“Why are you running back and forth for the registrations sheets?” Taekwoon asked as Minah stood across him with a tired smile “I thought I’d asked Jaemin to run across to you with those?”  

“Never turned up,” Minah sighed, pushing her hair back “plus the sheet are right here.” she sighed picking the sheet up. The fest was finally in full swing even though Minah and Taekwoon had to start work a week earlier since there were several qualifying matches that needed to be played. The soccer matches were midway and the afternoon sun was beating down on the field. Minah had decided that the best course of action was to keep things the way they were, to do nothing to push Taekwoon away - no she valued him too much for that. She’d get over the attraction soon enough, she was certain.

“I’m going to murder them.” Taekwoon grumbled, it was close to impossible for him to leave the field since he was in charge, but sending his teammates to the registrations desk instead of making Minah run back and forth was the most reasonable solution he could come up with. Especially when every other team seemed to be doing the same. Minah sighed, the sound of Taekwoon’s walkie-talkie crackled in the background and the two teams that were to play were on a half time break. She fanned herself with the papers covered in Minhyuk and Taekwoon’s chicken scrawl.

“It’s chill, I have my first match in a bit, so I’m going to head to the sports office to change. I’ll hand these over to Sooyeon on the way.”

“When is your match? I’ll come.” Taekwoon asked, picking his phone up to look at the time.

“You needn’t! It’s not a big deal, you have to handle this as well.” Minah shook her head making Taekwoon glare at her.

“You’ve come for all my matches, the least I can do is come cheer you for yours. Thanks to all my practice I’ve never got to see you play,” Taekwoon frowned “you’d better be there for the swimming event tomorrow, Doojun randomly signed me up for it.”

“He beat you to it. Hakyeon told him I’m very organized so he’s put me in charge of taking the on spot registrations at the swimming event.”

“You’re going to be exhausted! What about your writing event?” Taekwoon gaped at Minah. She looked worn out in her fest t-shirt and faded jeans but she smiled and shot him a peace sign. Taekwoon gaped at her.

“I signed up for this, so I’ll get it done. Plus Haneul pitched in to help me out, so I’ll manage. My match is in about half an hour, so I’d better head over now and warm up.”  

“I’ll see you there.” he called to her figure as she left. Almost like on cue, Minhyuk appeared with his arm wrapped around fresher who Taekwoon had seen at several parties but never had gotten the name of. She was pretty for certain, probably why Taekwoon remembered her face, petite with curves in the right places. She had a pretty smile too.

“Hyori wanted to hang here,” Minhyuk, grinned noting how Taekwoon’s eyes fixed themselves on her “if that’s alright.”

‘Sure, why not. Can you hold down the fort? I’m taking a break.” Taekwoon looked back at his phone to check the time. He could grab a bite and head down to the tennis court right after that. He’d been stuck in the little stall pitched for the soccer management team. His own match was later in the evening, and he really needed the break.

“Yeah,” Minhyuk frowned “why not. Do you think you could get me a wrap from the food stalls when you come back?”

“I’m actually heading to the tennis courts. Have a match to watch,” Taekwoon replied, picking his bag up.

“Aren’t the women’s matches going on now?” Minhyuk frowned again, taking the seat Taekwoon had vacated. He didn’t know anyone who was playing that could possibly cause Taekwoon to get up and watch. Secondly he never knew that Taekwoon even had an interest in tennis. He was even more confused when Taekwoon shot him a look like the he was stating the obvious.

“Yeah, Minah is playing.”

Taekwoon lumbered out of the stall into the heat. The actual walk to the food stalls wasn’t long, but the heat made his clothes stick to his skin and he was thankful that none of his matches were scheduled for the afternoon (perks of being the home team, he supposed). He winced in pity at the thought of Minah’s match being bang in the afternoon. He noted a figure running back and forth by the side of the tennis court which was adjacent to the soccer field. There was barely anybody by the court, besides the players and the umpires that the tennis organizing committee had called in. He pursed his lips, that was obviously a very disappointing turnout in terms of crowd. Taking another glance at the court, he hurried to the food stalls.

Minah was agile on court, Taekwoon had to give her that. She had mentioned that she had played more on a clay court than the synthetic court that the university provided its students.This was like seeing an entirely different side of Minah, her broad shoulders pulled back as she swung her racket, long muscular legs sprinting to keep up with the game. There was an smile that played on her lips as she played, lower lips occasionally caught between her teeth as she focused. There was something oddly riveting about her movements on the court that helped Taekwoon forget the initial surprise of seeing her wearing shorts, bereft of her spectacles which had always been an integral part of her appearance. He hadn’t missed Minah’s eyes landing on his briefly before the match as she mouthed a “thank you” to him.

