I didn’t get much sleep at all that night. I found myself staring at Hakyeon as he slept soundly for most of the night. I could see the light from the rising sun come in through the window and start to cover his face. He looked so peaceful. This was what I had always wanted, to sleep next to Hakyeon in his arms. Well, minus the running away from my stalker boyfriend and sleeping in his now ex-girlfriend’s house. This situation had too much of a k-drama vibe for my liking.

I did get a few butterflies in my stomach when he would stir in his sleep. Whenever I caught his hair falling over his eyes I would gently swipe them away, earning a small smile in his sleep. I’d stare at his lips from time to time, almost curious enough to attempt to kiss him. However every time a thought like this would cross my mind, I would automatically think of Hongbin and decide against it. If I did anything with Hakyeon in these next few days and if Hongbin were to find out, things would not go well when I returned and there would be even more dangers I’m sure.

After a while I heard a door open, telling me that either Mihyun or one of her parents were awake, and I tried to roll away from Hakyeon, only to have him pull me back and hold me tighter. I sighed and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. I could hear light footsteps walk into the living room and they stopped for a moment before walking into the kitchen.

I opened my eyes and tried to look into the kitchen and see who was awake but to no avail. I looked back at Hakyeon and noticed he was starting to wake up. I didn’t say anything and waited until his eyes were fully open.

“Morning.” He smiled at me.

“Morning.” I mumbled back.

“Did you sleep well?”

I shook my head. “I couldn’t sleep. It looked like you slept well though.”

“You should have woke me up. That must have been so boring to watch me sleep.” Hakyeon shoved me lightly but pulled me back so I wouldn’t get to far away from him. He was being awfully clingy.

“Can I get up now? I’ve been stuck like this for hours.” I asked him, placing my hands on his chest so I could push him away.

“Do you not like me anymore, Inhye?” Hakyeon teased.

“Yah! Just let me go.”

Hakyeon chuckled and placed a light kiss on my forehead before releasing me from his hold. I glared at him as I got to my feet and stretched. I was now able to see clearly into the kitchen. I leaned back a little so I could see around the corner and saw Mrs. Shim in front of the stove. I straightened out my clothes before walking into the kitchen.

“Do you need help with anything?” I asked her.

“Oh don’t worry about a thing, sweetie. I can handle this. I just want you and Hakyeon to have some food in your stomachs before you head home.” She smiled at me. “If you really want to, the plates are in the cupboard over there if you want to get them out for me.”

I nodded and set out five plates on the table. Hakyeon had joined us in the kitchen and we sat down at the table and watched Mrs. Shim cook. She rambled on as she cooked about many things. She started talking about how she was worried about our safety to how Mihyun was as a child. Listening to Mrs. Shim talk about Mihyun like that made me feel excited about going home to see my own parents. It had been a long time since Hakyeon and I had actually been able to go home. By the time Mrs. Shim had placed all the food on the table, Officer Shim and Mihyun were awake and had joined us at the table. We all thanked Mrs. Shim for the food and began to dig in.

“When we’re done with breakfast, you two get washed up and we’ll head out.” Officer Shim told us.

“Thank you so much for all the help. I really appreciate all you’re doing for me.” I said.

“Don’t mention it, Inhye.” Officer Shim replied.

Mihyun had lent me some clean clothes to wear and she had managed to find some clothes out of her father’s wardrobe for Hakyeon to change into as well. While he was washing up, Mihyun and I had some time alone.

“Are you really only helping me out because you care about Hakyeon?” I asked bluntly.

She shook her head. “I honestly feel you would do the same for me if I was in trouble.” There it was again. You would do the same for me. That seemed to be a common statement directed towards me. “I know we’ve had our disputes and I know I haven’t been the kindest to you in the past, however I feel that we actually could get along if we tried. And now that I’m not dating Hakyeon I feel that we have no reason to act like we have in the past.”

“Wow. That’s a really mature thing for you to say, Mihyun.” I smirked. She shot me a glare and I chuckled. “I’m sorry, but I agree with you. We do have no reason to act like we have been.”

We sat in silence for a little while. I guess it was our own way of agreeing to be friends and accepting that as a solid fact now. By now Hakyeon had walked out of the bathroom and seen us sitting with each other.

“Oh, you two are getting along well.” He cooed. “Are you friends now?”

“No!” Mihyun snarled.

“Yes.” I shoved her. “You just said…” Mihyun glared at me as if to tell me hush up or she’ll take back everything she said. I smiled and looked back at Hakyeon. “Guess we’re not.”

He narrowed his eyes at us but shrugged his shoulders. “You two will be friends one day.”

Officer Shim was waiting at the door for us. Hakyeon and I hugged Mihyun and her mother goodbye before following Officer Shim out to his car. The plan was he was going to drive us to the bus station and we’d take the bus home. That way Hakyeon’s and my parents didn’t have to know anything was going on and they would think we were just making a surprise visit home.

 “I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality.” I told Officer Shim as he was about to leave us at the bus stop.

“Anytime kids. Keep Mihyun up to date on what’s going on. I’ll help you out again if you need me.” He smiled at us and waved before taking off.

Hakyeon had used the payphone to call our parents and let them know we were coming and what time we would arrive for them to pick us up. As he did that I went and got our tickets. The bus was pretty empty when it was time to board. Hakyeon still picked us seats towards the back of the bus and told me to sleep the whole ride since I hadn’t slept the night before. I couldn’t argue with him because I felt my eyes drift close almost immediately after the bus left.

“Inhye, we’re home.” Hakyeon shook my shoulder lightly. “I can see our parents already.”

