MINJOO entered the living room with cups of hot chocolate on a tray that Yujin asked her to prepare. She slowly made her way in but stopped halfway after noticing the thick atmosphere between Yujin and the visitor. Both are sitting on opposite seats, the glasses guy is currently admiring the works of Yujin while the latter just gawks at him.

Yujin calls the said guy Hyejoon. Minjoo somehow felt like that name was familiar, so was the guy’s face. She unconsciously let out a gasp after the long-haired guy removed his mask. That face is indeed a sight to behold.

If it wasn’t because of his deep voice, Minjoo would’ve mistaken him as a girl. He has eyes that speak for himself. Everytime those specs land on Minjoo she feels like her whole existence is being examined. But then that guy would just give her a cute closed-lip smile that would suddenly turn him into a puppy from a wolf.

Minjoo decided to step in. She placed one mug of hot chocolate for Hyejoon and then one for Yujin as well. She also made one for herself. Minjoo was about to excuse herself when Yujin asked her to sit beside her.

She saw another puppy-like smile from the visitor. Somehow, his smile reminds him of Yujin.

“I see… You have finally moved on from me, Ahn Yujin.” Hyejoon stated which took Minjoo aback. He turned to Yujin’s girlfriend beside her but Yujin was in her defensive state. That poker face says so.

“Please don’t say unnecessary things, Hyejoon-ssi.” Yujin talked back with her arms crossed. “It isn’t funny.”

The guy smiled before taking a sip of the hot chocolate. His face lit up right after that one sip. “Wow! This is well-prepared! Thank you for this, Miss…?”

Minjoo flinched a little. “M-Minjoo… Kim Minjoo.”

“You got a nice name, Kim Minjoo-ssi. It is nice to meet you.” The visitor continued with his drink after giving off a compliment.

“T-Thank you.” Minjoo’s stammering caught Yujin’s attention. And what is with those sudden rosy cheeks? Yujin started frowning.

“Anyway, Hyejoon-ssi. Please tell me what brought you here at this time. You came without notifications.” Somehow Minjoo traced irritation from those words of Yujin.

Hyejoon wiped his lips first before answering. “It’s quite a story, Yujin. I was about to go on a trip with my friends but I found out that my manager booked a different schedule so I had no choice but to go. I decided to just go to Aeri's house for a surprise visit but I found out that they are on a vacation in Hawaii. I was the one who was surprised. I thought of staying at a hotel but I might attract attention and then I remembered that your unit is just nearby so I gave it a shot.”

“That’s some luck you got there.” Yujin then crossed her legs this time. “So you're telling me that you waited for me for three hours in this cold weather without anything to keep you warm?”

“The security told me that you will be back today so I waited. Actually, I went to Joohyunie’s café earlier to get something but I forgot my coat there and just went out. I was already back here when I realised and I was too lazy to get it back.”

Minjoo’s eyes widened. Snow just stopped falling and the temperature is below zero. How could he just say that he is too lazy to pick his coat up from that café? How could he even realise it late? He should’ve already felt cold right after coming out.

“You actually visited Joohyun-unnie, huh?” Yujin’s sigh then caught her attention. “But… Just because you don’t feel cold doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any effect on your body. Be careful just for once, Hyejoon-ssi.”

“I wonder when you will stop calling me with –ssi. People aren’t supposed to call their cousins like that.” Hyejoon’s smile isn’t faltering. He then took another gulp of the drink.

“It’s because I don’t know how I should call you anymore!” There goes Ahn Yujin displaying her annoyance. She couldn’t handle the tease coming from the other girl. Minjoo was startled.

Knowing that she frightened her girl, Yujin tried to gather herself by taking a deep breath. “Minjoo,” The girl then automatically looked at Yujin, surprised that her name was suddenly called. “This weird person is actually a blood relative, a second cousin to be exact.”

“S-Second cousin?” Minjoo asked.

Yujin shook her head. She hates explaining family relationships especially about this certain person so she thought of showing Minjoo the consanguinity table later.

“This person is Baek Hyejoon. I am sure you have heard that name from the news a lot.”

The glasses guy laughed. “Just say TV. Telling her that I came out on the news a lot makes me feel like I am some sort of a criminal.”

“B-Baek Hyejoon?” Minjoo repeated the name and then realisation struck her. “You mean the Baek Hyejoon?”

The glasses guy straightened his back and smiled. “Yeah, that is me.”

(A/N: Baek Hyejoon is an OC from a story I posted somewhere else. As I said before, I like making a small universe out of the stories that I write. I didn't explain everything about him because it would take too much time and would terribly spoil the other story. I just casually talked about him. I hope you understand and consider his existence in this fic as well. Thank you. :) )

CHILLY wind welcomed Minjoo when she went out of her room. Sleep was immediately wiped from her eyes when the breeze slapped her face. She tried to wake up early to prepare breakfast for Yujin and the visitor but who would’ve thought that the visitor would be the one to wake up first?

