A/N: Things get a little PG-13...I think. Anyways, it gets a bit racy.

Woohyun walked into the local library, wondering if that bad book-stealing librarian Hani had finished reading the book. Right as he entered the building, he heard someone call out, "SH! If you don't calm down, I won't be able to start." Curious, he followed the voice and saw Hani sitting in a rocking chair, surrounded by a gaggle of excited children, bustling about her, struggling to be the closest to her. Right next to her chair was a sign that read, "Children's Storytime. Today's reader: Miss Hani! :)" Woohyun smiled and decided to join the rest of the kids on the circle rug. He needed to talk to Hani anyway, so he might be entertained while he waited for her to finish. After he sat down, Hani made eye contact with Woohyun and cocked her head to the side. He just smiled and waved politely, telling her not to mind him.

Then he felt a tug on his sleeve; he turned to see a cute 4 year-old girl, who even though she was standing and Woohyun was sitting, still was not taller than him. "Ahjussi, are you here for storytime too? Aren't you too old?" she asked.

"Aigoo," Woohyun cooed as he ruffled her hair. "You caught me! And I was trying to blend in. I guess my disguise isn't very good, is it?" he asked the girl with sad eyes. The little girl nodded and laughed. "Do you think Hani-ssi will find me?" The girl nodded again, making herself look like a large bobble-head doll. "Why don't you help me hide from her?"

The girl threw her hands up into the air. "But how?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

Woohyun gently placed the girl on his lap and hid his head behind her tiny back. "If I hide behind you like this, she won't see me, right?" he asked as he kept poking his head out from cover of her back and back behind it. 

The little laughed, but then she gasped. "Hani-ssi is looking! Ahjussi, quick! Hide!" she whispered to Woohyun. He immediately obeyed her and ducked even lower, but he poked his head out slightly to the side, seeing Hani staring at him with an amused look on her face.

Then she clapped her hands, garnering the attention from the still noisy kids, and they clapped back. Woohyun assumed that it must be their signal to quiet down or that storytime was starting. He found himself clapping along as well. Then, Hani picked up a book from the ground and showed it to the group. "Today's story is The Runaway Bunny," she announced as she displayed the cover. Then she placed it in her lap. "Do you guys know what a bunny looks like?" she asked, cocking her head.

"Yea!" exclaimed a little boy as he shot up his hand in the air and stood up on his knees. "They look like this," he said and demonstrated, putting his hands on the top of his head like long ears and wiggling his nose.

"Okay everyone, did you see Younghwan-goon? Let's all do it together. Like this!" she excitedly and gently command the children (plus Woohyun) to do. She also turned her hands into long, floppy bunny ears on her head and scrunched her nose. Everyone followed her lead. After a few moments of bunny-acting, a look of confusion appeared on her face. "But what does a bunny sound like?" she pondered out loud. "Do you know?" she asked the group. All of the kids shook their heads or said "No!" Even Woohyun shrugged, not knowing the answer. Hani then smiled warmly. "I don't know either," she admitted, and the children laughed. "But they are quiet, right?"

"Yes!" the children sounded off in unison.

Hani picked up the book again and put her finger to her lips. "So let's all act like bunnies and be very very quiet as I read this book, okay?"

She was met with silence but also with several nods from the children already assuming their bunny roles. She cleared and then read with a soft voice:

Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away.
So he said to his mother, “I am running away.”
“If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you.
For you are my little bunny.”

“If you run after me,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a fish in a trout stream 
and I will swim away from you.”

“If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother,
“I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.”

“If you become a fisherman,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you.”

“If you become a rock on the mountain high above me,”
said his mother, “I will become a mountain climber,
and I will climb to where you are.”

“If you become a mountain climber,”
said the little bunny,
“I will be a crocus in a hidden garden.”

“If you become a crocus in a hidden garden,”
said his mother, “I will be a gardener. And I will find you.”

“If you are a gardener and find me,”
said the little bunny, “I will be a bird
and fly away from you.”

“If you become a bird and fly away from me,”
said his mother, “I will be a tree that you come home to.”

“If you become a tree,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a little sailboat,
and I will sail away from you.”

“If you become a sailboat and sail away from me,”
said his mother, “I will become the wind
and blow you where I want you to go.”

“If you become the wind and blow me,” said the little bunny,
“I will join a circus and fly away on a flying trapeze.”

“If you go flying on a flying trapeze,” said his mother,
“I will be a tightrope walker,
and I will walk across the air to you.”

“If you become a tightrope walker and walk across the air,”
said the bunny, “I will become a little boy
and run into a house.”

“If you become a little boy and run into a house,”
said the mother bunny, “I will become your mother
and catch you in my arms and hug you.”

“Shucks,” said the bunny, “I might just as well
stay where I am and be your little bunny.”

