Baekhyun was gone.

It had been three whole days since that evening. He didn't say anything for the rest of the time of that day, and next morning, he was gone. He didn't notify anyone, neither had he tried to contact anyone in these three days. He didn't even take all of his belongings with him. Munhee guessed that he was just too much in haste to leave this place, to leave her.

And it hurt. Munhee knew that she was being unreasonable now, and she had been unreasonable even back at that evening when she had given him that challenge. The stubborn side of her, which had threw the almost-impossible challenge at him, knew that it was very stupid and Baekhyun would never do that. He was a well known businessman, he had a reputation to hold in the society, he couldn't afford to indulge into such childish things; but yet she told him to do so. Because that stubborn part of her mind, wanted to keep making him suffer, wanted to test the limit of his patience, wanted to see how far he could tolerate her tantrums before he would give up. 

And now that it seemed like he had finally given up on her, the soft side of her heart felt immensely sad. Perhaps, she had gone over broad this time. Or, perhaps, he had just gotten tired of her. He had left his works, his children, his friends back in Korea, just for the sake of amending their relationship. And all she had done was turning him down every single time. It would be a white lie, if she said that she didn't regret her attitude towards him even for a bit.  

But again, if she'd think their situation from a broader perspective, then she would conclude that what she did was right. She tested him, and he failed, it's as simple as that. He was all big talks about love, waiting and stuffs like this; but had lost his balls immediately at a silly challenge she'd thrown upon him.  "He should've at least declared the end of his stupid 'Courting Game' if he was going back! !" Munhee scoffed to herself, feeling angry at the male for choosing the cowardly path. Her fists was holding the innocent pillow tightly, as if it was his hair, which she wanted to pull so bad right now. 

"You're already missing him, aren't you?" Mina asked from the doorframe of Munhee's room, startling the girl. 

"For how long you've been standing there?" Munhee nervously asked her friend, instead of replying.

"For enough time to witness how you're still thinking about him and only him." Mina wiggled her brows playfully. "C'mon, Mun, just accept that you're missing him! And maybe give a  call on his number? I'm sure he'd come back to you once you'll personally tell him to!" 

Munhee glared at her friend, "Everything aside, first tell me, whose friend are you?" she asked while raising a suspicious brow at the other girl.

"Of course, silly! I'm your friend!" Mina laughed and answered.

"Then why have you been taking his side recently? Shouldn't you be on my side?" Munhee huffed in silly rage. 

"Of course, I'm on your side. I want you to be happy. And I can see where your happiness resides. That's why I am rooting for the guy who seems to be responsible enough to ensure your happiness." Mina explained, softly smiling at her.

"Yeah yeah, what a responsible man he is! He simply ran away when I made things just a little tough for him!" Munhee rolled her eyes, she was certain if Baekhyun was to come and stand in front of her right now, she would've definitely kicked his . She would've taught him a good lesson, so that he wouldn't make promises in future, which he would fail to fulfill in the last. 

"Why are you so certain that he gave up and ran away? He might've had some emergency!" Mina reasoned.

Munhee wanted to think like that too. But she had been restricting herself to not think things that would avail her hopes, so she relied on thinking the worst scenario. "I don't care. Let him do whatever he wants. It's for the better if he has left. And even if he comes back, it doesn't matter either! It's not like I am worried hell over him or I am missing his annoying !" 

"And what if he comes back to you, again?" It was not Mina who talked this time, neither it was Munhee. Munhee stilled momentarily before her head automatically whipped towards the ajar door of her room. There he was. Baekhyun. His eyes trained on her, though it was a little difficult to see his eyes- since he was wearing a fluffy pink bucket hat, his lips slightly curled at the corner as he gazed at her, even his hat couldn't restrict the intensity of his warm gaze. 

Before Munhee could contemplate her actions in advance, her feet were on autopilot mode, automatically taking her in front of the male. Her hands weren't any better, as they went upward to clutch onto the collars of his jacket tightly, "Yah, Byun Baekhyun! How do you even call yourself an adult? That even, father of two daughters! How can you be so irresponsible? How can you go PUFF just like that? Didn't you know people will search for you if you vanish somewhere without telling anyone! Did you even think for once, that people might be worried over your sudden absence? And if you were in so much haste to run away from here, then you could've at least phoned someone and let them know where you've gone to!" She kept blabbering and complaining.

Baekhyun could only smile like an lovestruck idiot, seeing how worried and cutely angry she was right now. He heard Mina excusing herself subtly, but his eyes were only fixed at one woman, his woman, his lovely but a little bit fierce woman. He never stopped believing that he still had some place left in her heart, but right now, it was quite clear to him that his belief wasn't baseless. Now that he didn't have any other hindrance to restrict him, it was just so easy to read her emotions through her eyes. 

