“What’s wrong, Jin Haneul?” Ara Cha looked at me, concerned.  “You look exhausted.”

I groaned, rubbing my temples.  “That’s because I am exhausted.  I stayed up late last night finishing homework.”

“Ohh, poor girl!” my friend wrapped her arms around me.  “You work too hard!  You should rest more.”  I smiled, awkwardly returning the embrace.  “I know!” She suddenly pulled back, an excited gleam in her eye.  “We should hang out!  You haven’t been around Seoul, right?” I shook my head.  The only time I’d gone out to look around was that time with my mother.  “Then I’ll show you around!  It will be a lot of fun!  We’ll go shopping, and sight-seeing, and visit all of the best cafés!”  This girl couldn’t keep her voice level down, and people were starting to glance over at us.

A pair of arms s around my waist and I knew exactly who it was.  “Mianhaeyo, Ara Cha-yah, but that privilege is mine.”  That voice just confirmed it.  Ara Cha’s eyes widened.  She looked from me to the person behind me, whose chin rested on my shoulder.

“Youngmin-oppa,” I hissed.  “Not at school!  You know that.”  I peered over at the girls giving me death glares and I could already see revenge plans formulating in their brains.

Youngmin pouted behind me and withdrew his arms, instead standing next to me.  On the way to school I’d laid out the rules for skin ship at school: no hugging, no hand-holding, no cuddling, no kissing (on the cheek of course (and nose, and forehead, and anywhere else)!  I don’t think he’d try for my lips, not after Saturday night…).  So basically, no nothing at all, explaining that I didn’t want to get eaten alive by fan girls.  He’d pouted a little but finally agreed to my terms as long as he was able to do any of those things outside of school.  Reluctantly, I’d agreed.  Neither one of us mentioned the almost-kiss.  We acted as if that part had never happened and Youngmin went to school with me like everything was normal.

Ara Cha’s eyes were still as large as an owl’s as she looked between the two of us.  “Are you two…?”

“Ani!” I was quick to reply.  “This guy just really likes skin ship.”  I jerked my thumb at the guilty party who just shrugged innocently.

The girl nodded, obviously still harboring some doubts.  “So are you going to sit with me today at lunch, or are you going with him?”

“Uh, well, you see,” I began, “I’ve already agreed to eat with Youngmin-oppa…”  Actually, he was taking me to see the greenhouse during lunch.  No way was I going to pass that up.

“Oh, okay,” Ara Cha’s face fell and I instantly felt guilty.

“Hey, it’s only Monday, I still have the whole week to eat lunch with you,” I reminded cheerfully.  That seemed to brighten her up.

“Jin Haneul!” a voice shouted.  I turned and saw an overly excited Minwoo running up to me, shoving Youngmin out of the way.

“Yah!” Youngmin cried out indignantly.  Minwoo just ignored him.

“Good morning!  How are you today, Jin Haneul?” Minwoo asked.

I smiled at this funny kid.  “I’m fantastic, you?”

He grinned innocently.  “Better now that you’re here.”

“Yah!”  Youngmin shoved Minwoo away.  “Who knew someone so innocent-looking could be so greasy?”

Minwoo stumbled a bit, but someone caught him and that was when I realized that three figures stood behind him.

“Jeongmin-ssi, Hyunseong-ssi…Kwangmin-ssi!” I was very excited to see the latter.  He’d been gone from this group so much that I was starting to feel bad for them.  Oh, and Youngmin taught me the proper honorifics for people I respect and/or don’t know what else to use as an honorific (basically).

“Annyeong, Jin Haneul,” Kwangmin smiled at me and I was instantly reminded of him ‘catching’ Youngmin and I on Saturday.

“Where’s Hyesoo?” Youngmin asked, briefly distracted from his lecture to a discouraged looking Minwoo.  Taking the opportunity, Minwoo slipped away and hid behind Jeongmin.  Youngmin glared at him before turning his attention back to Kwangmin who was responding.

