Title: It’s All Because You’ve Kissed Me

Chapter 05 : do you not love me? why?

“I can’t believe he made you do that! He actually asked you to do modeling for OUR magazine?!?!” Seohyun kept repeating the same sentences for the past half an hour.

Naeun nodded her head and gave an exasperated sigh. “Yes, he did ask me, unnie. Now would you please cut it off? I’m sick of everyone here making a big deal about the modeling thing. I don’t even know why he picked me. He just wants to embarrass me in front of other people!”

Before Seohyun could respond, Jonghyun popped his head over at Naeun’s desk with a mischievous smile. “Soo… I heard the news…”

“What?” Naeun snapped.

“Aww! Is this girl grumpy or what? You took your medicine this morning, right?” Jonghyun wrinkled his nose and pursed his lips.

“Come on, Jjong! What do you want?”

He smiled mischievously. “I heard Taemin made you the model for our fashion spread next week… Did you flash him your not-so-big in order to get the opportunity?”

Naeun glared at him and before she could smack his head, Eunji did it first.

“Aww! What was that for?” Jonghyun rubbed his head while glaring at Eunji.

“For being insufferable prat, perhaps…” Eunji said as Jonghyun scowled at her.

“Whatever!” Jonghyun shrugged, making Naeun threw a death glare to him. “After all, you’re the one who made Miya cancel the gig...”

Naeun frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t be stupid! Miya is jealous of you!” Jonghyun whispered conspiratorially. “Though I’m still wondering what does Taemin see in you.”

Jonghyun once again received a smack on his head. This time, he only smiled even much wider.

“I’m going to miss the yelling though...”

“It’s a love exclamation, Jjong!” Eunji added with a wink.

“Oh, yess!” Jonghyun squealed with delight, followed by Eunji. Seohyun just snorted while Naeun huffed in annoyance.

“Love? Guys, he makes my life a living hell. How can that be love?” Naeun wrinkled her nose with disgust. “Eww! Just thinking about him and love is making me sick. I meant it! This person has no knowledge about love. He’s a shameless, annoying person. If there’s a poll about a person you hate so much, I will answer it only with his name!”

“Aw! Naeun-ah, I think he’s not that bad…” Jonghyun grimaced at Naeun’s burst out.

“No offense to those who actually like him but Lee Taemin is a true definition of an . He always makes my life miserable and you know what, Eunji, I’m quitting now!”

“NOO!!!” Eunji yelled. “NO! YOU CAN’T QUIT! How could I survive in this club without you? You remember that time, when you got sick and had to rest at the hospital and you were out for two weeks and they forced me to do the layout design? I don’t think so!”

Naeun rolled her eyes. “You’re being dramatic!”

"Same with you!” Eunji retorted back.

“But unnie...” Naeun sighed. “You know how he treats me. I can’t let him to treat me like that, like I’m a crap. I’m a human. I’m one of the club's members and I want to be treated just like the other members. He's always so nice with most of them, even with you, and I want him to treat me like that. Even better if he ignores me and let me do my job…”

“Ehm, Naeun…”

"But no! Instead, he’s making my life miserable. How can he treat me like that?”

“Naeun…”

“That… that… Uugggh!! I can’t stand this anymore!”

"Naeun-ie….”

“You know what, I’m going to….” As Naeun turned around, she almost had a heart attack when she saw Taemin standing behind her and looking at her with an unreadable expression.

The room fell silent, anticipating what would happen.

But Naeun, being so furious and really wanted to struggle him, stood straight before him and looked into his eyes, really determined. “I quit! I'm sick of you treating me like I'm incapable of doing my work!"

There was a strained silence surrounding the office. Taemin just stood there and stared at Naeun while Naeun glared back at him.

“No.”

There were gasps from some people and delight squeals from Jonghyun, Sulli, Seohyun and Eunji when Taemin said the word.

Naeun’s mouth was agape. Apparently she couldn’t find her voice to respond at Taemin’s answer.

“You can’t quit being the club member because you need this in your resume. I know you're aiming for KNUA after you graduate. And you need to have school and club recommendation because clearly, there's no art club in this school, so the only way you can have that recommendation is through this club.”

