BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 146: unspoken actions, unspoken feelings

Hyejin nodded slowly. "Fair enough."

"So I had to make sure," Namjoon explained. "Only that way, it will be fair towards you. I didn't want you to just be a rebound, or someone I could use to get better... or even make her feel jealous. I wanted to make sure that my feelings for you were real before I stood before you and told you how I felt."

Hyejin nodded.

"And not too long ago, I realised how real my feelings were-" Namjoon carried on. "When I started thinking about you all the time, wanting to see you out of work, trying to match the time I usually came to work with yours... so I could pass off meeting you every morning as pure coincidence, when it actually wasn't. It's things like this that made me realise that it wasn't just gratitude I was feeling towards you, because I didn't feel like I wanted to lean on you. Instead, I wanted you to lean on me. I wanted to be someone who could be there for you all the time. That's when I bought the gift you're holding in your hands right now."

Hyejin glanced down at the pink bag in her hands.

"I just found out that your favourite colour is yellow and not pink," Namjoon said with a shy chuckle. I gave the pink bag to you honestly because I thought it was the nicest. But honestly, I still don't know a lot about you... What I'm saying is that, I want to know you more. So... will you give me the honour of being your boyfriend, Ahn Hyejin? I promise that I'll work hard."

Hyejin didn't smile, instead she frowned as she looked down at her bag. "Answer me one question... is my gift different from everyone else...?"

Namjoon bit his lower lip, slightly thrown off by the fact that Hyejin didn't answer his question immediately. "Mm... yeah."

"That's why you were being so stressed out about us exchanging bags...?" Hyejin chuckled under her breath. "Why do you have to be so cute for?"

Namjoon wasn't too sure if he was hearing her right. "Huh? What do you say?"

Hyejin grinned as she placed the bag on her lap and looked up at Namjoon. "I can open it now, can I...?"

"Huh? Mm-" Namjoon nodded. "Mm- of course, I-"

Hyejin carefully opened the box and pulled out the present. It wasn't a generic stuff toy, like Hoseok had mentioned. Instead, it was a shoebox. Hyejin lifted the lid carefully and peered inside. It wasn't high heels... it was a pair of sports shoes.

Hyejin glanced up at Namjoon. "Shoes...?"

"Mm... yeah-" Namjoon rubbed the back of his neck, his body extremely tense. "That day, when we went to interview Jennie-ssi, I noticed that you had blisters on your heel and you kept limping. That's why, when I passed by a shoe shop, I thought of you and bought it. High heels is your usual style, but I thought that comfort is more important for you when you're rushing from schedule to schedule. That's why I got this pair of shoes for you."

"You know there's a saying that if you buy shoes for your lover, they'll run away from you-" Hyejin smiled as she looked up at Namjoon. "Don't you, bujang-nim...?"

Namjoon froze.

"To make sure that I don't run away..." Hyejin placed the shoebox on the ground. "Why don't you come over and help me wear it? Make sure you tie the shoelaces tight."