“Are you stalking me?” she screamed in the fairly crowded street.

With panic blossoming in his chest, Hoseok was quick to clasp his hand on her mouth. Looking around he found a few people staring at them and he could only bow and apologise as they walked away.

“Hey! I'm the celebrity here. I’m the one who should get stalked. Don't think of yourself that highly.”

Seeing his saucer-like wide eyes and infuriated face, she burst out giggling again even as his hand kept her mouth covered. His lips twitched seeing her curved eyes and he removed his hand from her face while she continued to squish his cheeks in her hands, his lips puckering. It made her giggle more.

“So cute! But seriously, this can't be a coincidence. What are you doing here?” she asked, her words slow and measured as she let her hands fall to his neck.

Putting his hands on her shoulders, he urged her to stand up and steadied her with a firm grip on them when she swayed a little. Smiling, he said, “I was sitting there with my friends. We were having dinner and then I saw you and thought I should give you a little surprise.”

Migyung grinned wide, her wobbly steps bringing her closer to him. He didn't notice nor did he make any efforts to release her. Standing like this, being with her like this almost felt natural enough to not care about anything else.

“I liked your surprise then, Hoseok. I like it a lot,” saying this, her smile gradually fell and she let her body lean completely against him now. Her hands slid down from his neck, down his chest till her arms hugged his waist. The feeling of her hands on his body made him shiver but he hugged her back.

“Is everything okay, Migyung?”  She nodded against his chest.

“I like hugging you,” she declared and he let out a breath before a bright smile overtook his features.

“I like hugging you too, Migyung.”

“Good.”

They stayed that way for a moment, silent as they swayed from side to side, oblivious to the crowd that passed them, not like they cared. They looked up, however, when the restaurant door opened and out came a man, looking around and smiling when he saw them. Hoseok was confused.

“I thought you got kidnapped, Miss Kim,” the man said, stepping closer to them, his eyes widening slightly when he caught sight of Hoseok but he quickly schooled his expressions and gave him a kind smile.

“Are you the Hoseok that was calling Migyung so impatiently?” he asked with a teasing smile, making Hoseok and Migyung laugh and pull away. Hoseok still kept a protective arm around the woman who looked a little sober now.

“He is,” Migyung answered him and turned to Hoseok and continued, “Hoseok, meet Nathan Ahn. he is the director of the ballet department at the academy. Nathan, meet Jung Hoseok.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Jung. Migyung never mentioned she had a world-famous idol as her boyfriend.”

His words generated an instant reaction from both of them. They separated away quickly, their faces red and eyes wide as they spoke over each other.

“We are friends, Mr. Ahn.”

“He's not my boyfriend, Nathan.”

Looking at each other, they looked away shyly, making Nathan chuckle at their suddenly uncertain behaviour. Taking pity on them, he quickly changed the subject and looked at Migyung as he put his arm forward.

“Everyone is wrapping up inside. I got the leftovers packed up for you since you left in the middle. Leave quickly before they see you guys and bombard you with questions. I will give them some reason for your departure.”

Taking the package from him, Migyung bowed to him slightly. “You didn't have to do all this but thank you. I should get going,” saying that, she turned to look at Hoseok and asked, “You are coming with me, right?”

“If you want me to,” he answered breathily, almost immediately making her blush. Nathan observed their interaction with a small smile and decided to give them a little push to get them going quickly.

“Alright, you guys have made me feel single long enough. Get going before I puke.” His words had Migyung glaring at him and Hoseok laughing. The idol bowed to the other man and he returned the gesture as he turned to Migyung and said, “Let's go.”

Waving Nathan goodbye, the two friends walked side by side till they reached Hoseok’s car. When they were seated and pulling on their seatbelts, Migyung suddenly remembered something.

“What about your friends?”

“They have their rides and I texted them I'm dropping you home.” She nodded at his answer and they lapsed back to a comfortable silence till they reached her apartment complex.

When he parked his car just out of the gates, Migyung glanced at him, studying his profile as he looked out of his car window, seemingly searching for something; maybe paparazzi. But it was him that had her whole attention.

“Come up?” she asked, getting his attention. His smiling eyes roved over her face and though it wasn't the first time he had done it, this time she felt her heart thumping in her chest.

“You’re not sleepy?”

She shook her head. “Are you?”

He pretended to think as he continued to stare at her, making her nervous all of a sudden. There was no reason though; he had seen her at her worst. Just as that thought entered her mind, her blood ran cold but his voice didn't give her a chance to think about it.

“Not yet. Let's go up now.”

Migyung opted for tea this time instead of coffee like last time. Lee Aera, Hwayoung’s best friend had bought an assorted pack of teas recently for both of them and it gave her the perfect opportunity to try it out. This one being a floral tea with a pretty pink colour.

