♣ ♣ ♣

The unbearable, annoying screeching of my alarm going off at ten causes me to release a groan in exasperation as I turn around in bed, trying to ignore the noise. The absolutely last thing I wanted to do right now was to leave my warm bed and spend the whole day studying with Taehyung. Flashbacks from yesterday's party immediately kicked in at the thought of him, making me relive the stressful, confusing yet exciting events that occured.

Shivers.

After contemplating whether I should hurl myself out of the window or not, I decide to finally peel my eyelids open and drag my unusually heavy self to the bathroom. Standing face-to-face with the mirror, I find myself staring emptily at my reflection as I let my fingers carefully glide over the sore, deep red and purple skin where he had marked me. I wince slightly at the touch.

Holy shit. That was not going to be covered easily.

I exhale loudly through my nose in effort to constrain myself from smashing my fist into the mirror out of rage.

That damn Taehyung. Was this really necessary? Idiot.

I don't think my very best concealer can even reduce the vivid colours tattooed on my neck. My dad is definitely going to kill me if he sees this. He would probably kill Taehyung first. And then me.

This kid. How he managed to turn my whole life upside down in only a week is a concept I will never be able to grasp. I begin to doubt that I will even have the privilege to keep my sanity until graduation.

♣

To my astonishment, he actually kept his word and arrived at eleven am sharp. Luckily I was ready just in time and quickly bid my goodbyes to my parents before exiting the house. Taehyung is leaning against his car, watching me approach him with unenthusiastic steps. He smirks slightly before opening the door for me.

"Morning, sleeping ugly." Taehyung greets me as I climb inside the car. I roll my eyes at his unhelpful comment, but snicker mentally because it was actually quite fitting since I didn't bother to conceal the dark circles underneath my eyes.

"Sleeping beauty can't come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, because she was forced to wake up early in order to study on a Saturday by the great prince Douchebag- oh wait you're not a prince."

Taehyung's soft laugh booms inside the car, indicating that he understood the reference from a certain song. New observation made: he listens to Taylor Swift.

"Are you ready for an all-studying day then?" I ask when the car starts rolling.

"The question is, are you ready to do all the work while I go back to bed?"

My mouth falls open. The hell did he just say?

"What the hell is the point with studying together if you're just going to let me do everything by myself anyway?" I exclaim, the frustration in my voice evident.

"Please don't yell, my head hurts.." Is all he mutters while massaging one of his temples.

Feeling my blood boiling, I cross my arms and turn my body towards the window in attempt to create as much space between us as possible. Then I just stare out on the passing buildings in utter silence.

"I didn't say you had to stop talking.." he says softly after noticing that I was isolating myself from him.

"I have nothing to say to you," I mutter with no emotion whatsoever behind my voice.

"You can't be silent the entire day."

"Watch me."

I hear him chuckle quietly, which tempted me to throw him a quick peek even though I strongly refused to look at him. He's smiling to himself.

What's he smiling about? Me being miserable?

"We're here," he announces when the car eventually comes to a halt. I look around me and notice that we were indeed on a driveway. Damn, I daydreamed so hard that I didn't even notice my surroundings. This is really starting to develop into a bad habit.

We exit the car and my eyes immediately widen as they roam around the breathtaking sight in front of me. Wow, Taehyung's house is beautiful. White and modern with floor-to-ceiling windows which were tinted with a faint black colour. I didn't even notice that I was gawking at the building with an open mouth.

"Just don't start drooling," Taehyung snorts beside me as he guides me towards the front door. I had to admit; I was impressed. Well done, Taehyung's parents.

His parents.

I immediately grow nervous at the thought of his parents seeing me like this; like I just came from a goddamn 'The Walking Dead' cosplay parade. And let's not forget the hickey.

"Uh, are your parents home?" I ask when we approach the door.

I notice him tense at my words before he replies with a slightly bothered tone, "My dad's working, so we're alone."

Shit. I immediately regret asking. Drawing the conclusion that his parents seems to be a sensitive topic for him, I take a mental note not to mention them again.

The door swings open and I'm awestruck yet again because the inside was just as magnificent as the outside. Damn, I'm actually growing jealous by now.

We take off our shoes and step inside. Taehyung makes a beeline towards the kitchen, while I silently follow behind, repressing the urge to go on a sneaky house-tour. I sit down by the kitchen island and prepare my books and laptop, opening up the word document and began working on the assignment. Meanwhile, Taehyung was roaming around the house for about ten minutes before joining me. I notice that he apparently had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt.

Even though it was the most simple and casual outfit one could wear in their home, I couldn't help but thinking how goddamn hot he looked.

BRAIN WHY.

Ignoring my stupid brain, I continue writing, resisting the urge to throw sneaky glances at his body that was currently slumped on the counter. I couldn't help but notice his biceps making themselves too evident as he's supporting himself on his elbows, caused naturally by his flexed arms.

He definitely works out.

And I suddenly got tempted to examine just how well built he was.

And boom, my thoughts took a one-eighty sharp turn to inappropriate alley.

