They finally arrived at Sandy’s home. Baekho took a deep breath. He had decided in the car that he would not spend so much time around her. He would eat lunch, and then pretend to be constipated and spend time in the bathroom. Then, he would say that he wants to take a walk outside and get some fresh air and spend the remainder of the day walking around Sandy’s neighborhood listening to music. He simply couldn’t be around her or else he’ll fall deeper, betraying Aron in the process.

He greeted her with a simple bow and a smile. Her parents, who had met him before, greeted him cheerfully, happy to see him again.

When they were invited to the table for lunch her sat as far away from her as possible. Aron had taken the seat next to her, and of course Minhyun next to manager-noona. Baekho sat in the end of the table. He ate slowly, and he didn’t join any of the conversations. He kept staring at his food, afraid of looking at Sandy.

Aron didn’t help Baekho’s situation really. He was feeding her, ruffling her hair, holding her hand. Aron and Sandy were in their own little bubble it seemed. They whispered to one another and they didn’t join any of the conversations of the table.

“Baekho, something’s wrong with you. You’re eating so slowly,” Ren noticed.

“Are you still feeling ill?” JR asked, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“Yes,” Baekho lied. “I feel very ill. I don’t think I can take looking at food anymore. I’m taking a walk outside to clear my head and get some fresh air.” He wanted to get away from this. He didn’t want to see Aron and Sandy be all intimate and whatnot. It made his uncomfortable and… jealous. “Excuse me,” he said in English bowing his head to her parents. He told manager-noona to tell them in English that he wanted to take a walk.

In his rush to walk out of the dining room, his arm clumsily brushed past the sharp corner of a table. He felt a surge of pain ring through his body and he realized that the sharp corner to the table had cut through the skin in his arm and he began to bleed.

“Oh my God, Baekho, you’re bleeding!” Sandy noticed and she shot up from her chair, taking Baekho’s arm in her hands as she examined the wound. Baekho felt his heart stop beating at her touch. This was definitely not helping.

“Honey, get the first aid kit and help him,” her mother said as she eyed the wound with concern.

Sandy dragged Baekho towards the living room and sat him down on the sofa before she gracefully dashed towards one of the cabinets and produced a first aid kit. She then sat in the seat next to him and used a tissue to clean the wound.

Although Baekho enjoyed her gentle touches, and he enjoyed being close to her, he couldn’t do this. Not with her. He was getting weaker and weaker the more he enjoys the sight of her, and he didn’t want to get weak enough to betray Aron. He pulled her hand away.

“It’s okay. I will do it,” he said in broken English and he began tending to the wound himself. “Go back to eat.”

“Baekho, it’ll be hard for you to do it yourself. Allow me,” she insisted, and Baekho didn’t have the heart to reject her. She cleaned the blood, and then applied the alcohol before placing the Band-Aid. Every time her skin brushed against hers, he felt a surge of excitement ring through his body. He felt guilty. He shouldn’t think this way. He shouldn’t.

“Does it hurt?” she asked when she was finished.

“No,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile. He then got up and headed towards the front door. He needed to calm the pace of his beating heart. He need to get away from her so he would stop sweating and stop thinking about her in such a treacherous way.

As soon as he was out, he put on his headphones and began listening to music, hoping that would get his mind off of her. He walked for a long time, admiring the fancy American neighborhood with grassy front lawns and pretty houses. At one point, he got too tired and so he stopped in a small playground and laid down on the grass listening to his music, and closing his eyes.

He must have listen to at least 20 songs before he felt someone sit next to him on the grass. When he turned to see who it was, he sat up, startled. He was trying his hardest to get away from her… why must she follow him everywhere? Baekho felt like he was being punished by some sort of higher power.

“Hey,” she said smiling ever-so-brightly at him. Baekho felt the temptation to kiss her, that very moment, but he gulped and held himself back.

“Hi,” he said politely, faking a smile and pretending to look happy to see her.

“I thought you might be lost and couldn’t find your way back,” she said slowly enough so that he could process the meaning.

“I’m okay,” he responded, hoping she would leave him alone.

“Baekho, I never had the chance to thank you,” she said. “Thank you for meeting my parents that day, and convincing them not to take me. If it weren’t for you, I would not have become like this with Aron, and I would not have become a LO/\E. So thank you so much,” she said slowly.

He bowed to her in response, “you're welcome."

“Do you want to come back to the house? We all miss you.”

“No. I want to stay.”

“Come on, Baekho.” She took his arm and tried to pull him up, but he jerked it back. Consequently, she stumbled and fell on top of him.

What made it worse was that she didn’t get off of him immediately. She lifted her upper body just enough so that she was looking into his face. There was this awkward moment where they both simply looked at each other, both admiring the other.

This was a level of intimacy that Baekho could not handle, and he temporarily lost his sanity and couldn’t control himself. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled over so that he was on top of her. She was startled by Baekho’s action, but she was even more startled when he leaned and kissed her.

Ta-dah. Oh Baekho. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk…

About the MinNoona story, I got mixed reactions. I think I’m going to include it as a side-story, but it’ll be a small sort of side-story. And I found a way where the side-story can help with the BaekSandy story as well so that’s good. Anyways, comment please. :)