“I’m going for a run. You guys want me to pick anything up while I’m out?” Seungho asks, glancing at the other MBLAQ members who are resting on the couch as he straightens from checking his shoe laces.

Joon, passed out from all of his activities, answers with a light snore.

Cheondung smiles and shakes his head. “No thanks, hyung.”

“Can you get more chips? We’re almost out,” Mir asks, barely looking away from the television screen.

G.O smacks Mir’s thigh lightly. “You’re going to get fat if you keep inhaling chips. Seungho, just ignore him and get more apples.”

“But, hyung,” Mir whines.

“Chips, no. Apples, yes. Got it,” Seungho chuckles, already putting in his earbuds. As he walks out the door, he throws back over his shoulder, “I have my phone with me in case you think of anything else.”

    Sitting on the doorstep, he stretches before setting off at a brisk jog. Relishing the steady pounding of his feet against the asphalt and the fresh afternoon air rushing past his face, Seungho lets the miles fall away until a slight burning begins in his legs. He slows down to a walk and after buying a bottle of water, begins heading back the way he’d come. On the way back, Seungho remembers his promise.

    His gaze flicks to the nearby park gate and with a shrug decides to take a shortcut. As he runs, one of their new song’s comes onto his iPod, making him smile. Closing his eyes, Seungho begins mentally going through the choreography. Unfortunately, at that same moment, someone steps backward into his path.
Still in his own world, Seungho hits them with a solid “omph.”

His eyes jerk open as he tries to catch himself and the other person, but he only manages to wrap his arms around the other person just before they both hit the ground.


“Oh.”

The soft, feminine voice makes Seungho open his eyes. He finds himself centimeters away from dark brown eyes that look as surprised as he feels. Simultaneously, he realizes his body is crushing hers to the concrete.

“I’m so sorry,” Seungho apologizes, scrambling to get up. “I should’ve been paying attention. Gwenchana?”

“I think so,” the young woman replies, slowly unfolding herself and pushing aside her dark, curly hair from her face. Checking on the camera she was protecting, she sighs before smiling up at him.“I should’ve checked behind me.”

When she tries to stand, Seungho immediately offers a hand.

With another smile, she accepts it. Once she’s on her feet though, her smile turns into a frown as she retains her grip on his hand. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” Seungho looks at his hand and sees the skin of his knuckles scraped and slowly oozing drops of blood. Glancing at his other hand, he finds a similar situation.

“Oh, mianhae. This is my fault. Clumsy Kat,” she scolds herself, looking back and forth between his hands. “Come on. There’s a convenience store just around the corner where we should be able to get some band-aids.”

“It’s all right. I’m fine,” he protests as she tugs him down the path.

“No, it’s my fault. I’m the one who made you fall. Please. Otherwise I’ll feel bad all day.”

Seungho looks into her pleading chocolate eyes before sighing. “All right.

The young woman smiles and continues on her way, seeming to forget that she’s still holding his hand.

Seungho’s gaze moves between their linked hands and the girl’s back as he tries to figure out what to make of her. Normally, he’d insist he was fine and take care of his hands when he got home, but for some reason he’s going along with this strange person.

While he’s still contemplating this, they reach the store. She nudges him towards small table outside, saying, “Wait here and I’ll be right back.”

Obeying, Seungho rests his hands on the table to look at them. “At least it’s stopped bleeding,” he murmurs, confident they’ll heal before MBLAQ has to make any public appearances.

“Got it!” the young woman says, plopping down on the chair beside his, gently setting her camera on the table, and beginning to pull out the supplies of a small emergency kit. Looking up, she holds out her hand, ordering, “First hand.”

    When Seungho places his right hand in hers, she holds it with a strong but gentle grip. Carefully, she starts dabbing away the half dried blood, blowing softly on the open wound. As she quietly works, Seungho can’t help examining her face. Pouting pink lips, the lower slightly bitten, grace her small face. Long lashes hide her large eyes while a cute wrinkle forms above her nose. He can’t help a small smile at how concentrated on her task she is.

“So,” he coughs, wishing one of his smoother members was here. “What’s your name?”

She looks up and smiles at him.“Kat. What’s yours?”

“Yang Seungho.”

“Nice to meet you, Seungho-ssi.”

“Nice to meet you too, Kat-ssi.”

“Oh, you can just call me Kat if you want,” she says, dabbing on some antibacterial cream. “I have a feeling you’re older than me anyway.”

“Do I look old?” Seungho asks.

