From Past To Present, I Still Love You

"It was. My compliments to the chef."

Minhyun picked up both of their plates before bringing it to the sink.

She placed her hands on the top of the chair and leaned her chest against the backside. A giggle escaping her lips. "So what are we going to do now sir?"

"Sir?"

"Isn"t that what your secretary calls you all the time?"

He walked towards her before placing his hand on top of her head. With his knees bent and his back lowered, he faced Yoona at head-height. "You are someone who I treasure over work relations so don"t call me that. It puts a barrier between us."

She slightly curled her body inside. The weight of his hand and the proximity of his face was overwhelming. He took the joke differently from what she expected. "Ah okay."

He ruffled her hair slightly. "Good. Continue calling me Mini."

"Do you like that name that much?" She asked with a smile.

He let go of her hair and placed his hands inside his pockets. He swayed forward and backward. Yoona almost found his actions to be cute.

"It"s the nickname you made for me so of course. You are also the only person in the world to call me by that name."

Yoona shook her head while letting out a chuckle. Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

"Okay, I get it," she said. "I"m that important to you."

Then she pursed her lips. "By the way, what are we going to do now?"

Minhyun sat on the couch and pat the area beside of him, signalling for Yoona to come and sit. "Let"s watch a movie."

"Okay." With a happy smile she ran towards him, before sitting at that exact spot.

Finding a movie was hard considering the wide selection offered by the television. Since there were may genres to choose from, Yoona decided to stick to the one she felt like seeing the most. At the moment, her mood was screaming for her to watch a romance after a hectic day.

The two sat calmly side by side while the movie played. The voices of the actors entered their ears as the clean shots of scenery came to view.

Minhyun was sitting calmly while Yoona cuddled with the pillows, squealing at the heart-throbbing moments. She was quite distracting with the small noises but Minhyun was able to prevail.

As the movie went on, a sad scene came to play. The two main leads were in the middle of a break up in front of the girl"s apartment. Both were drenched underneath the pouring rain, yet they stood out in the open, not caring about their state.

"How can you do this to me!" The female lead screeched. "After three years of a beautiful relationship, you are throwing it away this easily? For no good reason? I hate you!" Her tears were camouflaged by the raindrops.

The male lead"s expression was cold; the sadness in his eyes hidden. "I don"t love you anymore. I don"t want to meet you from now on. Get away f.u.c.k from me and never search for me again."

She walked up to him before slapping his cheek. The impact rang loudly from the speakers. "f.u.c.k you!"

Minhyun could hear sniffles from his left ear and something tugged his shirt. He turned to his left and looked down to see Yoona in a crying mess.

He shook his head. "Is it that sad?"

Yoona opened her eyes in shock. Was he not watching the same scene as her? How could his heart not be breaking? She pointed to the screen. "How is it not sad? Since he"s going to pa.s.s away from a terminal illness, he doesn"t want her to linger on their love. He still loves her, yet he"s hurting himself. So beautiful."

Minhyun glances at the screen, his face indifferent. Throughout the movie, he hadn"t changed his facial expression much. In fact, he almost looked judgmental.

He let out a hum. "Really? I think the male lead is just being a selfish b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

She dabbed her eyes with a tissue. "What do you mean?"

He pointed to the screen. "Eventually as time pa.s.ses by, the girl is going to find out about his death. Then she"s going to realize that all his rude actions were done for her sake. Do you think she is going to be happy about it? Do you think she"s going to be grateful? No, she"s going to be miserable knowing that his last moments were lonely and she called him such names. He died knowing she hated him. In the end, he"s not actually considering her feelings and is just feeling selfish. If a loved one of yours was about to pa.s.s away, you wouldn"t want them to keep their illness a secret from you and scheme to make you hate them. He"s acting as if he"s putting her first but really, he"s just digging a hole and ruining their love."

By the end of his rant, he didn"t realize how frustrated and angry he sounded. His words became a lot more personal than he realized.

Yoona slowly nodded. "That makes sense. I guess you can interpret it that way."

