A/N: I was wondering why this particular chapter was taking so long...I found out after I reached 39 pages and only reaching half-way through the chapter's plotline. I don't want to subject my readers to anything longer, and I'm sure you want to read some of it. So it kind of ends abruptly, just a forewarning. And lastly, the outfit that I describe Woohyun as wearing is a take off of his "Man In Love" outfit.

It was dark and dusty underneath their bed, but Maeri didn’t care. She was on a mission, looking for a couple of items, already planning the torture she was going to put Woohyun through today. She had already set her alarm (on vibrate so she wouldn’t wake him up) an hour early. There was no way she was going to lose this round. As the saying goes, the third time's the charm (also the early bird catches the worm). She could feel it. Today she was finally going to one up Nam Woohyun, for the first time in 12 years.

She felt her hand run into something fuzzy and matted, laying on top of her box of her summer clothes. She pulled out the box from underneath the bed and saw an old childhood friend. Picking up the teddy bear she thought aloud, “Oh, it’s Timmy! I didn’t know that he still had him.”

A hand suddenly appeared, taking the stuffed animal away. Maeri looked up to see Woohyun bleary-eyed with a serious case of bedhead, having just woken up. He tucked the bear’s head under his chin as he snuggled the bear to his chest. “Like I said, he’s family.  And you don’t throw family away,” he replied in a raspy voice. He yawned and looked at his fiancee curiously. “What are you doing down there?”

“Nothing,” she responded, hiding the box behind her back. Then she giggled, unable to contain her excitement, “Well, you’ll see in a bit.”

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Already scheming?”

“Oh yea,” Maeri chirped as she sat next to him on the bed. “This time, I’m going to win.”

Woohyun chuckled and shoved her lightly, egging her on. “I’m the reigning champ. Do you think that you can really beat me? I won the last two rounds,” he bragged, his voice full of bravado. Maeri found it hard to take him seriously with a teddy bear in his lap.

Maeri shoved him back. “Third time’s a charm,” she retorted.

Both of their eyes met, flaming with the desire to win. “Let’s make it more of a challenge then,” Woohyun proposed as he narrowed his eyes. He had been toying with this idea for awhile, for years. It was hard enough to convince Maeri to play this game with him (and he had tried on multiple occasions), but to change the rules (especially since Maeri was such a stickler) would take lots of persuasion. But this time he had something to appeal to that he didn’t during his previous efforts, her guilt. And she had a lot of it now. It was evident on how easily she gave into him and how she didn’t lecture him for being a drunken mess. Just maybe, he’ll get his way if he played his cards right.

She cocked her head, taking his bait. “How so?”

Now it was time to carefully reel her in. Just like with a fish, you don’t want them to immediately know that they are caught or they will struggle more. “We’re older now, right? And wiser,” he carefully argued.

“So much wiser.” Her sarcasm was a good sign. She felt like she still had footing; she didn’t know that Woohyun had caught her quite yet.

“We always do just 5 dares,” he said with a pout. He put up a finger and put on the cutest face he could muster, knowing that his bedhead and the teddy bear would only make him appear more adorable, more irresistible. He knew full well. “This time. Just this once, let’s double it,” he begged.

Maeri began to tug away from his line. “Ten?!” she repeated in shock.

He had to tug her back in a little more forceful. “Don’t I deserve it,” he argued, abandoning his aegyo and substituting it for a hurt expression. “You’ve been a y friend the past few weeks, and don’t even get me started on how bad of a fiancé you were. There was one day when all you said to me was ‘good morning’ and ‘good night.’” After he was done, he could see her resolve completely crack; she looked defeated, resigned. He’d gotten her, hook, line, and sinker.

With a disgruntled sigh, she lightly punched his thigh, no longer able to look him in the face. “You really know how to guilt someone to getting what you want.”

“So it’s working? We’re gonna do ten?” Woohyun asked with wide eyes. She slowly nodded, showing her reluctance.  Her head still lowered. Woohyun was so excited he couldn’t help but to ruffle her hair, and she growled in response. But he didn’t care. This was shaping up to be the best day he’s had in a weeks. “Awesome. And since we have so many, we’ll need all day to play. So for my first dare, I want you to call in sick,” he ordered as he placed her cellphone (which was on the nightstand next to their bed) into her hand.

Maeri sighed as she dialed the phone. Woohyun had a point, but she didn’t like missing work. She had even went into work for a week with a fever (a minor one), and she made it through by her sheer will. Apparently she had not shaken off her ‘perfect student’ behaviour and had carried the same mentality into adult-life.

“Oh, noona,” Sungjong answered her call.

“Sungjong-ah, can you tell Debah that I’m feeling a bit sick? I don’t think I can make it in today,” Maeri grumbled.

Sungjong scoffed, “Funny, noona. You don’t sound sick.”

“I AM!” Maeri exclaimed. Then she froze, realizing that yelling at the new hire wasn’t exactly proving her point, especially considering how astute he was. So she threw in some fake coughs to sway him as an after thought. “I’m so congested,” she said nasally.

“Noona, don’t lie,” Sungjong said, his voice laced with skepticism. “You’re probably spending all day with Woohyun, aren’t you? You finally figured out how babies were made.”

