stars × cnblue kangminhyuk

10 : Tears at the Gravestone

[0628 HAPPY BIRTHDAY KANG MINHYUK MY FLUFFBALL SUSHI ROLL OMG I LOVE HIM SO MUCH💕]

Minhyuk grinned mischievously, wiggling his eyebrows as he leaned closer, his face inching towards mine. Damn it—why was my heart pounding like it was about to explode?

Before he could come any closer, I pressed my palm firmly against his forehead, pushing him back. "Stop right there, Mr. Kang."

As expected, Minhyuk burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the room. My stupid trembling voice gave me away again. Curse me—I was really bad at concealing my emotions. Unlike him, I couldn't act. He could turn on his charm like flipping a switch, but me? My heart always betrayed me.

"Ah, I was just going to whisper the nickname to you, though. I know my limits, noona." His lips curled into that annoying chuckle.

Great. Now he was making it sound like I was the one expecting him to do something.

I rolled my eyes, desperately trying to hide my embarrassment. "Just tell me already." My cheeks were hot, burning red—I could feel it. I blushed too easily. Damn it, I was so screwed.

Minhyuk's grin widened, his voice playful and taunting. "You'll call me oppa, and I'll call you Jinnie."

Of course. There he went again with that obsession over the word oppa. What was with guys and this oppa thing? The cringe was real—I could practically feel my whole face catching fire.

"Why, is there a problem?" He wiggled his eyebrows even more aggressively, clearly enjoying my suffering.

I glared at him, but I didn't answer right away. My silence stretched out for minutes, as if I was debating with myself whether I should actually go along with his ridiculous request. Why did I have to deal with this? What made me deserve this situation?

"That's right," he interrupted my thoughts smoothly, "you have to be nice to me tomorrow." His smile softened as he patted the back of my hand. Sometimes, when he smiled like that, he actually looked... cute.

Ah. Don't misunderstand me. He was cute, that's why he was an idol. That's all.

I quickly brushed his hand off mine. "Why tomorrow?"

But of course, Kang Minhyuk being Kang Minhyuk, couldn't keep his hands to himself. He cupped my cheeks between his palms and gave them a light pinch, his voice low and teasing. "Just... be nice to me."

Ugh. Why did I have to endure this? Oh, right—because my entire career depended on this internship. If I wanted to become a successful makeup artist, I had to grit my teeth and put up with this nonsense. Remember that, Hyojin.

"Good night," I muttered, standing up quickly and heading toward the room.

Behind me, Minhyuk called out with a soft chuckle. "Sweet dreams, Jinnie."

☆

I woke up to a whisper against my ear. At first, it was faint, muffled, like I was still stuck in a dream. But the moment I heard the word jagiya being breathed into my ear, my eyes flew open.

And of course, there he was—Kang Minhyuk—sitting way too close, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"What are you doing?" I glared at him, shoving the blanket up to my chest.

"What?" Minhyuk blinked innocently, though his lopsided grin betrayed him. "Uh, this?" He leaned in again, his lips brushing near my ear as he whispered, "Jagiya... wake up."

Goosebumps spread all over my body. Oh my god. Never in my life had I thought someone would actually call me that nauseatingly cringey name. This was supposed to be fake! Why was he overacting so much?!