Chae Min's head is spinning fast. For the first time ever since she has known Young Do, he has never laid eyes on another woman but her. She has always taken that for granted. Admittedly, she loves his attention, even though sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. 

Questions. She has so many questions. She needs the answers.

"Go home."

That was all he had to say to her. 

The taxi she is riding halts abruptly at the traffic light. Inertia jerks her forward, breaking her thoughts. She clenches her fists. Chae Min is suddenly angry at Young Do. How can he treat her like a child? A toy? A slave? Instructing her to come and go so easily. Especially in front of that dreadful lady.

An unpleasant feeling creeps up her spine. She doesn't like that woman. But there's just something about her.. 

The worst thing is that Young Do took off with that Miss Cha. Where are they and what are they doing now? Are they ex lovers? They sure looked like it. All that angst between the two of them was undeniable. What can they be talking about as at this moment? 

"UGH!" She lets out a grunt of frustration. Chae Min is so sick of all these guessing! The taxi driver checks on her via the rear view mirror. She doesn't even bother to explain herself or apologize. 

There's one question that is repeatedly screaming in her head.

Is she even on Young Do's mind as he looks at another woman?

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Young Do wonders how is it possible that Eun Sang has changed so much. 7 years. He has not seen her for 7 years. After she left high school, Eun Sang moved to the United States with Kim Tan to further their studies. They actually lasted that long. From high school to college to university and to the real world. Kim Won, Tan's older brother has financially supported them and helped them launch their own businesses which eventually became subsidiaries of the proud Jeguk Group. 

And for 7 bitter years, Eun Sang has been constantly on his mind. Not a day goes by that he doesn't think of her. To the point where he even -

"Well, aren't you gonna say anything at all?" Cha Eun Sang practically snarls. 

Young Do snaps out of his daze. 

"Why did you go to my mother's cafe?"

"Wow. That tone." Eun Sang scoffs. "We haven't seen each other in forever and that's the first question you're asking me? Not even a single pretentious 'how-have-you-been?' I must say I'm disappointed."

He stares coldly. He is reminded of Chae Min and wonders if she is home safely. After sending her off in a cab, he took Eun Sang back to Zeus Hotel. Oh God knows why he made such an awful decision. Looking at Eun Sang, he literally feels nothing. This is totally different from the scene that he has pictured a million times in his head. Instead of wanting to embrace her, he really wants to get out of here.

 He picks up his phone to text Chae Min. This earns a loud sour laugh from Eun Sang. 

"Checking on your little girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"So you do admit that she is your girlfriend."

"I never denied it."

"Is this really what you have stooped down to? Dating a high schooler?"

"Yes."

"Tan was right. You've changed."

"The irony."

Young Do presses send and slides his phone into his pocket. He has had enough of this bull. Eun Sang is obviously trying to torment him.

He may not have seen her for years but he was always up to date with her and Kim Tan's news. Rumor has it that she is now a vicious businesswoman, mean to those who work for her and does not hesitate to play dirty tricks to get the upper hand when dealing with others. 

It was not too shocking to Young Do though. She did not turn evil overnight. It happened throughout the years. Each time he receives news about her and Tan, the stories just keep getting worse. Nevertheless, she is successful.

What a perfect picture. Kim Tan, the forever so kind and gentle entrepreneur and his fiancée, probably the brains of the business, together, building their own empire.

'Wow, you need to stop being so envious of others. It's pathetic.' Young Do reminds himself. 

He stands and heads for the door. Almost as if Eun Sang is not present in the room.

"Yah! Where are you going?!" She shouts across the room.

"To get my daily dose of happiness."

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"Puck yeuuuuu!!!"

Chae Min screams into her pillow, muffling her curse aimed at Young Do. She flips around on her bed, facing the ceiling. 

"Ugh, this . I'm so done."

She can't believe she actually felt sad moments ago. Who is he to make her feel so miserable?! She channels all her unhappy feelings and turns them into anger. He is so not worth this. She decides not to give a damn about that old bastard anymore. Don't get involved with that nasty lady. Stop seeing him. Cut all ties with him. 