"Woah! You even have the guts to smile now? Woah! I can't believe this man! You're so shameless! You like making people worry over you, don't you? And why did you even come back now? Haven't you already given up on me? Why did you even make such big promises if you were going to run away like a coward just after a small challenge? Why did yoummmh-" Munhee's nonstop blabbers stopped in a moment, by his lips. BY HIS LIPS!! He was fricking kissing her on the mouth, lips to lips. Her heart stopped and her eyes went round as the aftermath of his unannounced action.  

Baekhyun didn't know how much time had passed, but he still had his lips fixed on hers, no movement, only touching hers gently, savouring the feeling of fulfillment and the slight waves of electricity running down his veins. His heart was thumping vigorously, her sweet scent alone was more than enough to make him forget everything rational. With a much forceful attempt, he managed to detach his lips from hers. Taking a deep breath, he faced her again, finding her still looking shocked. "I've missed you too, Sweetheart." He breathed on her face. His eyes trailed downward on uncontrollably, his own throat was drying without any prior notice. It felt like he was certainly addicted, and he didn't even mind this addiction he had grown inside him for her. "And I didn't give up on you, I never will." He lowly stated before cupping face and diving down to capture those inviting soft pillows again. This time it was not an innocent lip-to-lip touch, he needed more, so he seeked for more by enhancing the movements of his lips against hers.

Since it seemed like Munhee's whole body was on autopilot mode, she reciprocated this time. Closing her eyes, she also seeked for more of the savory warmth his lips were serving. Her hands went down to grasp the sides of his jacket, as her legs started feeling very weak all of a sudden, his addictive scent was making her light headed. She could feel the heaviness of his pouring emotions with every of his lips, it made her even more weak on the knees - and heart.

They parted after a while, though it was nowhere near of enough for them. Both of them were softly panting, eyeing each other with thousands of emotions visible on their glimmering eyes. Baekhyun could see the girl coming out of the trance, and her eyes widened more at the realization that they had just kissed. Her cheeks dusted in his favorite shade on her, dark pink. He softly chuckled at the adorable being, his heart swelling in love and affection for her. "Woops! It seems like I've kissed you without your permission, again!" He started playfully, wanting to a bit. "Are you going to let me get away with it, again? Or are you going to punish me with a return kiss? Hmm, Sweetheart?" He asked rather huskily this time.

The girl glared at him, though it seemed powerless at this moment. He let out another soft laughter when she again grabbed onto his collars, "This time, I am not going to get you away with it, !" She softly gritted. Then much to his delightful surprise, she tiptoed to claim his lips in another lip-lock. Humming at the blissful surprise, he didn't waste a single second in wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing her closer.

After a couple of quick but deep enough smooches, Munhee pushed him away from her, glaring at the male, but her previous rage for him had definitely subdued a little bit. He looked like he was in a sort of daze, but he soon overcame it and gave her a handsome grin. "Stay prepared to keep punishing me for the rest of our lives, Baby." He murmured, eyeing her lips a little too much. "Also, tomorrow will be our first official date. Be prepared for it as well." He let her know, not forgetting to throw a small but flirtatious wink at her.

Munhee was speechless at his audacity. "What? There's not gonna happen any date or !" She refused instantly. "Do you really think I will accept this ugly pink hat instead of the cotton candy hairs I have asked for? Never! So, the date is out of question now." She added and tried to walk past him, she herself needed to get away from him as the aftereffect of those kisses were still lingering wildly in her tummy. Thankfully, he didn't stop him like she was expecting him to do. 

Since it was already getting dinner time, Munhee directly went to the dining area. Soon enough, everyone gathered there, including Baekhyun as well. Today, it seemed like all of them were plotting against her, as they left both chairs on her both sides empty. And Baekhyun took it as an open invitation to sit down beside her. Scooting his chair closer to hers, so that there won't be any space left, he started filling her plate with food.  

Munhee was about to protest, that she didn't want to eat all that food, but he beat her to it. Leaning closer near her ears, he subtly whispered, "Eat up, Sweetheart. We have burned a lot of calories today." 

The warmth spreading in her cheeks after that was inevitable. She wasn't able to retort with some insults, so she started eating silently. Occasionally, their arms brushed, their thighs touched as they were sitting side by side, it never failed to send her tummy butterflies at the top of their sky. 

"Hyung! This hat is super cool!" Tao commented while they were having some fruits for desserts. 

"Do you want it?" Baekhyun asked casually.

