•    

the whole afternoon went pretty awkward for both. especially after kihyun mentioned the thing about the date.

boki didn't want to talk nor hear about dating right now, since minhyuk's wound was still fresh.

kihyun noticed her being uncomfortable and he broke the silence. "are you alright? you seem quiet since i mentioned about this feeling like a date."

her eyes widened in surprise. she never expected him to talk so freely like that. "uh... i just, i don't think we should call this a date."

for a second kihyun seemed hurt but after a few seconds he agreed, nodding softly. "alright. i am sorry, i won't call it a date... because it's not a date, happy?" he asked.

boki didn't know if he was mocking her or not but she was happy to not call it a date, so she nodded. "thanks."

"no problem." he said as he kept her pace as they walked down the hill and towards a beautiful area with different kinds of flowers.

a few kids passed running, chasing each other and laughing. boki felt as the tension and the silence grew between both.

"so... can we leave that behind and just talk like we used to?" he stopped walking for a second and turned to look at her.

his eyes were intense and she noticed how it laid a layer of honesty behind. it seemed he was truly worried about forgetting the thing about the mention of the date.

she chuckled nervously, shaking her hands. "no it's fine... seriously – she scratched the back of her head as she started walking, kihyun immediately followed her to keep up her pace. she felt his eyes on her all the time as if he was examining her expressions.

"woah... look at that sunset." she said pointing at the beautiful mix of oranges in the distance. his eyes diverted from hers to the scenery before them and she noticed how he smiled at it.

"you like it?" he asked, turning his head to hers, catching her staring.

"of course."

"let's take a picture then." he said pulling his phone and opening the camera. she felt nervous and for a second she thought about saying no.

but she felt guilty for the date thing and she didn't want to disappoint him even more so she agreed.

he wrapped his arm around her and brought her together softly as he took a selfie of them with the beautiful sunset behind.

once he took the picture, he let her go softly and stared at the camera with a drunk smile. she noticed his eyes had a certain glow, similar to how minhyuk stared at her the first months of their relationship and suddenly her knees turned weak.

"look, it came out so pretty." he said showing her with greatly proud, the picture he had taken.

indeed it looked like a celebrity in those postcards, glowing and beautifying the scenery and then there was her. with an awkward smile, trying to look fine next to him.

which she was completely aware, it was a hard thing to do since yoo kihyun was probably the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life.

"aigoo... i'll save it."

"no!" she exclaimed, making him jump with surprise. he stared at her with eyes like plates since he wasn't expecting her to yell at him like that.

"i mean... it's not that great-

"are you kidding? you look so cute." he said giggling, staring at the phone's screen.

she wanted to be swallowed by the earth in that moment and she felt the embarrassment covering her face.

he pulled the phone in one of his pockets and smiled at her. "should we talk about our lives?" he asked, they spotted a lookout point r in the distance.

it was a long metallic rail placed strategically in the border of the hill. when you reached it, you could see the mountains and the lake in the distance. it was definitely a beautiful scenery.

"sure... what do you want to do in the future? once you graduate?" she asked, holding onto the metallic rail. kihyun leaned on it, right next to her.

"i might work on my father's business. i'll probably start from the bottom since it's the natural thing to do... so i plan to work hard to get a higher position."

she stared at him with a surprised look. he laughed. "what? did you think i was going to work as the president right away?"

boki nodded slowly and kihyun laughed again, shaking his head. "no. my father wants me to work hard and earn the position myself and i see it makes perfect sense, so i accepted the challenge."

in that moment she thought how cool kihyun was. with that she realized he was not only a spoiled brat, like lots of people thought. he was hardworking too.

"that sounds cool. i never imagined."

he stopped laughing and then flashed a sad smile. "ah... you hear a lot of opinions around, don't you?"

"no! no no—not at all – she said moving her hands as a negative sign – i never- but she stopped talking once he looked at her with an obvious face.

"please... you don't need to lie to me. i know what people say."

"i am sorry." she said looking away.

he shrugged. "it's fine. i guess i kind of deserve it."

boki turned to look at him with curious eyes. "why would you say that?"

he remained silent for a few seconds and then sighed. "i was a spoiled brat after all and i always wanted things to work out in my way... i hurt a lot of people so... i deserve it." he said now chuckling.

"well... i don't think you deserve it if you're now aware of the things you did wrong in the past."

he stared at her with sweet eyes and then sighed. "thank you. you're the first person who had ever said that to me."

she felt her heart racing at the thought of kihyun being sad over what people talked behind his back. "does it affect you?"

"what thing?" he asked.

"people? talking behind your back?"

he opened his mouth to say something but then quickly shut it. instead a big heavy and tired sigh was released from his perfect lips.

"maybe... sometimes i want to believe that i don't mind... and sometimes i don't but... then some people say something and then i realize i actually care."

she stared at him with serious eyes, listening to his confessions. "i guess it depends on who it is."

"how is that?"

he pressed his lips on a thin line. "i guess... i don't care what a stranger thinks about me... or people who is not close to me."

she nodded. "but i do care what my family and friends think about me. the people i care about too." he said staring into her eyes as his traveled slowly towards her lips.

boki felt nervous and quickly looked away. "i understand and it makes perfect sense. i am like you, in a way."

he chuckled. "the people around you and strangers... what they could possibly talk about you?" he asked.

she looked at him confused. "what do you mean?"

