That night, it was silent in the apartment as ChanYeol fiddled with his bottle of forks, sitting at the dining table with his head resting on the palm of his hand.  The only sound to be heard was the gentle clinking of forks as the melancholy man tilted the glass bottle back and forth.  Occasionally, he would pick one fork up and drop it back into the bottle, watching as the utensils bounced just slightly in effect.  But the other forks bounced only if he dropped a metal fork—it didn’t work so well with plastic forks, ChanYeol noticed.  If he dropped a plastic fork, only the other plastic forks would bounce in the bottle (but not as high as if he dropped a metal fork).  An airy sigh escaped the man’s lips as he continued to occupy himself with the bottle of forks.

A quick knock on the door snapped ChanYeol out of his trivial thoughts; he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, knowing that no one ever visited—no one had ever wanted to.  Another knock on the door prompted the man to resignedly stand and make his way to the door.  When he opened the door, he was surprised to see not one, but two people standing outside—a male and a female, both around the same age.  The male wasn’t much taller than the female and had one arm around her waist, while the female had one arm around his neck.  The girl’s head was hanging low, and her long hair covered her face.  With a grimace plastered onto his face, the male exasperatedly told ChanYeol, “Take her.”

“What..?” was all ChanYeol could say before the stranger pushed the female into his arms.  On instinct, he caught the girl and was shocked to see that it was MiKyung.  The first thing he thought was how pretty she looked with her hair down—he had only ever seen her with her hair up in a high ponytail; the second thought that occurred to him was that she smelled like alcohol—and a lot of it.  He looked to the male still outside for an explanation, though he didn’t seem in the mood to give one.  Sighing, the male tiredly rambled,

“I’m HaMin, her neighbor.  We were drinking outside her apartment—God, she just wouldn’t stop—and she kept talking about you.  It was annoying, really.  I’d let her stay in her own apartment, but she couldn’t find the stupid key and, really, I just don’t trust her to be alone.  She’s never gotten drunk before.  She can’t even walk straight.”

“Oh, I…I see,” ChanYeol quietly replied.  With that, HaMin mumbled a hasty “Good night” to the other and quickly walked away, leaving ChanYeol very confused and unsure of what to do next.  Tentatively wrapping an arm around MiKyung’s thin figure, he carefully pulled her into the foyer and shut the door; because the female wouldn’t move her feet on her own, ChanYeol practically dragged her across the floor into the living room.  He tried to have her sit down on the couch, but MiKyung had her arms tightly wrapped around his waist.  “M…MiKyung-ah, please let go,” he choked out, nervous at the lack of space between them.  But the female wouldn’t let go, so ChanYeol just awkwardly stood there, trying to ignore the fact that the girl he had liked for two years was currently hugging him.  In an attempt to distract himself, ChanYeol stared at the ceiling and traced the edges where the ceiling and walls met.

“ChanYeol…”

The man looked abandoned his previous task and looked down at MiKyung, whose forehead was resting on his shoulder.  “Yes?” ChanYeol breathed out after swallowing the lump in his throat.  The other was silent for a moment, and ChanYeol thought she had fallen asleep until she began to speak softly, her words slurred due to the alcohol.

“I’m sorry.  You’re so nice, ChanYeol…  You really are.”  She paused for a moment before continuing, “I just don’t think I should be allowed to like you back.  I don’t think I’ve ever said anything nice to you.  I remember that…that one time when I yelled at you for…what was it?  Oh, yeah, you ate a whole box of expired chocolates and got sick.  Why did you do that?  You’re crazy…  I’m sorry, ChanYeol.  I’m sorry…  I’m really sorry.” 

Taking a small step backwards, ChanYeol put his hands on MiKyung’s shoulders and gently pulled himself out of her embrace.  He looked at her downturned face and thought of what to say for a few moments.  “You don’t have to be sorry, MiKyung-ah,” he finally said.  “I like you because you’re you.”  Slowly, the female looked up at the other but didn’t say anything, just maintaining their locked gazes.  Somewhere in her muddled mind, she noticed that he wasn’t wearing his glasses.  Had he always been this handsome?