Sweat trickled down her temple as she exhaled heavily, her face placid as she stood at the baseline, bouncing on her toes, the muscles of her legs flexing ever so slightly as she waited for her opponent to serve. Taekwoon noticed how her face shifted from placid to pure aggression when her racket slammed against the incoming ball, smashing it down into the opponent’s court in an all-kill move to win the point. The game was neck to neck and Taekwoon could tell that both players were tiring with the sun beating down heavily on them. Minah was resorting to single powerful shots to end the game, her opponent forced her to run more to tire her out. Taekwoon could feel himself flush in the heat as his eyes followed the game. This side of Minah was definitely as praiseworthy as the other - it held the same dedication and passion that Taekwoon admired about her.

Even when she lost by a point, he noted how she cheerfully congratulated her opponent before hurrying out of the court to drop herself heavily beside him and rasp out his name in a voice that made goosebumps rise on his skin. Kim Minah had a birth mark on the side of her thigh, he noted as she nudged at him.

“Thanks for coming, sorry I didn’t make it to the next round,” she exhaled heavily, taking a sip of water. Taekwoon leaned back on the rickety bench he had taken a seat on. When she had first seen him by the court, her heart had stopped momentarily. She hadn’t actually expected him to leave his stuff to come and watch her, especially with the soccer matches being in full swing. No one really came for tennis matches let alone women’s tennis matches, so she wasn’t really expecting much. Sometimes she wondered why Taekwoon was nice.

“You were really good out there,” he said, eyes still fixed on the little black spot on the side of her thigh, it was an odd fixation, but for some reason he couldn’t take his eyes off it “it was a close match, I don’t know how you played in this heat.”

“Yeah,” Minah sighed, “I must look disgusting right now.”

“You look nice, you always do. Just a little more sweat. Sign of hard work.”  he replied, shifting his gaze to her face. Clear as the summer sky, she was glowing in the heat, the sheen of sweat which had hastily been wiped off with a towel resurfacing with the stray strands of hair curling upwards haphazardly.

“There’s something called being too nice and lying Jung Taekwoon,” she grinned, nudging him before draping her towel over her head. “Well, at least this means I have more time to run around for registrations and the writing event. I’m going to give you a sweaty side hug as thanks for coming and head for a shower.” she declared as Taekwoon snorted in disbelief, feeling her press against his side, her arms wrapping around him briefly. She was warm, maybe a little too much, it’s not uncomfortable - it lasts only for a few moments and Taekwoon can smell the diminished deodorant with the sweat but it doesn’t bother him at all.

“Thank you, seriously, thanks for coming.” she said with sincerity which makes him smile.

“Wouldn’t have missed it for anything, Minah,” he said, patting the side of her face through the towel “go take a shower now. I’m heading to the field.”

“I’ll see you for your match then.” Minah flushed, standing up. She waved, swinging her racket over her shoulder and heading to the interiors of the campus.  Taekwoon looked at her figure before standing up and stretching.

“Taekwoon,” he heard someone call, he looked up to see the same girl from the soccer stall waving to him, Hyori if he remembered correctly “Minhyuk’s phone died, he’s trying to contact you to come to the stall, the next match is starting.”

Taekwoon nodded, dazed by the heat “yeah, I’ll be right there.”

---

Taekwoon picked up his phone as it rang, noting that the caller id flashed with Minah’s name. He was still at the soccer stall, going over the receipts, double checking the scoresheets.  He’d seen her at his match, shooting him two thumbs ups before entering the stands, looking completely tuckered out.

“Hey, I’m just coming over with the sheets,” he said softly, the field was now empty of the roaring crowd, affording him the gift of silence. He could hear the crickets in the background, Minah’s tired voice echoed and crackled over the line.

“Oh damn, I thought you’d gone to your room. I was hoping you’d have some sort of paracetamol.” she sighed. He could hear the buzz of the registrations desk behind her as he frowned.

“Paracetamol? Are you in pain?”

“Down with a bit of a fever…” she said softly “probably just a little overworked, that’s all.”

Taekwoon shot up from his seat “do you need me to go to the infirmary and get it?”

“ it, the infirmary is across campus. I’ll manage till this meeting in done and go back to the room and check to see if Haneul had any.” Minah shook her head, even though she was certain he couldn’t see her. Taekwoon could hear Haneul fretting the background now, trying to coax Minah to get back to the room while handling a person who was demanding food coupons which the registrations desk did not have.

“I’m coming there right now.”

“It’s fine…”

“No. I’m coming there.”