“Yah! Lee Sungjong!” she yelled, casting a glance at the man sitting next to her who was having a reunion with his stuffed animal, clutching him tightly to his chest. Like I need anymore babies. But his eyes were still encircled with dark, sunkenness, and there was still a hint of sadness in them. Maeri placed a hand on his thigh. “You’re right. I am with Woohyun, but we’re just hanging out all day, like an extended date. Don’t tell Debah, or I’ll kick your .”

Sungjong laughed, “Not really smart to threaten me like that. I could probably get you for harassment.”

“And like your questions aren’t harassing?” Maeri argued, and she could Sungjong inhale about to combat her comment. “I know. I know. I did it to myself. And oh, by the way, you only have 5 questions left.” And she hung up the phone before the snarky boy could respond. Maeri gently tossed her cell phone onto the bed. She looked over to Woohyun. “Happy?”

Woohyun nodded and out his hand. “Now hand me my phone.  I have to call my office and tell them I’m taking the day off too,” he wiggled his fingers as he spoke, asking for the phone.

“Nope,” Maeri responded,  puffing up her cheeks and slapping his hand back down. “Because I dare you to go to work,” she said while sticking out her tongue. Woohyun’s jaw dropped, and his eyes began buzzing around, searching for an explanation. “Hey! One of us needs to make money,” Maeri argued.

“Fine,” he relented. He faced his fiancee and cocked an eyebrow. “Then I dare you to be my shadow and follow me around all day,” he demanded, pointing a stern finger just inches away from her nose. Maeri immediately raised her hands like a criminal and  looked about in confusion.

“Even to your work?”

Woohyun nodded. “Everywhere my shadow goes, you go. And…” he left his voice hanging in the air, pausing dramatically.

She put her arms down and crossed them on her chest. “And?” Maeri urged him on with an anticipating smile.

“I dare you to wear whatever I pick out for you, for the WHOLE day. You can’t take it off or alter it, okay?” Woohyun made perfectly clear. Because they were older and so much wiser, he knew that Maeri would come up with ways to skirt around his dares (well, he would too. There was no way he’d let little Maeri get the better of him). When they had played in college, the both of them would just barely fulfill the requirements of the dares (being more stubborn with age). And by the end of the game, the two became so incredibly specific in their dares that their dares sounded more like legal contracts with various circumstantial clauses, trying to predict every loophole the other might conceive. They were both too smart and mischievous for their own good.

“Fine then,” Maeri nodded in agreement. Then she lifted her head and glared at her friend. “I dare you to do the same thing.”

Woohyun’s eyes narrowed, boring into hers. He was waiting for a flicker, any sign of movement. He could see it, her eyes welling up with tears. They were becoming dry. He smirked, and Maeri blinked, unable to keep her eyes open any longer. And in that brief millisecond when Maeri was blinking the dryness away from her eyes, Woohyun took off in the direction of their shared dresser and began scouring through the drawers, looking for the most perfect and humiliating outfit he could muster.

But Maeri, for once, was one step ahead of her friend. She ducked back down underneath the bed, and took out the box with her old clothes in it. Her evil giggle was drowned out by Woohyun’s. She looked up and saw Woohyun showing off his outfit of choice, one of his long button-down work shirts...and nothing else.

“Uh huh,” Maeri violently shook her head as she stood up and walked over to him. She wielded her finger as if it was a dagger and stabbed him in the sides. “Woohyun, there’s no way I can wear that at your work-place.”

Woohyun smirked, having already anticipated that response. “Fine you can choose,” he pretended to give in.  “You can wear this or this.” From behind his back he pulled out the lacy black negligee that Soyeon had so nicely ‘given’ her weeks ago.

Maeri’s jaw dropped, and her cheeks began hotly blazing. “Where did you find that?” she demanded as she tried to rip it from his hands.

Being taller, all Woohyun had to do to evade Maeri was to stand on his tiptoes and to raise the underwear higher into the air. But to totally win over her, he put his palm on her face and shoved her away. “Stuffed in the back of your drawers,” he said with a grunt as she struggled against his palm. “Better question is when did you get it? Why did you get it? Why haven’t I seen it before?”

Maeri gave up with a huff and answered, “It was a gift from Soyeon! I didn’t buy it, I swear! Soyeon works at the lingerie store…”

A erted smile appeared on his face, and he interrupted her frantic defense, “What were you doing there?”

“I…uh,” she stuttered. Woohyun began to chuckle not-so-innocently at her being flustered. Fed up, she put her hands on her hips and decided to attack back. “That’s where girls buy underwear, dummy. I’ll take this.” She grabbed his work shirt from him (she’ll have to burn the damned black lace later). The frown etched on her face flipped upside down as she presented him with her choice, “And here is your outfit.”

Woohyun slowly took it from her hands and studied it. Once he discovered what it was, he started to shake the fabric in his hands and whine, “W-what is this? Is this your sweater? And shirt?” The metallic gold fabric of the cardigan glistened in the light and the floral, semi-sheer shirt flounced as he shook both of them, stamping his feet in frustration. Which only brought a large smile to his fiancee’s face.

“Yep,” she said triumphantly. Then she put his outfit for her up to her chest. “Hey, if you are dressing me like Sistar 19 then you can also look like an idol…with a cutie concept.” Then she eyes grew wide after realizing something. Woohyun was going to work after all. She rushed off to his side of the closer. “Hold on. I forgot the tie!” She came back with two ties, one black and one midnight blue. She scrunched up her face in thought as she compared the two against her shirt. “Better stick with the black. The blue looks a little flashy,” she thought outloud.

