You wake up to the sound of thunder, fear fills inside you as you try to squeeze your pillow against your ear and muffle the sound. But no matter what you do the thunder is always there, in the background or up close. You can never run away from it even after you've been doing so for so long. You can't even remember when you realized you had astraphobia, fear of thunder.

               You take off the pillow and look at your clock. 3:14. Great, you can't go back to sleep until the storm stops. Umma use to sing to you when you were little, but that was a long time ago.

               The blankets seem heavy as you pull them off of you and tip toe into the kitchen, making sure not to wake the kids. The dead silence in the house doesn't make the noisey faucet any quieter as you grab a cup fill it up to the top, taking long, slow gulps. The coolness of the water feels refreshing going down your dried up throat. You empty the rest of your cup out and go to the couch. Your phone vibrates in you pajama pocket as you reach for remote. You toss it on the couch and pull your cellular devide out, cringing at the light that reflex off of your eyes, making them tear up a little, but you quickly wipe them away. You click on your messages, and plop down on your couch. It's from Tae Hyung, what does he want now?

Him: Hey, its Tae Hyung. You awake?

You: Yeah, are you?

Him: Very funny. Hey, listen, I was wondering if you like ramen?

You: And this couldn't wait till morning?

Him: Okay, you got me. I was thinking about the case, I took some pics and been studying them for a little bit. Did you know tha all the victim's have their pinky toe missing? Weird, I just thought I let you know. I couldn't really sleep well, so I got up and started looking things over.

You: Well, I don't think you'll be sleeping any time soon after looking at dead bodies and all.

Him: Yeah, I don't think so either. So how come you're awake?

You: Homework: You lie: been too busy working on the case I haven't had time during the day time to work on school.

Him: Yeah, I understand. I just thought I'd let you know about the toes, I'll let you get back to your homework. Bye!

You: Bye!

               You turn off your phone and turn on the TV, trying to ignore the sound of thunder, Everytime you hear it, you feel your blood run thin, and you heart starts pounding. Not to mention the sweat and dialation in your eyes, you don't understand how your siblings can sleep through any of this. A blast of blazing hot electricity could fry them to a crisp and they don't even care! Ugh. You can't blame them, they just don't see things like you do. You don't think anyone does really. You guess you're just too uptight. Like a mom, like your mom. It's a good thing, but also bad, considering you're siblings probably see her in you everyday and have to be reminded about her everyday.

 

You're phone alarm sounds and startles you from your slumber. Must've fallen asleep from watching TV. You stand up and look around, pretty dark outside. It's still storming when you look outside. Thunder is still going like crazy. You hope it won't stay like this all day long. You need to drive over to the warehouse today with Tae Hyung. Best not to show him your vulnerable side, he needs to know that he doesn't need to protect you or anything. Though deep down, you feel like you need someone there beside you to comfort you. That's probably because you've never had anyone like that before in your life besides your mom. It would only be natural to desire something that precious.

              The kids run into the kitchen and scurry for breakfast, they're dressed and ready to go, they're getting faster and faster at this. They just need to eat, brush their teeth, and head for the bus. Which is already half done, considering they just ate their breakfast faster than you can process images through your mind. You need to stop buying sugary foods. You'll need to remind yourself to do that next time you go to the store.

               The kids leave the house and you head off to school, gently setting your backpack down next to your desk as you enter your homeroom. Tae Hyung and his friends aren't here today, they're always here before you. Its weird. Then it smacks you across the face. Of course, Tae Hyung said they're gonna throw you into the pool today. Now's probably a good time to keep your guards up extra high today. Theres no telling how they're gonna get you this time.

               Of course, you hear voices being shushed as they get closer to the room. Must be them, you get up and quietly walk to the door, it's propped open, so you hide behind it. Some guys walk into the room all at once, some whisper to each other, probably wondering where you are. While all their backs are turned, you sneak past them and run out the door, not caring if you're stealthy anymore, they won't catch you. Their footsteps sound behind you, because who doesn't wants a group of high school boys chasing after you and trying to throw you into a pool?

               You zoom pass students and watch their faces as they look at you weirdly. Okay, fine, if they want to go to the pool, you'll go to the pool. But you're not going to get any water on you. They're still behind you, stil trying to catch up, and you're not even going your full speed yet. Awesome, let's go!

