“Stop it. What are you doing? I said stop,” Shin Hye squirmed and giggled, book still in hand, while Min Ho’s kisses travelled from her shoulders to her neck. Earlier, she woke up and carefully took the book on her bedside table to resume the reading that Min Ho had interrupted last night. And barely even thirty minutes later, she was being interrupted again by the man who had just woken up from his sleep.

“Good morning to you too,” Min Ho whispered in her ear as he reached under the blanket to run  his hand over Shin Hye’s thigh. She flinched at his touch and pushed Min Ho away using her elbow. She wasn’t going to give in again, not when she had a daunting exam coming.

“I told you I have to study,” she held up her book like a shield, giving the eager man the dagger eyes. Min Ho threw his head back and sank on the bed. He let out an audible sigh before covering his body with a blanket.

“I hate school and I’m not even in school,” he muttered under the sheets. Shin Hye smiled and tugged the blanket down, revealing a half- and pouting Min Ho.

“I could say the same thing about your movie. I never get to see you anymore,” she told him bitterly right back.

“Well I hate your movie, too,” Min Ho frowned without looking at her. She reached for his head and started his hair, turning her attention back to the book to pick up where she left off. Min Ho lay quiet and still, his eyes seemingly drilling a hole in her ceiling.

After reading the same line for what seemed like the tenth time, Shin Hye sighed and closed her book. It was useless. Even while Min Ho was still asleep beside her, she couldn’t really concentrate. How much more now when he was awake and brooding? Studying will have to wait.

“Come on, let’s fix our calendar,” she tapped the bed for Min Ho to sit up. She placed the book back on the table and reached for her phone. Min Ho reluctantly pushed himself to sit up and did the same. Both their backs leaned on Shin Hye’s headboard while they stared at their individual schedules.

Shin Hye turned to Min Ho. “Tuesday afternoon? I have a photoshoot in the morning but I’ll probably be done a little after lunch.”

Min Ho shook his head. “I’ll be in China for three days until Thursday. How about on Friday? I have one free day before I go back to Pyongchang to film.”

“Friday?” Shin Hye quickly looked at her phone and clucked her tongue. “I’ll be filming the whole day. How long will you be in Pyongchang?”

“Roughly five days, maybe? It could last until Friday, depending on how things go. How about next, next weekend? I think I can have Sunday free.”

Shin Hye closed her eyes and sighed painfully. “I promised my Mom I’ll go with her to Gwangju to visit my Aunt on that weekend.”

Min Ho bit his lip, his expression darkening. “Are you really sure you can’t have lunch with me tomorrow?”

“My exam’s in the afternoon and I’ll have to spend the morning studying because, well, it looks like I can’t do any studying today,” Shin Hye replied somberly. Min Ho gave her an apologetic look before they became silent and resumed looking at their phone screens. After a while, Shin Hye spoke up. “Do you think I should just ask Professor Do to reschedule my exam? I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Anya, don’t do that,” Min Ho replied, taking her hand and inching closer to her. “I know you don’t like it when your teachers give you special treatment.”

Shin Hye scrunched her nose. “But then what do we do? That means the next time we’ll see each other would be next month.” Her heart dropped at the thought of not seeing Min Ho for weeks. They've seen each other only thrice that month, and that included today. It was getting harder and harder for them to find the time to spend together.

“Wait,” Min Ho glanced down at his schedule. “Are you free on Thursday? I’ll ask the agency to reschedule to an afternoon flight back from Beijing. So maybe we can squeeze in a dinner date?”

Shin Hye quickly looked at her phone. Her expression brightened. “Okay, I think I can do it. As long as we end before midnight so I can have at least 4 hours of sleep before filming at 5 AM.”

Min Ho grinned and raised his right hand. Shin Hye automatically gave him a high-five. They’ve gotten used to working their calendars for a while now, but it was still a thrill whenever they found time to meet, no matter how short. “Assa! Make sure you pencil that in, okay?” He said excitedly as he typed the reminder on his phone.

“Excuse me, I’m not the one who forgot about our last date,” Shin Hye narrowed her eyes.

“For the last time, I told you I didn’t forget. Dong Woo hyung neglected to mention that the freaking interview was going to be at Busan.”

