The next morning, Ken awoke to see Hongbin pacing around the house in his own sort of frenzy. For some reason, whatever happened last night really bothered Hongbin. Hakyeon gave off this vibe that Hongbin certainly did not like. He didn’t want that thing anywhere near Minji, and he didn’t understand why. He could feel himself getting more and more frustrated as each minute passed.

“Hongbin? What’s up?” Ken asked, concerned. He rubbed his eyes due to his lack of sleep.

“N- Nothing, hyung.” Hongbin sighed, defeated. He really didn’t want to tell Ken about this issue because he knew that in the end, he would just be teased. He wasn’t even sure about his own feelings yet. Finally, he threw himself onto the couch to rest.

“Yeah, I really doubt that.” Ken walked away with a laugh, heading to the kitchen to cook breakfast

---

I woke up early that morning, embarrassed about what happened the night before.

I decided to call Hakyeon to apologize, but I was quickly directed to his voicemail.

“Hey… It’s Minji.. I — about last night, I’m sorry about that. I hope that I didn’t freak you out too much. You seem really kind and I’d like to be friends. Yeah.. So, call me whenever.”

I hurriedly ended the call and threw my phone across my room. I felt really dumb. Calling him wasn’t necessary.

“At least I managed so sound sane…” I reassured myself with a sigh, trying to disregard my own discomfort with the situation.

---

“Why did you come home late last night? Did something happen?” Ken interrogated Hongbin from across the table.

“I just got caught up with stuff.”

“Ottokaji? That’s such a likely story” Ken replied with a smirk.

Hongbin didn’t reply this time.

“So I think it’s about time to greet our new neighbor today, what do you think?” Ken asked Hongbin thoughtfully.

“… Sure.” Hongbin replied, with no emotion.

“Seriously, buddy. What’s wrong? I’m not gonna leave until you tell me!” Ken raised his voice

They were like brothers and Ken was a little hurt that Hongbin was taking that long to tell him what was bothering him.

Hongbin on the other hand had no intention of letting him know. He felt really conflicted and indifferent about Minji— He just couldn't quite put his finger on what it was yet.

“Hyung, it’s nothing. Forget it. I’m going for a walk, you can greet the neighbor yourself.” Hongbin said rather sharply. He got up, grabbed his coat, and left.

Ken sat there, dumbstruck.

---

I went outside to get some fresh air because my apartment was feeling rather stuffy.

Feeling the morning breeze against my skin was probably one of the things that I missed feeling the most in my old town. It wasn’t that the city’s breeze was any different, though. This morning’s weather just reminded me of my past. It was a good kind of nostalgia that I missed a lot.

I sighed and wrapped my jacket around myself tighter while walking.

I was on my way back to my apartment when I saw Hongbin walking in my direction.

Hongbin walked with heavy steps and his head was down. He didn’t look too happy. In fact, he looked pretty distressed.

When we got close enough, I took a deep breath. I wanted to talk to him, but I was afraid that he would snap at me again like last time.

“Hey, Hongbin, right?” I asked as I tried to put on a friendly smile.

---

Hongbin’s head jerked up when he heard his name.

His eyes landed upon Minji’s face. She remembered his name, and the way it rolled off her tongue gave him goosebumps.

He grinned like he was the happiest kid on earth.

“Oh hey, Minji!”

“Oppa, did you just come out of that apartment complex?” She inquired.

He felt his heart tighten around the word “oppa”. This wasn’t a normal reaction from him. Hongbin was used to many girls calling him that, yet this time it was different. He was so confused about what he was feeling.

During his confusion, he just stared at her.

“Are you okay…? Should I not call you oppa…?” Minji asked

“A-Ani. Oppa is fine.” Hongbin managed to blurt out.

“Well anyways, I live there too! Who knows, we could be neighbors.” Minji said with a laugh.

Hongbin laughed when he saw her laugh. Everything she did was contagious. The way her eyes turned into perfect crescents made his heart tightened up once again.

“You never know…” Hongbin said, awkwardly, glancing anywhere but at Minji.

Because of this action, he noticed someone coming from behind her.

It was Hakyeon. Hongbin felt his insides burn with rage. He really hated Hakyeon and he knew that he probably came here for Minji.

Hongbin reacted upon impulse only.

Grabbing onto Minji’s hand, he smiled.

“Minji, you’re still new around here, right? I want to show you my favorite place.”

---

I wasn’t sure how to act upon his sudden request. However, I went along with it anyways. So far, I’ve seen two sides of him. I wanted to figure out who the true Hongbin really was.

He held on to my hand tightly and began to run for whatever reason that may be. It seemed like he just wanted to have fun, so I obliged.

I forgot we were even holding hands until the warmth that came from both of our hands became unbearable.

He seemed to notice as well and decided to let go.

He looked at me and laughed. Everything he did felt so genuine. I couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

“We’re almost there.” He said, followed with a smile that could kill.

---

Ken couldn’t just sit there and let his best friend leave, so he quietly followed him out.

Ken knew something shady was going on, but he didn’t know what it was.

He saw Minji begin to talk to Hongbin.

Seeing how Hongbin’s expression totally changed back to the old Hongbin he knew and loved, he sighed.

Ken continued to watch them from afar.

He saw Hakyeon coming from a distance, and Hongbin reacting weirdly.

Suddenly, everything made sense to him.

🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸

A/N:

So I wrote this on my way back home from San Francisco. 8 hour drives are the best. /sarcasm/ o(╥﹏╥)o

So yeah HONGBIN DOESN’T LIKE HER YET LOL. Well, he doesn’t know it at least ;))). He’s just feeling really protective of her, alright? (◡‿◡✿)

And ohohoho look at our worried ken-jumma looking out for hongbin  (¬‿¬)

UGH ILY GUYS FOR SUBSCRIBING BTW  (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  ✨❤✨❤✨❤✨

Oh and are any of you guys into Bangtan? I’ve been waiting for them to debut for like 6 months and honestly, I’m so proud of them right now. (°∀°)b

Anyways, I hope y’all enjoyed this update. I'm sorry that it's shorter than usual; I'm experience writer's block lol.

I hope my style of writing makes sense because I’ve been jumping back and forth between Minji’s first person point of view and Hongbin’s third person limited point of view. (THEN I WENT CRAY AND ADDED IN KEN’S ╥﹏╥ )

Where do you think Hongbin will take Minji?   (￣ω￣;)