               You pick up the pace and head towards the indoor pool. You get a good ten seconds before the guys come tumbling in like losers, out of breath. Tae Hyug isn't with them. Luckily, just his friends and some other goons you don't know. 

               You pace around, you've recovered your breath pretty fast and look at them still panting like dogs, "so, how many guys does it take to throw one helpless school girl into the pool? Let's find out, shall we?" 

               People start crowding around the doorway, ready to watch you get thrown into the pool, silly children.

               One of the guys comes after you, shooting for your leg, determined to knock you off balance, as he grabs it, you snake your arm underneath his armpit and turn him sideways. Your arm is still underneath his when you latch onto the back of his shirt and use your other hand to grab his shoulder, you twist your body and twerk him off balance, knocking him into the water. One down, three to go, you grin in pride. You hear another guy scream as they come after you. You quickly turn around and see him as he charges at you. Idiot. You side step and he fumbles his way into the pool. Two down, two to go. Nam Joon, the blonde one, runs after you. This time, not charging, smarter than the other ones. He inches forward, the two of you slowly spin in a circle, he's pretty close now, you wait until his back is towards the water, you step on his foot and push him backwards, while his foots trapped under yours, he stumbles backwards into the water. Three down, one to go.

               Nam Joon was the only one of Tae Hyung's friends that was there, the last guys is a big one. He comes at you, knocking him over will be useless, he's too big to react to your attacks. He grabs you around your waist, you manage to turn your body so your back is infront of him, your arms are trapped because he's bear hugging is too tight. He's getting closer to the water. You bring your knees to your chest and kick outwards, the momentum of your body sends you both forward and this makes him loosen his grip on you, you shrimp out of his arms and fall to the ground, he's still standing up and hasn't recovered yet. You put his legs in between yours and turn towards the pool, he can't move his feet while you have them so he falls forward, you let go of his legs and he crashes into the water. Four down. Some of them try to get out of the pool but fall back in. Which is funny to watch. 

               Everyone watches you in awe as you quickly slip out of the pool room. Some cheer, others just stare. Kind of embarrassing. Tae Hyung is standing at the end of the crowd grinning like an idiot.

"That was awesome!" he shouts as he walks with you down to your home room. 

"Thank's, but I think these pranks are getting too intense. I don't want to keep doing this to them, even though they DO start it everytime. 

"It's self defence. Be proud of yourself," he throws his arm around you and pulls you close, his cologne smells sweet, and his body is rock hard, you don't resist it. 

"I'll try," you grab his hand around your shoulder and hold onto it, he looks down at you and grins, you do it back. He's not the only one that has smooth moves around here. You can flirt pretty hard if you want to. 

"Come on, I can't wait to see them when they come back in for home room. Dripping wet. That's gonna be hilarious!" He interlocks his finger with yours and pulls you along side him.

"You're not at all upset about it?" You ask.

"Haha! Nope, he's always pulling pranks on people, me especially, once he put syrup on my pillow and I laid right in it, had to take a huge shower to get it out of my hair."

You giggle, "well then I'm glad."

He reaches over and pinches your cheek, "you're cute when you smile, you know that?"

You blush, and try to resist the urge to keep doing it, "Whatever," you laugh, lightly nudging his shoulder. He laughs too.

"It's true," he lets go of your hand and turns around, walking backwards to look at you better, "you're truely adorable, and being able to fight makes you that much ier." 

               You feel your cheeks go warm. You're not sure what to say. Tae Hyung and a teacher bump into each other. That kind of saves you from replying to his comment. Tae Hyung bows and apologises and keeps walking with you. You start laughing.

"You're so clumsy," you say as you walk inside your home room. He hits the back of his shoe and falls over, taking you with him, He's on top of you, you're heart starts beating a million beats per second, but you play it cool. You roll over, now you're on top of him, you lean in real close. Feeling the heat rise up your neck, this is close enough, "like I said. Clumsy," you get up off of him and help him up. Your seat makes a creaking sound as you sit down in it. You try to ignore the fact that you and Tae Hyung were as close as you were last night. But his y dark eyes still linger in your mind, and that's all; Just in your mind, not out right infront of you like you want them to be.