“Taek…”

“You’re an idiot you know that? I’m coming there, so hush,” Taekwoon said firmly, putting an end to all argument and ending the call before hastily standing up to spot Hyori wandering by the stall. He frowned, Minhyuk had left to help with the fashion show set up “uh,” he called for her attention “if you’re looking for Minhyuk, he’s gone to Cho P.A. hall to help with something.”

“No,” she began hesitantly “ I was actually here for you...you were really good at the soccer match,” she said, approaching “it was kinda hot.”

“If you’re speaking about the weather, I agree. It’s unnaturally humid today.” Taekwoon replied breezily, picking up the sheets of paper on the table. Hyori’s hand came to cover his.

“No, I was talking about you.”

“Never really had my skills described as ‘hot’, but thank you for the compliment,” Taekwoon sighed out, tugging his hand away from her before running his fingers through his hair. This was always the same, the seduction, the compliments, and eventually the mindless .  Hyori was attractive for certain, but he really did have extremely pressing matters in his hands “I have to be somewhere right now.”

“What the …” Hyori gaped at Taekwoon as he brushed past her, half sprinting towards the registrations desk.

He found Minah sitting at the desk, dazed as he approached “you are a ing idiot,” he grumbled, dumping the papers on the table “a giant, ing idiot.”

“Glad someone agrees with me,” Haneul glared at Minah “ I made sure she ate, but she’s not willing to miss the GBM because her event is tomorrow.”

“It’s in like ten minutes okay? I’ll live,” Minah rolled her eyes as Taekwoon stood in front of her and glared.  Joonmyeon’s announcement for the GBM could be heard over the speakers and Taekwoon couldn’t be more thankful. Holding his hand out to her, he pulled her to her feet making her lean heavily against him as he lead her to the little stage which had been constructed for the prize distribution ceremony. Haneul followed silently, eyeing Taekwoon and Minah wondering how painful this could possibly be for Minah. She’d seen Minah cry more than once about it, but it felt cruel to break up the friendship the two had developed.

Taekwoon had his arm around Minah’s shoulder, as he held her up, looking straight at Joonmyeon before looking down at Minah, comfortingly rubbing circles on her skin through the fabric “you did well today.” he mumbled, as she pressed closer, exhausted.

“I’ll feel better tomorrow.” she sighed, feeling him squeeze her closer. The day had worn off the deodorant she was so familiar with but Taekwoon smelled like comfort - his fresh soft cotton t shirt which he had switched to after his match, the cold zipper of the hoodie he had thrown on pressed against her cheek. This was painfully close, but she was too exhausted to care. Her eyes fluttered towards  Joonmyeon as he cleared his throat but his words ran together, she tried to register what he was saying, but it made little to no sense.

She let Taekwoon walk her back to her block. Haneul had been held back by Sooyeon and the finances team to help tally the money collected. She directed Minah to take a tablet and get some sleep.

“She’ll do it if you ask her, ” Haneul nudged Taekwoon, making him blink and point at himself “yeah you, she thinks you’re like a cute animal or something, just make puppy eyes at her.” she grinned as Taekwoon rolled his eyes, leading Minah away.

“Promise you’ll take the tablet?” he said, he could feel her body burning in his arms now.

“Yes, Taekwoonie, I will text you when I do,” she replied affectionately smiling as Taekwoon could feel his heart melt just a little.

"And will sleep before 2 AM?”

“Yes, Taekwoonie”

“And not wake up before 8:30 AM?”

“We’ll see about that...swimming…”

“We’ll find someone to replace you for the swimming registrations.”

“I want to come for you. So ha,” Minah replied sleepily as they reached her block.

“You really needn’t…” Taekwoon began, warmth spreading as she hugged him.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world Taekwoon. Thank you.” Minah smiled weakly, stumbling up the steps of her block.

---

“I’ll handle the swimming registrations today,” Sooyeon held Minah by the shoulders as she entered the registrations stall.

“But…” Minah began, only to have Sooyeon shake her head. After the medicine and a night’s rest, she was perfectly fine. But Sooyeon was adamant.

“You can set up your event in advance, I promise I won’t trouble you as much today!” Sooyeon looked down guiltily. Haneul had given her an earful and Sooyeon had felt terrible because the fest had bogged her down so much that it was impossible for her to even make sure her friends and team were okay.

“My event isn’t till later in the evening, the judge will come in in the afternoon and my team has most of it handled because we decided not to go with an actual set up. Most of it of it will be projected onto the classroom screen,” Minah shrugged, planning to head to the pool anyway since Taekwoon had asked her to turn up. Although he had expressly messaged her to take a break and sleep in late. She blankly nodded to Sooyeon, turning to walk down the path to the pool in the university campus.

