Hongbin smiled brightly and held my hand in his. “Sorry, Noona. I shouldn’t put you in this kind of situation. You probably just see me as a dongsaeng anyways.”

“Bin-ah,” I sighed.

“No, no. Don’t worry. We’ll take it slow, hm? Maybe one day you’ll like me the way I like you.” I searched his expression to show any sign of upset or let down but he was just beaming.

“Lee Hongbin, how can you be so happy?”

“Because noona is here and I’m helping her find happiness. I also have all I could ever ask for – this internship, the photo shoots, my health, and a roof over my head. What more do I have to ask for?”

I looked down at my hand in Hongbin’s. His touch was gentle, as if he wasn’t really sure he’d get away with the gesture. I could feel his palms beginning to get sweaty. I looked up at him and could see the waver in his smile. He had definitely planned this all out up until this point and now he was nervously waiting for my proper reaction and answer. I found it cute and smiled up at him.

“What kind of date would we be going on?” I asked.

Hongbin’s eyes widened in shock. “Is that really how you’re going to base your answer?”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

Hongbin chuckled and got out of his seat so he could come over and hug me. “It’s going to be a surprise. You like surprises the best don’t you?”

When we got back to the apartment, I noticed that there was a stack of movies sitting on the coffee table in the living room. I knew they weren’t there when I left. Hongbin had rushed off into the kitchen so I walked over to inspect the pile of movies. Soon I could hear and smell popcorn in the microwave. That loser, I thought, he planned this all out too.

I walked over to the kitchen and leaned on the wall with my arms crossed, watching Hongbin as he pretended not to see me. He tried to busy himself with pour us some drinks and getting out more bags of popcorn. I remained silent, waiting for him to crack. Finally he had no choice but to look at me. He gave me slight smile and sighed.

“Surprise?”

“Very cute, Lee Hongbin.” I chuckled. “So what would have happened if I would have told you no way?”

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to.” He handed me our drinks. “Can you set these on the coffee table while I finish up the popcorn?” I nodded. “Also put in whatever movie you want to watch first.”

I looked over the stack of movies again after setting down the glasses. I decided on A Werewolf Boy seeing as I hadn’t watched it in a while and it would be a suitable punishment for Hongbin to have to sit through. I placed it in the dvd player and sat down on the couch to wait for Hongbin.

Hongbin had just sat down with the bowl of popcorn when my phone went off. I looked at him and whispered sorry before pulling my phone out of my pocket. Hakyeon’s name appeared on the screen.

“Answer it.” Hongbin encouraged me.

I took a deep breath before putting the phone to my ear. “Yes Hakyeon?”

“Inhye, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did at the café.” I heard him sigh. “Mihyun thinks it would be a good idea if the four of us get dinner tomorrow night and just have a nice meal together.”

“The four of us?”

“Mihyun, myself, you and Hongbin-ssi.”

“Why do I feel that you really want this so you can compare yourself to him?” Hongbin nudged me and gave me a look of warning.

“Inhye-ah, please don’t start. I don’t want to fight anymore.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Come over around six tomorrow night for dinner.”

“Let me clear with Hongbin and make sure that’s good for him. He just recently got an internship and has shoots scheduled.” Hongbin shook his head and took the phone from me.

“Hakyeon-ssi? Don’t worry, we’ll be there. What time did you say?”

“HONGBIN!” I could just imagine Hakyeon’s expression at the moment. I could feel his aggravation through the phone. I grabbed the phone back. “Hakyeon, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I put my phone back in my pocket and leaned my head back against the couch. Hongbin grabbed my hand and pat my shoulder. The movie had already started and we weren’t paying any attention to it. I tried my best to bring my focus to the movie but it seemed pointless as all I could think about now was dinner with Hakyeon and Mihyun. There was no way that was her idea.

Hongbin grabbed the remote and flicked off the tv.

“Hey, why did you do that?”

“It got your attention. You weren’t watching the movie.” He turned to face me. “Stop thinking about tomorrow night. You know Hakyeon-ssi is only doing this to make things better between you two.”

“No, he’s doing this to try and get me to move back in.”

Hongbin grabbed my face and brought it close to his. I tried to pull back but he held me in place. I could feel his breath brush against my skin. We stared into each other’s eyes. He knew he was in control and was just enjoying my anticipation.

“Hongbin don’t you think-“My words were cut off by his lips on my forehead.

He pulled away, my face still in his hands, and smiled at me. “I want you to think about that for the rest of the night.”

I felt my face heat up and I tried my best to compose myself again. How could Hongbin do this to me? I can never guess what he’s going to do next. He’s full of surprises and knows how I’ll behave in reaction to him. I couldn’t tell anymore if I was just surprised or if I really did have feelings for Hongbin. Could that be why Hakyeon was acting the way he was? Did he notice this and was afraid of losing me, even as a friend, to Hongbin?

Hongbin released my face and leaned my head against his shoulder before turning the movie back on. I allowed myself to relax and focus on the movie. I was comfortable sitting next to Hongbin like this. I could even feel myself start to grow tired. Hongbin noticed as well and got up from the couch. He put the bowl of popcorn in the kitchen, switched movies, and grabbed a blanket for us to share before returning to the couch and covering us both. He then placed my head on his lap and began to run his fingers through my hair soothingly.

“Hongbin-ah, I’ll fall asleep.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He said softly.

And it wasn’t much longer before I felt myself drift off into dreamland. It was a sound and peaceful sleep, one that I was in much need of. I felt slightly bad for falling asleep on Hongbin like that but he had fallen asleep as well, with his fingers still running through my hair. 

A/N: Thank you all for being so patient. I hope you enjoyed the update! I hope to update again before Christmas but if not, I hope you all have a happy Christmas and stay warm!!