“Uh huh… yes… oh yeah… keep going… Perfect!” Ken clapped his hands together and hollered. “You finally got it! Great job!” He shrieked, holding his hand out to his piano student. The student laughed and gave a big high five.

“It’s all thanks to you, seongsaengnim.” She laughed, making Ken gasp and slap his hands to his face.

“Jjinja? Otteokaji, you give me too much credit.” He laughed, moving over and gathering up his stuff on his desk. “Alright, that’s our lesson for today. I’ll see you tomorrow in class.”

Just as she stood up and bowed to him the classroom door burst open, making both the student and Ken jump and look over in confusion. In the doorway stood Raelyn, breathing heard with rosey cheeks as if she had been running. There was a moment of silence, but then she straightened herself out and cleared .

“We need to talk.” She demanded, moving into the room with the hard clicks of her white high heels.

Ken immediately turned away from her and sat his stuff down. “We have nothing to talk about.”

“But just let me explain-”

“Can’t you see I’m teaching a lesson right now?” He turned back to the student and motioned toward the piano. “Play measure 56 through the end, half tempo.”

The small girl just stared up at him with wide eyes. “But, seongsaengnim, my parents will be here in any second….”

He stared down at her cute puppy eyes, then looked over at Raelyn who had her hand on her hip, then back down at the student and sighed. “Alright you can go.” She gathered up her things and bowed to him before scampering out of the classroom. Ken sighed. “What could you possibly want?”

“We need to talk about what happened last night.” Raelyn tried again.

Ken held his hand up as he looked away from her. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

“You got the wrong idea.” She pushed, moving into his line of sight again. “He was just helping me bring my groceries home.”

“Really? Huh, that’s not what it looked like to me.” Ken shook his head. “Now if you’d excuse me, I have to go.” He moved around her and headed for the door, but she quickly ran and jumped in front of him.

“As I said, you saw wrong. We ran into each other at the store and I offered him a ride home.” She explained. “The bottle of soju was not for HongBin and I, it was just for me.”

“I’m sure, and as I just said, I have to go.” He pushed her aside and opened the door, but she twisted around again and stepped in front of him, blocking the entrance.

“You stubborn jackass!” She hissed, making his anger rage.

“You little-” He stopped himself when his eye caught sight of the being that stood in the doorway behind Raelyn. Gritting his teeth as he looked back down at her, he let out a breath. “Leo-Hyung~” he greeted with a sudden pleasant tone, smiling up at the man as Raelyn suddenly jumped away from the door. Ken rolled his eyes and looked back up at his hyung, frowning at the sight of his clothing choice. “Yah, it’s cold outside, where’s your jacket?”

“It’s not that bad.” Leo said quietly with a shrug. He held out his hand, a drink in his grasp. “Here.”

Slightly surprised, Ken took the styrofoam cup. “Thanks~” He took a sip, smiling slightly at Leo. “How did you get here, by the way?”

“I was out walking, so I came here.” Leo shrugged again, glancing at Raelyn for only a split second. "I was just going to wait with you until you went home."

“But, I….” Ken let out a soft sigh. “I really have to go and meet with someone…” He looked from Leo, then to Raelyn when an idea hit him. “I’m sure Raelyn wouldn’t mind giving you a ride home though!” Pointing at her, he glanced from one to the the other. “That wouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Internally, Raelyn wanted to scream and freak out just for the fact that he had offered her up for such a job, much less with the guy who scared the hell out of her. Externally however, she smiled with a feigned brightness. "Of course not~...." She laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

"No..." Leo muttered, and Raelyn wasn't sure if that was him answering Ken, or trying to deny having to go with her. The thought of it just made her cringe a little inside.

"I'm sorry, Hyung~" Ken touched Leo's arm gently, making a sad face at him. "I'll see you at home, okay?"

"Neh...." Leo sighed slightly, touching Ken's arm before the man left, still apologizing to him.

"I'm really sorry, Leo-Hyung~!" Ken called over his shoulder as he made his way to the exit.

Leo let out a small sigh, knowing that Ken couldn't hear him. "I know, you're always sorry...."

Raelyn fidgeted awkwardly, rubbing and tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. The silence in the car was deafening, and made her eardrums feel like bursting. She moved her hand to reach for the radio, and then pulled it back quickly, repeating the move a couple times before clearing .

“So, uh…” She broke the silence with a squeak, causing her to clear . “Do you, uh, want to listen to some music?”

