Twelve.

A little too much.

They stayed there for a while sitting on the couch of her bedroom. Seyoon knew the breakfast was getting cold, but the gentle beats of his heart as she leaned her head against his chest was making her stay. His arms around her were encasing her, almost protectively.

Silence engulfed them like a thick fog and Seyoon was beginning to be more worried of his state. Kyuhyun was never this silent unless he was sleeping. He looked so much in trouble, almost like in pain. His expression was eerily similar to the one she saw on him a few nights before when he was drunk. With eyebrows pulled together in a tiny frown, Seyoon thought hard of ways to soothe him.

Usually when she was trying to soothe a friend with a mental breakdown, she would offer that friend a shopping spree. It works really well for her girl friends so far, but that probably wasn’t going to be the case now. She wasn’t even sure whether or not Kyuhyun liked shopping...

Sighing, she did the one thing that always calmed herself down when she was in a mental breakdown.

Soft tunes of a lullaby started filling the silence. She hummed softly as she closed her eyes, her cheek resting on his shoulder as she tapped her fingers gently on his chest. Maybe he could just sleep it off. That way, he would forget his problems and take a little break from the reality.

If this one didn’t work, she didn’t know what to do anymore to make him feel better.

She was only humming for a few seconds, thinking the deep rumble in his chest was a sign of him having fallen asleep, when she realized he had just snorted a laugh above her head.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, only to find him staring back at her with that familiar, amused glint in his gaze. Deep brown eyes met her hazel ones.

For a second she felt her heart skip a beat. Or maybe two.

When she looked deeper into his eyes, relief rushed through her as she watched the beginning of laughter dance in those sea of chocolate orbs. A true smile tugged up at the corners of her lips. The sight of him being in pain like earlier wasn’t pretty at all, she was relieved to see it gone from his face.

“I feel like a weeping little girl.” He finally stated, grinning.

“What?”

“Your calming method. Humming and cooing. It’s making me feel like a little girl.”

Blushing, she sputtered, “Ah, I didn’t mean to-”

“But it’s working. Calming me down, I mean. Thank you.”

He pulled away slightly to let his eyes roam around her face, to watch her flush pleasantly. Seyoon tried not to squirm self-consciously under his gaze. After a moment, her face was starting to turn a deeper shade of red, he was afraid it was going to turn purple.

Chuckling, he decided to take pity on the poor girl and tucked her head into the juncture of his shoulder and neck. A proper laugh escaped him when when he heard her sighing in relief.

She was relieved to have him pull his gaze away from her.

Kyuhyun shook his head slightly, it never failed to amuse him just how Seyoon would react to everything he did to her.

“What were you doing when you found me drunk at that bar?”

Seyoon glanced up at him, but he was staring at the opposite wall ahead of them, his face carefully masked. She was startled that he was trying to open up that one particular topic at all.

She knew there was something that troubled him, that pushed him into getting himself pissed-drunk that night, so she didn’t expect him to start talking about that one night. Not now, not after he just got another mental breakdown only half an hour ago.

“Why?” she asked.

“Just curious.” He shrugged.

Biting her lip, she tried to remember. “I was on that dinner date... with... um...”

“Guy number four?” he supplied.

“Yes, guy number four.” She smiled sheepishly, glad that he actually cared enough to still remember what she had told him a few days ago, before her face scrunched up. A groan escaped her lips. “I really should stop calling him that and start remembering his name.”

“Why should you?”

“Because he was my date.”

Kyuhyun finally looked down at her, his face unreadable. “Do you like him?”

“What?”

“Guy number four. Do you like him?”

She thought about it before her nose wrinkled. He couldn’t help but chuckle. She was so adorable. “He was... um, irresponsible and a little insensitive...”

“An ?”

Seyoon cringed at the word. “Um, you see, he’s not exactly that, but-”

“Alright, so the guy’s an .” Kyuhyun nodded, as if Seyoon hadn’t said anything at all. “You haven’t answered me though. Do you like him?”

