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when hyerim woke up, she found herself tucked under her fluffy sheets. it was an early monday morning, the first day with jeongguk back in school.
jeongguk...? a warm rush of air blew next to her right ear.
to her surprise, she turned her head and met a face full of a sleeping jeon jeongguk. she jumped in shock, nearly tumbling out of the bed— if it weren't for jeongguk's arms clinging her at the waist.
she felt her cheeks heat up, thinking about the kiss from the night before. his hot breath, his pink lips... on her. she puffed her cheeks as a display slight annoyance.
pouting angrily, she tried to untwine herself from jeongguk's death grip. hyerim couldn't help but notice the way the early morning sunlight danced on his cheekbones as he exhaled softly.
his eyes twitched before peeling open slowly. "good morning, hyerim," jeongguk grinned leisurely at her, not releasing his tightly wound arms.
"morning..." she mumbled, unable to look at him in the eyes. "w-what are you doing in my bed?"
"i'm injured. you're gonna let an injured person sleep on the couch?" he commented pokily, tilting his head to meet her eyes. she diverted them immediately.
"jeongguk?"
"yes?" he sang.
"why did you kiss me?"
now, at this point, jeongguk had already accepted the fact that he was enamoured of this tiny girl. but early in the morning, his fragile and bruised ego had took a rest overnight and was unwilling to admit to this girl that he loved her.
"to steal your first kiss," he smiled with no remorse, poking her on the forehead. a flicker of hurt flashed across her face, before a smile played on her lips. jeongguk began to feel shame nip at the edges of his heart— in her eyes, he'd been a thief since day one.
"ah. okay," she said as she finally peeled his hands off her waist and got off the bed. hyerim was puzzled, she could not understand why jeongguk did the things he did. a kiss was meaningful; it conveyed a mutual expression of respect, trust, intimacy and chemistry... a kiss came with love, did it not?
the fact that jeongguk was playing around with her, joking about something as important as love... it irked her. jeongguk could sense her frustration too. it was the second time he'd witness her eyes grow cold.
"sorry. i..." he pulled himself out from under the warmth of her blankets and stood up slowly. his hurt knees tingled unforgivingly as he placed his weight on them. "i won't sleep on your bed anymore. and... i won't touch you like that... okay? so don't be angry anymore. please."
hyerim stood at the doorway, one hand held to her chest. she breathed slowly.
"please, hyerim. i'm sorry i kissed you."
but if anything, he didn't regret it one bit. her lips confirmed it for him. confirmed that he loved her.
finally, hyerim met his eyes for the first time that morning and gave a tight-lipped smile. "it's fine, jeongguk. get ready for school or we'll be late!" she warned, leaving the room to the kitchen.
jeongguk tried to ignore the icy gaze in hyerim's black orbs that wouldn't disappear. why did she force that comforting smile on her face even if she wasn't happy?