The silence overtook the atmosphere again. Leo shifted in his seat, making the hair on the back of Raelyn’s neck stand, when suddenly his small voice broke the silence once again.

“Sure.” He complied. Raelyn sat there like an idiot wondering if she had heard right, then quickly reached out and turned the radio up. Rather than swift and cool her movements were very jerky, and suddenly Gangnam Style was blaring out of the speakers at 30, making the two of them nearly jump out of their seats. With a yelp she shot her finger at the stereo again, her finger accidentally hitting a button that changed the station and consequently brought on one of Shim ChangMin’s piercing high notes.

“Turn it off!” Leo reached for the stereo and pressed a random button, and a soothing ballad by 4MEN began playing over the abused speakers. After calming down Raelyn slowly turned the volume down to a calm setting of 12 before retreating her hand and awkwardly placing it back on the steering wheel. They drove another block or so down the road before Raelyn decided to apologize quietly, which got her a heavy sigh in return.

Raelyn knit her eyebrows as she took a left. Why does this guy hate me so much? I mean yeah, I guess I did kind of sleep with his roommate, but that shouldn’t be enough to make him hate me. I mean, it’s not like I the guy or anything - he was completely consensual…

“We just passed the house.”

“Huh?!” She took an immediate right around the corner, making Leo fall into the middle console of the vehicle with a grunt. He quickly straightened himself out again, giving Raelyn a harsh glare that she could feel boring through her skull. After circling the block they slowly pulled up to the entrance of the apartment complex; before the vehicle could even pull to a stop, the man in the passenger seat had already hopped out of the car, the door slamming harshly behind him.

She stared after him as he stormed up the steps and through the front doors of the building, letting out a large sigh as he disappeared.

"I seriously don't understand that guy...." Blowing a strand of hair out of her face she put the car in first gear and took off down the road. "I mean, it was only . It's not like it meant anything. And besides, Ken is a man - don’t they sort of kind of, you know, need to relieve some of that... stress every now and then?" She shook her head as she pulled up to a stop light. "Shouldn’t this guy understand that? I mean, he's also a man too... has he never had or anything before? I mean jeez Louise...."

After another minute or so of red, the light finally switched to green, and she slowly began creeping her way into the intersection. "He needs to cut me some slack, I mean come on no-"

She more or less screeched as she floored the brake pedal. Pushing herself as far back into her seat as she could, she watched as a speedy red car ran through the red light, the vehicle so close it could have scratched the front of her freshly painted sky-blue Cavalier.

"YAH!" She screamed out her window. "Watch where you're going, !" She had just sat back in her seat with a furious huff when suddenly there was a loud thump! from the passenger seat caught her attention. Upon inspection she found a small rectangular object sitting on the floorboard. Raising her eyebrow she quickly looked around to make sure that no one was coming. Ducking down, she grabbed the rectangular object, sitting back up quickly before the light changed.

Staring at it for a moment, she realized it had to have been Leo’s phone. Blinking, she let out a heavy breath, setting the phone in the center console before deciding there was nothing else she could do. She had to take it back to him, otherwise there was going to be a higher possibility of him hating her. Once the light changed, she changed her direction, making her way to a place she could easily turn around at and get back to their apartment.

It took a total of ten minutes with all of the traffic for her to get back over to their apartment, park the car and grab the phone. Straightening out as she got out of the car, she locked the vehicle before heading up the stairs to their door.

Once she was outside the door, she took a deep breath, cautiously raising her hand and knocking on the hard door. Before the door was open though, she realized she could hear yelling and carrying on, a few hard hits causing a loud sound against the floor.

“One second please~!” It was HakYeon’s voice, and she wondered if she should have not gone there. “Hey, hey, stop that, don’t jump on him while he’s trying to sleep!” He scolded, seemingly talking to a small child by the tone in his voice.

“I’ll get it!” The door opened a bit, a pair of round eyes looking out at her. They quickly shifted into a sweet eye smile as the door opened even more. “Ah, Raelyn~ What are you doing here?”

“I came….” Raelyn trailed off when she looked around and saw a bunch of little kids running out of the hallway screaming and laughing, a huge form chasing after them with a bright smile on his face. He chased after what had to be five kids as they all tried to run and hide in the kitchen, a playful smile of excitement spreading across the man’s face as he stopped behind the counter.

“Oh no, where’d they all go~?” He called out before rounding the corner and tackling the kids gently, wrapping them up in a hug as he laughed loudly. “There they are!”