And so he did.
“Have a carrot,” said the mother bunny.*

After Hani was finished reading and put the book down, everyone clapped. "Alright little bunnies," she started. "Storytime's over. Go hop on over to your parents." And then children listened and hopped away like little bounding rabbits, except for the girl in Woohyun's lap who still took it as her mission to hide him.

Woohyun saw Hani get up from her chair and walk over in their direction. "Oh no! She found us! Run away!" he gasped. The little girl squealed, jumped off his lap, and ran away to find her parents. Woohyun chuckled watching the little girl toddle away and stood up slowly, facing Hani sheepishly. 

"Did you enjoy the story?" Hani asked.

Woohyun nodded. "It was cute. I've never heard it before."

"Not many people have. It's an old one," Hani explained, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ears. "My mom used to read it to me."

"Why did you always try to run away?" he joked.

Hani giggled. "NO! I was a good kid when I was little," she defended herself, placing her hands on her hips.

"So you're not good anymore?"

Hani rolled her eyes and walked back to the check-out desk. Woohyun followed her. "I'm not done with the book yet," she confessed, knowing full well why he was there. He frowned. "But I might be able to finish it tonight, if you want to stop by tomorrow," she said as she organized the books on her desks.

"Okay," Woohyun agreed and started to walk away, but was still facing her. "But don't runaway, or I'll hunt you down like that Mama bunny," he warned her while pointing at both of his eyes and then at her. Then turned around to leave.

"That doesn't sound creepy at all," Hani shouted after him sarcastically. "Besides, who's afraid of bunnies?" she mumbled to herself, smiling.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next day, Woohyun and Maeri were visiting his brother, Boohyun, and his family in the next town over. It was the first time Woohyun had seen his brother since the engagement, and the first time Maeri had met his little niece, Haeun, who was still not even a year-old. Woohyun walked over to Maeri, who was sitting on the couch with his sister-in-law. She was intently watching the baby in its mother's arms with a slightly scared expression on her face. "Noona, why don't you let Maeri hold Haeun for awhile?" he suggested. Maeri shot him a "please don't" look.

His sister-in-law smiled. "That's a good idea. Haeun needs some bonding time with her future aunt. And I gotta pee," she said, ending with a baby voice staring at her daughter. She then carefully placed the baby in Maeri's lap, who suddenly went stiff. After seeing that Maeri had somewhat of a hold on her child, the mother scurried off to the bathroom. Maeri looked at the baby, completely at a loss for how to handle it. The last time she held a baby was when Jonghyun was born, and that was only a couple of times. Mostly she had just let him sleep in his crib. Maybe that's why he doesn't like me as much as Woohyun. Woohyun held him a lot more than I did. But is that just with puppies? Or does it hold true with humans too? They're both baby animals so...

"Maybe it would be easier if you hold her like this," Woohyun spoke, interrupting her thoughts. He adjusted Haeun in Maeri's arms until the infant was nestled in the crook of her neck.

"This is much better," Maeri admitted as she gently patted the baby. "Thank you." 

"She likes you," Woohyun stated watching Maeri who was trying to be as gentle as she could. It was as if she was dealing with a bomb that was about to explode. But I guess that it's better for her to be too cautious than not.

She looked over at his with her eyebrow raised. "How can you tell?" she asked.

"Well," he said, his niece's head. "She's not crying."

Maeri smiled and bent her neck to look at the baby on her shoulder. "Huh? You like me, Haeun-ie? I like you too! You're the cutest baby I've ever seen, and you don't smell like poo...yet." She turned to Woohyun. "And when she does, I'm done. But maybe I'm better at this baby thing than I thought." Woohyun smiled, happy to see Maeri finally admitting that babies can be cute (and don't always look like aliens) and to see her act remotely motherly (and not like the argumentative five year-old she was). It was like he was catching a glimpse of the not-so-distant future, of them starting a family together. A cute, happy, little family. "She's just so little, and her head is soft. I could just crush it so easily," Maeri crooned as she the poor baby's head. And just like that the cute moment was ruined.

"Okay, no more holding the baby for you," Woohyun said, worried that Maeri would hurt his cute niece. He quickly and gently ripped Haeun away from his fiancée. 

Maeri frowned. "It's not like I was going to," she mumbled.

Woohyun bounced Haeun in his lap. "Just to be safe," he said to Maeri with a wink. Then he looked back at his niece. "Besides, Haeun-ie misses her uncle. Yes, she does!" he ended in a baby-like voice. 

Maeri rolled her eyes and tapped him on the shoulder. "I'll let you two bond. I'm going to see what's up with Oppa," she said getting up from the couch and leaving the room to see Boohyun, who was cooking in the kitchen.

Right as she left, Woohyun's sister-in-law walked back into the room. "Oh! Where did Maeri go?" she asked as she sat next to him.

"Well, she said that she wanted to check up on hyung, but I really think she's just checking up on the food," Woohyun joked. At that, his sister-in-law started to chuckle. "Why? What's so funny, Noona?"

