"Okay, okay. We get it, you lift." Seungmin chuckled and rolled his eyes at Changbin flexing his arms for the 10th time tonight. "Let's go on. Amy, the next card reads: 'What's the most embarrassing memory you have?' Let's hear it!"

"When we were 19, Tempest drank a whole ass glass of wine in a gulp and ended up throwing up all over herself and the bathroom all night long!" Amy laughed hard, smacking Emma's knee a few times.

"Oh God, I remember that! I never knew someone could have such a low alcohol tolerance!" Emma shared Amy's excitement and burst out laughing as well. "Or when she liked that guy and he ended up having sex with Julia, and Tempest walked on them. God, the face she made! Soooo embarrassing!"

How did we end up talking about this? You wondered, dying inside from the embarrassment. Was it really necessary for your best friends to bring up in front of these people, who are essentially strangers, what a lightweight you are, or what a terrible love life you had, ever since your first crush ended up snogging your best friend on the kitchen counter at a party almost 10 years ago?

How the fuck did I end up here?

~

~4 months earlier~

The soreness of your back started to become almost unbearable, and it was barely 3 PM.

4 more hours to go.

You almost whined loudly from the pain, but there was nothing you could do about it. You had to sit on this stupidly uncomfortable chair in your small cubicle at work for the next 3 hours and go through all the bank statements of your company from the past 6 months, and there were a lot of them. Your boss must love you.

When 6 PM finally rolled around, you got up from your chair and stretched your arms a bit, before heading towards the elevator with hurried steps.

One more hour.

You sang in your head as you hopped on the bus, always way too full for your liking. However, there was nothing you could do about this either. You didn't have a licence, and God forbit you ever got one. You would be a complete disaster behind the wheel, you found out from your friends, who never ceased to give you a piece of their minds when it came to the things you could or couldn't do.

It must've been the truth, though. Your friends know you better than anyone else, so they obviously know how much of a failure you've been 10 years ago when you tried to get the damn licence. You managed to pass the theory test, but as soon as the practical part started, all your limbs started to tremble, and you were no longer able to hear the examiner's voice speaking out directions next to you. Needless to say, you failed that tremendously, but your friends have been through it with you and consoled you for being way too stupid to pass the damn test and for letting your anxiety get the better of you, and even convinced you not to take it again, for your own good. If your anxiety attacks get so bad you can't even hear a person screaming in your ear, you have no place on the road, they said, and you believed them.

Not having a car meant that more often than not you had to take the bus, and your weekly one-hour commute to the massage parlour was no exception to this. Unfortunately for you, 6 PM when you finished work was rush hour, so you had to commute standing on your feet, since the bus was always so full, which was another almost unbearable challenge for your back. But soon, everything would be over, as your masseuse's skills and hands were the only things providing relief for your chronic backache.

You loved Tatiana a lot. Not only was she a great masseuse, but she was also such a nice lady too. She knew you weren't much of a talker, she knew which spots to press on your body to make you relax, and she knew where on your back hurt the most. You've been seeing her religiously week after week for years and it helps. After seeing her on Friday, you would be good to go for another week, the pain barely noticeable. She did tell you to come by even more, but you couldn't exactly afford it; even once a week made a dent through your finances, but you didn't have anything else to spend your money on anyway, and it doesn't hurt anyone that you're getting 4 massages per month, so who cares?

It's taken a long time for you to get comfortable with someone seeing you almost naked, and that's probably the other reason why you really appreciated Tatiana. The thought of someone seeing you so vulnerable made your skin crawl. When your friends saw you in your swimsuit 13 years ago in high school, the way they looked at you and the comments they made on your weight made you feel so horrible, you swore you would never let anyone else see your body.

And you didn't, until Tatiana, who was a true professional, who never commented anything negative on your stretch marks, your floppy arms or your fluffy stomach. She was a God sent.

As you usually do as soon as you get off the bus, you almost ran towards the small parlour, not minding the uncomfortable black high heels you were wearing on a day-to-day basis at work. You opened the door and smelled the familiar, comforting lavender scent, and shouted cheerfully, as you always do.

"Tatiana, I'm here!"

However, you got no response, which made you frown. You pulled out your phone to check the time. Maybe you got here too early?

18:58.

No, this wasn't it.

Then?

You noticed you have a new message notification from 5 hours ago, and as soon as you opened it, you regretted profusely not seeing it earlier. If you did, you wouldn't have come here today.

The message reads:

--

"Hello Tempest,

I'm terribly sorry for the short notice. I got into an accident on Tuesday, and as it looks right now, it's unlikely that I'll be able to work in the near future. But worry not, I know how crucial it is to you to get your weekly massage therapy for the chronic back pain, so I asked one of my past trainees to take over your next three paid appointments.

He will be at the usual time in the Parlour. Let me know if you'd still like to come, so I can inform him as well, or if you'd rather I refund you the money!"

--

He?

Shit. You thought. You felt so bad for Tatiana, but this message made you realise what a terrible person you are, because you were more stressed by the fact that she asked someone you didn't know, and even worse, a man to take her place and massage you, than you were of the fact that she had such a horrible accident to leave her unable to work for who knows how long.

No way in hell. You turned around to leave, making a mental note to send Tatiana your get well soon wishes as soon as you got home, and to buy a gift basket for her. However, you barely put your hand on the handle, when you heard the sound of someone going through the beaded door curtain.

You turned your head unsure, probably with grimace on your face from how horrified you were.

"Hello?" A man smiled kindly at you. He was dressed in an all-white casual attire, and he wore a cute white headband with a cat face on it. Despite his seemingly childish appearance, this man was so gorgeous, you actually became jealous that such a perfect being was allowed to walk on the same Earth as you.

Not fair. You thought, and watched as the man stretched his right hand towards you.

"I am Minho. Thank you for showing up. I wasn't sure if you would." His kind smile never left his face as you held his hand in a shake.

"I am Tempest. I'm really sorry... I've seen Tatiana's message just now..."

"You have such a beautiful name!" He exclaimed.

Really? You wanted to ask. Your friends always told you how much your parents must've hated you for giving you this misfortunate name. However, you didn't say anything.

"So, should we head to the back?" He pointed his hands towards the beaded curtain for you to go first, but you hesitated for a bit. You really didn't want to do this; you didn't want him to massage you. He was a stranger, and you weren't comfortable with him, who was so strikingly beautiful, to see your ugly naked body.

But your other curse besides self-loathing was unfortunately being a people pleaser, and you also didn't want to inconvenience him for the second time today. The first time was not seeing Tatiana's message to decline her offer of having him massage you, and even if you didn't confirm or deny, he still showed up, so it would be extremely unprofessional for you to now tell him you don't feel comfortable. So, you simply took the lead and headed towards the familiar dark room Tatiana was using as her massage heaven.

It was a simple room entirely made of wood, and the décor only consisted of essential elements she needed: a very comfortable, black massage table, a hanger, a drawer where she kept clean towels, disposable underwear and slippers for her clients, and another drawer with all her massage oils and creams to aid her in making anyone feel perfect, depending on the mood they were in, or the pain they were having.

What you loved the most about the massage room was the atmosphere the dim lights created. It had a rustic vibe. You felt so relaxed, and you loved that your imperfections were barely seeable in the shy glimmer of the many bulbs on the walls.

Minho headed towards the wooden drawers and pulled out a big white towel and a pair of underwear and slippers for you and placed them on the table.

"Okay, I'm gonna let you get changed, and I'll be back in a bit." He smiled, and you just nodded unsurely, watching him get out of the room and closing the door.

What you did next was automatism. You took off your blazer and hanged it on the rack, started unsurely unbuttoning your white shirt, and then pulled down your black cotton trousers. You were now left in only your underwear, and you felt your breathing become ragged.

You never felt more anxious.

Still, you followed through with getting undressed and took off your classic white bra, hanging it on the rack, then you took off your panties and wore the disposable ones.

You covered yourself with the towel and sat down on the massage table, not sure if you should lay on it as usual, not sure if you even wanted to lay down at all.

Fuck. Your anxiety was rising by the minute, and Minho seemed to take his sweet time to come back in the room. You were so uncomfortable.

Looking down at yourself, you remembered you also haven't really shaved in a week or so, hence the long pants instead of the skirt, and that only added to the sinking feeling in your stomach.

Oh my God, what if I smell? Was the next thought running through your mind.

You wanted to take a shower so badly. What if you sweated and smelled unpleasantly? You should've asked Minho to let you take a shower. You normally wouldn't have with Tatiana, as she convinced you that you were never dirty enough to be worth it to lose precious massage time to quickly wash your armpits, but you felt way too self-conscious of yourself now.

Also, you've been walking on the damn heels all day. Surely your feet smell bad.

What if he will get disgusted or anything?

Oh God.

Your thoughts were hitting you like a train, and you weren't able to stop them. You felt a panic attack creeping, and you started shaking badly. The crying followed soon after.

By the time Minho came back in the room, you were a crying mess, your hands covering your face as you sobbed loudly.

"Hey, hey." He almost ran to you, his heart down his throat. Did he do something wrong? "What happened?"

"I- I'm n-not sure I... God. I-" You tried to speak, but even that turned out to be a futile attempt. You were useless after all, and your friends were right telling you there was no place for people like you in society. You couldn't speak 3 words, let alone connect two sentences.

How pathetic you felt.

Minho sat down on one his knees in front of you, his head almost at the same height as yours.

"Okay, let's breathe first, yea? Breathe with me." He grabbed your hands from your face and forced you to look into his eyes. They were brown, and so warm; the same colour as the wood on the wall behind him.

"Let's breathe. We're going to breathe in through our nose, just like this. Do it with me." He instructed you, and took a gentle deep breath using his nose, making you follow him. "And now let's exhale, through our mouths, yea?" He let all the air in his lungs go, and you felt his warm minty breath touch your face, almost soothingly. You followed suit again and closed your eyes. You were only able to hear his gentle voice and his breaths, and you felt yourself becoming more relaxed, the panic attack going away.

He repeated this process with you a few times until your breathing became regulated and you calmed down. When you finally opened your eyes, he was still holding your hands.

"Better?" He smiled kindly and let go of you, not wanting to make you feel more uncomfortable.

"Yes... Thank you." You replied, your voice shy. "And I'm sorry."

"No need to be. Look, if you're not comfortable with me massaging you, you don't have to force yourself. I will talk to Tatiana and refund your money, and you can go home, yea?" He continued smiling gently, and you felt so bad. You inconvenienced him so much already, making him come here, then crying like an idiot and now on the verge of leaving.

You didn't want to be that kind of customer, so you shook your head.

"N-no..." you replied. "I... want you to massage me, it's just... I'm really self-conscious right now... I'm sorry." You averted your gaze a bit, before looking into his eyes again, surprising yourself with this new-found confidence to tell Minho what's going on. "I just worry about what you'll think of my body, and I know it's irrational, and that you're just doing your job, but no one besides Tatiana saw me like this... so..."