Trying to ignore my brain completely this time, I silently continue writing as I'm almost dying inside.

"I thought you weren't helping me," I question him in attempt to distract my thoughts.

"And I thought you weren't speaking to me," he retorts. I turn to face him with an unamused expression on my face, but I was met with his infamous smirk decorating his all too perfect features. This causes my heartbeat only to accelerate in my chest.

Not having the brain capacity to come up with a good comeback, I could only roll my eyes at him and continue working without uttering a word. However, he keeps looking at me -- and it was making it very difficult for me to focus. I eventually let out a heavy sigh before shooting him a glare.

"Please say something.." he suddenly pleads, pushing his lower lip out to reveal an adorable pout.

Holy shit, that was so frickity cute.

BRAIN STOP.

"Something," I mumble and divert my gaze to the computer screen again. Taehyung laughs at my stupid retort, making it hard for me to fight the smile that slowly started creeping onto my face. In the end, I couldn't help it and let myself smile at his giggling.

"You're smiling~," he sing-songs happily, obviously feeling accomplished for some reason. I playfully roll my eyes at him, the smile still evident on my lips.

He acts so different right now, for some reason.. Much more cheerful than his usual bitter self. I'm actually quite fond of this side of Taehyung, it makes me more comfortable around him.

"And you're still not helping with the assignment," I point out with a sigh.

"How far have you come?"

"Maybe one third or something."

"Piece of cake," he says confidently as he leans back on the barstool. "I know pretty much everything about those wars, we'll definitely finish in no-time."

Surprised by this new fact about him, I raise my eyebrows before asking, "You're interested in history?"

"It's more like my dad won't let me stay here if I don't have good grades," he says with a sigh, suddenly standing up from the chair. "But I can't study with an empty tummy."

I glare at him. "You didn't eat breakfast?"

"Nope," he says, popping the 'p'. "So let's eat something first."

"But I'm not hungry," I complain as he drags me up from my sitting position, before guiding me to the fridge and open it for me.

"I'll let the chef decide what we'll be eating," he says with a challenging smirk. I stare at him like he's out of his mind. Is this kid for real?! He's seriously asking me to cook breakfast for him? Oh lord, just when I think that there's no way he can confuse me further than he already has.

However, thinking back on the mere yoghurt and strawberries I ate for breakfast I still did feel slightly hungry. And I knew better than to argue with a stubborn manchild that obviously won't change his mind, so I start examining the contents of the fridge without bickering against him.

"Hm... You want some pancakes?" I suggest, glancing up at him. His eyes immediately sparkles with excitement.

"You know how to make them?"

I chuckle at his cuteness and respond, "Well, I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't know. But I'll take that as a yes."

I grab the necessary ingredients from the fridge as I instruct Taehyung to prepare the utensils and dry-ingredients. The batter was prepared within a couple of minutes and while they were frying in the pan, Taehyung decided that he had helped me enough and thus sprawled himself over the sofa -- the lazy bastard probably even fell asleep.

Finding some fresh fruit, I decided to slice them up before neatly placing them on a small plate. After finding two jars containing jam and nutella, I could happily announce that the slightly late breakfast was at last served.

I quietly sneak up to Taehyung to check if he was still asleep -- which he indeed was. Slowly raising my hands to the air as I bite back a laugh, I then attack his stomach with tickles which caused him to immediately let out a high-pitched shriek as his body twists away from my hands before graciously rolling off the edge and collide with the floor.

I was also on the floor. Laughing my ass off.

"The hell was that for!" he whines, exasperated, while rubbing a certain area of his back that absorbed most damage upon falling.

I just continued laughing, gasping for air as I continuously hit the floor with my fist.

"That.. That cry you made was adorable!" I wheeze out when finally regaining control over my breathing. He keeps glaring at me but soon cracks a smile as he lets out a chuckle when noticing me wiping away the tears underneath my eyes. "By the way, breakfast is ready."

A wide, enthusiastic smile immediately appears on his lips as he excitedly gets up from the floor before following me to the kitchen like a hungry puppy.

"Do you want to eat in the livingroom? We can watch tv or something while eating," he suggests, eyeing the pile of pancakes with dreamy eyes. I chuckle at the sight. Food really seems to bring out his adorable alter ego.

"Sure," I reply with a nod. We transfer the food to the coffee-table before plopping ourselves down on the sofa.

"What do you wanna watch?" he asks while flipping through the channels with the remote.

"Hm, I have no idea. I don't watch much tv," I reply cluelessly with a chuckle. "What do you usually watch?"

"I don't watch tv either," he admits with a soft laugh, making me let out another chuckle.

"We could plug my laptop to the tv. I usually do that when I watch anime-" I suggest, but stop abruptly when that last part slipped out. I mentally slap myself. Shit, did I seriously just admit to the hottest guy in school that I watch anime? Just great, I can already see a glimpse of my miserable future where Taehyung makes fun of me on a daily basis for being a lowkey weeb.