'But that's obviously not going work. You know you're already in too deep.' She thinks, clearly aware of her feelings for that good-for-nothing man. 'Chae Min-ah, you're such an idiot.'

"Am I over thinking this?" She wonders out loud. 

At this very instant, a noise that sounds like pebbles hitting her window distracts her. She moves cautiously to check it out. Better not be the neighbour's kids again. Mischievous bunch has been terrorizing the neighbourhood. They always act when it is dark, sneaky little things, wait till she gets her hands on them!

She draws the curtains roughly and slides her glass windows open. To her surprise, she sees Choi Young Do standing next to his bike at her gate. His arm is raised, fist clenched, probably holding another pebble, in position to throw it at her direction. 

Their eyes meet. He immediately opens his fist and sure enough, a small stone falls out and drops to the floor. He waves with the hand that is hanging in mid air. Young Do smiles brightly under the street lamp.  

Chae Min almost calls out at him but she manages to stop herself in time. Flipping her signature middle finger, she slides the window back with force, causing a bang in the quiet night and walks away from the window. It's past 10pm and a little too late for this handsome bastard to mess around. 

*thud*

Another pebble.

She wills herself to ignore him.

*thud* *THUD*

Two consecutive throws. The second one hit pretty hard. 

Chae Min finally reappears at her window but does not open it. Young Do looks a little apologetic but he still has that goofy smile plastered across his face. He takes out his handphone and gestures for her to do the same. She reluctantly picks up her phone that she has left charging at a corner of her room. 

An unread message from Young Do an hour ago. 

'R u home? I'll comin over.'

She pouts. 

'Go away. You're gonna break my window.'

He replies instantly.

'Come out.'

There he goes again. Ordering her around like he owns her. What an obnoxious habit! Chae Min is not going to be so easy anymore.

'No.'

'I'll use the doorbell.'

Young Do knows her parents goes to bed early and waking them up will not be a good idea at all. It annoys her how he knows his ways to get her to obey him. 

She runs downstairs, careful not to make any sound and unbolts the front door.

A gust of chilly wind greets her and she shivers. She realises she is already in her pajamas. Luckily, she looks absolutely cute in pjs. Chae Min wants to go back in to grab her jacket but Young Do is observing her watchfully from the other side of the gate. She is not going to give him a reason for him to laugh at her silliness. Sniffing in a cold breath, she marches over to the gate. 

"Come take a walk with me." Young Do says. He has his hands behind his back, standing like a coy gentleman, 

"You know I can't! My parents are asleep and the gate hasn't been oiled in a while, it makes too much noise and wake them."

"Oh. I was expecting you to give excuses like its too late or a straight up 'no' to my face but looks like you do actually want to come out."

"How is it that you got that conclusion from what I said??"

"Call me Mr Psychology."

Chae Min lets out a titter. Why is he acting so doofy?! She can not stay mad at him if he keeps this up. She almost forgets the reason she is angry at him. Seems trivial to her now. She just wants to reach out and hug him tight. It has been quite a while since she last saw him, excluding the little scene earlier this afternoon of course. School has been hectic.

"You're an idiot."

"Come out." He insists. "Climb over your gate."

"Are you mad?!"

"C'mon, you know you want to."

"I don't." 

"Don't be a ." Young Do mocks. 

"I'm not but I do have one." She retorts.

His eyes widen at that remark. He recovers within a spilt second and smirks. So. ing. Cute.

Chae Min sighs, giving in. She walks to the side of her house where the fences are lower. Young Do follows. Climbing to the top isn't too hard but her parents built the darn railings so high, she hesitates to jump. 

"Oppa will catch you." Young Do assures her, extending his arms outwards. His eyes locks into hers. "Trust me."

Somehow at his words, Chae Min just lets go of her grip without another thought and falls right into his embrace. Of course she trusts him, she didn't even think, astounding herself as well.　

“Thanks." She mutters awkwardly as she steadies herself on her feet. She looks for the other side of her fuzzy bunny slipper that fell off when she jumped. Young Do spots it and picks it up right away. He kneels down gracefully and puts it on for her. Still on one knee, he looks up and winks playfully.

This feels like a scene out of a drama, no, this is totally a fairytale cliché. 

She hates clichés.

Unrealistic and impossible clichés.