"I see." He hummed. "Then how about this? I'm going to start with your arms and hands, and if you get comfortable enough, we're going to move to your back, which I understood from Tatiana that is the real reason you're here weekly, right?" He smiled, and you nodded. "And if you still feel uncomfortable, you can wear your shirt while I massage your back, and I won't use any oils. It won't feel as nice, but it will still be better than nothing. We can leave the legs for another time."

"Yea... okay. That sounds good." You nodded again and watched as Minho stood up to grab a bottle of Valerian oil, and you raised your eyebrow, as Tatiana would usually only use Lavender on your body.

"This one is good for calming your nerves. I love using it when I have trouble falling asleep, because it makes you so tranquil." Minho clarified, seeing you eye the bottle.

He resumed your position in front of you on his knee, making you frown. You didn't want him to be uncomfortable at all, and the way he was balancing himself looked painful at best.

"You can... sit next to me, maybe?" You proposed and watched as Minho nodded before sitting down next to you and grabbing your right hand. He first started massaging your fingers one by one, then went on to your full hand, and after a few minutes he started working his way up your arm.

You were never much of a talker, and Tatiana knew it, so she wouldn't say much during your 90-minutes long relaxation and therapeutic massage. So why did you now feel the need to say something to Minho? The silence wasn't bothering you, nor did you feel yourself get anxious again, but you felt... curious. So, you gulped down your saliva and gave yourself some mental courage to strike up a conversation.

"Uhm, Minho?" You asked, and he raised his gaze to meet yours, his hands still skilfully moving up and down your arm.

"Yea? Does it feel nice?"

"Mhm, it does." You nodded. "I just wanted to ask you something if that's okay?"

"Of course." He replied, and switched your hands, now grabbing your right one, which was the hand farthest from him, so you had to slightly turn your body around for him to get better access, and you were now facing him directly.

"Have you been doing this... for a long time?" You asked, slapping yourself in your head for the lame ass question. You might've talked about the weather at this point, cause it would have had the same boring effect.

"Hmmm, Tatiana taught me when I was 20 and curious about all muscles in the body."

"How old are you now?"

"Old." He chuckled. "I'll be 32 this October."

"Oh! Your birthday is in October? Mine too!" You exclaimed happily, excited like a little kid that you shared something in common with him.

"Really? When?" Minho smiled, his brown eyes glimmering in the soft lights.

"On the 25th." I smiled as well.

"No way!!! What were the chances?!" He stopped looking at your hand, his fingers still entangled with yours, and glanced into your eyes. "Mine too!"

"What?!" You laughed. "That's crazy!"

"Right?! So how old are you?" Minho asked.

"Isn't it impolite to ask a woman this question?" You laughed, obviously joking.

"I told you mine, be fair and square." He grinned.

"Fine, fine. I'll be 28 this year."

"You're so young, I'm jealous! After 30, the body aches a lot more than it used to in your twenties." Minho whined.

"God, I sure hope not. Worse than this would be unbearable." You chuckled, noticing how Minho's expression turned into a slight frown.

"Are you in a lot of pain?"

"Mhm, the back is the worst." You nodded. "It must be because I'm sitting down so much at work..."

"You should get up from the chair and stretch every 30 minutes or so. It might help."

"Yea, you're right. There's just so much work to do, though!" You whined this time and pouted like a child, making Minho laugh.

"There is, isn't it? What do you do for work?"

"I'm an accountant for this really big company."

"Oh, sounds cool. And they give you a lot of work?"

"YES! God, it's so much! Besides advising them to make certain financial decisions, I have to correct all their damn finances, and it takes a long time. Advising has to be the worst thing ever, though. It feels like you're talking to a bunch of 3-year-olds!" You exclaimed, making Minho laugh loudly.

"Tell me about it! It's the same for me!" He exclaimed, then quickly clarified. "Oh, I'm only doing this massage as a favour to Tatiana who is the sweetest woman I've ever met, but on a day-to-day basis I'm a legal advisor."

"Really?! Wow. That's amazing. You seem to know what you're doing, though!" You pointed with your eyes at the way his hand was massaging your arm impeccably.

"Of course." He chuckled. "I was really into dancing when I was younger, and all my muscles would ache so bad after practice, that I started seeing Tatiana, and she changed my life."

"The power of massage."

"Exactly. When I saw how relaxed all my muscles were after her touch, I just knew I had to learn how to do that, so I spent many, many days cramped up in her small parlour watching her work her magic. She taught me everything she knows. I did it for a few years too, while in University, but ever since getting my degree and landing the advisor job, I had to stop. No time anymore for massaging others."

"You don't seem to have forgotten anything, though. You're really skilled." You complimented him, and watched Minho grow a slight pink tint on his cheeks.

"Thanks."

"But wow, you used to dance? That's crazy."

"I still do sometimes, with my friends. In the rare occasions we have free time to meet up."

"That's cool as heck. I wish I could dance, my friends always make fun of me when we go to the club, so I'm more of a 'sit-at-the-bar-and-watch' type of person."

"Come on, it can't be that bad." He chuckled.

"Oh, but it is! Do you know that funny video with 'How would different types of spaghetti dance in the club'? That's me, I'm spaghetti." You said, making both of you burst out laughing. You felt Minho's hands tighten on your arm for those few seconds, and you felt your cheeks heat up.

"So, now that your arms are done, should we move on to your back?" Minho smiled.

"Oh, yes. Of course." You nodded rapidly. You've been waiting so long for something to alleviate the intense pain in your back, that you instinctively shot up from the bed and looked at Minho expectantly, signalling him to stand up and let you lie down on the massage table.

He didn't say anything, not wanting to remind you of your previous discomfort about him, and you didn't think twice either, forgetting completely about how anxious you felt 20 minutes ago.

You laid face-down on the table and felt Minho move the towel around your body downwards, exposing your back to him. The familiar scent of lavender invaded your nostrils, and you closed your eyes, feeling the way his fingers worked on your back.

The discomfort was so bad, you groaned as Minho pressed his thumbs on two painful points on your lower back.

"This hurts, hm?" He asked slowly.

"... yea, it does."

"How bad?" He pressed again, and you closed your eyes shut, grimacing from the pain.

"Bad."

"Okay. What about here?" He found two knots on your rhomboid muscles and when you groaned again, he nodded shortly before taking your arm and bending it backwards. He interlocked his arm with yours and used his body strength to raise your scapula so that he'd be able to press more firmly on the muscle knots that were bothering you.

He was close, and you felt his warm breath on your ear, and you blushed, and you thanked God he couldn't see how flustered the proximity made you.

He was the first man to touch you like this, to be this close to you, and being so touched starved made you feel way more things than you should've from such a simple gesture. You found out that you quite enjoyed the feel of his hands on your back, for all the wrong reasons.

After he worked on your back for almost 40 minutes, he moved on to your shoulders and neck, finding a few pressure points on there as well. When he was done massaging those, his fingers went up in your hair, and he gently touched your scalp, relaxing you.

You would've probably been able to fall asleep if you were at home and he'd play with your hair like this-

What are you thinking, Tempest? You cursed in your head. Don't get so ahead of yourself. He's just doing his job.

After some time, he finally removed his hands from you.

"Okay, Tempest, this should be it for today. Feeling any better?" Minho took the towel covering your bum and placed it to cover your back again, in the same position it was in earlier, so that you can cover yourself with it with ease when you will stand up.

You were glad he remembered not to touch your legs, since they were one of your biggest insecurities. Even if you got more comfortable with Minho and didn't mind him touching your bare back, you found your stretch marks less than appealing, and you had so much cellulite, you were hating everything about your thick thighs. You didn't really want him to see all that.

"Yes, thank you. I feel like I can straighten my back without it hurting that bad." You got up and tightened the large tower around your body, making sure to cover yourself properly before Minho turned around.

"That's good to hear." He smiled. "I'm a bit worried about the levels of pain in your back, though. Since it gets that unbearable, you should really change something about your day-to-day life. Should I show you some stretching exercises you can do at your desk?"

"That would be amazing, but... don't you have any other appointments?" You asked hesitantly. You wanted to spend a bit more time with him, but didn't want to inconvenience him in any way, and you knew Tatiana typically had 2 other clients after you.

"No, I'm free for the day." Minho smiled, appreciating that you were so considerate of him.

"Oh, I see." You smiled back. "It's good that you're free."

"Yea." He nodded. "I'll let you change back into your clothes, and then I'll show you how I stretch at work. Oh, do you want to take a shower first to get off the oils, though?"

"No, I'm okay, but thank you for asking." You refused since you were going to go home anyway and run a bath for you to relax in for the next 2 hours, as you always did Friday after your massage.

Minho left the room, and you took your bag from the hanger, rummaging through it to find a large pair of comfortable black trousers and a large T-Shirt for you to change in. You also took out a pair of sneakers, completing your usual after-massage attire. You hated the thought of getting back into the tight work pants and shirt and blazer after your massage, so you made a habit of carrying these comfortable clothes with you every Friday.

When Minho returned, he seemed a bit surprised to see you in different clothes.

"We're matching." He grinned, pointing to your white T-shirt that had the face of a cat printed on it.

"Oh my, we do!" You laughed, looking at his cat headband, the first thing you noticed about him when he came through the beaded door curtain.

How cute is he.

"I'm glad to see you more comfortable. I hate having to dress up daily at work. I'd much rather put on some jeans, or trousers and a shirt." Minho rolled his eyes.

"I know! They should bring back Casual Friday!" You exclaimed.

"Is this what you'd wear at Casual Friday?" He grinned.

"It is." You nodded proudly. "Maybe I'd trade the sneakers to some cute and fluffy slippers."

"Cat ones, I hope."

"Why of course! I'm the biggest cat lover!" You placed your hand on your heart, mimicking being offended.

"Get in line, sweetheart." Minho joked nonchalantly, but his choice of nickname made your heart flutter.

"Oh yea? We should do a haul; each one shows how many cat-related items they own!"

"How about we do a cat haul instead? How many cats you have, hm? I bet it's none!!!" Minho exclaimed offended.

"How would you know, hm?!" You mimicked his sassy attitude.

"Well, for starters, your black pants had no cat hair on them, which is impossible by the standards of any cat owner in the world."

"Fuck, you're good." You mumbled. "I want to have one!!! But my landlord doesn't approve of animals in his unit, fuck it!" You crossed your arms and pouted.

"See? I win. I have two." Minho nodded his head proudly, a stupid smirk on his face.

Stupidly cute.

"Lucky you." I pouted again.

"Okay okay, let's do the exercises now." He said, clapping his hands once, both of you bursting into laughter.

He showed you a few back pain relief stretching exercises you can do from your chair and standing up, and you followed suit, trying to get all of them right and to remember how to do them properly.

"Great, all that's left to do if for you to actually remember and do them everyday." He smiled, and you nodded like an 8-year-old child who just got praised by their teacher.

"Yes, sir." You said, putting your hand in a military salute, making Minho chuckle.

