Min Ho and Shin Hye spent the rest of the evening together after work. They got to know more about each other, and Shin Hye fell all the more in love with the recent aquaintance. They settled for some Mexican food in a Mexican restaurant in Itaewon. After that date, they roamed everywhere they could and chatted over ice cream.

When a group of high schoolers scooted the road with their skateboards, they could have collided with Shin Hye had not Min Ho grabbed her and pulled her close to him. As their two bodies collided, Shin Hye swore that her body temperature rose. As her palm touched Min Ho's chest, she could feel his racing heartbeat. It couldn't be because of all the walking, right? Shin Hye looked up to him, and Min Ho looked at her. He could tell her ckeeks flushed with all the blood rushing. 

"Gwaenchanha?" he asked.

"Huh... ah... ne," she replied.

He helped her to her feet as the two of them tried to compose themselves. It was a cool night, but why did the events try to heat up? Min Ho put his hand down and s it close to hers to hold her hand, and Shin Hye allowed him to do it to her.

"Are you tired?" he asked gently. "Maybe I had worn you down."

Shin Hye was too honest when she said that yes, she was tired, but she enjoyed his company.

"How about lunch tomorrow?" he asked again.

"Geuge... we have a company meeting tomorrow, and lunch will be served," Shin Hye explained. "Maybe, next time."

"Arasseo," Min Ho told her as he squeezed her hand.

The two of them were too tired with all the walking that they stopped at the bus stop. He would be accompanying her home, with her permission, of course.

****

Shin Hye knew that the ajummas had been spreading gossip in their apartment units that she and Yong Hwa are going to get married anytime soon. She did not want any more gossip to spread, so when some of the ajummas went out of their houses to feed their pets or to remove the laudry from the clothesline, Shin Hye made it a point that they see that she was free to date anyone. As they reached her pad, they saw one ajumma about to come inside her own home. She was holding a basket full of apricots.

"Annyeonghashimnikka, Eomeonim?" Shin Hye politely greeted the ajumma.

"Ay, annyeong, Shin Hye-ya?" the ajumma greeted her when she noticed the tall young man. "Omo, an officemate, I reckon."

Min Ho greeted the ajumma politely and explained that he and Shin Hye are just friends who met recently at the bar.

"At the bar, eh?" the ajumma remarked. "Well, kids see each other at the bar. Must be the change that comes with the times."

She bid the two good night before getting inside her own house. The two young people watched as the ajumma closed her door next door before turning their attention to each other.

"Well, I gotta get inside," Shin Hye informed Min Ho.

"Yeah..."

As Shin Hye was about to grab her keys from her pocket, Min Ho grabbed her other hand and kissed it. It might not be a romantic timing, but to Shin Hye, it was so sweet. After the kiss, Min Ho watched with a smile to see another blush on Shin Hye's cheeks.

"Well, I hope you would not mind if I ask," he told her.

"G... geuge...mwoya?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked her.

Of course, the guys set the pace when it comes to dating, and for Min Ho, he knew it was the right time. Naive Shin Hye blushed again as she nodded, giving her consent.

"Geureom, shall we go out on a date this Saturday?" he asked her.

Shin Hye bit her lips as she thought. She will not have any appointment on her weekends, so a date will be fine.

"Geurae," she replied. "A date will be good."

Min Ho smirked before leaning forward to give Shin Hye her first kiss. As his hot lips closed in with hers, Shin Hye's eyes grew wide open at the kiss, but she later closed them to feel Min Ho's kiss.

****

Jong Hyun and Jung Shin, meanwhile, were eating and walking as they chattered like excited kids. Jung Shin was telling him about the jokes that the company doctor was sharing to him, and Jong Hyun laughed out heartily.

"Ah, I could feel I could last in the company," Jung Shin shared. "I like the environment because my friends are all here, though I have to learn doing admin works."

"That you should," Jong Hyun replied before popping some bits of popcorn into his mouth.

As more jokes flowed out, Jong Hyun guffawed, making some of the unchewed popcorn fly out of his mouth. Jung Shin elbowed him and told him to eat properly.

"Ya, how could I eat properly when all you've been sharing me are jokes? Aigoo," Jong Hyun complained before laughing again.

They happened to pass by Shin Hye's pad when they got a glimpse of Shin Hye and Min Ho talking outside the door.

"Omo..." Jung Shin gaped.

Jong Hyun silently watched without a word. He just grabbed popcorn after popcorn and chewed. What in the world are the two doing? They could not hear, for the conversation occurred far from the road. He swallowed his food and spied on what was to happen.