It was too early in the morning to expect too much activity in the morning, so Minah didn’t have to deal with as much social interaction on the way. Haneul was there, her shift starting in the afternoon and her friendship with Taekwoon and the fact that Wonshik was umpiring prompted her to turn up as well. Minah looked around, understanding why the rest of the campus was relatively empty - most of it was by the pool waiting for the swimming tournament to start. Taking a seat beside Haneul, she watched the swim team warming up in the pool.

“All this water makes me want to pee.”

“Then go won’t you,” Haneul chuckled as Minah stood up and hurried into the ladies changing room.

Taekwoon emerged from the pool, panting as he slipped the swimming cap off his head, and wrapped himself in the towel Doojun was holding for him. His warm up wasn’t particularly extensive since his heat wasn’t in a while, but it had been a while since he’d been in the water. He spotted Haneul seated with Wonshik on one of the benches by the poolside, walking over to them, he took a seat as he slipped his hoodie on. He frowned, noting Minah’s entry.

“Why are you here? I told you to sleep!” he grumbled on her approach.

“You’re in my spot,” Minah deadpanned, noting the way Taekwoon’s hair stuck to his forehead, a stray trickle of water sliding down his temple. He slapped his thigh.

“You can sit on my lap if you want because the bench is wet now.”

“So are your shorts, fool!” Minah rolled her eyes.

“They’re relatively drier,” Taekwoon deadpanned as Haneul and Wonshik looked at the two, amused.

“To prevent bloodshed, I will sacrifice my seat. Also Doojun is calling the umpires, so I will see you guys in a bit!” Wonshik declared, pecking Haneul on the cheek before standing up. Minah glared at Taekwoon before taking the seat beside a very amused Haneul.

“What did Wonshik mean by bloodshed?” Taekwoon mumbled out loud, causing Haneul to hold back her laughter.

“Either Minah and you killing each other, or one of your weirdo fangirls launching themselves on Minah and being taken down by her anyway,” she shrugged as Taekwoon shook his head. Crossing his arms again before turning to watch the first heat. Doojun ran over to the bench.

“We need a extra umpire, Haneul, do you think you can do it for us?” he panted, holding out a stopwatch to her. Haneul nodded, standing up and joining Wonshik at the end of the pool nudging at him playfully. Taekwoon looked at Minah who was looking at the registrations desk. The players had crowded around the small desk at which Sooyeon sat almost like bees around a hive. He reached out to touch Minah’s hand resting on the bench, her eyes shot up to meet his gaze.

“How are you feeling?”

"Fine.”

“Lies. I’m going to tail you all day.”

“Don’t you have your basketball final today?” she quirked her eyebrow at him.

“Except when I’m playing,” he amended.

“I have all afternoon since we got knocked out of the soccer matches yesterday,” Taekwoon grinned, as Minah sighed.

“What about managing the matches?”

“Minhyuk wants to handle it, he wants to head the soccer management team next year, so I thought why not? I’ll finally get the afternoon off to see what’s happening around the fest. Which includes making sure that the creative writing head doesn’t die.”

“I’m really fine…” Minah trailed off when the whistle blew and the first heat began and ended before she could even blink. The swimmers began crowding around the registration table for their timings. Minah could tell that Sooyeon was getting overwhelmed by the umpires and swimmers closing in around her table. Sighing she stood up and walked over the few steps to the table feeling as overwhelmed as Sooyeon by the sheer number of people crowded around the table.

“Alright,” she called in a loud clear voice “only umpires are allowed at the table, if the players or coaches come near the table after their heat...”

“But your umpire’s timing is wrong! Look I have my stop watch!” one of the swim coaches interrupted, making Minah turn around and glare at him.

“Umpires’ decisions are final. That was mentioned in the rules. Now, if any of the players or coaches approach this desk for anything other than registration, will be disqualified with no refund on their registration money.”

Sooyeon looked visibly relieved, as Minah patted her back, well-aware of how this fest was really taking a toll on Sooyeon as well.

“Want me to sit here with you?”

“Yeah, please. Didn’t expect this to get so disorganized. ing Doojun.” Sooyeon grumbled, as Minah dragged a chair to Sooyeon, shooting Taekwoon an apologetic smile. He simply shook his head, his heat was next anyway. He approached the desk when they called his name for 100 meters freestyle, handing in his registration form to Sooyeon, before shedding his hoodie and handing it to Minah who averted her eyes as quickly as possible, taking deep breath and looking up at his face with a smile.

“All the best!”

He smiled back at her, slipping his swimming cap on and sliding his goggles into place, Minah glanced at him. He had long limbs, his muscles stretched out and curved beautifully, rippling as he stretched. Minah was certain that Taekwoon looked like a piece of art with a pair of swimming goggles right then and was somewhere between proud and flustered to be his friend. She shifted her gaze again to the registration sheets, taking a deep breath and listing out the names on the sheet for Sooyeon to double check.

