Jieun grumbled as she put on oversized sweater over her head. She peeked through the bedroom window and saw that the sun hasn’t fully risen yet and that got her into an even funkier mood.

Three urgent knocks came on the bedroom door.

“One second!” She yelled.

“I’m leaving you behind if you don-“

Jieun scrambled to the door and burst out, to find Jihoon surprised by her swift appearance.

Sometimes it seems as if Jihoon isn’t a normal human being. He wakes up before the sun has even risen – regardless of what time he slept the night before. Her eyes ran a quick scan of the man before her – he was clad in plain active wear, and was too busy adjusting the baseball cap on his head to notice how she’s studying him. He looks 100% man. There are no other words to describe it. He makes plain shirts and bottoms look so good on him.  She glanced at her own petite frame and felt a sense of dejection. Her perpetually middle schooler frame gave her some fuel to exercise – toned muscles would look good on her, that’s what her friend Inna used to say.

“I’m here.”

“I know…I thought you were putting on makeup. You were taking  forever.”

“Not everyone are robots like you who wake up after the sleep timer goes off.”

Jihoon threw her a fake smiling face. “Ha. Ha. Very funny.”

He quickly slung his right arm over her shoulder and ran towards the door, to the glee of the two dogs who were waiting for them.

“Oppa! Slow down…arasso..I’ll keep up!”

Jihoon was chuckling as he forced Jieun to jog out of the house and out into the morning.

It’s pretty funny because she brought this upon herself.

A few days ago, when they were talking after dinner, Jihoon told her that he wakes up early to exercise everyday…

“Even if it rains?” she asked, trying to find out if he’s showing off or trying to look cool.

“Yes.” He said, looking up from the book he was reading.

“No fail? What would make you not wake up early to exercise?” She probed, leaning closer to study his face, checking for signs of bull.

“Hmm…I don’t know. Maybe if I have an early work schedule or if I’m sick. But if it’s work, I usually just use the company gym if the studio has it.”

She snickered, not believing a word. But Jihoon’s physique says otherwise. He probably has 0% fat. He’s that fit.

“Well…I do that too..” She lied, straight out, not wanting to seem like a lazy person. Also, her competitiveness (especially when it’s Jihoon she’s talking to) just took over.

His eyes told her another one of those bets of his was brewing in his mind. Being around Jihoon, there were a lot of things she didn’t expect, one of those things is his unnatural fixation on bets and winning them.

“Spill it. What are you thinking about?”

The wicked smile on his face already gave it away.

“I’ll bet you won’t be able to exercise everyday for the remaining days we have here.”

The other thing is, she’s also competitive to a fault. It’s really annoying because Jihoon is probably right. She hates waking up early, especially if it’s for exercise. Another thing is this: she has this annoying desire to look cool around him. No matter how and which angle she looks at herself in the mirror, she can never beat Taehee’s looks, so she has to compensate in other ways.

“What’s in it for me?”

“Hmmm…well, if I win, I get one wish.”

“That’s unfair. You have to tell me what happens in case I lose.” She said, pouting, knowing that the chances of her winning are slim.

“Like you did when we played football last time?”

“Fair enough. If I win, I also get one wish.” She countered.

“Deal.”

Jihoon then explained that she has to at least jog for an hour for it to be counted. Against her better judgement and probably because of her stubborn pride, she agreed. Then they shook hands like two idiots.

It was their last morning before they leave for Seoul, and it was the day her lungs chose to betray her. She wasn’t able to finish an hour of jogging, and Jihoon was jumping up and down because he won the bet.

“Stop it!” She yelled at the gloating Jihoon. By then, he was doing weird dance moves to celebrate his victory.

“You’re just annoyed because I won.”

“Moments like this make me question why I even like you in the first place. You’re practically a five year old.”

Jihoon stopped dancing and moved closed to her. Jieun almost flinched when his face came up to hers a little too closely, his grin widening at her visible discomfort.

“You do?”

All she was able to do was nod.

Jihoon, still crouching to meet her gaze, continued to stare at her, his boyish grin not faltering. Jieun had to look away because her cheeks were starting to feel so warm, she was afraid they were going to self combust.

“You can’t even look at me straight in the eyes, haha!” He pinched both of her cheeks and laughed. “You’re so cute when you feel uncomfortable.”

Jieun forcefully took his hands off her face and ran back to the house. As she did, she could hear Jihoon laughing and saying “kiyowo” over and over.

When she was alone inside Jihoon’s room, she felt like the muscles on her cheeks were going to get sore because she couldn’t stop smiling.

**

Things Jieun didn’t know about Jihoon:

He’s pretty boring – but not in a bad way (?). Growing up with the biggest crush on Jihoon, she had this impression that he’s  a rule breaker and a playboy. Naturally, that’s only desirable when you’re a young, impressionable teenager, but not as a grown woman. Still, the “bad boy” image has a strong pull. But being with Jihoon made her see that he’s the exact opposite. He might be singing about magic sticks and making bodies shake, but what she’s seen so far is a guy who spends too much time with two dogs, the kitchen and books. The reading part came as the biggest surprise to her. He likes reading about photography, film and music. One time, he told her he took a master’s degree for post modern music…and it blew her mind. All the while, she kept calling him names about being a caveman and a man with a underdeveloped brain (atleast when she still disliked him), and it made her feel so embarrassed.

Second: Jihoon cooks like a gourmet chef. Her mom taught her to bake as a kid (because her mother is obssessed with stocking up with food – to the detriment of her figure), but it was more or less just a hobby. Jihoon’s cooking is different. He mixes truffle oil with barbecued beef – and she hasn’t tasted anything like it. No words can even describe how it tastes..but it fits so well. The thing about the food he cooks is that he improvises with ingredients he finds on the cupboard; and like magic, they work so well. She is defintely going to crave for his cooking when they’re back in Seoul, and it’s not good for her diet.

Another thing – which is sort of connected to the first thing – is that he is a gentleman to a fault. To fault because Jihoon looks like a woman’s dream and his presence inspires a lot of thoughts that aren’t exaclty PG 13. And it’s bad because he’s being so nice and considerate, while she catches herself staring too long at his ridiculously sculpted shoulders, or thinking about his perfect lips too many times. And this happens while he continues to be the considerate Oppa that she doesn’t deserve (not after all her gatecrashing and y behavior towards him before).  Not once did she feel like he’s going to take advantage of their little arrangement while she’s staying at his house. He let her sleep in his room (he told her to, after he recovered from throwing that little tantrum when she said she’s leaving for Seoul) and slept on the couch instead. He would knock before entering the room, and ask if it’s okay to ent