“I’m sorry, we can’t be together..” Minhyuk’s voice woke Jieun up. “I’m sorry about last night.. Because she is more important for me!” Jieun sat up and walked towards the door. “I’m sorry,Yoona,” Minhyuk hang up the phone as Jieun walked out to the living room. He was sitting on the couch, shutting his eyes tight, while holding his phone.

“What happened, oppa?” she walked towards the sofa and sat next to him.

“Nothing,” he looked at her as he smiled brightly like nothing happened. He had been arguing with Yoona on the phone since ten minutes ago. She still can’t believe the fact Minhyuk left her in the party alone, and told the others to bring her home. She knew that Jieun was in danger, but leaving his girlfriend alone in a party was an inappropriate action. Minhyuk didn’t have any choice other than breaking up with her. He knew exactly that his heart was only for Jieun. “I’ll make you sandwich,” Minhyuk stood up and walked towards the kitchen as Jieun followed him from behind.

“Something happened. Tell me, oppa,” she said while Minhyuk cracked an egg with one hand. He was known as the best cooker in BtoB. He always cooked for the others, but sometimes he was too lazy to do it.

“Nothing, Jieun,” he answered with serious voice. Jieun was speechless because she knew that he was unmood, and she decided to keep silent instead of asking more. As the sandwiches were ready, they placed it on the dining table and sat accross to each other. Without saying anyting, they ate their almost-burnt breads while avoiding to make any eye contacts.

“I’m sorry,” they said simultaneously.

“I’m the one who have to say sorry, Jieun.”

“No, oppa. I’m the one who should apologize. I asked you about something that is not my business,” she apologized and put down her sandwich. She had lost her appetite. Minhyuk regretted everything and felt sorry for her. He shouldn’t have act really serious. Soon after, a brilliant idea came up to his mind.

“How about having lunch together?”

--

“Is it good?” Minhyuk asked as he leaned forward to Jieun. After the awkward moment that morning, they decided to spend lunch together in their favorite restaurant nearby. They usually go there with their families, but it was impossible when their parents were busy with works. It was a Chinese restaurant they used to visit. Jieun always ordered for dumplings since she was young, while Minhyuk ordered for roasted duck. When she was little, Jieun could finish five or six plates of dumplings. But that afternoon, she only ordered for two plates, in order to keep her weight stable.

Jieun nodded and continued eating her favorite food. Minhyuk stared at her happily. That time, he really, really want to confess her feelings to her. Seeing her beautifulness and kindness in front of him made his heart burst.

“Jieun,” he called. Jieun replied with a hum because was full of dumplings. “Would you be my girlfriend?” Boom. The word came out. It took Minhyuk a few seconds before he realized what he just did. After years of stucking in his mouth, those words finally came out. He gulped as Jieun stunned, speechless. She knew that he liked her, but she didn’t think he would say that. She let her dumplings stuck on his mouth, making her look even more cute with those chubby cheeks.

Suddenly, Juniel’s words months ago came up to her mind.

“He loves you more than you know. He loves you as a women, not a sister or a daughter. He loves you very much. You need to try to be with him. I mean, I know you want him to be happy. His dream is to be your boyfriend. And I wish you can fulfil his dream. Give him a chance, Jieun. It’s for his own good.”

“Y-yes,” Jieun replied awkwardly, as Minhyuk’s eyes widened towards her. He was more than happy, more than excited. He was extremely excited he couldn’t even believe what Jieun had just said. He smiled in excitement as he stood up and walked towards Jieun.

“Thank you so much,” he said while back-hugging her tightly. Jieun flinched a bit when he hugged her. She told herself that she need to get used to this kind of skinship they never did before. They hugged frequently, but without any feelings. This time, Minhyuk hugged her with love and care.

After done eating, the fresh couple went out the restaurant and walked around the park. While Minhyuk was still smiling in excitement, Jieun kept thinking what should she do as a couple. Kissing or something other couples usually do were too weird for her, especially towards Minhyuk. She knew that she doesn’t have any feelings for him, but Juniel told her to give him a chance, or in the other word, try to love him back.

Done walking, Minhyuk and Jieun walked back to his apartment. Jieun decided to pack her things up and go back to her apartment. While walking, she felt something a bit heavy on her right shoulder. She looked up to see Minhyuk rounded his right arm to her shoulder. That feeling has finally came. He embraced her almost every single day in her life, but that day was different. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to protect her as a boyfriend. He wanted to protect his girlfriend. An awkward feeling in Jieun made her uncomfortable.

That day when they finally dating was two weeks before Minhyuk’s birthday, and a week before the leader’s birthday. Hyunsik and the others had planned to make a surprise party in Minhyuk’s house, celebrating two person’s birthday at once, without Eunkwang nor Minhyuk knowing.

As Jieun done packing her things up-which was her dress and some other things-, her boyfriend sent her home. She thanked him for everything about last night, while he thanked her for accepting him as a boyfriend. He was still excited about her answer, even though he felt a bit weird because he thought Jieun wasn’t happy at all.