"It's kinda late. Do you live far away from here?" He asked you while putting the massage oils away. You glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was, indeed, really late. It was 9:20 PM. How the fuck did you stay here for 2 hours and 20 minutes?

"Wow, I'm really sorry Minho, I kept you here so late!" You exclaimed, covering your hands with your mouth in surprise. "Uhm, I do live like one hour away, but that's okay, busses should still run at this hour."

"Where?"

"Do you know The Office One building? I live in an apartment complex near that, called The Pentagon."

"Wait, for real?" He chuckled.

"Yes...?"

"I live there too! In Building 5." He chuckled.

"No freaking way! That's so funny??? What were the chances?" You chuckled as well, striked to hear that there's one more thing you have in common. "I live in Building 3."

"That's great! Okay, let me take you home if you don't have any other plans."

"You think I have other plans dressed like this?" You pointed to your cosy clothes and chuckled.

"Who knows? Maybe you were on your way to your boyfriends' house." He winked and smirked playfully.

"Who goes to their boyfriends' house dressed like they go to a high school pyjama party? Like, if I had a boyfriend, shouldn't I normally dress up to impress, even if I just go to his house?" You asked, thinking of how dolled up all your friends are when they go meet their boyfriends. They leave with a full face of make-up and in short dresses, even if the 'date' is a simple dinner and movie at home, which you always found a bit weird. Wouldn't it make more sense to dress up casually for... a casual evening? There was nothing wrong with being dolled up, of course, but you believed there was a time and place for everything. Staying home = casual clothes, going out = fancy dresses and high heels, in your head at least. You thought getting Minho's input would prove itself valuable, maybe you're just being weird to think that dressing cosy is better when going to someone's home to chill.

Minho hummed for a few seconds and rolled his eyes up, in deep thought. You found it cute how he looked like when thinking of something, and you liked that he was actively engaging and treating your silly conversation seriously by doing this.

You took this time to admire his features and noticed a small mole on his nose, right above his right nostril. It was a cute detail about him. You wanted to touch it.

"I mean, if I would take a girl out and made it obvious that we'd be going somewhere fancy, I'd like her to dress up, but if we're just meeting up for a quick dinner, or stay at home, I'd want her to be as comfortable as possible." He replied after a few seconds, and you thought of how lucky the girl who dates him must be.

"That's cool, do you take your girlfriend out often?" You asked way too quickly, and you started wondering if you seemed somehow desperate to know. You were curious, so it wouldn't have been completely false, but still, you didn't want him to think that way about you.

"Oh, I don't have one." He chuckled. "Barely any free time to date."

"Yea, fuck work." You blurted out, then covered your mouth, afraid that you shouldn't have cursed in front of him. You just now realised that you cursed earlier as well.

Fuck.

However, he just laughed, so that made you relieved.

You both headed outside the massage parlour, and he guided you towards his car, a white Mercedes-Benz S. You found the car elegant and thought that it really fit his persona. After he opened the door for you and helped you inside, you took a few seconds to admire the interior, which was just as beautiful, the chairs and wheel covered in white leather. You've never been in such a nice car, and it was just the exact type your friends were boasting to be driven in when they were dating someone with money.

Minho started the car and leisurely drove it through the almost empty streets of the city. The GPS showed that you were 40 minutes away from home, and Minho turned on the radio to listen to some tunes in the background.

"Thanks for driving me home." You told him a few minutes into your trip, looking at how beautiful his side profile was. He was a gorgeous man.

"No need to thank me. We're going to the same direction after all."

"I do need to thank you, actually. You stayed out really late to show me the stretching exercises and everything..."

"That's the least I can do for Tatiana's favourite client."

"Oh, shut up, I'm not." You chuckled. "By the way, did you take over all of her clients?"

"God, no. I wouldn't have had time for that." Minho laughed, swerving right. "You're actually the only client of hers I've taken."

"Really?" You exclaimed, genuinely surprised. "Why?"

"Well, she said you've been a really consistent client, and that you really needed it, since your pain gets really bad. Plus, you've already paid for this month, and she didn't want to inconvenience you too much."

"She had an accident, I would've understood." You frowned.

"She knows that, Tempest, don't worry."

"Mhm. But see? Even more reason for me to thank you, since you're basically doing me a favour..." You frowned again, two strong wrinkle lines forming on your forehead. Since you were currently waiting on a red light, Minho looked at you and noticed the way you scrunched your forehead, and poked the space between the lines with his index finger.

"Stop frowning like that." He chuckled. "You're gonna get wrinkles."

"Okay, mom." You rolled your eyes and laughed.

"I prefer dad."

"Okay daddy-" You blurted out without thinking, then realised how wrong it sounds. "Oh my fucking God, what did I just say?" You laughed a bit too loudly for your liking, starting to feel really awkward. Did you make him uncomfortable?

However, he burst out laughing as well, easing the anxiety bubbling in your stomach. That didn't stop your cheeks from growing bright red, which you were sure he would notice.

"Anyway-" you started, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible and to prevent you further embarrassing yourself by saying something stupid. "You said you have two cats, right?"

"Oh, you remembered!" He exclaimed, surprised. "Yes, two orange boys! Soonie and Doongie."

"Their names are so cute!!!""

"They are cute as well! I adopted both from the streets and they are such lovely children."

"That is very kind of you. I really wish to adopt one or two cats myself, and I definitely will, when I get my own apartment..."

"Ah, yes, you did mention you're renting."

"Mhm, turns out accountant jobs don't pay that much to be able to get my own place. Not as close to work as I'd like, anyway."

"And they say going to University will bring you a lot of money." Minho chuckled.

"Right?! Liars." You crossed your arms.

You talked for a bit more until you finally reached The Pentagon, and Minho stopped the car in front of your building.

"Okay, this should be Building 3." He smiled.

"You count really well." You joked. "Then that" you pointed towards Building 5 "should be your place?"

"You're also good at maths, expected from an accountant." He laughed. "By the way, before you go, would it be more convenient to meet here next week, instead of Tatiana's Parlour? I have a massage table and everything else at home, and it's closer. If you're comfortable with coming to my place, of course."

"Uhm... that's okay, but are you sure? I don't want you to be uncomfortable by a stranger invading your space and everything..."

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't okay with it." Minho smiled kindly.

"Okay, if it's all right with you..."

"That's great! Can I also have your number, then? I'm going to text you the apartment number next week a few hours before the appointment." He unlocked his phone and handed it to you.

"Sure." You took the phone and added in your number and name, then closed the window and noticed his wallpaper, a picture of the two orange cats he mentioned. "Are these Soonie and Doongie?" You smiled.

"Yes, they are the kids." He laughed a bit, taking his phone back. "This right here is Doongie. His nose is orange, and his fur has more white. And this one is Soonie, he has stripes, and his nose is white." He clarified, and you hummed in understanding.

"I love them so much. They are cute as hell." You smiled brightly. Cats have always been your favourite animals.

"You'll meet them next week." Minho locked his phone and placed it in his pocket.

"Okay then. I'll be waiting for your text, and I'll see you next Friday?"

"Bet." He smiled.

"Thanks once again for the massage and for dropping me off." You said one more time, and he dismissed you by waving his hand around, as if he didn't just do you a big favour by letting you sit next to him in a comfortable car instead of having to take the bus again.

You got out of the car and waved him goodbye, waiting to see him drive away, but instead of doing that, Minho ushered you inside with his hand and waited until he saw that you safely got into the building.

This warmed your heart a bit.

~

Friday rolled around pretty quickly due to how busy you've been at work. You barely had any time to think about Minho, but you would lie if you said you didn't think of him at all.

Because you did. A lot.

You didn't want to let your mind roam too freely, though. He was friendly to you for the sake of politeness, so there was no point in getting so infatuated with him, you tried to tell yourself.

But you still thought about him, consciously during breaks at work, and unconsciously, especially during night-time, in your dreams. You dreamt a lot of him touching your body, of his fingers working up their way inside of you, and you would wake up breathless.

Is this really me? You would ask yourself, as you never truly had such an interest for someone else, let alone for a man you just met. Your friends even thought you were asexual at some point, because you never let them know if you found someone attractive, and you barely kissed someone many years back. You never even had sex, not that you didn't think about it. You just didn't get comfortable enough with someone to let them see you like that, and you winced at the thought of being under a man and him looking... at you.

It couldn't be a pleasant sight. You would tell yourself, so you avoided relationships like the plague, and didn't allow yourself to ever accept other people's advances or end up in anyone's bed.

You did feel comfortable with Minho touching you, though, and your wet dreams told you as much.

And you certainly weren't asexual.

Enough, Tempest. You tried telling yourself. Stop thinking about him.

However, he made it difficult as well. You were surprised to see a text from him on Saturday morning, simply stating "Hey, this is Minho. Don't forget to stretch today."

Then, a similar text on Sunday.

Then on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, and on Thursday, all of them at different hours throughout the day. You enjoyed deluding yourself that maybe he thought about you as well, so he would message you when he remembered. After all, he would send a daily reminder, with no fail, which worked, as you actually started taking more frequent breaks and following the exercises he taught you.

By the time he texted you his full address on Friday morning, your back wasn't hurting as much as it used to, but still, you wouldn't let an opportunity to get a massage pass you by no matter what, so as soon as you got off work, you headed home and took a shower, then changed in some casual clothes and anxiously headed towards Building 5.

Minho answered the door seconds after you rang and invited you inside. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a black T-shirt with printed multi coloured crystals on it, and on his head the familiar cat headband from last week. His hair looked soft, and you wanted to touch it so badly, as stupid as it sounds.

Fuck, it shouldn't be legal to look so good effortlessly, but he was absolutely gorgeous with his bare face and his slightly darker than his skin tone eyebags, his cute mole on his nose, and with the way his lips curved upwards when he invited you inside.

You barely stepped through the door when an orange cat with a white nose ran up to you, meowing at you loudly.

"Meow!" You replied, making Minho laugh. "You must be Soonie!" You bent down and pet the purring cat. "And where's Doongie, hm? Is your brother lazy?" You continued petting Soonie, not noticing the shocked expression on Minho's face. He couldn't believe you remembered their names, and that you were actually able to differentiate the two. Even his best friends didn't remember these details and would always mix up how many cats he had or call Soonie Doongie and vice versa.

When you stood up, Minho took your bag and placed it on the rack, then guided you towards one of the rooms in his house. You noticed the simplistic décor of his apartment, the white walls and wood elements and furniture, and you kept thinking of how much everything fit his personality. You loved it.

When he took you to the massage room in his house, though, your face dropped, and he noticed it.

"Is something wrong?" He frowned, and you cursed yourself for being so expressive.

"No..." You lied, shaking your head. But it was.

"Are you sure, Tempest? Please don't lie to me." He spoke softly, making your heart melt once again. Why was he being so attentive?

