"Somewhere between laughing for no reason, stupid arguments, and making fun of eachother, i fell in love with you."

 

 

---

 

 

Hyosung closed her front door behind her, leaving her house and starting the walk toward school. Three nights ago they two had had a blowout fight over how he had been blowing their routine off, him spending more time with the senior girl – Yoona.

 

Yoona was beautiful, and everyone knew it. Long silken hair that always seemed perfectly in place, stunningly simple makeup, petite little body and sweet smile. She was just as nice as she was gorgeous and immensely talented, and people were drawn to her.

 

Kikwang was drawn to her.

And she was drawn to him, too.

 

And even though that night they had made up, joked around a bit, things had been a little awkward ever since. Maybe not so awkward, just more like they hadn't been hanging out as much. He hadn't even stayed over since that night. Even though she knew he was busy, whatever more he was in his senior year, she just wanted to get back on track with him.

 

Hyosung sat under their usual spot at the big oak tree, finishing up a little school work as she sipped from a can of Raspberry coke, and she saw Kikwang walking with the girl who seemed to suddenly be a permanent fixture at his side – Hyosung kind of thought he'd come sit with her.

 

He didn't even wave. He saw her sitting there, and their eyes locked, but he didn't smile or wave or acknowledge her at all. He just walked with Yoona to a vacant table and they sat down, laughing at something or another.

 

"I'll let you use me to make him jealous."

 

"Hi dweeb," Hyosung said, laughing as Bang Yongguk sat down across from her. Over the years, boys had been flocking to her ... except that one person. Her best friend. Yes, she is in love with Lee Kikwang. But their friendship had been nothing more than just being best of friends. Sometimes she wished they never were best friend in the first place.

 

"I'm serious. Time and place, baby, and I'm there," he said with a smirk.

 

"I don't need to make him jealous. He's got a girlfriend. Whatever."

 

"Don't believe you," Yongguk said seriously. "You really think people believe that you two are just friends?"

 

"He has a girlfriend!" she repeated. She dropped her pencil in the spine of her book and looked up at him. "And if he didn't, it wouldn't matter. We are just friends."

 

"So you never kissed? Not once?" Yongguk asked sceptically.

 

"No." It was a lie, but she knew he wouldn't know that.

 

"Wow. Weird. I totally thought you guys would have done it," he said, laughing when her jaw dropped.

 

"Dude!" He shrugged his shoulders and she shook her head. "I'm seventeen."

 

"Not yet," he pointed out, knowing her birthday wasn't for another month or so. "And what does age have to do with it?"

 

He was smirking like she'd just let him in on some big secret. She kind of had. She'd only kissed one other boy, and that was just something stupid at a party. She wanted to wait until she was in a real relationship.

 

"Whatever," she mumbled.

 

"Hyosung," he said softly, "don't be shy."

 

"I'm...this is a weird conversation. You're my best friend's best friend, and..."

 

"And we're talking about how you've never..."

 

"Yongguk," she hissed. "Stop it."

 

"Come on. Come out with me Friday night," he requested. She looked at him incredulously, and he actually let out a hearty laugh. It had sounded like he just wanted to sleep with her. "Just for pizza or something. We'll catch a movie."

 

"That sounds like a date."

 

"It doesn't have to be. Just consider it a night of not wondering what Kikwang and Yoona are doing," he said, smirking when she laughed.

 

"Fine. Friday. Pick me up at seven," she said.

 

"Do I have to leave now?" he asked. She rolled her eyes again, but she was smiling.

 

"No. I guess not."

 

He saw her glance over at them, and when he looked, he saw that Kikwang had his hand intertwined with the girl's. Hyosung's face fell just a little bit, and Yongguk knew that even if she couldn't admit it, she was definitely not okay with that relationship.

 

He kind of didn't care. He wanted her, and he'd been wanting her, and he saw this as his in; his way to prove that he could be to her what Kikwang couldn't. So he leaned across the table and placed his palm on her cheek, and he kissed her forehead when he knew Kikwang was watching.

 

"Why ... What are you doing?" she asked softly. She brought her fingertips to her forehead and he smiled at her.

 

"First of all, he was looking," he said. "Second of all, I've always wanted to kiss you."

 

She didn't know what to say, and when he stood from his place and walked behind her, she took a deep breath.

 

"Watch me walk away," he said softly. "That'll kill him."

 

He kissed her cheek, and she did watch him walk away, but it was more due to confusion than it was because he'd told her to. He'd always wanted to kiss her? How had she not known that? Why had she let him do that? Why had she agreed to go out with him on Friday?

 

Kikwang was going to freak out. One more glance over at him, wrapped up in his new girl, and she stopped caring.

 

She was getting ready for her date on Friday night. Date. It still felt weird to call it that. She and Yongguk had hung out one on one a few times, but it was always just friendship. They'd meet for coffee, or he'd be at the Han River when she was walking by. It was never a date.

