“You…Kissed back.”

            Hundreds of responses ran through her head and yet, not one could spare her from the present predicament gracefully.  What had happened was beyond her comprehension.  She could still feel the hotness of the kiss lingering on her lips and the tickling of her fingertips that were on the back of his neck merely a few moments ago.  She thought that she must be crazy.  For the second time, she couldn’t find the strength to push him away.

            Unlike Gayeon who was dazed, Chanyeol finally recovered from the unexpected turn of event.

            “The other night…” He cleared his throat.  Carefully, he asked, “You heard everything, didn’t you?”

          “N-no, I heard nothing!” Instinctively, she shook her head and denied.  Only after the words escaped she realized the contradictory in her words.

          His lips curved into a playing smile at her overreaction.  His shoulders were no longer as tensed.  For the first time in the longest while, he had the upper hand in a situation again.  He placed his hand on the shelf, just a few centimetres over her head.  Lowering his head so that she was now trapped from all sides between him and the shelf, he deliberately whispered into her ear, “Really?”

          The mild scent of his cologne was addictive enough that it was making her distracted.  She looked down towards the floor.  Her face heated up as she responded, “Yeah…”

          “Then why don’t you look straight at me and say it?” He taunted, amused at her shyness.

          “O-oppa, I think someone’s outside.” She tried to break free and get to the door.

          However, Chanyeol held her back.  “You’re really not a good liar.”  Then suddenly, he ruffled through her hair and let her go.  Teasing her, he pointed to his own lips, “I’ll take that as your answer to my confession.”

          She opened , but no sound came out.  She wished she could dig a hole to hide herself.

          “Hey Hyung, let’s check out this room.” Seho’s voice could be heard clearly from the other side, following with a sound of click when the door swung opened.

          Immediately, Chanyeol and Gayeon ran up to the door to keep it from closing.

          Both Seho and Dongwook looked confused at their younger roommates.

          “Thank goodness!” Chanyeol gave Seho a hug, surprising the comedian.

          “Were you guys trapped inside?” Dongwook asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

          “Yeah, the door’s jammed.” Gayeon responded.

          “All this time?  Why didn’t you just give us a call?” Dongwook was baffled.

          “Yeah, Gayeon, why didn’t we think of that?” Chanyeol looked in her way with a mischievous smile.

          If God suddenly appeared to grant her one wish, then she would wish that she was invisible this instant.

            It was Tuesday, arguably the quietest day of a week on average in a year, even if the weather was unbelievably fantastic.  Even though Seoul was a fast-moving city, there were more street lights towering than people walking by, especially when rush hour was long past.  Gayeon glanced up from her phone from time to time to see if anybody entered the movie theatre entrance.

            It was her first official date with Park Chanyeol — the talented visual and rapper of an extraordinary boy group, EXO.  Now, he was the only guy who could make her heart skip a beat at the snap of his fingers.

            Nervous?  Excited?  No, she felt none of that.  It was too surreal.  Whenever he sent her an invitation via text message at the most mundane of hours, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse it.  It was as if he had put a magic spell on those words to compel her and she didn’t know.  Strangely, she didn’t dislike it.  She thought she was insane and that there was no going back.

            She froze when she felt two hands covered her eyes.

            “Guess who?” The distinctive low voice belonged to Chanyeol.

            She felt her face burning up at the closeness of his words to her ear.  Timidly, she removed his hands, “Chanyeolie oppa.”

            He grinned foolishly from the way she called him.  “Did you wait long?” He asked.

            She shook her head.  “But Oppa, I don’t think this is such a good idea.  What if people see you?  What if they see us?”  Wracking his public image was the last thing she wanted to do.

            “I’m in a disguise, so it’s all good.  You worry too much!” Thinking how cute her worried face was, he couldn’t help but pinched her rosy cheeks.  He felt good being able to behave like this around her without holding back because she belonged to him from this day onwards.

            She didn’t look convinced.  He was dressed in overly black and had a half-faced mask on that merely covered up to the bridge of his nose.  His height and demeanor were still too outstanding in a crowd of ordinary people to be hidden away.  Not trusting his carefree attitude, she grabbed the snacks and pulled him by the wrist to the theatre, hoping the lack of lighting would hide him properly.  Also, the movie was about to start.

            “Wow, Gayeon-ah, I didn’t know you’re this possessive.” He teased.

            “Oppa!” She frowned.  She had thought he was a more discreet person until now.

            Gayeon immediately walked to the darkest corner at the back while Chanyeol cheerfully followed behind.