"It's just... there's so much light, and..." and I am insecure, and you're going to see my stretch marks clearly, and you'll notice my stomach is a bit too big, and that my hair started growing on my legs again even if I shaved 3 days ago, and that I have a new pimple on my back that's red and disgusting, and-

You started feeling another panic attack creeping in, and you felt small tears forming in the corners of your eyes. Overthinking sucks so badly, but you couldn't stop it. You never could.

"Is that the issue?" Minho smiled, touching your hand to pull you out of the destructive thoughts in your mind. "I'll turn the blinds down and bring a lamp to have a similar dim light as Tatiana's room, is that okay?"

"Oh." You replied simply. "Uhm... if you could..."

"Of course, you can go to the bathroom to change, I left you a towel, slippers, and everything in there, and I'll set up the room to your liking, yea?"

You just nodded and left to the bathroom, trying not to think it through. He was warming your heart with his thoughtfulness, and you loved that you didn't have to tell him everything for him to get it.

It was like he could understand you, which you found completely astonishing. You always had to explain yourself for your friends to get what you meant, so at one point, you just stopped doing it. It was too tiring to feel like no one knows what you're talking about unless you recite a 4-page imaginary essay on your feelings for them.

The bathroom Minho pointed you to was modern, having large white marble-like tiles. True to his word, there was everything you needed next to the sink, so you started undressing and hugged the white towel close to your body. A pair of white fluffy cat slippers were carefully placed on the floor, and you smiled, remembering the conversation you had with Minho last week about cat slippers.

When you were done getting changed, you exited the bathroom and noticed excitedly that Soonie and Doongie were in front of the door, waiting for you to get out.

You bent down and started petting the two cats who were purring happily, when Soonie let out a powerful meow, making Minho come out of the massage room and catch you in the act.

"Tempest?" He smiled. "You let me wait for you while you play with the cats?" He chuckled slightly, and oh God, how beautiful he was.

"Right, sorry." You chuckled as well and stood up, going back into the massage room and brushing past him. He did an amazing job changing the atmosphere of the room, making it really similar to the one you were used to at the parlour.

Just like at Tatiana's last week, you sat down on the bed instead of laying down, and handed your right hand to Minho, so he could start massaging it first. You thought this would give you better chances of striking another conversation with him, than if you laid down.

"So," Minho started, the massage oil already coating both your hands. "how is your back? Did you remember to do your exercises?"

"Your daily reminders helped." You chuckled. "My back is so much better, but still hurts."

"Well, Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm glad it's a bit better, though."

"I like the slippers, by the way." You said, pointing to the fluffy cat face on your feet.

"I bought them just for you." Minho laughed, making you blush a bit. Surely, he was just kidding, but it still made your heart flutter.

"Thanks. They are cute, almost cuter than Soonie."

"Hey, don't push it. Nothing is cuter than Soonie."

"Not even Doongie?!" You exclaimed, as if shocked, and saw Minho make a horrified expression.

"Shhh, I don't want him to hear it, but Soonie is my first chonky baby, so I like him a tinyyyy bit more. I would never tell him that, though." Minho whispered jokingly, making you laugh.

"Yea, don't tell him, it'll go to his head." You joked as well.

"So, back?"

"Yes, please!" You got up from the table and waited for Minho to stand up as well, so you can lay down.

He took off the towel from you as carefully as last week, and placed it to cover your behind, leaving your back naked once more. This time around, the pressure points didn't hurt as much. They were still painful, of course, but it was not as unbearable as it used to be, which was a shock.

When he finished massaging your back, neck and scalp, he hesitated a bit before speaking:

"Should we... do your legs as well?"

Unlike last time, you were no longer nervous about having him see your bare back, but you still weren't ready about the legs, and you didn't think you would ever be, so you quickly refused.

"No, I'm okay, thank you."

"Sure." Minho nodded and turned around, letting you get up from the table and position the towel to cover your body. "You didn't have dinner yet, right?"

"Of course not, who eats before a massage?" You replied, not getting at first what he was hinting at.

"Great, do you want to eat together, then?" Minho turned around just in time to notice the slight tint of your cheeks.

"I'd love to, if it wouldn't disturb you..." You hesitated, not sure if he was actually asking you this out of politeness, or if he genuinely wanted to spend time with you.

It would be impossible to want that, right? Your friends always told you that you're a bit too boring so there's no wonder no guy ever approaches you, and you believe them to be right, so you found it a bit too unlikely for Minho, the most attractive person you've ever met, to want to spend more time with you than necessary.

"You could never disturb me, Tempest." He frowned a bit. "Why don't you go change while I check out some restaurants we could order from?"

"Sure. Be right back, then?" You smiled and he nodded, so you quickly ran to the bathroom and changed back into your comfortable clothes.

You could never disturb me, Tempest.

His words kept running through your mind, and you felt your heart grow uncomfortable in your chest. It was like you were 16 again, having your first crush.

You slapped your cheeks two times, as if to wake yourself up, and exited the bathroom.

"I'm here!" Minho shouted from the room opposite to the bathroom, so you followed the sound and entered a large living room. The décor was pretty simple, but elegant, and you liked seeing how much he cared for his cats, as he had a big cat tree and several scratching posts and toys all over the room.

Minho was manspreading in the middle of the couch, leaving you basically no choice but to sit next to him no matter where you were to sit.

"How about we get some pizza?"

"You can't go wrong with that, so why not?" You giggled.

"Oh, you definitely can go wrong with that. My friend Jisung managed to burn 3 frozen ones in a row." Minho laughed.

"No way!" You laughed. "What about you? Can you cook?"

"Can I cook? Sweetheart, I'm the best cook ever."

"Oh yea?" You raised your left eyebrow playfully. "I don't believe it until I see it."

He grunted. "I would've definitely cooked tonight if my hands weren't tired."

"Sure, sure." You rolled your eyes. "Should I massage them for you while we wait for the pizza?" You joked, not thinking he'd actually take you up on the offer.

"Yes, please. I'll bring some oil." He stood up from the couch so quickly, you wondered if he was perhaps hurrying so that you wouldn't change your mind. "How does Pepperoni sound, by the way?"

"Sounds good!" You shouted after him.

Minho returned a few seconds later with a small oil bottle – Ylang Ylang. You wondered why he picked this exact one. You weren't an expert by any means, but Tatiana taught you a thing or two about oils, and you knew this specific fragrance has an association with erotism.

Was it random?

You didn't want to give it much thought, so you grabbed the bottle and poured some oil in your left hand.

"Is this too little?" You asked him unsure.

"No, it's perfect. Go on." He handed you his right hand, and you hesitantly grabbed it, rubbing the oil on his palms and fingers. It was definitely not healthy for you to be able to examine his hands so closely, and you already felt something pulsating inside of you at the thought of what dreams of his fingers you're going to have from now on, since you now know exactly how they look and feel like.

Even his hands are attractive.

You couldn't take your eyes away from the way his veins slightly throbbed when you brushed your fingers over them as soon as you made your way up his arm. His muscles were firm, and you liked them.

Fuck.

".......... or maybe not?"

"Huh?" You looked up to him like a deer in highlights, not having heard what he just asked. Is that how caught up you were in staring at his hands?

He chuckled. "I said: How do you like to eat pizza, do you like ketchup, or maybe not?"

"Oh. Damn, sorry. I kinda zoned out for a bit there. I don't mind either."

"Am I that boring?" He frowned.

"No!" You quickly corrected, feeling a bit embarrassed to react so eagerly. You didn't want him to misunderstand. After all, you were zoned out because you were thinking obscenities of him and his fingers. "Not at all! I was just in thought and-"

Get yourself together, for fuck's sake.

"I'm just messing around with you, Tempest." Minho chuckled, seeing how distressed you became. "Do this other one too." He handed you his left hand.

"Am I doing okay?"

"Mhm, it's really fucking good." He laid back on the couch and closed his eyes while you started pushing a few spots on his palm.

You liked the way his hands fit in yours, and you loved watching his chest rise up when he would breathe in. He looked so peaceful with his eyes closed. You wanted to let him rest a bit as well, so you stayed silent while massaging his fingers. It was pleasant to just chill with him like this, no one saying anything. Strangely enough, the silence brought you a sense of peace, not of anxiety as it usually did when you were with your friends. If you hanged out and no one said anything, that meant they were mad at you, but with Minho, it was so much different. It was a comfortable silence you both seemed to enjoy.

You didn't even notice time passing by so quickly, but you were pulled out of your trance when the doorbell rang, signalling that your pizza was there. You didn't even massage Minho's hands for the past 10 minutes, you just held his right hand while your fingers barely brushed over his arm. This technique is apparently called feather stroking, and it's meant to be relaxing and calming. In truth, you wanted to touch him a bit more after your fingers got tired from pressing on his palms, so he instructed you to just use your fingertips lightly and keep touching him.

"I'll be right back." He smiled, getting up from the couch and removing his hand from yours. You missed his warmth instantly.

He returned a few moments later with a large pizza and two Coca Cola cans, placing them on the table.

"Let's eat!" He instructed you, so you got up from the couch and sat in front of him on a floor cushion. He ripped the first slice from the pizza and handed it to you, a simple gesture that once more made your heart flutter. It felt like he was first thinking of you than of himself, and you were never put first before, by anyone.

"Thanks." You smiled and took a bite. "Let me know how much I owe you. Fuck, this is really good."

"Is it?" Minho smiled as well and watched you eat fondly, before taking a slice himself and biting into it. "You already paid."

"How so?" You raised an eyebrow.

"You massaged me."

"Come on, that's the least I could do after you took care of me the whole week with your reminders!" I pointed out while taking another bite.

"That's not the same. The massage helped me decompress. I love feather stroking. I should do it to you next time. On the back feels the nicest."

"You should've let me do it on your back then." You replied, glancing into his eyes.

"Mhm. Next time?" He smirked, and you really didn't want to think about it too much. Minho's naked body should not be one of the things you think about. Not while you're in front of him and getting flustered by the mere thought, at least.

"Sure." You nodded.

"It's a deal."

"How was your week, by the way? You did say you needed to decompress..."

"Oh, really stressful!" He exclaimed while letting his head fall back. "I want to stay professional, but I swear, these clients are giving me such a headache!"

"I told you, I see advising as if you're a kindergarten teacher and the clients are children."

"They sure act like they're 5." Minho rolled his eyes and laughed. "There was this guy with a computer parts company that wanted to buy a car, for himself, of course, and wanted to use the company's money. He wanted to see if he could do that."

"Could he?" You asked, tilting your head.

"Hmmm. What do you think, Tempest?" Minho asked you, not in a derogatory way or anything. He seemed genuinely curious to hear what you thought about it.

"Well... you said he has a computer parts company? As in, he sells computer parts, like hard disks, GPUs and stuff?"

"Yes, that's right."

"So... he would be able to justify buying a car to deliver said products to his clients."

Minho smiled hearing your answer. "That's the easy answer, and normally he would be able to justify it."

"So... you advised him to buy it?"

