“You and I have something very important that we need to talk about,”

Keeping her gaze straight, Choyoung bit the bottom of her lip and remained silent. The last thing on her mind right now was talking to Soonyoung, and it was now less likely to happen since he was being so demanding about. What was his problem? He didn't even bother approaching her carefully, or whatever. Seeing how she wasn't going to respond to his question, Soonyoung pulled away and stuffed his hands in his pockets snobbishly. If she was going to continue acting that way and not bother asking him what it was about, then he might as well not apologize.

“What do you want?” Choyoung finally asked, with a rather holier-than-you attitude. Her nose was now high in the air, but obviously not held up in pride, “I don't want to keep you long,”

“Wow, so now you care about my well-being?” The older boy scoffed, astonished that someone like her was able to just speak to him informally without any hesitation.

It was as if she wasn't afraid of any punishments to come if she continued to do so. Of course, Soonyoung knew better than anyone else to know that Choyoung was scared to confront him right now. Her could hear it in her quick breathing, and rigid stance. She kept her back turned to him, and eventually started walking again, deeper into the garden so she can get back home. The sun was just barely peeking over the tall hedges in the mini-maze that only the top of her head received any light. Unfortunately for Soonyoung, it was still shining brightly in his eyes. Glancing down at his watch, he decided that he should make the conversation as quick as possible if he wanted to make it back by dinner time. The sun was setting faster than he thought.

Slightly on edge, Soonyoung gritted his teeth and bounded after her, pulling her by the wrist and pinning her down against an oddly familiar column. The scene was common, as if he had been there before. But it was buried deep in the back of his mind for him to even remember at this point. A small gasp escaped her lips when she felt her back forced down against the chilling concrete, making Soonyoung retreat, eyes wide, panicked that he might have been to hard on her. When she annoyingly glared at her, Soonyoung knew that she must have just been taken by surprise. Once Choyoung pushed herself off, he pounced right back at her, swiftly clasping her hands against the column, securing her down. Choyoung looked up at him, mouth ajar but no words were coming out. A smirk played on his lips; she wasn't going anywhere.

“Soonyoung, stop playing around. Either say what you want to say, or let me go home,” Choyoung irritatingly snapped at him, keeping her face turned away from him to avoid his rigid eyes.

She was terrified of looking into his eyes, fearing that he might see right through her defensive walls like he always did. They were her last protective layer against being hurt again, and the last thing she needed was Soonyoung to break trough them and hurt her emotionally. Once again, she felt her his sweltry breath against her face, this time a lot closer than she felt comfortable with. The air between them was hot, heat coming from both their bodies and their breath. Her cheeks were a deep pink as they grew warmer with every shaky exhale. From the corner of her eye she could see his eyes crossed as he focused against her facial features. He studies every detail, every line of her side profile, each time almost giving into his own lips whenever she would run her tongue against her bottom lip before biting it.

“A-about Chan,” Soonyoung found himself stuttering, unable to think properly as his eyes unconsciously made their way to her exposed, milky white neck. The Lord was testing his patience. Biting his lip, he managed to say, “Damn it, Choyoung just tell me the truth,”

Noticing how heavy the older boy's breathing had gotten, Choyoung slowly peered over to see him with his head tipped down, closing his eyes. She silently prayed that he wasn't going to do anything bad to her especially since he seemed a little too intimidating for her tastes. She could feel his grip tightening around her wrist, but only slightly. It wasn't forceful, rather, it seemed like he didn't want her to leave him alone. Before she could look away, he brought his head back up, this time eyes clouded with anger. Although it had been rough before, Soonyoung's voice was still patient, but now he spoke with a harsh tone that made her flinch the moment the first word came out of his mouth, “Tell me what exactly happened in the science lab between Chan and you!”

“It's exactly what you saw!” she hissed back at him, poison tainting every single one of her words.

