“Wait! You’re serious! No!” Jongin gasps in horror.

 

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrow. “What do you mean?”

 

He laughs nervously, eyes darting elsewhere, “I mean...should I...give you a better one?”

 

“You can probably try again, but I think I’d still prefer this one,”Kyungsoo hides a shy smile as he ducks his head in mild embarrassment at his own words.

 

But that suddenly morphs into something of more serious matters.

 

She wouldn’t really, truly, actually, be his girlfriend right?

No! She’s a fraud. She must’ve been lying.

 

Jongin isn’t like that.

 

“... Jongin… Now that I have revealed all my secrets… Is there something you’re hiding from me...?”

 

The image of the long-haired woman passed through his mind again.

 

Jongin pauses at the abrupt change of mood.

 

“Well, um, I…” Jongin seems to struggle to grasp an answer.

 

Kyungsoo could feel the strands of dread creeping into his stomach.

 

No, she can’t be…

 

Just as Jongin opens his mouth to utter his sentence, Kyungsoo squeezes his eyes shut tightly and clasps his hands over his ears.

 

“Nevermind, I don’t want to hear it.”

 

“Ignorance is bliss.”

 

Jongin hesitates in confusion.

 

“What? Why not?”

 

“...Because I don’t want to hear something I don’t like… .Like her.”

 

Kyungsoo finishes his words in an almost incomprehensible murmur, turning away partly from Jongin’s direct eye stare.

 

“What did you say? ‘Her’?”

 

“I didn’t say anything,” Kyungsoo fidgets uncomfortably, inwardly scolding himself for his stupid, stupid selfishness.

 

Jongin freezes, lost in thought for a moment.

 

“Kyungsoo… Did she have long black hair?”

 

He doesn’t respond.

 

“And a height of somewhere around five feet four?”

 

He still doesn’t respond.

 

“Kyungsoo?”

 

Kyungsoo looks up at him sadly, a pout barely visible, “So you do know her.”

 

Kyungsoo is befuddled by Jongin’s sudden laughter.

 

“Aha, are you being jealous right now, Soo? Over a misunderstanding?” Jongin’s eyes twinkle.

 

“I’m being serious right now!” He protests. “But she came here and said something about being your...girlfriend.”

 

“Alright, alright,” Jongin chuckles. “She lied, Kyungsoo. She’s not my girlfriend. You are.”

 

Kyungsoo’s cheeks warm, but inside, he feels a tremendous relief that seems to soothe him in gentle waves.

 

An odd curiousity arises, however.

 

I told you, Jongin isn’t that type of person.

 

(Kyungsoo blinks as he realizes he’s arguing with himself.)

 

Who is she, though?

 

Kyungsoo snaps out of his thoughts by Jongin’s surprisingly urgent voice.

 

“Wait… Kyungsoo… Was she the one who slapped you earlier?”

 

His expression is different.

 

“What? How did you know? I didn’t--”

 

“So she was.” Jongin’s gaze hardens for a second, and Kyungsoo feels his heart beat sporadically. (Either it was Jongin or perhaps it was a heart disorder. But probably for the former.)

 

Kyungsoo is suddenly thrown back to the first time he saw Jongin for no real reason.

 

Kyungsoo leans closer towards the window, and a tall man wearing a worn white T-shirt and red boxers comes into his view, between the panel of shades.   

 

This stranger had gentle brown hair, the type that Kyungsoo knows would feel like velvet if he it.

 

And his eyes. Kyungsoo never saw such eyes that managed to be mysterious yet powerful.

 

He watches, in fascination.

 

Yes, it was that same gaze.

 

A light happiness seems to pleasantly bubble over in his chest.

 

“What am I thinking about?” Kyungsoo shakes his head, scatter the thoughts and images aside.

 

“I don’t know, what are you thinking about?” Jongin raises an eyebrow.

 

“... Nothing.”

 

“But back to the conversation at hand,” Jongin grabs his shoulders. “Was she the reason why I found you lying in front of the door, half conscious with one red cheek? Kyungsoo, you’d better not try to lie. Tell me now.”

 

He drops his head in shame.

 

“Sorry,” he mutters.

 

“I should’ve been able to control myself. Cast all my dumb fears aside. Stare at her right back. And slap her back too. Maybe also drop a few insults and profanity. Like a ordinary, normal, sane person would do. I’m sorry.”

 

“In other words, she was the one who hurt you, didn’t she?”

 

His tone was flat.

 

“...Yeah. But I’m the one who turned it into a big deal, so--”

 

“Stay right here.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Kyungsoo grabs Jongin’s hand out of instinct, “Where are you going?”

 

“Just stay right here, okay?”

 

Jongin leaves a swift kiss on his forehead, one that makes Kyungsoo want to reach up and touch, but then, Jongin’s gone, out the window and down, back into the depths of another world.

 

By now, Kyungsoo’s utterly and completely baffled.

 

Nevertheless, he can’t bring himself to defy Jongin’s three words, and he sits tight, slightly gloomier, already missing the feeling of being full from just a few minutes ago.

 

“You really have to be a about it, don’t you. Doing what you did and coming back here.”

 

His quietly calm voice doesn’t seem to match the infuriation churning within.

 

Jihyun gets up from the couch in Jongin’s apartment leisurely, “I just wanted to meet him, oppa.”

 

“One, don’t call me ‘oppa’ anymore. Two, if you dare touch Kyungsoo in that way again, I will call the police. And three, please don’t come back anymore. We’re no longer seeing each other. Now that this conversation is clearly finished, if you could leave please.”

 

“This is what I like about you,” Jihyun smiles brightly. “You always deal with these situations in a civilized manner.”

 

“I bet you won’t like it when I lose my temper.”

 

“I think you won’t need to. I just dropped by, so don’t worry oppa. I’ll be leaving right now, I have an appointment soon,” she glances placidly at her watch and scoops up her bag on the cushion.

 

“I hope this will not happen again, Jihyun.”

 

“We won’t,” she smiles again. “By the way, your parents probably might drop by. I just called them.”

 

Jongin’s sharp stare falters.

 

“You wouldn’t.”

 

“But, I did.”

 

Jongin stops, his eyes widening in horror.

 

Jihyun waves as she walks towards the front door.

 

“It was nice meeting you, Jongin. I guess it’s bye.”

 

The slam of the front door.

 

Jongin stands there in pure shock.

 

Just then, the front door bursts open again.

 

Jongin give it a glance, expecting Jihyun’s feminine voice and hoping for the simple words, “Just kidding.”

 

But, before Jongin could even dash back and escape to the fire escape,

 

the two men in crisp suits grabbed his arms.

 

 

---

 

And I’m back with a boring filler T_T

 

 

Sorry about this. :I

 

 

(Btw, in case you guys don’t remember, but to “re-jog” your memories, Jongin ran away from his parents in the beginning and got this apartment to escape his parents.

Anyways, Jongin is in some deep in the next chapter; I hope you guys stick with me, even though I update slowly these days. :((( [I’ve been going to SAT prep.])

 

Thanks to all those who support this fanfic!

Leave a comment below because hopefully you know by now how much I like comments. :P XOXO

-KL