*Hyukjae’s POV*

As I threw the ball for the umpteenth time for Choco to fetch it, the doorbell to my house rang. Choco who had been distracted by the ball barked immediately. The person at the door had to be Haemin for my parents were still out and wouldn’t be home so early.

“Hey,”I greeted with a huge smile, seeing as how she didn’t break her promise.

Just as she was about to greet me back, Choco launched herself at her, causing her to burst out laughing. Choco had always been a little possessive when it comes to me. Whenever Donghae was around, she would bark at him and never responded to any of his calls. I remember the time when I was helping to plan one of the school festivals as the President of dance club; I invited a few other Presidents from the band, choir and drama club to my house. One of them was a female and Choco never liked her at all. She barked incessantly at her and only stopped after she left. So, it came as a surprise to me that Choco loves Haemin a lot. When I first invited Haemin back, Choco was wary of her and barked a few times as well. But Haemin won her over eventually.

“Hello, little one! It’s been such a long time, isn’t it?”Haemin grinned as she carried Choco, giving her a little rub on her belly.

“You’re the only one she responds positively to. Where did you go?”I chuckled as I closed the door after her.

“Er…, I went to visit my…mother,”she replied hesitantly as she placed Choco on the sofa next to her.

“Oh, are you alright?”I asked as I sat down slowly.

“Why are you asking me if I’m alright?”she raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you don’t exactly have a good relationship with her so….,”I shrugged.

There was silence in the room except for Choco’s whining for Haemin to pet her again.

“Thanks for asking. I really appreciate it,”

I looked up to find her with such a genuine smile on her face that I felt heat creep up my cheeks.

“You’re welcome. How’s your mum?”I asked as I cleared my throat.

“She….she went through a divorce with my step-father,”she sighed.

“What…?”

That was the last thing I had expected to hear from Haemin. I thought things were the same as how it was three years ago. I thought her mother would be happy with the life she was leading after Haemin left. She never showed much concern for Haemin anyway. But when Haemin told me what her mother told her, I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Not only did she actually care for Haemin, but she went as far as to follow her to that maple tree?!

“That means she saw us kissing?”I blurt out before I could stop myself.

“N…no, she…she couldn’t have,”Haemin stuttered.

“So…, you’re okay with your mum now?”I asked.

“I have to be. She only has me now,”she nodded her head.

“That’s good. I’m glad you have your mother back,”I grinned.

“Oh, she’s cooking lunch tomorrow. Do…do you want to join us? I mean, if you’re not free, it’s fine. I can tell her but you gotta let me know as soon as possible so I can…,”

“Yes, I will, Haemin,”I chuckled at her silliness.

“Right. Great,”she just nodded her head as she gave Choco all the attention.

At that moment, the front door opened and the both of us turned around to find my parents back from work. Haemin immediately stood up to greet them.

“Hello, Haemin! It’s so good to see you back from Incheon,”my dad greeted.

Once the greetings were exchanged, my mother suggested I bring Haemin to her room for the night to rest. We headed up to the second floor where my sister and I stayed in. However, when I tried to twist the door open, it wouldn’t budge.  

“Mum, did noona lock her door?”I frowned as I tried to open it again.

“It won’t open?”Haemin asked.

“She did? Where’s the key then?”my mum asked from downstairs.

“She kept the key with her ever since I played that prank on her where the bucket full of water over her,”I answered.

“You did what?”Haemin asked in shock.

“That was back in elementary school,”I laughed.

“So what do we do now?”she asked.

“You can sleep in my room. I’ll take the sofa in the living room,”I gestured towards my room.

“Nah, I’ll take the sofa,”she shook her head.

“I’ll never let my girl sleep on the sofa so take the room,”I pushed her towards my room.

“I’m not your girl,”she scrunched her face up as she walked into my room with Choco following her.

After dinner, we decided to watch a DVD together after my parents had gone to bed. It was my first time watching the movie and it was really a sad one that I had tears in my eyes as well. As Haemin sniffed, she put Choco on my lap before reaching out to grab a piece of tissue to wipe her tears away.

“Are you okay?”I asked softly.

She merely nodded as she continued crying while watching the movie.

“Oh my god, no,”she let out a whimper as the lead character’s plight became worse.

I reached out to put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to me. She stayed in my embrace as the movie went on. Thankfully, the movie was one with a happy ending and we were left with smiles on our faces.

“That was such a good movie,”Haemin commented as she went to the kitchen to throw the tissues she had used.

“I seriously thought he was going to commit suicide,”I shook my head.

“I know right! Thank god, he chickened out,”she replied.

“Shall we sleep now? It’s kinda late,”I yawned as I looked at the clock.

“Yeah, I think we should. You must be tired from driving all the way here,”she mumbled, worriedly.

“Nah, I’m fine. Go on ahead and sleep,”I pointed towards the stairs.

I made myself comfortable on the sofa and was off to dreamland right away since I was so tired from driving. But all of a sudden, I jolted awake when I felt something warm on my body.

“Oh my god, did I scare you? Are you okay?”Haemin gasped.

It was dark in the house and I had to shift around to confirm that it was her from the lights outside. Looking down, I found a thin blanket on me.

“I thought Choco peed on me,”I heaved a sigh of relief.

“I’m so sorry for scaring you. I didn’t see you bring any blanket down and thought you’ll be cold. I didn’t expect you to be asleep already,”she replied.

“It’s okay. Thank you though,”I smiled though she couldn’t really see.

In the dark house, I could only make out her eyes that were shining so brightly thanks to the lights outside. Haemin was staring right into my eyes as I watched her blink a little before she moved forward and placed her lips on mine. In that instant, my heart did a huge leap as I wasn’t expecting it. When she pulled away, she didn’t leave right away nor did she look like she regretted her action.

“I can’t do this anymore. Hyukjae, I…I love you,”

*End of Hyukjae’s POV*

End of Chapter

DarkAngel