Her lips immediately pursed together, unable to believe that actually slipped out of . That was the opposite of what she meant. She wasn't even sure how much of the scene he had seen. A sudden urge to want to jump off a bridge filled her heart, when the fierce look on his face quickly melted away as a pained countenance took over. She searched around to look for the right words to say, but had no voice or no idea to try and fix it. Her of all people knew that nothing meaningful happened between Chan and her. Absolutely nothing. Sure there was a physical happening, but there was no emotional happening. Her vocal cords refused to function, only making her look like a gaping fish that had been pulled out the water.

He wasn't expecting her to say something like that. He thought that it was going to be a happy ending like everything always ended. All those dramas, the movies, those real life situation he had heard about. Hadn't they always ended happily? The back of his neck grew warmer and eventually, little beads of sweat started to for along his collar. It was incredibly hot, and his temperature rising wasn't a big help to him either. Choyoung held her breath when Soonyoung's fingers let go of her hands, before they dropped to his sides. His shoulders slumped as he stared at the ground in disbelief. Rubbing her left wrist, she stayed put where she was, raising her eyebrows when he started chuckling.

“I can't believe it,” Soonyoung grumbled under his breath as he nervously laughed it off, obviously still in denial.

ping his sweater, Soonyoung fanned himself with it to try and cool off. His mind was spinning with many thoughts, all either contradicting or piecing together like a puzzle. He ed the top three buttons of his shirt; his body temperature was quickly rising as his temper rose. For a while, he could feel the breeze against his neck, but eventually just the thought of the two crept back into his mind. When fanning wasn't enough, he slid the sleeves off his body and tossed it over to the side, not caring that it had landed in the grass rather than on the path. He continued to laugh to himself and mumble under his breath about something she couldn't really make out. Choyoung cautiously prepared herself to make a run for it, but stopped when Soonyoung's chuckling abruptly stopped and he was back to his intimidating demeanor.

“Was I not good enough?” he growled, teeth clenched once again, “Did I not meet your expectations?”

There was a brief pause. The sun was no longer illuminating the sky, the moon now taking over and eliciting a soft grey glow alongside the white, twinkling stars. It was a most beautiful night for lovers, and a great beginning to a school break. Earlier, Choyoung could hear faint chattering from the park nearby their school. They joyous laughter everyone shared as they conversed with the people they loved. But all that was silenced from her mind as she stared at the trembling boy in front of her, unable to talk back. His head was down, fringe covering his eyes as it dropped over his face. With his collar loosened, she could see how wet his neck was under the pale glow of the light. Choyoung slightly jumped in her spot when Soonyoung brought his head up, furious eyes meeting hers.

“Call it complaining or whatever, but I'm not lying when I say you were the first person I ever opened up my heart to. The only girl, that I felt comfortable with, to share my true feelings with. No one has ever gotten as far as you have,” Seeming to be on the verge of crying, Soonyoung spoke up once again with his voice cracking, and with a tone not as strong as before, “Not even Jihoon,”

Choyoung knew exactly where he was headed with this. It was a serious matter he was touching into, and the both of them knew that. He of all people knew she wasn't comfortable with things like that. But at this point, he didn't care. No matter how whiny he believed he sounded, he wasn't going to hold back any longer. He had waited long enough, suffered long enough, to gain the right to speak him mind. Soonyoung could feel his legs growing weak, finally feeling the effects of how exhausted he really was from those sleepless nights. Frustrated, Soonyoung ran a hand through his hair before continuing, “At first, I thought it was just going to be a petty little crush. Something my brain was burdening itself with since you were always around me, probably mistaking your kindness for love...but even so, why did I still feel the need to offer everything to you?”

A nostalgic feeling had indulged itself onto both of them; giving a feeling that this should have been for a long time. Soonyoung unconsciously found him legs bringing him back to where Choyoung was standing, frozen and confused, not knowing what she would do next. He found himself hovering over her once again, noticing that she was backed up against the column. There was that same look of fear in her eyes, but there was something else he could pinpoint. Soonyoung looked down at her, his eyes dulled by the darkness of the night, but hers sparkling as she was turned towards the moonlight.

