"You..."

In this state of mind, Yoona could not finish her words as she was busy studying Jiyong's facial expression to see if she could catch a hint of playfulness in his eyes. But it was to no avail because Jiyong was dead serious.

"I hope that did not freak you out..." Jiyong ruffled his hair embarrassingly, "I thought it was time to let you know. I like you Yoona and there's no point in hiding it anymore."

Yoona was still lost for words, she was not expecting this! Initially, when Jiyong was sharing his story, she thought it was all so cute and when it was exposed that the girl that he fancied was in the entertainment industry, she had to admit that she was a tad bit disappointed. Now that it was revealed that the muse was her, she didn't know how to react.

"I didn't f-freaked out, just a little shocked." Yoona found back her voice, "I was not expecting the twist at the end."

"Now you know." Jiyong was relieved that Yoona didn't seem burdened by it.

"B-But it was for such a long time! How can I not have a single clue?"

"Did you forget that even when our groups were close, you were busy distancing away from me?" Jiyong pretended to look disappointed but he felt good that he was finally pouring it out to her. "And with all the scandals, it probably overpowered all the subtle hints. Actually, even without the scandals, I doubt SM will allow you to be involved in anything that has got to do with me. They would probably be busy bribing those reporters."

The atmosphere suddenly went cold as Jiyong got sentimental. It was the truth and Yoona could not deny it. If that really did happen, SM would probably deny it and try their best to pull her out from the scandal to protect her good-girl image.

"Yah..." Yoona slapped his hands softly, "I wasn't distancing, I was just busy! And you don't have to put yourself in such a bad light, you're not that bad. We have cleared the misunderstanding and now it's all good, isn't it?"

Yoona knew it was her mistake to look at Jiyong in a different light in the past, she regretted it and if she were to know him better in the earlier days, things would have been different. Truthfully speaking, Yoona was touched at his little revelation of his little crush on her, how he remembered every little thing about her while she was being tactless, not having a single clue about this.

Throughout these few months of hanging out with Jiyong, she perfectly knew why everyone around her has nothing but good words about him, even Seohyun was speaking so highly about him. Yoona has to admit that she was having a lot of fun whenever she was with Jiyong, it seemed like he would always appear in front of her whenever she's feeling bored or needed someone to talk to. Jiyong has always been so kind and patient with her, he's also playful around her and that made her feel more comfortable being around him.

"You said I'd make a really good boyfriend earlier," Jiyong spoke up and broke her train of thoughts. "Any thoughts of making me your boyfriend?"

"E-Eh?" Yoona was back to stuttering, a little flustered at how straightforward Jiyong was.

"E-Eh?" Jiyong mimicked her reaction and laughed. Even though he was slightly disappointed, he knew he shouldn't rush into it. "If you're thinking that I am fooling around, I am telling you that I am dead serious. You don't have to give me an answer now, take your time to think about it and I will be here, waiting."

Yoona saw his face fell and could sense that he was definitely disappointed, she was smiling inwardly and remained a poker face. About the question that Jiyong asked earlier... After all these long years, Jiyong had finally plucked up the courage to pour all the feelings that he had for her and Yoona thought she should do the same. Like what Jiyong said before, it was time to step out of her comfort zone and do something different. Until when is she going to stay being a puppet of SM? Yoona would not deny that she has a good feeling for Jiyong and the feeling has gotten so much stronger after the visit to Dolce vita. If she didn't detest the idea, why not give it a try? Her last relationship was almost 5 years ago!

Jiyong saw she was dazing out and knew he should give her some time to digest it, he reached out for the car key on the table and spoke up.

"I should send you back home, you should take a good rest." Jiyong stood up from the couch and was ready to walk away before he felt a grip on his hands.

Yoona saw Jiyong walking away and she stood up, instinctively reached out and held onto his hands. Jiyong turned around and looked at her curiously while Yoona's face was slowly turning red.

"You know, I said you'd make a really good boyfriend... Do you want to prove that to me?" Yoona said it bashfully with her heads down, not meeting his eyes. "I thought we could give i-it a try if you are w-willing to..."

Yoona didn't see Jiyong's expression but it turned from a frown to a silly grin as soon as he realized what she meant. Did this girl just asked if he's willing to? Heck! He was more than happy to. 

"Yah, look at me." Jiyong held onto her hands and with his other free hand, he put them under her chin and made her look at him.

Yoona's face was already burning in embarrassment and Jiyong making her look into his eyes wasn't helping at all.

"You're not joking right?" Jiyong wanted to confirm it because he was not believing that it was finally happening.

"Wae? You don't want it?" Yoona glared at him while pouting away, "If you don't want it the-"

"I want!" Jiyong cut her off childishly, pinching her nose adorably. "You make sure you don't take back your words."

"I won't!" Yoona scrunched up her nose at him. "As long as your little crush for me is still there?"

"It's not a crush anymore, isn't it?" Jiyong wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

The sudden action caught Yoona by surprise but slowly, she leaned in comfortably and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Both of them broke into a common smile at the proximity between them, hoping that they would hold onto each other for as long as they could.

✾✽✾✽✾✽

"Right." Yoona spoke up at the thought of something, "Remember you still need to grant one of my wishes?"

"Huh? I thought I have granted them all?" Jiyong raised his brows, not knowing where she's going but he will not let this chance of teasing her slid pass. "But if your wish is to get a kiss from me? I can totally do that."

Just as Jiyong finished his sentence, he really leaned in but his face was pushed away by Yoona.

"Y-Yah! Of course not!" Yoona frowned, she thought Jiyong would forget about it and maybe she could try her luck.

"Wae? Isn't my kiss precious enough? So many people are queuing up for it!"

"Hmph! Then you can go ahead and clear the queue!" Yoona pouted and removed her arms from his neck. "Let me go."

"Alright alright, I'm scared of you." Jiyong laughed while he tightened his grip around her waist. "What is it?"

"After I say it, you're not allowed to deny it with any excuses, deal?" Yoona got playful again and was getting slightly excited.

Looking at her face of excitement, Jiyong couldn't help but laugh and nodded at her request.

"Assa!" Yoona grinned, "My wish is... to see that pair of Paranoise that you hid it from me the other day!"

"M-Mwuh?" J