PUCKER UP ❆ LEE HAECHAN

❆ chapter thirty

"What was that all about?" Hyerim asked later that night as she called Haechan. She heard him laugh softly through FaceTime, not bothering to turn and look at him, as she was doing her skincare.

"Not sure what you mean," he replied, and she heard a rustling from the other end. Hyerim hummed, patting the moisturiser into her skin.

"You got jealous, huh?"

"Was I not supposed to?"

His reply made her turn towards her screen, staring at Haechan who had set the phone on his bedside table so that he could lay on his bed and look at the phone as if she was there next to him.

His reply rendered her speechless, so she turned back around to her little mirror on her study desk, continuing with her skincare, now applying her eye cream.

"If you wanted me that bad, you should've just said so," she said nonchalantly, screwing the cap back onto the applicator.

"I want you so bad," he replied equally as nonchalantly, and Hyerim raised an eyebrow.

"You haven't even told me you like me. And you haven't asked me to be your girlfriend," she pointed out, arranging her products back onto the skincare stand as she got ready to get in bed.

"You want me to say it right now?"

"Absolutely not. Not over FaceTime, you actual loser." Hyerim huffed, getting into bed and rolling over to her side, eyes squinting at the bright light of her phone screen.

Haechan suddenly got up. "Okay."

"What are you doing?"

The boy was wordless as he stood up from his bed, and she heard more rustling in the background before he picked up his phone. She heard a snapping noise, indicating that he had unplugged it from the charger, and he began to move through his dorm. She could hear his footsteps shuffling, slippers making tapping sounds against the wooden floors.

"Where are you going?"

"To tell you in person."

"What?" Hyerim sat up. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." More rustling from his end, and Hyerim could imagine that he was probably putting on his shoes. She heard the door creak open.

"Hold on. It's 11pm."

"You said you didn't want to hear it over FaceTime," he pointed out, tilting up his phone to show more of his face on the screen. Hyerim could now see that he was outside his dorm, walking through the hallway.

"I'll be there in ten minutes. See you!"

And with that, he smiled widely at the phone, and hung up, leaving Hyerim stunned.

❆

"Um."

Hyerim opened the door to her dorm and was greeted by a sweaty, panting Haechan. He was here in 6 minutes, contrary to what he had said, and it was obvious he had ran over.

"There was no need to run..." She stepped aside to let the boy in. Haechan's cheeks were tinted from the cold air, but he swallowed fiercely before speaking.

"I'm in love with you."

Hyerim stood for a moment, hand on the door.

"I'm in love with you, Kwon Hyerim."

"I heard you the first time," she recovered, shutting the front door and dragging him further into the dorm and into her room, shutting the door.

"Aren't you going to respond to my confession?" He pleaded, taking Hyerim's warm hands in his cold ones.

"I thought I was the one who confessed to you first."

"But I love you." He paused for a minute, then shrugged off his jacket as if it would allow him to emanate his love for her more. "There's a difference between what you feel for me and what I feel for you. Because I love you - I'm in love with you."

Hyerim stayed quiet.

"Do you not feel the same?"

Pulling him down to sit on the bed, Hyerim inhaled, then spoke. "I like you a lot, Haechan, I really do. But I don't know if it's love, yet. Maybe that will change over time, but you need to show me how to love you, and teach me how to love you. You need to show me that I am capable of feeling love for you. I can't just love you."

She looked up at Haechan. He was staring at her intently, soaking in all of her words.

"It's hard for me. I've never done this before - frankly, I don't even know what love feels like. So I need to learn. And you need to teach me."

Haechan looked down at his lap, blinking slowly as he digested her words. But then he looked up, nodding.

"Can I be your boyfriend?"

Hyerim stared at him. Did he not understand anything that she just talked about?

"No, hear me out. I want to be yours. I want to be your boyfriend, to have that title and status with you so you can experience it. I want to show you what it's like to be truly loved and cherished, and I expect nothing back from you." He held her a bit tighter as he continued. "Let me take you out on dates, let me buy you gifts, let me show you off at my games. I want to be able to call you mine, to treat you how I believe you should be treated. And I'm positive that no other guy can treat you the way I do. We can just try it, and if you don't love me back or you feel uncomfortable, you can always tell me because I-"

"Okay."

Haechan blinked. "Okay?"

"I want to be your girlfriend," Hyerim firmly said.

And with that, he swept her into his arms, pressing a long kiss on her lips and she could still feel the coldness of the winter night on the tip of his nose and the smell of fresh aftershave and his neck was a little bit clammy from the sweat that he gathered from when he sprinted here from his dorm to confess his love for her but Hyerim wouldn't have it any other way.

Because she was already starting to feel the emotion that he called love.

and that's a wrap ladies and gentlemen!!!! 🎉

i'm sorry it's so anticlimatic i'm writing this at 1am before i disappear for 2 months in japan and china so forgive me

epilogue will be coming though! but thank you for allll the support on this stupid little shitty book it's at 12k reads and ily all sm💗💗💗