She tugged her hair assessing the current situation. Well, let’s see. She was in a guy’s arms, sprawling on the couch with half of her upper body resting on top of his, and yet the guy was asking her if she liked some other guy even after their passionate kisses last night.

Okay, this wasn’t awkward at all...

She answered carefully. “Um, I don’t think there’s a girl who likes...”

“s,” he finished for her, chuckling. “Why on earth can’t you say the word, Seyoon-ah?”

“Because it’s a foul word.” she told him, frowning. “You shouldn’t use it so often like that.”

“My, you’re such a goody little princess.” Grinning, he couldn’t resist giving the crease between her eyebrows a quick peck. He watched it quickly smooth over as red colored her face when he pulled away. A soft smile replaced the grin on his face. “So you don’t like s?”

She shook her head, smiling back up at him. “No.”

Kyuhyun stared at her a second longer.

He leaned back and sighed. “That’s good, I guess.” He murmured, his gaze roaming her face.

So she didn’t like s. That means he wouldn’t have to worry that her feelings for him would deepen, would he? Because for using her as a distraction, he was automatically classified as an himself. She shouldn’t like him any more than she already did.

He wanted to stop this before it went too far, but he couldn’t imagine losing anyone else. Not after he lost Nana.

And Seyoon was just... too addicting. Thoughts of Nana were completely out the window every time he talked to this girl. Losing her would probably paralyze him now.

He needed this. He knew that much. He just didn’t know which he truly needed; a distraction from Nana, or just Im Seyoon herself.

Seyoon decided to descend to the 8th level Sunday morning. It had been a week since that particular kiss. Kyuhyun had told her that night, when his mouth was full of her chocolate eclair, that he really was her neighbor and he lived only 4 floors down. That was why he could visit her without having to be buzzed in that night; because he was a resident of the apartment himself.

The entire week they had been doing their ritual when she was still in the hospital; him visiting her apartment for dinner, or just spending time with her talking about everything and doing nothing until she fell asleep, because apparently she still wasn’t familiar enough with the new apartment since her weird insomnia still refused to leave.

Seyoon realized – as she lifted her finger to press his doorbell – that maybe the reason why she could fall asleep whenever Kyuhyun was around was because she was familiar with him around.

Why she could feel familiar with him when they only knew each other for less than a month, was beyond her. She didn’t want to over-analyze it. She just did.

Thankfully he was kind enough to accompany her to sleep every night. Watching TV with him in her living room until it was late was becoming her night routine. He would be there from after he was done with his shift in the hospital, until the moment she fell asleep on the couch. And then every morning, she would always find herself in her bedroom, tucked under the comforter with only the bedside lamps on.

So Seyoon thought, might as well returning the favor. Not by keeping him company until he was asleep of course, because he didn’t seem to have the same insomniac problem as she did, but by visiting him and cooking some breakfast for him.

The door was flung open when the doorbell rang for the seventh time, and an annoyed, sleepy Kyuhyun emerged from inside. He was in a gray, crumpled t-shirt and black pajama pants.

He grunted hoarsely in answer, his eyes still closed as he rubbed a hand through his bed head.

Seyoon couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Who would have thought Cho Kyuhyun could be so adorably cranky when he was woken up?

Her soft laugh caught his ears, and his eyes slowly peeled open to meet her face. Seyoon was grinning widely, standing in front of him in a cute, knitted purple sweater that reached mid thighs and a pair of black leggings. Her hair was down, looking soft and glossy as ever. She was looking stylish yet casual and adorable.

A lazy smile – one that Seyoon always classified as a smirk – appeared on his face.

“Well, hello there. What would a beautiful neighbor of mine be doing here at such ungodly hour like this?”

Seyoon laughed again, but it was abruptly stopped with a surprised squeak when he pulled her in and locked her in his arms. Her eyes went wide and her cheeks blushed up quickly.

And there were these mixed signals...

They weren’t dating, but things like this had become normal occurrences to them.

Hugging, kissing, cuddling – doing those couple-y stuff never seemed wrong even though they weren’t tied in an exclusive relationship.

Which was weird... because they definitely weren’t just friends either.

They hugged a little too long, kissed a little too often, and cared a little too much about each other to be classified as just friends.

