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"Op-pa"
Eyes cast down, fingers clasped tight, she bites her lip as she tries out the word for the first time.
Carefully she lifts her head.
She watches his eyes crinkle amusedly in reaction, his face struggling to suppress a smile from breaking across. And just like that, she can no longer take her gaze off of him.
Despite managing to keep his attention on the road in front of him, he finds himself shaking his head. What am I going to do with you? he wonders, though it's a question he's asked himself countless times before. And like those previous times, he fails to find an answer once more.
"Gosh, you're adorable."
He hasn't realized he's said that out loud until he hears her voice out in disbelief,
"Nae?"
Eyes blown wide apart, she now stares at him, agape, hoping she's heard him right.
He suddenly recomposes himself, all signs of former amusement wiping off his face. He clears his throat, hoping his silence would make it seem like he'd said nothing at all.
"You just called me adorable."
He could practically hear the smile in her voice.
"Did I?" He leans towards his windshield, and narrows his eyes as he pretends to think.
"You did," she nods aggressively. Her face then takes on a determined expression, as she levels him with steely eyes, "and you can't take it back!"
He bursts out into another laugh, which he immediately conceals as a cough. Goddamn his inability to not find everything about her so lovable. He can't be serious around her even if he tries.
But he still does, for the sake of it.
"Aren't you getting a little too fearless these days, Minha?" he challenges lowly, attempting to raise a stern eyebrow at her. "Are you forgetting that I'm your Professor?"
He shouldn't be surprised that she shoots back immediately,
"But you're not my Professor right now, are you?"
His mouth quirks slightly, and he decides to ignore her question to gauge her reaction.
Her face falls, and she sits up in her seat in a panic, "Are you?!"
He grips his steering wheel as his shoulders shake violently. With every ounce of strength left in his body, he replies, deadpan, "Eo."
She slowly blinks at him, her expression a mix of incredulity and disappointment, as she sits back against her seat. Crossing her arms, she turns away from him to look out the window instead.
He sneaks a glance at her direction, curiously anticipating what she'd say next.
He almost jerks in surprise when she sits up again, this time gripping the edge of his seat as she leans into him.
"Oppa," she peers innocently,
His breath catches in his throat. He supposes if she hadn't been bound by her seatbelt, she'd be much closer.
"I can still call you that, right?"
Her eyebrows furrow in genuine question, but she doesn't wait for him to respond nor does she notice the effect of her proximity on him before she continues.
"When it's just the two of us, alone in your car...I can call you that, right?"
The car had come to a stop on a red light, allowing him to tear his gaze off the road for a few seconds and look at her.
"And if I get mad," he quietly mutters, placing a hand over hers, "what will you do?"
She blushes at their sudden contact and inches away ever so slightly. His hold on her, however, stops her from moving any further.
"Oppa," she lets out teasingly, then with a jut of her chin, points to the road ahead, "the light's turned green."
They immediately let go of each other, as he takes control of the steering wheel again, and she returns to her seat.
"You won't get mad," she cheekily remarks, after a while.
Daringly, she turns to face him again,
"I know you like it when I call you that."
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