               The bell rings and everyone piles in the classroom. Nam Joon and the other guys don't. You wonder why, its probably not the fact that they're soaking wet and have to find another pair of clothes. Definitely not that. The sarcasm is showing so much in your voice right now.

               School's just about the same. Learn stuff, write stuff down, the usual. The storm went away during the last of first hour. Which was good, you were on the third level of the school, so being able to watch every bolt of lightning strike down wasn't very delightful. You stuck a little peaks at Tae Hyung once and awhile, he say next to you today instead of in back of you. And that was fine by you. 

               You hop into your car and turn the engine on. Tae Hyung opens the door and gets in. Sure, just come right in, not like he was asking for your permission or anything like that.

"Mind telling me what you were doing in my car?" You buckle up.

"I came to confess my undenying love for you, Je Seok," he jokes in a seductive voice. You smirk and put the car in reverse. He buckles up quickly and looks at you.

"Here," you hand him your phone, having him look at you is making you crawl out of your skin. Distracting him is better, "call Yoseob, see if he needs us today."

"I thought we were going over there automaticaly."

"yeah, well I have to call first, I don't want to go over there and have nothing to do. Some days they got everything covered, somethings they need a little help on. Just call them please, darling," you bat your eyelashes at him, making his grin like a goose. If geese even grin. Not sure.

"Anything for my Love Lady Perfect."

You laugh, "your what?"

"Love Lady Perfect, I just thought of it. Thought it would suit you pretty well."

"Just call them, please."

"I'm on it."

               He goes to your contact, "my name in here is Narcissist?" 

"Yup," you cheer, "now found their number!"

                He hits call and puts it on speaker. The phone rings a couple of times and Yoseob finally picks up the phone.

"Hey, guys. Whats up?"

"You need us today?" you ask.

"Nope, not today. Tomorrow maybe, we'll let you know. So just hang low and take a break. You've been pretty caught up on this case, do something fun. Go hang out with Tae Hyung or something, he's pretty handsome. Go on a date with him or something, have a few laughs, a kiss or two."

"He's in the car with me," you say, obviously knowing that Tae Hyung is watching your cheeks go red.

"Tae Hyung! I man, hows it going?" Yoseob says over the other line.

"What's up?" He laughs, "so no needing us today?"

"Nope, so go have fun with Se Jeok, go to the park or something. Eat some ramen. You know, romantic stuff. She needs to get her mind off of this case, she's so uptight."

"I'm right here, you know," you grunt.

"Yeah, I know. I meant for you to hear that. Now goodbye!" The line goes dead. He's such an idiot for saying that.

"You heard the man," Tae Hyung pinches your cheek, "he said to have some fun, we're gonna have some fun!"

 

               You went back to the school to pick up Tae Hyungs car, he was stupid enough to forget it, then you drove your car back to your place and waited for him to come and pick you up. Better to waste a litle bit of gas then a lot. His car is much better than yours too, looks new, probably just bought it. To where yours is about five years old, and dirty. You should probably clean it in the next day or two.

               He drives you two to the park, you get out and walk for a little bit, teams are playing at the baseball and soccer fields, and the playground is packed with little midget kids. You and Tae Hyung talk for a little bit, give a few laughs, mostly about this morning. Then the topic changes to hand sizes.

"Your hands are so small," he says as you compare sizes. 

"You're hands are too big!" You respond, you're abot to take your hand off of his but he shifts his hand and laces his finger with yours. His hands are rough against your soft palms. You smile a little bit.

"So," he continues, "I was thinking about getting this dog, it's a puppy."

"What kind?" you try not focusing on your hand, but doing a horrible job.

"I'm not sure, it's a recue dog, so it's a mix. It looks like a labrador, but it has something else in it."

"Is it expensive?"

"Not really, about one fifty. Not a bad price."

"Is it fixed and stuff?"

"Probably not, but we'll fix that," he smiles at you, making you melt in your shoes. His lips look so full and soft.

"We'll?"

"Yeah, as in you and me. I was thinking you'll go with me to get him. He should get familiar with you if you're gonna come over."

