[Narrator POV]

I looked around and saw that no-one was about but I still wanted privacy to talk to him. “Um, let’s go outside. I think it’s more… private that way.” I gestured outside.

“Sure.”

I followed Yonghwa outside and sat down beside him on the steps. We were silent for a few moments though it felt for sure to be a hundred years, the way we sat and stared down the stairs. I picked up a loose thread from the black cardigan I wore and fidgeted, picking at the thread and rolling it between my fingers. He still didn’t say anything. I yawned, feeling tired after such a bad day and stretched.

“Remember that date at the restaurant?” He asked suddenly.

I thought for a moment and remembered that night where I met a guy who wore a mask and suit exuding the mysterious aura of someone who certainly knew they looked good. I nodded.

“That was me.”

“I know.” I had guessed that it was him the same night while in the taxi. That silver wrapped gift was a box of my favourite Pepero. No-one in Korea knew that I loved to eat these whenever I was bored or in the middle of studying or whenever I happened to see them and bought them on impulse. I never ate them in front of others, believing that I would be thought of as weird. But somehow, someone knew. I could only guess that it was Yonghwa as I had accidentally been eating it as I walked to work that morning and he was coming down the stairs behind me. I nearly chocked on the biscuit from trying to stuff it into my mouth.

The silence that followed my answer was unbelievably strange. My heart was racing and I could feel that my cheeks were once again, red as tomatoes. Yonghwa shifted slightly, his arm suddenly around my shoulders.

“You’re pretty smart. Then again, I suppose I didn’t hide my identity too well,” He said, looking at me.

I cupped my cheeks in my hands to hide my deepening blush from his scrutiny. He was sitting awfully close. I could feel the heat emanating from his body and tried to move away feeling embarrassed. This only caused him to tighten his hold on my shoulder causing me to topple over onto him.

“Ah. M-miahneyo. I’ll mov-“ His finger was on my lips, stopping me from speaking properly.

“Ani.” He helped me sit up, keeping his arm on my shoulder still. “So… I wanted to ask you… will you go out with me?”

“Mwo?”

“Come on. You heard me, and I know that Minhyuk and Jungshin have confessed to you too. I bet Jonghyun has as well…” He muttered.

Yonghwa turned away and blushed for the second time that day – no, that hour – and I couldn’t help but chuckle in response. I made him turn back around to face me and looked him in the eye.

“Yes. They have all confessed to me. Except… I’m not really sure about Jonghyun…” I tapped my chin, trying to remember if he ever did.