A/N: Okay so I know that this is a picture of already debuted Woohyun, but I couldn't find an older one cheeky enough for this post! Also sorry for the long break. You all are saints! I love you!

The game was born from two incredibly bored, teenage minds over a very slow weekend. Maeri’s parents had left with Jonghyun in tow to visit her grandparents down south in Daegu. She was forced to stay behind because of school and because she had an important soccer game (well, maybe not forced. Maeri completely refused to miss either, even for family). But she wasn’t entirely alone. Her parents had ordered Woohyun to keep her company and to watch over her, but Maeri ended up watching over him and keeping him in line instead.

“Nam Woohyun! How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t juggle in the house! Gosh! I swear you’re like a five year-old!” Maeri reprimanded as she tore the soccer ball away from her friend who was trying to bounce it on his thighs.

“And you’re like my mother,” he complained scrunching his face. “Now give me back my ball. I’m  bored.” He tried to take his ball back, but Maeri quickly hid it behind her back.

“If you’re so bored, why don’t you just go home or hang out with Seungho and Hyunsuk?” Maeri said as she struggled to keep the ball away from Woohyun, who was practically running circles around her, trying to get it back. She ended up sitting on it like a mama bird on an egg, and Woohyun finally relented.

“But your parents told me to take care of you while they’re gone,” he answered between pants, having gotten tired out chasing Maeri around. “I’m the man of the house now.”

Maeri rolled her eyes. Even back then, both of their parents weren’t so subtle. The four scheming elders dreamed of Maeri and Woohyun marrying each other one day since their freshman year. Maeri swore that this weekend away was just another one of her parents attempts to inspire “love” between the two teenagers. But all Maeri felt now was annoyance. She knew that there were times when Woohyun was restless, always moving and never stopping just for one second until he literally passed out from exhaustion. Yes, she knew all about it, but she didn’t always tolerate it. Just watching him move around like an electron in an electron cloud made her tired, as if he was draining her of her energy and using it right in front of her. She sighed. Now after being deprived of his ball, Woohyun focused his energy bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet and swaying his arms in a circle. “Some man you are,” she scoffed. “Don’t you still sleep with a teddy bear?”

Woohyun gasped and pointed warningly at her, “Don’t bring Timmy into this! He’s more than just a bear. He’s family.” He ended with a chuckle, not being able to take his own words seriously. Maeri fought back a smile as she rolled back on the ball she was sitting on. “Come on, we both know that you don’t really want me to leave. You’ll get lonely without me,” he stated, shimming his shoulders for emphasis.

“I’m not that bad! I can be alone,” she argued with a smile breaking out onto her face.

Woohyun stared at her incredulously. “When I went to the bathroom five minutes ago, you the t.v. because you couldn’t stand the silence,” he reminded her. He saw Maeri bite her lip and bow her head. She was embarrassed that what he said was true, that he had caught her. And that was the main reason why Woohyun felt compelled to obey the Yoos and stay with Maeri for the weekend; Maeri tried to act strong and independent, but in actuality she needed more care and help than she wanted to admit. It didn’t mean that she would ever accept being babied. You had to care for her subtly and almost from a distance, and when all else failed, you would practically have to force help down , which Woohyun was doing right now. No matter how much she was going to insist that she was fine, Woohyun wasn’t going to budge…metaphorically, because in actuality he was still moving around anxiously in her living room.

“Come on, Maeri. Play with me,” he begged.

“Play what?” she asked looking up at him with her head in her hands.

Woohyun pouted his lips in thought and stared up at the ceiling. After a few moments a naughty smile crept onto his face and he looked back down at Maeri. “Truth or dare,” he suggested, raising his eyebrows.

Maeri giggled, “Truth or dare? Are we having a slumber party?”

“Actually, we sort of are. Your parents told me to stay the night too,” he replied quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Maeri shook her head. Her parents’ were unbelievable. What other parents besides her own (or those in dramas) would encourage a teenage boy and girl to spend the whole night alone together? Woohyun was probably just going to sleep on the couch, but still. “Fine,” she gave into both her parents and Woohyun’s request. “But don’t we already know everything about each other? The truth part won’t be  fun.”

“Then how about just the dares,” he said, and then he kicked the ball out from underneath Maeri, causing herself to crash down onto the ground. He quickly picked up the ball and ran into the next room and away from the impending wrath of a sore Maeri.

The rules of the game were simple. Each of them had five dares which the other had to fulfill, no questions asked. But, of course, there were unspoken rules between them. They knew each other well enough to know what they could or could not dare each other. But it still allowed for a lot of room for Woohyun’s creativity and mischievousness to flourish, much to Maeri’s dismay.

“Do it. I dare you,” he demanded.

