You already ran for around 15 minutes but there was still no sign of Leo. You stopped to catch your breath while carefully scanning the crowds with both hands rested on your knees.

, Leo! Where the hell are you!?

You were breathing out a deep sigh when Hyuk suddenly approached you. Body slightly hunched from exhaustion.

“Did you find him?”

You shook your head and you could hear him cursed under his panting breaths. He was sweating like crazy and his hair was already messy, probably from running too fast.

“I will go that way. You could try that way, ___. Just quickly bring him to the café when you find him, okay?” He pointed at a small alley on your right. You haven’t tried to look there, so you obediently nodded.

Hyuk gave a soft pat on your shoulder before he started to run again.

You narrowed your eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of Leo. But somehow, he was just too invincible to be found. You were too tired to run, so you decided to look for him by walking.

You were making your way to the alley when you saw Ken ran from one store to another. His big eyes looked even bigger as he searched for Leo. You bit your lower lip and became even more worried than before.

“Leo… I hope you’re okay.” You sighed as you walked through the most crowded area of Myeongdong market. It was suffocating and with your current state, you felt like you could pass out anytime.

You stopped in front of a men’s clothing store and slowly craned your neck. You saw several boys inside but none of them looked like Leo.

You sighed deeply as you found nothing.

“. It’s already dark…” You stared at the sky.

You closed your eyes and you could swear you were almost crying. With both palms balled into fists, you leaned your body on the store’s glass window.

Oh my God, Leo… where are you? Where in the world are you…??

You continued to walk while mumbling the same words in your head. But your legs suddenly gave up, so you had no other choice but to moor on a wall. You slowly slumped to the cold ground with both arms hugging your sore legs.

“Oh no… not in a time like this, please…” You rested your head on your knees.

You’ve already walked for three hours before, and now you suddenly had to run here and there in one of Seoul’s biggest shopping districts. Your legs just simply couldn’t take it anymore.

You took your cell phone out from your pocket and were about to give N a call when you suddenly caught a familiar figure in front of you.

“Leo……?”

You gasped his name when you saw his back. He was squatting in front of a glass window and he didn’t seem to notice you. You slowly approached him to get a better view of his face. But what you saw in the next few seconds was something that you would never forget for your entire life.

Leo was smiling.

”L-leo…” You whispered his name again and wiped the tears off your eyes.

Finally! I found you! Leo…!

You forced yourself to walk even faster. You were too happy that you actually forgot about your sore legs. You were about to call his name when your eyes suddenly perked up in surprise.

He was giggling.

Leo, the cold and thick-skulled man who always had a ruffled look on his face, was laughing in front of you. You couldn’t believe what you just saw. And for a moment there, you thought you mistook him as someone else.

You repeatedly blinked your eyes a few times, hoping that it was just an illusion. You then pinched your cheek to make sure that you weren’t dreaming. And much to your surprise, you weren’t. He’s real. The Leo in front of you was real.

You shifted your gaze to see what was behind the glass window, to see the thing that had melt Leo’s cold heart. Your eyes widened as you saw kittens and puppies adorably crawled inside a plastic colorful box.

You looked up at the neon sign hanged above the glass window and found ‘Myeongdong Pet Shop’ words displayed on it. You had your lips formed into an ‘O’ as you looked at Leo with a smile.

So, he likes little animals, huh?

You took another step forward before eventually skidded and stopped. You became somewhat hesitated to call him because you knew that once you did, the smile would immediately vanish from his face. And you didn’t want that to happen. You wanted to see him smile, even just for a second longer.

Leo didn’t even know that you were there. He was too busy playing with the kittens and puppies from outside the glass window. You watched him for another couple of minutes when he finally shifted his body and stood up, with shopping bags firmly gripped in his hands.

“Annyeong…” He slightly waved at the pets as he whispered.

You were too amazed with what you just saw. Because for all this time, you had always thought that Leo was just a heartless prick who only knew how to hurt people’s feelings with his cold attitude. You could never read his expression and you used to have hunches that he secretly hated you.