Woohyun scoffed as he took the black tie from her. “Yes because we can’t have my tie clash with my shiny gold cardigan or my flower print shirt. My coworkers will lose all respect for me.”

“I just want you to look your best. Now, go change or we’ll be late for work.”

Thankfully, Woohyun allowed her to wear a long coat to protect her from the cold (and her legs from peeping passerbys). And without him knowing, she also put on her shortest shorts because there was no way she was walking around in just a shirt( but it was okay because Woohyun had put a blazer over the bright and sweater so that all that could be seen was the collar of the shirt). Maeri pulled the coat closer to her body as she stepped outside into autumn air.

“Do you always walk to work?” she asked with a slight shiver.

“Some of us aren’t so lazy or averse to exercise,” Woohyun retorted, already leading the way to his office. Maeri had to slight jog to keep up with his long strides, but she never allowed herself to entirely catch up with him. Woohyun noticed this and turned around. “Why are you following behind me like that? Why don’t you come over here so we can hold hands?” He stepped closer to her and tried to grab her hand. But Maeri, looking down, stepped quickly to the side, evading him. Woohyun tried again, but she stepped behind him. Woohyun looked at the woman like she was a crazed loon, which she might as well have been because she was smiling at him like naive child.

“Where your shadow goes, I have to go,” she said, sticking out her tongue. Woohyun looked down, and sure enough, Maeri hadn’t left the confines of his shadow. Woohyun frowned. She won this round.  “And you can’t hold hands with a shadow anyways,” she said, shaking in bottom jovially because she knew that she’d bested him.

Woohyun studied her for a bit as she continued her dance. He sighed. And she always calls me immature. He couldn’t watch her humiliate herself anymore and looked down the street. Maybe it was too soon to concede the victory to her just yet. The answer laid right ahead of him.

He quickly jogged up the sidewalk, earning suspicious looks from passerbys especially with Maeri practically running to catch up with his shadow. But then they soon were enveloped in darkness. A large building up the street cast a large shadow onto the sidewalk, cloaking everything including Woohyun’s shadow. Now it was Woohyun’s turn to dance. “Where’s my shadow now?” he taunted her.

Maeri looked around frantically, searching for a patch of sidewalk slightly darker than the rest.
“I can’t see it!”

Woohyun tapped his finger onto his chin as he feigned searching for his shadow along with her. “I think that it’s riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight here,” he  said pointing the spot next to him. Maeri grumbled as she shuffled her feet towards him. Once she was next to him, Woohyun grabbed her hand and cooed, “That’s a good shadow. Now let’s go!”

There was no way he was going to let Maeri get the better of him.

“Huh,” Maeri let out a grunt as she looked up into the sky, wondering if she could ever see the top of Woohyun’s office building. It was a big contrast from her auction house, which just looked like your modest store.

“What?” Woohyun craned his neck to see what she was seeing.

Still looking up, Maeri answered, “I just never thought your office would look like this. It’s pretty tall. I thought you worked for a small company.”

Woohyun looked down at her, laughed, and dug his knuckles into the top of her head. “They don’t own the whole building, stupid, only a few floors.” Maeri let out a low note of acknowledgement, pushed Woohyun’s hand away, and rubbed her now sore head (and messed up hair). Woohyun looked back at the building. “This is your first time coming here isn’t it?” he asked. Maeri turned away, but not quick enough. Woohyun could see the guilt wash over her face. “Wah!” he exclaimed, clutching his heart, feigning hurt. “I come over and see you all the time at the auction house, but you never once came here.”

Maeri pushed him away and pouted. “Oh don’t act like you come to the auction house to see me. It’s my wallet you want. Once you walk through the doors, ‘Noona buy me something to eat’.” She did her best imitation of Woohyun (which was pretty good because she’s had years of practice). She spat, “You only call me noona when you want me to buy you something.”

Woohyun pushed her back. “You’re like a month older than me,” he retorted. “You’re not old enough to be a proper Noona.”

“Exactly,” Maeri whined. “Then why do I always have to pay?”

“Because even though it’s a month, you’re still older,” he joked and began to walk into the building.

“Stupid technicality,” she grumbled under her breath. Then she called after her fleeing fiancee, “You’re going to make me broke, you know that?”

“Are you just going to sit there and sigh all day?” Woohyun complained. All morning, Maeri had been sitting in the corner of the cubicle, breathing annoyingly loud. And he knew that she was doing it on purpose to get his attention, but what was he supposed to do? She was the one who dared him to go to work. Now in his office, he had to work...because of her.

Maeri was making a chain with his paper clips and put it around her neck, making a long necklace. “I’m booooooooooooored,” she whined. She noticed Woohyun looking at her necklace with an amused smile. “You want one?” she asked.

“No! You look a kindergartener with it on,” he teased, picking up the necklace with his pen and slowly lifting it over her head and off of her. He then grabbed a book from his desk. “Read this. It’s a crime novel. You’ll like it,” he recommended as he handed it over.

Maeri took it with two hands and read the back of the cover. Her eyes widened recalling the title from memory. “Oh! Unnie told me about this book.” She frowned and handed it back. “I don’t want to read it.”

