♡22

Hyemin woke up with a jolt as her heart began racing. She turned her head and looked at the window before breaking the gaze, faint memories of her dream lingered in her mind. Upon remembering them, she blushed deeply and buried her face in her pillows.

She could not believe she dreamt about almost kissing Sunghoon. The feeling of his lips that ghosted over hers remained stuck on her mind. Like a sticky gum that she couldn't get rid of. Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she got up and went to get ready.

A small exhale left her lips upon stepping out of her house. Her 2 cousins wanted to tag along so she had to look after them. She didn't mind though as this was the closest she had to alone time. She had also her brought her camera, which she got from Jiwon as a gift for her 16th birthday, to take pictures of the scenery.

It was still so early in the morning as the sun was barely even out yet. Once they reached the park, she let her cousins play at the play ground before telling them she was going for a walk.

It's been a while since she had some alone time so she was really looking forward to this. Seeing that the sun was starting to rise, she quickly grabbed her camera.

Shutter!

"Woah, it looks so pretty!" she grinned, earning a bark of agreement from Gyeol. Spotting a butterfly on a flower beside her, she snapped a picture. Her lips turned into a frown as the picture wasn't clear. She focused her camera and took the picture again.

That was when Hyemin noticed something — or rather, someone— in the background of the picture.

"What the—"

"Hello, good morning!" the boy cheered.

"Sunghoon, what are you doing here? You never wake up early," she mentioned, taking another picture of the sunrise.

"Eh, I wanted some alone time, ya know?" he stretched his limbs. After hearing his response, Hyemin couldn't help but roll her eyes, a chuckle leaving her lips at the same time.

"What? A man can't get some alone time?"

"You do you, Hoon," she said before turning around.

He held her wrist, "Wait." With the way he said it, you'd think it was for something serious. "Can you take a few pics of me, I wanna post then on Instagram."

Of course, he'd ask that.

"Can't do, pretty boy, there's no more space in my camera," she shrugged, hoping he'd buy it. I mean, she sacrificed her sleep to get some alone time but of course, the universe had other plans for her.

"Pleaseee," he begged, "I promise to give you credit."

"No."

He frowned, "Is that how you treat your sugar booger?"

Hyemin cringed. "God, no."

"Your sugar buns, pumpkin pie, sweetheart—"

"Fine," she muttered, "But only because I know you would annoy me until I give up."

Sunghoon grinned, his dimples showing, "You know me well, sugar booger."

She scrunched her nose at the horrible pet-name. Sunghoon just gave her an innocent smile to which she gave an annoyed look, but the smile on her face said otherwise.

After getting about a hundred pictures of the boy, Sunghoon stoped posing and began walking towards Hyemin.

"You go, I'll take pictures of you now," he offered.

"Uhh, no thanks."

"Why not?"

"Because I look ugly in the morning."

Sunghoon lowered himself and brought his face closer to hers, making her breath hitch. She could feel her palms clammy and she became nervous.

"You look pretty," he said nonchalantly, accidentally letting his thoughts slip. He then realized his mistake. "Okay. Pretty okay."

"Oh, thanks, I guess," she replied, looking away. She didn't understand why she felt disappointed.

He cleared his throat. "Well, enough wasting time," he said, gesturing her to hand him her camera.

Hyemin stood there awkwardly, holding up a piece sign.

•Come on, at least smile a little?"

Once she brought her lips into a smile, Sunghoon grinned in satisfaction and began clicking the camera.

After their mini photoshoot session, they chatted about random things while walking around the park. It was all going good until Sunghoon brought up the topic about dreams. Her eyes widened, having flashbacks of her dream.

"Why are your cheeks red?" he pointed out.

"I-I'm fine," she lied, avoiding eye contact with the male.

"Are you blushing?" he questioned, bringing his face closer to hers.

"Whaaat, no pfft," she lied once again.

He put two and two together and his lips turned up into an evil smile. "Did you have a dream about me or something?"

"No!"

"Yes, you definitely did!" he smiled teasingly.

"Oh, look, ice cream," she changed the topic. Before Sunghoon could question her even further, she had run away with her dog.

Her cousins wanted ice cream so she had no choice but to buy it for them.

"I'd like two chocolate and one strawberry ice cream, please,"

She fished the money from her pocket but when she looked back up, someone had already handed the money to the ice cream man.

"You didn't have to, Sunghoon," she looked at the male.

"No, it's no problem,"

She gave him the money. "You're already treating me to lunch today."

"Like I said, it's fine," he politely pushed the money away from him.

Giving up, Hyemin put the money back in her pocket. Her cousins had already run off back to the playground. She could feel the cool, relaxing breeze hitting against her smooth skin.

Unfortunately, the wind also prevented her from eating her ice cream as the wind was blowing through her hair. She frowned, trying to hold her hair back. She didn't bring any hair bands with her and her ice cream was starting to melt.

"Here," said Sunghoon, holding her hair away from her face so she could eat her ice cream. He then made a mental note to always have a spare hair band for whenever Hyemin needed it.

"Thanks," she grinned.

For some reason, he felt his heart skip a beat. He'd been feeling way better ever since talking about his feelings with Hyemin last night. For the first time since Jungwon and Chaeyeon had started dating, he had a pretty good sleep.

And he didn't dream anything related to Chaeyeon too. Instead, he dreamt about Hyemin. Even though he didn't want to admit it out loud, he was glad Hyemin was there for him. It seemed so natural to talk about his feelings with Hyemin. Sure he was closer to Chaeyeon but he felt more easygoing with Hyemin, like he could be himself more around her.

"Sunghoon?" Her voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Huh yeah?"

"I'm gonna head back now, coming with?"

"Yep."

heheee