"Really, Hyung? You will give it to me?" The younger male asked, looking excited like a kid.

"Of course, Tao. I was going to abandon it anyway." The male shrugged. "My wifey doesn't likey!" He added cutely, and took off the hat before throwing it towards Tao, who had catched it perfectly.

Munhee hadn't looked at his way throughout the whole dinner, due to feeling embarrassed for her stupid action of kissing him back and downright kissing him on her own. But she had the urge to look up at him from the corner of her eyes when she noticed everyone's attention going to him after he had taken off his bucket hat. Did she catch something fluffy and pinkish on his head. 

"Wow, man, you finally did it!"

"Omo, it looks kind of cute!"

"So this is why you were gone for three days!"

"That was fast!"

Chanyeol, Mina, Tao and Kyungsoo spoke; meanwhile Munhee had a hard time calming her pounding heart. She needed to take a look of him, but she suddenly felt nervous. 'Did he really do it?' When Baekhyun got busy answering the others, Munhee took a deep breath and braved herself to finally look up at him. To say, she was stunned, would be a damned understatement. 'W-Wow!' Her jaw had probably fell on the ground, she didn't know, neither cared about it. All she could see, was the cutest hair color she had ever witnessed in real life, and of course, the man himself was appearing to be the epitome of adorable and handsomeness. His hair looked so soft and fluffy, she wanted to touch them so bad. All in all, he looked like a cute human-sized cuddly teddy, and she wanted to wrap him in a blanket, steal him away from everyone, because she wanted him only for herself. 

Noticing her intense gaze on him, Baekhyun turned towards her, raking his fingers through his freshly dyed hair. "Do you like it, Baby?" He softly asked, smiling a little proudly seeing that the girl couldn't take her eyes off of him. 

"Of course, she is liking it. She is practically drooling over you!" Mina gushed. 

Munhee broke from her own stupidly fluffy thoughts. Like an idiot, she even dabbed her fingers around to check whether she was actually drooling or not, earning a loud laughter from everyone, while Baekhyun chuckled at her with fondness filled eyes. Needless to say, she had again embarrassed herself in front of him. And she would keep doing it if she didn't leave, because her eyes won't stop staring at him. She had never guessed that someone could look this attractive, in a supposedly funny cotton candy color hair. 

"Hey, Munhee, so now your and Baekhyun's date is confirmed! Right?" Chanyeol quipped in. 

Munhee snapped her eyes at the taller male, giving him a displeased look for reminding the real deal. She could feel Baekhyun's focused gaze on her, but she refused to look at him in this state. "Huh? N-No!" she refuted and stood up to leave.

"What? Hey, Sweetheart, isn't this cheating? You had promised me!" Baekhyun also stood up, protesting her denial.

"Promises are made to be broken, Byun Baekhyun." She uttered to him before finally leaving, deliberately unhearing his calls of her name. 

                                              _______

Despite not sleeping properly for the past few nights, Munhee still couldn't grasp a single second of sleep this night as well. She was basically tossing and turning on the mattress, covering and uncovering her face with the blanket, counting one to hundred to get bored and finally be able to fall asleep; but everything failed. And she knew the exact reason of her restlessness. It was due to her action of denying to maintain the other end of the challenge she had given to Baekhyun. He was right, she had cheated. 

Few loud thuds coming from what felt like the glass window of her room, was enough to bring her out of all the conflicting thoughts. At first, she thought it was just the air, nothing else. But when there was again the similar set of noises coming from the other side of the window, that was even louder than the previous time, made her sit up in fear immediately. Why did it feel like that those sounds were actually sort of knocking sounds? 'It's not p-possible!' She was certain that there wasn't any person this much tall, who could reach the window of upstair rooms.  

Munhee left her bed with trembling limbs, when she heard those noises again, and this time, it suspiciously sounded like someone was calling her name. "What if it's a ghost!" She spoke to herself, obviously entertaining the idea that ghosts are more available in smaller towns like this. "Oh god! W-What should I do! S-Should I call Baekhyun?" If it was any other situation, she would've definitely scolded herself for still thinking of his name whenever she felt any sort of danger near her. 

 She again heard something like her name being called and definitely some knocks on the glass surface of the window, so she hastily took the first two things that came into her view- her pillow and a small vase, and tentatively reached near the window to check. She now understood, why those people in horror movies dumbly followed to where they shouldn't be, because she was doing the same, since she wouldn't be able to stay sane unless she witnessed it with her own eyes that there was no one out of her window. 

