jinwoo (winner) & irene (red velvet)

She wouldn't like him; upon first sight, she knew this. 

He walked in doning a checkered polo and black jeans, the kind where they're really black like coal and night and not navy blue. He wore sneakers and he looked decent enough, but it was his face that said it all. He looked like a deer, the shy and reserved type that didn't belong in hectic parties such as this one.

She saw him from across the room, and when they made eye contact, she just knew. 

A little later, she went out to dance. He bumped into her.

He opened his mouth, and all her presumptions went flying out the windows and into the cold, winter night. 

His name was Jinwoo. Kim Jinwoo.

Joohyun made sure to remember him. 

He wasn't like what she expected him to be. He wasn't like her expectations. 

He looked innocent enough, but when he forced his lips on her - very roughly, at that - she just melted into his touch and succumbed to the pleasure of his kisses, her back against the wall and the rest of her pressed against him.

Jinwoo didn't buy her flowers. He didn't buy her chocolates or teddy bears too. 

He didn't buy her anything when her birthday came around. 

He gave her a gift certificate from Macy's, and a night she'd never forget.

And that was already more than enough.

He lets her drive his car, and a laugh comes from his mouth when she accidentally collides with a fire hydrant from behind.

"I think I need to teach you how to drive, Joohyun. That's a promise."

He does, and that's when she learned he never breaks his promises.

Jinwoo went home for the summer in Imjado, and Joohyun couldn't go. 

The next three weeks are the loneliest she's ever had.

When she realizes how much she misses him, and how he takes up more space in her head than he should.

She realizes she's ed.

"What should I do?"

"Uhh, nothing? Just let it be maybe?"

"I can't do that!" 

"Why not? Are you abnormal or something?"

"No! It's just.. I don't - I can't - I..."

"Joohyun, you're in love. Is that such a bad thing?"

"I.. yeah."

"No. It's not. Why are you panicking about standing back up when you've already fallen too deep in?"

Jinwoo brings chicken and beer to her apartment on the day he arrived back from his hometown.

Joohyun tells him she loves him, and Jinwoo doesn't hesitate in saying those words back.

It's in his actions that she can see how sincere he is of her.

The way he lies down beside her and not speak a word for the rest of the night. The way he gets up early in the morning to cook her breakfast before work. The way he remembers how she doesn't like coconut shavings on her ice cream. The way he reminds her all the time of things she's likely to forget about later on. The way he carries her around when her heels are near to killing her. The way he looks at her whenever he thinks she wouldn't notice.

She realizes it's the little things and big things alike he does that makes her want to be with him so badly.