She glanced over at Minhyun. While they were watching the movie, she thought he was disinterested due to his expressions. However, seeing him a.n.a.lyze the characters made her think that he may have been more invested than she thought.

"You must really like the movie so far huh?" She said with a giggle.

Minhyun shrugged. "It"s okay."

He was lying and she was wrong. He couldn"t care less for the characters and the plot. The only reason to why he was watching this was due to the girl beside of him. He just liked being with her.

However, as he was watching the movie, there was something that tugged his heart. An eerie and anchor-like feeling arose whenever the male lead came to the screen. Even though he wasn"t paying close attention before, he couldn"t help but watch the male lead, like a moth to a light.

The dumba.s.s of a man. The a.s.shole who wasn"t thinking straight. Reminded Minhyun of himself.

Not literally, but metaphorically.

The act of keeping dark secrets from the female lead stung his heart because he was doing the same to Yoona. There was so many things she didn"t know and if she did, he was sure that she would get hurt. Since he knew her secrets, Yoona had the right to know everything just like the female lead. Yet, even though he scrutinized the character on the screen for acting this way, he couldn"t help but continue keeping everything to himself. And he had no intention on letting her on with his secrets anytime soon.

A hypocrite. He was a complete hypocrite.

----

Near the ending of the movie, Minhyun could feel weight against his shoulder. He looked down to his side to see Yoona sleeping soundly against him. Due to today"s hecticness and stress, she was very fatigued. Even though it wasn"t late, she couldn"t help but fall asleep.

"Yoona?" Minhyun whispered. He gently moved her shoulder.

There was no response.

He let out a chuckle, voicing his words a bit louder. "You picked the movie yet you are sleeping? Silly girl."

She didn"t budge.

Minhyun let out a small smile. She must"ve been really tired today. After all, she was so excited throughout the movie so it would"ve been hard for her to pa.s.s out like this.

When he glanced over at her, his breathe couldn"t help but hitch at the back of his throat. Since she was sleeping, he felt the need to get some words off his mind. Just like a sinner with a priest, he decided to confess his sins. The pent-up emotion in his chest weighed too heavily on his conscious.

"I"m sorry. Just like the main character I"m a selfish b.a.s.t.a.r.d, keeping my own secrets to myself," he whispered before pursing his lips.

"I just don"t want you to hate me," he mumbled.

The reason to why he was able to keep his humanity was because of the kindness he experienced from Yoona from when he was younger. However, if she were to look at him with eyes full of disgust... He didn"t know how he would be able to survive. It was too much for his heart.

His words were answered with silence.

The emotions hadn"t completely disappeared, but there was definitely a difference in the stress on his heart. It felt great to at least be vocal with his words. It was as if he was tricking himself into thinking that she was listening.

After his confession, Minhyun sat quietly in his spot. While Yoona slept deeply on his shoulder, he drowned himself in his thoughts, trying to regain his composure.

Time pa.s.sed quickly in the darkness.

When the credits began to roll and the soft violins played through the speakers, Minhyun decided it was time for him to bring Yoona to her bed. He also had work to do since he abandoned his responsibilities due to her safety.

Trying not to wake her up, Minhyun carefully moved her head to lean against the back of the sofa and stood up. Then he moved to a position so he could face her.

In this angle, he could see her face a lot more clearly. Before, he could only see her hair and the tip of her nose.

His heart couldn"t help but beat loudly as he admired her face. From the tips of her eyelashes to the curve of her nose; Minhyun was mesmerized. She was so beautiful. A treasure he didn"t want to stain.

However, when his gaze met with her rosy lips, he couldn"t help but pursed her lips. Just like always, the urge to have a taste was strong.

He let out a sigh, compressing the feelings within himself. Currently, Yoona had trusted him by bringing herself to a state of vulnerability. To commit such an act would be betraying her. Besides, time would come when his wishes would be fulfilled. He just needed to compose himself.