"OMO!" Jung Shin gaped again when...

Min Ho kissed Shin Hye. Jong Hyun still did not comment, but his eyes grew wide open to see the kiss. And in his shock, he collapsed.

"Jong Hyun-ah! Jong Hyun-ah, gwaenchanha?" Jung Shin screamed as he knelt beside his friend.

****

"Jong Hyun-ah! Jong Hyun-ah, gwaenchanha?"

Shin Hye and Min Ho stopped smooching when they heard a frantic voice. Min Ho cursed under his breath when their moment was broken. Shin Hye ran down the road and saw the nurse trying to revive the collapsed vampire. Jung Shin knew CPR, so he shook Jong Hyun first to revive him. Of course, it is the first thing to do to check for consciousness.

"Wae geurae?" Shin Hye asked in worry. She saw the box of popcorn beside Jong Hyun, with the popcorn littered on the ground.

Jung Shin pouted when he looked at her, and he pouted even more when he saw Min Ho coming behind Shin Hye.

"Aish, he suddenly collapsed," Jung Shin said.

Min Ho pointed at the vampire and instructed Jung Shin to give Jong Hyun a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation already. And Jung Shin frowned.

"Ya! That is not the next thing to do!" he retorted while straightening Jong Hyun on the flat road to begin chest compression. "Be useful and call an ambulance."

Shin Hye grabbed her phone to call the medical rescue team, but good thing, she didn't have to do that. When Jung Shin was about to position his hands on Jong Hyun's chest to begin chest compression, Jong Hyun stirred awake.

"Oh, glad to see you're alive!" Jung Shin triumphantly exclaimed with a smile.

"What happened?" Jong Hyun asked in his groggy mind. When he saw Min Ho, he jolted up wide awake, sat up straight, and pointed at him.

"Neo! You kissed uri Shin Hye!" he accused Min Ho.

Min Ho and Shin Hye smiled as they exchanged glances. The Lee guys looked at them in confusion, and their minds went blank when the two confessed that they are already a couple.

"So... yeah, that's why I kissed her," Min Ho bragged.

"Eh???" Jong Hyun asked as his face turned sour.

"Eh...." Jung Shin drawled.

"Wae? What's wrong?" Shin Hye asked with a smile on her face.

"Ah, eopseo... we're just shocked," Jung Shin glumly said.

Min Ho smiled and introduced himself to Jung Shin, and Jung Shin did the same, though half-hearted. The Lee guys watched as the new lovers hugged and kissed each other goodbye. When Min Ho went off, Shin Hye assisted Jung Shin in pulling Jong Hyun off the ground.

"Gwaenchanha?" she asked the vampire guy.

"How could I be all right?" Jong Hyun asked her. "Do you think I looked okay when I fainted?"

Shin Hye bit her lips as she twiddled with her fingers. She wondered why Yong Hwa did not acknowledged when she called, and she was a bit sad that her two friends were not receptive of her new love life. Knowing that the two sided with Yong Hwa, she begged them not to be harsh on her.

"Aish, what can we do?" Jung Shin whined. "It's as if we can stop you or anything."

Jong Hyun took Shin Hye's hand and looked at her solemnly. Shin Hye realized that Jong Hyun was burning her with his unforgiving gaze.

"That kind of guy, I think I know it," he warned her. "Don't give your heart too much. And by the way, that was a fast courtship."

"A... ara..."

"Don't fall so hard on a bad-boy type of guy," Jong Hyun continued on. "I am warning you because I see myself in him. And if I were in his place, I would never woo such a wonderful girl like you."

"J... Jong Hyun-ah..." Shin Hye whispered. She remembered she had a crush on this man before.

"If there is a wonderful guy out there, it should be someone who proves with actions, not with words," Jung Shin warned her too.

Shin Hye pulled her hand gently from Jong Hyun's grasp.

"I can say it indeed was a whirlwind romance, but don't give your all to him, especially... you know."

Shin Hye knew what Jong Hyun meant because it happened to be his favorite topic. She assured them she would not take it that far. 

"Well, I gotta go inside now," she told the two. "Good night"

She smiled sweetly at her friends before going in. When the door was shut, Jung Shin sighed as he looked at the stars, and Jong Hyun sighed as he looked at his popcorn on the ground.

"Darn, that kiss took the popcorn away from me," Jong Hyun muttered as he squatted to pick up the littered food.

Jung Shin took his place beside his friend to help in cleaning up the mess. "I agree. I don't know how I could tell this to Hyung."

"Na do..." Jong Hyun solemnly replied.

~~~~