“Why not?”

“She told me how it ended, and I don’t like it,” Maeri answered, crossing her arms over her chest and leaned back. “It’s so obvious.”

Woohyun put his fingers into his ears and started humming loudly. “Don’t tell me!” he whined. “It was the husband, wasn’t it? It’s always the husband. No! A secret lover? The detective?” He saw her poker face crack a little; he had guessed right. “AH! It was the detective! It’s all ruined now!” He threw the book onto his desk and pouted.

“Why do you keep asking me, if you don’t want to know? You know that I have an expressive face,” Maeri defended herself. She wasn’t about to let Woohyun make her feel sorry for this too.

“Just once. Don’t you want to read a book or watch a movie that you don’t know the ending to?” Woohyun complained. He swore that this was the millionth time they had this conversation and about the billionth time Maeri had ruined an ending for him. She was a walking, talking spoiler alert. And because Woohyun hated not knowing things, he would end up incessantly asking her questions until her over-expressive face gave away the answer. He hated the both of them for it.

Maeri picked up her paper clip necklace again and put it on. “I want to know what I’m getting into. If I’ll like the ending. I don’t want to waste my time with something that I won’t like.” She saw Woohyun nod sadly along with her answer, having heard this before. “I’m sorry,” she said, resting her hand on his knee.

“Not as sorry as you’re going to be,” Woohyun looked up at her with a mischievous smile. “I think it’s time for your next dare.”

“I thought we said we’d stop doing dares like this after what happened last time,” Maeri said, holding her phone in front of her, her thumb poised to dial a number.

Woohyun shook his head. “I don’t remember saying that.” Then he took the phone from her hands and dialed the number for her. He put it to his ear, hearing it ring once, and then handed it over to Maeri, who now looked stiff with apprehension. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Just tell him what we rehearsed.”

Maeri’s lips were mumbling the lines Woohyun had prepared for her, trying to engrave them into her memory. But then her rehearsal was interrupted by a rough tone at the other end of the line, “Hello?”

“Ah, yes, is this Lee Howon?” Maeri asked, adopting the accent of a foreigner speaking Korean. Or at least that’s what she thought a foreigner would sound like. Her accent was over exaggerated and slow, and she was practically yelling into the receiver. Woohyun silently chuckled at her, bringing a finger to his lips signaling her to lower her voice.

“Yes?” Hoya answered apprehensively.

“Congratulations, Howon-ssi! You just won an all expense paid vacation to uh…” She forgot her line and looked at Woohyun who was mouthing it to her. “To...uh...D...Dee...Disney World, of course! I knew that.” She had dropped her character and horrible accent along with that. Woohyun hit her, and she slapped him back before continuing and re-assuming her character, “We’ll just need your bank account number so we can make a small, refundable deposit in your name and reserve your trip.”

“Huh, that’s odd. I don’t recall signing up for any contests,” Hoya replied skeptically. “Is this a scam?”

“Of course not!” Maeri defended herself. “Your little sister signed you up for it.” Woohyun squeaked, catching her mistake.

“I don’t have a little sister.”

“Oh!” Maeri exclaimed, quickly racking through her brain, searching for a believable solution. “Don’t you have a friend who’s like a little sister?”

“Yes. You mean Yoo Maeri?”

“Oh really?” Maeri was flattered and broke character again. Noticing that she faltered for a second time, she slapped herself in the forehead. She cleared . “Yea, Yoo Maeri was the one who signed you up for this contest. I thought it was strange when she said she was your little sister, but your last names didn’t match up.”

“I don’t think it was her,” Hoya combated.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m talking to her on the phone right now.”

“...How did you know?” Maeri asked in her normal voice, wincing. She turned to Woohyun who was chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

Hoya sighed, “Because I still have your phone number from the time I carpooled with you to work when mine was in the shop, stupid.” Maeri pulled the phone from her face, and sure enough on her screen Hoya’s name appeared, proving that she had saved his number too. She should have called him from Woohyun’s office phone. “Besides, your phising accent sounds exactly like your horrible Satoori. Practice some more and try again, okay? I got to work now. Tell Woohyun I said hi.” He hung up.

Maeri faced Woohyun and giggled embarrassedly. While putting the phone back in her pocket, she said, “Hoya says hi.”

“Eh, I forgot how bad you were at this,” Woohyun remarked. “You can’t lie to save your life.”

“What about you? You think you’re so good at lying and no one will catch you,” Maeri argued. Woohyun nodded in agreement to everything she said. “Fine! Prove it! I dare you to call my parents and tell them you got transferred to Daegu. We’re moving there next week.”

“Call,” Woohyun said, pulling out his own phone and dialing in the number. “Let the master show you how it’s done,” he bragged. Maeri rolled her eyes and scooted closer to him so that she could hear the conversation.

“Hello, Woohyunnie? Why are you calling in the middle of the day? Aren’t you at work? Hang up right now before you get fired,” Maeri’s mother nagged endlessly in one breath (it was her mother’s greatest talent).

“It’s okay. I’ll be quick. I just wanted to share some news with you,” Woohyun said cheerfully, trying to dissuade her from nagging any further.

Maeri’s mother gasped. “No don’t tell me...Maeri’s pregnant. And before the wedding too! You dog!” If naggging was her biggest strength, jumping to conclusions was a close second.