"Come over?" you hint. Still smiling.

"Yeah, we're working a case here girl, pick up the pace. We're gonna need to get together and talk about it, and I'm assuming since I saw a lot of kids running around your house when I picked you up, there's never any quiet in your house. So we're probably gonna be at my house. Its just my mom and dad so it'll be pretty quiet. But we don't have to talk about the case," he says, moving closer to your side. You quickly take your hand away from his and walk in front of him and turn around to face him.

"I'd rather talk about the case," you joke.

"Oh yeah?" He gets in a stance, ready to pounce on you.

"Yeah," you giggle and run away from him, but he catches up and grabs you around your waist, spinning you towards him and looking down at you.

"You run pretty fast for a girl," he teases.

"I wonder why," you laugh and pull away from him, grabbing his hand and pulling him next to you, "I want to show you something, I went there the other day and it was really nice. Thought I could show you."

"Take me away!" He demands and lets you pull him along.

 

               You go around a boulder and take Tae Hyung with you, the other day you were exploring the woods around the park and you spotted a pond just around the boulder, no one's there. So that means its just Tae Hyung and you. And you're okay with that.

"So this is it," you announce, "I've been coming here a little bit since I moved here, it's nice and peaceful, helps me relax, you know?"

"Pretty. How did you find his place?" He looks around the enclosed area. Trees surround the pond and the sun makes it a perfect shade of hue.

"Just did, I had nothing better to do so I went looking around, poking my nose in places."

"Your specialty."

"Shut up," you joke and lightly hit his shoulder, "come on." 

               You pull him along to a fallen tree next to the pond and sit down. You take off your flip flops and stick your feet in the chilly water. Your movement makes rings surface around your ankles. Tae Hyung joins you. He splashes his feet a little bit. After that you two put your shoes back on and head back to his car.

"Want to go anywhere before I take you home?" He asks.

"I can't think of anything at the moment," you reply.

"Darn it! I was hoping to spend more time with you tonight."

"Sorry, but I have homework and so do you." 

"Ew. Homework." He digs in his pocket for his eyes. You wait for him. He moves his hand in his pocket for a good minute then looks at you. Uh oh. He didn't. He did not!

               You look into the car window and see the keys sitting on the drivers seat. He did! You try the door. Locked. Tae Hyung tries his door, also locked. Great. just great. The car is locked and it's a long walk till you get to you house.

"I have a spare key at my house if you want to drive me over there." He said sympothetically.

You sigh, "might as well. But my house is three miles away."

"I can walk that far, let's go. We're losing day light."

 

               You reach your house and drive Tae Hyung over to his house to grab his spare key and drive him over to the park, he gets into his car and follows you home.

               The car door slams shut from yours and Tae Hyung's cars. He walks you up to your door.

"What a day," he grins at you, making your knees buckle.

"Tae Hyung?" You say, suddenly serious now.

"Yeah?" He his eyebrow.

"Do you really think we can catch Kim Bo Kyung?" You down at your fidgeting hands.

"Hey," he cups your chin, and brings you to look into his eyes, "we'll catch him. No worries."

               You smile at him and he smiles back. He slowly takes his hand away from your chin and cups your cheek. You lightly grab it and hold onto it. Which brings you to look back at Tae Hyung. His smile has faded away, his eyes are filled with compassion. He slowly leans down towards you and lightly brushes your lips. His lips are soft and tender. He deepens the kiss, making you want more. You grab his shirt and pull him against you. Your other hand runs through his hair, messing up the back of his head. His hands are on your waist, he removes one and reaches for the back of your neck. Your body fits perfectly with his, his kisses are long and sweet. You don't want to stop, but you can't do this all night. Before you can back away, he does it first. His breaths fall even with yours. He grins as he looks into your eyes.

"Mercy, woman!" He chuckles and you bite your swollen lower lip. He twirls a strand of your hair with his finger, then lets it go, "I should get to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night," you say.

"Good night," he repeats and gently kissed your forehead.

               He waves to you as he pulls out of your driveway. Youre heart beat slowly goes back to normal and the butterflies leave one by one. But that sweet sensation still lingers on your lips. You gently touch them with your fingers and smile. He stole your first kiss, and your heart.