“No, I didn’t mean it that way. You look young, like twenty four, twenty five maybe?” Kat quickly says. Catching the amused glimmer in his eyes, she asks, “Are you teasing me?”

“Maybe a little,” he chuckles. “I’m twenty five.”

“Oh. Yeah, you are older than me, but not old,” Kat blushes and puts on the band-aid to avoid looking at him. “Other hand, please.”

Seungho chuckles again as he switches hands. “Out of curiosity, where are you from?”

“Romania. I’m here studying writing at University of Seoul. I’m taking some photography classes too which is why I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“You speak Korean very well,” he compliments.

This makes her look up at him again, smiling. “Thanks. I’ve studied it for years with my friend Jihyo at home, but when I got here I felt like I’d forgotten everything.”

“Well, you’re doing just fine talking to me.”

“Thank you,” Kat smiles again. Returning her attention to his hand, she asks, “So what about you? I mean, what do you do? Are you a student too?”

Seungho shakes his head, a little surprised she hasn’t recognized him. “I’m a singer; the leader of MBLAQ.”

“MBLAQ?”

“You don’t know who MBLAQ is?” he asks, unsure if she’s telling the truth.

Now it’s Kat’s turn to shake her head. “No, mianhae. I’m just starting to get into K-pop. The only groups I know so far are B2ST and EXO.”

Seungho gives an embarrassed laugh. “No, it’s okay. I guess I was being cocky assuming you’d know us.”

“No, that’s not being cocky,” she assures him. “I’m sure you guys are really popular.”

“Would you like to hear one of our songs?”

Kat nods excitedly. “Sure.”

Seungho smiles and pulls out his phone, finding MBLAQ’s latest music video, ‘This is War.’ “Here.”

Putting on the last band-aid, she turns her full attention to the screen.

He leans closer so she can see better, unintentionally breathing in her perfume, something light and citrusy.

“Wow,” Kat breathes when the video ends, looking up at Seungho with new admiration. “That was amazing. Are there more?”

Laughing, Seungho shows her their others, enjoying her open enjoyment.

“You guys are so cool!” Kat giggles as the last one finishes. “I wish I could dance like that.”

“It takes a lot of practice,” he replies, still smiling.

“I bet. The only thing I can do is this.” She gets up to show him, but quickly sinks back down with a hiss.

“Kat, what’s wrong?” Seungho asks in a concerned voice.

They both look down at her knee, which has a large rip at the knee and exposes more scratched skin.

“Ow,” Kat says, looking at knee with a bemused expression.

“Ow? How did you not notice that before?” Seungho scolds, moving to her other side and gently pullng her leg in his lap.

“I don’t know. It didn’t hurt until just now.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Reaching into the kit, he takes out more supplies and cleans the area, repeating Kat’s gesture of blowing on it to banish the sting when he sees her wincing.

“Thanks, Seungho-ssi,” Kat says quietly when he smoothes the band-aid into place.

“Just returning the favor,” Seungho answers, meeting her eyes. “Are you going to be able to walk?”

“I should be. Seungho-ssi...”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to grab a coffee or something? As a thank you for patching me up.”

“I think I should be the one buying since I was the one who knocked you over originally,” Seungho points out.

“It was equally my fault since neither of us were looking where we were going,” Kat argues. “Wait, does that mean you do want to go get something?”

His mind drifts back to the others waiting back at the dorm. “Well...”  

Suddenly, her stomach grumbles loudly.

“Hungry, are we?” he laughs, making Kat nod slowly.

“I didn’t eat lunch,” she explains. “Too busy taking pictures.”

“All right then. I don’t think the guys will kill each other if I leave them alone a little bit longer.”

    Kat beams and quickly begins cleaning up. Once she’s done, the two of them head off down the street on a quest for food. Finding a small take out place, they choose their sandwiches, good naturedly arguing over who’s treating who. Ultimately, Seungho wins by distracting Kat with a cute dog that was passing outside. She glares at him as they exit the shop, but the effect is ruined when she starts giggling.

    Walking without a set destination, they end up wandering back to the park and finding a bench. Slowly and a little awkwardly at first, Seungho and Kat restart their conversation. He laughs a lot at her straightforwardness and surprises himself by being more open with this near stranger than he’d ever thought possible. When they notice the sun beginning to set, the two of them marvel at how quickly time passed. Since it’s getting dark, Seungho insists on walking her to her apartment even though it’s close by.

“You know, you’re not how I expected you to be,” Kat remarks as they walk, smiling at the end of one his stories about the other MBLAQ members’ antics.