Wordlessly, MiKyung removed her arms from around ChanYeol’s waist and gently placed her hands under his jaw.  Though he knew what would happen in the next moment, ChanYeol couldn’t stop the other as she shut her eyes and gingerly pressed her lips against his.  ChanYeol closed his eyes as well, thinking of nothing else except how soft and delicate MiKyung’s lips felt against his own.  He wanted to hold her and stay like this forever, but the scent of alcohol quickly brought him back to reality.  Reluctantly, the male pulled away and whispered, “Sorry, MiKyung-ah…”  The female had her head hanging low again, preventing ChanYeol from seeing her face; he gently guided her to sit on the couch and went into his bedroom to find a pillow and blanket for her.

When he came back into the living room, ChanYeol found that MiKyung was already lying down on the couch, asleep.  As carefully as possible, he lifted the other’s head and placed it back down after setting the pillow underneath.  He then put the blanket over her body, making sure she wouldn’t get cold after removing her shoes from her feet, and chuckled softly when he saw that she was wearing socks with a cartoon picture of a member of the popular boy band, Super Junior.  Pushing the female’s bangs away from her eyes, ChanYeol smiled tenderly and lightly brushed the back of his palm against her cheek, admiring the soft features of her face.  “Good night, MiKyung-ah,” he whispered before standing up and retiring to his bedroom.

---------

It was noon when MiKyung woke up, and the first thing she thought was how thankful she was that it was Saturday.  The second thought she had was that her head hurt—a lot.  Pressing a palm against her forehead, the female gradually sat up, realizing she was on a couch she swore she’d seen before.  She glanced at the fleece blanket over her body and stared at the familiar pattern of Rilakkuma teddy bears.  Slowly, MiKyung scanned her surroundings and regrettably realized that she was in ChanYeol’s apartment.  Her memory was nebulous, but she could just barely recall downing one bottle of soju after another the previous night with HaMin at her side.  But before she could remember anything else, a burning sensation arose in , prompting the female to scramble towards the bathroom with a hand to .

She knelt in front of the toilet and felt her stomach lurch forward; tightly gripping her knee, MiKyung cringed at the searing pain in as her body rejected last night’s consumptions.  The female could feel her nails digging into her skin, but it was nothing compared to the hot, bitter taste constantly flowing out .  With much difficulty, she tried to hold her hair out of her face, but her hair was just too long; a few strands stuck to the corners of her damp lips.  No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t stop the vomiting; it hurt more than a thousand pins being pressed into her back.

Suddenly, MiKyung felt hands against her cheeks, pulling her hair away from her face; she glanced to her right and saw ChanYeol there, kneeling beside her and timidly smiling.  Staring back at him, MiKyung felt so embarrassed, so ashamed of her current state and felt like crying at the comforting expression the other was giving her.  Before she could do just that, however, she felt the familiar but unwelcome feeling emerge in once more.  For five minutes straight, MiKyung continued to vomit the alcohol she had consumed the previous night, and ChanYeol held her hair back, gently rubbing her back.

After MiKyung had rinsed and taken some medicine to help with her massive headache, the two sat on the couch, silent and looking away from each other.  The female had the fleece blanket wrapped tightly around her (ChanYeol insisted) and held onto it tightly, unsure of what to do; she also had her knees pulled up to her chest, a habit of hers that the male had never seen before.  Shyly, ChanYeol glanced at MiKyung and quickly looked away when they made eye contact—he really didn’t know what to do.  The soft humming of the air conditioner was the only sound in the apartment, but it didn’t lessen the awkward atmosphere hanging over the pair.  When about ten minutes of silence passed, MiKyung swallowed the lump in and said, her voice a little scratchy, “ChanYeol…um…I’m sorry about…everything.  I’m not mad at you or anything. I…actually, I…”  It was almost pitiful how much the female struggled with her words—she just couldn’t get them out.  Never before had she felt so nervous, so unsure in her life.  Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to say those three words.  “I like—”

But before MiKyung could finish, ChanYeol turned to her, leaned over, and tenderly kissed her.  In that single, blissful moment, the two experienced the most happiness they had ever felt in their lives.  It only lasted a few seconds, but it was a moment that would remain engrained in their memories—perpetual and irreplaceable.

