"What do you think he meant by that?" Maya asked the tall boy in front of her as she paced up and down his bedroom.

"By what?" He responded, gaining a sigh of annoyance.

"Were you even listening to me?"

"I was but you mentioned so many things. Which one are you talking about now?"

"What do you think Seungmin meant by "You're just making it worse for yourself"?"

"I don't know...maybe you're making it obvious."

"How? I've been so careful with my lies. I made sure not to contradict anything I say, why on earth does he keep on insisting for me to tell him?"

"He's a professional, Maya. He knows all the tricks to make people confess. The best thing you could do is to continue your act then he'll realise Liv didn't say anything."

"And what if he still insists?"

"Don't stop."

"It's getting hard to lie to him though."

"That just means he has you right where he wants you: in his trap. Do you want me to face a life sentence or even execution? If you don't keep your act, then I will. Is that what you want?"

"No...it's just...argh, why did you have to drag me into this?"

"I didn't, Liv did. Maybe she believed you were the only person who could help me."

"How am I supposed to help you? She knows I can only take so much pressure until I break!"

"You're overthinking this. Just relax and things with fix themselves. I'm positive of it."

"How can I relax when Seungmin keeps on pestering me to tell him what Liv said?"

"Just stick by me and I'll make sure he stops, okay?"

"Fine but what if he starts to get more suspicious?"

"He won't. When he realises you're always around me, he'll back off."

"He's not my only worry though."

"Who else is troubling you?"

"Someone must have told him that Liv was acting strangely and acting as if someone was watching her." The girl heard Yugyeom sigh deeply and shot him a confused look.

"Just be careful of who you talk to and what you do in public, okay? Everything's going to be okay, just give it another week or two. There will be something more important on the news at that time and everyone would forget about Liv, Seungmin will have to do another case and before we know it everything will go back to normal."

"What about Liv?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said everything would go back to normal but what about you two? What will happen? Will she avoid you? Will your friendship turn cold?" 

He pulled the girl into a warm bear hug.

"I'll sort that out myself. You need to be less tense, okay? How about we go out somewhere nice tomorrow, huh? That way you'll be forced to relax."

"Fine but where?"

"That will be surprise."

***

Hyunjin covered Maya's eyes as he led her through a small forest.

"Are we there yet? It feels like we've been walking for hours," she complained causing him to chuckle at how cute she sounded.

"You're just impatient, that's all."

"Are you sure I'll like it?"

"Positive."

"Really?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then stop asking questions and walk. We'll be there in no time at all."

"Fine..." 

He smiled as he looked at her. She really looked cute blindfolded and he couldn't help but wish he could guide her forever like this because he liked being in control. He liked seeing how much she depended and trusted him. It warmed his heart in a way like never before and he liked it.

"We're here," Hyunjin told her as he uncovered her eyes. 

The girl's mouth immediately gaped at the sight. In front of the duo was one of the world's most beautiful waterfalls, completely hidden away from the human species. Oak trees enclosed the river that reflected a light hue of pink and orange due to the beautiful sunset that could be seen through the gaps in the trees. Green grass surrounded them and little daisies peaked out of it, beckoning at the teenage girl.

"Jinnie...what is this place?" She asked as she began to slowly approach the body of water, completely mesmerised by its beauty. The river was so clear you could see various fish species swimming around happily as well as the smooth and polished rocks at the bottom.

"It's what I call a taste of mother nature. My grandmother used to take my sister and I out here when we were kids but once she passed on, we stopped coming because it just made us miss her."

"Then why did you bring me here?"

"Because I knew you'd like it and besides, she told us to bring someone special in our life here so we'll be mesmerised together." Hyunjin approached Maya and took her hand in his and kissed it gently. "You're someone really special in my life and thank you for still being by my side even though I'm in the wrong. Usually people aren't so understanding or kind to criminals, especially murderers. Thank you for being with me on this crazy rollercoaster. It means so much to me." 

Unable to hide her gratitude, Maya immediately pulled him into and tight hug and began to cry both tears of happiness and sadness.

"That's a best friend's job, silly! I'm supposed to be by your side through all of this."

"Then in that case, thanks for being my best friend." 

Maya finally pulled away and stared directly in his eyes.

"And thanks for being mine." 

Suddenly, Hyunjin leaned closer to her and soon his lips met hers. If it wasn't for his grip on her waist, she was pretty sure she would have fallen to the ground. She was in love with the moment and as soon as he pulled away, she saw a new side of him. He avoided eye contact and let go of her waist all while his cheeks burnt a bright red.

"I'm sorry..." He apologised as he turned to face the waterfall instead of her but she remained staring at him. She smiled at the side of the boy that usually remained hidden and after a while of contemplating whether to do it or not, she got on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek, making him even redder.

"I like this side of you. You should have it more often, then I'll have no choice but to fall deeply in love with you." 

He turned to face her with a big smile before he picked her up in bridal style.

"It's getting late and soon it'll be cold so let's enjoy this water before we freeze ourselves to death."

That was when Maya realised that was the reason why he had requested her to bring spare clothes. He carried her into the water and placed her down. The water was warm due to the sun's rays landing directly at the top of the waterfall.

She watched as the fish swam all over them and she couldn't help smiling. She had always loved nature and animals but only observed through a laptop or television screen. It was as if she was dreaming again but she knew she wasn't. She had already pinched herself ten thousand times to make sure of it.

All of a sudden, Hyunjin splashed her with some of the water then began running further into the water until the lower half of his body was not visible anymore. 

Maya huffed in disbelief.

He splashed her because he wanted her to follow him into the deep end because he knew she was terrified of deep water.

"You won't drown," he told her. "I'm here for you." Maya smiled as began to approach him but ended up slipping on one of the smooth rocks, causing her to fall into the deep water. Hyunjin panicked for a moment. The rock she had slipped on came loose and the water became brown so he couldn't see her. He immediately swam to where she slipped and picked her up when he felt her body.

As soon as she came out of the water, she began coughing viciously. He carried her out of the water and placed her on top of the grass that acted like a mattress at that moment.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly but soon became relieved at the sight of her nodding.

"Yeah. Thanks for saving me."

"I promised, didn't I?"

"You did." 

He stared at her for a second before chuckling a bit and poking her left cheek.

"Should we get going?" 

Maya nodded before getting her bag of spare clothes and going to hide herself in the forest but not too far from the waterfall, where Hyunjin was getting changed.

Right before she began changing, she realised something and immediately felt guilty about it but soon became confused. She bit her bottom lip in frustration, combed her hair with her fingers in frustration and leaned against a tree.

"Dang it, Maya," she scolded herself before scratching her nape, crinkling her nose and furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "Why was I imagining him though? Out of everyone on Earth, why him? Why was I imagining Hyunjin as Seungmin?"