"Normally, the men go out and cook the meat and drink beer, and the women stay behind with the kids," she explained as she touched her daughter's nose. 

Woohyun chuckled until he fully registered what she had said, and his face fell. "Did you just call me the woman in our relationship?"

Meanwhile, Maeri was in the kitchen with a beer in one hand and carrot slices in the other. She watched Boohyun cook the beef as she popped the slices in . "So what's with you Nam boys and cooking?" she asked in between chews. "Woohyun does it all the time too."

Boohyun chuckled as he flipped the meat on the grill. "Well, for me, it's calming. It clears my mind because I have to concentrate on chopping or grilling so I can't really think of anything else. My brother does it because...well, you can't cook worth ," he joked.

"OPPA!" Maeri exclaimed angrily and took a swig from her beer.

Boohyun waved his hands. "I was joking," he said gently. "But I have heard some stories..."

"I forget to take the plastic wrap off ONE TIME before putting food in the microwave, and he never lets me forget it," she responded in a huff.

"And if the microwave would just happen to break, would you still be able to cook?" he asked.

"Noooo," she reluctantly answered. She picked up a piece of beef off the grill with her chopsticks.

"And that's what makes you a bad cook," he explained. Then he slapped Maeri's hand away from grabbing another piece off the grill. "Stop eating all the food!"

"Sorry," she apologized with a sheepish smile, putting the chopsticks to her lips.

"I didn't even see you get those chopsticks," Boohyun muttered. After he looked at Maeri's embarrassed face, he sighed.

Maeri giggled nervously. "What? What's wrong, Oppa? I promise not to eat anything else," she lied as she stealthily grabbed a few more veggie slices while Boohyun's back was turned.

"I just can't believe that you two are getting married," he confessed as he put some of the cooked meat on a plate.

Maeri nudged him. "Why? Because we're growing up so fast?"

"Well that, and I never thought Woohyun saw you as a woman," he quickly said as he picked up the plate and carried it out of the kitchen.

Maeri digested his words (and the beef) for a few seconds before responding, "YAH! What does that make me? A guy?!"

“Oh, Honey, I forgot!” Woohyun exclaimed. He was driving himself and Maeri back from his brother’s home, after having eaten dinner there. “Can we stop by the library? I need to pick up a book before it closes.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Maeri said sleepily. Her belly was full of good food, which always has some sort of sleep-inducing effect on her. “Whatever you want,” she yawned.

Woohyun poked her in the cheek. “You’re turning into Soyeon,” he joked. Maeri just mumbled incoherently back at him. He pulled into a parking spot outside of the library. “You can stay in the car. I’ll be quick.” Once again, she let out a flow of babbles. She’s like a baby herself. “I love you too, Honey,” Woohyun said with a smile, randomly guessing at what she might’ve said.

After leaving his drowsy fiancée behind, Woohyun waltzed into the library and walked up to the check-out desk. “Um, hello,” he said greeting the elderly woman behind the desk. He had hoped Hani would’ve been there, knowing that she had put the book on reserve for him. He wasn’t prepared to explain the situation to this old lady. She looked like a stickler for the rules. “Uh, I…”

“Oh! It’s you!” Hani called to him as she emerged from around the corner. “I’ll take care of him,” she said to her coworker. The old lady slowly got up from her chair and hobbled away. After she was gone, Hani pulled the book from under the desk and handed it to Woohyun. “For you!”

“It’s about time,” Woohyun joked, taking the book from her. He then handed her is library card. “Thanks for breaking the rules for me.”

Hani put a finger to her lips. “Just don’t spread the word. I don’t do this for everybody,” she whispered. Then she took his card and swiped it. “Gosh! This is making me feel like some kind of drug-book-dealer,” she giggled.

“Yea, you’re the baddest librarian on the block,” Woohyun  said, receiving his card back from  Hani.

“UNNIE!” a voice shouted from afar. All too loud for a library. Everybody immediately turned to the direction of the sound. It was Maeri, who recently woke up; her hair was disheveled from leaning against the car window. Maeri noticed that she disrupted everybody and bowed in apology as she shuffled up to the check-out desk. “Hani-unnie!  Is that you?”

Hani looked at the woman with wide-eyes until she finally recognized her. “Maeri-ah, is that you?!” Maeri nodded enthusiastically.

Woohyun was thoroughly confused. “Do you two know each other?” he asked.

“Yea, and you probably do too,” Maeri explained. “We all went to high school together. Unnie was the captain of the soccer team.”

“He went to school with us?” Hani said, scrunching her face in confusion. Then she clapped her hands. “That’s why you look so familiar! You’re cheeks were so much chubbier back then, like a cute little bunny.”

Woohyun automatically put his hands to his cheeks. “Why do you guys keep saying that?” he mumbled.

The girls were ignoring his distress, being too busy catching up with each other. “So what have you been up to lately? Oh! How was London?” Maeri asked. She turned to Woohyun and explained, “Unnie went to college in England.”

