Ryujin gazed around the Hwang's kitchen, wondering just what she had gotten herself into. She knew why she had accepted, Hyunjin had gotten the better of her and she wanted to get even. It was one of the things she couldn't stand about him; he always managed to get the better of her. Ryujin frowned, that thought was much too familiar. That thought was way too familiar actually. She still didn't quite understand how she had gone from hating him to liking him in all of two weeks. It was all a confusing mess that she didn't really want to think about at the moment. Ryujin shook her head as a mass of white and black fur launched itself at her.
"Whoa!" she cried as it landed in her lap and began to lick her ecstatically. For a moment her vision was blurred and than she realized that the black and white ball of fur on her lap was in fact a long haired Chihuahua.
"Oh Ryujin, I'm so sorry I thought Kkami was asleep," Mrs. Hwang turned around and saw the dog on Ryujin lap.
"Its okay, really, I'm just not used to dog jumping on me," she replied and than giggled as Kkami made an attempt at licking her face.
"Yes, most people aren't used to things like that," she agreed and Ryujin looked up and smiled at her.
"Is he Hyunjin's?" she asked and Mrs. Hwang nodded.
"Yes, I have no idea why that boy wanted a dog because he's so caught up with his Dance team and I don't have any time to look after him, I've got Yeji to worry about," Mrs. Hwang replied distractedly.
"Who's Yeji?" Ryujin asked curiously removing the puppy from her lap and setting it on the floor.
"Hyunjin's twin sister, didn't you know that?"
Ryujin shook her head. "Oh. He never mentioned it to me," she said and then grinned, 'We were probably to busy arguing' she thought with a slight shake of her head. "She doesn't go to Dream High. Doesn't she go to a performing school?"
"She went to a regular one during high school, she only decided to embrace her natural gift of performing after graduation. You see, Yeji's already in University. She goes to Dream University actually, a freshman," she proudly shared.
"Wow. She must be really good, it's not easy to get into Dream University. But why is Hyunjin still in high school?"
"Hyunjin got kick out in middle school you know. Some guy had the audacity to take advantage of Yeji, naturally he got so angry and punched the kid almost to death. Hyunjin is so protective of her sister. He adores Yeji, he's the best big twin brother and the only one that can put her to sleep for months of that traumatic event." Mrs. Hwang informed Ryujin.
"I'm so sorry to hear that, it must be hard to go through all that as a parent. Your son did nothing wrong, he just saved his sister though," Ryujin said and Mrs. Hwang just nodded and returned to her business.
"Are you two talking about me?" Hyunjin's voice caused Ryujin to jump and she turned in her chair to look at him. She silently thanked god that he had a shirt on this time and then blushed a bit as she felt his eyes on her.
"Yes, but your not going to find out what about," she replied and he grinned, Ryujin just gave him a look.
"I bet if I get you really angry, you'll tell me," Hyunjin said taking the seat opposite her.
"I bet you won't."
"Is that a challenge, Shin Ryujin?" he asked, grinning.
She tilted her head to one side and an evil smirk appeared on her face. "I've been challenging you from day one Hwang Hyunjin, why'd you just pick up on it now?"
Hyunjin shrugged. "Maybe because half the time you never gave me a second to think," he replied, leaning casually back in his chair.
"If I didn't give you a second to think how'd you win all the arguments?"
"Ahh, so you admit I won all the arguments, do you know how many we've had so far?"
"Too many to count," Ryujin said watching him closely.
"I was going to say different but you're right."
"That's pathetic Hyunjin!" she exclaimed.
"What?"
"You're counting how many arguments we've had! Who does that?"
"I do, what's wrong with it? You're only annoyed 'cause you know I won most of the arguments," he replied lazily.
"I'm not annoyed, just…exasperated," she said after a moments thought.
Hyunjin grinned at her. "Which is another way of saying you're annoyed."
Ryujin stuck her tongue out at him again causing him to laugh.
"You really need to work on your comebacks."
"Ya! I've got really good comebacks!" she cried out after she realized what he had said.
"Sure you do, most of them consist of walking away or poking your tongue out at me," he said, laughing.
Ryujin shrugged and then began tapping the counter. Hyunjin looked at her and the grin on her face told him she knew exactly what she was doing. He grinned at her and she narrowed her eyes at him, wondering exactly what he was going to do.
Ryujin continued tapping the table and Hyunjin's grin grew wider and she suddenly became very nervous as to what he was going to do. She knew that tapping the table annoyed him, but she could tell it wasn't going to catch him out like it had the previous times because neither of them was really annoyed with each other. Suddenly she felt a hand touch her knee and Ryujin jumped, her knee crashing into the table.
"Ow!" she yelped and Hyunjin lost it laughing.
Mrs. Hwang turned around to the two and wasn't quite sure what had happened. "What happened? Ryujin, are you alright?" she asked seeing the girl clutching her knee, which was slowly turning purple and watching as her son clutched his side laughing uncontrollably.
"My knee hit the table when I jumped, its okay," Ryujin replied through gritted teeth as Mrs. Hwang eyed her, Ryujin was glaring at Hyunjin who had finally calmed down and was looking at her innocently.
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Hwang asked and Ryujin nodded, still glaring at his son.
"Yep, very sure Mrs. Hwang." She tried her best to smile through the pain.
"Okay, well, can you and Hyunjin set the table, please?" she asked and Ryujin nodded in response.
"Sure. Is Yeji coming home tonight?" Hyunjin asked.
"Sadly she can't. Yeji called earlier informing she had stuff to do this weekend. Your father has a business meeting near her dorm, so they will be having dinner together," Mrs. Hwang replied.
Hyunjin nodded, stood up and stretched. Ryujin went slightly red as his shirt lifted and she caught a glimpse of his well toned mid drift all over again. She looked away and then up when he grunted.
