“Yukwon, I’m scared,” Minyoung said quietly.  The two had reached her apartment, and he was about to leave to go home.  Minhyuk was over at Taeil’s, according to Minyoung, so it would just be her in the apartment that night.

“Why is Minhyuk at Taeil’s ramyun shop?” Yukwon asked, ignoring her statement for a moment.

“He said that he had business with Taeil oppa.  And apparently, that business doesn’t concern me.”

Yukwon nodded, then decided to address her earlier statement.  “But it’s not like I can just stay over…that would be wrong.”

“Not if we sleep on the couch.”

“Woah, hold up,” Yukwon said immediately, “We?”

“Well, when I have bad dreams, Minhyuk comforts me and lets me sleep next to him for the night.  And since Minhyuk isn’t here…” She trailed off.  He imagined that she was just as embarrassed as he was at the moment.

“We haven’t even hit first base yet!” he protested.  When he realized what actually came out of his mouth, he facepalmed.

She just laughed.  “So are you going to spend the night?  You’ve already slept over twice.”

“I don’t have clothes or a toothbrush,” he said.

“You can borrow some of Minhyuk’s clothes, since you two seem to be around the same size.  And there’s a whole pack of unused toothbrushes on the bathroom counter.”

“I…” He paused to think for a moment.  Minyoung really wanted him to stay.  His parents were out of town.  His brother lived in the dorms at the university.  No one would notice if he was gone for one night, since his house was pretty empty in the first place.  “All right, Minyoung.  Just this once, though.  I don’t want your brother to get any wrong ideas about me.”

She smiled.  “Thank you, Yukwon.”

He followed her into the apartment, his heart beating a mile a minute.  For one, he was a teenage boy.  She was a teenage girl.  He had hormones like any other guy, and Minyoung’s attractiveness and innocence did not help his situation one bit.  And the fact that he would have to spend a whole night with her because she insisted…he knew that he wouldn’t get much sleep that night.

He walked through the apartment, glancing curiously into every room he passed.  There was a guest room, he assumed, because it seemed to be the only clean and vacant room in the apartment.  He passed Minyoung’s room, but the door was shut.  He couldn’t even look in if he wanted to.

“Wait here.” Minyoung walked into Minhyuk’s room, searching for a set of clothes for Yukwon.  When she came out only five minutes later, she held a plain black t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.

“Minhyuk’s into dark colors these days,” Minyoung said.  “I really don’t know why, though.”  She handed him the clothes.  “The bathroom is this next room, so if you want to shower or anything, be my guest.  There are extra towels already, since I was expecting someone who cancelled at the last moment…” She trailed off.  “So yeah.  You can use the stuff in there.”

“Thanks,” he said.  “Will you be okay while I’m in the shower?”  It was more of a teasing question, meant to draw an annoyed reaction out of her.

“I’ll be perfectly fine,” she said.

“If you’re scared, I’m pretty sure that two people can fit in the shower.” He burst out laughing at his own comment.

She just stared at him with an amused expression.  “Sorry, Yukwon, but I don’t think you’ll be reaching home base tonight.”

He grinned.

<:>

“Cannot unsee,” Minyoung said as soon as Yukwon stepped into the living room.  For one, he didn't have the shirt on yet, and she couldn’t help but stare at his abs.

“What exactly are you watching?” Yukwon said with an air of amusement.

She glared.  “Cartoons.  There is nothing wrong with cartoons.  And put your shirt on.”

“C’mon, Minyoung.  I know you enjoy staring at me like this,” he mocked.  But he did as she asked and put on Minhyuk’s shirt.  It was very soft and comfortable and made Yukwon mentally note to ask Minhyuk where he bought the shirt.  “Why don’t you like to let people see your room?” he asked suddenly.

Thrown off by the question, Minyoung had to think for a few moments before answering.  “My room is the only place that belongs to me exclusively.  Showing another person would be like breaking that privacy.”

“So you won’t show me?”

She shook her head.  “Not today, but maybe someday in the future…?”  Minyoung leaned up against Yukwon, who put his arm around her.  “I’m tired.”

“Go to sleep then.”

