Jongin is going to get murdered by Sooyeon. Her stupid drunk little sister has gotten herself so inebriated she can barely stand on her own. They should have been half way to her house by this time but she has decided that stopping by an arcade seemed like a good idea. Then decided that she wants ice cream, only to be distracted by the playground. Now she is on the swing, asking to be pushed.

"What are you standing there for?" Soojung demands, kicking the sand towards him. "Jongin, push me!"

Jongin sighs and steps toward her wearily. "Get up. If you falll down and break your leg, your sister will break my leg off too."

"Don't worry, Jongin." She giggles. "I'll protect you."

He scoffs at her and grabs a hold of her hands, pulling her away from the swing. She wobbles but Jongin steadies her with his hands. "Why did you drink so much?"

Soojung pouts and Jongin can't help but chide her like a little girl. "This is Jinri's doing, isn't it?" When she doesn't answer, he shakes his head. "Seriously, that girl knows you can't hold alcohol but she still gave you so much..."

"It's not her fault." Soojung hits him the chest. "She's just sad."

"So what? Do you have to be sad with her?" He grabs her hand and they start walking towards the stop. "Jinri did this to herself. She can only blame herself."

"You're so mean, Jongin. What did she ever do to you?"

Jongin keeps mum about it, doing his best to drag Soojung's sluggish steps. Jongin has been treating Jinri poorly these past few months but not without reason. She hasn't been extremely agreeable with her actions.

"The bus is here. What are you doing?"

Leaning on the wall, Soojung pouts more and tries to open her eyes. "I'm sleepy."

"Come on. I'll take you home. You can sleep on the way." Jongin pushes her gently towards the back of the bus and seats her by the window.

"You live far from my house. How will you get home?" Soojung yawns and leans her head on his shoulder. "Maybe we can ask Sooyeon unni to let you sleep until sun rise."

Jongin wishes. If anything, he might not live to see another day. "You just worry about yourself and sober up. You know you're heavy, right?"

"I should have stayed with Jinri and the others. They would have taken much better care of me." She mumbles, slowly drifting to sleep.

Jongin watches her succumb into drowsiness, brushing the stray strands away from her face. He takes her hand, inspecting her fingers but stops when he sees the red band dangling on her wrist, a friendship bracelet Jinri had given her when they were in high school. They have known her each other longer than he has but Soojung always seems to be kept in the dark about the happenings around her.

When they arrive to her house with Soojung on his back, Sooyeon welcomes them with a frown. She tells him to dump Soojung on the bed, and have coffee to shake off the alcohol but really, Jongin knows he's about to get interrogated.

"Why is she so drunk?"

"You can ask her in the morning."

"This disrespectful kid," she glares at Jongin. "Do you want me to kick you out?" Sooyeon crosses her arms. "It's Jinri, isn't it? It's always Jinri, anyway, that troublesome kid. Why Soojung keeps hanging out with her, I don't know."

"Soojung's kind."

"She's stupid. I guess you are too, since you keep hanging out with someone who kissed you when she was in a relationship with your best friend."

Jongin gawks at her in perplexity and she, in turn, looks at him keenly, all knowing. Finally, he shakes his head and with a mirthless laugh, "Nothing escapes you, doesn't it?"

Sooyeon smirks. "No, so don't even think about doing something dumb to my sister."

Jongin  laughs, stating he would die by her hands before he could even think of it. He thanks her for the coffee and bids her goodbye. Sooyeon stands by the entrance door and calls out to him softly, "It's not your fault, Jongin. It was bound to happen. The cheating and the lying--they're both reasons to break up."

Jongin knows but Soojung must never know.

a/n: i'm not marikit if i don't shove kaistal in every one of my fic. also, the last chapter will be out soon!