--

“CONGRATULATIONS!!” Sungjae, Juniel, and the other guys cheered for Jieun and Minhyuk’s new relationship. The whole school had known that they were dating, since this morning Minhyuk picked his girlfriend up and went to school hand in hand. Juniel, their best friend, was the happiest person knowing about their relationship. On the other side, Peniel, wasn’t really happy. Even he himself didn’t know why he wasn’t happy. He should have been happy like his friends, but he couldn’t. He kept on telling himself that he had Jessica, and he doesn’t have any feelings over Jieun. But his pure heart just can’t accept that.

From an end of her eye, Jieun realized that Peniel was disappointed. Actually, she was happy if he didn’t like Jieun’s new status at all, because that’s mean there’s a probability that Peniel had feelings over her. She knew that he had Jessica, a girl who was prettier, taller, skinnier, and funnier than her. But Jieun couldn’t help but like everything about Peniel, except the fact he had Jessica.

“Jieun!” Juniel snapped her out from her daydream. She even just realized that she wasn’t in the canteen anymore. She was walking to the class with her best friend, and she had seperated with her boyfriend, since he was in different grade.

“Yes?” Jieun replied and looked at her best friend as they walked in the classroom.

“What are you going to buy for Minhyuk’s birthday? It’s coming less than two weeks!” she sat on her chair while Jieun looked back to her with blank expression. She always bought a present for Minhyuk’s birthday. Last year was a beanie, last two years was a pair of sneakers, while last three years, she didn’t buy anything because she didn’t have any money. This year, she wanted to buy something special for her boyfriend, but she didn’t have any experience in buying something for someone special.

“I have no idea,” Jieun answered.

“Let’s go shopping. On Saturday, Sungjae and I are going to buy a present, too,” she said. Jieun nodded in agreement and straightened her body to the front as the teacher walked in the class, before someone poked her from the back. “Let’s go with Peniel,” she whispered. Jieun’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the name of the guy who was sitting right next to her.

--

Jieun went home with her mind full of Peniel. She hadn’t ask him about Saturday’s plan, and that made her felt odd. To be honest, she wanted to go with him. Other than because he was fashionable and knew what was good for guys, she also wanted to go with him, just the two of them. After that incident in Jeju, the two of them didn’t have any chance of walking together again.

She laid on her bed, staring at her phone, wondering if she should text Peniel. At last, she sent a short, simple message, and he replied it right away.

[3.14 p.m.] ‘Buying present for Minhyuk on Saturday? -Jieun’

[3.16 p.m.] ‘Sure, why not’

Jieun smiled staring at his reply, and started thinking what should she wear on Saturday. It wasn’t a date, for sure. She had a boyfriend, and he had a girlfriend, too. And their plan was to buy something for her boyfriend’s birthday, not anything else.

The girl spent her days in excitement, waiting for Saturday to came. Three days felt like ages for her. Minhyuk didn’t know anything about this, so she kept on hiding it from him.

--

‘Meokgo jago tto dwicheogidaga
Ne saenggage nunmuri nayo
Dapdaphae unjeoneul hadaga heulleonaoneun eumage
Ttwittwippangppang ttwittwippangppang,’ Jieun’s ringtone was heard. She took her phone lazily and slide the answer button without seeing it.

“Ne?” she said.

“WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEAD! IT’S SATURDAY!” Juniel’s voice was heard from the other end of the line. Jieun opened her eyes slowly and remembered about their plan. She took a look at her watch as her eyes widened. It was 11 a.m., while they had planned to meet at 10 a.m.. Without saying anything to Juniel, she jogged to her wardrobe and took random clothes, then ran to take quick shower.

Jieun went out from the bathroom ten minutes later. She took her phone and wallet, as she rushed out the door and took a bus as soon as she was out from her apartment building. The teenage girl dialed Peniel’s number when she got into the bus. After hearing five times of beeps, Peniel answered the call.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“In the shopping mall, with this lovey dovey couple,” he answered. Jieun was knocked down. The night before, she had planned to wake up hours before 10 to prepare. But the new drama, The Heirs, made her slept at 2 in the morning. No wonder she woke up at 11.

--

“I’m so sorry, guys!” Jieun bowed to her friends, half an hour after she woke up. Juniel and Sungjae had been waiting for an hour, while Peniel just got there at 10.30. Jieun stared at Peniel and his outfit. It was obvious that he just woke up, too. His brown hair was messy, and he was just wearing a grey, sleeping outfit blouse. Otherwise, Jieun was wearing a simple, red hoodie, with a grey legging and a pair of pink sneakers.

“Let’s go,” Juniel commanded as she linked her arm around Sungjae’s, leaving Peniel and Jieun behind. When Jieun was going to follow them, Peniel grabbed her left arm and pulled her away from following them.

“Let’s run away,” Peniel whispered as he ran with Jieun behind him. Their hands were still stick to each other. Slowly, he slided his hand from her arm, to her fist. At last, they were running together, with their hands together. Although they ran without any direction, Jieun was still happy, because they were holding hands.