"Hold up.. You watch anime?" he asks with raised eyebrows, bewilderment evident in his voice. I suck on my lips while nodding, avoiding eye-contact with him. Let the torment begin.

"Huh.." he mumbles before cracking a smirk. "Me too."

My head immediately snaps to his direction and I notice his eyes widen at his own words. Now it was my turn to be surprised, but I couldn't help the smirk that crept up on my lips. So, the heartthrob watches anime... Who would've thought.

"You did not hear that," he snaps, glaring at me with intense ferocity behind his dark irises.

My smirk only grows wider before I exclaim, "You watch anime!"

"Not. A. Word. To anyone. Got it?" he threatens with narrowed eyes.

I narrow my eyes back at him in a challenging manner. "And what will happen if I do?"

His expression softens slightly as an evil smirk suddenly replaces his previously tense features. "I'll give you another hickey."

Holy shit okay then.

"Your secret's safe with me. Again," I promise immediately, earning a satisfied grin from him.

"Good," he says, a few seconds of silence follows before he speaks again,"so, wanna watch some One Piece?"

I look at him in bewilderment. Did he really just suggest that we watch anime together? I couldn't help but feel a bit proud and ecstatic -- did this mean that he actually trusts me?

"Sure, I haven't seen it before so."

"What? You've never seen One Piece? Do you live under a rock or something?"

"Dude, it has like eight-hundred episodes! Ain't nobody got time for that."

"We are so watching One Piece, just so you can witness what awesomeness you've neglected."

"My expectations are high now."

"Trust me, you won't be disappointed."

And there we sat; watching anime together while eating pancakes. I caught myself smiling to no one in particular, because this was how I always imagined my relationship would be like with my boyfriend. And here I was, doing exactly that but instead of Taehyung being my boyfriend; he was just a guy from my class that happened to be the most handsome male the people of Korea will ever witness.

Even though he is a total arse and constantly pushes me away but eventually apologizes in one way or another.. Even though there are thousands of reasons to why I should stay away from him, I simple couldn't because something was telling me to stay. Something always managed to make our paths cross. I honestly had no idea what I should feel about this. However, deep inside I actually admit to enjoying this moment a little too much.

There's no way that I was beginning to fall for him.

... right?

♣

It was soon to be six pm and we had just finished the assignment, at last. We had been enjoying the anime a tad too much, resulting in us forgetting about the time that had been flying by as we watched episode after episode. So it took us a little longer to finish the homework than planned, but we succeeded in the end. I had to admit though; Taehyung was smart. I never thought I'd say this, but it's all thanks to him that we finished it so quickly. Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing that I got paired up with him after all.

I release a loud yawn as I stretch my arms. My brain was officially cooked after the hours of studying, and all I was looking forward to now was to get home and devour my dad's pasta carbonara. Having an Italian dad sure had its benefits.

"Wow Taehyung, I'm actually impressed that we got it done so quick. And it's all thanks to you," I praise him, with a little sarcasm in my voice. He snorts and stretch out his stiff limbs.

"Told you it was a piece of cake," he says confidently with a wide grin. I then notice the color of his ears change into a reddish tint.

Did I just make Taehyung embarrassed?

"But I should get going now. Thank you for helping with the assignment," I solemnly thank him as I stuff my things into the backpack before heading towards the front door. He suddenly grabs my wrist, keeping me from taking another step. I look back at him with my eyebrows curved upwards in confusion.

"Stay a little more," he says softly, making my heart melt in an instant.

"But I'm hungry and tired," I whine, trying to release my hand from his grip, however without any luck.

"We can order some dinner."

"Why?" I ask before flashing him a grin. "You like hanging out with me?"

He rolls his eyes at me. "You owe me since I helped with the assignment."

"Oh really? We were supposed to do it together from the beginning."

"And you owe me from last night too."

"Well that's what you think."

He eventually sighs before pushing out his bottom lip, revealing the heartbreaking pout again. "Please.." he suddenly pleads, watching me with big, sparkly puppy-eyes.

This kid. Why do you shake up my heart like this?

"Fine," I breathe, finally giving in. "But you're paying."

He lets go of my wrist with a wide smile, obviously content with his victory. "Sure, what do you wanna eat?"

"I don't know... Maybe some fried chicken and rice?" I suggest.

Taehyung nods in approval, fishing up his phone out of his pocket and starts tapping on the screen.

"Chicken and rice it is," he says with a crooked smile before walking away to make the call.

Now is my chance. Taking advantage of his absence, I use this opportunity to roam around the house, finally getting myself a sneaky house-tour. I quickly and silently sneak up the stairs to the second floor where I had one mission; to find Taehyung's bedroom. I found it almost immediately and entered the surprisingly clean room, except some shirts that were randomly thrown on the floor. His wide, queen-sized bed stands in the middle of the room, black bedding neatly enveloping its large frame. A large tv is placed in front of the bed, standing on top of a bookcase filled with all kinds of DVDs. In the corner stands a black desk, also large in size, with a computer and a pile of school books placed on top of it. One side of the room was just a row of sliding doors, which I assume is his wardrobe.