We had agreed on two rules: 1) no being seen together in public (at least in this town), and 2) no photographs.

Today, she had broken one of them.

“Do you remember our rules, unnie?” I asked in a low voice as soon as we entered her apartment.

She nodded weakly. “I-I remember…”

“Then what the were you doing back there?”

I saw her flinched and I didn’t care.

We were supposed to go our separate ways after our date in the next town, but I was suddenly feeling feverish and dizzy. The next thing I knew, she was next to me with her arms wrapped around me while people were passing us by. I nearly smacked her in public because I was afraid someone we recognized would see us; someone like Jung Wheein.

“Y-You didn’t look well,” she argued lamely, her voice cracking with every word. “I-I just wanted to help…”

Truthfully, I still felt a little ill, but my anger towards her was stronger than any illnesses combined.

“Well, you shouldn’t have,” I grumbled as I plopped down onto her bed and laid there, staring up at the ceiling with my arms spread wide. “I was fine on my own.”

I felt the bed dipped a little and her face hovered over mine. She placed her hand on my forehead and scowled. “But you’re burning up, Hyejin-ah…”

I sighed, my eyes fluttering shut against my will. “It’s just a little fever,” I mumbled, secretly enjoying the weight of her hand on my forehead. “I’ll be fine…”

There was a beat of silence and then she moved her hand away. I almost whined at the loss of contact before I felt something soft pressed against my forehead. My eyes snapped open in surprise; she was looking down at me with so much warmth and softness that my heart fluttered a little.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a small smile. “I promise I won’t break the rules anymore.”

“You better not,” I sighed and looped my hands around her neck, pulling her down for a hug. “I would hate to give up your warm hugs.”

Her chuckle in my ear sent shivers down my spine.

“I would hate that too...”

The flashback went away just as it had come – without warning and without those blinding headaches. Hyejin blinked and found herself staring into familiar brown orbs.

“Hyejin…?” Byulyi asked hesitantly, her eyes narrowed with concern. “Are you okay?”

Hyejin blinked and nodded. “Y-Yes, I am,” she replied with a small smile. Then, she remembered Byulyi’s words and her smile was replaced by a frown. “On second thought, I’m not okay.” She glared at Byulyi, arms crossed tightly over her chest. “I don’t understand what secrets you’re referring to, unnie, because I have nothing to hide.”

“Then will you be okay with telling everyone about us?” Byulyi asked with a raised brow. “Your CEO, the media…everyone?”

“Yeah, of course,” Hyejin answered with a shrug. “I’m not ashamed of you. I just can’t date you publicly because of my contract.”

The only reason I was hiding our relationship in the past was because of Jung Wheein. Now that Wheein knew about us, I didn’t need to hide anymore.

A long silence fell over the interior of the car before Wheein burst out laughing from the driver’s seat, reminding Hyejin and Byulyi that they were not, in fact, alone.

“She got you there, unnie,” Wheein giggled. “What are you going to do now~?”

“Hyejin just needs to inform the CEO and everything will be fine,” Yongsun chimed in, her lips twitching amusedly. “I don’t see any reason for a break-up, Byul-ah…”

“Why didn’t you do that when we dated, unnie?” Wheein queried, glancing sideways at her girlfriend.

“I did,” Yongsun huffed in annoyance. “How did you think we manage to sneak around without the media knowing?”

“I was wondering why there weren’t any news,” Wheein chuckled, “because we weren’t exactly subtle…”

Hyejin grimaced, remembering those days a little too well. Practically everyone in the company knew Wheein and Yongsun were secretly dating; they didn’t even bother to hide the trails they left behind after they finished “sneaking around”.

She shoved the memory away and returned her attention back to Byulyi who was frowning down at her bandaged hand. “So,” she raised an eyebrow, “are we still breaking up, unnie?”

Byulyi slowly lifted her head and gave her a sheepish smile. “Did I overreact?”

“Yes,” Hyejin sighed, “yes, you did.”

Suddenly, she had an idea.

A playful smirk made its way onto her face as she gestured for Byulyi to raise her hands up. The puzzled older woman did as asked and watched with wide eyes as Hyejin scooted closer to her until she was practically sitting on Byulyi’s lap. Then, she intertwined her hands behind Byulyi’s neck and slowly leaned in.

“If you’re still feeling doubtful about us, unnie,” she whispered, enjoying the myriad of emotions playing across Byulyi’s face, “you can come to me and I will ease all your worries.”

Byulyi swallowed hard and nodded her head to indicate her agreement, her eyes never leaving Hyejin’s mouth that was only inches away from hers.

Hyejin noted the dark look in the older woman’s eyes and felt an unexpectedly pleasant thrill coursing through her body. She ran her tongue over her lips as her eyes fell on Byulyi’s half-parted lips; lips that were just begging to be kissed.

With her heart beating rapidly against her chest, as if it was their first time kissing, she finally closed the gap between them and captured Byulyi’s lips in a soft yet passionate kiss.

“Yah, yah, yah! No making out in the backseat!”

Hearing Wheein’s sharp voice, Hyejin quickly pulled away, face flushed and breathing laboured. She gently pushed herself off of Byulyi, wiping away at the smudged lipstick on the edges of , and smiled apologetically at Wheein who was glaring at her through the rearview mirror.

Then, she snuck a glance at Byulyi. The older woman was still in the same position, still looking stunned with her hands still up in the air.

Hyejin bit back a laugh, curving into a devilish smirk, as she gently helped Byulyi to sit upright again. Then, she linked their arms together, careful not to bump into Byulyi’s injured hand, and leaned her head on Byulyi’s shoulder. Her smirk turned into a soft smile when she felt Byulyi leaning her head against hers and they stayed like that for the rest of the ride.