Maeri gulped. She was face-to-face with quiet possibly the biggest worm that she had ever seen in her life, and Woohyun wanted her to eat it. He also went through great lengths to find this little “gem.” He had dirt up to his elbows from digging in the soil of her mom’s garden. Maeri watched it carefully as he was dangling it in front of her face. “Are you chicken?” he teased, trying to goad her into action. It worked. Maeri grabbed the worm from his grasp and quickly shoved it into .

“No, but it tastes like chicken,” she said in between retches. Woohyun was disgusted as he looked at Maeri chewing with wide-open, looking as if she would throw up at any moment.

“Really?”

“No!” she admitted suddenly covering and running back into her house.

When Woohyun met up with Maeri in her house, she was washing out in the sink, savagely scraping her tongue to remove the horrid taste. She then grabbed a glass of water and began to gargle, hoping it would help. Woohyun laughed as he watched his friend struggle to not throw up. He gently shoved her to the side as he approached the sink and began to wash his hands. His arms were still caked in dirt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maeri walk to her fridge and pour some juice into her glass, trying anything to rid the taste from . She lifted the bottle of juice in his direction and asked, “Are you thirsty?”

Woohyun wiped his hands on a cloth and went to grab the bottle. “Yes, tha-“

She tore the bottle away and quickly put it back into the fridge. “Not so fast,” she said cheekily. “I dare you—“

A few moments later, Woohyun found himself on his hands and knees in front of the toilet, staring at his own reflection in the water spinning in the ceramic bowl. He gnawed on his lower lip, hesitating, and his stomach began to gurgle in repulsion. Out of all the things she could have asked me to do…He slowly lifted up the toilet seat and furled his tongue from his mouth. He lowered his head towards the water, but pulled himself back. He shot Maeri one last, pleading glance, the cutest one he could muster. But she was unfazed, staring at him as she leaned on the doorframe. She smiled and shook her head.

“I dared you, Hyunnie. You have to do it,” Maeri reminded him. She then approached him and patted his head roughly. “You always reminded me of a dog. And now you can drink from the toilet like one.” Instead of retorting with an equally snarky comment, Woohyun decided to play along, creating paw like fists and whimpering like a sad, abandoned puppy. He hoped his aegyo would charm her and get her to change her mind. Maeri just laughed and dug her knuckles into his head. “Shut up and do it already! You shouldn’t have made me eat that worm,” she said.

Woohyun let out another whimper as he turned his head back towards the toilet. It’s clean, Woohyun. It’s just like any water you can get from the tap. Except for I don’t really drink from the tap. Stop it! Stop stalling. Just get it over with! He plunged his head into the bowl and began to lap up the water with his tongue.

Maeri couldn’t believe her eyes and stood there slightly stunned until she came back to reality a few seconds later. She giggle and patted Woohyun on the back. “That’s a good boy,” she cooed mockingly.

Woohyun took it as a cue that he fulfilled his dare. He pulled his head from the toilet and looked at Maeri with narrowed eyes as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Maeri, you just realized you upped the ante, right?” he warned her.

“I-I did?” she stuttered, slightly backing away from Woohyun as he was crawling towards her on all fours.

“Oh yea,” he responded cheekily and then barked at her, chasing her out of the bathroom.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Maeri’s voice was shaking and her fingers trembling. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she repeated. She slowly grabbed the steering wheel in front of her. They were both sitting in Boohyun’s car (he came home from college for the weekend), and Woohyun (God! She hated him now) dared her to steal it. She didn’t even have her driver’s license. She didn’t even the first thing about driving. And to make it worse, she couldn’t even reach the pedals, her legs being a good 3 inches shorter than Boohyun’s. Maeri’s bottom was hanging off the edge as she was clutching onto the wheel for dear life.

Woohyun rolled his eyes and adjusted the seat for her, not able to bear the sight of her driving like a grandmother. “Come on, hurry up!” he whined. “I’m getting hungry. We’re just going over to the burger joint. It’s not like we’re running away to Busan. We’ll be back before you know it.” He tried to encourage her. His stomach was caving in on itself, and they have been sitting in the driveway for a good 10 minutes with Maeri freaking out.

The tension in her shoulders began to loosen, probably because she was in a more comfortable position. She turned to him and said in a grave tone, “If we get pulled over by the police, I’m pushing you into the driver’s seat.” She then brought her shaky hand holding the keys and put them into the ignition. A few seconds later, the engine began purring.

Woohyun sighed in relief. Food was only a few minutes away. “If you just calm down, we won’t get pulled over,” he said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She exhaled loudly, but her body was shaking more violently than ever with nervous energy.

“How do you start this thing anyway?” she asked looking all over the consol. Then she grabbed a shift next to the steering wheel and flipped it upwards. The windshield wipers began to scrap across the glass, producing a loud and long squeak.