            Feeling awkward from his seemingly unmoving gaze, she signaled towards the big screen, “Oppa, the movie is starting.”

            “I find my girlfriend more entertaining to look at.”  He responded, leaning on the arm rest supporting his chin with his hand.

            “What?” She blinked a few times involuntarily.

            “Gayeon-ah, you’re beautiful.”

            The word beautiful made her heart skipped a beat.  She was used to others praising her beauty from being called call and pretty to nicknames such as the ‘The Deadly Beauty’.  All these vocabularies and phrases were meant to make a stark contrast with regards to her unconventional face in the MMA world.  However, there was no reference to compare Song Gayeon to anything or anyone from the way he called her beautiful; the word beautiful was solely reserved for Song Gayeon.

            Gawkily, she sank deeper in her seat as she stared at the movie screen.

            He caught the smile playing on her lips.  Unable to resist the urge, he pinched her cheek lightly.  “Aigoo, our Gayeon is still so shy.”

            “Oppa!”

            “Shh!” He quickly covered with his hand and ducked her down along with him under the top rail of the seats.

            Only then did she realize how loud her voice had been.  She mouthed out the word, “sorry”, to him.

            When she noticed that he was turning away from her, trying to hold his laughter, she punched him lightly on the back.  “Oppa!”  She made a face.  Though, she actually didn’t dislike the way things were.  Sure, they might not get to see the daylight and walking around freely hand-in-hand like ordinary couples, but she still found simple happiness being just the way they were.  For the first time in a long while, she wished time would stand still.

            Bored out of her mind since most of the roommates was either working or catching up with their friends and relatives, Sojin played with Cucumber, the resident Roommate mascot.  She considered getting some late night snacks outside because she didn’t want to be stuck in the house with Minwoo especially when Sungwoo had already retired early to bed.  However, she eventually dropped the idea.  It was a sensitive timing and she would need to watch her weight in case her agency decided to give her the long-waited debut she had always dreamed.

            Just then, Chanyeol and Gayeon came back together.  The subtle behaviour of the young fighter distancing herself from Chanyeol did not escaped Sojin’s eyes.

            “Welcome back!” She greeted gleefully.

            “Oh hey Sojin, you’re still up?” Chanyeol asked.  Having filmed Roommate for a while, he had already noted down that she was one of the earlier sleepers in the house.  So he was surprised when he found her still up past midnight.

            “Yeah, couldn’t sleep.  So where did you guys go?” She got up from petting Cucumber.

            “W-we just met coincidentally at the door.”  Gayeon answered, trying to hide her anxiety.

            “Yeah, I came back from rehearsal and saw Gayeon.”  Given no choice in the matter, Chanyeol followed along.  “Anyways, I’m gonna take a shower.  Good night!”  He disappeared to upstairs.

            “I should head to bed too.” Awkwardly, Gayeon excused herself.

            “Gayeon-ah,” Sojin spoke, stopping Gayeon in her tracks.  “There’s nothing going between me and Minwoo oppa.  I hope you won’t misunderstand.”

            Gayeon shook her head and smiled.  “It’s alright.  You didn’t have to explain to me.”

            Sojin’s shoulders relaxed.  “Then I’m relieved, because for a moment there, I thought you were using Chanyeol to get back at me.”

            “Eonni, actually…” Gayeon hesitated but forced herself to take a step forward nonetheless.

            The muscle around Sojin’s nostrils twitched.  She didn’t like the tomboy’s hesitation.

            “Actually…” Gayeon closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  She knew that she had to tell the older girl the truth.  It was now or never. “Actually, Chan—”

            “Oh yea, there’s still some leftovers from dinner.” Sojin clapped her hands.  “Gayeon-ah, are you hungry?  Should I heat it up for you?”

            “Eonni…”

            Ignoring the young fighter, Sojin walked to the kitchen.  “Oh, I can actually heat up the food and make fusion spaghetti for you.  I remember you like spaghetti, right?”

            “Eonni.” Gayeon made her voice sounded firmer this time.  It seemed the older girl already had some clues as to what was going on.  She knew she could not delay it any longer if that was the case.

            “Right?  You like spaghetti, right?” Sojin’s hands gripped tightly on the edge of the counter to support her body.

            “Eon—”

            “Be quiet.”

            “Chanyeol oppa and I are dating.” The weight in her heart was finally released.  The truth was out, but at the expense of one person’s heart being broken.

            Sojin walked up to the young fighter and slapped her across the face.  “You should have kept your mouth shut.”