Naeun fought her tears. She won’t cry in front of him! She won’t cry in front of him! She won’t cry in front of him! She won’t cry in front of him! She won’t cry in front of him! She won’t cry in front of him! She won’t cry in front of him! She won’t cry in front of him…

“If you have nothing to ask, go to this address..." Taemin gave her a piece of paper with an address on it. "You need to do wardrobe fitting now…” With that, Taemin gave her a cold stare and walked towards the elevator.

Naeun took a deep breath, trying to compose herself from crying or losing her temper. She won’t let Lee Taemin to see her going down. No! She would fight back! And he didn’t know what he had just done! He just woke a monster inside her! Lee Taemin, you will find your misery in my hand!

~~ iabykm ~~

I hurt her!

I really hurt her badly!

Taemin closed his eyes with despair and put his head on his hands, grabbing almost all of his hair.

Why couldn’t he act nice to her? It was all what he wanted to do for long time, from the moment he laid his eyes on her. He should have just said hello to her and asked her number, not ignoring her. He should have just said her hair looked gorgeous if she let it down, not making fun of her hair and said that she looked like a mess with her hair down. He believed that was the reason why she always put her hair up in a ponytail, even though she also looked cute with her hair up. She always looked cute to him.

That was why he couldn’t date her. She was waaayyy too far from his usual girlfriends. His ideal type was tall and extremely beautiful with long legs, killer body, big and flat stomach. Not a girl with regular height with cute face, Godsend legs and tiny little thing. Not with that smile that always twisted his heart everytime he saw it, in a weird but comforting way. Not that laugh that always made his heart jumped out everytime he heard it. Not with that sweetness of her that he always heard from other peoples in the school. Not that inner beauty of her that always made guys drool over her that he had to make those guys be scared enough just to be close to her. He did anything. Yes, he did anything. He had threatened most of the male students who made moves at Naeun.

Yes! He was that extreme! He won’t admit it to other peoples. He was falling in love with Naeun.

He knew he felt that way since first time he saw her sitting on a bench in the middle of the school park. How could he be so dumb for not realizing his feeling during the time?

He loves her... He's really in love with her.

He opened the door to the store where Naeun was currently doing the wardrobe fitting.

"Welcome, Sir! How can I help you?" A store staff greeted him in the front door.

“I’m looking for a girl who came in earlier for wardrobe fitting...”

"Ah, Junsu High School... She’s back there...” She pointed at the back of the store. Taemin thanked the staff and headed to the back room. The back room looked like another display room, only it wasn’t as organized as the front. Clothes were displayed neatly on the rack, although some of the clothes were scattered on the white table in the middle of the room. Key, the store owner, as usual was wearing bizarre yet highly fashionable clothes. He stood near the table as he examined a book that looked like a portfolio album.

Key lifted his head from the album and smiled widely when he saw Taemin. “Hey, Taem...”

Taemin gave him a quick bro-hug and looked around the room. “Where’s Naeun?”

“Oh, she’s trying on the dress now. She should be out in a sec...” Key smiled widely. “She’s a lovely one. I’m impressed. She’s even better than that Miya girl... She fits perfectly for the photoshoot concept.”

Taemin returned his smile, half-heartedly. Something was bugging him and he didn’t know what.

Meanwhile Key stared at Taemin, who looked completely lost in thought. Key sat down and somehow, he was curious. It was unusual for Taemin to be so restless and anxious. However, it was the same with the girl inside.

When Naeun first walked through the door, Key was actually stunned. Taemin had informed him that Miya cancelled her modelling gig because apparently Taemin stupidly dumped her just a week before the photoshoot. Words saying that Taemin had another girl in mind but that didn’t concern Key. Key only cared about who would be Miya’s replacement because as much as he hated the girl, there was no one who would fit his design better than Miya. And then Naeun came in.

Key’s design was usually bold & edgy, so having Naeun the natural cute & shy girl as a model was definitely a challenge. How can you dress someone cute with his edgy concept without actually losing her noticeably exquisite charm? Yep, Naeun was definitely a challenge for him. 

