*Dongwoo POV*

“Alright. One chance. If I’m not satisfied with you explanation, I leave.”

Before he could say anything else, I quickly hung up.

L approached me cautiously. “Well? How was it? What did he say?”

“He asked me to meet him in the park tonight so he can explain things.” I muttered bitterly.

“And you agreed?” L raised an eyebrow.

I nodded meekly.

Actually I don’t even know why I agreed. Maybe my heart was telling me to give him a chance? Despite the solid evidence laid out before me, I needed to hear it directly from him, and him only.

Maybe it was because I love him so much, that no matter what he did, I’m ready to forgive him.

Or maybe it’s because I’m such a pushover.

But despite being all of that, my heart still hurt.

I felt the sofa dip as L took a seat beside me on the bed.

I tugged on his shirt timidly. He looked down at me.

Without any words, I glomped him. And being the understanding dude he is, he just held me in his arms, not asking any questions.

I let my tears soak his shirt AGAIN.

“I- I don’t know what I’m going to do when I see him. I don’t think I can.” I hiccupped unexpectedly.

He my hair. “You can do it, hyung. You just have to listen to his explanation, and decide if it’s worth your forgiveness.”

I nodded into his chest. I felt safe in his arms. Maybe that’s how Sungyeol feels everytime. Maybe that’s why he’s always so carefree. Because nothing in the world can harm him when he’s in Myungsoo’s arms.

But the one for me is Howon. I’m sure of it.

“Hyuuuuuuuuungs!!! I’m baaaaack!!!” Sungjong’s high pitched voice echoed throughout the house.

Ah, the maknae has returned from his shopping.

He burst into the room, his arms overcrowded with countless shopping bags.

“Hyuuuuuuuungs!!!!!” He exclaimed over-dramatically, his hands open and inviting, as if expecting us to shower him with hugs.

We just raised our eyebrows.

Pouting, he put his hands down.

“Ahh well hyungs. Tell me, what happened while I was gone?”

L cleared his throat and explained the whole scenario to him.

After listening, Sungjong nodded his head like a wise man.

“Sooooooooo you have a date tonight?”

I nodded slowly. “B-but I wouldn’t call it a date-“

Sungjong glared at me, causing me to immediately shut up.

“Do you know what time it is?!” He screamed at me.

Puzzled, I turned to the clock on the bedside table. “It’s 4?”

“5 HOURS IS NOT ENOUGH TIME TO PREPARE. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!”

I could practically see steam rising out of his head. Knowing what happens when his inner-diva shows, I quickly scrambled under the blanket.

“Yah, Sungjong, 5 hours is more than enough time to ‘prepare’. All you have to do is put on some clothes.” L tried to reason.

I could hear Sungjong huffing in despair. “No it’s not, you still have to-“

“Shut up, or I won’t help you with Brice.” Sungjong immediately shut up.

“Wh-what are you t-talking about? Who’s Br-Brice?”

I could imagine L smirking right now. “Yah. I’m not blind, dongsaeng. You got a little crush on my buddy Brice, eh?”

Hearing good gossip, I immediately shot out of the blankets. “Yahyahyah. Who’s Brice? Why does his name sound so familiar?”

“He’s the guy who met us at the pizzeria that day, remember hyung?”

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to remember how he looked like. “Ohhhh I know L had a friend over, but I didn’t really get a good look at him. I was too busy stuffing my face with pizza. But I did see that he had highlights in his hair, am I correct?”

Sungjong nodded eagerly and then his expression darkened. “What?! How can you not notice such a perfect creature? His eyes, that speak a thousand words. His lips, ever so velvety. His-“

I mentally rolled my eyes. Since when did our dear maknae pay attention during literature? I heard from Yeol that he just checks himself out in the mirror the whole time. And for me, I just sleep.

“-and he’s sooooo perfect, and polite. And he’s also-“ Jong continued to gush about him.

“He’s also a reaper, Jongie.”

“-so good looking and has such- wait. WHAT?” His eyes widened in shock.

“WHAT?!” I shouted, a little lagging.

“You heard me. A reaper. He gave me a second chance, and that day he was checking up on me, as well as on Yeol and to meet you guys.”

Woah. Majorly cool, a reaper? Isn’t he supposed to be wearing a hood and whatnot?

“B-but hyung. He seemed so… human.” Jong sounded unconvinced.

“There’s nothing stopping him from seeming human, Jongie.”

“T-t-then does that m-mean I’ll have no chance with h-him?” His lower lip was trembling, and his eyes started to water.

