*Warning. This chapter and probably all of the ones following it contain high amounts of cheesy content so brace yourselves oki? Sorry in advance; I'm also dying as I write....gah*

"Maybe I should’ve stayed at my school and transferred to your school—that way I can see you anytime I want.”

-Jeon Jungkook

Chapter 16: A Bunny’s Sigh and a Beast’s Smile

“Um, are you okay?” Cindy eyed her best friend sitting in the seat next to her as she set her bag down, ready for class...that was about to start in a few minutes. Second class of the day meant both her and what appeared to be a zombie she was now sitting with were up at least by 7. Maybe that’s why Park Hamin looked so tired with bags under her eyes she didn’t care to conceal with makeup.

But what could possibly explain the look of excitement in her eyes..? 

“Yeah,” Hamin nodded stiffly, unable to hide a grin spreading across her face. Cindy examined her face, narrowing her own eyes. How could someone be a total zombie but have flushed and lively vibes underneath? Something wasn’t making sense.

Was Hamin tired or pumped?

Because at the moment, she could pass off looking like someone on drugs or something—

“Did you drink?” Cindy leaned in to try to smell Hamin’s breath.

“No, are you crazy? I would never on a school day,” Hamin pushed her friend away and laughed. Cindy shook her head and continued to eye her friend suspiciously. 

“Then why do you look like that?” she asked, unable to figure it out.

“Look like what?” Hamin raised her eyebrows, pretending not to know what her friend was talking about. 

“You look exhausted like you didn’t get any sleep and yet...there’s so much energy in you at the same time...did you overdose on caffeine last night?” Cindy tried to guess, placing a finger to her lips.

Dang, was she that obvious?

Or was Cindy just a female, Asian Sherlock?

Probably both.

Hamin couldn’t seem to look at her friend anymore, her cheeks heating up. Because if anything, she was overdosed with Jung Hoseok last night. A man worse than drugs. The memories of last night flooded into her mind, painting her face pink with blush:

As soon as the two had confessed their love for one another, they became magnets, unable to break apart. And Hamin had never experienced anything like the love Hoseok was expressing; it was all new to her and yet very sweet.

She felt his hot lips gently gnaw at her soft ones for a minute before his slender hands smoothly slid down her back, wrapping around her waist in an attempt to pull her closer to him. Hamin wrapped her own arms around his neck, and she could feel him briefly smile through their kiss, only to quickly pick up the pace afterwards. His lips were soon passionately exploring her own, leaving her dizzy and breathless. She was getting drunk in his lemongrass scent.

And Hoseok wasn’t quite in his rational state either.

Picking her up by the legs, he carried her to his bed, making sure not to break the kiss. His strong arms set her down like a princess ever so gently, his lips contrasting that tenderness by mercilessly seizing her entire mouth now. Their breathing became heavy and Hamin wasn’t sure if she could keep up with the beast’s desires without passing out.

The two were in their own world, tangled up and drunk with what many might call “love.” But just as Hoseok was nearly about to rip his shirt off (omg what), something in his mind clicked, stopping him. A voice inside of him broke through and kindly reminded him of the dear fact that Park Hamin was a college student.

Which meant she probably had classes tomorrow and Jung Hoseok needed to respect that...as much as he didn’t want to. 

Frick, I forgot I’m dating a baby, he told himself before he slowly pulled away, planting one last kiss on Hamin’s soft, plump lips.

Hamin quickly opened her eyes at the absence of Hoseok’s warmth. She looked up at him with wide eyes, clearly asking him why he stopped and Hoseok had to bite his lip to refrain from jumping on her for round 2. It didn’t help that her arms were still around him either, a feeling that Hoseok had yearned for for a while now.

Using every muscle of will-power he didn’t really have in the first place, Hoseok forced himself to wrap his hands around hers before undoing her arms around his neck. 

“Is something wrong Mr. Jung?” she whispered. Hoseok smiled, shaking his head.

“Nothing’s wrong, I just...think we should stop before I end up making you stay the whole night,” Hoseok chuckled, his voice soft and deep as he gazed down at her. 

“Oh,” Hamin turned away, unable to help but feel a little disappointed. Hoseok wanted to grab her face to make her look at him again at that, but he didn’t have to when all of a sudden Hamin whipped her head back, looking Hoseok in the eye. He almost flinched. She didn’t really know where this confidence or desire within her was coming from, but if she was Hoseok’s remedy, Hoseok was—without a doubt—her drug or even worse, making her crave him more.

So she had to ask.

“What’s the problem with me staying the whole night?” she pouted.

Hoseok died.

From her cuteness of course.

He couldn’t even hold back a laugh as he tightly wrapped his arms around her now laying down next to her on his large bed...fully comfortable for two people to sleep on (cough). 

“Oh believe me, I’d give anything for you to spend the night here with me,” Hoseok muttered, giving her head a small kiss. He her hair as he continued, “But I remembered I’m dating a baby who’s got class tomorrow.”

“Well I can always skip—” Hamin began to say but Hoseok stopped her.