Woohyun chuckled at her ignorance. Who didn’t know where the gear shift was in the car? “Not like that. I think it’s this,” he said, gripping the gear shift and putting it into gear. He heard Maeri murmur some words of thanks. “Now just gently press the gas,” he commanded as gently as possible lest his friend started to shake again. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

Maeri’s leaden foot pressed harder onto the pedal than she had intended, and the two of them were jerked back as the car quickly backed up. Over their startled screams, there was a clear crunching noise. “! What was that?” Maeri asked, closing her eyes tightly, too afraid to look herself.

Woohyun slowly turned around and saw a crumpled up black heap just inches behind the vehicle. He exhaled in relief. “Just the trash can. No big.” Then as he shifted his gaze away from the decimated trash can, his eyes fell on a large figure barreling towards them. “HOLY CRAP!”

“What? It wasn’t a trash can,” Maeri turned to face Woohyun who was now cowering underneath the glove compartment. Her heart picked up its already fast pace.

“No, it’s Boohyun. He’s coming over this way,” he whispered through his teeth.

Maeri glanced in the review mirror, and sure enough, Boohyun was stomping towards them with a large scowl on his face. “Crap!” she exclaimed as she ducked down.

But Woohyun didn’t let her stay down for long. He pulled the both of them up and yelled, “Drive. Drive! DRIVE!”  He put the car into drive, and Maeri stepped on the gas. The wheels squealed on the pavement as the car shot down the street, leaving a very angry Boohyun in its dust.

“How long do I have to stay in here?” Woohyun’s voice was muffled. After finally arriving at the burger joint, Maeri dared Woohyun to get into the trunk of the car and she shut it on him. She wasn’t going to leave him there for long, just long enough to plan out what they were going to do once they get back home, without any noisy interruptions from Woohyun. “It’s stuffy and dark,” she could hear him whine underneath her (she was sitting on the trunk).

“Forever! I am SO grounded when I get home,” she said in an exasperated voice, her head buried deep in her hands.

She heard a few soft knocks beneath her. “It smells weird in here. I don’t like it. I really don’t like it,” his voice was shaking. “Can I come out now?”

Maeri hopped off of the trunk. “Yea, the five minutes is up anyway,” she said as she lifted the latch and popped the trunk. After opening it, she saw Woohyun for the first time in 5 minutes, but she would’ve sworn that it looked like 5 years. Woohyun was pale, sweating, and panting. Distress was all over his face. “Woah! Hyunnie, are you okay?” Maeri was scared; she had never seen him like this before.

“I don’t like small spaces,” his voice was weak. He quickly got out of the trunk, but his arms were shaking as they tried to lift him out. Saying that he didn’t ‘like’ small spaces was a serious understatement. He hated them, loathed them…was deathly terrified of them.  It had started when he was in pre-school and his brother thought it would be funny to lock him into his toy chest, saying that Woohyun was his ‘toy.’ His parents didn’t think it was funny when Woohyun had a panic attack after being locked in the hot, stuffy chest for an hour. Boohyun was grounded for a month and felt so bad after realizing what might have happened (he was young too and didn’t know much better) that he had treated Woohyun incredibly well, for only a month. After that he returned to his normal older brother lovingly antagonizing ways.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Maeri reprimanded as she helped him to steady himself. He was practically hanging onto her at this point, lifeless.  She couldn’t help but to pat his head. “I guess we don’t know everything about each other,” she joked.  But Woohyun was still unresponsive, still hanging around her neck. Maeri’s guilt was building higher and higher by the second. “I’ll buy you a burger.”

He looked up at her. “And a shake?”

“And a shake.”

Woohyun smiled and immediately let go of her. “Deal! No take-back!” he yelled as he sprinted off towards the restaurant. Maeri stood there with her hands in her pockets, wondering if her friend had just taken advantage of her guilt and her wallet. She shook her head and then ran after him. He probably deserved it anyway.

“You hungry, Maeri?”

“Starved,” she happily answered, carefully unwrapping the burger in front of her, two beef patties of mouth-watering goodness. Right as she was about to bring it to , Woohyun blocked the burger from entering .

“Great. Because it’s time for payback,” he said cheekily. “I dare you to stuff the whole burger in your mouth at once.”

“The whole thing?” Maeri’s eyes were practically popping out of her skull.

“We both know that you already have a big mouth,” he retorted.  In fact, he’s never seen a girl that could eat like Maeri. At times she could out eat him, and more messily too. “Now stop stalling and start stuffing.”

Maeri pouted. She had been looking forward to eating this burger like a normal human being, savoring every last bite. But when she looked up at Woohyun and saw the color slowly returning back on his face, staring back at her in anticipation, she knew that she owed this to him…and she had to follow through with the game. Damn her guilt and damn this game. She crammed the burger in with an angry grunt as her cheeks stretched as far as they could to accommodate the food mass. “Appy?” she sputtered, spitting food particles onto her friend’s face.