 

She'd just zipped her Big Bang hoodies when she heard someone coming up the stairs. She knew, somehow, that it was Kikwang. It was half past six, and she'd told him she was going out with Yongguk. He hadn't looked impressed, but then Yoona bounded over and looped her arm through his, and Hyosung didn't really get to hear his opinion.

 

"Sorry," he said. "I'll wait downstairs until you're dressed."

 

She raised her eyebrow at him, then looked down at her black tank top and dark jeans, and she put her hands on her hips.

 

"I am dressed."

 

"Oh." He eyed her again and narrowed his eyes. "Thought you might wear a shirt."

 

It was everything she could to not to scream at him.

 

"What about you?" she asked. "Didn't recognize you without her attached to your hip."

 

"She's coming over later. We're going to read Scarlett Letter."

 

"Don't get too crazy, now," she said, turning back to her mirror to finish styling her long wavy hair.

 

Kikwang laid back on her bed and smiled to himself. He kind of loved this about them. They'd dance around the subject a little and they'd hurl harmless insults, but he wouldn't just tell her that he hated that she was going out with Yongguk, and she wouldn't just tell him that she didn't like Yoona.

 

"What are you two doing anyway?" he asked. He watched her apply that raspberry lip gloss, and he briefly let himself think that he didn't want anyone else to know how that tasted.

 

"Dinner, movie, make out, ," she joked, glaring at him in the mirror. "The usual."

 

"You think that's funny?" he asked, sitting up on her bed. "Don't ... That's not funny."

 

"Hypocrite."

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"Don't even try to tell me you aren't making out with her," she said, shaking her head. "It's none of my business, really, but...Just don't."

 

"It's different!" he shouted.

 

"Right," she said bitterly. "Whatever, Ki."

 

"You're too young," he insisted. "It's not right."

 

"You can't tell me that!"

 

"Yes, I can."

 

"You're not my dad," she said, finally turning to face him. "And I wasn't going to have with Yongguk anyway. I can't even believe we're talking about this."

 

"If you can't talk about it, then you definitely shouldn't be doing it," he said, shaking his head at her.

 

"I can talk about it. I'm not talking about it with you," she insisted. "You don't - can't - know everything about me anymore, okay?"

 

"Why not!?"

 

"Because you have a girlfriend. And she's not me. So ... no. You don't get to know everything."

 

"Like what?" he asked. "Are you seriously thinking of sleeping with him?"

 

"You aren't listening to me!" she shouted. "This is stupid. I...It's really hard to remember why we're friends right now."

 

"Because we are."

 

"What?"

 

"We are. There are things in the world that you just don't question. This friendship is one of them. It's just there, and it's not changing," he explained.

 

"Yes it is," she whispered. "It is changing."

 

"Because you're letting it."

 

"What?" she asked, glaring at him. "You're blaming me?"

 

"You won't make an effort to get to know Yoona," he said seriously, standing from the bed.

 

"She doesn't like me!"

 

"She doesn't know you," he reminded her.

 

Her chin trembled just slightly, and she looked away from him. She was thinking that maybe he didn't know her either. But she didn't dare say it.

 

"He's gonna be here soon," she said.

 

"Hyo ..."

 

"What?" she asked, shrugging her shoulder. "I...I can't do this right now."

 

He had no idea what made him to it, but he walked towards her and grabbed her upper arms, and he kissed her. It was stupid, and he didn't think it through at all, but he kissed her. He pressed his lips to hers, and he tasted that lip gloss, and she relaxed a little bit and kissed him back, just for a split second.

 

But he had a girlfriend, and she had a... Yongguk. A date. They weren't supposed to be kissing.

 

When he pulled away, they didn't even make eye contact. He just walked out of her bedroom, and she let a tear fall from her eye. She didn't know what love felt like. She'd never been in it before.

 

She just had a crazy and very terrifying feeling that the only person she'd ever feel it for had just walked out of her bedroom.

 

 

 

---

 

 

They worked a little harder after that night in her bedroom. He spent a little more time with her, and she took time to talk to him about things. They talked about everything under the sun.

 

Everything under the sun that wasn't the kiss. The kiss. Apparently they could touch all the bases except for their own feelings for one another. But it seemed they were both okay with it, so neither pushed the issue. It was good that way. Better.

 

Hyosung made an effort with Yoona, and Yoona made an effort with her, but that 'friendship', if it could be called one, was tense. Yoona seemed a little jealous that Hyosung was Kikwang's best friend and knew so much about him. Hyosung, though she wasn't jealous at all now that she had Yongguk to hang around with, didn't like Yoona. There was something about the girl that she couldn't put her finger on.

 

It went on for months, and they both knew it was slowly straining their friendship.

 

When Yoona invited Kikwang to her MacBeth play, Kikwang was torn – it fell on Hyosung’s birthday. He knew this wasn't going to work. Hyosung wasn't crazy about classic play. She was less crazy about Yoona's acting. Either way, he was going to end up with a girl mad at him. He really didn't know what to do.

 

When he chose to go to Yoona's play instead of hanging out with Hyosung on her seventeenth birthday, the huge disappointed look on her face told him perhaps he'd made the wrong decision.

