After Jongin told Ara and Sehun that they were going to get his back checked, Jieun could see the two of them trying to hold back their smiles.  But nevertheless, the two of them packed their bags and left the library together.

The walk to the clinic was quiet one.  They walked side by side in silence, with Jongin looking straight ahead, not saying anything to Jieun. But when they reached the end of the street where they were supposed to turn left, Jongin suddenly grabbed her hand and started leading her briskly to turn right instead. 

“The clinic is the other way Jongin,” Jieun said as she tried to pull her hand away from Jongin.

“Are you that afraid of people seeing us holding hands?” Jongin said, not letting her go.  “Let’s go somewhere else first.”

“Jongin, stop playing around.”  Jieun stopped in her tracks.  She didn’t understand what everyone was trying to do.  Sehun, Ara and now Jongin, didn’t they understand it wasn’t going to work?

Jongin held her hand firmly still and replied, “I’m not playing around.”  He stared straight into her eyes, his brown eyes unwavering and determined.  Determined for what reason though, Jieun had no idea.  She thought Jongin was angry with her.  Why was he suddenly so interested in taking her somewhere?

“Why are you suddenly doing this then?  Where are we going?”  Jieun exclaimed.  Jongin was a lot stronger than her so she had no choice but to reluctantly walk in the direction he was going with him pulling on her hand.

“Don’t you trust me?”  He asked, this time stopping in his tracks.  He focused his gaze on the busy traffic on the road.  Jongin loosened his grip on Jieun and said cryptically, “I regret being the one who planted the seed of doubt into your mind.”

“Seed of doubt?”  Jieun questioned back, confused.

He continued, “I just want to spend one day with you.  After today, you can decide to do whatever you want.  I won’t stop you.” 

He let go of her hand now and held his hand out.  “It’s up to you whether you follow me or not.”

It was tempting.  The moment Jongin let go of her hand, on reflex, she had desperately wanted to keep on holding on to his.  It felt so hollow and empty once he had let go of her hand.  Maybe it was just an excuse that she wanted to know why Jongin was suddenly behaving this way, but Jieun took hold of Jongin’s hand again. 

Why did holding on to his hand feel so right but at the same time, she felt like she was digging a hole she couldn’t escape from?  She pushed down all her thoughts and concentrated on Jongin’s warm hand.

She could see that Jongin was surprised at her fast response but he fit his hand snug into hers. 

“You know, when we were together, we never really had a proper date.”  Jongin said as they started walking again.  “We were always in the practice room, park or at a nearby café.”

“How about your back though?”  She asked concerned.  “Let’s get it checked still.”

“I got it checked a week ago.  I’m fin