Leo turned his body, and the moment his eyes met with yours, he nearly stumbled backwards from shock. His eyes were wide opened and you gasped in response. He caught you staring at him and that made you somewhat nervous.

“You… since when were you here?” His body stiffened as pinkish shades started to appear on his white cheeks.

You looked away with slightly blushed face, hand awkwardly scratching the back of your neck, “Uh, umm… j-just a couple of minutes ago.”

Leo cautiously gulped. He knew that you clearly saw what he did back there. He knew you saw him smiled and waved his hand like an idiot at those little animals. And for that, he was freaking embarrassed.

“W-we… we were looking for you…” You finally cut the awkwardness.

Leo stared at you in silent.

You turned your head and locked your eyes on his. “You… you didn’t come to the café and we got worried. We thought something bad happened to you…”

Leo felt guilt rushed into him right away. He finally realized how dark the sky had become as he started to feel cramps on his knees.

Great. I didn’t even realize that I already squatted in front of the pet shop for nearly an hour. I’m so stupid.

He quickly cleared his throat, “Sorry. You see, nothing bad happened to me. I just lost track of time when I passed by this pet shop.”

“I-it’s okay! It’s just that… we’re worried. We have no idea how to contact you either since N said that you don’t have a cell phone. So… we searched for you like crazy.” You looked down, hand still scratched awkwardly.

The two of you just stayed silent because you both were shy. First, because you just saw the other side of his that you had no idea it existed.  Second, because for Leo, you were the first to saw this side of him.

Leo cleared his throat again to get rid of the awkward silent. “Shouldn’t we go now? You said they were worried…”

You immediately raised your head, “Oh! Y-yeah! Let’s go…”

Leo didn’t say anything. He just nodded in response as he walked passed you. You were about to follow him from behind when the soreness on your legs became even stronger and you couldn’t help but hissed in pain.

My legs… I can’t walk anymore.

Leo was already like five meters ahead of you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to yell and asked him to wait for you either. As much as you didn’t want to trouble him, you knew he would hate to see you like this. So you tried to force yourself to walk with your shoulder leaned on the wall as a support.

Few minutes had passed and Leo eventually noticed that you were not behind him. He turned his head and had his eyebrows furrowed when he saw you walked so slowly with a pale face.

“Are you okay?” He walked back to you.

“Y-yes! I’m okay! J-just… just go to the café, I believe everyone is already waiting for you. I’ll just walk slowly because you know… I’m kind of tired. Haha!” You forced a laugh to hide your pain.

Leo frowned and he knew that you were lying. He stared at your legs and noticed that they were trembling. He then shifted his gaze to your face. Only to see cold sweats fell from your head.

Did she hurt her legs or something? Don’t tell me it was all because she was looking for me…

Leo sighed as he stopped eyeing your body. You looked at him and flashed a fake smile, “W-what’s wrong?”

He shook his head and suddenly squatted in front of you, “Get on.”

“W-What!? Why… no! It’s okay! I-I can walk by myself!” You refused in panic.

Leo growled as he pulled your wrists with force and slung them on his shoulder. You stumbled to the front and let out a yelp as your chest landed on his back.

“Don’t lie. You can barely move with those legs.”

Your face instantly blushed and you couldn’t hide it anymore. You sighed as you finally gave up and let him carry you on his back, “I’m so sorry… I just don’t want to trouble you, Leo…”

“Help me with these until we reached the café.” He gave his shopping bags to you and you quickly took them. “And no need to apologize. Just hold on tight.”

Your face reddened as you hesitantly wrapped your arms around his neck. You could feel the warmth of his body. You also noticed how sweetly scented his hair was, despite of the fact that you two were using the same kind of shampoo. When you accidently had your fingers brushed his neck, you were surprised on how smooth his skin actually was.