“I like you, too, MiKyung-ah,” ChanYeol whispered before pressing his lips against the other’s once more.

Is it really almost over?  I'm going to miss these characters so, so, sooo much.  I wish they existed in real life, and I wish I could write more about them...  The next chapter will be the last one, sadly.  I don't want to end this, but I know the next chapter will be the best place to end it.  If I draw it out any longer, it might get super cheesy and fluffy, and ChanYeol will be so greasy that he'll threaten BaekHyun's title.  XD  Speaking of BaekHyun, I want to write something with him in it...  Anyway, as I wrote the vomiting scene, I wanted to throw up myself, haha.  I can actually feel a little...  Okay, ignore me.  I'm sorry.  I ate a lot of food today (12-hour long party), so maybe that's why.  As I wrote this chapter, I listened to some of JJ Lin's song.  XiuMin and Lay have really good taste in music.  ♥

Why am I so awkward?  Haha, I hate writing kiss scenes.  I've never kissed anyone before, so I don't know what it feels like.  Sorry, guys...  Hopefully, it was somewhat accurate.  If I'm so phail, why did I wrote two kiss scenes?  Also, I'm sorry for not updating in the last three days.  After reading some comments, I felt very discouraged and suddenly felt like not writing (like ChanYeol).  I'm just sensitive like that, so don't worry.  I came back, right?  ^^

Replies to comments:

@AsianPopAddict:  Ahhh, no crying!  >__<  *hands you tissues*  I'm so glad you're enjoying this story though~  It makes me feel so accomlished.  ♥  Thank you so much.

@YiFeiLIM91: *hands you tissues*  Dry your tears!  ^^  Haha, hopefully you didn't have to slap these two in this chapter!  I hope you enjoyed this chapter~

@keep-the-faith: Haha, you're quite observant!  I had hoped to make it more apparent the ChanYeol liked MiKyung all along, so I'm glad you noticed~  Did you find this chapter to your liking?  :3

@kyuhyun-eonnie: You recommended this to your friend?!  I'm...I'm so...I'm so happy...  QAQ  No one's ever recommended one of my stories to a friend.  That's so nice... I love you and your friend. ( ; ㅂ;) ♥  I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

@Serene: Yeah, MiKyung's been crying a lot...  And I think it's just because ChanYeol's been messing up her daily routine, and she's the kind of character who really dislikes that.  Sorry if I didn't make that clear...  And haha, yes, that's a stylistic choice on my part.  I apologize if it annoyed you.  And well, she's returned his feelings now!  ^^

@Onebrightstar: lol Speaking of ChanYeol's childhood... Nah, I'll tell you guys later.  XD  I hope this chapter answered your question~  :P  I'm so glad you like this story, and I'm very thankful for your continual support~  ♥

@Oppa_faster: I don't know if you saw this in my reply to your friend's comment, but...I LOVE YOU!  XD  No one's ever recommded one of my stories to a friend, so this is a very special moment for me.  ^^  NADO THARANGHAE~  Don't get too high, though, haha!

@JustDerpin: Bwahaha, cliffhangers!  I love using them, but hate experiencing them.  I'm sorry for the wait!  >__<  I hope you enjoyed this chapter~  ^^  Thank you for your encouraging comment~

Wow, that was a lot! \( ; ㅂ;)/  Today's delicious, wonderful cookies go to:

Panda_LURVS_KPOP
iseeabs

Thank you to all my subscribers and commenters.  Without you, I wouldn't be posting my stories online.  I'm so grateful to each and every one of you.  If I ever see your username somewhere else, I will remember you as a precious subscriber.  Thank you all so much.  m( - w -)m