“That was fun, right?” Peniel leaned on a wall in front of a cosmetic shop while catching his breath, as Jieun stood next to him with her hands on her knees. Good thing she came with running shoes that day, so she didn’t have to struggle with sandals or wedges. Jieun nodded in answer, looked at Peniel and smiled.

“Let’s go,” he said as he embraced her while walking to a branded clothing shop. Peniel said that Minhyuk look good with anything, since he had a cute face and nice skin. But actually, Minhyuk was a real man with abs and muscles. After spending ten minutes on looking around, the two couldn’t find anything good and decided to look around the other shop.

As they walked around the mall, Peniel and Jieun had once stopped in front of girls’ clothing’s shop and she walked in, leaving him in front of the store. He couldn’t help but followed her. She looked around and tried some dresses and clothes, but there was a dress that catched her attention. It was a simple, above-knee-length, black dress with white, knitted collar.

“Omo! This is so cute!!” Jieun exclaimed while taking it out from the shelf and placing it in front of her body as she ran to the mirror. Peniel admitted that it was cute, especially when Jieun was the one who used it. It fitted to her baby-face and her milky white skin.

“It’s pretty. Just buy it then,” Peniel said as he walked towards her.

“It’s so expensive,” she sighed and pouted after she checked out the price tag. Jieun really wanted to buy it, but she was afraid her money wouldn’t enough to buy Minhyuk’s present. With a sad face, she put the dress back to where it was and pulled Peniel away from the shop.

“I’m going to buy it,” he said before they stepped out of the shopping centre. Jieun widened her eyes and looked at him. “For Jessica,” he continued. Boom. She was helpless. The first problem was because she couldn’t buy the dress. The second thing, the most painful one was when Peniel said he wanted to buy it, but for his girlfriend. Jieun wasn’t really sure that dress fit to Jessica. Her modelic body and mature face just didn’t fit to teenage-like dress.

Peniel took the dress and brought it to the cashier right away. While Peniel was paying, Jieun hopped out with a broken heart.  As soon as the two of them were done, they continued they plan, searching something good for her boyfie.

“Jieun, wait!” Peniel catched her up when she was like ten feets away from him. She didn’t want to interact with him. Or to be sure, she didn’t want to see the shopping bag where the dress was. As he finally walked beside her, he grabbed her hand and stopped. “What happened?”

“No, nothing. Let’s go. Time’s up,” she answered with a poker face and walked away. It was absolutely obvious that she was disappointed. She herself hated it when she was unmood. It made her feel bad, too, for sure. Jieun jogged away as if she had something important to do right after she was done with her plan. Which was actually she just wanted to spend the day with Peniel, only both of them.

As she pushed the shoe store open, she saw dozens of branded and stunning shoes that were high costs. She admitted that it was hard to choose between those cool shoes, but Jieun decided to buy two pair of shoes-for Minhyuk and Eunkwang- that were equal with her budget. But by seeing how cool the shoes was, she was sure that it might be twice or even thrice of her money.

When she was going to give up and think of another thing to buy, something catched her eye. No, it wasn’t shoes with gold or something, it was a ‘Discount 70%’ banner with a couple of DC-branded below it.

The happy, teenage girl jumped out the store with an excited smile on her face. A moment ago, she finally bought two pair of shoes for her loved one and the leader. The prices was much lower that she thought it might be, so she still had some money to buy personal stuffs. For God’s sake, she was still craving for that dress before. She knew there were still one more similar dress, but Jieun didn’t want to buy an exactly-the-same thing with her crush’s gilrfriend.

Jieun saved pretty much money to buy ingredients for the birthday boys’ cake. Jieun and Juniel had decided to make a special cake for them, even though Juniel wasn’t Eunkwang’s girlfriend, but she still pretended him like her own brother. Peniel and Sungjae were the guys who were going to bring the cake from the girls’ house to Minhyuk’s. Talking about Peniel, he was still wondering why Jieun didn’t want to talk to him. He just tailed her from one shop to another without saying anything.

Actually, Peniel was hiding a secret since long ago. The dress he bought wasn’t for his girlfriend, but for Jieun. He knew she would be like that if he told her that it was for Jessica. But he liked it though. Angry Jieun was really cute in his eyes. He knew exactly that it wouldn’t fit to his girlfriend’s long legs and tall body, so he bought it for his friend instead of buying it for his loved one. 

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A/N: HEY GUUUUYYYSSSS I'M SO SO SORRY I HAVENT UPDATE SINCE LIKE MONTHS AGO! I WAS SOOOOOOOOOOO BUSY WITH MY WORK SINCE I'M GOING TO HAVE THE NATIONAL EXAMINATION IN TWO WEEKS!! *AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* ok.

so i'm here to apologize for my unresponsible-ness(?) HAHAHA i promise i'll update again after the exam. WISH ME LUCK GUYS! xoxoxo

^ SO PRETTY!