Overlooking the carnival from beneath the oak tree, Daehyun and Minyoung preferred to spend their evening more quietly, watching the sky dissolve into shades of orange and red as the sun sets. Daehyun noted how connected Minyoung was to the beauties of Mother Nature as he turned to gaze at her side profile, his eyes tracing the outlines of her eyes, nose, mouth and chin. He let out a small chuckle when she caught him from the corner of her eyes.

“It’s not nice to stare,” she said, turning away from him to witness the final few minutes of the sunset. He could hear her voice quiver, though her face didn’t show it, noticing how embarrassed she was getting by his actions. “My apologies, but this side seems more interesting to watch than the sunset,” he grinned and stifled a chuckle to see her response. He could see her holding back from flashing a wide grin, but later failed and they both laughed it off.

A sudden gush of wind blew her hair off her face and before she could reach out to pull it back, Daehyun grabbed her wrists and looked softly into her eyes. “Don’t bother,” he said gently. “You look beautiful either way.” He slowly released his grasp and traced the line of her scar on her left cheek. As he tilted his head to observe it, he brought his face closer to hers. “Nothing would change my mind about you, especially not this,” he said and began to lean in to kiss her cheek. He was slightly worried his actions would be judged, but when he pulled himself away after that, he saw her smiling with her eyes closed and a drop of tear rolled down her face.

“I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized but Minyoung shook her head and turned to face him. “No one’s ever made me feel good about myself the way you do, Daehyun,” she said in between sobs. Daehyun opened his mouth to respond, but when more tears appeared, he pulled her close to him and allowed her to rest on his shoulders as he her head to hush her. “Sshh … the same thing goes for me, Minyoung. Maybe this was all predestined. We make each other happy and I’ll do anything to keep it that way,” he assured her. Minyoung looked up to him in admiration before her lips spread into a lovely smile and during that brief moment, Daehyun restrained himself from plunging for a kiss as they fixed their eyes on each other.

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Zelo felt his heart thumping against his ribcage the moment his eyes landed on her. He almost thought he was hallucinating and he squinted his eyes to narrow down his vision to the person standing before him. He spotted a familiar necklace around her neck and traced his neck to compare it with the one he was wearing. It’s the same kind. When he realized he hadn’t been wrong, his finally raised his eyebrows in shock. “N-noona?” He stuttered as his nervousness sent shivers down his spine.

She only smiled at him from a distance and neither of them made an attempt to move a step closer to each other. Seeing this, the little girl placed a palm on her forehead and shook her head. “Aigoo, oppa!” She took Zelo by the hand and dragged him towards her sister. “This is my sister, Hyeyoung unni! She’s the one who gave you that present on your birthday,” she explained. Zelo turned to her, still dazed. She shook her head again when she found herself having to instruct Zelo on what to do next. She grabbed Zelo’s hand and her sister’s on each side and pulled them closer to shake hands. “Oppa, meet Hyeyoung unni! Unni, you already know Zelo oppa,” she chuckled.

Zelo awkwardly shook her hand and nodded in acknowledgement. “Hi,” he managed to say. He was about to say something else when the little one cut in. “Oh! I forgot to introduce myself to you! My name is, Kang Hyebyul! Hye, Byul,” she repeated herself, probably impersonating her teacher from the way she said it, Zelo thought.

He noticed Hyeyoung had been silent the whole time and he looked at her questioningly before turning to Hyebyul to ask, “Hyebyul ah, is there something wrong?”

Hyebyul her melting ice cream as she answered. “Mmm,” she nodded. “My unni can’t speak. She can’t hear well too, but she can understand you if you speak slowly like me,” she continued. Zelo turned back to Hyeyoung, whose smile hadn’t faded since they met. His gaze weakened when he realized the noona he liked turned out to be deaf. He felt his heart softening and when he noticed he had to initiate, he became bolder and less nervous. “Noona, would you like to go sit somewhere to have a chat?” He made sure to speak moderately so she could catch on what he was saying. With a smile, she nodded in response and walked with Zelo, who was holding hands with Hyebyul as he led the way.