curiously, and then, ! That's something I should have asked last night! I just barely refrain from slapping myself. I get back to eavesdropping.

“Come on, Hyuk, I know he'll be happy. I'm sure he likes you too.” My heart sinks like a cannonball. Hyukjae does like someone else. I have no chance. I breathe out a harsh and heavy sigh. “Dongh—” I hear Min hyung begin, but then all of a sudden their conversation stops short.

I haven’t noticed that I’ve stepped out into the open until my eyes focus on 2 pairs of eyes staring back at me. One set of eyes look amused and contented while the others are wide and shocked.

These are Hyukjae’s eyes.

“A-Ah, D-Donghae... H-How long have y-you b-been standing there?” Hyukjae asks and I my head to the side wondering why the guy’s stuttering.

A relay of questions run through my mind, things like: Why is he so afraid of me hearing his conversation? Does he already know I like him? That I might love him? Could it be that they were talking about me?!!??!?!?!?!?!

Nope. None of those. Wishful thinking.

I slap a small smile on my thin lips and answer, “Not that long. I just heard you were scared to tell someone you liked him.” I try smirking, but on the inside, my heart is beating like a defeated drum desperate to be heard.

“Donghae, stop teasing him and come and eat your breakfast.” Min hyung snaps and I can see relief in Hyukjae's eyes. Min winks at him. I arch my eyebrow at the whole exchange, wondering just who they were really talking about.

We eat in silence and when we are done, Min hyung puts the dishes into the dishwasher and then whispers something to Hyukjae.

“I'll be leaving again. Do not, and I mean DO NOT try to cook anything in my kitchen.” Sungmin hyung says loudly and goes off to grab his things. “And Donghae, your mom called and told me your train ticket is ready for next week.”

“What?? But I still have 5 weeks left!” I exclaim, nearly revealing in all my despair that I want to be here with Hyukjae at least a little longer. I bite back my words as Sungmin hyung continues.

“She must have forgotten. I'll call her later. Okay guys, you two behave and I'll see you later.” Sungmin hyung waves, smiles slyly, and glances a little longer at Hyukjae before he leaves.

Behave...? What the hell are they hiding from me?

As soon as the door is closed, I turn to Hyukjae and I can clearly see him shrink away from me. My eyebrow shoots up in silent question and I stare as he says a bit sheepishly, “Umm, Donghae, remember when I said we should go out sometime?”

My heart flips several times and because I don’t think my voice will act right, I stupidly nod my head, my lips flopping oddly. “S-So, let's go out today.” Hyukjae adds, “It will be something simple. I promise.”

We smile at one another for a short time until Hyukjae gets up from his seat and heads for the door. After saying that he’s just leaving?? I wonder, incredulously.

Hyukjae puts a halt to my worries quickly, “I'll be back in four hours.” He says, and I glance at the clock to find it announcing that it is 12:13pm. I realize we've been eating for, like, an hour and a half. Who takes that long to eat?

“O-Okay,” I say with a nearly high-pitched voice and a stiff wave of my hand. Hyukjae gives me yet another gorgeous smile and leaves out the door. With a calming sigh I use to fight away a girly squeal, I run to my room and throw literally every dresser I have in my room to the floor.

I crazily toss my clothes this way and that, trying to find something amazing to wear, but what the do I even have here? It’s not even my house!

Dammit, what in the hell should I wear?! I cry internally before eventually giving it a rest and hurrying to do everything else.

It takes me two hours to take my shower, brush my teeth, and find a proper change of clothes. I look myself over in the mirror, smoothing a hand over a white wife beater under a plaid red-and-black flannel button-up. I am also wearing a pair of white skinny jeans that I hope will show off my nice, plump —hopefully he will look at it all night—and red-and-white Adidas to finish the look.

Apparently, I spend the rest of my time on my hair. I try and fail multiple times to fix my hair up into a really attractive style, slicking it back at one time and putting it into a half-up-half-down man-bun doo another time. Epic fail.

Eventually, I settle for plainly combing it down - why the hell did it take me so long to figure this out? - and am running for the door when the doorbell rings.

I open the door to let an absolutely dazzling Hyukjae in and I literally swoon when he walks past me because damn does he smell good. His cream-colored arms seem long and muscular in the blue-and-black sleeveless shirt he wears, and those denim ripped jeans make him look just as tasty as he smells.

Oh, God. I’m gonna faint.

From his slightly-spiked brown hair and even down to his damn Timbalands, whose color scheme matches his entire outfit, the man is a walking mural.

What have I gotten myself into?!

“Are you ready, Donghae? I have something really nice planned for us.” Hyukjae's eyes shine in an excitement that reaches me as well. Is this a date??? I ask myself, hoping like all hell that it is.

So… I have to ask. “Hyukjae is—is this a d-d-date?”

“What do you think, Donghae?” He answers my question with a question. The ?

“Ugh, well…” I’m trying not to be pissed and awkward at the same time and I’m failing, I know it, “Come on, let's just go.” I say. Man, it's hard to get a straight answer from this guy.

When we get outside, I’m stopped in my tracks at the sight of a fiery red Mitsubishi motorcycle. It’s propped onto its kickstand and leaning to one side cooler than I could ever be.

In my head, all I’m thinking is Wow, he has a motorcycle. That’s so hot… And then, I’m going to ride on his motorcycle! I can barely contain the smile that finds itself twitching all over my face. I know I look crazy. I just know it, but...

Just a little fanboying, no biggie.

Suddenly, Hyukjae hands me a black helmet and snaps me out of my frazzled thoughts. He grabs one for himself, cooly straddles his bike and says, “Hop on, Donghae, and hold on to me tight.” Hyukjae eyes me with a wide grin before slipping his helmet over his head.