Her eyes were fixed on his figure as it dove into the cool blue waters the moment the whistle blew, speeding forth leaving her in awe of how dynamic he was in the water. The round was too short, as he placed first in the round and he returned with a towel hanging around his neck and a grin on his face to retrieve his hoodie.

“You were awesome! I’ve never seen anything like it! It was so cool!” Minah exclaimed, causing heat to shoot up his cheeks, compliments flustering him and no alcohol to help him endure it.

“I’m hungry,” he grumbled, making her laugh.

“You’re in the relay too,” Sooyeon interrupted, making Taekwoon curse, it meant more waiting now.

“I’ll try getting you bumped up. Depends on what I get in return,” Minah shot him an evil grin.

“My endless gratitude?” Taekwoon supplied helpfully as Minah made a face “uh, I’ll take you out to dinner!” he nodded as Sooyeon shot Minah another look as the latter’s jaw dropped momentarily.

“Uh, sure. Sounds good. Sooyeon, can we…”

“Your team will go first,” Sooyeon gave Minah a wicked look “then you guys can head for breakfast.”

“Awesome! Fantastic!” Taekwoon grinned back at the two before heading over to his relay team to convey the news.

“So…” Sooyeon began and Minah shook her head.

“It’s not what you think it is. I promise.”

---

“I want to kiss her Hongbin,” Taekwoon sighed, leaning back on his chair as Hongbin clicked away at the new gaming mouse he had won at the fest. The last day of the fest had been eventful with the basketball team winning the tournament, Minah’s writing event being a success and the stress of the fest finally winding down. Taekwoon could remember the closing ceremony, where he stood with an exhausted Minah, holding her in his arms as they cheered for everyone who went on stage. He felt a surge of affection when he felt her hug him before looking up at him with a smile as she said.

“Thank you for helping me out. You did well. I’m so proud of you!”

Which had led him to this position, sitting with his legs stretched out in the library next to Hongbin, wondering what to make of the feelings he was feeling. Not much could be done, as the week that followed the fest brought in an entirely different type of trouble - the fest had caused a break in academics which had lead to the professors to pile up work on the students to make up for what they had missed.

Which meant that Kang was really trying to kill her students.

“You want to kiss Kang?” Hongbin asked, mind still on his game, the actual thought of it not striking him odd. He paused, eyes narrowing as he processed the statement before spinning to look at Taekwoon “you want to kiss Kang?!”

“What the is wrong with you Hongbin?” Taekwoon squinted at him “I was talking about Minah.”

“How was I supposed to know, all this while you’ve been whining about Kang’s readings and I don’t understand this odd ual thing people have for teachers” Hongbin shrugged “so you want to kiss Minah then. Right. Okay. So why are you telling me this again?”

“I don’t know what to do!” Taekwoon glared at Hongbin who looked back at him blankly.

“Uh…see, I don’t know what advice to give you other than - don’t be shady and force it on her.=,” he pointed at Taekwoon and nodded. Taekwoon reeled back, offended.

“Excuse me. I would never do that to her! Or anyone! Do you not have any better advice on the matters of the heart?!”

Hongbin paused his clicking, before pointing at himself, raising his eyebrow “Taekwoon, are you seriously asking me to give you ual and romantic advice?”

“Why not? You have good observation skills, even if you’re not interested in either,” Taekwoon reasoned, nodding.

“This is like asking a blind man to lead another blind man,” Hongbin rolled his eyes “both of us are equally bad at this, so I’m going to go with whatever makes most logical sense. Hmmm, tell her you want to kiss her.”

“That sounds like bad advice…” Taekwoon pursed his lips, stretching in his seat, getting a look at Minah resting her chin on top of Sanghyuk’s head as she peered at his screen. They had been working on a film script together for their Adaptations course and the way she was smiling at Sanghyuk made Taekwoon’s insides churn. It wasn’t anger he was feeling but somewhere in his insides, he could feel how heavy his heart was getting.

“Do you trust her?” Hongbin cut through Taekwoon’s melancholy.

“Of course,” Taekwoon trusted Minah with his soul, he felt comfortable and safe around her to do and say whatever he wanted without fearing judgement.

“Tell her then. Because you can trust her to still be true to you whatever the reaction is.”

---

“I can’t believe we’re done with so much of the paper,” Minah sighed, the amount of caffeine coursing through their veins making it close to impossible to sleep. They’d spent the Sunday on campus, working together to finish the final paper for Kang’s class. Taekwoon had steadily received Bs through his papers and was hoping for the same with his final paper.

