Keiba woke up in luxury. Her eyes parted and found the line of Min-Kyung’s throat. She lifted a hand to feel his smooth skin. She liked the contrast between their colors. Hers dark and his gently tanned. She smiled and closed her eyes again. She’d never been this close to anyone before and she didn’t want to do anything but this. Just lying there in Min’s arms. Listening to his heartbeat. Hearing him breathe…

But then his alarm went off, blaringly loud in the peacefulness of his room.

Min frowned as he woke up, but he cheered considerably when he saw that Keiba was there. He reached over her and silenced his alarm. He settled back and let his hand rest on her cheek. His thumb her skin.

 “I want to wake up like this every day.” He told her. “Minus the alarm.”

“Me too.” She said. “Why do you get up so early?”

He shrugged. “I like having time.”

“Time for what?”

“To get ready, finish homework, you know that kind of stuff.”

She laughed. “And here I thought you were such a hard worker.”

“Hmm…” He smiled. “Oh, Keiba.”

“Hm?”

“What does je t’aime mean?”

Her eyes widened “What?”

“Je t’aime.” He repeated, grinning. “What does it mean?”

“Where’d you hear that?”

“I heard you say it last night. I thought I was dreaming, but by the way you’re reacting, you must’ve actually said it.” He explained. “And what does the rest of what you said mean?”

She to her other side so that her back was facing him. “I… I’ll tell you later.”

He scooted closer and set his hand on her hip. “When?”

“Later!”

“C’mon. Don’t be embarrassed.”

She bit her lip. “Ma lune prince means ‘my moon prince’.”

“’Moon prince’?” He repeated. Keiba could hear the smirk in his voice. “I don’t know how I feel about you calling me something that sounds like the title of a Korean drama or anime.”

“Shut up, Mini.” She pulled the cover over her head.

He chuckled and followed her under so he could say: “But I like being called yours.”

She sat up suddenly and glared at him. “You sound like you belong in one of those Kdramas.”

He grinned and put his hands behind his head. “Maybe I should’ve pursued acting.”

She rolled her eyes, but giggled a little. She settled next to him and rested her head on his arm. He rubbed her shoulder.

“We should see them.” She said.

“Who? Oh.” He sobered some. “Yeah. Ben and Ms. Heller.”

She nodded. “I hope they’re okay. Ben saved my life. I feel bad for not going to the hospital with him.”

Min kissed her forehead. “I know, baby.”

“I wonder why Yun ran off into the street like that.”

“Maybe she was trying to get away.” He said. “Or maybe she planned on dying like that when she saw the car.”

“Yeah. But it’s sad that Ms. Heller had to be the one to hit her.”

He sighed.

She rubbed his chest soothingly. “It’s not your fault, Min.” She said although she too felt bad about the whole ordeal.

“I know.” He shivered and placed his hand over hers. “So when would you like to go?” He asked.

“Uh, don’t you have class?”

“Yeah but I could drop you off. It’d have to be before 10:30 though.”

“What time is it?” She asked.

“9:05.”

“Okay. How about we leave at a quarter to ten?”

“Sure.” He paused. “But I don’t want to get up yet.”

She laughed. “I’m comfortable too.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmhm. But,” She sat up again. “Imma’ take a shower.”

“You want me to join you?”

Her face instantly heated up. “M-Min!”

He looked at her innocently. “What?”

She shook her head. “Just nasty.” She got out of bed and headed to the shower. “I won’t take too long.”

“You’re sure you don’t want me in there with you?” He called.

Keiba threw a roll of toilet paper at him. He laughed and let it bounce off his chest.

Once they’d showered and gotten dressed, they headed downtown to the hospital. He parked in front of the door.

“I can come get you at lunch.” He said. “I’ll call when I’m here.”

“Mmkay.” She leaned over to give him a kiss.

“Annyeong, naui taeyang gongju.”

She smiled and tilted her head. “Hm?”

He took her hand and kissed it. “Goodbye, my sun princess.”

She giggled, kissed him again, and hopped out of the car. She found out which room Ben was in, but Ms. Heller had been discharged a little before Keiba had arrived.

Keiba knocked at the door to room 108. “Come in.” Ben said.

“Hey, Ben—” she stopped, finding that the room was filled with four other people. They all stopped their own conversation and stared at her.

“Uh, hello.” She greeted.

“Hi, Keiba.” Ben said.

“Ah! Benjamin.” The woman sitting next to Ben smacked him lightly in the back of his head.

“Ouch. Ma.”

“Don’t you ‘ma’ me, boy. Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?” Repeated a man who looked like a slightly older version of Ben. The man’s twin, who’d been dozing in front of the window, woke up suddenly.

“Wha? Girlfriend?” He looked at her. “You’re Ben’s girlfriend?”

Keiba shook her head. “Actually, I’m not—”

“Come in, come in.” Ben’s mother said, coming around to tug her inside by her shirtsleeve. “It’s nice to see he’s met a girl who looks like she’s got some class.”

“But, I—”

“She’s cute, Ben.” The twin said, eyeing Keiba appraisingly. She blushed under his scrutiny.

Ben rolled his eyes. “She’s not—”

“Can she braid?” Asked a little girl, who couldn’t have been older than five. She had a little stuffed bunny in her arms.

“I can.” Keiba smiled at the girl, thinking of Min. “But—”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Ben announced. “Really. We’re just friends.”

“She’s not?” The twin grinned. “Does that mean she’s free?”