“Why? What’d you expect?” he asks, glancing at her curiously.

She shrugs, looking ahead of her. “You have this kind of tough guy aura about you, but you’re really a sweetheart.”

Seungho nods in understanding. “Oh. That’s the guys’ effect on me.”

“What?”


“When we first formed MBLAQ, the other members told me I seemed cold and distant. It’s just that I didn’t open to people easily or quickly. I’ve gotten better though. It’s probably all those goofballs faults.”

“I’d like to meet them,” Kat giggles. “They seem fun.”

“The house is nearby, so that could happen,” Seungho smiles. “You just have to make sure me or Cheondung is around to monitor G.O.”

“Gotcha,” she laughs. Stopping in front of a building, she turns to face him. “Well, this is me. Thanks for a great afternoon, oppa. Wow, that still sounds weird.”

“But it’s more comfortable, right?”

“It is. I had a great time this afternoon. Thank you.”

“Me too. And thanks for taking care of my hands.”

“Hopefully we’ll run into each other again soon,” Kat says shyly.

“Definitely. You know what? Here, program in your number in my phone. Hopefully that way we don’t run into each other quite so literally next time,” Seungho chuckles.

Taking his phone, Kat enters her number and hands it back. She opens , but quickly closes it.

“Kat?” Seungho asks curiously. “What is it?”

She meets his eyes for a few seconds before squeezing them shut and shooting to her tiptoes, briefly pressing her lips to his.

His eyes stay open as his brain tries to catch up with what’s happening.

Blushing, Kat pulls back and looks away. “I...I’m...gonna go now.”

    That last bit brings Seungho back in time to see her about to run up the steps. Snapping a hand out, he manages to grab Kat’s wrist. He tugs on it, spinning her around and making her body slam into his.

“Yah,” he says quietly, his dark eyes capturing her. “You don’t just kiss Yang Seungho and expect to get away with it.”

“Mianhae,” Kat stutters, unable to look away. “I don’t know what I was thinking...I-”

Whatever else she was going to say is cut off by Seungho’s pillowy lips gently caress hers.

Kat’s eyes flutter shut as she sinks into the kiss and when Seungho pulls away, she looks up at him with a dazed expression. “Um...”

“Why don’t we try that again?” he whispers, tilting her chin with his finger and kissing her again.

As Seungho’s mouth moves slowly over hers, Kat feels her legs slowly turning to jelly.

“Definitely wasn’t expecting my day to turn out like this,” Seungho says breathlessly after he pulls away for the second time.

“Me neither,” she manages, clinging to him to stay upright. “I’m not normally like this you know, kissing guys I barely know.”

“Me neither.” Seungho winces. “I mean, I don’t normally kiss girls I barely know, not guys.”

Kat giggles. “I didn’t think so.”

“So...”

“So...”

“So...would this mean you’d consider going on a date with me? A real one?” Seungho asks tentatively. Adopting a more confident air, he adds, “I won’t take no for an answer.”

“I guess I have no choice but to say yes,” Kat smiles.

“Great. I’ll call you tomorrow then?”

“On one condition.”

Seungho grins. “What’s that?”

“This.” With a sly smile, Kat steals another quick kiss before slipping out of Seungho’s arms and running up the steps. Opening the door, she turns around.

“Good night, Seungho oppa. I really am glad I ran into you.”

“Good night, Kat,” he asks. “I’m glad I did too.”

Kat’s smile turns dreamy. Blowing a kiss to him, she reluctantly goes inside, keeping her eyes on his until the last minute.

Waiting until he’s sure the door is closed, Seungho whoops and takes off running. When he bursts through the door, the other MBLAQ members look at him in surprise.

“Where’ve you been?” G.O asks, instantly suspicious of the huge smile on their leader’s face. “We were about to call the police because you’ve been gone so long.”

“Hyung, where’s the food? We had dinner but I’m hungry again,” Mir says, peeking over the couch at Seungho’s empty hands.

“I got a date,” he says, taking off his shoes and chucking them by the others.

“A date? I thought they said you were getting apples,” the now awake Joon says. No sooner have the words left his mouth then a shocked look replaces his confused one. “You got a date? With a girl?”

“When? How?” Cheondung asks, his mouth hanging open.

“Not fair! Joon’s got a wife, now you have a date, and I’ve got nothing? Where’s the justice in this world?” G.O groans.

“C’mon, hyung! We want to hear what happened!” Mir begs.

“Well, let’s just say I kind of ran into it,” Seungho grins, laughing when the others instantly start pestering him for more information.