“When I finally gave in to my feelings, I did everything I could to make you happy; to make you smile no matter how idiotic I looked while doing it. But nothing I did seemed to affect you as much as Chan did. And you know what? I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not being the boyfriend you wanted me to be. I'm sorry for overreacting and blowing things out of proportion,” he went on, eyebrows knitting together, “And I'm sorry that my efforts weren't enough for winning your heart like you told me to,”

Choyoung could feel her breathing starting to pick up, as she found her body leaning in closer to his, heart thumping wildly. It was an odd sensation. It was no longer the fluttering of butterflies, or the chills running along her spine. It was something much stronger, more real than that. Her eyes fixed on the bottom set of his braces that were slightly showing, the ones she knew she had adored from even before. The colored bands still matched hers; dark red like the ones they sported the night they finally revealed and accepted their feelings for each other.

The sensation, it was overwhelming. It had the ability to take your breath away if you weren't prepared for it. One minute, she was sick to her stomach after a roller coaster ride, another moment it was a warm feeling like she were snuggled up in a blanket as it rained. The feeling changed rapidly, and it certainly was on a rage as she stood there, taking in everything that was Soonyoung. In the back of her mind was an answer. An answer she had long been asking herself. Choyoung dug deep into her thoughts, but as she was just a thread away, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted. Her eyes snapped back up to meet his when their watches started to beep, both at different times and speeds; his surprisingly beating slower than hers. Without warning, Soonyoung placed his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes almost pleadingly as if this was his last hope in trying to win back her heart, “Kwan Choyoung I lo...”

Everything went silent. The honking of the street cars, the rustling of the leaves, even their watches had been lulled to nothing. Pushing herself up on the tips of her toes, her body leaned towards his, sealing the space between their lips. Closing her eyes, she pressed her pink petite lips against his delicate, thin ones firmly. She felt a powerful outburst of affection overcoming her as she did. Her heart burst inside her chest, releasing everything she had been holding back inside for so long. After taking a moment to himself, Soonyoung quickly responded closing his eyes; no sign of resistance on his part.

Their emotions were running wild, sending them into a world of their own. One that only the two of them were part of. At that very moment, she felt her passion for him course through her body, causing her to shake uncontrollably while he was no longer trembling as he was earlier. His arms quickly found her waist, holding her tightly so she would never run away. It had been so long since he had her in his arms like this, it felt all so new to him. With her arms around his neck, Choyoung pushed herself up using the column to match his height. The scent of oranges happily married the aroma of grass, causing the both of them to become as dizzy as ever. It was like their senses were heightened; every touch, smell, sound – all were magnified. Soonyoung's hand traced along her thigh, swiftly helping her to wrap her legs around his waist instead of wasting energy in pushing herself up. In response, Choyoung moaned softly as her back met with the cold column once again, kissing back to the best of her ability. She felt Soonyoung smirk against her lips, as her back was pressed slightly more against the column.

Neither of them could hear the alarming rate their watches were beeping at since they were so engrossed in each other. Her fingers played with his hair, lightly tugging at them while he quickly undid her ponytail, having her hair cascade down her back. Slightly parting his lips, Soonyoung deepened the kiss, still hesitating once he felt her brackets brushing against his bottom lip. A hesitation played on both parts as they touch as if they’re both taking the time to memorize the feeling. Light nibbles on the lips, hands wandering, bodies pressing closer together as the passion reaches an overwhelming level. Choyoung felt herself sliding back down, making Soonyoung bend over slightly to keep their kiss going. After what felt like eons to her, their mouths finally parted, and their eyes finally met. They continued to hold each other, silently staring into each others eyes with their foreheads pressed together like they always did. This was her answer, the answer she had been waiting so long for.

Breathing heavily, Choyoung smiled up at Soonyoung who looked like he was about to burst into tears at any second. Revealing those troublesome brackets she had grown to love over time, she whispered, “Kwon Soonyoung, I love you too,”