Woohyun winced and wiped the spittle from his face. “I have never been so turned off by a girl in my entire life,” he said honestly, shaking his head. Maeri was chewing with wide open. He could see the food roll around in , being spun by her pink tongue. Gross. How is she even a girl? It was no wonder why she hadn’t had a boyfriend yet.

“Yo ff-ault,” she forced the words out of . She now covered the opening after seeing how she spat all over Woohyun. He sort of deserved it.

“Just swallow,” he said, taking a bite from his own burger. Maeri finally closed and tried to force the gluey mass down her esophagus. She swallowed hard, and she could feel it painfully traveling down , until it suddenly stopped. The food adhered to the sides, blocking the path. Maeri started to cough to dislodge it but it wasn’t working. “Maeri, quit joking,” Woohyun brushed her off. But she didn’t stop, and panic appeared on her face. “Maeri??” he called out to her as he slid next to her in the booth. He pulled her hair out of her face and began to pat her back. With a weird, strangled cough, Maeri was able to clear finally and began to signal to her friend that she was fine now.  “Are you okay?” Woohyun asked as he wiped with several napkins because there was no way one napkin could handle the mess of condiments and crumbs all over her face..

Maeri pulled away from him, not wanting to be babied. “Fine. Can you hand me my drink?” she asked with a weak voice pointing to the drink next to him. He sighed and handed it to her. “Thanks,”  she coughed.

“Sh. Stop talking,” he reprimanded. Idiot, your throat still hurts don’t force it. Woohyun looked at her guzzling down the drink with a pained look on her face.

“I’m okay. I’m okay,” she insisted after swallowing hard. Woohyun doubted it. Then he felt her forcing him out of the booth, his sliding across the plastic vinyl. “I gotta go to the bathroom. I feel like I’m a mess,” she announced.

“You are a mess,” he agreed staring at her chin painted red and yellow from the condiments. For that comment, Maeri punched him in the bicep as she passed him on her way to the bathroom. Woohyun laughed. Not only did she eat like a dude, but she hit like one too.

After returning from the bathroom, Maeri looked somewhat presentable again, and Woohyun was finished with his meal. And because of Maeri’s near death experience, they forgot all about Boohyun and the crumpled trash can that they had left behind. Boohyun was sitting on the said trash can, in a pose that you would expect from a gangster in a movie. Woohyun, being the good friend he was, was entirely prepared to throw Maeri under the bus as he hid underneath the glove compartment again.

But Maeri could not be bothered with Woohyun’s betrayal because Boohyun was currently glaring at her with a deadly gaze. “O-oppa!” she stuttered as stepped out of the car. “You’re back from college!” she exclaimed as cutely as she could, running up to Boohyun with open arms and giving him a big hug.

Boohyun chuckled condescendingly. “And you’re committing a felony,” he scoffed. He peeled Maeri off of him. He stared back at his car. “Woohyun, I know you’re in the car.” Woohyun’s brother wasn’t an idiot. He knew the one and only reason why normally innocent Maeri would ever steal his car was if his sneaky little brother was involved.

“Hey hyung,” Woohyun sheepishly gave himself up, crawling out of the car. “Are you going to tell on us?” he decided to just ask his brother outright and braced himself for the worst.

“Tattling is for little kids. I’m an adult now,” Boohyun said coolly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Woohyun felt a proud smile appear on his face. His brother was so cool. “I blackmail,” Boohyun finished, and Woohyun’s smiled quickly morphed into a frown. His brother .

“You guys really are brothers,” Maeri muttered under her breath.

“What do you want?” Woohyun asked his brother with sad eyes, begging him to be gentle.

Boohyun his chin, once again taking up the persona of a mobster. Woohyun rolled his eyes at his brother’s antics, whereas Maeri was praying for mercy. “Do my laundry for 3 months,” Boohyun concluded.

Maeri leaned over and harshly whispered into Woohyun’s ear,  “Do it. I’ll help you out. We can’t get grounded. We’re going to the amusement park next weekend.” Woohyun turned and saw her worried expression. Right, the group date just so Maeri can fawn over stupid Kim Myungsoo. And she says that I’m not a good friend.

“You better,” he whispered back. He faced his brother. “It’s a deal, hyung.”

Boohyun walked up and shook his brother’s hand firmly. “Woohyun, pleasure doing business with you,”  his tone was serious. He then turned to Maeri and ruffled her hair.  “Maeri, good to see you again.” With a salute, he reentered his house.

Maeri’s jaw dropped and exchanged glances with Woohyun. “Is it just me, or has oppa gotten weirder?”

Woohyun shrugged as they walked back to her house. “I guess that’s what college does to you,” he answered.