“Really?!”

Hani bowed her head in embarrassment. “It’s nothing big. It was actually a town outside of London. But I learned a lot. I’m still barely fluent in English though,” she said. She wanted to change the subject. “What about you?”

“Woohyun and I are engaged!” Maeri happily announced, gesturing between Woohyun and herself.

“Oh…That’s great!” Hani  said with a smile on her face. “Congrats.”

“Thanks!” Maeri said. Then she pulled her cellphone out of her pocket. “Unnie! Give me your phone number, so we can catch up. I’m so glad that you’re back home.” She was practically jumping up and down, happy to see her old mentor again.

Hani smiled brightly and inputted her number into the phone. “Call me soon, okay?” she politely commanded, handing the cellphone back to its owner.

“Of course,” Maeri agreed. Then she turned to Woohyun, who was oddly silent this entire time. “We should get going, Sweetie. The library is closing soon.” They turned to leave, but they were abruptly stopped.

“HOLD ON!” Hani called after them. She ran around the check-out desk and up to the couple. “My bookmark! I left my bookmark in the book,” she said desperately.

Woohyun looked at the book in his hand curiously and handed it over to the frazzled librarian. “Ah…sure. Here you go.” She must really like that bookmark, he thought, watching Hani carefully. She grabbed a small, rectangular card from the middle of the book and quickly put it in her pocket, so quick that Woohyun couldn’t see what was on it. Hani gave the book back to him with an embarrassed smile.  “Thank you. I guess we’ll see you later. Bye!” he waved.

“Bye Unnie!” Maeri happily waved as she walked back to the car, hand-in-hand with Woohyun. “I’ll call you soon.”

During her lunch break, Maeri was munching on a sandwich as she played with an app on her cellphone.  “It’s so cute!” she cooed, caressing the screen.

“What is?” Sungjong asked, popping out of nowhere. Maeri pushed the cellphone over to him, not being able to talk because was full. He studied the screen. It was a picture of a baby. “Whose is it?”

Maeri took a big gulp and then answered, “Mine and Woohyun’s.” Sungjong looked at her with his jaw unhinged. Maeri shoved him playfully. “It’s an app that shows what your future baby would look like.” Then she took the cellphone back from the boy and posed it in front of him. “All you have to do is take a picture. Smile!” Sungjong gave a huge smile, with v-signs by his eyes. “Cute! And put it with your potential partner. Aaaaaaaaaand…Ew!” Maeri exclaimed, grimacing.

Sungjong frowned. “Give me that, Noona,” he commanded taking the phone away from her. He glared at the screen. The baby that he was confronted with looked as if it came from a monster movie, with bushy eyebrows and menacing eyes. “No! This can’t be mine,” he whined.

Maeri took her phone back from the distressed boy. “Yea, word of advice: never have a baby with Sora,” she giggled.

“Ew! You made me have a virtual baby with her!” He shook his head in disappointment. “You’re erted, Noona.”

Maeri glared at him. “You know, I do have the power to fire you,” she warned. But then her serious expression melted into a smile. She was just messing with Sungjong; however, sometimes she believed that he needed to be reminded that she was his superior. Yes, she did have an immature side, but he still needed to respect her.

“Noona, have you slept with Woohyun yet?” Sungjong asked, putting his head in his hands. This kid has no respect at all.

Maeri choked on her sandwich. “WHAT?!”

Sungjong was not fazed by her shock. “Don’t blame me. You’re the one who gave me 20 free questions,” he said with a not-so-innocent smile. He saw that Maeri was still speechless, so he took the opportunity to explain himself. “Noona, you’re looking at pictures of babies that you and fiancée virtually made, so I can only assume…You do know how babies are made, right?” he asked raising his eyebrows.

“Of course I do!”she defended herself. Maeri felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and she started to grow hot and uncomfortable. She took the trash left over from her lunch and walked away. “You’re just jealous that my baby is cuter than yours,” she retorted before she left him.

That evening, Maeri was with Woohyun on the couch. They were watching a drama that the both of them had recently gotten into (it was some crazy supernatural-action-romantic-comedy, a complete amalgamation of every genre that ever existed, but it worked). She stared at Woohyun out of the corner of her eye.  He was laying down on the couch, with his legs resting over hers and a chip bowl resting on his belly. She was already used to Woohyun taking over the couch like that, but something was still bothering her. What Sungjong had said earlier to her was gnawing at her mind. It was stupid and idiotic, but she did actually forget how babies were made. Well, it wasn’t that she forgot, but she did not realize what she would have to do. What she would have to do with Woohyun.

“Sweetie?” she called to him during a commercial break.

“Mmmm,” he said, his mouth full of chips.

Maeri looked down at his feet on her lap. “Have you ever thought about us doing it?”

“Doing what?” he asked innocently.

Maeri turned to him. “You know…it,” she said making random gestures in the air, hoping that he would get the point.