“She said she wanted to be with her friends,” he pouted.  “Am I not enough?  Why can’t she just stay with me all of the time?  Couldn’t she just include me with her friends?”

Ara Cha, usually a patient, understanding person, stared at Kwangmin as if he had grown horns and a third ear.  “Kwangmin-sii, I’m sure you’re a wonderful boyfriend, but she also needs her space.  Y’know, girl time.  You can’t keep her on a chain and be clingy all of the time.”

Kwangmin pouted some more but nodded in understanding.  “Alright, I’ll leave her alone for a bit.”

Ara Cha sighed.  “That’s not what I meant.  Just listen to her when she wants to go off with her friends and let her, but don’t ignore her either.  How else do I explain it?  Go with your gut instinct, araso?  Do what you think is right.”

Kwangmin’s expression lightened just a tiny bit and nodded, the frown less defined.  “Thank you Ara Cha-ssi.”

She smiled, “No problem.  You and Hyesoo look really cute together and I can tell you love each other a lot.  That deserves to endure and last.”

I couldn’t keep a smile off my face.  I thought that with my odd set of friends, I’d have to split my social life in two to be with both sides.  But Ara Cha showed that maybe I could combine the two circles, at least a little bit.  Relieved, I took Ara Cha’s hands in mine.

“Ara Cha-yah, you are amazing!” I said.

She beamed back at me, “I know.  Love advice is what I do best.”

“Hey, tomorrow, can I eat lunch with you?”

She nodded happily.  “Of course!”

“Whoa, wait,” Minwoo butted in.  “Who are you eating with today?”

I glanced at Youngmin who had a small, smug smile.  Ignoring that confusing expression, I answered, “I’m going with Youngmin-oppa.”

“Youngmin-oppa?”  Minwoo’s voice cracked on the honorific.  “When did that happen?  Call me oppa too!”  He latched himself onto me, hugging my shoulders.

“Uhh,” I glanced at the others, uncomfortable, pleading with my eyes.  Luckily, Youngmin came to my rescue.  He grabbed Minwoo by the collar and pulled him away of me.

“Get off of her, Minwoo!” Youngmin exclaimed, clearly irritated.  “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What?  I can’t hug her?”  Minwoo looked confused and dejected.

Guilty at his sad face, I said, “Neh, Minwoo-ssi, you can hug me.”

He beamed and tore free of Youngmin, hugging me again.  Youngmin stared at me with shocked eyes.  I shrugged.

“Oh, and call me oppa,” Minwoo insisted.

“Minwoo-oppa,” I said, trying it out on my tongue.  “You can get off of me now.”

He gripped tighter and I flinched –my injuries were nearly healed, but I was still fairly sore.  “Ani,” he whined.

“Aish,” I sighed.  “You’re just as bad as Youngmin-oppa.”

That made the boy pull back.  “Youngmin?”  He peeked slightly at the blonde.

I noticed that Youngmin was blushing and Kwangmin hid a smirk.  “Uh, yeh.  He’s very clingy,” I said.  “I had to enforce strict rules on our way to school today.”  Youngmin blushed more.

“Youngmin,” Jeongmin teased, “You’re getting clingy with Jin Haneul-ssi?”

Before Youngmin could speak up, his twin stepped in.  “That’s not even half of it,” he grinned.  “You should’ve seen them Saturday night.”

“Yah!  Kwangmin, stop right there!” Youngmin shouted.

“We don’t need to get into that,” I added, a blush creeping up to my cheeks.

“What is it?  What happened?”  Ara Cha asked.

“Nothing,” I told as the bell rang.  “Nothing happened.  Bye Jeongmin-ssi, Hyunseong-ssi,” I said quickly, walking to class.  As I was making my speedy get away, I heard Kwangmin snicker.

“If you constitute sleeping together as nothing, then yeah, I guess nothing happened.”  And with that, the boy walked off.  I gaped after him, blushing furiously.  How could someone who acted so sweet and kind have this side to him?