“I can’t think anymore,” he groaned, leaning against her seat lazily “can we just watch a movie instead?”

“God, that sounds like a good idea,” Minah sighed, leaning back. Taekwoon could feel how warm she was against his skin “what do you want to watch because I’ve got zero movies on my laptop.”

“I’ve got a couple. I think you might enjoy Watchmen,” Taekwoon replied, reaching for his laptop, fingers quickly shifting to find the movie.

“DC? Aww no fun,” Minah teased.

“Yeah, you’d told me you’d watched the Avengers a million times and that’s the only fun movie I have in here. I doubt you’d want to sit through Les Miserables,” he smirked as she swatted at him.

“No, I do not,” she grumbled, leaning against his shoulder as the sound of the audio slowly crept up and the images began to fill the screen.

“HI I’M SORRY TO INTERRUPT!” Jaehwan’s voice boomed through the library, causing Minah and Taekwoon to jolt.

“ing hell Jaehwan,” Minah grumbled “what are you doing on campus on a Sunday?!”

“Telling people that we’re having a pet kissing booth the day after tomorrow as promotion for the intra college fest.”

“Pet kissing booth?” Taekwoon echoed incredulously. Jaehwan puffed his chest up proudly; whatever bizarre idea it was, it was clearly his brain-child, what with him being a major member of the cultural committee of the University council which arranged for the intra college fest at the University.

“Yes! We’re bringing in animals from a shelter for the students to cuddle and love. But the entry fee is to pay for the cuddles. We’re raising money for the shelter that way and the animals get a lot of love. It’s a win-win situation if you ask me.” Jaehwan nodded.

“That sounds…” Taekwoon began.

“Fantastic, sign me up. I want to go first!” Minah declared, already fishing for her wallet. Taekwoon looked at her, amused. They shared a love for animals, no matter what species and they way her eyes lit up at the idea of spending time with them was endearing.

“Aren’t you going to ask Taekwoon?” Minah asked Jaehwan and Taekwoon couldn’t help but just admire the way moved and how every word that came out of it made him impossibly happy even if it wasn’t about him.

“I figured you’d drag him along or something. Either way, I’m going to find more people to come, enjoy your super dark movie!” Jaehwan peered at the frozen screen to see the bloody Watchmen pin on the dark muddy road. He made his way out, leaving the two in the silence of the private room in the library as Taekwoon reached to unpause the movie.

“There are some scenes which may...be disturbing,” Taekwoon warned, pulling her chair closer to him.

“I’ll be fine. I have you around. I feel safe around you.”

Taekwoon smiled when he felt her caress the side of his face briefly. He could feel his heart swelling with a feeling so much deeper than affection. This, this moment was something he could feel like he could freeze and store in a time capsule. A moment of comfort and utter vulnerability. A moment where he felt like he could say the thoughts that had been plaguing him for weeks. 
"I want to kiss you."

Minah paused, this was not exactly what she had expected him to say. For a moment it felt almost like a joke, the way Haneul would say she was so happy she wanted to kiss someone. This was odd, even for Taekwoon, she tilted her head curiously, biting her lip as she did, to look at him before letting out a laugh while giving the same response she would give Haneul.

“Okay?”

Then all thought turned into static when he gently pushed back her hair and cupped her cheek, leaning down to press his lips against hers. It was everything he had imagined - soft, so soft that it made his brain buzz, almost like was finally breathing. Gentle, as he inhaled, breathing in the soft scent of her. It wasn’t vigorous like every other kiss he had ever experienced before, just pressing his lips against hers made his heart swell. He felt so satisfied, so content, he craved more of the feeling.

She didn’t kiss back.

The odd thought struck him somewhere at the back of his mind. Minah didn’t kiss back even the slightest. She almost seemed frozen in shock. The same thought triggered him to pull away just as quickly to look at the panicked look on her face. Taekwoon could feel his heart tighten with anxiety and entirely shatter when she stood up, frantically picking her laptop before looking at him.

“Taekwoon, I can’t do this,” Minah’s voice broke; she couldn’t handle a relationship without feelings, she knew that, it was wrong to even let this friendship head in that direction “ I can’t do this,” she repeated, picking her bag up and hurrying out of the library.

---

“You’re a dumb you know that?”  Wonshik glared at Taekwoon who sulked unhappily over his sandwich. He had been miserable ever since the events of the previous evening and being accosted by Wonshik and Haneul at his measley attempt at lunch at the library cafe.

“I knew you were daft, but I didn’t think you were physically capable of making Minah breakdown to this extent,” Haneul hissed, making Taekwoon flinch.