"Come on, are you going to help me or not?" he asked.
Ryujin nodded and stood up, well she made an attempt at standing up. As soon as she put weight on her knee it felt like it had given way and she reached for a solid object. The solid object just happened to be Hyujin's shoulder.
"Okay that hurt," she winced and she felt his strong arm encircle her waist.
"Whoa there Shin Ryujin, you okay?" he asked, looking down at her.
"I think my knee's been better." Her grip on him tightening as she made another attempt at putting some more weight on her knee.
"Probably, sorry about that." He laughed when her grip tightened again.
"Sure you are," she muttered.
Mrs. Hwang watched the two, smiling as memories flooded her mind. The scene she was witnessing was something similar to what had happened with her and Hyunjin's father, although at the time it had been her ankle, not her knee, and it had happened when they had been playing basketball not because she had smashed her leg into something.
"We can still set the table; you don't need me for that much support do you?" Hyunjin asked.
Ryujin shook her head. "No, I'll be okay, but if I smash my knee again, I'm blaming you Hwang Hyunjin," she said with a smirk.
"Whatever you say God Ryujin." He rolled his eyes and Ryujin hit him, and let go of his shoulder. She put some weight on her knee again and winced, but decided that she could walk.
"Alright, lets get this table done."
Hyunjin nodded, his arm slipping from her waist. "Good idea, follow me."
Ryujin watched as he walked out of the kitchen. "Doesn't he need knives and forks?" she asked Mrs. Hwang, who just laughed.
"He'll come back in, watch," Mrs. Hwang replied laughing, sure enough Hyunjin walked in after a couple of seconds and went in search of knives and forks. "He does it every time I ask him to set the table."
Ryujin laughed and followed Hyunjin out of the kitchen. "Your house is huge," she commented as they walked down the hallway.
"Thanks, I don't quite get why we have such a big house there's only three of us." Hyunjin said.
Ryujin raised her eyebrows. "You're still not used to saying four people live in this house are you?" she asked and he turned to her, his brow furrowed.
"Yeji," Ryujin said as an explanation and Hyujin mouthed 'oh'.
"No I'm not. It's weird saying four people live in the house, I mean I've used to saying that before but not since Yeji's been living in the dorm for a year now and until she graduates probably. She often visits on weekends, but I still miss her," he admitted and led her into the dining room.
Every now and then Ryujin would glance up at Hyunjin. She couldn't help but notice small things about him, like how his hair fell into his eyes, and how every now and then he would run his hand through it and it would sit in a certain way, before falling back into his eyes again. Once again, she found her eyes following the curve of his cheek down to his mouth. She looked away as an intense feeling of longing washed over her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, but a large part of her wanted to kiss him. She shook her head; she did not just think that. Did she?
Hyunjin glanced up at Ryujin and he felt a small smile play on his lips. She really was beautiful. He'd never met a girl like her, she wasn't artificial, she was real. He shook his head slightly, his thoughts were going around in circles and it was driving him nuts. She was possibly the only girl that had ever messed with his thoughts this badly and it freaked him out slightly.
"Uhmm Hyunjin?" Ryujin voice broke through his thoughts.
He snapped out of his reverie. "Yeah?" he replied, looking at her.
"Do you have the other glass? Cause you only gave me one," she said and he nodded, the small smile on his face turning into a grin.
"Hyunjin, give me the glass," she said playfully. She recognized that grin; it was the same one he'd worn when he'd touched her knee.
"How about I just do this?" he asked and with that he placed one hand on her hip and reached around her, moving closer to her as he did so. She smiled as he placed the glass down and she turned to look at him.
Their eyes met and Ryujin felt like she was suffocating as she felt his other hand rest on her other hip. One of her hands tentatively ran down his arm to his hand where it rested, while the other reached up to touch his cheek. She was surprised at how soft his face was, but instantly forgot about her surprise when she realized how close their faces were.
Hyunjin watched Ryujin carefully, he could feel her hand on his cheek and he enjoyed the feeling of it. He knew that he was breathing carefully as he watched her tilt her head slightly and her eyes drift touch. Succumbing to what was only a moment away. He started to close the rest of the space between them.
Ryujin could practically feel his lips on hers, they were so close, all he had to do was close that tiny space between them and she would feel it. Then his lips touched hers in a brief moment when -
"I will always remember. The day you kissed my lips. Light as a feather. And it went just like this" Ryujin and Hyunjin pulled apart both blushing furiously. Ryujin fumbled for her phone and pulled it out.
"Hello?" she answered it, turning away from Hyunjin.
Hyunjin stared at her back and wondered exactly what had just happened between them. This wasn't going to go down well when she hung up.
"Okay, yeah, sure, I'll be right over, where am I? Oh, I'm at Hyunjin's," she said blushing as she said that.
"Alright, I'll see you when I get there," he heard her say, Ryujin hung up and took a deep breath before turning around to face him again.
"Uh, that was Chaeryeong, I've gotta to go and see her," she said, fidgetting her phone with both hands.
"Oh right, um, what happened?" he asked, avoiding looking at her.
"I think Felix just broke up with her," she replied, looking up at the ceiling.
"Okay, um, I'll see you later then."
"Sure, apologize to your mom for me will you?"
"Sure," Hyunjin nodded and Ryujin swallowed.
"Right, see you," she said and quickly made her way past him.
Ryujin stood on Hyunjin's front porch and took a deep breath. Unable to believe what had just happened. She couldn't believe they almost kissed.
"Wait he did," she whispered to herself, touchinh her lips. It had felt like he had for a very brief moment. She walked down the steps, and couldn't believe that in two weeks she'd gone from hating his guts, to liking him. She knew that she liked him now. But she still couldn't believe she had her first kiss with him.