Maeri gazed downwards at the pavement. “D-do you think that we’ll change?”

“Probably,” he responded without a thought, opening the door for her.

“Yea you’re right,” she admitted with a sad giggle. She stepped inside her home. “It would be impossible not to.”

That’s when it finally hit Woohyun. She…she’s worried about us. Whether we’d drift apart. For the first time in four years, they’ll spend more than a day apart once they get to college. They might even go weeks or months without seeing each other. They’ll be having different experiences with different people. Will that make them different?

“Right, “ Woohyun began as he plopped down on the couch. “We’ll become more mature. We’ll become adults.” Maeri sat next to him, shoulders hunched with sadness. He put her arms around her and drew her next to him. “But it doesn’t mean we won’t stop being friends. We’ll change, but we’ll change together. And who knows, maybe your s will finally come in,” he joked.

Maeri flicked him in the head, causing him to yelp loudly. “Yea and maybe you’ll finally grow a brain,” she retorted, a smile finally appearing again on her face.

“Finally, a dare that I like,” Woohyun said excitedly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Maeri propped her arms on the island and cocked her head. “You really like lying, don’t you?”

“It’s called acting,” he corrected her as he took a seat next to her. “And I’m good at it.”

Maeri wasn’t about to argue with Woohyun’s ‘acting’ abilities. She’s seen him convince more than one teacher that he couldn’t finish his homework because he was busy attending to his ailing grandmother (and both of his grandmothers had passed away before he was even born). She took the phone behind her off the hook and handed it to him. “Whatever, just call her already,” she commanded. Woohyun began to input the phone number. “This is going to be good. Youngha is going to FLIP. She likes Hyunsuk more than anything. Those two are practically obsessed with each other. They’re such a cute couple. I can’t imagine what she’s going to say when you pretend to confess,” she squealed, getting caught up in their dare to prank call one of their close friends. Okay so technically a girlfriend of their close friend Hyunsuk, but Youngha had almost flawlessly assimilated herself in their tight-knit group of fun.

“Shhhh!” Woohyun shushed closing her lips tightly between his thumb and forefinger. She immediately pulled away and rubbed her sore lips. He smiled at her frowning face. Finally he heard someone pick on on the other end. “Oh, is Youngha there? Yes, I’ll wait.” Maeri was giggling like a maniac next to him. “Yah, stop giggling. You’re going to give us away.” Maeri pursed her lips and pretended to zip and lock them shut. Woohyun then grabbed the imaginary key from her and ate it, ending with a pat on his belly. Maeri once again snorted, and so Woohyun had no other choice but to cover with his hand. She knocked it away as she brought her head next to his so that she could listen through the receiver.

“Hello?” a sweet voice echoed from the other end.

“Youngha. It’s Woohyun,” Woohyun said in what he thought was a charming voice, but to Maeri it reeked of grease.

“Hey Woohyun? What’s up?” Youngha chirped. “Is this about the group date next weekend? I am SO excited. Aren’t you?”

“Yea, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he responded. He then felt a sharp elbow in his side. He was slowly entering casual conversation and so Maeri was urging him on. But all Woohyun could get from the nudge was a sharp pain in his side. “Ow!” he yelped.

“Huh? What was that? Are you okay?”  Youngha sounded genuinely worried.

“Ow! No it’s my heart. It hurts,” he said in a strangled voice, gripping his heart. Maeri gave him a thumbs up for a decent transition into the prank.

Youngha, however, began to flip out, screaming on the other end, causing Woohyun to hold the phone inches away from his ear. “Oh my gawd! Woohyun! What’s wrong? Should I call for an ambulance?”

“No. It’s aches…for you,” his voice deep and thick with grease.

“Huh?” Youngha gasped. She began to nervously sputter. “Woohyun…what are you trying to say?”

Woohyun could feel Maeri gripping tightly on his wrist, trying hard to control herself, but tiny little squeaks snuck from her pursed lips. In spite of that, he still did not break character. With a lovesick sigh he ‘confessed,’ “Youngha, I think I like you.

“OH MY GAWD! OH MY GAWD!” Youngha screeched. The two friends jumped back from the phone with pained expressions. Youngha continued to flip out, “You’re lying. Tell me your lying. Please. Because if you’re telling the truth-“

Woohyun began chuckling. He wagered that the joke went far enough and was about to show his hand, “Don’t worry—“

“I like you too,” Youngha interrupted him. Woohyun’s jaw dropped, and Maeri froze at his side. Youngha completely unaware, carried out her own confession, “I knew we had a connection. That’s why I started dating Hyunsuk so that we could get closer to one another. Woohyun, I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year. I knew that after you got to know me that you would like me back. I just knew it!”