“No Min-ah. I don’t want to take you away from your studies. You need to prioritize school at least for now so you can become that animator you dream to be, remember?” Hoseok slightly pulled back to gaze into Hamin’s eyes as he continued, “And that was one of the things about you I fell for, you know. The fact that my girl knows her passions and exactly what she wants, striving towards her goal. How y is that.” 

Hoseok gave Hamin a smirk and Hamin felt her face grow hot as she tried to wiggle out of Hoseok’s grasp out of embarrassment but failed of course because Hoseok only tightened his grip. Still, she was touched at how respectful and remembering the beast was towards her aspirations, making her nod in response.

“Okay...thank you,” she ended up saying, rolling her eyes playfully. She returned Hoseok’s smirk, “Well I just thought you ended our first kiss a little too abruptly—”

“Who said this was our first kiss?” Hoseok interrupted. Hamin froze. 

“What?” she asked back, pulling slightly away from him. What did he mean..? 

If this wasn’t our first kiss then...when was our...first? she rolled her eyes from left to right, thinking hard.

But nothing came to mind.

“Oh right,” Hoseok shrugged as he lifted his head up, now resting his face on his palm with his elbow on his bed. He still had one hand playing with Hamin’s hair. He smiled mischievously, “I guess it doesn’t count if you don’t remember it.”

“Why wouldn’t I remember something like that?” Hamin also lifted her head, looking straight into Hoseok’s eyes. Of course she would know and recall something as important as a first kiss—unless she was so drunk her mind deleted all footage of what had happened the night she and Hoseok shared their first kiss.

Shoot. No way, Hamin internally groaned but she wanted to confirm her thoughts.

“Did it happen during the night you took me home after the banquet? Was that what I did to you..?! Did I like...kiss you like...forcefully?” Hamin began to stutter as all these realizations were hitting her.

She could practically hear Jimin now: “I’ll just say you did something you better apologize a hundred times for.”

Hoseok bursted out laughing at the sight of Hamin now sitting up, her hands waving in the air as her face flushed with red and repeated, “I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry.”

He quickly sat up and pecked her lips to shut her up.

Hamin stared at him baffled and even more flushed.

“Oh I’m sorry. Do I need to apologize for that too? I literally forced a kiss didn’t I?” Hoseok grinned as he pecked her lips again.

“Oh I’m sorry.”

 And again. 

“Sorry.”

And again. 

“Do I need to say it again?”

Hamin giggled, pushing him away. Hoseok grabbed her hands, looking at her.

“We don’t need to worry about feeling sorry about the past anymore okay? What’s important is now. And that we can do it as much as we want now without feeling sorry,” he raised an eyebrow with a half smile. 

“Then why’d you stop earlier—” Hamin began to say but caught herself. She couldn’t believe she was saying such a thing. 

Okay am I really that desperate..? she wondered, a little shocked at herself. She never felt like this before.

Probably because she’s never been this in love before.

But then again, didn’t Hoseok just say they could do “it” as much as they wanted..?

Assuming “it” was what she thought it was.

Hoseok let out a chuckle at what he heard. He had thought Hamin was an innocent baby that got shy all the time.

But guess she wasn’t.

Good to know.

“It’s only our first day. We have plenty of time and like I said, I don’t want to rush things when you’ve got school tomorrow. I need to respect my baby’s student life,” Hoseok said as he got up. Hamin wanted to complain that she really didn’t want to go to school, but she ended up nodding, feeling flutters at the fact that he said “my baby.” 

“Wait are you going somewhere?” she asked when she saw him put on a oversized hoodie over his homewear, something she hadn’t expected her now-boyfriend-but-also-CEO of Hope’s World would wear. He looked like a fluffy pup, with his soft, damp hair bouncing as he ruffled it with his hand. It was definitely a look no one would expect or imagine the cold Jung Hoseok to have. In a good way, of course.

“I’m taking you home,” he said nonchalantly. 

“Home? What are you talking about? I need to be reading to you,” Hamin furrowed her eyebrows, not moving.

“There’s no way I’m falling asleep sinless tonight with you in the same room. I’ve already held back enough so I’m taking you home. Come on,” Hoseok stretched out his hand, expecting Hamin to grab it and get up. 

“But..don’t you need sleep?” Hamin tried not to blush too hard than she already was at Hoseok’s comments. Everything he said made her wonder if he really was the same cold beast she knew.

Because right now, he was worse than a K-drama lead.

But perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing (idk).

“Nah, you’re the student that needs sleep. Don’t worry about me,” Hoseok smiled when Hamin finally grabbed his hand and he interlaced his fingers with hers as they headed out his house.

It was nearly three in the morning by the time the two love birds finally said goodbye, but that didn’t mean anything because they called each other for another two hours as soon as Hamin went to her room and Hoseok made his way back to his mansion.

So much for letting Hamin “sleep.”

With all that happening, of course Hamin would look the way she looked. 

Like a sleep-deprived zombie in a field of flowers.

But she was used to this ever since she started working for Hoseok. Used to being tired and having to come to school.

And besides, why wouldn’t she?

In fact, now she really couldn’t afford to miss any classes all the more and needed to study hard to achieve her dreams because—

“How y is that.”

She could hear Hoseok’s deep, raspy voice even now. She broke out into a another smile.