"No." Minho continued smiling, watching at you. "Because the dumb fucker wanted to buy a convertible Lamborghini Gallardo, and that shit runs for at least 150k new. No way in hell would he be able to justify such a large purchase for the mere reason of 'delivering goods'." He laughed.

"Oh, wow. So... did he take it well, when you told him you wouldn't recommend going through with the purchase?"

"Okay, for a bit more context: this happened last year, and obviously we've all advised him not to buy such an expensive car. He was an older client of ours, so we even went out of our way to recommend him other car models that would fly well under the radar of the Fiscal Administration."

"Okay." You nodded. "And let me guess. He... didn't take that advice."

"No." Minho laughed. "He didn't. He went through and bought the Lamborghini, and now has lots of tax issues he doesn't know how to justify. Hence seeing us again this week. It's been a headache."

"What an idiot." You blurted out.

"Right? That's who I deal with every damn day, Tempest!" He exclaimed in horror. "Thanks God you're here to save me from incompetence this Friday night."

"Oh, I'm not too smart either." You brushed your hand around. "I make a lot of dumb decisions."

"Don't underestimate yourself. I find you pretty clever." Minho smiled, and you once again made an unconscious comparison between how your friends treat you versus how he treats you. Your friends dwell on the smallest mistakes you make, and never fail to remind you how much of an idiot you are most times.

"By the way," Minho started again, "your last paid appointment is next week, right?"

"Oh." You forgot this. Does that mean that you'll no longer see Minho after next Friday? "Yea. That's right..."

"I see." Minho hummed. "Did you find anyone else to keep up with your weekly massage?"

"No... I actually haven't even started looking..." You replied dejected and watched how Doongie brought a small mouse toy over to you so you can play with him.

"Aren't you so cute?" You scrunched his chin, then remembered that there was something in your bag you brought with you specifically so you can earn the trust of the cats. You jolted up and Minho looked at you confused.

"It everything okay?"

"Yes! Sorry! Just a second!" You ran out of the room and grabbed your bag, pulling out a small bird toy that would make sounds when touched, and some cat treats.

You then returned to the living room and saw Soonie cuddling up with Minho, and Doongie waiting in your spot.

"I got you something!" You exclaimed happily, talking to the cats, which Minho found adorable. He enjoyed that you were paying them so much mind, instead of ignoring them, as most of his peers do.

"Wow, guys, Tempest brought you a gift!" He exclaimed shocked, as if he was talking to actual children. In truth, he couldn't believe that you were so thoughtful, and that you treated the cats so well.

You first opened the snacks and sat on the ground waiting for the cats to come to you, which they did in no time, and they ate from your hands.

"They love you." Minho remarked with a large smile.

"I love them too." You declared, nodding.

"But you're spoiling them too much."

"Oh, come on, a few snacks are not gonna hurt them!"

"Of course not." Minho laughed. "So, as I was saying... do you want me to recommend you a few good masseurs I went to, so you can continue your weekly therapy?"

"No." You immediately denied, shaking your head.

"No?" He raised an eyebrow. "But... Tatiana is gonna take a long time to recover, and even so, she's already pretty old, maybe she's going to retire... Then what?"

"Uhm... I know you're right, and thank you for being so kind as to tell me, but... I don't really feel comfortable enough going to someone new." You continued quietly, hugging your body as if to protect it from being seen. It was the truth, though. If you wouldn't have been basically forced to have Minho massage you, you would've most likely given up on getting any massages, at least for the time being, until you found yourself too desperate and in too much pain to be able to keep going without it.

Minho looked at you for a moment, before asking a simple question that felt like it turned your whole world upside down: "Why?"

"Uhm... I'm just... I don't really want other people to... look at me, at all."

"Why not?" He started at you blankly. He must think you're so stupid.

"It's gotten really late, so I should go home..." You averted your gaze and stood up, not bothering to take the cats' new toy out of the package to give it to them. You just threw it on the floor.

"Hey..." Minho stood up as well, grabbing your arm to stop you from leaving. "I'm sorry if I clicked a nerve. I didn't mean to."

"No, don't worry." You brushed him off, still not turning your head to look at him. There were small tears in the corners of your eyes, and you already felt stupid enough as it was, so you didn't want him to see.

"Tempest." He spoke softly. "Will you look at me, please?"

You didn't want to.

But you also did really want to.

You never confided into someone else before, afraid of what they'll think of you, afraid that you'll project all your insecurities onto them, and they will actually start seeing you how you saw yourself. That scared you.

"Tempest." Minho spoke again, pulling your arm to draw your attention.

"Yea?" You looked at him and his eyes were so beautiful, but also so full of concern.

"There's nothing wrong with you." He said. "There's nothing wrong with the way you look, or with your body. Don't be so ashamed of it, it's doing its best to let you get up every morning and go on with your day. Don't hate it."

The words were simple, but they meant so much to you, that you started crying. It was the second time you met Minho, and the second time you've cried in front of him from your self-doubts. It was the second time he comforted you, and the second time you've calmed down and heard him out.

And you made an incredible discovery inside of you. You liked him as much as you disliked yourself, but maybe with his help, you'd start liking yourself too.

Just maybe.

Minho dragged you back to the couch and you followed reluctantly. Everything he said weighed heavily on your heart, in a good way, but you couldn't bring yourself to say anything in return.

"Look," he started speaking again after bringing you a few tissues to wipe your face. "You can keep coming here weekly, until you find someone else you're comfortable enough with. Okay?"

"Really?" You raised your head from the napkins and looked right into his nut brown glistening eyes.

"Really."

"Wouldn't it bother you? I mean, you're so busy..."

"That's true, but it doesn't bother me. You have to return the favour though, and get dinner with me and massage my hands afterwards."

"Really?" You asked again, your heart jumping in your chest.

"Really." He replied again.

"Okay." You smiled and looked fondly to the empty pizza box on the table.

~

That night, Minho insisted on taking you home, even though you lived literally 2 blocks away. Still, you didn't complain, you enjoyed his presence too much to want to part with him.

He really meant it when he said you can keep coming to him for your weekly massage. Friday evening was the only time in the week you two would meet, he would massage your arms, back and scalp, and afterwards you would work on his hands while you two waited for whichever take-out you decided on that day.

Besides this, however, you two also started texting on a regular basis. He sent you daily texts reminding you to do your back stretches and would sometimes send you random pictures of Soonie and Doongie.

You found yourselves talking almost everyday for two months straight, but still, the relationship didn't progress to anything more than friends, nor did you want it to. You would've lied if you said you didn't think of him as being more, or didn't have dreams with him anymore, but you were scared of losing your friendship, so you didn't dare to make any first step towards something different. You also weren't sure if Minho actually had any feelings for you, or if he just enjoyed spending time together, although you did catch him stare a second too long at your lips, but maybe it was all in your head.

~

Today was the worst day you had in a long time. The audit for the first half of the year was approaching, and you had to make sure to check all fiscal documents of your company together with your team, to make sure you'd pass it with flying colours.

It was barely Wednesday, but your back hurt you more than it ever did, no matter which stretching exercises you tried.

Even worse than that, you've been in and out of meetings the whole day, basically standing on your feet running from place to place within the company, so your feet were cramping extremely bad.

You didn't think you could make it until Friday, but you didn't have it in you to call Minho and ask him to come in earlier, so when 6PM rolled around, you made your way out of the building and started walking home.

Building 3 of the Pentagon was a 15-minute walk away from your workplace, which in normal circumstances would've been a small distance, but not today. Still, you didn't think it was that necessary to grab a taxi. The road was very busy, so it wouldn't have made any sense. You would get home faster by foot, so you started walking, trying to endure the pain and failing tremendously, almost crying a few times along the way.

You almost arrived at your building complex, and as you were crossing the street, you noticed something moving on the road, on the opposite lane. It was small, and you thought it was a rat at first, but at closer inspection after squinting your eyes, you realized it was a tabby kitten.

You forgot everything about the pain and rushed as quickly as possible towards the small cat, afraid that once the traffic lights turn green for the cars, it would be done for. The poor thing was so scared when you reached it, that you barely managed to scoop it up in your arms and bring it back to the safety of the sidewalk.

But still, what were you going to do about it? You weren't allowed to bring cats back to your apartment. You would get evicted if the owner ever found out.

You also couldn't let the kitty roam the streets. It would end up dead in no time, with how adventurous the small thing was.

Feeling so powerless, you started crying for good. The whole day's events crashed over you like a tsunami, you were in so much pain, and the kitty situation stressed you to no end. You sat down on a bench holding onto the kitty and cried, and cried, and cried, not even bothering to think of what the other pedestrians would think of you.

"Tempest? Oh my God, are you okay?" You heard a familiar voice, but your vision was so blurred from the tears, it took you a few moments to adjust your sight and see Minho.

"No. I'm not." You replied through sobs. "I found this baby... and... it's so little... what am I supposed to do? It was on the road, and I was so scared it was gonna get run over by a car, and-"

"Shhh, calm down sweetheart." Minho spoke sweetly, petting the back of your head. "Let me see."

He grabbed the kitten from your hands, and it squeaked at him loudly.

"What a menace you are." Minho spoke to it, holding it into his arms gently. "Let's go home." He handed you his other free hand to help you stand up, wincing from the pain in your legs.

"How was your day at work?" He asked you, noticing your bad complexion and how slow you're walking.

"Horrible. I'm in so much pain right now." You said, almost in a whisper.

"What hurts?" Minho asked, concerned.

"Everything. My back, my feet. It's so painful..."

"Why didn't you call me?" He scolded you. "You know I can help with that."

"I didn't want to disturb you..."

"Didn't I tell you before that you're never disturbing me?" He frowned. "Come over."

You nodded and followed Minho to Building 5, and when you reached his apartment, he opened the door carefully. "Please distract Soonie and Doongie."

"Okay." You nodded and bent down to pet the two eager cats as soon as you took off your heels.

Minho went with the kitten in the bathroom, and you took Soonie and Doongie to the living room, letting him prepare a space for the kitten.

He put blankets and toys on the floor and brought a small water bowl and some wet food for the cat. Thankfully it was big enough to be able to eat solids, but still a baby, nonetheless.

You stopped crying while waiting for him on the couch, and petted Soonie, who was now in your lap. There was orange fur all over your black work pants, but you didn't mind it.

"I see you're comfortable." Minho chuckled as soon as he came into the room.

"What happened with the kitty?"

"He's fine. He ate a bit and went to sleep. Poor thing must've been really tired, and scared. It's good you found him in time."

"I was so scared as well! He was running all over the road, and I didn't know what to do or where to take him when I grabbed him." You almost started crying again remembering.

"I'll take it to the vet tomorrow. You found him a great home." Minho smiled.

"Wait, are you going to keep him?!"

"Of course."

"Oh my!!! That's so sweet of you!!!" You exclaimed, waking the sleeping cat in your lap.

"How should we name him?" Minho came over to you and started petting Soonie as well, making him purr loudly.

"Hmmmmm... let's think long and hard, this is a serious task."