I peered at the others and they were looking between Youngmin and me with incredulous expressions.

“It’s not what it sounds,” I insisted.  “That’s not what happened.”

The three brunettes turned to Youngmin.  “You are so explaining yourself at lunch.”  Hyunseong said and he and Jeongmin walked to their class.  Too bad he wouldn’t be there at lunch.

Minwoo continued to stare with wide, owl eyes.  Ara Cha was no different.  Sighing, I finally relented.  “Okay, I’ll explain in class.  Youngmin-oppa, explain it to Minwoo-ss, I mean oppa.”  I spun on my heels and made my way to our classroom and Ara Cha followed me, demanding answers. 

Class dragged on forever.  I was continually distracted.  Between Ara Cha and Minwoo and Youngmin and my own thoughts swirling in my head, there was no chance on me concentrating on the lesson.  The four of us couldn’t really talk in class, so we passed notes.  Which was a pain because Mr. Lee almost caught us about fifty times.  Kwangmin just sat in his seat, grinning like an idiot. 

Lunch finally came and I packed up my books as fast as I could.  Ara Cha had gotten the basic idea that nothing had happened, but she still wanted details and I knew that she wouldn’t let me go until I had laid out the entire story for her.  I had just finished packing everything up when Youngmin grabbed my hand, urging me on.

“Come on, before they get to us,” Youngmin whispered fervently.  I nodded and we ran out and down the stairs to the greenhouse.  We checked behind us before entering, breathing out a sigh of relief when we didn’t see anyone following us.  I slumped down on the stool, trying to catch my breath.  Youngmin took the bucket in front of me.  We held each other’s gaze and then erupted into laughter. 

“Did you…see…their…expressions?” I breathed between bouts of laughter.

Youngmin was just as bad, doubled over and clutching his stomach.  “Priceless!  I really wish I’d had a camera.”

My chuckles died down enough for me to get more air into my lungs.  “We’ll have to explain ourselves, though.  They will just come up with their own story and won’t rest until we do something about it.”

“Aish, so annoying!” Youngmin complained.  “I’m going to kill Kwangmin when we get home.”

“Don’t kill your brother,” I admonished, although I wanted to give that guy a piece of my mind as well.  “It’s not nice.”

“What he did wasn’t nice,” he mumbled.

I jumped up from the stool.  “Come on.  I didn’t come here to talk.  I want to see more of the plants.”

Youngmin chuckled and followed me as I wandered among the lush greenery.  I inspected every plant, but paid most attention to the vivid colors of the flowers. 

Maybe I could bring some paints in here sometime by myself.  These colors are just too amazing.

I was staring at a particularly luscious pot of hoya flowers.  I especially loved these since I never saw anything like them in America.  These were white with pink inner petals.  My fingers itched for my sketch book which lay hidden in my bag, but I refrained from getting it out.  I don’t know why I wanted to keep my drawing a secret, but it was embarrassing that someone should find out.  Only my family knew about it and I’d never shown them any of my sketches.  Guess I was still insecure about it…

“What are you thinking about?”  Youngmin’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

I turned to see him staring at me intently, his gaze making me shift uncomfortably.  “Nothing in particular.  Just that these are really beautiful and wondering why there can’t be more of them in other places, like in America.  I mean, I’m sure there are some, but I’ve never seen any.  It makes me feel cheated in a way, like I was missing out on something spectacular.  And now I’m rambling so I’m just gonna stop talking.”  I turned my attention to another flower, blushing.

A pair of arms encircled my waist and I squeaked.  “Yah, yah, yah!” I cried out.  “What are you doing?”

“I’m skin ship deprived,” Youngmin whined.  “Besides, no one is around here.”

I sighed, “What did you do before me?”

“Well, I always had Kwangmin, but then he just had to go and get himself a girlfriend.  Now, Minwoo and I split it between the three hyungs.”

I looked at him over my shoulder, eyes curious.  “Really?  They let you do that?”

“They’re used to it.”  I laughed quietly at that.  And then a flash of white caught my eye.