“Ah! No! Ahjumma! That’s not it!” Woohyun’s eyes widened in panic and his voice rose a couple of octaves. Maeri was looking at him, speechless with her jaw unhinged.

Her mother was too wrapped up in her own world to notice Woohyun’s objections. “Oh! I need to do some shopping now! There’s so much to buy. I’ll talk to you later Woohyunnie. Call your mother,” and with that, she hung up.

“Call her back!” Maeri insisted, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. “Unless you want our apartment to be filled with cribs and strollers and all that crap!”

“Or...we could get you pregnant for real,” Woohyun teased. But Maeri was not in the mood for it.

“YAH! NAM WOOHYUN!”

“Hey, Woohyun. Is everything okay in there?” Sungyeol called to his co-worker, knocking a little before entering.

Woohyun gestured to Maeri to hide (the last thing he needed was for Sungyeol to see them in the middle of their game because he would get involved. He always did). Maeri pushed his feet to the side and crawled underneath his desk, and she hid herself by returning his legs underneath the desk, covering her.

Once Sungyeol stepped in, he looked around. “That’s funny,” he mumbled. “I thought I heard someone else in here.”

“Ah!” Woohyun exclaimed quickly picking up his office phone. “I was on a phone call with a client. They weren’t too happy,” he explained putting the phone back down.

Sungyeol walked up closer to him. “Ah, I could probably help you with that. Clients love me. I could…” Woohyun moved his chair closer to his desk, and when he did, he accidentally stepped on Maeri’s hand, who then yelped in pain. Sungyeol stopped. “What was that?”

Woohyun looked up with innocent eyes. “What? I didn’t hear anything. You must be going crazy.”

“No I swore I heard something come from here,” Sungeyol argued pulling out Woohyun along with his chair, revealing Maeri huddled in a ball underneath the desk. Sungyeol looked back and forth in between the two and giggled ertedly. “Well, what do we have here?”

Maeri carefully crawled out. “Oh, hello,” she tried to say casually but her face was beet-red. “I was just visiting Woohyun for lunch.”

Woohyun chimed in, “Yes! Lunch. Let’s go, honey.” He grabbed Maeri’s wrist, and the both of them tried to leave the office.

Sungyeol stepped in front of them. “Really? In that outfit?” he asked, scanning Maeri up and down, who was still wearing Woohyun’s button down. Sungyeol then turned to Woohyun. “And what the hell are you wearing?” he asked, flicking at his coworker’s sheer, floral collar. Then something caught his eye; Sungyeol could see the gold thread of the sweater shining under the blazer. “What’s this?” he said as he ripped open Woohyun’s blazer, exposing his entire outfit. Sungyeol’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What’s going on with you two?”

“We’re playing a game of dares,” Maeri confessed. Woohyun nudged her knowing that Sungyeol would now get himself involved.

Sungyeol giggled. “Ooh . Tell me how to play, and maybe I can do it with Soyeon.”

“No,” Woohyun began to clear the situation. “It’s not like that.” I couldn’t make Maeri play like that even if I begged. “Just innocent stuff. Like the outfits. And I dared her to come to work with me.”

“Can I play?” Sungyeol asked. “I know what I would dare Soyeon to do for me.”

“Really like what?”

“Oh! That feels good. A little harder and to the left. There!” Woohyun was sitting on his chair, and Maeri was kneeling in front of him, rubbing his feet. “When did you get to be so good at this, honey?”

Maeri shrugged as she pressed her thumbs into his arch and then wrinkled her nose. “Blech! Your feet smell, sweetie!” she retched now turning her head away from his odorous feet.

“See. I’m full of good ideas,” Sungyeol bragged.

Maeri looked up. “Any good ideas for revenge? I’ll give one of my dares to you. And you can have Woohyun do whatever you want.”

“Really?!” Sungyeol squealed in excitement.

Maeri glanced over and saw the worry in Woohyun’s eyes. He was shaking his head, begging her not to do it. “Oh yea,” Maeri happily said as she roughly pressed her thumbs into the balls of his feet causing him to wince. She literally had him in her hands. Well, technically Sungyeol did.

Sungyeol bounced back on the heels of his feet and exposed his gummy smile. “Well, there’s just one thing I want Woohyun to do for me…”

“How was I supposed to know that he was going to ask you to finish up his quarterly report?” Maeri tried to defend herself as Woohyun was sulking in the corner with his head resting on his knees. He’d have to stay late tonight now that he had to finish up Sungyeol’s report. And now he looked like he had a little black raincloud hovering above his bowed head.

He brought up his head and glared at Maeri. “Because Sungyeol is kniving!” he shouted.

Maeri fought the urge to snap back, swallowing her anger. She sat down next to her pouting fiance and patted his back, trying to comfort him. “Well, I tried to stop him, but then he ran out saying ‘No take-backsies.’ I mean it’s not like he’s leaving early for a poor reason. He wants to be with his wife. She’s due soon.” She tried to play on Woohyun’s sympathies, but his mood was unconquerable.

He looked at her with sad eyes and whined, “Well, I want to hang out and have fun with my wife.”