            “Sorry Eonni.” Even after the slap, Gayeon did not flinch.  If it would make the older girl feel better, then it was a small price worth paying.

            Feeling the sting on her hand, Sojin finally came back to her senses.  “Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”  She apologized and quickly retreated to their room upstairs.

            Gayeon stared at the dish that Sojin had taken out and smiled sadly.  Perhaps it was a mistake to tell her at this time.  However, when it came to the cold, hard truth, was there ever a good time to tell? ‘Sorry Eonnie.’ This was one the most difficult things about the passage of love — there was no right or wrong, but someone would always bound to get hurt.  She felt obligated to carry the guilt on her shoulders until the older girl’s broken heart was mended.

            “Gayeon-ah, do you have a…” Chanyeol paused upon seeing a solemn expression on his girlfriend’s face.  “Gayeon-ah, what’s wrong?”

            Snapping out of her thoughts, she turned to him. “Nothing, just tired.”  She gave him a reassuring smile.  “What are you looking for, Oppa?”

            Sojin took out the silver dolphin pendent from her pocket.  She traced it with her thumb before slamming it down on her bed.  Tears streamed down her porcelain skin.  It was all merely her wistful thinking.  She smiled dejectedly.

            In her entire life of sixteen years, it was the first time that she stepped on the Seoul soil.  She had gone against her parents’ wish and took the train straight to Seoul with the money she earned from various part-time jobs.  She felt guilty for leaving her parents behind.  However, she figured that as long as she achieved her dream, then everything would be worth it.  Her parents would be proud of her then.  For now, she hoped that they would eventually calm down and come to understand her.

            She held up the silver dolphin pendent that her father gave her when she won the local singing contest at the age of eleven in the sunlight.  She found everything on the streets of Seoul interesting and that even the sunlight looked different.  Though, the people were a bit cold.  She didn’t understand why they didn’t smile even though it didn’t cost them any money.

            Suddenly, she felt a push, sending the pendent flying out of her hand.  She was mortified that it dropped into the sewer.

            “No!” She kneeled down and searched in her backpack, trying to find anything that would fish up the pendent.  When there was nothing useful, she started begging various pedestrians to help her.  However, none stopped to her aid.  At most, a few merely passed her a second glance.  Despaired, she was beginning to wonder if Seoul was really not the place for her and that she should just pack up and go home.

            “Miss, do you need help?”

            She turned and took in the stranger’s warm smile.  After despair, there was finally a ray of hope.  The stranger looked around her age and was strikingly handsome.  The elf-like ears only added to his charm. 

            He spat out a piece of gum into his hand and stuck it to a metal wire.  Carefully, he lowered the wire into the sewer.  “Ta da!” He finally got it out after several attempts.

            The smile was finally put back on her face. “Thank you!  Thank you!”

            “You’re welcome. The design looks interesting.” Then he realized his appointment.  “Ah shoot!  I’m late!”

            “Wait!” She called after him, wanting to get his contact information so that she could repay him.  However, the stranger ran fast and soon disappeared around the street corner.

            Years later, she saw him in one of Girl Generation’s music videos and realized that he was a trainee like her.  His name was Park Chanyeol.

            She was ecstatic when she saw him in person again.  Unfortunately, she never got the proper chance to tell him.  It might be just a small incident to Chanyeol that he had long forgotten.  However, she thought perhaps if she had told him sooner, then things would not have turned out the way they were now.

            “Gayeon-ah.” A knock on the door.  It was Minwoo’s voice.

            ‘Gayeon, Gayeon, Gayeon…Why is everyone always looking for her?’ Fed up, she swung the door opened. “What is it?  Couldn’t you wait ‘til tomorrow?”

            Dumbfounded that it was Sojin who opened the door, he was speechless for a second.  Then, he noticed her eyes were red and puffy.  Awkwardly, he asked. “D-did you cry…?”

            Flustered, she snapped, “None of your business!”

            Before she got to slam the door on him, he grabbed her wrist, “Want to go for a walk?”

            She stared at him blankly.  Suddenly, the most annoying pest in the world was foreign to her.

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Author's Note:  Wow, thanks for the comments!!  I was actually having troubles with the last few chapters (& this as well) since I'm not very good at writing romance (to be honest, it's a torture.  In general, I rather read romance than writing them).  However, I'm glad the last few chapters seem fine.  Hopefully, everyone would continue to enjoy this story!  =D  

Now, counting down, only about seven chapters to go~ Hurray!