Raelyn blinked, a small smile appearing as she watched the display of affection that Leo was giving the children. “I came to give Leo back his phone….” She said, her voice slightly soft as she held out the rectangular device to show HongBin.

HakYeon came up, looking from Raelyn to where she was looking with Leo playing on the floor of the kitchen with the kids. “He loves these kids.” He laughed slightly, then looked at Raelyn. “You can come in if you want, but I doubt you’ll get his attention easily.”

Moving around the two, Raelyn walked in slowly, watching the man as he continued to tease and play with the kids, squishing one of their faces before tugging them into a hug and laughing. There was another set of kids who were playing on the floor in front of the couch, playing with the toys that were spread out in front of them. Raelyn looked at HakYeon curiously, tilting her head slightly.

“I run a daycare. These are most of my kids, but when Leo’s home, they all flock to him.” HakYeon shrugged a little. “So why did you come again?”

“Leo dropped his phone in my car… so I was bringing it back for him.”

“He’ll probably appreciate that later.” Nodding slightly, HakYeon smiled a little as he turned to look at Leo and the kids. “Yah, Leooo~ Raelyn’s here for you.”

Not having totally realized what it was that HakYeon had said, Leo continued playing with the kids for a moment. When he finally did look up though, his face completely dropped upon seeing Raelyn. Huffing a bit, he rolled his eyes in an annoyed manner, completely turning 180 from how he had just been acting with the kids. Carefully getting up, he smiled at the children, promising to return to them as soon as he could.

Once he got to Raelyn though, the smile was gone. Obviously unhappy with her showing up, he crossed his arms over his chest as though to show the irritation. “How may I help you?” He asked once HakYeon and HongBin went back to what they had been doing.

“I, uh, brought you your phone…” Raelyn instantly wanted to crawl away and under a rock just to avoid his cold stare that she seemed to be the only receiver of. “You left it in my car…”

“Oh…” For a split moment, Leo’s expression lightened up as he accepted his phone back from her. Once he had the Galaxy S4 back in his hands though, his demeanor went back to that of an ice prince. Muttering an almost begrudging “Thanks…” Leo turned away from her, tucking the electronic in his pocket. Leaving Raelyn, Leo went back to the kids, his face brightening up again.

Chilled by his shift in attitude, Raelyn looked away, about to make her leave. Before she was able to though, she was called by HakYeon.

“Ah, Raelyn~! Are you busy? Can you help me really fast?” He asked, his face hopeful as he looked at her from his spot in the kitchen.

“Oh, uh, sure….” Raelyn turned and went to where HakYeon was shooing Leo and the kids out of the kitchen like a mother would. “What did you need help with?” She asked as HakYeon picked up a bowl and held it out to her.

“Can you hold this?”

“Sure….” Raelyn blinked in confusion as HakYeon moved more stuff out of the way.

“Oh, and this.” HakYeon held a spoon out, setting it on top of bowl. “Thanks!” He laughed a little as he turned and grabbed something or another out of the fridge.

Stifling a small laugh, Raelyn moved awkwardly into the kitchen as she continued to hold the bowl for HakYeon that wasn’t yet full of anything. “Do you want help with dinner…?” She asked curiously, figuring that was what he was getting ready to prepare for everyone.

“Some help would be wonderful, but you really shouldn’t feel obligated to do that.” He shook his head as he pulled out a carton of eggs and set it on the counter.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” Raelyn laughed just a little, going to where HakYeon was stacking everything. “I’m used to cooking dinner for a full house.”

HakYeon looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, then went back to sifting through the contents of the refrigerator. “Really? I thought you only lived with Lucca.”

She let out a small noise of humor as she moved over to him. “Believe me, living with her, it’s as if I’m cooking for a full house in itself.”

This comment put a large smile on HakYeon’s face, and almost subconsciously he glanced out the kitchen doorway and over at the couch. “Oh, I understand that one.”

Raelyn blinked at him a couple times, then looked over at the couch where she found a tall figure sleeping. By recognition of the hat she had seen him wearing the past couple times they had met, she could immediately tell who it was.

“Does Ravi-ssi eat a lot too?” She asked, look over at HakYeon.

He let out an almost bashful laugh and looked down at his feet for a moment, which made Raelyn’s ears perk up. “Neh. He eats like a horse sometimes.”