"i don't think there's anything wrong with you at all... in fact, you're a great girl boki-ssi."

boki felt the temperature change on her cheeks and for a second she realized his face was closer than it was before.

her heart was to come out of her chest when she realized he was way more handsome from up close.

he had tiny and almost invisible freckles on his cheeks and his eyelashes were long and thick, it gave him a seductive look that made her knees tremble.

he was so so so incredibly beautiful and for a moment she couldn't believe the luck of knowing him.

"uh- she started, as she took a step behind. somehow being so close to him was overwhelming – i am not like that, i have plenty defects."

he smiled sweetly at her. "i think you're underestimating yourself."

her hands trembled as she tried to put a strand of hair behind her ear, walking around the looking point, kihyun followed her. "what do you want to do? after you graduate?" he asked this time.

boki's real reason why she wanted to study business it's because she wanted to fund her own company and of course she wanted to learn everything about business.

kihyun seemed to be surprised when she told him the reason why. "your own clothing store? that sounds amazing." he said with a cheerful vibe.

"thanks."

"i really mean it... i think it could be a great opportunity of business. there's plenty things you could do."

receiving kihyun's advise and cheerful words truly meant a lot to her, especially since kihyun was her senior and also knew a thing or two about business management since he had his own experience with his father's company.

"if you ever need help with anything... remember i am willing to help you in anything i can."

the words made her feel warm inside and she couldn't stop thanking him for the rest of the conversation.

"it's getting late." boki pointed out once the sky started turning dark. kihyun turned to look at her with curious eyes. "are you hungry? it's almost dinner time... maybe we can have some dinner before taking you home?"

she stayed silent, thinking if that was a date or not. since having coffee with nachos and ice cream wasn't exactly a date. but an invitation for having dinner sounded like it was.

but just as if kihyun was a mind reader, he quickly clarified the situation. "just as friends, of course, dinner as friends." he said with a sweet smile.

"alright."

the way back to seoul was quicker than expected since there weren't too much cars around and the streets and avenues were pretty much empty.

she noticed he parked his car in a traditional restaurant house. it was a well-known in town.

they walked inside and apparently they knew him from before. he greeted the waiter and the manager and they led them to a nice table with a view. they sat together and ordered their dinner.

"i brought you here because i still don't know which food you like and since you are korean, i assumed you liked korean food, am i right?"

she thought he looked cute, looking nervous like he was, trying to ear her approval.

so she nodded. "i love korean food, thanks."

"what other foods do you like?"

boki wasn't a picky eater. she could eat anything placed before her but one of her favorites was tteokbokki and pizza.

"ah i can relate with both. i love food." he answered.

come to think of it, kihyun wasn't as people pictured him. she remembered being in school once, it had been a week after kihyun was transferred to a different school. of course it left a big void in school since he was the best student and biggest heartthrob. teachers loved him because he was the teacher's pet and most girls loved him too because he was handsome and had great looks.

but the boys hated him because he was a bully.

boki remembered how he was friends with a boy named shin hoseok who was around the school by the name wonho, they were best friends and it seemed that wonho always competed with kihyun about who was going to be the most popular or who got the most girls, of course, always losing to him.

kihyun was invincible back then.

after he was transferred to the other school, wonho went around school, talking about how fake kihyun was. he'd tell all the girls who were their girlfriend about how he dumped them so easily because he never really fell in love with any of them.

or about how he'd act like a good student before the teachers but always complain about them and their assignments. he even tried to say that kihyun's good grades were a fraud.

some people believed him and some others didn't. back then boki didn't have an opinion on kihyun.

she remembered how he was always nice to her, especially on biology lab in which he was her designated partner.

he always knew the right terms and always seemed to know what he was doing. he never bullied her nor looked down on her as wonho went around saying he did with the rest of the people.

maybe that's why boki didn't feel against him like the others around her.

kihyun noticed she spaced out for a second, "what is so interesting that you forgot about dinner?" he asked, with smiley eyes. he found cute the way boki was lost in her thoughts.

she blinked twice as if she had been awaken from a trance and turned to look at him.

he seemed relaxed but just now she realized all the food had been served in front of them.

boki didn't want to ruin the mood, after all, he seemed to be spending a great time with her.

"ah- she started, scratching the back of her head – i am sorry, i am just over thinking stuff. but look at all this – she said grabbing her chopsticks – looks delicious."

for a second kihyun worried and a frown appeared on his forehead. "is it... about me?" just as if he was a mind reader, he had guessed again and boki couldn't almost believe her back luck.

she knew she was bad at lying and she didn't want to lie to him so instead, she just nodded.

kihyun sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "i don't like to assume things but judging by the look on your face, my bet is that is something really bad."

she swallowed hard but that was answer enough. the food remained untouched as he stared at her with worried and tired eyes.

kihyun's hands tightened around his pair of chopsticks. "well... it's better to get off all those things from your chest right now. let's begin." 

     •