So why is her heart thumping so fast? 

Chae Min tries really really hard not to blush. Young Do is always doing and saying all the cheesiest stuff and the effect he has on her is unbelievable. 

"Cute.." He struggles to find the word. "Erm, footwear." 

"Yeah." She replies lamely.

She starts walking down the lane, trying not to shiver. Moving around might help keep her warm. Young Do catches up and wraps his coat around her. He is left wearing only a vest and his long sleeved dress shirt.

"Don't catch a cold." He says. That's it? No teasing? Chae Min is about to remove and return him the coat but he presses down on her shoulders and says sternly, "You're gonna keep this on."

"But then what about you?" She asks quietly, revealing her concerns.

He hugs her closely. It seems as though he is never letting go. And just like that, all her anger washes away entirely. Chae Min coughs, she is getting out of breath, being squashed with her face into his torso. He finally releases her, but not quite as he still has one arm firmly around her as they continue strolling down the lane.

"I've got you." He says. Maybe she's overthinking, but the way Young Do says it, it almost sounds like he is is asking a question. 

"Oppa, I'll be here, always." She promises. She hesitates before continuing with a heavy heart. "Until the day you don't want me anymore."

"I can't imagine which fool would do that!"

"Well, when you have someone else back in your life, perhaps?" She kicks the little stones on the street carelessly. The street lamps are dimly lit in this quiet neighbourhood, almost every family has retired to bed at this hour.

"Oh, I see. What will you do then?" Young Do asks. He gets the hint but he wants to know too. He halts his footsteps.

"Leave? Disappear like I've never existed?"

The silence hanging in the air is loud, deafening.

"Please.." Young Do stammers. "Please don't ever do that."

"But it is going to happen one day anyway, right?" Chae Min pushes on. She turns to face him. This has been on her mind for some time now. "When we struck that deal months ago, you made it clear that there will be no strings attached."

" the stupid deal. We are way past that, we are so much more than that now." He says, but his confidence is obviously wavering as he adds softly , "Aren't we?"

"I saw the way you looked at the lady this afternoon." She says after a slight pause, unsure. Her heart sinking as she puts her dreaded thoughts into words. "She means a lot to you too, doesn't she?"

"She did." Young Do sighs.

He is reminded of how Chae Min caught his eye several months ago due to her resemblance to Cha Eun Sang. Fair, innocent and pure looking. Except Chae Min turns out to be perfectly different from Eun Sang. She has her own set of charms and he is now utterly under her spell.

There is no denying of it, Young Do loves Chae Min. And she deserves to know the truth.

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"That woman, her name is Cha Eun Sang. She is Kim Tan's fiancée." Young Do takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "She was also my first love and the only girl I thought I've ever loved. Until you came crashing into my life and made me realise what love really is. The way you make me feel when I'm around you is absurd and the thoughts of you drives me insane when I'm not near you. And this scares me how fast everything is happening, in the span of months, you've made me happier than I've ever been my whole life."

Tears well up in Chae Min's eyes at his confession. Her pretty little face starts to scrunch up. Oh no. Maybe he said too much. Words just poured out like overflowed tank.

Probably isn't the best idea to continue talking but he knows he must. He still hasn't gotten to the big reveal.

"But before I met you, I was crazily obsessed with -"

Chae Min's mouth smothers his, stopping his speech. Almost too shocked to respond, Young Do finds the kiss growing impatient. She tiptoes and wraps her hands around his neck. She tugs at his hair and pulls his head backwards slightly, forcing a gasp out of him. Her tongue brushes against his upper lips and that is absolutely the last straw. He presses his lips hard against her and deepens the kiss. 

As their tongues battles for dominance, he struggles to digest the mix emotions he is having. Relieved that he does not have to finish his story; happy that Chae Min is seemingly certain about her feelings towards him; terrified that once she knows of his shameful past and that dirty little secret he has been keeping, she will never look at him the same way nor talk to him ever again. 

Maybe she doesn't ever have to know. 

That she was not the only one.

Even if she is the last.

No. Chae Min doesn't have to know the first reason he was attracted to her and how he almost turned her into one of his Cha Eun Sang 'dolls'.