She broke free of his embrace.  “Let me set up the couch-bed first.”

“The what?”

“This couch can turn into a bed if set up correctly.  I haven’t used this before, but I’ve seen Minhyuk do it once when we first got the couch.  I think I remember.”

“Sure you remember,” Yukwon said sarcastically.  “Didn’t you get this couch a while ago?”

“You’ve forgotten about my memory, haven’t you?” She smirked and started looking for the part of the couch that had to be pulled out.  Minyoung found it easily and pulled.

To Yukwon’s surprise, the couch really could be turned into a bed.  “Er…good work, Minyoung.”

“Nothing will happen tonight, okay?” she said, getting under the covers on one side.

“Of course nothing will happen.  Unless you want something…” He grinned.  “Because I wouldn’t mind—”

“Great!  I’m next to a ert,” Minyoung replied.  She grabbed a body pillow and stuffed it between the two.  “This is a wall.  Nothing breaks the wall.”  And with that, she lied back and closed her eyes.  Yukwon did the same.

<:>

She dreamt of Ahn Jaehyo.  Everything that she had pushed out of her mind came flooding back, as clear as day.

“Minyoung, as much as I’d like to continue seeing you, I think that we should break things off.”

Startled, although she knew what was coming, she responded with, “W-What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re only holding me back from what I can be.  I have dreams that can’t be achieved here in Seoul, Minyoung.  You of all people should understand that.”

“I…”

“Thanks for the past year, Minyoung.  When I become successful, I’ll be sure to remember you.”

Minyoung sat up in bed and scanned her surroundings.  Nothing seemed to be different, aside from the fact that Yukwon still hadn’t fallen asleep.  He was staring up at the ceiling.

“Can’t sleep?” she asked quietly.  Her voice must’ve startled him, for he gasped in shock.

“I didn’t know that you were still awake, Minyoung.”

She leaned over her makeshift wall and sighed.  “I had a disturbing dream.  I was asleep, but I don’t think I can go back to sleep.”

“What was it about?  Did people die?”

“Nope.  Something way more disturbing than that.”

“Do I want to know?”

She shook her head.  “Can you tell me a story?”

“Er…what?”

“A story.  A fairytale, in fact.  Minhyuk always tells me fairytales when I can’t sleep.”

“What are you, six?” He mocked.

“C’mon,” she whined.  “Please?”

“Fine,” he replied.  Yukwon cleared his throat awkwardly.  “Once upon a time…”  He was thrown off by the fact that Minyoung had removed her wall and was now lying right next to him.

“Go on,” she said simply.

“Once upon a time, there was a lonely prince.  He spent most of his time in his castle, reading books and trying to learn about love.  He never succeeded, beginning to wonder how some of his acquaintances could marry girls they had never met.”

Minyoung nodded.

“But one day, while the prince was taking a stroll through his kingdom, he came across a startling sight.  A princess from the neighboring town had dropped by on an errand.  And instead of riding a horse, like most of the royalty did, she walked and chatted with the common folk on her way to the castle.”

Minyoung chuckled.  He’s way to obvious.

“The prince immediately set sights on getting the princess’s attention, but he didn’t know how to do it.  He had heard that she was a strange princess, associating herself with the commoners and whatnot, and he was told to stay away from her.  But the prince didn’t listen.”

“And then what happened?”

“The prince was soon interrupted by the princess’s brother, who was the meanest and nastiest prince ever known in the whole world.”

Minyoung chuckled.

“You know that this is a fairy tale, right?” Yukwon clarified, immediately thinking of an angry Minhyuk. 

“Of course,” she replied.

“Okay.  The prince became discouraged but knew that he would have to deal with the nasty brother if he wanted to catch the princess’s attention.”

“So did he catch her attention?” Minyoung asked curiously.

“Of course he did,” Yukwon scoffed, “He was really good looking, and the princess ended up falling for his charms.  They got married and lived happily every after.  The end.”

She smiled.  “Nice story there, Yukwon.”

“I know, right?”

She fell asleep in Yukwon’s arms for the second time that night and dreamt happy dreams that kept her asleep until the next morning.