The doorbell rang and Lia rolled her eyes. What in the world? It was one in the morning for goodness’ sake. She has to get her sleep, or risk dying of sleep deprivation tomorrow. That would be bad, she has a practice test tomorrow. Yanek would be pissed. She was tempted to ignore the bell, if it were her mother, served her right for forgetting her keys. But the ringing continued incessantly and she groaned.

                She swung her legs over the bed and furiously padded out through the living room. Not bothering with the peephole, she swung the door open and scowled right in the face of Kim Heechul. “Wah! Chullie?” she squinted to see if it was her Korean superstar of a boyfriend.

                He looked fabulous, as usual. And that instantly made her self-conscious. Goodness, how did she look like? She didn’t have to reach up to know that her troll hair was sticking up, because he grinned widely.

                “Woke you up?” he asked, innocently, not able to contain the wide smirk that was spreading at a rapid pace across his face. Now she wanted to smack him.

                “Yeah, obviously. Why are you here, and why did you not tell me?”

                He shrugged. “I felt like hopping on a plane and caught a flight here. I’m sorry I didn’t inform you but it was all spontaneous. Problem?”

                Yes, she did have a problem. A very large one in fact. But she just sighed. “Come in and make yourself comfortable. You can share the couch with the cat.” As she locked the door and was about to turn in to her bedroom, he grabbed her arm.

                “Not so fast, I just came over and the first thing you do is push me to the couch. Uh uh, that doesn’t fly. We have some catching up to do,” he insisted. His perfect lips pursed together stubbornly and he put his hands on his hips.

                Lia was torn. She wanted so badly to stay with him, but she had school tomorrow. Her eyes slid surreptitiously to her pile of books. Screw schoolwork. It was pointless anyway. His sharp eyes followed her gaze and he nodded. “Ahh, arrasso. Go sleep. I’m sorry I bothered you. You should go sleep so you turn out smart like me!”

                Now that he wanted her to sleep, she lost all desire to. “No, I want to be with you.” But he steered her by the shoulders and marched her to bed. He picked her up and slid her under the blankets in an uncharacteristically sweet manner. He leaned down and kissed her before smiling happily. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

                Lia closed her eyes and drifted off into a happy dream state. The next morning, she woke up and was momentarily surprised to see someone standing in the kitchen, with a pink apron no less, flipping eggs. “Heechul?”

                He slid the eggs on a plate with a flourish and placed it in front of her. “Happy morning! Eat up and go to school. When you come back, we shall have our time together.” He waited watchfully and made sure every morsel went down . When at last he was satisfied she was full, he ushered her out the door.

                The entire day, Lia spent her day in a daze. She hasn’t seen him in how long? It has been an entire month since the last time he came over, and that was only for one day. She zoned off in class, and mentally counted down the hours until she could see him again. She cancelled all afterschool activities and went straight home.

                When she unlocked the front door, she entered to see him clicking away at the TV, leisurely the cat. “I’m home!” she sang out. He gave her a bored look.

                “The food is on the table.” He resumed watching the television. This sudden coldness shocked her but she was stubborn too. If that’s how he wanted to play things, she’ll easily go along. She sat down and ate resolutely, trying to figure out why he would show up on the blue.

                “Did SM sack you?” she tried to joke. He laughed and shook his head. “Did you annoy Teukie so much he decided to send you here?” Heechul shook his head again. “Okay, then you must have done something bad to Yesung’s turtle and am now escaping his wrath.”

                Heechul smirked and walked over to her. Placing his chin on his hands, he stared at her. “And what’s wrong with just wanting to come over and see you?”

                She raised an eyebrow. “Nope, that would be too romantic, and too unlike you. There always have to be an ulterior motive.” He gave her a long look before standing up.

                “I didn’t realize I had such a reputation for being a mercenary. I suppose I can use that to my advantage. So, Lia, where is your mother?”

                Lia didn’t want to answer. Her mother was away, thank goodness, and she did not want to think about her whereabouts. She couldn’t care less. Heechul sensed her reluctance to speak and began to jump on top of the couch. “In that case, I have free reign to wreck this house then.”

                She watched as he jumped around, pulling at papers, letting loose like a little child. Oh the horrors. But then she smiled. It seemed like fun. Screw what her mother would say. This was Heechul, and if he wanted to be the Cat in the Hat, she won’t be the goldfish and stop him.

                He charged into her bedroom and inspected all the posters on her wall. He jabbed at one where Siwon was shirtless and pointed his nose in the air. “How can you sleep with that hanging on your walls? Goodness, I would be getting nightmares. And Eunhyuk-shi? Bah, that boy has nothing on me. But I approve of this one right here.” It was a large poster of only Heechul, and he was staring at the camera in an offhanded way.

                He rounded over to her bed. “Your bed is unmade. What is this blasphemy?” He went around her room, and picked through the pile of clothing draped on her chair. “You’re such a slob. What is with you and all this garbage in your room? I like my room impeccable and neat.” He was beginning to sound like her mother, and that was not good. “Lia, you need to clean up your room more often.”

                That did it. Heechul or not, this was unacceptable. “Fine! Then go back to your own room. Yeesh. You are not my mother, and you have no right to judge my room even if you were.”

