Shion doesn't remember how did they start texting each other daily, but she recalled the moment when it began with 'Are you awake?'.

She sent him the text at midnight when her body wouldn't shut down by its own. A reply was received after only 10 seconds of assuming he was already asleep.

'Yeah. I can't sleep because of you'.

His silliness was also included in his text, which it didn't surprise her at all.

The conversation went on for awhile, there wasn't anything to talk about so they just discussed some nonsense and the rest was sarcasm mixed with rudeness from Shion's side.

Though they often texted each other from that night, it didn't have the same feel as their real conversations.

They both missed how they would hang out together after their classes, especially when her tests and quizzes were interfering in between their minutes of sharing thoughts and laughter. 

Jimin volunteered to help Shion with her studies since he happened to be so good at every single subject she took.

This has wasted their precious moments together, but nevertheless, Jimin was still glad to be able to help her although he planned to do other things with her.

-

If there was only one thing that Jimin hated in himself in those days, it would definitely be his heart. It took him his whole strength to chain himself from showing Shion some affection.

However, his feelings were kicking rocks at his chest whenever a chance glowed right before his eyes. But his strong ropes managed to pull down his inner lion and hushed his roars to prevent his thin glassy walls from shattering.

His eyes yearned to have a taste of her soulful ones, the ones that held so much mystery and innocence within the black chandeliers that sparkled with wonders. His hands were tied with cuffs of sustainability, they were almost withering from the lack of skin contact with her.

He wanted to hold her, to lace their fingers together, and to feel the connection of energies from both of their bodies. But he didn't want to distract her and fill her mind with thoughts of every second she sensed his aching heart from his desperate fingertips.

---

'I can't believe my tests are finally over. What a relief!'. She exclaimed happily.

It's been a week since her tests first started and today, she took the last one and dropped the stress off her shoulders.

It was such a refreshing feeling, she has spent days studying hard without blinking and ignored everything that would steal her mind away from the books.

'Was today's test hard? Did you face any difficulties?'. He sat on the seat before her.

'No. Not at all. It was like water, easy to drink, easy to solve'. She stated proudly.

'It's all because of me. I tutored you for a week so you weren't the only one who was suffering'.

An arrogant smirk was blinding Shion's eyes which made her close them in order to stay calm and think straight before her fist would reach his face and smack the daylight out of him.

'I can't deny it, you really did help me, a lot'.
Gratefulness was spoken behind her tone, looking away as Jimin put on his wide smile again.

'Then say it'. He stood up and crossed his arms, waiting for her to say what he wanted to hear.

'Thank you. Are you pleased now?'. She got on her feet and stood right in front of him, acting tough to allow her words to be believed by him.

'Thank you for being the one who wasted time tutoring a lazy student like me. Now, can you please stop forcing me to thank you?'.

Her hard tone and serious expression made Jimin chuckled and ruffled her hair as if he was looking at a child scolding a puppy.

'Look at you, failing to scare me because of your cute face'.

He poked her cheeks then laughed when she slapped his hands away from her, forcing herself not to blush or else he'd even more.

-

'Hey, did you hear about the new section beside this building?'. He asked, trying to change the subject.

'Yeah, the art section, right? What about it?'. She answered while looking interested.

'They want some teachers and students to paint the walls of each room as a volunteer work. So, how about we participate in it?'.

It took Shion a moment to think about the whole painting thing, it sounded good though.

'Sure, why not?'. She took her things then made her way to the art section along with her math teacher.

---

They arrived at the newest section, and the smell of paint slammed into their faces hard enough to make them stop for a minute.

There weren't many people but it was mostly students from the media section who were around the place.

Teachers were barely spotted and having Jimin working with the others planted a bit of excitement in the female souls.

They entered a spacious room and saw a few people working on the walls, so they decided to help them.

They chose a half colored wall from the upper part and apparently, they have to use the blue paint. 

Both of them wore the gloves then Jimin handed Shion a small paint roller after dipping it in the bucket.

Their voices were grabbing some attention from the others as they fooled around and laughed together without a slight care of how people were watching them.

Whispers and curious stares were taking place in the room, a female student from the math section recognized Jimin and the small flying rumors about him secretly dating the girl next to him. She immediately started gossiping about it with her friend from a different section.

-

 'We're done'. They both rested their hands on their hips as they admired their work of art, or let's say work of paint.

The next room was a small one and completely empty, they both agreed to finish their work by themselves as they enjoyed being alone and away from the people's eyes.

