"Lina?" Reuben frowned when he saw her in someone's arms.

It wasn't even a simple hug, it was a full-fledged body completely on the other person's body, feet off the ground, arms around the neck and hoisted up in the air kind of a hug.

----

*Rewind to a few minutes earlier*

----

Reuben had finally come back to his apartment building after a long day at work. His driver had dropped him near the entrance and driven away.

Tired and sluggish, he forced his legs to move towards the main door of the apartment.

Just as he was about to enter, he heard a loud shriek from a woman which made him turn to his side in irritation.

'Who the hell is screaming so loudly? This is a residential area so why is she yelling like she is at some marketplace?' He scowled and tried to locate the voice.

His eyes widened when he saw his new mysterious friend, Lina get down from a car and run like the wind towards him.

'What is she doing here? How does she know that I live here? Did she stalk me?' Reuben once again was misunderstanding the entire situation.

Just like some cliched movie sequence, her hair flew with the gentle breeze and she flipped it to the other side so that it did not obstruct her vision.

He watched as Lina ran towards him but midway she changed her direction.

She wasn't even running towards him, in fact, she completely disregarded him and ran towards someone else.

Shocked at being so blatantly ignored, he turned around to look at who she was running towards.

Thus he firsthand witnessed the scene of Lina pouncing into another man's arms who swiftly caught her and twirled her around.

'Who is that? And how dare he hold onto her so tight?' He scowled when he noticed the zero mm distance between them.

His feet moved on their own and soon he had closed the distance between them.

"Lina?" He called out to her when he saw that she was not at all planning on separating herself from this unknown man.

Reuben looked at him from top to bottom and evaluated this young man.

At 6 feet 4 inches he was taller than Reuben, his body was buff and it looked like he hit the gym regularly.

The big arms that encircled Lina's waist with ease were definitely bigger than his.

His eyes were light blue and he had black hair as dark as the night. The face was just as heavenly as his body.

"Reuben?" Lina had let go of the man when Reuben was frowning at them while deep in his thoughts.

"Do you know this man?" The other man placed Lina behind his back protectively as he asked her this question.

"That is what I should ask her!" Reuben glowered at him.

'Did I just gain another protective person in my life?' Lina shook her head when she saw how they were just glaring at each other.

"Calm down, boys! No need to bite each other!" She taunted them and they both looked at her at the same time and rolled their eyes.

'These two are so in sync? Did they find their soulmates in each other?' The hidden fujoshi in her was awakened.

'Yum, a BL scene with these two would just be what my Sunday needs!' She literally drooled as she giggled.

'What's wrong with her face? Is she getting a stroke?' Reuben got worried when he saw her dazed eyes and how her face contorted in a weird way.

The other man was not as worried when he saw her acting in this way.

'What is this idiot thinking now!? I'll kill her if she is shipping me with this strange guy!' He quickly lifted his hand and flicked her on the forehead.

"Ouch! Benji!" She whined and pouted like a little child.

Reuben chuckled when he saw her cute face but stopped when he realized that it wasn't meant for him but for this other guy called 'Benji'.

"So what are you doing here, kitten? Stalking much?" He shifted her attention towards him and smirked when he saw her dumbfounded expression.

"Oh please! Have you never heard the saying, 'If you dream with your eyes open, you'll trip and fall on your face'?" She sneered at him.

"Not really. Who even uses such a dumb saying?" He retorted and got an amused chuckle from the other guy.

"Our Nana does, doesn't she?" Benji rubbed her head affectionately but she swatted it away and puffed up her cheeks.

'They seem really close.' Reuben observed how they behaved with each other silently.

"Nana?" He asked when he heard how Benji had addressed her.

"Oh, that is Lina's…. But why am I even telling you that! Who exactly are you?" Benji asked again because they were distracted by Lina's antics the last time.

"Let me do the honors." Lina offered and the other two nodded to let her do as she pleased.

"Reuben, meet Benji, my assistant, and one of my oldest friends." She winked at Benji and then turned towards Reuben.

"And Benji, this is Reuben. Umm… What exactly should I call our relationship status?" She chuckled and gave it some thought.

"New friend"

"Girlfriend"

Lina and Reuben spoke at the same time and then looked at each other with their brows raised.

Benji, on the other hand, felt like he just had a brain aneurysm when he heard what Reuben had said.

"Excuse me!" He alternated his sight between the two people who were having a staring competition.

Lina pulled Reuben a few feet away in a haste and stared at his face in suspicion.

"What?" He asked when he saw how she just looked at his face from different angles.

"Just checking if you are the same man from last night or some weirdo just took his place?" She did not bother filtering her words and told him what she was thinking.

'This girl!' He clenched his jaw and sweetly smiled at her.

"Want to change that answer?" He offered her a chance to rectify her mistake just like the benevolent Emperor that he was.

"Nope! Why would you tell that in front of Benji! That was just to save you from that stalker of yours." She made a face like she was about to cry.

'Is she troubled that I called her my girlfriend or that I called her my girlfriend in front of this guy?' He glanced at Benji from the corner of his eyes and found him rooted in the same place.

"Why does it matter if he knows about it?" He asked in reply.

"Because he's my mommy's little spy!" She whispered.

'Oh, so she also has an 'Asst Kim' by her side.' He instantly thought of Mathew Kim when she said 'spy'.

"And if she comes to know that I have a boyfriend, even if it's a fake one, then I'll be a goner!" She shivered just thinking of the big tsunami that it would create in her family.

"A fake boyfriend?" Benji asked incredulously.

He had stealthily arrived at their place and had overheard their whispers.

"Diane would love to hear about this!" He smirked at Lina and pointed to his phone.

'Who's Diane now?' Reuben was trying hard to keep up.

"You wouldn't dare!" She scowled at him.

She jumped up to snatch the phone away but her rotten luck caused her foot to slip and she was about to fall face-first on the concrete floor.

But suddenly she was safely pulled up and held in someone's tight embrace.

'Benji is quick as always.' She opened her eyes to thank him.

However, the face she saw was not Benji's but Reuben's.

When he saw that she was about to fall, he had quickly stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.

Now looking down at her hazel and golden eyes, he noticed her staring right back at him.

Time moved in slow motion for Lina when she was at such a close distance with him.

Their breaths mingled and her heartbeat quickened due to her nervousness.

At this moment, there was only one thought in her mind.

'He's too close!! I'm sure he can smell my breath! Gah, this is so embarrassing!' She panicked.

She steadied herself and pulled away from his embrace. She looked everywhere but at him.

Reuben himself wasn't feeling all that good.

When he was staring into her eyes, he felt a weird need in himself.

A need to know more about the pair of eyes that he had never seen before in his life.

'She smells like strawberries.' This made him want more of her.

As his eyes reached down to her lips, all he wanted to do was take a bite out of it.

'Why am I having such strange thoughts?' He shook his head.

Reuben who had always felt irritated when someone even spoke about kissing was now thinking about doing it himself.

'What happened once is enough to destroy the desire to do it ever again.' He was glad that at that moment, Lina had moved away by herself.

What seemed like an eternity for these two was just a matter of seconds for Benji who had witnessed it from the side.

'Something fishy is going on here!' He narrowed his eyes at them.