And also apparently a challenge for this boy too. Key smiled at the thought of his own puppy love. Despite Taemin being 18, but he was actually matured beyond his age. Afterall, he was raised in a wealthy family. So if he had a lot of girls in his past, it was understandable. He was rich, smart and very good looking. It would be weird if he didn’t have a lot of girlfriends these days. Everyone seemed to fall into his charms. Noonas, dongsaengs.. every girl. He could have every girl he wanted.

But it seemed different with this girl. Hence, everything was different with this girl. Key knew Taemin’s ideal type. He usually brought them here for shopping too. His type was y girls, model-like figure and apparently with a brain in a size of peanut. Naeun didn’t seem to be like Taemin’s usual girls. She was a cute girl, with average height and also average body. But when she was standing before him then, only wearing tank top and shorts, he must admit that the girl had the most gorgeous legs that she hide under her jeans. So he decided to make her use low dresses that showed off her legs.

Naeun was nervous, but Key sensed the excitement as well. Confusion laced with excitement. She obediently cooperated with him and made his job easier. If only all the girls he had worked with were just like her, maybe he would finally get some good sleep at night.

"Taemin, can I ask you something?"

"Hmmm..." Taemin answered distractedly. "Why?"

"Do you love this girl?"

"WHAT?! NO!!!" Taemin exclaimed in protest.

Key smiled mischievously. "Ah, so you love her?"

Taemin diverted his eyes.

Key laughed. “Do you want my advice?"

"No, I don't."

"Don't break her heart. She seems like a really sweet and nice girl. She's not usually your type of girl, the one who can dismissively ignore your arrogant attitude. Also, what happened earlier? She's excited for sure, but she seems upset about something..." Now, Taemin looked guilty and Key wondered if the girl was upset because of him. Maybe he shouldn’t interfere to their problem. It seemed like their problem is bad enough already.

“Okay, okay!” Taemin finally gave up. “She was upset because of me. I said terrible things to her and now I wish I didn’t say those things. It was horrible and I feel like I’m the worst man in the world…”

Key smiled. “Looks like you got it bad for this girl. She’s really special, isn’t she?”

Taemin turned his head to look at Key and nodded. “Yes, she is…”

“Then what are you doing here? Go to her and apologize. You should tell her what you feel about her…”

“Do you think I should talk to her? You mean, actually tell her about how I feel about her? About me who's crazy about her?”

“Yes. I think you should. Beside she's the one who should hear those things that you’ve just said. Not me…” Key laughed.

Taemin took a deep breath before he stood up. “Okay then…” He adjusted his shirt nervously. “I can do this! I can do this! I can do this! Wish me luck, Key!”

Key held two thumbs up and smiled widely when Taemin walked towards the curtained fitting room. He stopped right in front of the curtain and took a deep breath. He released it the same time he opened the curtain. And what he saw behind the curtain made him dumbstruck and amazed.

He was faced by the sight of soft, silky and delicate skin of Naeun’s.

Taemin’s mouth was agape when he stared shamelessly at Naeun. She was wearing a white creamy dress with zipper on its back but apparently she had trouble with the zipper. The zipper was stuck just above her hips and leaving the bare skin, that unbelievingly delicate skin, to be seen by Taemin.

“Oh, thank God, you’re here. It’s stuck…” When Naeun lifted her head, she was stunned to see Taemin stood behind her. Her hands stopped in the middle of her waist.

Taemin cleared his throat, in order to get his voice back. “Wow!” was the word he could manage to get out from his mouth when he saw Naeun standing before him, looking so gorgeous with that beautiful dress on her. The dress touched her knees but had cuts on the side of the dress that reached her middle thighs. Her hair flowed down softly and curlier on her bare shoulders.

“Wow?” Naeun frowned, despite her embarrassment for being caught in this situation. She was just astonished to see Taemin staring shamelessly at her especially after he humiliated her in front of club members.

Taemin looked slightly surprise at Naeun’s coldness then remembered what he had done before to her. He smiled uneasily, trying to make a step closer to her but stopped when Naeun threw a piercing look at him from the huge mirror in front of her.

Taemin cleared his throat. He couldn’t think something to come up from his mouth. “Mmm… I’ll help you…”

“What?” Naeun still glared at him.