I can feel my legs wobbling as my heart triples its pace in my chest. Oh, damn, I think, kill me now.

Five minutes later, I begin to wonder where we're going. We’ve been riding for a while now and have passed by the movie theaters, all the good cafes, and even some of the cute ice-cream stands we see in, like, every park around here.

I have to bang my head against his back to stop thoughts of him kidnapping me. I lie and say the wind almost knocked me over when he asks what’s up with me.

It’s a perfectly stable day today. No wind whatsoever…

Anyway, we end up stopping at a bowling alley. Okay, now that's different. I haven't bowled since I was, like, twelve. I scream internally, afraid to bowl because I don't want to embarrass myself.

We get off the bike and put our helmets back into its storage unit under the seat. We’re walking towards the door when Hyukjae asks, “Donghae, do you know how to bowl?”

“Ha! Uhh... Not really. It's been a long time for me.” I answer while scratching a non-existent head itch.

Hyukjae laughs, “It doesn't matter. I'll teach you.” Hyukjae grabs my hand and calmly leads me into the bowling alley. Meanwhile, I am anything but calm. I’m literally squealing on the inside because the warmth of his hand makes me feel so secure.

I’m really beginning to care for him. A lot.

As soon as we enter, he lets go of my hand and walks over to order our lane and bowling shoes. I blatantly pout because I was just getting used to the feeling of his hand in mine! The disappointment is short-lived, though, and fades as soon as we’re on the bowling lane. Excitement takes over and Hyukjae shoots me one of those smiles again.

“Okay, Donghae,” he says, “we can bowl with the same ball.” Hyukjae shows me a shiny, sapphire blue ball with the name Allide Bowling Alley printed on it. “Let's make a bet, Donghae. I know you said you can't bowl too well, but, like I said, I’ll teach you and the bet will be fair, okay?”

Like the dumb sickly-in-love puppy I am, I nod in agreement, knowing damn well I’m gonna lose… And what are we even betting?

Hyukjae answers me right away, “If I win, you have to tell me something very personal.” Hyukjae says. I nod slowly, but not really in agreement. Instead, I’m thinking, But then what if I win? What do I get? Maybe a kiss, or maybe he will have to tell me he loves me and wants to be my boyfriend. Or maybe he--

“Donghae. Yah, Donghae! You still with me?” Hyukjae shouts, waving his hand back and forth in front of my face until I snap out of my thoughts.

I’m blushing so hard when my eyes focus on him. I love how close his face is to mine and how concerned he looks even though there’s nothing wrong. I stutter when I answer, “A-Ah, yeah. Ha-ha... s-so what do I get if I win?”

“Well, you can ask me anything you'd like. Does that sound good?” He asks me and I smile while nodding a yes in answer. “Now first, let me remind you of how to hold and throw the ball.”

Hyukjae grabs my hand and leads me to the ball dispenser-holder-thingy. He picks up a ball, gently places it in my hands, and instructs me to put my thumb in the big circle, my pointer and middle fingers in the top two holes, and to fold my remaining two fingers under. I carefully do as I’m told, but when I feel Hyukjae’s chest press up against my back and his hands snake over my arms to help me hold the ball correctly, I almost drop the damn thing in surprise.

And then he goes in for the kill. “Now bend over a little like this,” Hyukjae whispers, his plump lips lightly grazing my left ear, “and swing your arm back with the hand that’s holding the ball. Take three steps forward while swinging your arm forward as well, and release.”

I’m about to release something else entirely by the time his y loosens his hold on me.

Anyway, I get a gutter because I’m too damn flustered by what Hyukjae does to me, and he giggles charmingly. “Cute.” He says and I blush so hard because he ing called me cute and I’m suddenly fanboying too hard to stop myself.

For my second turn, Hyukjae tells me to do the same thing, and this time, I knock down three bowling pins! I turn to him smiling and jumping up and down. Hyukjae pats my back and issues a quick, “Good job, Hae.”

I lost my smile instantly. He just called me 'Hae' again. I love the sound of my nickname rolling of his tongue. I’m ing obsessed.

I cover a huge, red blush with my hands and hurry to sit down so I can watch him bowl. He knocks down nine pins and my mouth is left hanging open while he then knocks down the last bowling pin, getting a spare.

Damn, he's good… It has been reconfirmed that I’m not going to beat him. Not even close.

Ha! Or so I thought!

By the end of the game, Hyukjae has to knock down only three pins to win. Like hell I’m gonna let him do that, so I cough as loudly as I can when he’s about to release the ball. Surprised by the disturbance, Hyukjae’s bowling ball goes straight into the gutter. He scores zero points.

I cackle as I jump up, shouting, “I win, I win!”

“You cheated, Hae!” Hyukjae says with a deep pout on his face.

Hey, hey, don’t give me that. This is a game of love and war. I had to win. I’ve had a question on my mind all along and I need an answer to it, badly.

“S-So, Hyukjae, I can ask you any question, right?” I ask, ignoring his cute pout, for the most part. It’s too cute to ignore completely. Hyukjae comes to sit down right in front of me.

“Okay, Donghae, what is the question you want to ask?” He asks me.

I take a deep breath and start shakily, “Okay s-so... have you ever gone to Mokpo before? Do you know a girl named Eunhyuk? And I heard you and Sungmin hyung talking about you loving someone. Who were you talking about?” I ask three questions quickly, literally desiring an answer for each one.

.

I really want to know.

“Not fair, Donghae, you asked three questions. So, I'm only answering one.” Hyukjae says to me. But, oh hell no, he's not getting away from my questions!

“You didn't say I could only ask you one, you said I could ask anything. So you have to answer all of them.” I say while I defiantly stick my tongue out, trying to act calm even though my heart is beating like crazy. I stare deep into his eyes, waiting.