Hearing enough, Maeri ripped the phone away from Woohyun’s hands. She yelled into the receiver, “YOUNGHA! What about Hyunsuk?!” She was practically seething. Her loyalty lied with Hyunsuk, and not only that, but this girl was trying use Hyunsuk to get with Woohyun, her Woohyun.

“Mae-maeri?” Youngha stammered.

“Ummm…got you?” Woohyun managed to say with a weak and unsure voice.

Youngha panicked. “This was a joke? A prank?”

“Yes,” the friends said in unison. Maeri immediately regretted coming up with this prank. All she wanted was for Youngha in her cute, helium voice to cuss out Woohyun, but not this, never this.

After a long pause Youngha broke out into an obviously fake and nervous laugh. She stammered and tried to fruitlessly defend herself, “ I knew it. I knew you were joking. I got you back. I-I was lying too. Can’t trick me that easily. Hahaha. Please, please, PLEASE, don’t tell Hyunsuk anything I said.”

“Uh huh..okay bye,” Woohyun barely paid attention to her plea and hung up the phone. He then faced Maeri with wide eyes.

“Alright, that’s the last time we ever make a joke like that,” Maeri concluded as she melted onto the countertop, sprawling out.  “We should probably tell Hyunsuk that his ‘girlfriend’ is using him to get to you. Guess she won’t be coming with us to the group date after all,” she ended with a groan. Now they had to comfort Hyunsuk and find a replacement for their group date, a decent rebound for their friend.

“Yea, and you can make that phone call,” he said, getting up from his seat.

“Me?” Maeri objected.

“Yep, your dare. Your mess,” Woohyun declared as he left the room after putting the phone in her hands.

Maeri stared at the phone blankly for a few seconds. She hated conversations like these the most. And Hyunsuk was a crier. “B-but what if he cries?” she mumbled.

Maeri tossed a pillow and a blanket onto the couch. “And this is where you’ll be sleeping,” she said coldly. She was peeved at Woohyun. She was on the phone with Hyunsuk for an hour as he cried over Youngha’s deceit. The only way she could comfort him was by promising that her friend, Yerim, a burgeoning beauty queen, would be Youngha’s replacement for the group date. After that, his tears cleared up quickly, and she was left cursing herself for not bringing up Yerim sooner.

Woohyun poked at the couch and looked at her with sad eyes. “But it’s lumpy,” he whined. Not only that, but it was a good two inches shorter than his body, meaning he could not lay out properly.

Maeri crossed her arms. “You can always go to your house and sleep in your own nice, not lumpy bed,” she argued.

Woohyun reluctantly sat on the couch. It felt as bad as it looked. Its aging springs were poking into his and were groaning under his weight. His own bed was looking tempting right about now, but he couldn’t forget the reason why he was here in the first place. He had promised the Yoos that he would watch over Maeri, easily frightened, extremely superstitious Maeri. “But then I would be abandoning my duties as the man of the house,” he stated.

“Man of the house?” Maeri scoffed. “Seems archaic.”

“But what if an intruder comes in the middle of the night? Or worse,” Woohyun paused dramatically, knowing how to win her over. “What if your dead great-grandmother starts haunting you again?” He vividly remembered that night she crawled in through his bedroom window claiming that her grandmother was haunting her room (she had inherited a chest from the woman and believed that her soul was attached to it).

“F-fine. You can stay,” she stuttered, sitting next to him. She suddenly started to have shivers crawling up her skin, feeling paranoid. Woohyun’s presence slightly warming her chilled skin.

“Not on this couch.”

Maeri was confused. “I thought you said-“

“Yoo Maeri, I dare you to tuck me into your bed!”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Maeri lamented as she tucked her green flannel sheets  under Woohyun’s squirming body, causing the sheets to become loose and forcing her to re-tuck him in. This boy could not stay still, even moments before he went to behind.

Woohyun was snuggling into her pillow. And the springs weren’t digging into his back. It felt like he was on a cloud. “Hmmmm…your bed is comfy and warm. This must be what a caterpillar feels like in his cocoon. Right, Timmy?” he asked his teddy bear, making it nod to his question.

“You all snuggly warm,” Maeri cooed, patting his head. Woohyun smiled and happily nodded. She then drug her hand from his head down unto his face. “Hate you. I hope you have nightmares,” she lowly growled. She then sat up from the bed and began to walk out of her bedroom.

“Where are you going? You’re not done,” Woohyun called after her. Maeri turned around to see him and his cheeky expression.

“What else do I have to do?” she groaned. “You’re in my bed. You’re tucked in. I am NOT kissing you goodnight,” she yelled at him, shaking a finger in his face.

“Psh! Please I know better than to ask you that,” he scoffed.

“Then what?”

Woohyun wiggled his feet underneath the taut sheets. “Sing me a lullaby,” he ordered.