“What the did you want me to do?” he growled back.

“Not kiss her when you have zero romantic feelings for her,” Haneul declared, crossing her arms, eyes still narrowed in his general direction. Taekwoon frowned back at her, what on earth did she even mean by that?

“What?”

Wonshik sighed as Haneul huffed, “you told her yourself, Taekwoon. You told her you’ve never liked anyone!” she sighed, choosing to elaborate as the idea of what could possibly be going through Minah’s head started making sense to Taekwoon. “Minah isn’t someone...who can do physical relationships without emotional investment. She really needs to trust someone to even let them touch her, even as a friend. If she lets you touch her, it means she trusts you no end...what you did after everything you’ve said...confused her. Taekwoon, you can’t do that to her.”

Taekwoon opened his mouth and closed it, trying to process the information Haneul had just hit him with as Wonshik looked at the exchange uncomfortably. Taekwoon’s brain sped with several thoughts, he needed to find Minah, he needed to talk to her, he needed to tell her everything about her that was driving him insane. He hadn’t realized he had stood up till Wonshik firmly tugged him back into his seat.

“You will collect your thoughts and you will talk to her,” Wonshik said calmly, Taekwoon had to admire how Minah’s small circle of friends were so fiercely loyal to her. More so when Haneul’s eyes met his, angry.

“If you do not harbour any feelings for her. You will tell her that clearly and you will leave.”

“Take your time and figure your out…write a speech if you need to,” Wonshik began yet again as Taekwoon exhaled.

“Yeah.”

---

“Puppy kisses will make you feel better!” Sooyeon said chirpily as Haneul nodded in agreement. They had decided to drag Minah to the pet kissing booth which was located at the lawn next to the tennis courts. This gave it ample space for the large number of pets Jaehwan had spoken about. The thought of nuzzling a dog lifted Minah’s spirits briefly.

Except it came crashing straight down when they arrived at the lawns to see no animals. Jaehwan stood there with a giant grin on his face and dog ears. Hongbin sat on a table playing on a Nintendo Switch with rabbit ears on his head.  Sanghyuk peered over his shoulder wearing something that vaguely looked like hamster ears. Hakyeon (bereft of any strange animal ears) was chatting with a very grumpy looking Taekwoon who was wearing cat ears. Wonshik popped up from behind the standee with Jaehwan’s art-work advertising the pet kissing booth wearing floppy dog ears.

“Minah! You’re here! Saved you the first slot!” Jaehwan waved, causing Taekwoon’s gaze to flicker up to her. Even now, with everything going on, just seeing her there made him inexplicably ecstatic even if his stomach churned with anxiety.

“Jaehwan where are the animals?” Sooyeon hissed, as Jaehwan shot her a sheepish smile.

“So, uh, we didn’t have the funds to bring them in today and during the fest, so we decided to raise funds by just having a regular kissing booth,” he whispered back, indicating the rest of the motley crew he had managed to put together.

“Are you ing kidding me?” Sooyeon grumbled as Jaehwan put on a  bubbly sunny business smile and stepped forward to Minah.

“Today, your future is based on fate! You get to pick your kiss buddy!” he brandished a set of coloured strips of paper in front of Minah who glared at him.

“I want a refund.”

“No can do! Gave the money to the organization!”

“Refund!” Minah exclaimed “where are the puppies?!”

“Choose a strip! Any strip!” Jaehwan fought back, still brandishing the damn strips of paper and Minah simply wanted to knock it out of his hands. Frustration built as the strips of papers waved in front of her and she yanked at one before looking at it. Jaehwan peered at the words on the strip of paper and turned to call.

“Hamster?”

Sanghyuk’s head shot up as he looked at Minah who sighed in relief.

“Hold on, I have to stamp your hand. Branding and stuff you know,” Jaehwan explained, haphazardly, reaching for the stamp-pad and stamp that lay on the table behind him. He sighed, fumbling with the new fangled stamp pad as Sooyeon and Haneul groaned and launched themselves on the man to stop him from doing anything further.

Taekwoon knew he needed to act now and act soon. He hurried over to Sanghyuk, not knowing what to say to the man he’d never really spoken to.

“Uh, Sanghyuk, can we switch animals?” he asked frantically, making Sanghyuk turn to him with a suspicious frown.

“Why?”

“Because I’m more like a hamster than a cat.” Taekwoon tried to lie on the spot. The thought of Sanghyuk kissing Minah made his insides roll with aversion. He knew it wasn’t his place to say anything about it, but all that could come to his mind when he thought about it was “Do. Not. Want.”

“Why didn’t you ask to trade earlier?” Sanghyuk questioned, now crossing his arms and Taekwoon could feel the exasperation building.