"Soonie, Doongie and..."

"Dori!" You said, proud of yourself for finding such a sweet name for the sweet kitten.

"Yea, I like that." Minho chuckled. It fits with the rest. "I'm taking Dori tomorrow to the vet for a check-up, and if all's well, he found his forever home."

"I love that so much. Thank you for taking him in." You looked at him fondly.

"No need to thank me. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Now, let's take care of your pain, shall we?"

"You sure? If you are tired..."

"Tempest, every time I say something, it's because I mean it, so don't overthink things with me."

"... okay." You nodded, finding it hard to accept that there weren't any games to play with him, that he was so straight forward and wouldn't propose something he wouldn't want to do.

"Do you want to take a shower first? Hot water would relax your muscles a bit."

"Can I? I feel like I really need one."

"Sure. Go to the same bathroom as last time. Dori is in my bathroom, so you won't have any problems stomping on him or anything." Minho chuckled. "I'll wait for you in the massage room."

"Okay, thank you."

You took a quick shower to wash the day off and headed towards the now familiar room. This time, you laid down instantly, instead of letting Minho start with your arms.

"That bad?" He chuckled a bit.

"Horrible. Please break my back."

"Oh, should I?" Minho asked provocatively, and only then did you understand the innuendo of your request.

"Oh my God!" You pushed against the table with your arms forcefully, getting up, forgetting for a second that the towel would not, in fact, cover your breasts as you did so.

Minho's eyes went wide for a second, before he closed them shut and turned around. And then you realised that you fucked up again and started feeling really embarrassed.

You laid back down and cleared your throat.

"I didn't see anything, don't worry." Minho said quickly.

"That's... okay. You can turn around. Sorry." You said red-faced. "Uhm... do you think we can do my legs as well...?" You asked shily, knowing that it was the first time you requested it from Minho.

It felt a bit intimate, in a way, but you tried not to overthink it, because you had knots all over them, especially in your soles, and you really needed a relief from the pain.

Minho graciously accepted and massaged them as best as he could, and then moved over to your back, doing his familiar routine. It felt like he learnt your back by know, like it was a map, his fingers tracing directions on it.

When he was done, he brought a pair of his trousers and a T-Shirt and gave them to you to change in, knowing how uncomfortable you were to dress in tight clothing right after getting oiled up.

You went over with him to play with Dori while you waited for your food to come, and then he took you home, as he always did after dinner. You were shocked by how little you overthought the fact that he definitely saw you naked, even if for a fraction of a second, or that he massaged your legs.

It didn't bother you.

You started being more comfortable with him, and you even started not disliking your own body as much.

~

It's been almost a month since you found Dori and Minho decided to adopt him, when Minho randomly called you on a Tuesday evening at 5 PM.

You were at home, sleeping, but seeing the caller ID, you wanted to answer. The truth is, you started feeling sick yesterday at work, and then you came down with a fever, barely able to get out of bed, so you called off.

"Hey, Tempest! Sorry to bother you while you're working."

"Hello. What's up?" You asked, trying to sound as awake as possible. You didn't want him to worry about you or anything, so you omitted texting him that you've been really sick the past 24 hours.

"I'm fine. I know this is really sudden, but... if you have some time, could you please drop by my place after work and feed the cats? I have a lot to do at the office and it doesn't look like I'd get home before 11 PM today. I didn't leave enough food."

"Sure, that's fine." You replied. How could you decline, when he did you so many favours ever since you met him? Even if you felt like shit, he lived really close, and it would only take you about 30 minutes to go over, feed the cats, leave, and come back.

"I'm really sorry, I usually ask my friend Jisung to do this, but he's on a work trip, my parents are busy-"

"It's fine, Minho. Don't worry."

"Okay. Thank you. I'll text you the door code. You can stay and play with them for a bit if you'd like."

"Okay."

"Thanks a lot! I have to go now, thanks again!" He hung up and texted you his door code just as promised. It was 2051, something which normally would've made you laugh, since it was obviously 25.10, which was his birthday, your birthdays, actually. However, you were so drained of energy, you barely smiled weakly.

It turns out that being as sick as you are, doing even mundane tasks felt almost impossible. Your whole body was weak, and you didn't remember when you last caught a cold this bad.

It took you over 30 minutes to change from your pyjamas to some casual going-out clothes, and the 10-minute walk until Building 5 turned into a 30-minute walk.

Fuck, you were so exhausted.

The cats were happy to see you, but you didn't have any energy at all to play with them, so you just went to refill their bowls, put them some fresh water to drink, then snapped a pic to show Minho that they are safe and sound.

You went to the bathroom to wash your face a bit, noticing that you fever still hasn't gone down, and as soon as you bent over the sink, you felt your stomach turn. You didn't eat anything today, but you tried to stay hydrated to hopefully help you heal faster. Still, you suddenly felt all the water you consumed today come back up your throat, and you found yourself vomiting in Minho's toilet.

After a few excruciating minutes of you throwing up, you tried to stand up, but felt even worse than before. The nausea didn't go away, your head was light, and all your muscles ached.

You were so weak, you almost fell back down on the floor when you tried to stand up. There was no way in hell you would be able to get back home like this.

I'll just rest for a bit, then I'll go. You thought, going to the living room and laying down on the couch.

It was comfortable, and the sky outside already grew dark, so you closed your eyes, trying to feel better.

Just for a few seconds.

~

Minho saw your texts 3 hours later, and smiled seeing how cute all three cats were while eating. 

He felt bad for not seeing your messages earlier; it was already way past 10 PM, and he knew you probably already went home hours ago. Still, he shot you a quick text back. Three texts, to be more precise. He loved the picture, and seeing that Dori was getting fatter, and growing up since you found him on the road warmed up his heart. 

You still didn't reply after almost 30 minutes, when he reached his door.

She is probably sleeping. He thought, smiling at the thought of you curled up under your blankets, peacefully in dreamland.

He expected you to be asleep, he just didn't expect you to be asleep on his sofa, with Soonie curled up next to you, Doongie at your feet, and Dori on the table looking at you protectively.

"Tempest?" He whispered slowly, but you didn't wake. That's when he noticed sweat beads on your forehead, and placed his hand firmly against it, feeling you burning up.

He scooped you up in his arms to take you to his bed, and only when he placed you back down did you shift a bit, waking up.

"Minho...?" You groaned, still feeling horrible.

"Shh, you're sick. Go back to sleep" He whispered.

"Mhm... stay with me?" You asked slowly.

"Yes. I'll go get changed and bring you some medicine, and we'll sleep, okay?"

You hummed softly and fell back asleep in no time. The sickness really took a toll on your body.

Minho returned 20 minutes later in casual clothes. He brought a big glass of water and some ibuprofen, and helped you sit up while you took the pill. He then guided you back down and slipped under the blankets next to you.

He started feather stroking your arm, to calm you down more so that you can go back to sleep with ease, which worked like magic.

~

The next morning, you woke up in an empty bed – Minho's bed. Your headache wasn't as horrible, but you felt really hungry.

The clock on the wall informed you that it was already way past 9:30 AM.

Thanks God I took today off as well. You thought, getting up from the blanket's warmth.

You made your way out of the bedroom, barely remembering how you got there. You remember Minho scooping you up and carrying you, and vaguely taking some pill last night, but everything else is blank.

Soonie, Doongie and Dori rushed to you and meowed loudly, which you found curious. Was the apartment empty?

Sure enough, Minho was not home. Your phone was still on the table in the living room, where you've discarded it last night before you shamelessly fell asleep on the sofa; next to it, some folded clothes and a clean towel laid out for you.

You grabbed your phone and unlocked it, checking to see if there were any messages from Minho.

Seeing his texts made your heart flutter, but it also felt somewhat natural. It was the first time you've ever been this comfortable with someone else. The thought of falling asleep in a man's house never ever passed through your head as something that you would ever do. It simply felt way too weird to sleep next to someone else, because of how many things could go wrong: you could snore, or drool over the pillow, or embarrass yourself somehow. Still, you didn't feel self-conscious at all when you woke up. You weren't afraid that Minho saw you that unfiltered. For the first time in your life, you felt like something was changing, and you were sure he had a lot to do with it.

You headed to the kitchen and found the porridge bowl Minho prepared for you, microwaved it and ate. Afterwards, you fed the cats, scooped up the litterbox, glanced at Minho's texts again and remembered to take another ibuprofen, and when there was nothing left to do, you decided you'd clean up the place a bit.

Minho kept a really tidy apartment, but having three cats meant with no doubt that something was always on the floor. Since you felt way better than yesterday, you thought why not help out a bit? So, you vacuumed, moped the floor, cleaned up what you'd normally clean in your apartment, and by the time you were done, it was already 3 PM. You took a quick shower and put on the clothes he left for you, and then relaxed a bit on the couch and thought about dinner.

Instead of having Minho order food again for you two, you thought to cook something for him, so you went to the market and bought some potatoes and leek, because you just knew a bomb leek soup recipe that you were sure he'd like.

~

Minho had another tiring day at work, but he stayed late yesterday precisely so he would finish up a bit earlier today.

It was hard to focus. He kept thinking of you. Did you feel any better? Did you see his texts? If so, why didn't you reply? Did you eat the whole porridge and took the medicine, or did you feel embarrassed and went back home?

Are you waiting for him to have dinner together?

Needless to say, his mind kept running back to you, so he finished up work and was already almost home at 5:30 PM.

Opening the door, the first thing he noticed was the amazing smell in the air. His shoes all over the doormat were no longer there, the coats on the hanger were gone, and the floor was sparkling clean.

Soonie, Doongie and Dori ran to him and meowed loudly, and he was really happy to see them, but more than anything, he wanted to see you.

He opened the kitchen door and there you were, blending with the hand mixer whatever it was you cooked that smelled so good.

"Tempest?" he asked, not wanting to take you by surprise and scare you into dropping anything in your hands.

"Minho?!" You turned around surprised, not expecting him to be back so soon. "Did you leave earlier? You should've told me! I would've been ready!" You pouted, and he only thought about what a cute expression you had, and how cute your lips looked like this.

"I finished up a bit earlier, yes." He smiled. "What are you making?"

"Well... we kept having fast food, so I thought to cook something healthy for a change. It's leek soup."

"Good choice. Is it good?"

"Of course!" You exclaimed offended. "Everything I make is good!"

"Are you feeling better?" Minho came closer to you and pressed his hand on your forehead, checking if your fever was gone.

"I am, thank you." You averted your gaze, your cheeks rosy. You appreciated that he took care of you last night.

"Did you clean up?" He asked you, noticing that the kitchen was sparkling as well, all the cabinets have been wiped, and everything was in its place, instead of randomly scattered around the tabletop.

"Well, I wanted to repay the favour somehow... Thanks for last night, and sorry I fell asleep here. I just felt... too tired to move and go back home." You frowned.

"No need to thank me for something like that, Tempest. I'm really glad you weren't alone all night, and that you're now feeling better."