The breath caught . Not that face, not that sad puppy face. Over the years, she tried hard to build resistance against it, and at times, when her resolve was stronger, she could easily refuse. But now, she was already weakened by her guilt, and he was essentially kicking her while she was down. She hated how easily Woohyun could play her. Even moreso she hated allowing herself to be played by him. Maeri let out a big sigh, “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go get lunch. You still have a lunch break, right?”

Woohyun jumped up after hearing what he’d wanted to hear. He could always ask Maeri to buy him lunch, but it was always more satisfying for him to have her offer. That way he didn’t feel like he was taking advantage of her (although he was taking advantage of her feelings, but that’s an other matter). “Okay call!” he cheered. “You’re paying, right?” he asked as he was grabbing his coat and putting it on.

Maeri looked down at the carpet and kicked it with her foot. “Actually, I didn’t bring my wallet because I was planning on daring you to pay for lunch,” she confessed, braving to catch a glimpse of Woohyun’s face. It had gone from exhilarated back to depressed in less than a millisecond.

“It’s like you’re kicking me while I’m down,” he grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Well, I wouldn’t have felt compelled to dare you if you just bought me lunch just one time,” Maeri defended herself, not allowing herself to feel guilty anymore. Or at least she tried. Woohyun’s pout deepened, and his shoulders became for hunched. Maeri could practically see lightning flashing in that little black raincloud above his head. This kid is going to make me broke. “Fine, next time, I’ll take you to that damn expensive sushi place you like,” she offered as consolation.

A large smile overtook his face, and he threw his arms around Maeri. “You’re the best, Noona!” he cheered.

Maeri laughed, and right as he let go, she pointed at him with both fingers and cutely shot them like guns saying, “But for today you’re my Oppa!”

“I kind of like the sound of that. Say it again!” he commanded nicely.

“Oooooooooooppa!” Maeri called to him, her voice octaves higher than usual. She patted her belly. “I’m hungry! Oooooppa! Buy me food!”

Woohyun winced and shook his head. “Okay, only if you promise never to act cute again,” he proposed as he turned around to leave, but not before Maeri could catch a glimpse of the smile forming on his face. He was clearly enjoying her aegyo.

“But Ooooooooooooooppa! I wuv you!”

Maeri should have known that Woohyun would take her to the soondae restaurant. It was the place that they frequented the most together, going there since high school. Right as they walked through the doors, the owner rushed out to greet them with warm hugs and expressed her joy and utter relief to see the two of them had finally become a couple. “I thought that I was going to die before I saw this day come. It happens all the time in dramas. The best friends who are perfect for each other never get together in the end. But you two...Aigoo! Oh I am so happy!” she cheered as she placed heaps of free mandoo and other service onto the table (including a bottle of wine that she had been saving “for an occasion like this”).

Maeri looked at Woohyun and cocked an eyebrow. He was proudly staring at all of the free food on the table and judged that he could even get the soondae for free if he and Maeri acted more like a  couple in their honeymoon phase. Maeri, on the other hand, sighed. She should have also known that Woohyun was going to “pay” for the meal not from the money in his wallet but with his amazing ability to swindle others.  She shrugged and began to stuff the mandoo into . As long as she didn’t have to pay for it, she was happy.

“Honey! Wife-y! Maeri-ri-ri-ri!” Woohyun tried to win her attention over from the mandoo. She looked up at him with the stuffing spilling from her lips.

“Wa?” she asked with her mouthful.

“I thought of a new dare,” Woohyun said cutely. Maeri’s mouth stopped chewing and opened slightly in fear. “I want you…” he paused dramatically watching his fiancee hang on his every word. “To feed me for the entire meal.”

Maeri stood up straight and cocked an eyebrow. “The entire meal?”

“Eung,” Woohyun nodded. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaah! I’m waiting. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” he commanded with his mouth hanging wide open.

She rolled her eyes and stuffed a dumpling into the opening. “Aigoo! Is it delicious Woohyun-goon?” she said in baby-talk, under his chin as he chewed. She could feel his muscles flex underneath her fingertips and giggled at the weird sensation.

“Another,” he ordered. Maeri moved her chopsticks to the one closest to her. “Ah! NO! Not that one,” he yelled as if the world was going to end. “That one barely has any stuffing in it. It’s anorexic.”

Maeri scanned the plate looking for an appropriately plump mandoo. “How about this morbidly obese one?” she asked poking her chopstick through the biggest one on the plate.

Woohyun nodded cutely, and Maeri picked it up and was about to bring it to his lips until he said, “It reminds me of you.”

She gave him a good smack on the head and stuffed the Maeri-sized dumpling into . Woohyun whimpered as he rubbed his head. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” Maeri growled through her teeth.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be biting you anytime soon. You’re too bitter,” Woohyun half-teased. Maeri stuck out her tongue as a response and continued to eat, but she didn’t forget her duty and pushed another dumpling to Woohyun’s lips. He smiled and took it from her. Even though she always tried to act tough and coolly apathetic (which didn’t work with such an expressive face as hers), Maeri had an awfully sweet and tender side, like the nougat in the inside of a chocolate bar. You just had to bite at it a little to get there. Woohyun thought himself lucky to have such a nice and loyal friend and wife. But…“Yah! Yoo Maeri!” he called out to her, and she looked up at him with a glare. “Let’s get married.”