He did. “?” he asked with his eyes growing bigger by the second. “Why..why are you asking?” He was proceeding cautiously. He knew how some girls would put him through little “tests” like this, wanting to see how he would react. But he never expected it from Maeri. Was she actually curious? “What made you think about it? Why, am I turning you on right now?” he asked, chewing on a chip as seductively as someone could.

Maeri pushed his feet off her lap, causing him to almost slip off of the couch. “Ew! No! Stop it!”

Woohyun glared at her and waited a few seconds before putting his feet back on her lap, and she let him stay there. “Then why?”

“We’re getting married, right?” she clarified, staring at him. He nodded, curious to see where this was going. “Eventually, we’re going to want kids.”

“We’re going to have the cutest kids!” Woohyun interjected.

“I know, right?” Maeri quickly agreed. “But how do you think we’re going to get them?”

The chips that Woohyun was eating slowly fell out of his mouth, which was hanging wide open. Like Maeri, he never fully realized the implications of marrying Maeri, starting a family with her. “Oh right,” he said. Then the two of them sat there silently, watching a commercial about razors. After the commercial was over, Woohyun suddenly blurted out, “Do you want to try tomorrow?”

Maeri turned to him with her eyebrows raised. “What? That?!”

“You’re the one who brought it up first!” he pointed out. “Plus, I don’t know about you, but now I’m curious,” he finished, putting a few chips in his mouth. Then he noticed that Maeri was looking at him with wide open, so he put some chips in there.

Maeri was grateful that he did because chewing on the chips gave her the opportunity to think without having to immediately give him an answer. “So, we’re already engaged,” she thought out loud, still chewing. “This is what couples are supposed to do, right?” she asked. Woohyun nodded excitedly. Maeri finished chewing and swallowed. “Okay. Let’s do it!”  Then Woohyun all of the sudden put his hand out in front of her. “What?”

“Let’s pinky swear,” he demanded. Maeri giggled but gave into his silly request. “Now you can’t back out.” And with that, Maeri started to lose it and turned into a laughing mess. “What? What’s so funny?” he asked.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and calmed down. “I can’t believe we scheduled like it was a business meeting. We even shook on it!” Then she broke into laughter again.

Woohyun chuckled. “It is a meeting…of our bodies, making negotiations of how 2 become 1,” he said as greasy as the chips were in the bowl on his stomach.

“A business merger?” Maeri retorted. Woohyun laughed and gave her a thumbs up. “Make sure to bring your suit,” she reminded him.

Woohyun looked at her, completely confused. “What suit?”

“Your birthday suit.”

“Aigoo!” Woohyun squealed, squirming in his spot. “You’re dirty.”

The next day, Maeri found herself in the mall on a mission. That night was the night. Woohyun was going to see her at her most vulnerable, and the underwear that she was currently wearing was ugly, stretched out, and torn. She had woken up late that morning and had just put on whatever she had randomly grabbed from the drawers, without thinking about what was waiting for her when she got home. Well, who was waiting for her.

And even though they had been living together for a while, they were both really careful and respected each other’s privacy, changing in separate rooms. The only reason why she even knew what Woohyun’s underwear looked like was because she did the laundry. And even then, she felt uncomfortable handling them, but she wasn’t about to let Woohyun handle the laundry and her dingy intimates. Tonight was going to be awkward. Maybe enjoyable, but awkward. Which was why she needed new underwear, to give her confidence. Also giving him one less thing to make fun of her for.

She wandered into the lingerie shop and browsed its selection. She picked at the merchandise.  There were so many different designs, shapes, and patterns. What does he even like? Polka-dots? Flowers? Oh look! Cupcakes! She picked out the bra with tiny little cupcakes dancing across the curve.

“Maeri-ah, is that you?” someone called out to her. Maeri quickly hid the bra behind her back and turned around. It was Soyeon. “It is!” she said excitedly. “What are you doing here?” she asked, and then she spied the bra behind Maeri’s back.  “Oh…a gift for Woohyun. Hehe you guys…” She playfully nudged Maeri whose face was becoming the color of a strawberry.

Maeri waved her hands (including the bra) back and forth. “Ah, no no no…well sort of, I mean it’s mostly for me. I’m wearing it, but he’s going to see it,” she tried to defended herself but failed miserably, falling into a stream of rambles. Then she noticed what Soyeon was wearing, the chic, black store uniform with a name tag pinned to her chest. “So…wait? Do you work here?”

“Mhmm!” she responded, leaning on the rack.

“What does Sungyeol think about it?” Maeri asked.

Soyeon giggled. “I know. It’s weird right, considering,” she said, rubbing her growing belly.  “But Yeol doesn’t mind. I get discounts,” she ended with a wink.

“I’m not sure if I wanted to know that…” Maeri said under her breath.

“So how can I help you, miss?” Soyeon asked with all serious and professionalism, until she dissolved into giggles.