You just smiled and nodded. "Can you pass me two bowls, please?"

He obliged and you poured the soup while he arranged the table for the two of you. He told you all about his day, and you told him how cute Soonie was when you vacuumed, because he kept running away and hiding, then came back and smacked the vacuum cleaner with his little paw, which you found absolutely adorable. You also let him know that Dori was a courageous baby, eager to jump on the mop at any chance. You found Doongie to be the most chaotic, he just watched over you while you put his toys away, and as soon as the floor was clean, he would go and bring a toy and put it right back on the floor in front of you, as if you spite you.

You talked for a little while, until both of your bowls were empty, and your stomachs full.

"I should go back home." You said, watching Minho wash up everything.

"No massage today?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No, my whole body is still weak, so I'd much rather go rest for a few days more."

"Well, maybe we can move next week's appointment earlier. Friday is our birthday. Maybe Wednesday?"

"Oh, you're right!" You exclaimed. No way you forgot it, though. You already ordered a cake for the two of you and found these really cute cat candles that looked just like his cats, and you got him a present too, this wide silver chain necklace you really liked, that you thought would suit him well. It cost you a lot, but you didn't mind.

"Any plans?" He asked, then quickly added. "I'll be meeting my friends, if you want to come."

"I would love to, but I'll also meet up with my friends..." You replied, a bit disappointed. You didn't actually expect Minho to ask you to celebrate together ON your birthdays. "Do you want to meet up on Saturday and celebrate, though?" You asked hopeful.

"Of course! Okay, it's a plan!" He smiled, and he looked excited as well.

~

~

You saw Minho's message on your way to work and smiled like an idiot the whole morning. You also couldn't wait to see him, and his reaction to the cake and the gift. Truth is, you didn't go with your friends anywhere last night, but you had to pick up the cake and the necklace, which you engraved with his name and the contour of a cat head on one of the links.

You truly couldn't wait.

But until tomorrow, you had to go through today. You were meeting up with your friends for the first time in a few weeks at this new club in town.

You didn't necessarily like clubs, but your friends would always insist on going, and you never said no. They were probably planning to celebrate your birthday by getting drunk; not your preferred go-to activity, but what could you do?

You chose to wear a very short, tight black dress with long sleeved that was hugging your body beautifully – not your usual choice, but you felt a bit more confident lately, so why not try something new? – and you put on some light make-up, wanting to at least seem like you are part of the same group as your besties. A pair of black heels, and you were ready to go.

~

The club was loud and packed, and you quickly found your group of friends around one of the tables on the sides of the room. The middle part was kept empty, specifically so people could dance, but you didn't care too much for it, since you couldn't dance for the life of you.

"Hey girlie! Long time no see!" one of your friends, Amy, got up and hugged your side, before sitting back down.

"Woah! You look so good!" your other friend, Emma, exclaimed. "The dress is bomb, such a dangerous choice to wear something so tight! Didn't you think that people would see your belly? I could never wear something like that!" She exclaimed laughing, but it somehow felt like a back-handed compliment. Still, you shrugged it off, becoming a bit self-conscious of the way your stomach looks.

Is the dress really that tight?

"And it's really short." Amy added.

"She's in her harlot era, leave her be." Emma rolled her eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?" You chuckled nervously.

"Come one, Tempest, don't get mad, we're just joking around!" Amy laughed loudly. "Besides, aren't you clubbing right now with the biggest sluts you know?!" She winked, referring to her and Emma.

"Yea, you look amazing girl, don't worry." Emma added, but everything they said felt insincere. Maybe it was just because you haven't seen them in almost two months, and you weren't as used to people poking fun at you anymore.

You would get used to it again, and it would no longer sting.

"The make-up is super cute though!" Amy continued looking at you. "Remember a few years ago when you used too much blush and looked like a clown?"

"Yea." You nodded, trying to laugh along. You somehow didn't find it funny at all, though.

"Oh God!" Emma burst out laughing. "Well, it doesn't matter too much anyway, Tempest didn't come tonight to pick up a boy, so it's whatever. Your make-up is good, gal."

"Right." You nodded and sat down, grabbing a water bottle from the table. None of the girls seemed to acknowledge that it was your birthday, so you didn't say anything either. You were a bit dejected, but tried not to let your friends' words affect you too much.

"See? I told you she's just gonna drink water!" Amy pointed out, and Emma reluctantly pulled out a 20$ note and handed it to her friend while rolling her eyes.

"What?" You asked, your eyes wide. "Did you make a bet?"

"We were just thinking that you usually don't get anything else to drink, so..." Emma shrugged.

"Yea, that's kinda lame. Why do you even join these outings if you don't dance, don't drink and don't hook up with anyone?"

"To spend time with you? Maybe I'll change something tonight, then." You shrugged as well, and got up annoyed, heading towards the bar. You tried to be confident in your steps, but you hated alcohol, you hated ordering things, and the club was way too crowded to be able to walk comfortably through the sea of people.

Still, you reached the bar and looked confused at the menu, trying to read everything in the dim lights.

"What can I get for you, princess?" The barman spoke lightly. "Should it be something mild, or something strong?"

"Uhm... what tastes good?" You asked, unsure, making the man behind the counter laugh at you a bit.

"First time clubbing?" he asked, and you shook your head. It wasn't the first time you were in the club, but it was the first time you felt like proving something to your friends. You weren't as lame as they thought.

"What about a Cuba Libre? It's just rum with Coke, safe choice" The barman suggested.

"Okay..." You nodded and waited for the man to prepare your drink. A few minutes later you were back at your table, and the girls seemed really shocked.

"She's really drinking!" Amy's eyes went wide.

"Finally an adult, we've been waiting for a decade!"

"Oh, shut the fuck up!" You laughed with them, the alcohol already getting to your head. You had 0 tolerance.

Turning your head around to examine the club a bit, you noticed a table not too far away from yours, where you recognised someone.

A man you really wanted to see.

It felt like fate when he turned your head at the same time, noticing you, and fuck, he looked so good, you couldn't take your eyes off him. He was dressed in all black, and he looked hot, and there were butterflies all over in your stomach.

You smiled at him, and he smiled back. Oh, how you wanted to run over to him and hug him, wishing him to have the best birthday ever. He seemed to be having fun at least, compared to you.

"Oh God, that man is sexy as fuuuuck!" Emma exclaimed, sipping her drink. "He seems to be looking at you, Amy."

"Shut up, he's not!" She squirmed like a high school girl. "I'd fuck him though."

You were a bit annoyed at your friends, but you didn't exactly have any reasons to. You kept Minho a secret from them. You didn't know why. Maybe you were just possessive and didn't want any of them to poke their nose in your business.

"Oh God, oh God, he's coming here!!!" Emma started arranging her hair, and Amy gripped your arm. However, you ignored both of them and stood up, letting yourself be embraced by his arms.

He smelled good.

"Happy birthday." He whispered in your ear, only for you to hear. "I love your dress. You are so beautiful." He kissed your cheek, and you wondered what kind of face your friends made.

"Happy birthday, Minho. Fancy seeing you here!" You joked, stepping back. You didn't think you would be able to breathe anymore if you kept staying in his arms.

"Right? How come we went to the same club?"

"Do you know each other?" Emma inquired, interrupting your conversation.

"Oh, yes. Minho, these are Emma and Amy. This is Minho, a friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you." Minho nodded shortly.

"The pleasure is ours." Amy grinned.

"So anyway. We were actually thinking of going back to my friend's place, if you and your friends wanna come? Let's celebrate together." Minho suggested, looking at you expectedly. You turned around to ask your friends, but when you noticed them nodding eagerly, you accepted Minho's proposal and grabbed your things to leave.

~

"Tempest, why the fuck didn't you tell us you know such a hot guy?!" Amy slapped your arm playfully and whispered to you, the three of you following Minho's group of friends to someone's apartment – a guy named Chris, and his wife's.

Minho was out celebrating with his group of friends and their wives or girlfriends, and you found out that besides him, 3 other guys were single: his best friend he told you about before, the guy that would come feed the cats – Jisung, a gym bro type of guy called Changbin who was kind of a playboy by Minho's description, and another artsy tall dude called Hyunjin, who was apparently a hopeless romantic, still looking for his muse.

His group of friends seemed interesting, and you were curious to see what type of people Minho surrounds himself with.

~

You all spent a bit of time drinking and talking, when Jisung proposed playing 1000 questions, so that everyone can get to know each other. It was like a spin the bottle, but there were small cardboard cards with questions on them that you had to answer, otherwise you would have to take a shot.

You all got into a circle on the floor, Minho sitting down next to you. Your knees were touching, and you once again felt butterflies. It was like you are 18 again, playing silly games at the birthday parties.

"Okay, I shall start!" Felix exclaimed cheerfully and grabbed the bottle, spinning it. It landed on Seungmin.

"The question is... can you take a pig as a pet?" Felix asked, and Seungmin seemed in deep thought for 2 seconds, when he let out the funniest joke:

"Don't I already have Changbin, though? So, obviously, the answer is yes." The whole circle started to laugh, besides Changbin, who got up and went to fake-punch his friend.

Seungmin picked the bottle next, and it landed on Jeongin.

"Would you date your high school crush today?"

"Come on Hyung, what if my wife finds out?! Do you want me to get in trouble?" He joked, then quickly denied.

It was then Minho's turn, and Jeongin asked: "Have you ever considered cheating on a partner?"

You were also curious. How did Minho view relationships?

"Of course not." He denied, then spinned the bottle again. It landed on Hyunjin.

"Who would you hate to see naked?"

"Chan." He replied quickly, making everyone laugh.

~

The game went on for a while, and you found it surprising that no one skipped answering the questions, no matter how intrusive or disgusting they were. The cards contained everything, from normal things to explicit sexual stuff, to morbid questions, and so on. Since everyone was okay with answering, it was decided that we would all take a shot every 4-5 rounds, to keep it interesting.

"What's your hobby?" Jisung read Changbin the card.

"Making these babies look as nice as possible." Changbin replied, flexing his arms and kissing the top of his muscles.

"Okay, okay. We get it, you lift." Seungmin chuckled and rolled his eyes at Changbin. "Let's go on. Amy, the next card reads: 'What's the most embarrassing memory you have?' Let's hear it."

Seungmin took the card to read it, sick of Changbin's antics. You wondered how many times he did it per day to have the younger so annoyed at him, and you chuckled.

"When we were 19," Amy started talking, "Tempest drank a whole ass glass of wine in a gulp and ended up throwing up all over herself and the bathroom all night long!" Amy laughed hard, smacking Emma's knee a few times.

"Oh God, I remember that! I never knew someone could have such a low alcohol tolerance!" Emma shared Amy's excitement and burst out laughing as well. "Or when she liked that guy and he ended up having sex with Julia on the kitchen counter and Tempest walked on them. God, so embarrassing!"

"I think that question was more addressed to you... as in, your own experiences, not someone else's." Minho clarified, a fake smile on his lips. His gaze, however, was colder than the beer bottle in his hand, and he gripped your knee strongly.