She stared at him for a moment, and then tilted her head and narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she was contemplating something.When he called her over, she went to him and handed him the utensils.

“I can understand why he would.” She said as she was handed a box of rice. “With a masculine frame like his, it probably takes a lot of protein to keep up with it.”

The boy’s hand twitched, causing him to drop the spoon back into the bowl. Underneath his dark skin Raelyn could have sworn that she saw a tinge of red flush into his face.

She watched as his eyes shifted back and forth as he cleared his throat and regained his composition.

“Neh, I guess that could possibly be a reason.” A smile crept upon Raelyn’s face as a nervous chuckle protruded from his lips. “I think he’s just fat and lazy.”

“Lazy?” Raelyn cocked an eyebrow and looked over at the snoring man as he turned over on the couch. “I think his guns tell a different story.”

“I started him up a schedule at the gym a couple months ago.” He replied. “Twice a week. Beats sitting around and doing nothing all day.”

“Which, of course, only made his appetite bigger, I’m sure.” Raelyn laughed as HakYeon covered his face in remorse.

“Sometimes I regret it. But, despite how much he eats, I won’t allow him to go back to his old lifestyle.” He emptied out the rice box and stared at it in confusion. He turned it around and peered into the little hole, finding that there was indeed no more rice left. After a moment he huffed and frowned, and then turned to Raelyn. “Could you sneak over to the pantry and pull out another box of rice for me?”

“Oh, uh, sure…. Which shelf is it on?” She shuffled over to the large cabinet and disappeared behind the large wooden door just as Leo lumbered into the room. He moved over to HakYeon with light footsteps, making the older jump and screech when he touched him.

“Yah, Taekwoonie, don’t do that while I’m cooking.”

“What are you making?”

“Hey, are you okay?” Raelyn asked as she peeked her head around the door. She felt the muscles in her neck tense up upon seeing the other man, but as the two went on minding their own business, it was apparent that neither of them had heard her.

“Beef, with some scallion salad.” The older replied as the Leo looked over his shoulder at the boiling rice. “Oh!” He exclaimed before moving over to the fridge and pulling out a large container. Raelyn watched in curiosity as Leo’s face sprung to life.

“Is it finally done?” He asked, swarming HakYeon as he opened the container.

“Neh.” He said, reaching in and pulling out a long vegetable covered in red that immediately made Raelyn’s mouth water. “The onions were really strong when I first bought them, so I had to let it sit for another week so they wouldn’t give you bad breath.”

Mm… pakimchi…. Raelyn fought to hold back the drool that threatened to fall from . She stared as HakYeon fed the food to the younger male. At first her eyes were on the green onion, but as it disappeared into Leo’s mouth, her attention was directed at the warm manner in which he was interacting with the other male. She blinked a couple times, taking note of the hand that rested gently on the older’s back as he was fed another onion. HakYeon moved out of his grasp to wipe his hands free of the kimchi sauce, only to turn back to find Leo reaching into the container for another one.

“Yah, LeooOoOoo~ Don’t eat all of it before dinner!” The poker-faced male stared at older, then bit off a part of the pakimchi strip and held the rest out to the older, who shook his head. “Ani, I don’t want it.”

Raelyn continued to stare at them; as Leo brought his hand back to his mouth and proceeded to eat the rest of the onion, she found that a small smile began to tug at the corners of . It wasn’t until HakYeon jumped and began to fret about the rice over-boiling that she was brought back to her senses. She cleared , grabbed the new box of rice and moved over to him.

“I, uh, found the rice.” She said, holding it out to him. Upon noticing that the short female was still there, Leo stopped chewing and his expression became cold once again.

“Oh, kamsabnida Raelyn-ssi.” HakYeon said with a smile. She nodded in return and hesitantly looked over Leo, only to catch a slight glimpse of his back as he removed himself from the room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Okay, take care Lucca!”

Smiling back at her boss, Lucca nodded. “Okay, you too, and like always, call if you need anything!”She picked up her bag, slinging it over her neck before she started for the door.

"Trust me I will!" Her boss called after her before a paper ball was tossed into the trash beside Lucca.

Laughing, Lucca shook her head before she made it to the door. Looking out as she put her sunglasses on, she stopped in her tracks. Outside in the parking lot was the familiar black car she hadn't seen in awhile. It was sitting right in front of the building, and Lucca didn't even take the chance to see if it was actually who's she thought it was or not. Spinning on her heel, she hastily went away from the front door.