And she did notice a silhouette by the help of moonlight. "Okay, Mun, calm down. You just gotta hit it and run out of your room!" She set the plan with herself and bravely opened the window. "Go away!!" she shrieked, and out of anxiety- threw the pillow first, instead of the stronger weapon. She instantly heard a grunt, which now sounded suspiciously familiar. 

"Don't kill me, Baby, it's me! Baekhyun!" The supposed ghost, yelled. 

Munhee stopped herself from throwing the vase and peeked down of the window, she indeed noticed the mop of pinkish hair first, then she caught his eyes, "What the are you doing here?" was the first thing she asked, or more like yelled. 

"Love, can we discuss this matter later? First, let me in, or I'll fall and break my !" Baekhyun told her urgently.

Sighing in annoyance and slightly concerned for his safety, she moved aside to give him space. She saw him throwing the pillow in first, then pushing himself up through her window with ease, as if he was some expert thief or something. She also noticed that he had used a ladder to climb up till here. She lit up the bedside lamp, so that he won't stumble into things and create more ruckus. 

Baekhyun huffed in relief, for a moment he had thought that he was actually going to lose balance over the ladder. Then he sheepishly looked back at his wife, who looked- well, thoroughly pissed at him. The first thing he did, was to close the window, just in case she decided to throw him away as she looked like she could easily do it to him. "H-Hey, beautiful!" His confident was wavering seeing her in her raged state.

She marched towards him, stopping a few inches away, "Are you crazy? What were you even thinking when you thought of using a ing ladder! You could've come in through the doors like a normal human being! But no, you wanna earn some ninja degrees by pulling off this stupid act!" She snapped at him, unable to control as his action was too reckless in her eyes. She was this close to lose it, when she had seen him hanging there on the ladder, it was so damn risky! 

Baekhyun softly sighed before shutting her up with a hug. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Baby. I swear, it isn't as risky as it seems! I'm fine, so calm down. Hum?" He cooed near her ears while patting her back, pacifying her with his soothing voice. A warm smile took place in his lips when the girl huffed but silently melted into the hug. Though what he said next, was enough to make her go hyperventilate again, "And this is actually fun, using the door is boring! You wouldn't have let me in if I'd asked for you to do so anyway! Besides, you are also going to use this ladder with me, I'm here to bring you out!"  

Munhee's calmness crashed down on the floor hearing him. She shoved him away immediately, "There's no way I'm going out with you! That even, through this scary ladder!" She stated firmly. 

"Are you sure? Because, honestly, I'd love to stay here in this room with you, if you don't wanna go out!" He let her know, his features mischievous, Munhee just knew there was something devilish cooking in his head. He walked closer to her, prompting her to get stuck between the window and him, resting his hands on the glass beside her head, he gave her what seemed like a seductive smirk. "We can get under the blankets on your bed, and make ourselves cozy. What do you say?" He proposed or mused, eyeing her intently, his long fingers slowly brushed away some stray hair from her heated face. 

He was downright seducing her, and she was actually letting him, she had no choice, he was still that irresistible man who held so much power on her, whose effect was bigger and deeper on her that no other man could have. "I... w-we.." He only had to lean a little more closer to her, and she was a goner, immediately dried up, her eyes instinctively zooming onto his thin pair of lips. 

"Yes, Sweetheart? What we? You prefer us getting some job done on the bed or going out to do some star gazing? Hmm?" He asked. Even his soft hums were producing goosebumps onto her skin.

She took a huge breath, wanting to get herself back into her sanity zone, and being close with this man could never let her stay sane or rational. He always had that hidden key to make her emotions a jumbled mess. So, she again gained the strength to push him off of herself before she melt like a wax in his hands, "I'd prefer you to leave my room." she stated, barely holding a firm tone.

"The thing is, Sweetheart, if you hadn't tricked me with the 'Date' issue, I would've let you sleep peacefully." He started, voice low but firm.  "But now, I won't listen to you, humph!" And just like that, he went from all hottie to cutie in a mere second, his lower lip jutted out in an adorable pout. He even let her go, but hastily crawled up on her bed, propping himself on his elbow, he beckoned her closer with the gesture of one pointer fingure while giving her what seemed like a sensual once over. Again. His dualiity leaving her almost speechless. 'Pink hair is supposed to make one look cute, not hot!' She debated with herself inwardly.

By the looks of it, he seemed fully determined to bring her out. Contemplating with both of the options provided by him, going out for star gazing sounded the safer one for her heart. "Fine! Get up! We're going out! But I won't stay more than five minutes!" Hands on her hips, she negotiated with the male still laying invitingly on her bed. 