L softened, seeing Sungjong like this. “Well, I don’t really know. If you make it happen, you might have a chance.”

He sniffled a little.

This reminded me of when me and Howon had not gotten together yet, and I was asking Myungsoo if I had a chance with him. I started to tear up a little.

“WELL!” Jong’s loud voice startled me, causing me to fall of the bed.

“WAAH!” I exclaimed as I landed with a loud thud.

Sungjong facepalmed really loudly while L shook his head.

I glared at the indignantly, helping myself back up.

“Then main point of today is Dongwoo, not me.” Jong gestured towards me with a disapproving look.

I was spacing out until I noticed he was giving me that look. “What?!”

I looked down at myself. I looked fine.

“Tell me, hyung. What were you planning to wear to the park?”

“Err… this?”

His eyes widened in horror. “Nonononononono. Not under my watch!”

I pouted. Did I really look that bad? I mean I always went on dates with Howon wearing just a shirt and jeans, and Howon has always said I look beautiful, so what’s wrong?

“Well, it IS good to look your best…” L slowly agreed.

“Yaay! We get to play dress-up!” Sungjong squealed excitedly.

Aish, this kid… “Yah! I’m not your Barbie!”

Jong gave me a weird looks. “Who ever said you were my Barbie? And besides, what makes you think you could even BE Barbie?”

I pouted. “Myungsoooooo!!! Sungjong’s bullying meeeee!” I whined, pulling his shirt.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gosh, I’m stuck with two whiny kids…” he muttered.

Sungjong let out and exasperated breath. “As much as I would like to continue on your un-Barbie-ness, we’re short of time, and I’m gonna make Hoya’s jaw drop when he sees you.”

I rolled my eyes and groaned in defeat, letting Sungjong force me into his many stylish clothes he had.

He even made me try on a pink fedora hat, for God’s sake…

While Jong was busy torturing me, L slipped out of the room, and returned minutes later with something in his hands.

“Yah, Jongie, why don’t we let Dongwoo wear some of my checkered shirts?” He held up his blue checkered shirt, his eyes gleaming expectantly.

Sungjong just glared at him. “Don’t you dare get your horrible shirts near him.”

L pouted and started talking to himself about how it looks fine.

After what seemed like hours, which in reality, is only two hours, Sungjong finally settled himself on one outfit. An oversized white shirt, a black leather jacket and skinny jeans.

I gaped at my reflection in the mirror. Wow… I really did look good…

“Jong… These jeans are so tiiiiight!!!” I whined, pulling at the tight fabric that clung to my thighs.

He slapped my hands away. “It’s supposed to be. That’s why it’s called SKINNY jeans, hyung.” He rolled his eyes.

The room door opened and L slipped in with a glass of water in hand. He stared at me. “Wow, Dino. Not bad, not bad at all.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Jong beamed and took all the credit.

I huffed and we went to eat some instant noodles.

“So, hyung, what are you planning to do when you see him?” Jong asked while blowing on his noodles furiously.

“Erm… I don’t know. Listen to his explanation?”

 “Oh. Right. But knowing you, you’d probably just start crying and forgive him.”

“Well duh, what else am I supposed to do?”

He looked to L. “Myungsoo, tell him.”

“Err… forgive him without crying?”

Sungjong facepalmed. “Forget it.”

We spent the next hour watching the television, before Jong started yelling about how there was only an hour left.

So he pushed me into his room. And forced me to sit in front of his dresser, as he dug furiously through his drawer full of weird stuff. L just sat on the bed, amused.

“Good luck, Dongwoo.” L patted my back.

I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because that,” he pointed to the drawer Jong was digging through, “is where he keeps all his make-up.”

My brain hadn’t registered his words yet. “Make-up? Oh cool. Wait. MAKE-UP?!”

I started panicking and finding a way to escape this torture, while L just laughed his off, rolling up and down the bed.

“A-HA!” Jong exclaimed, before pulling out a pencil.

I gave L a smarty-pants look. “Make-up, my . That’s just a pencil.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Yah, that’s not a pencil. That’s eyeliner.”

Oh hell no.

I eyed Jong pleadingly as he approached me with an evil smirk on his face, the eyeliner in one hand.

“Just sit still, hyung. I’m gonna make you look hot.”

I sighed and gave in. after all, I AM the nice hyung.

I pouted as Jong started drawing on my eyes, L’s laughter bouncing off the walls.

“Oh, and you’re lucky I still have some waterproof eyeliner left, if not it’d be all smudged tonight.”

I groaned again. What have I ever done to deserve this torture?!

As Jong moved away, I eyed myself in the mirror. Woah. I really did look… hot.