Keiba laughed. “Nope. Sorry, I’m taken.”

“Dang.”

“Sorry about that, Keiba.” Ben said. “Let me introduce you to my crazy family: my mom, Patience; my brothers Sean and Dean; and my little sister Nora.”

“It’s nice to meet you all.” Keiba smiled. “I’m Keiba.”

“That’s an interesting name.” Patience said. “But it’s a nice one. Sorry about that, honey.”

“It’s okay. I’m not your son’s girlfriend, but I’m so grateful to him.” Keiba shifted from foot to foot with her head down. “He saved my life, ma’am. And I’m so, so sorry. It’s my fault he got shot.”

“Keiba, no.” Ben said. “You didn’t know what Yun was capable of.”

“But I forced you to come out with me…”

“Hush with all that, honey.” Patience chastised. “Here, have a seat.”

Keiba nodded. “Thank you.” She took the seat Patience offered her.

“It’s not your fault, sweetie, and it’s clear that Ben doesn’t blame you. Ben told us what’d happened. He said that you’d thought that girl was going to kill herself. You and he were only trying to do the right thing. That girl was troubled. Like Ben said, you didn’t know what she was capable of. So don’t blame yourself you hear me?”

Keiba nodded.

“C’mon, y’all.” Patience said to her family. “We have to go get my baby something to eat.” She looked at Keiba. “I hope you’re still here when we get back, Keiba.”

She tried a smile and Patience returned the expression. As they left, Keiba sighed and looked at Ben.

“Where’s Min-Kyung?” He asked.

“Class.”

He nodded. “Right. So what happened to Yun?”

“She ran into the street and got run over.”

“For real?”

Keiba nodded and sighed.

“You know, you’re prettier when you smile.” He told her.

She laughed. “I’m just getting loaded with compliments today, aren’t I?”

“Guess so.” He laughed.

“Thanks, Ben.”

“So who ran her over?”

“Ms. Heller.”

“Ru—I mean, Ms. Heller?” Ben said.

Keiba nodded. “She fainted right afterward and had to be taken to the hospital too. She was already discharged though.”

“Is she okay? Did you see her?”

She shook her head watching him closely. “She was out before I got here.”

“Oh.” He relaxed a little.

“How well do you know Ms. Heller?” Keiba asked.

“Pretty well. I’m one of her students too.”

“As a minor?” She asked.

He shook his head. “I’m double majoring in law and in performing arts.”

“What’s your instrument?”

“My voice.” He replied. “And the guitar.”

“Wow. Nice.”

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll sing for you some time.” He winked.

She didn’t smile this time. “Ben, what’s changed?”

His grin fell. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we never really talked before but now you’re flirting with me? Excessively? Things haven’t been the same since that day.”

Ben sighed and sat back against the pillows. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, but what happened? What’s different?”

“Nothing.” He said. “I just… Look, can I trust you?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

He sighed. “It’s like this…”

Keiba listened intently to his story of the day he received his… “proposition” from the unknown girl. She was shaking her head by the time he’d finished.

“Does Ms. Heller know about this?” she asked.

“No. Ruth doesn’t know.”

“Why can’t you guys just leave?”

“It’s not that easy. I have my entire family here. And Ruth can’t just leave when there’s no guarantee she’ll be able to get a job once we do.”

“Oh. You’re right. I’m sorry about this, Ben.”

“It’s okay. But now that you know, I don’t know what we’re going to do. I only have a couple more days before she’s supposed to be checking in on me.”

“Is it okay if I tell Min?” She asked. “I have an idea, but I need to talk to him first to see if he’s cool with it.”

Ben nodded. “And can you tell him I’m sorry?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

He returned the expression. “You know, for as long as I’ve known Min (which isn’t a super long time but it’s enough to get a gist of the type of guy he was) he’s always seemed like an angry person. Mad at the world and willing to take it out on anyone he didn’t like. And I knew he wasn’t doing too well in his classes. Anyone could see it. We all thought he’d drop out before the semester was out. It was almost textbook. But after he met you, everything about him improved. And now he’s like a completely different person. He’s started talking to people and has been getting the highest grades in the class. The teacher brags on him all the time. You did that.”

She shook her head. “No. He did that.”

“With your help.” Ben insisted. “Keiba don’t be so modest. He needs you, you know.”

She smiled. “No. We need each other.”

Ben chuckled.

“Now, Ben, this girl you talked to… was she black?” She pulled out her phone and started searching through her pictures.

He nodded.

“Was she very pretty with long hair and light brown skin?”

He nodded again. “How’d you know?”

She sighed. “Ben, do you remember the day we met? How shaken up I was?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you remember what I said?”

“Something about your step sister coming back?”

She found the picture and showed it to him. “Was this who you were talking to?”

He looked, frowning. “Yeah. That’s her.”

“That’s my step sister.”

“What? That is your step sister? The one you’d said that hurt you?”

“Yes. The evil one. The cruel one. I don’t know why, but she’s set out to ruin my life and I guess she tried to use you to do it. I’m sorry, Ben.”

“It’s not your fault, Keeb.” He said. His voice was calm but his hands had clenched into fists. “She’s put Ruth’s career on the line. We have to do something to make her pay.”

Keiba nodded. “You’re right.”

---

Yay! This update came earlier than usual. \^^/ So what do you guys think Keiba wants to talk to Min about? How do you think they're going to deal with Darcie? 

Share your thoughs, lovelies! =D As always: much love to subscribers new and old!