A loud squeal made Sapphire and me jump, her clipboard nearly clattering to the floor and my hands picking up a plank of wood.

“What is it? A mouse? A beetle? A roach?” I asked, whirling around with the plank.

The two girls who squealed stared at me. “Miji, what are you doing?”

I looked down at the plank of wood in my hands, then back at them. “You squealed.” I said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the universe.

It may as well have been.

The shorter girl of the two – I think her name was Dani – rolled her eyes. “It was a happy squeal, not a scared one.” She gestured for me to put the plank down and I quickly dropped it back on its pile. A loud thud resonated behind me and I turned around fast enough to see a hammer drop next to the plank, Himchan’s hand outstretched towards it. Sapphire smiled sheepishly at me from behind him.

“Okay, then what’s the reason for this oh-so-happy squeal?” I waved my hand at the couple before turning back to the two girls. They immediately turned to each other and giggled before turning to the side and not-very-subtly pointing off into the distance.

“That’s why.”

My eyes followed the direction their fingers pointed me in. “…A squirrel?”

“To the left some more.”

“A tree?”

“Really, Miji, you’re hopeless.” Dani said, dropping her hands and shaking her head.

The other girl continued to point. “The guy over there, Miji. Isn’t he just…beautiful?”

A guy? “A guy?” I shook my head. “Way to get distracted.” But I looked anyway.

And I had to admit, although I didn’t approve of the distraction, I definitely approved of their choice in guys. The guy they were pointing at had a really fair skin, smoldering dark eyes, carelessly ruffled hair, and a perfect dancer’s build. And to top it all off, those pink lips were smiling at us.

“It’s rude to point.” I said to Dani’s friend, crouching down on the stage and lowering her hand.

“Should we ask him to come over?”

Way to be subtle.

“If you want. Himchan?” I turned around to see Himchan backing Sapphire up against a wall, her giggling and holding a paintbrush dripping blue paint – obviously the reason for the blue streak of paint on his cheek. “Himchan!”

He turned around, almost reluctantly. “Yeah, do it. We could use more hands. That don’t smear paint.” He turned back around, growling a little at Sapphire. She just laughed.

“Knock yourselves out, girls. Don’t overwhelm him, okay?” I turned back to Dani, resisting the urge to smile at Himchan and Sapphire’s antics.

“You should come with us!”

I looked back up at the guy. Come with them and greet a hot guy?

“Nah. I’ll keep working. You two have fun.” I watched as the two girls shrugged, very obviously not caring whether or not I came with them, and practically ran over to the guy.

I went back to assembling the podium, placing the planks of wood together and nailing them. Not tedious, just boring.

We – Sapphire and Himchan, the girls, and a number of other helpers – were setting up for a couple’s game. We’d put up advertisements (flyers, signs pointing in the direction) and gotten a lot of participants signed up – not surprising, considering how many couples I saw on a regular basis walking around together.

It’d just be a series of random tests to prove the couple’s love for each other and see how well they knew each other. Of course, you had to be a couple to enter – you couldn’t enter alone.

Sapphire and Himchan were entering together – and I really wasn’t sure what to think their result would be. But hey, the more participants, the better. More competition.

“How many booths do we need?” Himchan called to me.

“Check the clipboard. It should have a list of the couples.”

He grunted his thanks. A moment later, he came over to me and tapped my shoulder. “Hey…It says here you signed – “

“Miji!” The girls were back.

I didn’t look up from the podium. “Had fun stranger hunting?”

Himchan choked on a snort as the girls scoffed. “We weren’t stranger hunting – but yes, it was nice. You should try it sometime.”

“I’m not really one to ogle strangers.”

“Is that so?”

The voice was smooth, velvety. It wasn’t Himchan’s, definitely not the girls’…I looked away from the podium to meet the gaze of the cute guy the girls had been fawning over. He was nearly smirking at me, his dark eyes glittering with what seemed like curiosity. He looked even better close up, I had to admit. Every beautiful feature of his was amplified just by his closeness and the confident aura coming off of him added a bit of extra appeal.

But I held in my appreciation.

“Yes, that’s so. I don’t like to stare at random strangers and invite them around with me.” I retorted, standing up.

But even standing up, I wasn’t nearly as tall as him. Boo.

“Not even if they’re especially hot?”

I waved my hand nonchalantly. “Nope.”

Dani jumped in, interrupting our little exchange. “Miji, this is Hoya. Hoya, this is Miji.”

“Hoya?” I asked, having it my turn to smirk.

“Think my name’s funny, do you?” He replied. “Miji.” And he was smirking too.

“Just a little. Never really been fond of Hoya flowers.” I looked him over, my smirk growing.

“Hey, Miji…” Dani put a hand on my shoulder as if trying to pull me back. Himchan pushed her off, obviously amused by our exchange.

“Well I like them. I think they smell nice.” He replied, raising an eyebrow and shrugging his shoulders, as if to say it only mattered that he liked them.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Prove it.”

And with that, Hoya grabbed my chin and pulled it up. His free hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me against his body as his face lowered, his lips closing down on mine. I quickly responded, wrapping my arms around his neck and returning his kiss. The world around us seemed to slow as we both melted into our passionate kiss, enjoying the moment more with every increasing second.

When we pulled apart, I turned around to see Himchan and the girls with dropped jaws, staring at us with wide eyes. Sapphire came up behind Himchan, putting her chin on his shoulder and smiling at us. “Introduce him.” She told me.

“Himchan, girls,” I smiled, coming to join Hoya at his side. I laced our fingers together and smiled up at him. “I’d like you to meet my boyfriend of two years, Lee Howon.”

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