Maeri put down her chopsticks for the first time since they sat down at the table. Her eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead, and her eyes darted all over his face. “We already are, sweetie…aren’t we?” her voice drifted into doubt.

“Yea,” Woohyun answered as he crossed his arms and leaned back. “ But we haven’t planned a damn thing for the wedding.” He picked at the napkin in front of him in frustration. Once again, they missed a step. The went from friends to fiancees without a single date. And now, somehow, somewhere along the line, they went from fiancees to husband and wife without the ceremony. Why did they keep forgetting such simple things?

“Oh…right,” Maeri said quietly in embarrassment as she picked at the kimchee. “Those things don’t plan themselves, do they?”

“How about April?” Woohyun suddenly asked.

“April?” Maeri repeated. Woohyun nodded emphatically. She cocked her head. “For what?” Woohyun’s smile fell from his face, and the black clouds were rolling in again above his head. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding!” Maeri immediately said with a wave of her hand, but Woohyun’s pout only deepened. But this time, Maeri knew exactly what would make him happy again. She looked at her cellphone under the table and scrolled through her calendar. She found it and glanced back up at Woohyun who was staring out the window melodramatically (as if he was filming some scene from a drama). Maeri smiled and spoke, “The nineteenth.”

“Huh?” Woohyun turned back at her and blinked in confusion.

“April 19th. It’s a Saturday,” Maeri said nonchalantly, watching Woohyun slowly piece this puzzle together.

Then the answer flashed across his mind like a bolt of lightening. He looked at her with eyebrows raised. “I-is that a date?” he asked apprehensively. Maeri nodded with her head in her hands. Woohyun threw his hands up in the air and whooped, “It’s a date!” Then he opened up his mouth wide again, knowing how to perfectly seal this moment. “Aaaaah!”

Maeri picked up a piece of pickled radish and said in an annoyed voice (but there was a faint smile on her face, “Seriously? We’re still doing this? Open wide.” Woohyun put his fists in the air and wiggled around like a baby as he ate the food from her, and caused her to laugh. She patted his head. “Aigoo! Cutie!”

He chewed and swallowed his food. After wiping his mouth, he put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Now about the honeymoon,” he teased suggestively, knowing that he’d get a rise out of his friend.

Maeri gasped and stuffed his mouth with a large piece of kimchi. “Let’s…uh, think about cake first,” she suggested quietly.

“We-mon,” Woohyun suggested through the cabbage in his mouth.

Maeri vehemently shook her head. “Nu uh, lemon ,” she argued. Her tone was like a five year-old. “Chocolate.”

Woohyun narrowed his eyes on hers, and she did the same. He stared deeply into those dark brown eyes he had grown accustomed to over the years. The pupils were wavering in her irises. He could see them start to glisten. She was going to, any moment now. There, there was a slight twitch. Woohyun snorted purposefully, and it was just what he needed. “Hah! You blinked,” he exclaimed as Maeri shut her eyes tightly.

“Dang it!” Maeri cursed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She normally won their staring contests. My eye health must be getting worse. Or maybe my contacts are dry. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to force her tears back in. “Can I at least get a chocolate cupcake?” she begged.

Woohyun smiled. “You can have all the cupcakes, honey. All the cupcakes in the wo-” he was interrupted when Maeri stuffed the mandoo into his mouth. But he didn’t mind. It was the last one.

Just like he had thought, when he and Maeri acted like a couple in their honeymoon phase, Woohyun managed to get the entire meal for free as a sort of engagement gift. As they were walking back to his work, hand-in-hand, he was scanning up and down the streets, wondering which of the street vendors they normally frequented would also give them ‘gifts.’ He started to swing their arms happily at the thought.

Maeri was looking up and down the streets too, but for a different reasons. Doing five dares was one thing, but Maeri was slowly running out of creative juices to be able to form 5 extra ones on top of that. She wished she had Woohyun’s mischievous brain for one moment (but then she later shook that thought from her head, not wanting to know what else was going on in there). She’s have to look for something, some sign that will tell her what to do next. And that’s when she saw it, a physical sign. It read, “The Plastic Ninjas.”

Okay so what the sign read wasn’t important. What the sign was standing on was. It was on a stage where a band was performing a few songs for the afternoon rush, hoping to garner some interest for their show at a nightclub later that evening. A smile crept across her face. She had a Woohyun-like idea.

“Oppa! Sweetie! Hubby!” she called to him, and he turned his head to face her at the last name. “I have just the teensiest little dare for you,” Maeri announced in a baby voice. Woohyun didn’t like where this was going. Her aegyo still being somewhat strange and foreign to him (Maeri was more naturally cute and all other aegyo seemed utterly forced and awkward). “Can you perform a little song for me? Over there?” she asked with a pout, pointing to the band that had just finished their set and was taking a break. A small crowd had already formed around the stage, eager for their next song.

“I don’t know if I can,” he muttered under his breath, tightening his grip on her hand.

Maeri let go of his hand and pushed him close to the stage. “Don’t care!” she exclaimed.

Woohyun looked back at her as he approached the stage, his jaw slightly shaking out of nervousness. Maeri gestured at him to keep walking. Woohyun looked forward and heaved a giant sigh. He was nervous. He had sang in front of larger groups before for school performances, but he had always prepared. The only impromptu singing he ever did was karoake. And who did he have to impress there? Maeri? Dongwoo? Woohyun only hoped that the musicians wouldn’t allow him to use the equipment...but they graciously did, especially after hearing that his fiancee had requested it from him (and Maeri happened to look all too innocent and pretty at the moment, swaying the band).