“Here to deliver my morning kiss?” Kyuhyun smirked down at her pulling her out of her thoughts.

Seyoon mentally shook her head to herself, feeling somewhat relieved.

Nope. Definitely not just friends. Friends don’t ask their friends for a morning kiss.

She grinned at him, patiently waiting.

“What?” he asked.

She blinked. Isn’t he going to kiss me?

“Nope, I won’t.” He shook his head, chuckling.

Seyoon blinked again.

Wait. Was he reading my mind or...

“And nope, I wasn’t reading your mind. You just said it out loud.”

She blinked twice. Then blushed a shade deeper.

“Well?” he said laughingly. “I’m waiting.”

“For what?”

“For my morning kiss.” He rolled his eyes playfully. “You’re here to deliver my morning kiss right? Well, I’m waiting.” He repeated.

Seyoon’s eyes widened, horrified. She shook her head quickly.

“No?” he asked. She shook her head again. He frowned, releasing her from his arms and crossing them across his chest. “How unfair. I’ve always been the one kissing you. You never initiated it. It’s your turn now.”

She bit her lip, considering it. Then she shook her head again.

Kyuhyun sighed and started to turn around. “Well, if you’re not going to do that then might as well go back to sl-”

“Wait!” she grabbed his arm quickly. He raised an eyebrow, challenging. He rolled his eyes when she remained standing there nibbling on her bottom lip.

“It’s not even that hard. All you have to do is stand onto your tiptoes and-”

She cut him off with a quick peck on his chin.

He blinked. “What was that?”

“Your morning kiss.”

He stared at her incredulously. “On my chin?”

She blushed. “I can’t reach you.”

“Stand on your tiptoes.”

“I am!” she exclaimed, scowling. He looked down. Indeed, she was standing on her tiptoes. He laughed out loud.

“How come you’re so short?” her scowl turned into daggers stabbing at him. He laughed harder, leaning down slightly so they were at the same eye level. “There. Give me that again.”

Begrudgingly, she closed the gap between them and pecked him on the lips. But before she could pull away, he grabbed the back of her head and deepened their kiss. When he was done he pulled away slightly, just to look at her stunned face. He smiled at her cherry red face.

“Next time,” he said with his lips only centimeters from hers, his breath fanned her lips, “If you’re going to kiss me, give me a proper kiss. Not a peck.”

She only scrunched her nose at him, pretending to be annoyed, before her face broke into a wide smile and she let out a laugh.

It was really nice to see him in such a good mood. Watching him sad always broke her heart.

She bit her lip to hold herself from grinning like an idiot, her cheeks hurt from smiling too widely. She felt like the happiest person in the world.

They were staring at each other for a moment, smiling, until Kyuhyun blinked abruptly. The smile slowly fading from his lips.

Seyoon’s eyes were so sparkly... and bright... and they were directed to his.

As if he was the only one that she saw in this world.

Realization made him shift and pull a little further away from her.

Kyuhyun knew that gaze. That was probably how he used to look at Nana when she was laughing or when they were holding hands.

He gulped, feeling the weight in his stomach. He tried to smile at Seyoon when she looked at him worriedly.

But the voice inside his head mocked him.

What is it that you’re feeling Cho Kyuhyun? Isn’t it guilt?

He’s just made this girl get tangled along with his stupid game of distraction.

He’s made the one thing that he had tried to avoid from happening, happened.

I’m Seyoon was falling in love with him.

She wasn’t supposed to.

Surprises, surprises. This author is finally back after missing in action for almost a yeaaaaar lol I'm not even sure if there is someone who still reads this story anymore. And I'm okaaaayyy guyysss lol don't worry about me. I've just been really busy and to be honest, a little lazy to get rid of the writer's block lol.

But I missed writing! And I just have to get this out of my system. I don't know if my writing is still descent to be read buuuuuutttt I'm baaacckk and with everything planned out in my head and even written! Yep we're finally getting somewhere lol. Even the ending to this story ^^

You might want to reread this story if you've forgotten about the plot, but it's up to you. I hope you like it :D