“Maybe you can.” Maeri said scratching the back of her neck. “Uh, um. Geez, I don’t even know how to ask this, but what do guys…like to…see?” she asked, stumbling over her words.

Soyeon looked up at the ceiling and thought for a few moments. “Well, it depends on the guy. Yeol-ah prefers if I wear something lacy. But Woohyun…hmmm. Maybe I should ask Yeol,” she concluded, pulling out her cellphone from her pocket.

Maeri immediately grabbed Soyeon’s wrist in order to stop her from calling her husband. “No no! Please don’t. I, uh, want it to be a surprise?” she desperately begged. Maeri looked around, and underwear set with a heart pattern caught her eye. “This…this will be good, right?” she asked, pulling the item from the racks.

Soyeon scrunched her nose and shrugged. “Well, if you want to be cute-sy…” she began.

“Yes! I’ll take it,” Maeri interrupted her and started to make her way to the cash-register, eager to escape this awkward situation.

Soyeon pulled her Maeri by the back of her collar, stopping her. “Do you want to try it on first?” she asked.

Maeri turned around and blushed. “Oh, right. Okay. The fitting rooms are over there?” she asked giving in. Soyeon happily showed her to the fitting rooms and ushered her inside. Honestly, Maeri was a bit surprised that Soyeon didn’t come inside with her. Soyeon was a very…involved friend.

Maeri quickly put on the heart underwear and looked at herself in the mirror, after adjusting everything, getting things into their proper places. She tilted her head. “Well it fits. It supports. It’s a winner,” she muttered. Actually this doesn’t look half bad.

Then a little hand appeared over the top of the door. “Maeri-ah!” Soyeon whispered. “Try these on too,” she demanded, as she threw some lingerie over the edge of the door.

“Soyeon-ah,” Maeri whined.

“Humor me.” Soyeon commanded gently. “Who knows? You might like the way you look in them.” She dangled the underwear, swinging them back and forth, trying to entice Maeri.

Maeri sighed and grabbed them from her friend. “Okay, okay,” she gave in and took the items from her. She could hear Soyeon squeal in delight on the other side of the door. However, Maeri didn’t try them on. What Soyeon had given her were these practically sheer, black lace negligees. Things Maeri had never even imagined trying on in her wildest dreams. Even the heart underwear was a stretch from her usual solid colored underwear. Soyeon’s selections were way outside her comfort zone. After waiting a few moments and putting her clothes back on, Maeri knocked on the door and asked, “ I tried them on. Can I leave now?”

“So what will it be?” Soyeon asked in anticipation after opening the door and allowing Maeri to finally leave. Maeri handed her the heart set, and Soyeon raised an eyebrow. “Seriously just this? Well, the customer is always right, I guess,” she relented and led Maeri to the cash register. As Maeri was signing for the purchase, Soyeon threw one of the lace negligees into her bag. A little gift from me and Yeol, she thought. Then she looked up at Maeri and said with an innocent smile, “Here you go. Have a nice day. Call me!”

Maeri grabbed the bag from her. “Thank you! I’ll see you later,” she waved goodbye to her friend. Right as she left the store, she sighed in relief. She was somewhat grateful for Soyeon’s intervention. Without that meddlesome pregnant lady, Maeri would probably still be in the store, meticulously looking through the merchandise, drowning in her indecisiveness. Now she had some time to spare before Woohyun came home. And all of the sudden, a wave of fatigue washed over her. Oh no, this isn’t good, she said as she yawned. I need my energy for…whatever. I’m getting coffee.

Maeri walked into the mall’s cafe and bought some fancy, sugary espresso drink with a double-shot. She had no idea what she was saying as she ordered it, but it had the words “chocolate” and “caramel,” so she assumed that she could drink it easily. She picked up her drink order and was about to leave until she heard someone call her name. “Oh, Maeri-ah! Come sit with me!”

Maeri turned towards the voice and saw Sungkyu. Oh God, what did I do to deserve this? I know that I’m planning on premarital…. But wasn’t Soyeon enough? She stared at Sungkyu’s smiling face and chewed on her lower lip. She hid the bag behind her back and walked over with the biggest smile that she could muster.  “Oh Gyu-ah!” she answered, waving her free hand. She saw him shuffle some papers on the table, making enough room for her.  “What are you doing? Grading?” she asked as she sat down.

“Eung!” he nodded. “They took their first test.”

She spied at the papers, looking at all of the red markings on them. “How’d they do?” she asked, taking a sip from her sugary drink.

Sungkyu looked over at his papers. “Some did very well,” he admitted. “And some…make me wonder what they’re doing with their lives.”

Maeri laughed, “That bad, huh?”

He looked through the stack of papers as he spoke, “One student drew a picture of me being killed by a ninja for the essay question.” He pulled it out and handed it to her.

