Chapter 157 - Hot chocolate

Sitting on the bench beside the lake, Lee Jinhee stared at the water. Han Taehyun sat beside her, and not a ounce of courage was within Lee Jinhee to face him. His confession from earlier was vivid in Lee Jinhee's mind and kept on repeating inside of her mind.

"You've worn so little cloth. You're going to catch a cold," Han Taehyun spoke out.

Looking down at her leggings and t-shirt, Lee Jinhee realized that she would have worn something more. Nonetheless, with her mind jumbled over Han Taehyun's confession, the cold did not bother her much. Lee Jinhee wanted to feel more cold so that her mind be off of Han Taehyun.

Jinhee nodded.

Her hand, which was placed on her lap, was held by Han Taehyun, and he spoke out, "Heol! Your hands are freezing. You're seriously going to be sick."

Removing his coat, Han Taehyun was about to put it on Lee Jinhee when she tugged on the coat to stop him. She did not want him to be so kind and caring towards her.

"I'll just go inside," Jinhee said as she was about to stand up.

Holding Lee Jinhee by her shoulder, Han Taehyun pushed her back on to the bench, and staring at her with stern eyes, he voiced out, "Just sit here with this. I'll get another coat for me. You don't need to that hesitating or awkward towards my help; I have no ulterior motive."

He put the coat on Lee Jinhee's shoulder and helped Lee Jinhee to insert her hands into the sleeves of the coat. Feeling the soft material of the coat against her arm, Lee Jinhee felt comfortable.

'It's warm, really warm.'

Han Taehyun gave Jinhee a soft smile.

'His smile is even warmer.'

"I'll be coming within few minutes. Don't be scared. There are no ghosts, monsters, or insects at here," Han Taehyun said before waving a 'bye' at Lee Jinhee.

Lee Jinhee watched his back as he walked away from her, and a sad smile spread over her face.

"It's not that I'm afraid you've any ulterior motives; It's just that I'm afraid that I can reciprocate those feelings of yours."

Lee Jinhee turned her head and stared at the lake in front of her, hoping that the calm lake with calm down her heart as well. Han Taehyun's smell that lingered on the coat invaded her nostrils and delivered a certain type of comfort to her.

°°°

"Hot chocolate?" Han Taehyun questioned.

Lee Jinhee turned her head to face towards Taehyun. Taehyun stood behind the bench, and held within his hand was a blue coloured two mugs. Smoke formed off of them, indicating how hot they were at this moment, and scent wafted into Lee Jinhee's nose.

Lee Jinhee nodded.

Forwarding her left hand, Lee Jinhee accepted cup of warm hot chocolate from Han Taehyun's hand, and Han Taehyun walked towards the front of the bench before sitting down upon it.

Blowing softly on to the surface of the hot chocolate, Lee Jinhee attempted to cool down the drink. When the temperature was appropriate enough, Lee Jinhee raised the mug to her lip's level and took a sip out of it.

Under such a cool night, the hot chocolate felt delicious and comforting.

"Is it because of me that you're unable to fall asleep?" Han Taehyun questioned before he took a sip out of his mug.

"W-What?" Lee Jinhee asked.

Turning her head, Jinhee faced Taehyun; She was caught off guard with his question. Her eyes were widened with surprise whilst they stared at Han Taehyun. 

Han Taehyun curved up to a small smile before he voiced out, "I'm glad to see that I'm occupying your mind at this moment."

"N-No! No, you're not!" Lee Jinhee abruptly exclaimed.

Han Taehyun laughed and said, "Seeing you being on guard like this implies something else."

"Eh?" Jinhee questioned.

She then continued, "Really, I was just thinking about, uhm, school and studies. Yeah, things like that."

Lee Jinhee forced out a smile causing for Han Taehyun to let out a chuckle.

"Geez! Jinhee-ah, you can't even hide your true feelings. Everything is just crystal clear in your eyes," Taehyun commented.

Turning the other side, Lee Jinhee avoided Taehyun's gaze and voiced out, "You must have seen wrong. I really wasn't thinking anything about you."

"So, you were not thinking about my confession from earlier?" Han Taehyun raised one of his eyebrows in amusement.

"O-Of course not! I forgot about it," Jinhee lied as her hands drew circles on her pant. 

Holding Lee Jinhee's shoulder, Han Taehyun turned her body around, and seeing Jinhee's doe eyes staring at him, Han Taehyun's heart started to beat faster.

Even after he had revealed his gender to her, she treated him too casually, and in order to make her dense self aware that he was actually a man who had feelings for her, he had to resort to confessing to her.

"Then, I'll say it again. I, Han Taehyun, love you, Lee Jinhee, and am currently courting you," Han Taehyun spoke out.

Not even this time Han Taehyun broke out into after a few minutes, and staring at his serious eyes for a couple of minutes, Jinhee realized how genuine his words were. At that moment, her mind turned blank, and she had a hard time thinking about what to reply with.

Pointing her left index finger at Han Taehyun, Lee Jinhee voiced out the first thing that came inside of her mind.

"Y-You can't bully the one you love," Lee Jinhee stated.

"When the one you love is as cute as you, you won't be able to resist yourself. You would've understood if you were in my place," Han Taehyun voiced out. However, Lee Jinhee was too deeply immersed in her thoughts to process his words.

'Although it is true, is that the only thing you could say, Lee Jinhee? Really? Why are you even like this? It's just a guy confessing to you. This is the second time someone is confessing to you. Get a grip of yourself. What's the big deal about it? Even you confessed to someone. It's just the same thing.'

Lee Jinhee heard someone snap their fingers in front of her, and driving out of her thoughts, Jinhee saw Han Taehyun arching his eyebrows at her.

"Huh?" 

"What are you thinking so hard about? Jinhee-ah, did you even hear what I just said?" Han Taehyun questioned.

Lee Jinhee shook her head.

"No, I didn't," She voiced out, "I'm sorry but can you repeat it?"

Pinching Jinhee's nose softly, Han Taehyun spoke out, "I said that you're too cute, and I always get a compulsive urge to tease you."

Scrunching up her nose at Han Taehyun's words, Jinhee said, "Liar. You'd tease anyone out there."

"Wow! I can't believe that you would think that. Do you even see me giving my attention to anyone else other than you? I'm hurt, Jinhee-ah," Han Taehyun stated whilst he held onto his heart dramatically.