People started to look at you two, but somehow you didn’t feel embarrassed at all. You even closed your eyes and let your head rested on his shoulder. You felt really comfortable and deep inside, you secretly wished for this moment to last forever.

“Is it because of me?” Leo suddenly asked.

“W-what?!” You quickly opened your eyes and looked at him.

“Your legs… is it because of me?” Leo repeated his question with eyes focused to the front.

“Actually… kind of. If only you and N had wrapped your shopping spree a bit earlier then I think it wouldn’t have become this worse.” You joked.

Guilt hit him, “…Mianhae.”

You quickly chuckled, “I was just joking, Leo. It’s fine, really! Maybe I really need to work out more, that way I won’t easily get tired like this.”

You were hoping to see Leo smirked or maybe let out a small chuckle in response, but he didn’t. You could see how guilt crossed his face and you blamed yourself for that.

“Leo…” You whispered to his ear, “You don’t need to feel guilty. I’m really fine. I’m not as weak as you think. I’m your saviour, remember?” You tried to wash away the tensed look on his face.

“You are tired… but you still looked for me?” He slightly slowed his step down.

You tilted your head in confusion, “Of course! Look, what if something bad really happened to you!? Even if I was dying, I’d still look for you… babo!” You softly patted his neck as you mumbled.

Leo smirked. As expected from a ‘saviour’, huh?

“Umm… Leo?” You called him and he hummed in response.

“You… you really like animals, don’t you? I-I’m sorry to say this, but… I saw you smiling widely in front of the pet shop. I… I mean, I never thought that you could smile like that…“ You stuttered.

Leo just went silent and you suddenly felt an urge to sew your lips with thick thread.

“I-I’m sorry! Just forget everything that I said, okay!” You yelped as you silently cursed yourself.

“…Yes.”

You stared at him again, “H-huh…?”

“I like them. I like animals.” He continued, “I don’t know why, but I feel really happy when I see them. I don’t even know how I can smile like that…” His soft voice was like music to your ears.

“I see… I like animals too! They’re cute, right?” You smiled in response.

“Yes… very. Very cute.” He nodded.

You could swear you saw Leo tried to hide his smile by biting the corner of his lips.

“Do the others know about this?”

Leo shook his head, “No, they don’t. I don’t think they’ve seen me in front of animals before…”

“So I’m the first?” Your eyes sparkled in excitement.

He cleared his throat nervously, “I guess so. You better not tell the others about this. I don’t want to be the center of their jokes.”

You giggled happily. You felt so glad to be the only one who knew about this adorable side of Leo.

“I promise I won’t… and thank you, Leo.” You nodded.

“For what?” He asked back with a straight face.

“For letting me know this side of yours. I feel… really grateful.” You smiled widely as you tightened your grip on his neck, hugging him.

Thank you for showing me your sweet and affectionate side, Leo.

You’ve always wanted to know the boys better. So you felt really grateful when Leo opened himself to you.

“Oh, I should thank you for giving me a piggyback ride too, right?” You laughed.

He chuckled in response, “No problem. I’ve made all of you worried after all.”

“No, really! Thank you, Leo…!” You giggled on his back.

Leo secretly smiled as he whispered. You’re welcome, ___.

“JUNG LEO!!!” N yelled and the whole café stared at him in shock.

Leo casually put you down so you could sit on the chair. You mouthed him a ‘thank you’ as you returned his shopping bags to him.

N had his arms crossed with foot tapped impatiently, “And what is this!? Why were you carrying her on your back!? Did something happened?! You better explain--”

He quickly smothered N’s mouth with his hand and pushed him back to his seat. He always looked annoyed whenever N was around, but to have him yelled like this was what pissed Leo the most.

“Mmmphhh!” N struggled as he tried to yank Leo’s hand from his mouth, but Leo just won’t let go.

“G-guys! Please stop! People are staring, you know!” You whispered to them and Leo finally stopped.

“YA!” N shot him a glare, “What the hell is wrong with you!?” He then shifted his gaze to you, “___, are you okay?! What happened, really?!”