This time, they needed longer paint rollers to easily color the parts they couldn't reach, and continue the rest of the work with the shorter ones.

'I think we're allowed to paint this room with whichever color we want. So, what do you recommend?'. Jimin asked Shion as he gestured towards the paint buckets on the floor.

'Red! It's my favorite color!'. She excitedly said with a grin on her face.

'But I wanted to use the light blue paint'. He pouted like a child and dropped his head to look upset.

'Well, you should've just chosen it instead of asking for my suggestions'. She shrugged carelessly before starting her work with Jimin whining like a baby.

-

As they both were quietly painting the walls, Jimin noticed that Shion was kinda left alone in the other side of the room, and silence was replacing their random conversations and meaningless fights.

He walked up to her and began coloring her wall without permission, pretending she didn't exist at all.

'Umm, why are you working on my wall? You didn't even finish yours from the bottom'. She raised an eyebrow when she saw his half worked wall.

'is it wrong that I'm trying to help you?'. His tone annoyed her patience as she tried to stop herself from kicking him.

'No. But I don't need your help'.

He ignored her and kept finishing what she started. Shion sighed out of annoyance and tried taking away his paint roller but he quickly raised it up and watched her mad face with amused eyes.

'Give it to me or go away'. She demanded, anger was filling her heart and she swore she was so close to hitting him hard on his irritating face.

Jimin felt a bit of the paint dripping down on his fingers, he held the paint roller with his other hand and checked the red wet smears on his fingertips. Shion instantly stole the roller from him, causing him to return his gaze to her eyes.

'See what happens when you don't listen to me. Now go and wash your hand before it dries'.

As soon as she finished talking, Jimin wiped the tip of his red index finger on her left cheek.

Shion's eyes widen and was opened, she slowly ran her fingers on her cheek then kept her hand in front of her to complete her shock.

'NOOO! What did you do to me?!'.

She seemed like she wanted to cry as she tried removing the paint but it only spread into a funny blotch within 3 seconds.

Jimin was laughing hard at her reaction, he didn't even feel guilty, instead, he was actually really glad he messed with her face since he loved how she reacts to his action.

'Stop laughing, you idiot! I probably look like a clown right now!'.

She hit him on his chest before walking out to find the toilet, hiding her cheek with her hand and tried to mute Jimin's footsteps in her mind from behind.

'Hey stop, you don't even know where you're going'. He placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her but she didn't even say anything nor did she give him a glance.

Jimin held her hand and turned her around to face him without being aggressive.

'Jimin, I have to remove the paint before it causes me some rash, so don't stop me'.

She angrily said to him with furrowed eyebrows, giving him a stone hard look.

He tighten his grip on her hand before she tried to pull away, it made Shion groan from irritation.

'Listen, just go back to our room before we make a scene. I'll try to find something that can wipe it off from the storage'.

All of a sudden, he sounded so attentive, looking at her with full concern and pity, as if he somehow felt bad for ruining her pretty face.

'O-Okay'.

Shion watched him go like a bird that has been set free, walking fast in a straight line until he spotted a right turn.

-

As Shion walked back to their room, she thought about Jimin, how he always acts like a playful young man with a childish heart, then turns into a caring and protective older brother after a split second. She sat on a table next to her books when she returned, waiting for Jimin to back come with something useful.

She spent those 10 minutes mentally analyzing Jimin's personality and actions whenever he's with her.

In most of the times, she couldn't feel the magnetic force between them, nothing but two friends acting like siblings. In other times, she could feel the integration of chemistry surrounding their hearts.

Even if she couldn't tell whether he also feels it or not, she knew it wasn't something lighter than air for him not to be able to at least breathe it with his soul.

-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar voices of two girls talking next to the door.

'Isn't today Mr. Park's birthday? I wonder if he's here too, he has been hanging out with that girl ever since they've met'.

The girl's jealousy was obvious from her tone, and the other female couldn't agree more.

'Yeah. I actually wanted to buy him a little present but I guess that girl is handling my job'.

They walked away as they continued to chat about that topic.

'So it's Jimin's birthday today? But he didn't tell me nor did he even give me a hint'.

Shion kept thinking about why didn't he tell her, maybe he wanted her to figure it out all by her own, or maybe he didn't care about it that much.

'Okay, so I'm just going to tell him happy birthday. No need to sing and clap'. She nodded to herself for thinking about it fast.

---

'I'm back'. Jimin smiled to her when he entered.