Maeri laughed at that. Woohyun would be the first to tell everybody how awful she sang, comparing her to a tone deaf cat. “Are you sure that you want to submit yourself to that torture? You know that I sing like.”

“Yes!” he said happily. “Just sing softly,” he suggested. It’s not that he wanted to hear Maeri sing. He’d rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than to hear Maeri belt out a tune. Woohyun just liked the fact that she was doing everything that he asked her too (she normally followed his whims due to her weak hear but never so willingly). He felt a little power drunk.

“Alright ,” she cleared as she sat on the edge of her bed.  “Rock-a-bye, Namu, on a tree-top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. And when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And down will come Namu, cradle and all,” she recited, barely could be considered singing.

Woohyun brought the sheets up to his nose, covering his scowling face. “T-that doesn’t sound very nice,” he stammered. “So I basically just fall out of a tree, and you just watch me fall? Don’t try to catch me or anything?” he asked.

Maeri nodded. “Yep, pretty much.”

“I think that song will give me nightmares,” he whispered clutching tightly onto Timmy.

“Then mission accomplished,” she responded happily, hopping from her bed. She walked to her door and before she shut off the lights she wished, “Night, Hyunnie. Night, Timmy.”

“Good night, Maeri,” Woohyun said in a high-pitched voice waving his bear’s paw. Then the room went black, leaving to wonder if he should’ve also dared Maeri to stay with him. Her room was kind of creepy at night. He could hear the wind howling through the cracks in her window, and weird shadows were cast across her room. And did that chest just move? ! It is haunted!

“How are you already awake?” Maeri walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. Well, she wasn’t walking as much  as she was shuffling across the tiled floor, exerting the least amount of energy as possible. She finally reached her destination, a chair at the table. With her head on the table, she turned to see the person who caused so much noise to wake her up. Woohyun was clanking dishes making himself breakfast, and making a headache for Maeri. “It’s Saturday. You’re supposed to sleep until noon like a normal teenager,” she whimpered as Woohyun noisily dropped a frying pan onto a burner.

“Did I wake you?” he asked with an apologetic smile. Maeri nodded her head against the table, dragging her cheek across its surface, distorting her face. “Sorry. How ‘bout I make you pancakes?” he offered.

Maeri suddenly perked up at that notion. “I don’t even have to dare you? Geez Nam Woohyun. You must like me,” she said with a wink.

Woohyun snorted, “Right because you with that bedhead and your nerdy glasses is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Maeri didn’t even care and threw her tangled mess of hair over her shoulder. “I know. I’m gorgeous,” she lauded herself. Then her eyes glanced at her friend up and down. He was already dressed and washed up for the day. His hair perfectly styled, and he smelled more than decent. Not at all freshly rolled out of bed like herself. But she wasn’t about to admit it. “And you’re…not bad,” she dissed.

“Are you kidding me?” Woohyun said in an offended voice. He spun around to face her, showing off his body. “ This body is fantastic! Don’t even get me started about my flawless face,” he ended, waving his hand in a circle around his face.

A of brilliance flashed through Maeri’s mind. Just because yesterday had ended and it was a new day, didn’t mean that their game was over. “I know how to make it even more flawless,” she said as nonchalantly as possible

“How?”

“I hope you’re having fun,” Woohyun pouted.

“I am having so much fun,” Maeri said, beaming. She was applying blush to Woohyun’s round cheeks, giving him a nice rosy glow. For her latest dare, she dared him to let her apply make-up on his face. And after a thick layer of BB cream, wing-tipped eyeliner, several shades of eyeshadow circling his eyes like a raccoon, and curling his eye lashes, Woohyun’s beauty transformation was almost complete. “Aw! You look soooo pretty, Hyunnie. Now look up. I want to add some more mascara,” she politely commanded. This was by far the most fun she’s had since their game started.

“More?” he said in disbelief. “Don’t I have enough gunk on my eyes?” he whined but reluctantly looked up anyway.

After putting on another coat of mascara, Maeri scrunched up her own clean face as she studied his make-up caked face. “Hmmm…you could actually use some more eye shadow. To make your smoky eye smokier,”  she concluded, tapping her chin with her forefinger. Woohyun’s scowl deepened. “Don’t give me that look,” she reprimanded. “You said to make you look y.”

Woohyun regretted his decision. If he had said the ‘innocent, natural’ look, he would have been done ages ago. And with a less taut and itchy face. He didn’t know how girls lived with this. “I didn’t think it would take so much work,” he admitted.

“Yep, it’s hard being a girl,” Maeri quietly declared. Her tongue peaked out of as she was concentrating on putting on more eyeshadow onto Woohyun’s eyelids.

Woohyun looked at her face, nice and clean like his once was. “No wonder why you don’t wear any make-up, ever,” he retorted.