Maeri studied the drawing a laughed. “Oh, that’s actually pretty good!” she exclaimed. “Look at the detail. He got your eyes right,” she said, referring to the two tiny lines that the student drew.

Sungkyu ripped it from her hands and squinted as he looked at it. “Eyes? What eyes?” he asked. Maeri started to giggle mischievously. He hit her on the head with the said drawing. “Jerk,” he muttered under his breath, smiling slightly. “So what are you doing here?”

She felt her cheeks growing hot. “Shopping,” she stuttered. “…you know, girlie stuff.” She inched the lingerie bag closer to her legs, praying that he wouldn’t notice it. “So what kind of grader are you? Easy? A hard ?” Maeri asked, trying hard to change the subject.

Sungkyu pouted his lips in thought and nodded. “Depends on my mood,” he concluded. “If I’m happy, I grade easier. If I’m mad…they fail,” he joked.

“So today?” Maeri asked, leaning in closer.

“I’m happy,”  he confessed with a shy smile, playing with the mug in his hands.

“So now your students will be happy,” Maeri said, throwing her hands in the air. “Then they will do better at school, which would make you happy.  It’s like a happiness cycle.”

Sungkyu laughed and looked down. Something on the floor had caught his eyes. “Oh something fell from your bag,” he said, bending over to pick it up for her. “What’s this? Is this…” he asked, looking utterly perplexed.

It was the black negligee that Soyeon had snuck into her bag. “Soyeon, you’re dead!” Maeri cursed in a low whisper. Her cheeks were now burning like a blazing bonfire; she couldn’t look at Sungkyu in the eyes. She was completely frozen not knowing what to do. And he was still holding it!

A smile broke out on his face. “Is this what you meant by girlie stuff?” he chuckled. But then his face immediately fell after realizing something.  “Uh, is this for…”

“NO!” Maeri blurted out and then smacked herself in the forehead.

“Huh? Are you?” he asked her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. His grasp on the black lace tightened. Great, now he thinks I’m cheating on Woohyun, Maeri grumbled to herself.

“It’s not mine. I mean, it was a gift,” she incoherently explained. She wanted nothing else but to die right then. This situation was only getting worse. “You can have it,” she sputtered.

“WHAT?” he exclaimed throwing the negligee in her face.

Maeri threw it back at him. “I don’t want it,” she argued.

Sungkyu immediately batted it back to her, barely touching it again. “Neither do I,” he whispered.

“Take it!” Maeri urged more strongly, tossing it back at him. She wanted nothing more but for that damn thing to disappear.

“No, you’re crazy,” he exclaimed. He shook the dreaded thing. “What am I going to do with it? Wear it?” he asked before throwing it at her again.

Maeri fell into a mini giggle fit. “But you’d look so pretty,” she said, trying to bring a little levity back into the situation.

Sungkyu smiled slightly and put the negligee back into her bag. “Shut up. Just take it,” he said gently, putting the matter to rest.

Maeri took a sip from her cup and quickly glanced at Sungkyu. “I should go now. I probably shouldn’t bother you anymore,” she said, slowly getting up from her chair. She had to run away before she made matters even worse. She waved to him as she walked away, being sure to hide the damned bag as she did so. “Be nice to your students! Bye bye, Gyu!”

Even after her blundering shopping excursion, Maeri still ended up making it home before Woohyun. She changed in the new purchase and hid Soyeon’s “gift” in the back of her underwear drawer, hoping to never see it again. She didn’t know what to put on besides the underwear, so she put on the clothes she wore to work. Then she heard the door unlock, and she ran out to greet Woohyun, but then she slowed down so as to seem not so eager.

Woohyun walked through the door and smiled brightly at Maeri as he took off his shoes. “Are you ready to get down to business?” he asked suggestively.

“Yep, did you bring the paperwork?” Maeri responded with a sensual voice.

He stood up straight and cocked his head to the side. “What paperwork?”

Maeri covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m saying! I’m getting nervous,” she confessed.

Woohyun chuckled as he walked up to her and cupped her cheeks with his hands. “Me too,” he admitted in a whisper. “So maybe we should stop talking.”

“Okay,” Maeri whispered. Then they slowly leaned in and kissed each other. Recently, ever since their pillow fight, Woohyun and Maeri have been kissing each other more frequently on the lips, but it was hardly more intense than their usual pecks. Now, slowly, they started to deepen the kiss, opening their mouths. Then, Maeri suddenly pulled back and grimaced. “Ew! What did you eat for lunch?” she asked.

Woohyun chuckled and checked his breath. He himself was revolted by the smell. He turned to Maeri with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. It was something with garlic. Maybe we should brush our teeth. You taste like coffee.”

Maeri blushed as they walked to their bathroom. “Well at least it’s better than garlic!” she defended herself. Once they got into the bathroom, she handed Woohyun his tooth brush and put some toothpaste on it. Then she did it for her own.

Woohyun looked at her and wiggled his eyebrows. “Get ready for the iest teeth-brushing you’ve ever had!”

