it occurred so naturally to him. all of his troubles wholly dissipated the moment his lips crashed onto hers. hyerim's little whimpers died down as he wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her closer. her little fingers curled, as if she were overcome with shock.

"jeo—"

he kissed her deeper, sucking the speech out of her mouth.

as selfish as it might have been, he didn't want her to talk. he didn't want to give her the chance to reject him.

without removing his kiss, he opened his eyes and gazed at her, hoping not to find disgust in her expression. thankfully, only surprise lingered in her eyes. she blinked slowly as if she were trying to comprehend why he was kissing her.

what other reason could there be?

he reached his hand forward and pressed it onto her eyes, closing them, before enveloping her into his arms. they lay on the floor now entangled in each other's warmth, jeongguk's fingers combing through her short raven hair and his mouth still on hers. until...

"-oUCH!"

jeongguk would consider himself pretty unlucky. he had shitty parents, a shitty childhood... but that moment. that single moment took the cake. the shittiest moment of his life.

"jeongguk?!" hyerim gasped, pulling away from his hug and kneeling beside him.

after so long of wanting this girl in his arms, his leg got in the way.

jeongguk quivered in agony as he clutched his left knee, hissing with pain. hyerim frowned with worry, rubbing his shoulder slowly as he lay on the floor gripping his recovering injury.

"sorry, i kinda twisted my knee in a weird way... i'm fine now though. let's continue," he mumbled, reaching out his arms and beckoning her into an embrace.

"continue...?"

"making out," jeongguk answered, as if the answer was obvious. his arms were still wide open, welcoming.

she bit her swollen lips nervously, avoiding his eyes. jeongguk then realised her cheeks were tinged with red and her chest heaved up and down, panting heavily. was she out of breath?

he sat up abruptly, despite his knee acting up, and folded her into his arms. "wait, jeongguk—" hyerim started, but was cut off by jeongguk who pressed two fingers on her parted lips.

"i'm not doing anything. rest," he ordered, so she shut up. they sat on the floor at the doorway for a long while in silence. nestled in his arms, hyerim could hear jeongguk's steady heartbeat. it wasn't palpitating even though he had kissed her, as if it were only natural for him to do so.

he felt like his body was made to love hyerim. he sighed at how he, a once mysterious, menacing bad-boy delinquent, had been reduced to a lovestruck puppy-dog, chasing after its owner. but look at her. how could he not chase after her?

when her breathing returned back to normal, he tilted his head to glance at her face. she had fallen asleep. a sheep in a wolf's arms.

her warmth, her smell, the sweet aftertaste of their kiss... he sunk deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that was park hyerim.