“Yes, I’m okay. So please, calm down. No need to be in panic. Nothing happened, N. Really.” You assured him.

N glared back at Leo who sat silently on his seat while flipping the menu, eyes locked on the list of the drinks.

“Aishhh… jinjja!” N puffed his cheeks as he took out his phone and called Ravi.

“Ya, come back. Leo’s here. ___ is also here. Make sure to tell Ken, Hongbin and Hyuk to stop searching too. Hurry, we should go home now.” N hung off the call even before Ravi could utter a word.

You shook your head.

Wow… N really looks like a nagging mother when he’s like this.

“So, mind to explain?” N crossed his arms again as he leaned back in his seat, “Tell me, ___. Where did you find him?”

You could see his face turned serious and you couldn’t help but gulped nervously. As the eldest of the six, N must had developed a sense of responsibility towards the other five. Whatever happened to them would always be partly his fault, and it can’t be helped. And incidents like today must have made him worried a lot.

“Umm… I-I… I found him at…” You stuttered like an idiot.

You knew you couldn’t let N knows about what happened back then, but you had no idea how to trick him either.

“--I found a new clothing store on my way to this café. So I ended up shopping again until I lost track of time. That’s it. I’m sorry. You don’t need to be worried and stop blaming me because I’m tired. Now let’s just wait for the kids to come back so we can go home and rest.”

You had your jaw dropped to the floor. That was the first time you heard Leo spoke that long. He then secretly nodded at you as he stood up and headed to the cashier to order some drink.

N stared at him with mouth gawked speechless as well, “That jerk. He sure knows how to shut me up.”

“Don’t blame him. Even Leo did mistakes too sometimes, right?” You chuckled.

He shifted his gaze to you, “Then what about you? Why did Leo give a piggyback ride to this café?”

You pointed at your legs, “Oh, it’s because I can’t walk anymore, so Leo offered to carry me on his back.”

N eyed your legs and sighed, “Sorry… I guess I spent too much time shopping today. It’s all my fault. I’m sorry.”

“N-no! It’s okay, really!” You smiled, “It’s worth it though… I get to see something interesting today!”

“What kind of thing…?” N tilted his head. You glanced at Leo and started to giggle again, “Nothing! It’s a secret~”

You were actually referring to Leo’s other side that you saw today, but N was completely oblivious about it. He noticed how you kept on staring at Leo and giggled happily. He furrowed his eyebrows as he felt a throbbing pain in his heart.

N suddenly grabbed your hand, “Stop looking at Leo. I’m jealous.”

“Huh?” You turned your head to him and caught him stared deeply into your eyes. You doubt that he was serious about it, but somehow you couldn’t help but blushed. Still, you were sure that it was just a joke so you ended up laughing.

“Hahaha… okay okay, I’ll just look at you, then.” You joked, but his grip on your hand grew even tighter.

You stopped laughing as you noticed that he was not actually joking. With eyes still locked on yours, he then suddenly leaned closer and whispered something to your ear.

Your eyes widened in surprise as you gasped loudly, “W-what did you say!?”

“What did he say?”

You quickly turned your head and saw Ravi, Ken, Hyuk and Hongbin as they marched towards the table. You could see sweats fell down like rains from their heads. Even Ravi’s uniform was all drenched in sweat.

“Nothing…” N leaned back with a wide grin on his face.

Your face was as red as a tomato and Hyuk grew even more confused. He then placed his forehead on yours, “Why is your face so red? Are you having a fever or something?” He mumbled.

“N-nothing!” You pulled back and shook your head in embarrassment. Eyes fixed to the ground.

Leo finally returned to his seat with a cup of hot latte in his hand. Hongbin then greeted him with a sigh, “Leo~ where in the world have you been!? We searched for you everywhere!”

Leo just sat on his seat quietly while taking sips of his drink.