She watched Hoseok take a cautious sip of the hot tea as they sat on the floor, their back resting against the couch. It was comfortable that way.

“Hmm,” he hummed, taking another sip of the tea. “Taehyung has a stock of the same kind of tea. The man loves it like crazy though none of us particularly fancy it that much.”

Migyung smiled and took a sip as well, savouring the taste of it. “It's a matter of taste. I got this as a gift from a friend. I like this one though.”

“Yeah, I guess. I think it depends on the company as well because right now, this tastes amazing.” His words had her smiling shyly and looking down in her cup.

But the smile soon fell away as she thought of voicing her decisions. “Hoseok, I wanted to tell you something.”

Hearing the seriousness in her voice, he put his empty cup on the coffee table and turned completely towards her, crossing his legs as he gave her his undivided attention. “I’m listening.”

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him and said, “After that night, I've thought long and hard about life and everything in general. And I've realised, I don't want to die. I don't want to let go of all th-this.” her voice cracked on the last word, tears gathering in her eyes. She looked away to hide them but his warm hand clasping around her encouraged her to speak.

“I’m going to quit drinking for now. I don't want to be rash and quit everything all together, I don't think my body will handle the withdrawal that well. I don't have any drugs lying around in the house, I promise and as long as I stay away from the downtown clubs, I won't be tempted to buy them. I also deleted the number of the person who got them for me this morning.”

His grip tightened on her hand as she spoke and when she paused he was quick to praise her. “That is a very brave decision, Migyung. I’m happy you want to do this. I really am.”

She sighed, a relieved smile taking over as she looked at him with glossy eyes and said, “Thank you, Hoseok. Thank you for saying that, I needed to hear that.”

He smiled brighter now, leaning forward to hug her tightly, unconsciously pressing a kiss against her head. Migyung gripped him tightly for a second before leaning back and her eyes turning solemn again.

“There's another thing, Hoseok,” she let out, looking down and biting her lip nervously because she was about to admit something that could make her lose him forever.

“It's easy to get addicted to something else when trying to leave one. Hwayoung would call it a crutch and I don't want that happening. I don't want to depend on something or someone else to get out of this. So, at any moment you feel like I’m using you, please, tell me and leave me. Turn away from me because I will make you my crutch to survive and I can't burden you like that, Hoseok. I don't know what you feel for me and I don't know what I feel for you yet, but I want to do this for myself and on my own. Do you understand?”

He gulped hearing her words, his mind working fast. His grip on her stayed the same but his eyes left her face which was suddenly too open, overwhelmingly vulnerable. He was sure he would make a wrong move if he kept looking at her, noticing every emotion that flitted across her face.

"Why would you make me a crutch, Migyung? Why me?" he asked, still not looking at her but at her hair that cascaded down her shoulder to her waist in a loose braid.

"Why not you?" she countered, making his brow pull together and his eyes moving to hers.

"What do you mean?"

He watched her silently, his heart thundering when he felt her hand cupping his cheek, her thumb strumming over his cheekbone. His gaze fell to her throat in time to see her gulping and a drop of perspiration rolling down the side of her slender neck.

"You are an attractive man, Jung Hoseok and a good person too. I haven't… I have not felt this drawn to a man before, even when everything was alright for me. What I feel for you…it scares me, Hoseok. It scares me so much that I don't know how to behave around you. Don't you get it? I see you as a man, I like you as a man."

He looked at her in silence for long moments, now unafraid of her vulnerability because it somehow empowered him. He knew now that he had the same hold on her that she had on him. They were tangled together deeply because he could finally see his feelings reflected in her eyes as well and it made him feel relieved strangely.

He leaned forward slowly when the realisation sank deep inside his skin, branding him with the knowledge that she desired him the same way he did. His hand mimicked her's, cupping her soft cheek and watching her closing her eyes.

His gaze flitted to her lips, pink and soft, parted and welcoming. They called to him, begging his attention and he almost gave in. Almost.

He felt her breath against his cheek when she sighed as he kissed the corner of her mouth. The action was intimate and it shot electricity through his body, compelling him to gather her in his arms and assure her in every way he could think of but he resisted and pulled back, smiling gently even as she pressed her hands against her burning face.

"I will be respectful of your wishes, Migyung. I promise."

A/N:

Word count: 1981

This chapter literally made me question if I was possessed by the ghost of a very good writer because I swooned while writing this ngl.

I hope you guys liked this chapter as well!

I know I haven't been regular with updates till now and I hope you keep being patient like this for another month. As soon as my finals are done, I'll get into a regular routine but till then, it'll be sporadic.

Thank you for reading 💖💖