Suddenly Taemin felt his cheeks reddened. “Well… Mmm.. I know you’re very uncomfortable now… And I… Ehm… I can help you with that…” Taemin nodded to the revealing dress and saw a hint of doubt flickered on Naeun’s eyes. “Well, you can’t argue with me in that situation…” Taemin couldn’t help to grin and happy to see Naeun pondered to accept the idea now.

“Well…”

Now, she was thinking. Taemin could see her struggle for letting Taemin help her or not on her face and smiled slightly. But he hid his smile when Naeun was looking at him with doubtfulness on her face.

“Mmmm….”

She seemed so frustrated but he couldn’t help to feel so happy about it.

Then, she sighed. “Fine! Help me! And I’m not going to say please!”

Taemin grinned and approached her. His eyes locked into her eyes through the mirror. Her glaring eyes met his adoring eyes.

When finally he stood behind her, staring at her back, he had to gulp in order to get his nerves back to normal. But it didn’t work.

She was a goddess. She was…

Taemin touched the zipper, carefully trying to touch the skin underneath it.

Both of them took a sharp breath. Both felt a jolt of electricity and Naeun felt tingly at the spot Taemin touched briefly.

He had to restrain himself from groaning when he touched her skin and he could feel Naeun stiffened at his touch. He held up his gaze and met Naeun’s bewildered eyes. He brought the zipper up in the slow, torturous motion as his fingertips grazed her skin lightly, almost unnoticeable. But Taemin was sure that Naeun could feel every single touch he made. He could feel Naeun shivered and her expression looked shock, but surprisingly, she didn’t pull back from his touch. It made Taemin’s inside did the somersault.

When he finished lifting up the zipper to close her back, he still held his gaze through the mirror and he could see Naeun staring at him with unreadable expression. She didn’t seem mad or embarrassed. He just didn’t know what she was thinking right now and he wished he knew…

“What are you doing, Sunbaenim? You do remember that I’m your dongsaeng, right?”

Taemin was taken back at Naeun’s tone when she asked the question. It was cold and furious.

“Wh-what?”

Naeun laughed bitterly. “Yeah, I’m your dongsaeng, remember? But you don’t have a right to treat me like I’m a cheap ! You treat me like I’m a dirt! Like I’m… I’m your ! That you could always use me! Like I’m your slave!” Naeun suddenly erupted into shouting.

“Naeun… Listen…” Taemin was so confused and had no idea why Naeun became so angry. Naeun took a deep breath and sat on the small sofa inside the fitting room. She groaned quietly while burying her head in her hands.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to... It's just ..." Naeun stopped and sighed.

Taemin took a deep breath and knelt in front of her. Hesitantly he took Naeun’s hand that was on her lap. She stiffened but she didn't pulled away. That made Taemin felt more confident to lace their fingers together. She raised her head and looked at Taemin. Taemin always thought that she was beautiful but she never looked as beautiful as now.

“Why?” Suddenly she asked the question while she looked through his eyes.

Taemin looked confused.

“Why are you so cruel to me? What have I done to you?” Naeun stared directly into his eyes.

Taemin raised his hand and caressed the side of Naeun’s face. He felt so guilty and ashamed. He would do anything to turn back the time. But he knew now it was too late. It was already messed up. He was messed up. He hurt the most important person in his life and he wondered if there was a second chance for him.

“No, it’s not you…” Taemin stared at Naeun’s lips. “It’s me… It’s me who messes up everything. I shouldn’t… I know… I…” Taemin stared at Naeun’s eyes while bringing his face closer. “I should have done this from a long time ago…”

And he kissed her. Soft, chaste and comforting kiss. Her kiss was intoxicating. Her kiss was addicting. She was addicting.

Taemin cupped Naeun’s face when he deepened the kiss and groaned when he felt Naeun started to kiss him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gently swooped her tongue lazily against Taemin’s lower lip.

“Naeun… Naeun…” Taemin whispered her name against Naeun’s lips when they pulled away to catch a breath.

Naeun jerked him away from her body. She stared at him, shockingly. Taemin felt like his heart was about to burst when he saw Naeun’s astonished look.

“Naeun…” He called.

Naeun stood abruptly. “I must go! Now! Sorry... Mmm… I’ll… No…” She stumbled to collect her things while Taemin watched her hopelessly. He didn’t know what to do. She didn't cast a single glance toward him.

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Thank you for reading and please kindly review.