“Pft!” Maeri spat some foam from . She wiped the foam from her chin. “How can you brush your teeth ily?”

Woohyun closed his eyes and started swinging his hips as he rolled the tooth brush around in his mouth. With one of his hands, he began to loosen his tie and his top buttons on his shirt. Then he opened his eyes slightly looking at Maeri, who was about to die from laughter. “Am I turning you on right now?” he asked, spitting into the sink.

“Oh yea. Uh huh,” Maeri said after spitting into the sink. “I am so right now,” she joked. Then she started to tousle her hair and mimic his “seductive” dance.

“Whoa, Honey,” Woohyun said, barely able to hold back his laughter. “Keep it for the bedroom,” he advised, putting his hands on her shoulders. Then he quickly rinsed out his mouth and jumped onto the bed. He patted the spot next to him. “Come on, Honey.”

To his surprise, Maeri bounded over and landed in the spot right next to him. “Now, uh,” she stuttered, slightly blushing. “Do we?”

Woohyun answered her by leaning in and renewing their kiss, slowly building up to the place where they had left off moments ago. Woohyun gently opened and snuck his tongue past her lips. She was pliant and played along with the rhythm that he had established. But there was a problem. Woohyun’s mind had never been so unclouded, so clear during a make-out session. Every move he made was not the result of instinct, but a methodically planned out move. He was so conscious of everything. Well, this is different. Hands! What do I do with my hands? What do I normally do with them? Come on, Woohyun, touch her somewhere. He then placed his hands on her hips and drew her closer. Maeri automatically responded by draping her arms around his neck, bringing them even closer together.

Then Maeri pulled out of their kiss once again. “Maybe,” she began, looking at Woohyun nervously. “Maybe we should take off our clothes now?”

“Okay,” Woohyun agreed. “Who goes first?”

“Rock, paper, scissors?” she suggested.

“Call!”

“Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!”

“Damn it!”

Woohyun chuckled, delighting in his victory. “I get to see your ies,” he teased.

“ies? What are you, five?” she chided.

“Plus 25 years.” And then he wagged his finger at her. “You’re stalling.”

Maeri hurriedly buttoned her shirt, took it off, and threw it in his face. “Fine! Happy now?” she huffed. But then she noticed Woohyun’s expression. After removing her shirt from his face, his eyes were concentrated on her eyes, unwilling to look down, completely in a daze. Maeri giggled. “You know, you can look at them,” she said.

Woohyun quickly glanced down at her s and then looked back up at her face. “Hearts,” was all he managed to say with a shy smile.

“Your turn,” Maeri demanded.

He slowly ed his shirt, biting his lower lip, making a comically seductive expression. Maeri laughed. But then he finished and removed her shirt, and she was no longer laughing, her eyes fixated on what was just revealed to her. I didn’t know that he had abs. It’s so defined. It looks like ridges…like on potato chips. Oh my God! Did I just compare his body to food? I am getting kind of hungry. Maybe we can go out later, she thought.

“You like?” Woohyun asked, interrupting her inner monologue.

Maeri was still looking at them. “Have you been working out?”

Woohyun laughed at her being so stunned. “Yep,” he admitted. “With Hoya everyday…you can touch them, if you want,” he offered.

Maeri poked him in his side causing him to giggle a little bit. “You’re so skinny,” she muttered.

“I think that you’re confusing skinny for toned,” he argued, flexing his muscles. Enough with the stalling, he thought. “Let’s do this,” he said, pulling in Maeri and kissing her once again. This time, it felt a bit more natural. His hands automatically went to her lower back, and she began to the nape of his neck tenderly. Woohyun was wondering if he should make the next move, but then  his phone (which was still in his pocket) rang.  He stopped and pulled himself away. “Maybe I should check it,” he said, slightly out of breath.

“Yea, it might be important,” she agreed.

He took the phone from his pocket and looked at the caller id. “Oh, it’s my mom. I should get it,” he said with an apologetic smile. He was slightly grateful for his mom spoiling the moment. He wagered that the both of them had bitten off more than they could chew, but not wanting to stop lest they hurt each the other’s feelings. It was obvious that they weren’t ready for this step. He jumped from the bed and answered the phone, “Hello, mom?”

When Woohyun left the room, Maeri was left on the bed, feeling cold all of the sudden. Do I put my shirt back on? Or not? Would he really want to try again after talking to his mom? I mean, I’m cold, but…Aw screw it! I’m putting it back on.

Then Woohyun burst through the doors just as Maeri was about to put her arm through the sleeve. She was about to apologize again, but then she noticed his eyes, trying hard to fight back the tears that were threatening to flow out. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” she asked immediately getting up and walking over to him.

“My dad…he just had a heart attack.”

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*The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. Harper and Row Publishers: New York City. 1942

Yep, that was a citation in an fanfic. I just want to give credit to were credit is due.