I rubbed my eyes and glanced out the window. Our parents were anxiously waiting by their cars, talking to each other as they waited. I noticed there was a third car as well and I saw Hakyeon’s older brother and older sisters with my older brother as well. I chuckled see that our whole families had shown up to pick us up.

“AIGOO! MY BABIES” Hakyeon’s mother exclaimed as pulled us into a bone crushing hug.

“Omma…” Hakyeon whined.

“I’m sorry.” She sighed as she let go of us. She ran a hand along my cheek. “You two have grown up so much. It’s unbelievable.”

I smiled at her and walked over to hug my mom. “I’m sorry this is such a surprise visit.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. We’re just happy you’re here.” My mom said.

I hugged my dad and brother as well before greeting Hakyeon’s father and siblings.

“Why are you all here? We could have just seen you all at the house.” Hakyeon asked his brother and sisters.

“Mom and dad suggested that we all go out and have a meal together before we go home.” Hakyeon’s brother said.

“Is there going to be a place big enough for all of us?” I teased, seeing as there was ten of us.

“Oh there is one place that will fit all of us.” My dad pat me on the shoulder. “I think you’ll be very happy with our decision.”

My eyes grew wide as I thought for a second about where we could possibly go. There was one restaurant that Hakyeon and I would always go to eat whenever we had the money or got the chance to pick a place to eat. It was just a little ways outside of town but it had some of the best food in Changwon.

“By chance could it be a certain restaurant that has really delicious food that I love?” I didn’t mean to but I was showing quite a bit of aegyo. I had my hand bawled up against my chin and a huge smile as I leaned into my dad.

“Maybe.” He replied with a chuckle.

“YAH! Dongsaeng knock it off. Being cute isn’t going to get you anywhere.” My brother groaned.

“What are you talking about? Name it, Inhye-yah. Anything you want, it’s yours.” Hakyeon’s older brother pulled out his wallet and winked at my brother, jokingly.

“HYUNG!” Hakyeon stepped over to me and placed his arm around my shoulder. “Don’t try and win her over. You can’t have her.”

“Oh ho! Our little Hakyeon seems to have finally made a move.” His oldest sister nudged his other sister.

“Are we dating now, you two?” His other sister questioned.

I shook my head. “No we’re not.” I shrugged off Hakyeon’s arm.

“Good or we’d need to have a talk, Hakyeon.” My brother and father both wagged a finger at him.

“Are we going to eat or what?” Hakyeon’s father complained. “I’m sure these kids are starving.”

Hakyeon and I climbed into our parents’ cars while our siblings got into the car they were sharing and we headed off to the restaurant. I wasn’t sure why, but it felt really weird riding alone in the car with my parents. I mean it shouldn’t have been, because my parents and I have always had a close relationship. However, it may have been the fact that I wasn’t telling them why I had really come home and that I was actually dating someone at the moment.

“Was it just me or has Hakyeon gotten clingier? I thought he already had a girlfriend?” My mom asked me.

“He’s gotten clingier. He and his girlfriend broke up no more than a few days ago.” I told her truthfully.

“Oh my. What happened? They had been going out for a while, hadn’t they?”

“They had gone out for a little over two years. He asked her to move in with us and well that didn’t last long.”

“She lived with you guys? I’m sure that had to be a little awkward.”

I sighed. I couldn’t keep the truth from my parents. I mean, parents usually find out what you’re trying to hide from them in the end anyways right?

“I wouldn’t know. I moved out.”

“WHAT?” My parents exclaimed.

“What do you mean you moved out? Where are you staying now?” My father questioned.

“I’m staying with a friend, Hongbin. We had a few classes together back in the day and he lives not too far from school so everything works out.” I could see my parents were trying their best not to lose their cool. I was an adult now and they knew there wasn’t much they could do about it.

“How did Hakyeon feel about all that? Was he okay with you moving out?” My mom asked.

I shook my head. “No. He’s been trying to get me to move back in but I don’t know. I think it’s good for us to spend some time apart.”

“You like this Hongbin fellow, don’t you?” My dad said.

“What makes you think that?”

“You’ve always had a crush on Hakyeon. We could tell. The way you would merely look at him said it all. But the way you two acted just at the bus stop, it’s obvious someone else is on your mind. Are you conflicted?” My mom was always really good at picking up on things, but I didn’t know my emotions were that transparent.

“I like Hongbin, yes. We’re going on dates and living together is obviously helping us get to know each other even more.” I looked out the window. “I mean, I still like Hakyeon but things are too messy right now and I have to know how I really feel about Hongbin before I can decide.”

“Sweetie, don’t feel like you have to choose between the two boys.” My dad said. “If you want to date Hongbin, date him. Hakyeon will understand.”

“He doesn’t like Hongbin at all. Hongbin has a bit of a past, but that’s irrelevant.”

My parents didn’t question me any more for the rest of the car ride. For the rest of the ride, they talked about how the family has been doing and what I had missed out on. Apparently my brother had some news to share about work. My mom then began to ramble on about how she wished he would say he had a girlfriend. He was the same age as Hakyeon’s second older sister. He was old enough to be thinking of a family and blah blah blah.

When we arrived at the restaurant, my brother was waiting outside for us and led us to where everyone else was sitting. I looked around the restaurant and took in everything. It had been so long since I had last been here and nothing had changed. There was a decent number of people eating at the restaurant as well, however my eyes landing on a person that looks sort of familiar.

I unintentionally stopped walking and stared at the person. Everything about them seemed so much like one person. The brown hair. The big glasses. The casual dress. And then they began to laugh, showing me the key identifier that proved my suspicions were correct. The dimples. There was no way somebody else could have those dimples aside from the one and only Lee Hongbin.

A/N: Hello readers, I hope you enjoyed this update! I'm currently working on the next chapter so please antcipate another update soon! Thank you for reading!!