“That’s because I don’t need it. I’m naturally beautiful,” Maeri bragged. Woohyun snickered. To which Maeri smacked his thigh with the back of her hand. “Stop it or you’ll make me smudge, and I’ll have to start all over again.”

He automatically stiffened, wanting this torture to be over as soon as possible. “I’ll be still as a statue,” he promised.

“Doubt it,” she retorted as she saw his foot twitching incessantly under his crossed legs. “Now pout. It’s time for lipstick.” Woohyun then stuck out his plump lips. Maeri leaned in closer, bringing the bright red tube of lipstick to his lips. He could feel her hot breath on his face. This was the closest that he had been with a girl since Jiyoung. And despite the nature of their platonic relationship, Maeri was still a girl, and not a bad looking one, even if she looked like a disheveled monkey after rolling out of bed. If his cheeks wasn’t already covered in rogue, they would have glowed red with blush. Her hand gripped his chin to steady his face. Her eyes focused intensely on his lips. Her tongue once again peaking out of the corner of as she was concentrating. His eyelids grew heavy and closed, leaning even closer to Maeri. Then he felt it, the tug of the lipstick being drug across his lips, bringing an unfamiliar, waxy sensation. Maeri pulled away and smiled at her masterpiece. “Alright, all done! Who’s a pretty girl?”

Woohyun cleared his throat and announced. “Me!” He brought both of his hands underneath his chin, showing off his v-line. He then got up and pushed her away. “Now move. I got to wash up now or else I’ll be late for practice.”

“Not so fast,” Maeri warned, jumping up to join him. “I dare you to go to practice looking like that and wearing this,” she ran over to the chair and grabbed her uniform skirt that was laying on it.

Woohyun’s eyes were fixed on the plaid skirt. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

A smile cracked his caked face. “Are you sure that you want to do this?” he asked. His victory was quickly approaching.

But Maeri had no idea. She looked at him and then back to the skirt. “Oh yea.”

“You’re in trouble now,” Woohyun announced, doing a little victory dance.

Maeri furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”

Woohyun shimmed. “You’re all out of dares,” he happily declared.

Her jaw dropped. “No…no! I can’t be!” she stammered.

“Yep. The toilet, the trunk, the prank call, the make-up, and now the skirt. That’s five,” he counted out for her.

Maeri counted along with him. He was right. She had already wasted them all. She looked back at him. “A-aren’t you out already too?”

“Nope,” he said, puffing his cheeks. The he listed, “The worm, the car, the burger, and the bed. That’s only four. I’m the last man standing. I win!” He began to whoop and dance around her living room.

Maeri put her free hand on her hip and cocked it. “So what is it? What do you want me to do?” she asked in resignation, hoping that her friend would have pity on her.

“Hmmm,” Woohyun dramatically hummed as he tapped his chin. His eyes twinkled as they met hers. “I think that I’ll hold onto it. Keep it until I need it,” he concluded. After all, nothing delighted him more than seeing Maeri squirm. And now with this dare hanging over her head like the sword of Damocles, he could probably manage to convince her to perform some other minor favors for him.

“So I’m going to have to live in suspense until you use your last dare,” her voice went up and her hands clutched tightly unto her skirt.

“Yep. It’s not my fault that you were careless. Now give me that skirt,” he commanded, wresting the pleated plaid mess from her tight grip.  He looked it up and down and nodded to himself. “I bet that I can pull it off better than you can, even with my hairy legs.” Then he walked away to put it on.

Maeri was left alone in the living room, stunned and frozen in fear. She knew Woohyun. She knew him very well. And he was about to make her life a living hell of anticipation until he would finally use his last dare (whatever torturous thing his mischievous mind would conjure up. She didn’t even want to think about it).

 “I am such an idiot.”

Even though the picture of Woohyun dressed like a girl playing soccer got its own full-page spread in the yearbook, he ultimately got the last laugh when he finally ended the game at the amusement park, stealing Maeri’s first kiss.

They reinstated the game only once again in their college years during a rare weekend when Maeri came to visit him. It was right after she had broken up with her first boyfriend and was seeking comfort from her best friend. Woohyun suggested it, to take her mind off of her recently broken heart. But that game almost landed Maeri in jail after becoming a drunken mess and throwing up on a poor police officer’s shoes (Woohyun had dared her to finish a bottle or two of soju on her own. Not his most brilliant idea). After sobering up the next morning and recalling the last night’s events (which also consisted of Woohyun streaking across the campus’s main quad and her speaking in a horrible satoori accent for the whole night trying to convince Hoya that she was from Busan too, which wasn’t a dare but a product of her own brilliant drunken mind), she had sworn to herself never to play the game ever again. But Woohyun, like always, had different ideas, and was waiting for the right opportunity to suggest the game again. The chance came sooner than he had expected, and he was going to take full advantage of it.