“What is that?” I asked, suddenly excited.  I scrambled away from Youngmin, tripping, and catching myself on a metal table that was pushed up against the wall.  I made it to the object of my sudden fascination and stared in wonder.  “This was most definitely not here before.”

Youngmin came to stand beside me and I looked up at him.  He had a smile on his face, but his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, as if he had been caught for something.

“Youngmin-oppa,” I murmured.  “Did you do this?”

Youngmin flushed deeper.  “Well, eh, yeh,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.  “I asked my umma about what you described and she found out what you were looking for that one time.  So, I figured our greenhouse wasn’t complete without your favorite flower.”

I stared back down at the glass vase of white lilies.  “You even got the white ones.”

“I thought that the white ones you would like best.”

I looked up at him again, the surprise fading and a smile forming on my lips.  Without thinking, I threw my arms around Youngmin’s neck, standing on my toes to make up for the height difference.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” I repeated in English, too happy and stunned to translate the words to Korean.  In the back of my head, I registered that he seemed surprised at my unexpected burst, but he recovered quickly and returned my embrace, wrapping his arms low around my waist.

“So I did good?” he asked.

I pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes, my arms still tightly wound around his neck.  “You did amazing!”  I gave him one more quick squeeze and pulled away, returning to the flowers.  I admired them in awe, taking in every little soft detail, lightly brushing the petals and leaves with my fingertips.  Excitement bubbled up inside of me again and I bounced on the balls of my feet, squealing in delight.

I sobered slightly as a thought occurred to me.  “It’s too bad that they won’t last long.  They are only clipped.”

Youngmin was beside me again, an arm wrapped around my waist again.  “When I show you around Seoul, then we can get a potted one and bring it back here.”

My expression gleamed with excitement.  “Really?  You mean it?”

“Of course.  I know where the best flower shops are.  As you probably figured out, my umma loves flowers.”

I couldn’t help myself, I hugged him again.  “You perfect boy!  I can’t thank you enough!”

“Geez, if I’d known you were going to react like this, I would have done this a lot sooner,” Youngmin chuckled.  “Who’s clingy now?”

I smacked his shoulder.  “Suddenly, you’re not so perfect anymore,” I teased.

“Wait, mianhae.  I didn’t mean it, I was only teasing.  Do you forgive me?  Am I perfect again?”

I laughed, “Yes, I forgive you.  And yes, you are perfect again.”

“Yay!” he exclaimed, picking me up and twirling me around.  I laughed and then freaked when he almost ran into a table.

“Okay, enough, enough,” I laughed.  “Put me down.”

He obliged, but didn’t let go, snuggling his head in the crook of my neck.  My heartbeat quickened its pace by ten times its normal speed and it suddenly became harder to breathe.

“Youngmin-oppa…” I breathed out.

“Hmm?”  The boy nuzzled my neck, his blonde strands tickling my skin.

“I-I… W-what...” I couldn’t go further.  His eyes captured mine, rendering me incapable of speech.

His dark eyes burned with a smoldering fire that I only imagined as I read books.  I’d never seen someone look like that, especially not at me.  He leaned his head down, his eyelids slowly closing as he closed the distance between our mouths.  I found myself leaning in to meet him, my focus on those soft, kissable lips.  The centimeters were quickly diminishing, only a few remained…

So, I'm back!  Hehe, how was this chapter?  I haven't even edited this yet, so please forgive any errors I made.  Geez, I can't believe myself.  I have school tomorrow (today?) and here I am updating my story.  It's my first day of school! Senior year and all that.  Man, I don't even feel like a senior!  Can I please go back to being a freshman?  Where my mentality really resides? 

I'm glad you are enjoying the fluff ^^ They are my favorite parts and I enjoy writing them. 

So, please comment and subscribe!  Speaking of subscribers, guess what?!  I now have *drumroll please* ... 9 subscribers!!!!  Isn't that wonderful?  So, yeah, that's all!  Saranghae! <3