Haneul suddenly got up from the couch and started walking around in the living room as the tick tock of the clock synchronized with his heart beat. He felt uneasy and heavy. He opened the windows and looked down at the road, there was still light traffic even though it was almost midnight. He sat on the window sill, looking at the stars, thinking about Yoona, his brother, his grandma and Ash. He had so many people to worry about, he felt like he lacked the strength to protect them, he held his head in his hands as he shut his eyes tight, trying to think of ways to protect everyone. Just then he heard the door opening, he turned to see Ash walking towards him.
"..can't sleep?" he asked her, who just nodded as she sat next to him on the sill,
"you too?" she asked in a tired voice, Haneul gave a single unsure nod
"do you have something in mind?" Ash looked at him with her half opened tired eyes, "a plan for tomorrow.." she made her statement clear.
"hm.." he replied, looking away from her, "no matter what happens..keep my family safe..that's my plan." he said in a soft voice
"what do they want from you, exactly?" Ash asked
"they want to destroy me.." Haneul let out a small laugh, "they can destroy me in a lot of ways since I have a lot of weaknesses" he whispered
Ash nodded, "I'll go with you tomorrow.." she said, looking at him intently
Haneul shook his head a million times in a second, "no..it's too dangerous, don't even think about it." he said as he got off and went to the kitchen
Ash followed him, "why?" she asked
Haneul paused and turned to look at her, he took a deep breath and turned away from her, "you're also my weakness, Ash..I cannot take you there it's too dangerous..If I take you, I'll be presenting my weakness to them just like that. Almost like challenging them to hurt me because here's my weakness!" he said as he rubbed the back of his neck
"you want me to feel touched?" Ash asked with a poker face
Haneul gave her a questioning look, "any fiance would be..um..touched by these words, no?" he asked jokingly
"..I don't want to be your weakness, I want to be your strength. I'm going with you tomorrow and that's the end of discussion. Either we go together or I tell Grandma everything." Ash said as she showed him her phone
Haneuls mouth dropped, "right now..you looked really cool, threatening. You wicked little monster.." Haneul said as he raised his hands up
Ash smiled, "that's what I used to call you, omitting the little. we make a good team. Wicked monsters..that can be our team name, we're going tomorrow so go to sleep..goodnight." Ash said as she went to her room, not giving Haneul any time to retaliate.
~
The next morning Ash woke up to a sweet smell, she walked straight out of the bed and to the kitchen, she was still half asleep but somehow made her way into the kitchen and to Haneul, who was making pancakes.
Ash rubbed her eyes open, "what are you making?" she asked in a cute squeaky voice
"oh Ash..Good morning, I'm making pancakes..it's my first time so-" before he could finish his sentence Ash took a pancake from the plate and took a big bite,
"HMMMMMM..." she hummed as she took another bite, "this is so delicious!" she said with her mouth full
"..you didn't even wash your face.." Haneul pointed out, pulling the plate away from her
"yah, quickly eat up, we need to go.." she replied, while chewing quickly
Haneul shook his head and gave her a glass of milk, "eat slowly, we're not going, your parents are coming over. They're already in the plane and my grandma is also back. Apparently.." he sat down on the chair opposite to Ash, "they're coming for our wedding.." Haneul said as he took his phone out
Ash let out a laugh, but when she saw Haneul being quiet, she started coughing, "we're not getting married! I'm not going to marry you!" she exclaimed as she got up to get her phone
"good, so we're still on the same page.." he looked at her, "I feared that the kiss-" Haneul stopped, he scratched the back of his neck, avoiding making eye contact with Ash.
"tell your grandma that you love someone else!" Ash said as she made her way back to him
He scratched his ear, "should I?" he asked, looking down at the table