Shin Hye rolled her eyes. “Still. You made me wait for an hour before calling me. Do you know how awful that feels?”

“I told you it was because—” Min Ho stopped talking when he noticed Shin Hye’s mischievous expression. “Cham na. Ya, neo! Come here!”

Shin Hye was about to get out from the covers when Min Ho quickly tossed his phone aside and lunged for her torso, pinning her down the bed. She squealed in surprise as he dropped on fours and hovered over her. “You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?”

She squirmed and pressed her lips, turning her head side to side to avoid his attempts at kissing her. “Stop it! Ya!” She chuckled.

Min Ho moved down and planted a kiss on her neck instead. “I’m going to punish you for that.”

“Andwae!” Shin Hye tried to roll over. She successfully moved to the side, but Min Ho dropped his full weight on her, stopping her from moving. She kicked her legs instead and the blanket slid off the bed, while some pillows ended up on the floor. They were both laughing when he wrapped his arms around her and used his long legs to bind her legs, trapping her underneath him.

“Oppa, you’re heavy!” She struggled.

“I didn’t hear you complaining last night,” he whispered close to her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

“YA!”

She was silenced by Min Ho’s attack on her lips. She involuntarily groaned as her whole body responded to his kiss. They’ve been together for a while now but his touch has never failed to make her tremble. She was getting lightheaded from his scent, his warmth and the dizzying effect of his mouth on hers. She found herself kissing him back and wanting to touch every bit of him but her arms were still pinned down.

Just then, Shin Hye’s phone which was still in her hand buzzed. With all her might, she took a quick peek.

“Oppa, this could be important,” she managed to tear her face away from his.

Min Ho paused from kissing to look up. He narrowed his eyes. “Let me take that and make sure it’s not some other man,” Min Ho grabbed Shin Hye’s phone from her hand and read her text, while keeping her in his tight embrace.

Shin Hye watched as all of a sudden, Min Ho’s eyes grew wide. He hastily lifted himself off of her and continued to look at the screen.

Shin Hye sat up and tried to get her phone back. “Wae? What’s wrong?”

Min Ho gave her back the phone and got up from the bed in seconds. “Ya, ya, ya! We don’t have time. Palli!”

She creased her brows before looking at the text. She gasped. “OH MY GOD!” She quickly jumped off the bed. “THEY’RE AT THE LOBBY???”

Min Ho was already busy zipping up his jeans. “Why didn’t you tell me they were coming over?” He asked with a look of panic on his face.

“That’s because I had no idea!” Shin Hye replied through gritted teeth as her hand flew to her forehead and looked around the room, confused about what to do now. Fix the bed? Clean up the dining table which had all the evidence of Min Ho being here since last night? Find a way Min Ho can leave her apartment without going through the front door?

“Ya, what are you doing just standing there?” Min Ho asked as he was buttoning his shirt.

“I—I don’t know what to do first,” Shin Hye replied frantically, chewing on her bottom lip.

“How about you start with putting some clothes on?”

Shin Hye looked down at herself and saw that she was only wearing her lace nightgown. She lifted her face to look at Min Ho with a horrified expression. “What the hell am I wearing?!”

Min Ho scanned her from head to foot. Her hair was still disheveled, and her nightgown barely covered anything, being cut low at the top and cut high from the bottom. He let out a low whistle.“I personally love this look but I doubt your parents will appreciate it as much as I do.”

“AISH!” She quickly headed to her closet and grabbed a short skirt and a tee. Before heading to the bathroom, she yelled at Min Ho who had gone outside the room to fix the dining table. “Oppa! If they ask, you came by just this morning okay?” She quickly closed the door.

“DO YOU THINK THEY’LL BELIEVE THAT?” Min Ho shouted from outside the room.

“WELL THEN THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE BEFORE MY DAD AND PARK SHIN WON BEAT YOU UP!”

Shin Hye was still muttering under her breath as she washed her face and changed clothes in record time. Never in her entire life did she think she’d be in such predicament. From now on, she would have to refrain from telling her parents about her free days until she was absolutely sure she had no plans with her boyfriend.

Min Ho entered her room just as Shin Hye was going out of her bathroom, dressed up.

“I dumped all the leftovers in a bag and tossed it in t