Grabbing the microphone in his hands, Woohyun closed his eyes and let out the breath he had been holding in out of nervousness. Just think of it as karoake. It’s just me, Maeri, and everyone else is Dongwoo’s clones. Man, that would be scary. A world full of Dongwoos. They’d probably have their own official language and patchika will be their native instrument. And...His thoughts were broken by the drummer counting them in. Somehow, the moment seemed to embolden him. The adrenaline rush probably played a large role in it. But as the music started, all of the sudden he felt calm. He looked out into the crowd, and his eyes met with Maeri’s. She was currently frowning, trying to figure out what song he was going to sing. Woohyun smiled as he saw the realization slowly dawn on her, and she covered her face in her hands. She should have known that Woohyun was going to turn this against her.

It sounded different, very different from the beginning because it was been played with band instruments and lacked the electronic sounds (although the keyboardist was doing a fantastic job mimicking the noises). But the sound was recognizable, too recognizable. When it first came out, it took the radio by storm, and it was impossible not to hear it at least 3 times in one day. Maeri spoke against it countless time with venomous words, claiming that it was the worst song ever made and the lyrics were written by a grade schooler. But it was all a lie. She loved it just as much as everybody else; she just hid it because she thought the cutesy track went against her tomboy image. And she was fully prepared to take that little secret to the grave, but like always, Woohyun had foil her plans. One day he had come into her bedroom announced, and he had caught her singing along to it as she blasted it through her boombox. The next day, he told everybody that Maeri was dancing around to that song and kissing posters of the band members, which was a complete lie (and disgusting because all of the members were significantly younger than her) but everyone still bought it anyway. For a month, Maeri couldn’t even approach her friends without them humming the song to her. You’d think after all of that, Maeri would hate the song, but, damn it, it was just too catchy.

“Noona neomu yeppeoseo,” Woohyun sang.

“I’m not your noona!” Maeri grumbled, but that did not even faze Woohyun or put a halt to his rhythm. In fact, it encouraged him. He stepped down from the stage and approached her. She tried to take a step back, but she ran into somebody behind her. The crowd nearly tripled after Woohyun started singing SHINee’s song.

Smiling while singing, Woohyun grabbed her hand and dragged her onto the stage with him. I’m not doing this alone. He could see her face burn redder and feel her palms grow damp with nervous sweat. It made him happy, having this effect on her. After pulling her on stage like a reluctant dog on a leash, he sat her down on a chair, and she automatically buried her beet-red face in her hands. He then sang and danced around her until the song was complete. And after he hit the last note, he knelt down in front of Maeri. Maeri peeked through the gaps in her fingers; he could see her eyes widen inquisitively. “Noona,” Woohyun said in an unusually deep voice. Maeri began to lower her hands; her face was still red. “I love you.” The crowd gasped a little and grew silent, waiting for the girl’s response. Woohyun pointed the microphone in her direction.

Maeri buried her face again. “I know!” she exclaimed muffled by her hands. The crowd laughed at her response. She was beginning to feel like she was on a variety show, and she knew exactly how to tie this segment up. “I love you too.”

The crowd cooed and clapped for the ‘happy’ couple, completely unaware of their game. And after they thanked the musicians for allowing them to use the equipment, they tried to leave, but the crowd enveloped them, and asked them several questions. Maeri left it to Woohyun to answer because she was too busy hiding her face in his coat, hoping that the blush would soon fade and had not been permanently painted onto her skin. She only lifted up her head after hearing a familiar voice asking, “I never thought you two would be such a romantic couple.”

“Unnie!” Maeri exclaimed, looking up and seeing Hani’s smiling face. “Don’t tell me you saw that!”

“Every last bit,” Hani answered, to which Maeri groaned and hung her head. “What? Why? It was cute,” Hani tried to comfort her.

Woohyun sighed dramatically looking at his dejected fiancee. “I guess not everybody can handle my cuteness. Was it really that bad?” he asked Hani.

Hani shook her head and patted Maeri’s hair. “Not at all. But you probably know as well as I do: Maeri gets easily embarrassed,” she explained.

“You’d think she’d be used to it after all of these years,” Woohyun joked. He tried to drag Maeri’s head up again by her ponytail, but she let it drop again right after he raised it. “Drama queen,” he muttered under his breath and shook his head. Turning towards Hani and ignoring his fiancee, he asked, “So what’s up?”

Hani shrugged. “Just heading back to work after my lunch break,” she answered, glancing at her watch. Her jaw dropped, and she gasped, “Eep! Which ended 5 minutes ago! I have to take off. Woohyun, good job.” She gave him a thumbs up; then she turned to Maeri and lifted up her chin with a giggle. “And buck up, Maeri. Worse things can happen than having your fiancee serenade you.” With those parting words, she waved goodbye and scurried off. But her steps quickly came to a halt, having remembered something. She turned around and called to them, “Oh yea. I heard someone talking about posting it on YouTube. Maybe you two will go viral.”

“Great,” the both said in unison, but with completely different tones. Woohyun’s was excited and hopeful, Maeri’s was dripping with sarcasm.

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