Baekhyun grinned in victory, already getting up from the bed. Spending some cozy time with her on the bed was very tempting, but he would love to save these specific special moments for later, for the time when moments like this would naturally appear between them, for the time when he'd finally manage to earn her trust as well as love back. As for now, he really wanted to take her out, as he had noticed today's sky was quite clear, prettily twinkling stars were visible through the night sky. It was a natural instinct or something like that, that had given him the immediate idea of star gazing with her. He had already made all the preparation for it.

"Let's go!" Munhee urged him.

"You can't probably go out in your pajamas only! Unless you want to share my blazer with me?" He wiggled his brow playfully, already knowing that she wouldn't agree to something like this. So he rather went towards her cupboard to pick out some warmer clothing for her.  

Munhee silently took the picked out clothes from him, feeling too lazy to walk till the washroom for changing purpose. "Go out of this room for a minute, I need to change!" She mumbled while keeping the clothes on her bed. 

"It's okay, you can just change here. I have no problem!" He shrugged and again sat down on her bed, a best position to witness her stripping show if she was to change there. 

"Of course, you won't have any problem, ert! But I have problem in changing before you! So get out!" She hissed at the male. 

"Hey! I've already told you quite a few times that I am not ert! It's not like I haven't seen anything! Remember, I told you I remember most of the things from our first night of love making?" He stressed his point, "Or do I need to prove it again? You have one birth mark on your left- okay, okay, I won't say it aloud!" He was again about to declare another TMI about her body, but only laughed out and conceded when Munhee had tossed her sweater on his face. He gently took the sweater off his face and handed it back to her. "I was only teasing you, Baby. You're just too cute when you're all shy and adorable like this"  He revealed while grinning ear to ear.  "I will sit down facing the window, you can get changed without any worry. Trust me." He urged and diligently turned around, giving her his back.

"Don't cheat, or I'll kick your out of here!" She did trust him, but still threatened him just for the sake of it. 

"Relax, I'm not a cheater like you!" He playfully taunted. 

"You can look back now!" Munhee casually muttered while fixing her bed hair with her fingers. How much she wished she could sneak somewhere to apply just a little bit of make-up. After all, this was their first official date no matter how much she denied. 

"Come here." He called her towards him, his palm stretching for her to hold, and she dumbly did so. Giving her a loving smile, he gently brought her closer, started helping her in untangling her messy bed hair as tenderly as possible, his gaze never leaving her features. He sighed through his nose before chuckling to himself, "Nothing! I... I'm just... falling even harder for you day by day. I can't decipher whether it's even healthy at this point or not! It sounds silly, I know! But that's how I'm feeling, have been feeling towards you." He relied to her when she silently asked the reason of his sudden chuckle, his ears redder than before, somehow matching well with his hair. 

Munhee bit her lips, a smile struggling to break into her face. Had he always been such sweet talker? Or had he just gotten a special diploma on it recently? "You're crazy!" She murmured while shaking her head at him.

"And who is to blame? Isn't the real culprit standing in front of me, Missy?" He cooed, making her blush even more. 

"Stop wasting my time in nonsense talks, and let's just get done with it as soon as possible." She changed the topic smoothly.

"Okay. Just one thing is left!" He insisted.

"What's left? Do I need to get my purse or what?" The girl asked confusedly.

The male shook his head while smiling widely, then he searched for something in his pants' back pockets. "Tada! The perfect time to use these!" He quipped, excitedly flashing the couple beanies he had purchased the other day. Without lending her the opportunity to protest, he put on the beanie on her head, before wearing his one. He even took her phone from the nightstand, and held her by the shoulder to take two or three selfies. "After I had let you go, I finally understood the value of keeping some memories in form of pictures. They came handy!" He let her know, his smile now a mixture of sheepish and sad. "Not that I will leave you ever again. But it's nice to have some good times captured, no?"  

Munhee sighed, she inwardly agreed with him, this was the reason she was always the one clicking pictures of her loved ones. So she didn't put on a protest, and let him click another two selfies. Her heart thumped unstoppably at how cute and couple-ish they'd looked together into the pictures. After being satisfied with the pictures, Baekhyun returned her the handphone, and held onto her hand, bringing her near the window. The girl stopped abruptly at that, "Are you really serious about this? C-Can't we go through the doors?" She asked nervously, quite dreaded to use the ladder when they had better and safer option.

"Baby, don't be scared. I won't let anything happen to you. Just focus on where you are landing your feet, and keep your hold firm, that's it. It will be fun, I swear!" He continued to coax her.

"O-Okay, but you will go first!" She bargained.

"Fine. I'll go first. But no cheating, deal?" He asked like a strict teacher.

"Deal