I'm woken by the jingling of keys and shaking of a door. My eyes flutter open softly, and I realize I'm on Myungsoo's chest. Not on, exactly, more like leaning-up-against. I must have fallen asleep last night after...

Oh no. Myungsoo grumbles a little, slowly waking up. I leap away from him, and slap my hand over my mouth. I gasp. I can't believe I did that! the memory of our kiss scene seems to replay over and over in my mind, like a broken record. Again and again and again I'm reminded of my huge, mindless mistake. What will he do when he wakes up? I need to disappear before then, that's what I need to do. Just then, Sungjong bursts through the door. He looks around, and his eyes settle on me. He runs over, and takes me up in his arms, hugging me tightly and burying his head in my shoulder.

"I was so worried! What happened!" He demands, his voice muffled by my hair. I pat his back comfortingly, "I'm sorry, you were worried, right?"

He pulls away, "Of course I was! How did this happen!" He looks me up and down, holding my shoulders. I laugh.

"You're not hurt, are you? You're okay??"

"I'm fine," I smile, and jog in place, "fit as a fiddle."

He sighs deeply with relief, then looks up at me, his round eyes filled with caring and honesty, "Don't freak me out like this again, okay?"

"Got it."

Sungjong escorts me out of the school, continuously eyeing me, double and triple checking to make sure I'm okay. As we leave the building, I see another member of L's group, Woohyun, was it? Take him back home. Sungjong walks me all the way home. My parents run to the gate when we ring the bell. Appa and Omma consume me in the biggest hug I've ever had. They turn to Sungjong and thank him again and again for 'finding' me. It seems to them, he's my savior. Little do they know I wouldn't have made it through the night without Myungsoo.

"Come in for some breakfast," Omma says, tugging on Sungjong's sweater. "It's cold, and I want to thank you for bringing Jae-ah home." Sungjong relucantly agrees, and we go inside. I show him up to my room, holding his hand for support while he climbs the ladder. "Wow!" he yells in admirance of my bedroom, "our dorm is nothing in comparison to this!"
"Dorm?" I ask, sitting on my bed. He comes and sits next to me, not even slightly nervous at being in a girl's room. Of course, that's just the way he is. Comfortable.

"Didn't you know? L-hyung, and all the others hyungs and I all live in a dorm together."

"What about your parents?" I ask with concern. He just shrugs and looks down.

"We all miss them," He blinks away an oncoming tears and looks up, then smiles at me, "but we get to see them sometimes!"

For a while, we sit in silence. Sungjong looks at the ground, silently, lost in thought. I'm lost in thought, too. Suddenly remembering that last night, though Myungsoo talked about so many things, he never once mentioned his parents or his family.

"It must be hard..." I say, reaching out and putting my hand over Sungjong's. I don't know much about comforting, since I've always been the one comforted. But if there's anything I know about feeling not alone, it's feeling another person's warmth. It makes the world seem a little less frightening.

"Breakfast is ready!" Omma calls, banging a pan on who-knows-what. Sungjong and I crawl down from my loft and go into the kitchen. "It's been a while since I had a homecooked meal," Sungjong says, happily smelling the delicious food. Omma reaches out and pinches his cheek, "Our Jae-ah got herself such a handsome boyfriend, right, yeobo?"

"Mom!" I shout in English, embarrased. Sungjong blushes and smiles. "Eat up, son!" Appa booms, slapping Sungjong on the back, "You have to protect my little girl!"

"Dad!!" I yell. Sungjong looks at me, confused. "Uh...I use English when I'm nervous," I explain, he nods, and continues eating.

I walk Sungjong out to the gate after breakfast. Thankfully, it's a weekend. So I'm in no rush to go anywhere. He waves at my parents in the window, and smiles at me. "I'm glad you're okay, and..." he leans in, and kisses me on the cheek, "thanks."

"N-no problem..." I say in English, flustered and embarassed.

"Hm?" He asks, tilting his head.

"Nothing! bye!" I yell, and shove him out of the gate, slamming it behind him. I slam back against the gate, my hands pressed into the sides. Sungjong's steps slowly fade away, and I sink to the ground. My parents cover their mouths laughing, and pointing at me from the window. Omma playfully slaps Appa's arm, he probably said something dirty. Things are getting more complicated than I thought.

*****

It's a rough, confusing morning. After hours and hours of begging my mom to let me stay home...I'm on my way to school. What I'm most terrified of isn't that today is performance day, a special 'quiz' we have in which we perform for the student body with songs we wrote and other things, what I'm scared of is being in the same class with Myungsoo. As if being in the same room with him wasn't bad enough, we're still partnered on the bio project.

In the morning, I try to avoid him. He's become an invisible person, I can't see him, I can't hear him, he isn't here. When the lunch bell rings, I grab one of my few female friends and join them for lunch. Sungjong looks disappointed when he walks by my classroom and sees me eating with them, but he'll get over it. He's much tougher than he looks.

But no matter how hard I try to avoid it, Biology comes around like a lingering monster, waiting to pounce and consume me whole. Not even my bones will be spit back out after it's done with me.

"Get with your partners!" Teacher Go instructs cheerfully, her freshly-permed hair bouncing almost as joyously as she is. I lower my head, and staring at the ground, I sulk over to Myungsoo's desk. He scoots over a little, and I sit myself in the chair beside him.  His head is down too, and he looks at me from the side of his eyes, then lowers them again. I pull my blazer farther over my shirt, but what have I got to hide? It was an accident, I'm sure he knows. A simple, irresposible, childish mistake. No more, no less. Right, what did I do wrong?

"So--" we both say simultaneously. Myungsoo nods his head and offers a hand to me, telling me to continue.

"So, we need to finish this project!" I say, patting the biology book with my hand. I lower my voice, "and about last night..."

He averts his eyes, and clears his throat. "Don't worry about it, okay? Okay?" I say, practically begging.

He straightens his back and raises his head, "Of course!! It was stupid!"

"Right!" I agree, "I was out of my mind!"

"Obviously!" he laughs dryly, "Otherwise you never would have--" He looks at me and stops. The kiss flashes in my mind again, and to cover my embarrassment, I laugh as loudly as possible. He laughs too, and scratches the back of his neck.

"Uh and..." I stutter, he raises his head to look at me, "Thanks."

"You must be pretty childish," he laughs, making fun of me, "to be scared of the dark!"

"Y-yeah haha.." I nod, "That's me..."

****

LATER THAT NIGHT: L'S POINT OF VIEW

"She KISSED you!?" Woohyun booms, widening his eyes. "Was that your first kiss?" Sungyeol demands, leaning in eagerly.

"SHHHH!" I hiss, waving my arms. "Sungjong will hear!"