Passing her boss' office, he looked out curiously. "Did you forget something?"

"Ani." She pointed at the back door. "It's faster to go out the back to get to the subway." Leaving her boss slightly confused, she rushed to get out of sight of the front door. Nodding to one of her other co-workers as she made her way down the back hallway, she had to unlock the back door before she could get out.

Opening the door, she almost ran face first into a huge bouquet of flowers, not having expected anything to be there. Yelping, Lucca backtracked, surprised by the arrangement of purple and white flowers. They lowered enough that she saw the familiar face, his eyes brightening just a little when they caught hers. He lowered the flowers a little more so they were level with his chest before he held them out slightly, a smile just barely lifting the corners of his plump lips.

Looking from the flowers to him, Lucca let out a heavy breath, looking away for a moment before meeting his eyes again past her sunglasses. "How did you-"

"I, uh, I knew you'd  see my car, so I came to the back......" He offered the flowers to her once again, biting his bottom lip just slightly in anticipation.

Huffing a little, Lucca took them from him, her finger brushing his slightly. "What exactly do you even want....?" She muttered, subconsciously smelling the flowers, looking down at them even though she tried not to seem too interested in them. Glancing back into the building, she closed the door behind her, her nose still in the flowers, trying to figure out their scent.

"Well...." Ken gestured for her to go so they could go around the building. "I figured I'd come and at least try to make it up to you....." He held his hand out for her to continue walking, but waited patiently for her.

As she took his words into account, Lucca sighed a little. She looked him over curiously, seeing the loose t-shirt and jeans. Turning, she glanced down at her clothes, the big work smocks covered in dirt from the day. "In my work clothes....? Why do you always want to do things when I'm a mess.....?" Sighing again, she walked, followed closely behind by Ken.

“What are you talking about, mess?” He chuckled, walking up beside her. “You always look great.”

“Don’t try to weasel your way out of this with flattery.” She responded, hardly sending a glance his way. “I’m still pissed off at you for skipping out on me last time.”

“I know you are. Which is why I brought you flowers, and a dinner reservation for two at the restaurant at the edge of town!”

“Thank you for the flowers, but I’m not interested.” She replied, speeding up her step.

“Hey, just wait a minute.” He said, reaching out for her hand and catching it in his grasp. “You have to understand. I mean, come on now. He’s my younger brother.”

Looking down at their hands, she paused for a moment before looking back at him and giving him a harsh look. “And you have to understand…” Tugging her hand back, she started walking away again. “It’s hard to just forgive someone when they just up and ditch you like that.”

“Okay, hold on.” He held his hands up he jumped in front of her. He stared at her for a moment, but then let out a sigh. “I never meant to ditch you. I was acting on impulse, and… and it just kind of happened.”

“Oh yeah? And how many more times is it gonna ‘kind of happen’?”

The words that were intended to pierce through his heart instead slowly put a dumb grin upon Ken’s face. “So you are saying that there will be a next time.”

“Get out of my way.”

His expression quickly dropped as she moved around him. After a moment, he whipped around and caught her once again by the hand.

“Wait.” He said. She jerked her arm back, but he only tightened his grip. “Raelyn has the car, so you’re about to head off to the bus stop where you will have to pay five seventy-four just to reach the stop half a mile from your house, where you will then have to walk alone in the evening with the risk of kidnappers, and when you reach home you will find that you have nothing made for dinner, where you will then decide to order six eighty-three of Chinese takeout and then go to bed miserable and wake up with a bloated face because by the time the delivery guy gets there it will be after seven pm and your body won’t have time to digest properly before you go to bed.” Suddenly he felt a smile form across his lips. “So how about you save twelve dollars and fifty-seven cents and let me take you out to dinner, so you don’t have to worry about going to bed miserable or waking up with a bloated face.”

Staring at him incredulously, Lucca blinked slightly behind her sunglasses. “You are so…. beyond ridiculous…..” Sighing, she looked down at their hands again. “Fine.” Looking back up at his face, she had to fight returning the huge childish smile that crossed his face. “Let’s go then.” Waving the hand that still had the flowers in it towards the path that would lead towards the front, she watched him for a moment.

Grinning, Ken squeezed her hand. “See~? It won’t be bad, I promise~!”

“Don’t think that this means I’m happy with you.” Pulling her hand away, Lucca turned, continuing walking towards the front of the clinic.

“Just so long as you’re spending time with me~” he sang.