Even the cackling L had shut up, staring at me in awe. “Who are you, and what have you done to my best friend?”

I just laughed. “Okay guys can I go now?!”

L offered to drive me to the park, while Jong was left at home to devise a plan to approach Brice.

The car ride there was silent, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was more like a comfortable silence.

The car finally came to a halt at the entrance of the park. I was about to open the car door when L grabbed my hand. I stared at him, confused. He pulled me into a hug. “Good luck, bestie.”

D’aww!!! “Thanks Myungie. You too.”

I slammed the car door behind me, walking into the park with heavy footsteps. I checked my watch. 8.59. Hmm. I’m on time.

I craned my neck and tried to look for Howon. My eyes landed on a familiar figure leaning against a tree.

Or more specifically, the tree we carved our names on.

His eyes lit up as he spotted me approaching him. And he froze, his mouth agape.

“Erm… Howon? What’s wrong?” I asked uncertainly.

“You look so… hot, baby.” He breathed, still staring at me.

I thank God that it was so dark that night, so he couldn’t see the evident blush on my face.

He ran forward and enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug.

Frozen in his arms, I started to cry. Even if it was only for a day, I missed his scent. I missed his voice. I missed his ermbrace.

But most importantly, I missed him.

And that’s when I realized, I can’t live without Lee Howon.

The body embracing mine started shaking uncontrollably, and my shirt was soon wet.

Heartbreaking, regretful sobs escaped his lips.

I wanted to pull away to look at his face, but he clung onto my jacket tightly, sobbing into my chest.

“Don’t…” He rasped. “Don’t leave me. I can’t live without you.”

My heart wrenched seeing him in such emotional pain, but I couldn’t help it.

“If that’s the case, then why are you cheating on me with this Lee JungAh person?”

“I never cheated on you, Dongwoo.” He whispered, tear-filled eyes looking deep into mine.

“Then explain her saying that she loves you too.”

“Lee JungAh is my sister, Dongwoo-ah.”

My heart stopped beating. His… sister? He never told me he had a sister…

“You’ve never seen her before because she’s been living in the States with her boyfriend.”

Oh… that explained things.

“I… I’m sorry, Wonnie. I should have had more trust in you.”

“It’s alright. Just… just promise me that you’ll never leave me again.”

“I… I promise. I love you.”

Howon grabbed my chin and smashed his lips on mine. His tongue my lower lip, begging for entrance. And that was exactly what I gave him. I slid my arms around his waist, drawing him closer to me as he tangled his hands in my hair. His tongue entered my mouth, exploring every crevice of it. I moaned into the kiss, my hands running up and down his back. I lightly on his lower lip, causing him to tighten his grip on my hair.

We pulled away a few minutes later, panting. He smiled as he grabbed my hand, swinging it between us as we walked down the path. “Let me take you somewhere.”

I looked at him with innocent brown orbs. “Where?”

His gripped my hand tighter. “You’ll see.”

We walked for a while more, and we suddenly stopped. I turned to look at him, puzzled.

“Close your eyes, baby.”

I puffed my cheeks. “Why?”

He just smiled. “Cause it’s a surprise.”

My eyes lit up. “Ooh! Surprise? I love surprises!”

He chuckled at my squeals. “Yes, you do. So close your eyes or it won’t be a surprise.”

I immediately squeezed my eyes shut. Seconds later, he s an arm around my waist and the other hand covered my eyes.

“Just follow my instructions, okay?” I nodded.

“Take 10 steps, turn right and take 20 more steps.” I followed his instructions eagerly.

“Keep your eyes closed.”

I suddenly felt his hands leave me and I just stood there like an idiot with my eyes closed.

“Howon? Where did you go?” I called out, my eyes still shut.

“Right here, pabo.”

I couldn’t help it, and opened my eyes, only to find him kneeling with one leg on the grass.

I gasped.

The… the thing in his hands.

A box.

A black velvet box.

He grasped my hands tightly in his large warm ones.

“Jang Dongwoo, for the last 7 years I’ve known you, I’ve always taken care of you. For the past 5 years I’ve been dating you, I have loved you with all my heart. So will you grant me permission to love and take care of you for the rest of my life? Will you entrust me with your heart and be mine? Would you marry me?”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HI GUYS!

OMG I'm soooooo sorry for not updating sooner, but i was working on this looooong one!

It was actually longer but i split it into two^^

Yeah alot of you guys guessed JungAh was his cousin, but i decided to make her his sister instead. He doesn;t have a sister in reality but hey, this is a story, no? :D

Ppyong<3