Eye of the public | Seo Changbin

Chapter 25

"We shouldn't. We really shouldn't..." She whispered and the look in her eyes told Changbin exactly what she meant.

"I know, believe me I know"

With that their lips crashed together in a desperate attempt to be closer. Riley's back hit the counter and with one swift motion Changbin lifted her on top of it - never disconnecting their lips.

Changbin stood between her legs, pressing their bodies flush together. His hand were tightly warpped around her waist while Riley tugged at the hair on the back of his neck.

The first time they pulled away was because of the lack of oxygen and the next time they connected their lips, Changbin was carrying Riley to her bathroom, stumbling over a few things- such as the first pieces of discarded clothing.

•

Riley woke up the next morning to an empty bed and almost felt like crying. Of course Changbin had left, it was just a one-night stand, a mistake.

How could she have thought that it meant anyway, they just got lost in the moments, old habits and Changbin probably regretted it already.

The first tear rolled down her cheek when the door opened.

"Good mor-, oh my god, what happened?" Changbin rushed to the bed, placing the tray on the bedside table before embracing the girl in his arms, "Why are you crying princess? I'm here, I got you."

The nickname made Riley cry even harder and Changbin felt totally helpless, not knowing if he had done something to make her cry this hard.

"I thought you had left!" Riley sobbed into Changbin's chest and the latter finally understood what had happened.

"I'd never leave you like that, okay? I'm here and I'm definitely not going anywhere, you're stuck with me" Riley chuckled at the last part but still made no attempt to pull out of Changbin's hold.

"I made breakfast, nothing fancy but still. You want something?" Changbin asked and gently nudged Riley's body away from him to look at her more clearly.

Riley had slightly red eyes but to Changbin she looked as beautiful as always. She nodded and scooted over on the bed to make space for Changbin.

Neither of them mentioned last night but they also didn't say anything when Riley leaned against Changbin's chest while they were eating.

"I have a day off today, do you want to go out?" Changbin asked when they stood in the kitchen, clearing everything from their breakfast.

"Like a date?" Riley asked shyly while a blush spread over her face.

"Yeah, like a date"

•

"I thought you didn't have a thing for art?" Riley questioned after they had arrived at their date-destination which turned out to be a newly opened art gallery.

"But you like art and I have a thing for you" Changbin flirted, leaving Riley absolutely flustered. She hit his chest playfully before entering the gallery.

The two strolled through the gallery: Riley admiring the different art pieces, Changbin admiring her. They took their time chatting with other visitors or the hosts or just appreciating the others company.

"Thank you for today Changbin, it really meant a lot to me" Riley said on their way back to the dorm. "Always, and I really enjoyed it too. Oh right! I have something for you, will you come up real quick?" Changbin asked and the two got out of the car.

"Hi Riley, nice to see you again!" Chan greeted them when the two walked in. Riley quickly waved back but was dragged by Changbin into his room.

Riley took a seat on Changbin's bed while the latter scurried around the room to find something. Then he turned around and handed Riley a wrapped package. It was quite big and flat and Riley had no idea what it could be.

"Come on, open it!" Changbin seemed to be even more excited than Riley as he watched with shining eyes as the girl unwrapped the gift.

"Oh my god, it's beautiful! How did you get that?" Riley asked after she pulled out a painting.

It showed the place where Changbin asked Riley to be his girlfriend and two figures where sat in the background, propably Changbin and herself, thought Riley.

All over the grass or the small picnic blanket different objects found there place - objects that all had some kind of meaning for their (ex-)relationship.

"How-? When-?" Riley stuttered while the first tears welled up in her eyes.

"Remember the hotel we went to? Where we went to the auction?" Changbin asked and Riley nodded, "There was this one painting and you thought it was beautiful because the artist included everything meaningful to him into the painting. But you said you wouldn't want the exact one because it didn't mean anything personal to you. So I asked Hyunjin if he could help me with this."

Changbin finished explaining and by now, for the second time this day, tears streamed down her face. Again, Changbin was quick to engulf her in a hug, hoping the tears were happy tears.

"When did you and Hyunjin finish it?" Riley asked after a while.

"Shortly before you went to London so I never had the chance to give it to you" Shortly before you broke up with me was left unspoken but both knew it was the real meaning behind Changbin's words.

"It is beautiful Changbin, thank you so much. You have no idea how happy this makes me" Riley smiled brightly. Altough the tears were still shimmering in her eyes, Changbin was sure that it were happy tears now.

"I'm glad you have it now" Changbin whispered. They again got lost in each others eyes which seemed to happen a lot recently.

Even after last night they knew they shouldn't take things too fast but it was so hard for both of them to pull away and break eye contact.

"I- I should thank Hyunjin for his help!" With that Riley sprung up and left the room. Changbin sighed, brushing his hair with his fingers. He didn't know what he should think of this situation him and Riley were in. Truly, he wanted nothing more than to call the girl his again but he had the feeling Riley was somewhat afraid of starting something again.

Even though neither of them regretted last night, Changbin knew that it was in the spur of the moment and old emotions being dug up.

He heard laughter coming from the room down the hall, identifiying it as Hyunjin and Riley.

Changbin sighed deeply, not knowing what to do. He still loved Riley so incredibly much but he didn't know if he should act on it. He didn't want to scare Riley away or make her uncomfortable in any way.

Even though Riley's main reason for breaking up with him was that she went back to London, there of course was something else. Changbin knew he had to respect the borders that were set when they agreed to stay friends.

He knew that Riley's mind wasn't at a good place before she went back to London and he also knew that she said she was better now.

What he didn't know though, was if she was ready to get back together with him - or if she even wanted to.

Changbin had thought he had moved on but seeing Riley made him realise he would never be able to but maybe that wasn't the case for Riley.

Maybe she had moved on and last night was a one time thing that shouldn't be repeated for her.

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~did you think I was making it that easy for them?
~well you were wrong
~but we are nearing the end...

~until next chapter
~~June