'I brought some wipes that can remove the paint, and cream to protect your skin from the rash just like you wanted'. He placed the things beside her on the table.

'Oh, that's good'. She almost took one of the wipes but Jimin's hand prevented her from reaching it.

'I'm going to handle this'. He said confidently while looking at her with half a smirk.

'But I can do it. Besides, how would I know if you're not going to ruin my face even more?'. She asked with her head tilted.

'Just trust me. I'm only trying to clean up my mess on your face'. He answered with an evil smile.

'Fine. But be careful, I have to take care of my beauty for my future husband'. She mirrored his smile while acting fancy.

'Well, it seems like your future husband already erased your beauty with red paint'. She sniggered from the amount of fatuousness he spoke with.

'You really do have some hope in us, don't you?'. She asked him while bringing their eyes into a short stare of question.

'If you wanna put it that way then yes, I do. You have to know that even though we're just friends, I can't stop myself from wanting more'.

He lowered his gaze to his hands as they folded the wipe, his expression changed into a sad but thoughtful one. Shion bit her lip when she understood the meaning behind his last sentence.

She wished she could say something that would send him a message about how she thought of them, but was sealed from hearing his words.

The wipe carefully rubbed off the paint, it didn't come off that quickly since Jimin wasn't rough on the sensitive skin.

Shion could only stare at his face which was close to hers with no intentions of touching. He was so focused on what he was doing that he got a little closer to take a better look at her cheek.

It made Shion back off a bit and instantly looked away when Jimin stopped his hand from working.

He caught the slight discomfort on her lineaments as he stared at her for a few seconds. He cupped her face with his left hand and dragged her eyes to meet his.

'Don't move'.

He muttered while giving her a calm look to assure her that he wouldn't do anything. His hand started to move again but the other stayed still, letting Shion blush from the soft feel it had against her skin.

'Done. I'll apply the cream now'. He squeezed a small amount of cream on his index finger, and gently spread it on her cheek with slow movements.

Shion almost gaped when he massaged it with two fingers, it felt relaxing yet somehow affectionate. She forgot how calmative his touches could be, addictive and toxic. They can make her feel safe and secure, but also very weak and vulnerable.

-

'See? I told you I can do it'. He said while grinning like a kid.

'Thank god you didn't damage the rest of my face'. She arrogantly replied before getting off the table then took her things into her arms.

'Aren't you going to say something?'. He spoke while they walked together to the exit.

'No. Why would I? '. She coldly answered and smiled when she saw the exit getting nearer.

'If you're smart enough, you'll know what I actually mean'. She stopped as her mind immediately remembered something important. She looked at him, still wondering if he meant that thing she heard from the girls.

'Are you seriously telling me that you didn't know or even wondered if today is my-'. She covered his mouth with her hand before he could say what was in her mind.

'Happy birthday, Park Jimin'.

She smiled at him then took off her hand, proud of herself for reacting fast.

'But how did you know?'. He asked.

'I have my own sources'. She answered then continued to walk to the exit.

'So, how old are you now?'. This question was feeding her curiosity for the past few minutes.

'I'm officially 25'. She was surprised by his age that her jaw almost dropped.

'What?! I thought you turned 28 or 29 today'. He chuckled at her random thoughts of him being older than expected.

'Do I really look that old to you?'. She stopped before the exit and thought about his question for a moment.

'No. But I thought you aren't really that young like everybody said'. She honestly answered and shrugged when he nodded to her explanation.

'Well, you can say that I had fun on my birthday because of someone'. He took a step towards her, then patted her head like he always did.

'Because of you'. Shion gave him a bright smile. She also had a great day, and it was all because of him. They both exchanged their goodbyes before darkness took over the purple sky.

They had such a good time together, working and chatting with each other were the best things. But to Shion, it was when Jimin made her blush by his subtle fingers and tender touches, those were the things that left an impact on her chest and drew a smile on her face on her way home.

---

AHHHH KAWAIIIIII!!! WHY CANT I BE SHION??!!! ㅠ_ㅠ

'I can't stop myself from wanting more'. NOOO STAAAPPHH!!! YOU, PARK JIMIN, DESERVE EVERYTHING, but Shion is blind so.... let's just wait kay?!

Okay, that actually sounds wrong but .... can't we think with innocence for a minute? Lol.

Today, my older brother is coming back from America so I'm currently very excited to see him and have dinner with him!!!!

I can't assure you when will the next update be but I hope I'll be able to finish writing the next chapter within this week so .... fighting!!

\@_@/

N.T.K ~