“Didn’t occur to me.”

“Why all of the sudden?” Sanghyuk blinked, arms still crossed.

“If the hamster isn’t coming due to Hakyeon, send the bunny rabbit!” Jaehwan called as Taekwoon turned to Hongbin who shrugged, slipping off from his seat.

“Trade with me, Hongbin.”

“I have the same question as Sanghyuk honestly, why didn’t you ask before?” Hongbin’s sly smirk made him want to knock his pretty teeth out. But it was interrupted by Jaehwan coming over to the three.

“What’s going on.”

“Taekwoon wants to trade.”

“Why?” Jaehwan looked confused as Taekwoon’s patience finally cracked and the words came tumbling out like a stream. The words that caused the whole group to fall silent and all eyes to fall on him.

“Because I like Minah! So I want to talk to her and tell her that alright?!” This wasn’t idea. In no way was this ideal. No, he had wanted this to be a private conversation, but he couldn’t even think of the possibility of doing this later, not with how much his insides burned at the idea of someone else kissing Minah. He turned to look at her, as she gaped back at him.Taking a step forward he reached out to her.

“Taekwoon…” she exhaled.

“I just want to talk,” he said, holding his hand out. He would never do this to her in public, he knew it would make her even more uncomfortable. He was surprised when she took his hand, willingly letting him lead her away. Anything to get out of the prying eyes of the group. The only isolated space he could find was behind the sports office. They walked towards it in silence, hand in hand, interrupted only by the sound of their footsteps. Taekwoon stopped and turned to look at her. Every word he had rehearsed flew out of his mind.

“God, I love you.”

Minah could feel her heart stop briefly as she looked up at him, eyes widening at the soft look in his eyes.

“I...you make me so inexplicably happy, I can’t even comprehend it. You’re so strong-willed, but you have such a tender heart. You’re the strongest woman I know, I just think of spending forever with you...all the time. You mean so much to me...and I will wait for you to be comfortable with me...god I ed up so bad...I can’t explain myself…” he rambled as Minah could feel tears prick her eyes as she reached to grip at his hand and pull him towards her.

“You’re such a fool,” she whispered reaching up to caress the side of his face, the familiarity of the moment caused him to close his eyes, revelling in the feeling of her just touching him with such affection “I adore you, you dork. For someone I always thought was perceptive, you at understanding how much I feel for you.”

Minah stood on her tiptoes, leaning up to press her lips against his briefly trying to use his love language to get her point across “I love you too” she whispered against his skin. Taekwoon could feel a surge build in him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Pulling her closer, he rested his forehead against hers.

“You need to understand one thing,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers “I haven’t stopped wanting to kiss you since the first time...I can’t seem to have enough. May I please...kiss you again?” he breathed, making her squeak out a yes “are you sure?”

“Yes,” her breath intoxicated him as he leaned forward, bridging the gap between them feeling her soft lips pressing firmly against his yet again. He groaned at the sensation, his head buzzing yet again as his hands slid up her sides to drag his lips against hers revelling at the soft exhale she let out. Taekwoon was surprised when he felt her hand sliding up his chest and tangling in hair as her lips moved in sync with his, still gentle, but insistent.

He heard a squeak when his teeth nipped at her bottom lip as her fingers in his hair tightened ever so slightly. Something about all of it made Taekwoon feel a charge run through his nerves as he pressed against her with a little more urgency and his tongue dragged over the seam of her lips causing another sound to escape her. Breaking away, she inhaled deeply as Taekwoon looked at her, concerned.

“Too fast?”

“A little bit…” Minah breathed before looking back up at him. Taekwoon was astounded by how wonderful she looked right then - dazed, with her swollen lips quirking up into a smile that Taekwoon kissed yet again. It was almost euphoric but he tried to keep it short. Who knew kissing someone could be this addictive?

“This is going to be a problem,” he sighed out when he pulled away.

“Why?”

“Can’t kiss you in class every time you say something smart,” he declared, making her roll her eyes.

“Well, you’ll have to learn. Like I’ll have to learn to kiss you better, you know, to keep up,” she wiggled her eyebrows and Taekwoon had to fight the urge to kiss her silly yet again.

“I volunteer to teach you,” he hugged her closer, feeling her press against him.

“Oh? How the  roles have reversed,” she mumbled into his chest at complete peace and comfort. Taking a deep breath of his scent she stayed still, holding on as they tried to stay in the bubble that was their moment.

They knew soon someone will come to burst this bubble, but that wouldn’t stop them from creating more memories to store away in their own little personal bubbles. Memories as friends, as lovers, as two people who deeply cared for one another. Till then, this was the best they could have.