And there she found her by the terrace playing with the snow—only in his pyjamas. Minjoo rushed to the porch and called out to the guy. Hyejoon turned to her with a huge smile on his face.

“Good morning, Minjoo-ssi! Snow poured out while we were sleeping. Look at this!” He presented the little snowman that he made. Minjoo immediately noticed the colour of his hands and hurriedly pulled him back inside. She closed the porch window and then boosted up the room temperature a little.

She then prepared some green tea for the guy so he could warm himself. But Hyejoon didn’t take even a sip of the tea. He just used the warm mug to bring his hands back to their original colour.

Yujin told her everything that she should know aside from what the public already knows about the guy called Baek Hyejoon. Aside from that dark background that he has that made his name a household name in Korea and how he managed to be friends with the nation’s most popular idols, who would’ve thought that Baek Hyejoon is related to the heiress of the great Ahn clan.

“One of my grandmothers was given into marriage to the Baek clan so that both clans may gain more power. You know how powerful the Baek clan was. They were technically controlling most of East Asia and SouthEast Asia. And I guess you already know what happened to the said family, am I right?”

Yujin also explained the reason why she calls Hyejoon with –ssi. Yujin used to visit the Baek household when she was young because of the situation of their company. They came to the point that they needed assistance from the Baeks.

Hyejoon, who is seven years older than Yujin, would always be seen with bruises and wounds every time they visit. They did look severe but Yujin never saw any sign of pain from him. It was later discovered that he was being physically abused by his father for not becoming the son that he desires.

They all thought that her numbness to pain was brought by years of torture but it was recently found out that she has chromosome condition called Chromosome 6 Deletion. People who have it are very rare and most of them have distinctive facial features, intellectual deficiency, delay in development and behavioural problems.

As far as Yujin’s memory is concerned, Hyejoon doesn’t have any intellectual deficiency. The truth is she considers him as a genius for being able to speak and learn languages quickly. There isn't a distinctive facial feature as well; if he has to consider one then it would be his stunning eyes and genderless look.

And to clear whatever misunderstanding Hyejoon’s line “You have finally moved on from me” might cause them, Yujin honestly told Minjoo that she once admired Hyejoon. She liked his intelligence since they only studied every time she went to their mansion. She also expressed admiration for how cool Hyejoon looks as well. That’s the reason why she couldn’t just drop the -ssi, it’s her own form of respect to the guy.

“He is weird, right?”

Minjoo was a little surprised when Yujin suddenly appeared, holding a glass of warm milk in her hand. She leaned by the kitchen sink while looking at what Minjoo was cooking.

“Oh, good morning, Yujin.” Minjoo gave her a warm smile that is warmer than the milk that she’s drinking. “You looked like you didn’t sleep well. Did something happen?”

A sigh was then heard from the Ahn heiress. She is badly disappointed because her plan to sleep beside Minjoo was not properly executed, all thanks to her cousin. To add up, it was really so awkward to sleep in the same room with Hyejoon since they aren’t really that close in the first place.

“I just had a really hard time, I guess.” Yujin put her glass down and then hugged Minjoo from behind. The sudden skinship made Minjoo panicked that she almost dropped her spatula but Yujin gave her a comforting embrace.

“Y-Yujin…” Minjoo called. She could already feel her cheeks burning. “Your cousin might see us.”

“It’s fine. Hyejoon-ssi knows that you are my girlfriend.” Yujin buried her face on Minjoo's shoulder while inhaling the scent that she loves. “I told him right away in case she got fished by your beauty.”

“Yujin…”

“Silly Ahn Yujin, I also have a girlfriend and she’s gorgeous as well so I can’t afford looking at other people.” The two jerked from their places when Hyejoon suddenly spoke. He is leaning at the kitchen bar while snacking on a fresh yoghurt she got from the fridge. “And I tell you she gets jealous really easily so yeah. I agree that Minjoo-ssi is really beautiful but I am not the unfaithful type so don’t sweat about it.”

“I hope you know what the word privacy means, Hyejoon-ssi.” Yujin scowled at her but Hyejoon just smiled.

“Sorry, Ahn Yujin~ Don’t worry, I will be out soon and you won’t have any mood-wrecker.” Hyejoon gave them a wink before going back to the living room.

“That person!” Yujin slapped her forehead before massaging her temple. She knew that Hyejoon would be a big disturbance.

Minjoo found that expression of Yujin cute, giving her snickers. “Don’t worry, Yujin. Hyejoon-ssi seems like a really nice person. He has a bright personality.”