                Heechul only leaned back against the headboard and smirked. “Goodness, I didn’t realize you would be so touchy.” He ran a hand lazily over her bed sheets.

                Lia turned around and walked out of the room. She has had enough of him. She had expected to come home and to just be with him. Instead he chose to be irritating and bothersome. For the first time in a while, she actually found herself craving for homework. Anything to distract her was good.

                Within minutes, Heechul had walked out. He put his feet up casually in her lap and stared at her as she tried to write her essay. “So, Lia. I want to tell you about my day. So I fed the cat, then I went for a walk around the neighborhood. You really need to get more open-minded neighbors. They were staring at me as if they have never seen an Asian before. But I’m sure I’m the most gorgeous one they’ve seen. Anyway, so I walked over to this wonderful place called Flushing, mingled with a few people, and came back to find your mother on the computer. We had a pleasant talk- Lia are you even listening?”

                He had an impatient look on his face and pursed his lips in annoyance. Really? Here he was telling her about his day and she had zoned out on him and was laughingly typing something on her laptop.

                His graceful hands rested on the lid and he shut it with force. “Listen. To. Me.” He commanded, baring his teeth slightly.

                Lia giggled, now distracted by his face. Pricks of irritation stabbed at Chullie and he scowled. “Why can’t you listen to what I have to say?” He crossed his arms and pouted, sinking into his chair the way he knew Donghae would when he wanted things to go his way. But Lia had already stood up and was walking to the kitchen.

                “Ya! Come sit down. I insist on cooking,” he forcefully bumped her with his hips, causing her to stumble a bit.

                “But you can’t work a Kosher kitchen!”

                “Yes, I can! Do you think I’m an idiot? I listen when you told me what the rules were. I observed. Watch me.” He bowed and promptly picked up the wrong plates and the wrong utensils.

                “Noo! Stop! I’ll do it. You just did it wrong. Oh my goodness. Why Heechul? I can do it. I’m telling you, it’s okay. You can just relax.”

                This hurt his pride more than anything. Heenim do something wrong? Never. “Fine, Lia. Whatever. Go cook and I don’t want to eat!” He called from the couch. He waited for her to come to him but she didn’t. Instead the hum of the stove and he raised an eyebrow. Did she really resist the power of Heechul?

                After a few minutes, he became bored and walked back to the kitchen. Lia was studiously flipping steak and making eggs to go with it. Heechul sniffed the air. “Hmm, it smells good, I suppose. But I can do better. I suggest we make salad. Move over, I want to make the salad.”

                Lia huffed. Didn’t he remember that she hated salad? Who wanted to eat like a rabbit anyway? “No, I don’t like it.”

                He snorted. “Who cares? I feel like eating it. You can’t just cook according to your palate.” He rudely pushed her out and started to wash the vegetables. The audacity of him! She understood it was in his character to be blunt and outright, but this was downright rude. She watched him from afar, making sure he obeyed all the rules of the kitchen.

                He put the salad on a bowl and kept it to himself. Lia couldn’t help but stare. Fine, she doesn’t like it, but would it kill him to offer? “What?” he demanded. “Is my pretty face a distraction?”

                It seems to her as if all previous remnants of attraction have faded. This arrogance is really getting to her. She couldn’t stand it in Kyuhyun, there was no way she would tolerate it here, now.

                “Heechul, if you’re going to act like this, please leave.”

                “Act like what?” he pretended to be innocent. His beautiful eyes widened even more at the aspect of her being angry at him.

                “Stop it. You know how you’re acting. You’re being obnoxious.”

                He grinned. “I thought you liked it. Okay, I’m sorry okay? Sit down and eat.” He pulled her down on his lap and placed a forkful of vegetables in front of . “Eat some, it’s fantastically good for you.”

                She obeyed and he shoved the food inside. After they ate, he sat down next to her, watching her chat with her friends.

                “Hello? Lia? I’m here. Why do you feel the need to talk to them?” He was starting to be naggy again. She ignored him. If he was going to be controlling, then so be it. Her friends came first. Abruptly, he stood up, leaving a gaping cold in his presence. “Forget it. I’m going to go home. You don’t pay me enough attention.”

                She turned and wanted to stop him, but he was already rummaging for his suitcase. She watched his slim figure bend down to retrieve a small box, and for the first time since she met him, he actually looked about to cry.

                She couldn’t help it. Lia put out a hand and physical forced herself up of the chair. She hugged Heechul tightly and refused to let him go. He smirked slightly and hugged her back. Capturing her lips with his, he carried her to the bed. “You know, you’re a pain in the neck,” Lia commented when he finally allowed her room to breathe.

                “I know. And that’s why you love me. It is why you love me right?” he widened his eyes at her and pleaded silently.

                She nodded, reluctantly, not wanting to inflate his already big head. Any more of this and he would be detestable.

                “And I’m the most amazing person ever, most gorgeous and no matter what I do you will always love me yes?” he pressed. She nodded again, wondering where all this need for reassurance was coming on.

                “Good.” He hopped out of bed and reappeared a few seconds later.

                “Lia, I came here and deliberately acted like an idiot. No matter how annoyed you were at me, you still welcomed me back and love me. So here’s what I have to ask. Lia, will you marry me?” 

I LOVE YOU LIA ♥ And so does Chullie. Kekeke, I ships Heechulia XD