“Ya, I feel like dying you know! You don’t know how hurt my legs are right now! You should give them a massage when we get back home!” Ken pouted, but Leo just glared at him and continued to savor the latte.

“Man, don’t ever do this kind of thing again. Please. You got us worried to death.” Ravi took off his blazer and fanned himself.

“…Sorry.” Leo answered briefly and Ravi sighed in response.

“Okay, let’s go back home now and take some rest. We need to wake up early for school tomorrow!” N stood up and gathered all of his shopping bags.

“Awww man, can’t we just skip school for tomorrow? I think I really need to sleep... A LOT of sleep.” Ravi started to yawn.

“No! Don’t ever think of skipping school or I’ll make sure that you’ll never wake up from your sleep again, Kim Ravi.” N threatened. He pointed his finger at Ravi and started to wiggle it, rendering Ken and Hongbin to burst out a laugh.

When the boys were having a good laugh, you got yourself somewhat occupied in your thoughts. What N just said to you some minutes ago, still rang inside your head like a chant. And somehow, you couldn’t get it out of your head.

N glanced at you and chuckled.

Poor girl~ she must be thinking about it. ___, why are you so freaking cute?

Suddenly, you felt a pat on your shoulder and you quickly jumped out with a yelp, “God! W-what the… Ken! You surprised me!”

“Aigoo… what are you thinking about, princess?” Ken playfully pinched your cheek. You just shook your head and smiled awkwardly in response.

He then held your hand gently, “Come on, princess. It’s time to go home.”

“…So yeah, my mom told me that I really need to lose some weight, otherwise no one would want to take me as a bride in the future.” Sujin laughed, “Silly, right?”

You stayed silent and Sujin grew somewhat confused. She repeatedly waved her hand in front of your face, but you didn’t even blink.

“Ya!” Sujin closed your locker with a slam and you finally flinched in surprise. “___, what’s wrong? Are you even listening to my story?!”

You stared at her while rubbing your chest, “Sujin… I’m sorry. I-I just… I just can’t focus myself today.” You rested your forehead on your locker and sighed.

Sujin patted your head, “Did something happen? Mind to share?”

“Nothing, really…” You faintly chuckled, “I’m just worried about the upcoming exam… that’s all.”

“Girl, seriously… when it comes to exam, all you have to do is study hard and be confident with your answers! And then… BAM! The result will come out based on the effort you put into it. Am I right?” Sujin flipped her hair and smirked.

“Haha… yeah, you’re right.” You let out a forced laugh.

It was time for P.E subject, so you had to get changed into your training suit in the school’s locker room. You quickly locked your locker before eventually headed to the indoor gymnasium.

The real reason why you couldn’t stay focused was not actually because of the upcoming exam. Nor it was because the boys kept on telling you to stay beside them in case Junhyung tried to mess with you again.

It was because everyone in the school started to gossip about you too, especially the girls. They were either making stories about you and the boys or glaring at you in jealousy. You even heard rumors about a fan club secretly dedicated for the boys with you as its main object of hate and that made you even more irritated.

You yawned as you dusted off your suit.

I didn’t even get enough sleep last night. Stupid N, I hate you…

Actually, what N said to you at the café was also the reason behind those dark circles under your eyes. Not to mention how the boys had gotten even touchier since the day you all went shopping together. They seemed to be very eager to make you fell in love with them, or at least… with one of them.

As you stepped your feet to the gym, you could see the boys already flocked up with grins on their faces.

You suddenly noticed how those six boys always stayed together. You got the part why they acted so distant towards the girls, but strangely, they didn’t blend with the boys in your class either. To put it simply, you had never seen them talked with anyone but you. It felt like they were putting up some kind of wall around them to prevent other people from entering their world.

A wall that no one could penetrate. No one but you.

Suddenly, you saw Ken ran towards you with a wide smile on his face.

“Princess~ what took you so long?” He then eyed you from head to toe, “Whoa… how can you look so y in such ordinary-looking training suit!?” He whistled as you pushed his forehead with