With his fingertips, he gently lifted up her face and pressed his lips against her cheek. The touch lingered on her skin before he moved himself away.

A kiss on the cheek was okay right?

Suddenly, he blinked and realized what he had done

As if he was controlled by voodoo magic, he had decided to kiss her cheek. What was he thinking? The instincts within him were too strong, ignoring his own logic.

A frustrated sigh escaped his lips. Everything was hanging by a thread.

Deciding not to linger on the subject for too long, Minhyun finally decided to take action and bring Yoona to her room. He gently placed one hand to support her head and the other underneath her legs, carrying her princess style.

Her head gently thumped against his chest as he walked towards her room.

Before placing her on the bed, he tried his best to move the covers away. Then he laid her down on the comfy surface and brought the blankets up to her chest.

As he was about to leave, a groggy whisper entered his ears.

"Minhyun?" Her eyes trailed around the room before she brought the blankets over the bottom half of her face. "How am I in my bed?"

Was he too loud? He turned around in surprise. "You slept in the middle of the movie."

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly.

He shook his head. "It"s okay. I"m sorry for waking you up if I was moving too loudly. Go back to sleep."

Suddenly, her soft hand grabbed onto his wrist. "Wait a minute. Don"t leave yet."

"What is it?"

Yoona gulped. "I was thinking about what you said earlier. About the main character? And I have to say that I disagree with you. He isn"t selfish."

He blinked cluelessly. "What do you mean?"

"I think you"re painting him to be more of a villain that he truly is," she said. Her hands tightened against the white sheets. "The reason to why he"s acting this way is because he loves the girl so much that he doesn"t want her to linger on their love. He"s willing to sacrifice his last moments of happiness for her. Rather than hurting the girl than himself, that is his logic. Of course, in practice this may come off as selfish however, from his perspective, isn"t this the most selfless thing he could"ve done? You have to realize his logic is clouded by sadness, he"s not able to think realistically like us. In the end, to his very last breathe, he was thinking about her, alone on that hospital bed. His heart was in the right place. And to me, I find that quite admirable."

Minhyun froze, blood rushing to his face. Although he knew that Yoona was talking about the main character, he couldn"t help but think that she was talking to him.

He was not a villain, he was admirable. She understood his position.

Somehow, the words lifted his spirits and the pain in his chest disappeared. Without realizing, she had healed him again.

"That"s a positive outlook on him," Minhyun replied. There was a pause. "I"ll accept it."

A giggle escaped her lips. "Okay. That was all I wanted to say. Goodnight Mini."

He made his way to the door before closing the lights. "Goodnight."

Once the sound of his footsteps disappeared, Yoona quickly raised up from the bed. From the dead to the living. Her cheeks were red and she could feel her heart racing.

Oh my G.o.d. Did that just happen?

She had been awakened the moment Minhyun first called her name. However, since she was too lazy to move her lips, she decided to continue sleeping. Besides, due to her dilemma with Minhyun"s feelings, she wanted to see his next step in action.

What he did exceeded her expectations.

She gently placed her hand over her red cheeks. The area tingled and she couldn"t help but bite her lip to stop herself from smiling to much.

Holding her emotions in when it all went down was hard. She almost gave up. Luckily, through perseverance she was able to keep a straight face.

And his confession... To think that he had secrets dark enough to possibly garner her hate. She wondered what he could be possibly hiding. In normal circ.u.mstances she would ask and try to pry in, however, she trusted Minhyun enough to know that he was a good person. He had his reasons and that was enough.

One tiny piece of Minhyun"s true self was added to the puzzle.

By sleeping, she was only expecting to gain answers to if Minhyun truly liked her.

Yet, she was able to get answers to both of her questions.

——

Okay so I wrote 2000 words for this chapter and at one at night, it literally ALL got deleted so I had to rewrite everything despite having to have to go to school at 6:30 a.m. the next day TT

I was so angry lol. I hate inkstone.

Nonetheless here you go. This is a precious chapter to me and I hope you feel the same.

This is the longest chapter I"ve written hehe.