To Cindy this was all very concerning but the professor who just came in clearly didn’t care. He began his lecture right away and Hamin mouthed to her friend, “I’ll explain everything later.”

You better, Cindy replied with her eyes.

***

“Um, are you okay?” Namjoon asked another zombie in a field of flowers. It was a rather quiet morning in the office of the two co-CEOs, perfect for tea. 

Namjoon set his cup down on the table in between them as he watched his friend space out on the couch. Despite his tired face, Hoseok seemed well-dressed, in his grey collarless button up and nicely ironed white slacks. After all, he was a professional and of course he always managed to look presentable at work. 

“Yeah,” Hoseok nodded, his eyes a little sunken and hair a little messy. He had to fight the urge to lay down on the couch and not do anything for the rest of the day. He was used to sleeping so well with Hamin’s presence that he forgot how miserable it was not to.

But Hoseok wasn’t annoyed or irritated at that.

He wouldn’t trade anything in the world for what happened last night.

No, he wouldn’t.

“Can I ask why you decided to take Ms. Park home last night?” Namjoon asked, raising his eyebrows and picking up his tea cup again to take a sip. He had to admit that he was quite surprised when he got a text from Hoseok last night saying he had taken Hamin home when it was usually Namjoon’s job to do so. If Hoseok was the one taking her home, then that meant he wasn’t going to get sleep.

And the smarty pants Kim Namjoon was automatically assumed that, expecting Hoseok to show up with his dark circle friends the next morning, something Namjoon hadn’t seen for a while ever since Hamin did her magic on the beast.

And well, he was right. 

“I was keeping her for too long and she needed sleep for class,” Hoseok shrugged, trying hard not to smile so much thinking about Hamin at the mention of her name. He pulled out his phone, wanting to text her to make sure she made it to her classes alright.

“What are you talking about? I drove her to your place so she could read for you. Were you not falling asleep like normal?” Namjoon tried to make sense of what his friend was blabbering. Why in the world would he send her back home when she was clearly there to read him his daily bedtime story?

“I just couldn’t sleep with her there so I took her home, since either way I wouldn’t be sleeping,” Hoseok was beginning to get irritated at Namjoon’s questionnaire...that was clearly interrupting him from texting.

“Can you please explain so I can understand? I don’t understand why you couldn’t sleep with her there...haven’t you been falling asleep just fine when she read for you?” Namjoon’s eyebrows didn’t seem to come down as he ignored Hoseok’s slight tone of irritation.

“We’re dating,” Hoseok ended up saying bluntly, setting his phone down and gripping his head at Namjoon’s stubbornness. 

Silence fell upon the room.

Namjoon opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. His eyes were wide and alert as his highly IQ-ed brain tried to register what Hoseok just said.

“...you’re what? Dating?” he repeated after a solid minute, unable to believe how fast things had changed since the last time they had talked about this whole Hamin-dating business...which was literally yesterday. 

Dang, he wasn’t kidding when he said he couldn’t wait any longer, Namjoon shook his head in awe.

How the beast had changed was truly a miracle; Hoseok was really never the type to be this pursuing and crazy about a girl. But at the same time, Namjoon had known things would become official sooner or later. So all he could do at the moment was collect himself and congratulate his buddy.

“Congrats man. I wasn’t expecting it to happen this soon but I’m so happy for you,” Namjoon took a second to finally break out into a grin and get up to pat Hoseok on the back.

“Thanks,” Hoseok let out a chuckle, feeling a little shy now at the fact that he could say he was actually dating Hamin now. 

“Wow, how long has it been since you’ve been in a relationship again? 2 years?” Namjoon nodded sitting back down as he added, “ I hope this one lasts. You two look great together.” 

Namjoon genuinely wished his business partner and best friend all the happiness he could. Because he truly knew this relationship would be different from Hoseok’s past ones. After all, the terrifying beast had never transformed so drastically into a loving prince before.

It was all thanks to Park Hamin. 

“Oh it will,” Hoseok responded, already knowing him and Hamin “looked great together.” He could still remember Namjoon saying that about Hamin and Taehyung the first time they all met, and he felt a little victorious that the man who could now call Hamin his own was himself.

“So you couldn’t sleep with her in the room because you knew you couldn’t keep your hands off of her, huh?” Namjoon smirked as he finished up his tea and broke Hoseok’s thoughts. 

“Shut up,” Hoseok threw a cushion at Namjoon, to which Namjoon caught with one hand, making sure it didn’t hit his tea cup. He grinned with a shrug, “I’m just saying it all makes sense now.”

Kim Namjoon was really annoyingly smart and Jung Hoseok had to admit that he both hated and loved that. 

So he threw another cushion at him, this time hitting him right on the head. Namjoon yelled at him asking what his problem was, but Hoseok returned the grin and shrug.

“It’s a sign of appreciation.”

And with that, he picked up his phone again.

But he got interrupted.

Again.

“Well, Mr. Love Bird, I’d appreciate it if you stopped slacking and focused on preparing for your presentation,” Namjoon said, getting up. Hoseok’s grin disappeared. 

But there were no more cushions to throw.

And his text would have to wait.

***

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