He seemed annoyed.

"Yea, right." Amy cleared her throat. "I don't really have embarrassing memories. Most of them include Tempest in a way, so yea." She chuckled with a shrug.

You were quiet. So awfully quiet, Minho felt the need to find your hand on the ground and squeeze it. He wanted nothing more than to grab you and take you away from this circle, from these awful people you called your friends. Still, he didn't say anything else, and let the game roll.

~

"Emma," Felix asked after a while, extremely intoxicated. At this point, everyone was tipsy, if not extremely drunk. "You have to say what you like the most about the next three people this bottle lands on." He rolled it over to her, and she spun it.

"Hyunjin! You look very elegant." She spun it again. "Jeongin! Your smile is pretty cute, but you are married, so I'm gonna keep to myself." She chuckled. "And Tempest! Hmm." She thought for a bit. "What is there to like?" She laughed. "I don't know, girl. I guess your face is kind of okay? Some could disagree, but you're lucky I love you!" She winked and smiled, as if she actually complimented you.

You couldn't bring yourself to say anything. Were you really that ugly?

Minho squeezed your hand again.

"Is bullying your friend one of your hobbies?" Minho retorted, spite lacing his tone as he sipped on the beer.

"For real! Come on, Emma, don't be a bitch!" Amy shouted. "Her face is okay, it's her body that's the problem."

"Or that stupid ass attitude." Emma intervened again. "Oh look, I'm better than everyone because I don't waste money on things I don't need, compared to you two!" She mimicked you.

You never said those things, though.

However, Emma kept going.

"Look at me, I'm not a slut like my two other friends. I'm still a virgin at 27!" She burst out laughing, Amy laughing with her as well. Everyone else in the circle seemed a bit too drunk to realise how many insults these girls were throwing your way. You had your doubts that your friends didn't really like you as much, but you didn't expect them to outright hate you so openly.

Minho did notice how awful they were being, though, and to say he was furious was a big understatement.

"28." You clarified.

"What?" Emma asked. "Ah, right! Your birthday should be soon or something, I think."

"When was it?" Amy talked as well, and this really got you fuming.

"You know what?" You smiled and got up. "It's late, and I'm tired, so I'm gonna go home."

"Awww, already?!" Jisung whined, holding an empty bottle tightly in his arms. "But we were just starting to have fuuuun~" He continued like a child, drunk out of his mind.

"I'll take you back." Minho got up as well, and you nodded.

"Why would you?" Amy inquired.

"They're neighbours." Jisung clarified then laid down on the floor and closed his eyes, falling asleep.

"Ohhh, so you're neighbours! Now it makes sense." Emma laughed. "That's why you know each other. What was I expecting?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Minho asked angrily.

"Well, you would've never been friends with her otherwise." Emma laughed again, and instead of saying anything else, you just tugged his arm and you both left Chris' house.

~

"Your friends are horrible." Minho grabbed your hand, holding it tight.

"Are they? I feel that way as well... I've distance myself from them a lot since... meeting you, actually." You looked at Minho, sadness in your eyes.

"Drop them."

"I should, right?"

"Yea. You can find better ones. No wonder you have so little faith in yourself, with people like that around you."

You nodded, feeling validated for the first time. All the doubts you had about yourself seemed to disappear. Maybe it wasn't you that was the problem.

You both walked hand in hand towards the road, where Minho called for a taxi.

"Take us to the Pentagon, please." He told the driver, who followed suit, and brought you in front of your apartment complex gate.

"Wanna come to my place?" Minho asked. "I want to give you your present."

"Right now? Sure." You smiled. "I also have something to give you, so let's swing by to mine first."

You rushed inside to grab the cake and the box with the necklace while Minho waited for you in front of Building 3. Since you were home anyway, you discarded the heels and put on a pair of sneakers to be more comfortable.

"Is that a cake?" He chuckled when he saw you get out with a big box. "And what's that?"

"That is your present, of course!"

"I'm excited, let's go faster." He grabbed your hand and started running, dragging you after him. You felt like you could breathe easily, and you forgot everything about your terrible friends and how awful they made you feel.

The cats came to meet the two of you at the door, and you got on the floor to pet all of them, still feeling a bit tipsy from the drinks you chugged at Chris'.

"Should we cut this now?!" Minho wanted to open the cake, but you quickly shook your head.

"No way, can you eat anything?!" Your eyes went wide, and you both started laughing. "Let's eat it tomorrow."

"Okay, okay, no food. Let's trade presents then!" He ran to the living room like a little kid and grabbed a small box, so you also handed yours to him.

You let him open his box first, wanting to gauge his reaction.

"Wow, I love this." He pulled out the silver chain you got for him and examined it a bit. "Is this a cat?!" He seemed excited.

"Yes! And your name, look!" You showed him the engraving, and his face lit up. "Okay okay, your turn!"

"Impatient much?" You joked around, opening the box revealing a delicate necklace showing Tempest in golden letters.

"Happy birthday." He smiled at you.

"This is so beautiful!" You exclaimed, shocked to see that both of you bought necklaces for the others.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love your name?" Minho whispered close to your ear, making the hair on your back stand up.

"Do you?" You asked, glancing into his eyes. "Why? Isn't Tempest the most dreaded storm?"

"Hmm, it is. But it's also the strongest." He spoke, words rolling off his tongue.

Fuck, how beautiful his lips looked.

You wanted to kiss him.

Fuck the 'not ruining your friendship' bullshit.

You pushed your head forward and united your lips with his, and he didn't hesitate to reciprocate. It wasn't your first kiss, but it was the first kiss that felt this good. You've been waiting for it for so long, you've been craving it so much.

His tongue found yours as he deepened the kiss, and both of you kissed the other desperate, your gifts long discarded somewhere on the table in front of you.

"Tempest," Minho pulled back, and you missed the feel of his lips on top of yours instantly. "I owe you something."

"What?" You asked, noticing his swollen lips stained with your lipstick.

"A massage, remember?" You nodded, reluctantly getting up.

Minho guided you to the massage room and, as usual, left the room while you undressed and covered yourself with the towel.

You laid down on the table and waited for him to return, and when he did, put oil directly on your back. Curious – he would usually put it in his hands, then rub it on your back, but you were way too tipsy to think about it or care.

He started massaging your back, and you enjoyed the feeling of his hands. However, the kiss you shared made you horny, and you would've preferred a million times to have him break your back tonight instead of fixing it.

Still, he massaged your back skilfully, as usual, and then went over to your legs. He moved the towel on you to allow full access to your right leg, exposing a bit of your cheek. You didn't mind it at all, fuck, you wanted him to touch you everywhere.

He poured oil directly on your butt cheek, and he started massaging it down your leg, but one drop started dripping down, reaching your core, who desperately needed to be touched.

"Uhm... Minho?" you started, not sure how to phrase what you wanted.

"Yes, sweetheart?" He spoke sweetly.

"There's a problem... can you please... clean up that one drop that's dripping...?"

"Where is it dripping?" He taunted you, but you obliged.

"Between... my legs..."

"Is that so?" He hummed. "Do you mean... this drop?" He asked slowly, moving his hand between your legs, his fingers grazing your bare pussy.

Fuck.

"Mhm, I'm not sure, can you wipe it better?" You asked again, making him chuckle lowly.

He moved his hands again, but this time, his fingers lingered on you, and he started playing with your folds, spreading your wetness around. When he rubbed your clit, you could swear you saw heaven.

Minho continued working up your orgasm, and you were no longer able to contain your moans when he inserted a first finger in you.

You thought it would hurt, since you never had sex before, but you must've been so aroused, a second finger fit inside with ease.

He skilfully fingered you with one hand while rubbing your clit with the other, and you orgasmed violently, clenching around his fingers and gripping the massage table underneath you with your hands as hard as you could.

"Fuck, Minho..." You moaned, as he helped you go through your powerful orgasm.

"Was that good?"

"It was incredible, fuck." You pushed your body up with your hands, not caring anymore that you were naked.

Maybe you loved yourself a bit more. The self-hatred wasn't as strong as it used to. You didn't let it win anymore.

You reached for Minho's face, tugging on his shirt and pulling him into you, kissing his lips.

"Can we go to the bedroom?" You asked, moving your hand down his body and feeling his hard on against his pants. Minho rolled his eyes at the touch, breathing heavily.

"Please." He begged, taking you into his arms towards the bedroom.

He threw you on the bed and got on top of you immediately, as if you would disappear if he would leave you alone. You helped him take off his T-shirt, and he unbuttoned his pants swiftly, pulling them down to expose his member.

He was well endowed, you noticed, and you wondered for a second how much the stretch was going to hurt.

He aligned himself with your entrance and you squeezed your eyes shut, preparing yourself. Just as he was about to push into you, he stopped.

"Condom. Fuck, let me-"

"No." You shook your head. "Fuck it, we'll be responsible tomorrow." You pulled him towards you and kissed him feeling as he started to push his way in, your bodies becoming one.

Minho groaned in pleasure as he bottomed into you, and you were surprised once again to notice that it didn't really hurt as much as you expected it to. It was just a burning sensation that went away with the first few strokes.

You placed your hands on his naked back and held onto him, as he found a steady rhythm to bring both of you pleasure. You felt his whole weight on top of you, his head was buried in the crook of your neck, and he was leaving sloppy wet kisses all over your neck and collarbone.

You loved it.

You loved him.

After a few more deep strokes grazing your G-spot, you came for the second time that night and felt Minho's movements get as sloppy as his wet kisses.

He pushed a few more times, and then came inside of you with a grunt, kissing your lips and whispering sweet praises.

~

The next morning, you woke up to see Minho still asleep next to you. You took this time to admire his beautiful features, how peaceful he looked asleep, the small mole on his nose, and you traced them all with your fingers, feather stroking his whole face.

"Mhm, morning." He groaned, opening his eyes slowly.

"Hey." You smiled.

"How did you sleep?" He asked, his voice groggy.

"I had a nice dream." You replied, smiling.

"Yea?"

"Mhm."

"Me too. I dreamt of you." He closed his eyes again, his hand finding your waist under the blanked and touching it slowly.

"I really, really like you, Minho." You whispered.

"And I really, really love you, Tempest." He replied, making your heart skip a bit. "Can we sleep for a bit longer?"

"The cats have been meowing for a while." You chuckled. "They must be hungry."

"We should get one of those automatic feeders..."

"Indeed." You touched his hair lovingly, petting him back to sleep.

You forgot all about the world as you felt your heart grow in your chest. In this moment, nothing but Minho mattered. Not your horrible friends or how they acted last night, not the birds chirping outside, hell, not even the sun in the sky.

It was only you and him.

And perhaps you didn't even need anything else to be happy.

~The End~

(A/N) so I realised I'm kind of... obsessed? with Minho.

And I had a massage last week and the idea popped into my mind.

And now it's a reality, hahah.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading!

Love you,

Storm. <3