Yujin’s face darkened a bit and it was followed by a sharp intake of breath. “Well, I am glad that he is enjoying his life now. He gave up with life countless times before he found his resurrection.”

She didn’t say anything special but Minjoo could feel how much Yujin cares for her cousin. She might say that they aren’t that close but she does care. Minjoo also found out that their first meeting after the time Hyejoon went missing was in the hospital and Yujin would never forget the relief she felt after hearing that Hyejoon woke up from comatose. On the other hand, Yujin is one of the few people that Hyejoon lets her call by that name—a sign that Yujin is important for the older guy as well.

“Anyway Minjoo, I have to drop Hyejoon-ssi to SKKU later. He said that he’ll meet his friends there and he will be staying with them after that. I also have to drop some sculptures that will be featured at this year’s Winter Art Exhibit. It would be lonely to stay alone here, would you like to come with us?”

“Sure, I don’t have anything to do anyway.” Minjoo gave Yujin a cute smile which made the other girl smile as well, revealing her cute dimples. She ruffled Minjoo’s hair and asked her when will she stop being cute but the heiress suddenly stiffened when she smelled something.

“M-Minjoo-ya!” Yujin panicked. “Y-Your omelette is burning!”

“ACK!” Minjoo started panicking as well after seeing the breakfast she was preparing turning into a block of carcinogen. Not knowing what to do first, Minjoo tried to turn off the stove but her hand slightly touched the pan itself.

Seeing that her future masterpiece cried out in pain, Yujin stiffened on the spot. She got so surprised and being the house chore-clueless heiress that she is, Yujin felt her life was in trouble with that little fire.

“YA! Ahn Yujin, what are you standing there for!?”

And it happened so fast. Yujin just saw Hyejoon jumped like a ninja and crossed the kitchen bar, grabbing Minjoo by the wrist to put the girl’s hand into running cold water. Yujin wasn’t able to do anything.

“Are you okay, Minjoo-ssi?” Hyejoon asked. He rushed back to the kitchen after hearing a scream, his half-eaten yoghurt splattered on the floor. “It got a little bit red. Does it hurt?”

“N-No… It doesn’t hurt much. I think I was just really surprised. I over-reacted…” Minjoo answered.

“Of course it might not hurt now but tell me if it gets too painful so we could give it proper treatment.”

“I-I’m sorry for being careless.” Minjoo’s eyes started tearing up, feeling so embarrassed of what happened. This is the reason why she got kicked out from her part-time jobs.

“Don’t be sorry. Accidents happen.” Hyejoon turned to Yujin who was just looking at them, her face still covered with shock. With a calm voice, Hyejoon called, “Yujin-ah, come here.”

“Y-Yes!” Yujin immediately went near the two. Hyejoon handed Minjoo's hand and told her to keep it in running water while the glasses guy takes care of the stove. It seems like Minjoo has put the stove in the hottest it can get. That's why the omelette burned easily.

Yujin looked at Minjoo’s hands with apologetic puppy eyes.

“I’m sorry…”

Minjoo looked at her girlfriend and those sorry eyes just got into her again. She saw how Yujin repeatedly shook her head while she tended to Minjoo’s burn. She gently caresses Minjoo’s hand, making sure that the cold water goes straight to the burn.

“I’m really sorry, Minjoo-ya… It was my fault… I was so noisy. I distracted you…”

Minjoo stopped Yujin from washing her hands and removed the sculptor’s hand from the cold stream. Surprised by her girlfriend’s action, Yujin raised her head to look at Minjoo only to be more surprised by a quick kiss on the lips coming from the other girl herself.

“Minjoo-ya…” Yujin called under her breath, her cheeks tainted with pink.

The other girl’s eyes widened after realising what she just did. She immediately let go of Yujin’s hands and wiped her hands on her apron. Averting Yujin’s stare, Minjoo kept looking at the floor. “I-I’m sorry! I just… I-I just don’t want you to feel guilty…! I-It was my fault for being clumsy…”

The Ahn heiress was still in a daze. When was the last time that they kissed anyway? She has been worrying about it since she couldn’t get the right timing for it. But then, there was Minjoo taking the lead with the intimacy. Was her being slow made her impatient?

“A-And you suddenly s-sounded like that! W-What do you think that would m-make me feel!?” Minjoo covered her face and wiped the stray hairs from her flustered beautiful face. “Why am I even explaining like this—“

Minjoo was then silenced when Yujin pushed and pinned her by the sink. Then the next thing that she knew was that Yujin started kissing her. Surprised and worried about Hyejoon’s presence, Minjoo tried to push Yujin away but the taller girl is much stronger. She opened her eyes and saw Hyejoon was nowhere to be found.

“Don’t worry. I heard his phone rang a while ago…” Yujin whispered to her before kissing her again. Minjoo struggled once more but Y