 

“Look, I’m sorry but ...”

 

“You know I’ve been looking forward to this trip, don’t you?” She eyed Kikwang, the hurt in her eyes pierced through his heart.

 

“I’m really sorry but this is important to her and ...” Kikwang was cut short when she waved her palm in his face, telling him to stop.

 

“And ours isn’t?” Hyosung replied bitterly. He could sense tears in her voice and it torn him.

 

“Hyo ...”

 

“I’m tired of this , Ki. I’m tired of always yielding to her, just because I want to see you happy with her. I’m tired of you who don’t seem to care about ... us. You know what, whatever. Just go. I’m done.” Hyosung threw her hands in the air and walked away quickly from the river park. From him.

 

His heart dropped to his knees. It was as if she was walking away from him for the last time – for good. It was as if he let her go now, he would never be able to get her back. A sudden epiphany hit him.

 

He didn’t want to lose her.

 

Kikwang caught up to her and reached out to catch her wrist, stopping her from walking away; she turned to look up at him her face fresh with tears, and a deep sadness look in her eyes. He was the reason for this, and it ripped his heart.

 

She tried to wrench her hand off, but he kept a firm hold on it and pulled her into his embrace.

 

“Get off me, Ki.” She said, pushing him away weakly but Kikwang wouldn’t budge. He tighten his embrace, eventually, her attempts to push him away became her hand clutching his shirt and pulling him closer as she sobbed quietly into his chest.

 

“I’m sorry.” He whispered into her hair, his hand rubbing her back in a soothing manner. He mentally cursed himself for always making her cry. “I’m sorry, Hyo. I’m really sorry.”

 

Hyosung clutched his shirt tighter and lean deeper into his embrace. She had missed this. She'd missed everything about him; she hadn't lied. She knew better than to just let it happen that way, but she'd never really been able to resist him, and she didn't really want to.

 

"Please don't leave me." Kikwang pleaded with her, finally looking back into her eyes, searching for a response somewhere in her.

 

And like a magnet, his lips were on hers. Shock spread through her like an unstoppable force and for a moment she was incredibly still, eyes wide open and mouth unmoving. He placed his soothing fingers near her the back of her neck, his thumb resting on her cheek, drawing invisible circles there. And so she gave into the perfection of his lips. Soft and gentle, they were like pillows against her own. An involuntary whimper escaped her as he kissed her with added passion, his free hand meeting hers and intertwining their fingers.

 

Their fingers fit together like nothing either of them had ever experienced.

 

"Why did you do that?" she asked as he pulled away, leaving both of them breathless. He brought their joined hands nearer, placing a light kiss to her knuckles.

 

"I wanted to." In truth, it had been involuntary, and he had found himself kissing her before he had even realized the thought had passed through his mind. But in that moment as he looked at her, her face a display of vulnerability, he felt his emotions click into place inside of him and he smiled at her. It was like an epiphany to him as he stood there, silently taking in the way she looked.

 

To him she was never more perfect. Her long wavy hair was unruly, her cheeks taken by the traces of the tears she had shed and her eyes were red and puffy. Yet her eyes stood out to him like they never had before, pools of brown peering at him in that mysterious way that was uniquely Hyosung.

 

And in her eyes is where he felt a fire ignite. He knew then he was hers, and she was his. His Hyosung.

 

"Be with me." He blurted out, sounding more like a sick puppy than a boy in love. was agape. She remained like that for what seemed like an eternity to him.

 

Her heart was playing sick jokes on her again, it had to be. He couldn't have just said what she thought she'd heard. It was a dream. A twisted, horrible dream designed to make her wake up in hysterics and alone, just like every other night. She blinked frantically for a moment, expecting him to disappear before her and to wake up in the darkness of her room like all the other times.

 

But he didn't.

 

Instead he inched closer to her. One of his hands made its way into the waves of her hair, his fingers resting at the back of her neck. His face moved dangerously close to hers and he whispered her name. His breath ran smoothly across her skin and she shivered, a chill running down every inch of her spine.

 

He pressed a kiss to her jaw line, below her ear. His lips met her face in kiss after kiss. His mouth finally came senselessly close to hers and she felt fire throughout every part of her. She closed the gap between them.

 

Fire. They both felt it grow as they pulled each other closer and found a place where nothing else mattered. He pulled her slowly closer to him and wrapped his arms around her, the passion between them increasing as they both released moans of approval. She pulled her lips away from him and rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes.

 

"I love you." she said breathlessly. Letting out with three words what she had been holding in for eternity.

 

He kissed the tip of her nose, pressed his forehead against hers again and looked her in the eyes.

 

“I love you too, Jeon Hyosung.”

 

 

---

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

 

I've been wanting to ship Hyosung and Yongguk for eternity, but I'm more of a BangSong shipper, so just a brief BangHyo here. Am I rushing for them to be in a relationship though? I thought I wanted to further develop their friendship, but then again, Kisung shipper in me just can't wait. Tehee.

 

Thank you for reading!