“You didn’t tell me you were a fan of horror movies, Yoona,” Kyu said, opening the door of his convertible and ushering me inside.

“I’m not, really. But after all this schoolwork, I need a good scare to show me there are scarier things than homework and pop quizzes.” I smiled, and then added, “If there are any.”

“Still struggling on keeping track on your schoolwork, huh?”

“Yup, second semester is brutal.” I made a grimace, remembering all the academic horrors I’ve gone through so far.

    Kyu backed his car from the school parking space and started to drive towards the main road. There are several reasons why I want Kyu to drive me home: there’s saving fuel, having healthy conversations, spending time with him, but the real reason why every now and then is that I want to keep an eye on him; I don’t him to end up like Donghae, although I don’t know what difference I could make if ever the both of us are about to face an accident. Frankly, I didn’t need to ask Kyu to give me a ride. He was more than happy to do so, and it became, sort of, a habit for him. So, what can I say? I willingly consented.

Even after several months of stashing that grim piece of event which wholly obscured my happiness; in all honesty, I think about him every day. However, I never spoke his name in fear that I would break down, again. I don’t know why I was about to break that streak.

“I still can’t stop worrying over him, Kyuhyun.” My statement came out of nowhere, it almost seemed like I was off topic. No, scratch that, I WAS off topic.

“About Donghae?” Kyuhyun asked while keeping a firm grip on the steering wheel.

“Who else?” I countered, staring listlessly into the late afternoon sky. This particular setting, even though it barely shared any similarities, very much reminded me of the last ride I had with Donghae.

“Yoona, it’s been six months. That like, half a year already!”

“Still, I don’t think any period of time would ease up the guilt or the pain that I’m feeling,” I replied.

Kyuhyun smirked, there was a bit of dejection in his eyes as reflected by the mirror above him. “Here we go again, back to our old conversations. Aren’t you tired of hearing me telling you that it wasn’t your fault over and over again?”

I shrugged, “I think I’ve grown used to it.”

A period of silence passed before either of us spoke again.

“Look,” Kyu started, and then cleared his throat from obstructions. “If you’re so worried about him, why don’t we visit him tomorrow? It’s a weekend, anyway. Plus, I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow.”

I didn’t expect that. My first reaction was to say no, mostly because of the fact that I wouldn’t be able to handle seeing him again so suddenly after all those months. So that’s what I said.

“No,” I told him. “It would be too much for me to handle.” I noticed that my words came out more like a threat than a polite turn-down. I bit my lip upon realizing that.

“I can’t stand having you worry about him every now and then, either,” he countered, giving a light-hearted smile. “Besides, I know you want to see him. You're not really that inconspicuous when it comes to hiding your emotions, Yoona."

I considered that for a brief period of time. “You sure? It’s a long drive to Incheon.” Even I couldn’t help but notice the obvious excitement coupled with brief anxiety building up in my voice.

“Sure, anything to give you peace of mind.”

I opened the door of his car as soon as it stopped near the sidewalk of our house. “Thanks Kyu, I’ll be looking forward to that,” I said, smiling.

He smiled back half-heartedly for some reason I don’t know why. “You better get ready then. We still have a horror movie to watch!”

*                                                                             *                                                                             *

    I have to say that I was taken aback with the size of Sunny’s house. It is true to say that I haven’t been here before, and I was naturally awestruck. Even bigger than Jessica’s house, I had to double-check if we were at the right neighborhood.

“Are you sure this is the place?” I asked Kyuhyun while I eyed the huge mansion.

Kyuhyun shrugged, “I was just following the address you gave me. Are you sure you got the right address?” he asked back, his expression as unsure as mine.

“I don’t know, this whole place seems to be too–“

“Rich?” Kyuhyun completed.

I nodded, still gaping at the mansion. “Maybe we DID get the wrong address,” I concluded then heard a loud honk from my right. I spun around instinctively and saw Yuri waving at us from the passenger window of her bright yellow Porsche.

“Then again,” I said, “perhaps we got the right address after all.” I waved back at Yuri whose car was later on parked near Kyu’s. She dismounted the car, accompanied by her driver – a good-looking male with an Asian accent, but his features weren’t overall Korean.

Nichkhun, I mused, remembering what Yuri had said earlier.

“Hey, guys,” Yuri greeted, flashing us with one of her winning smiles.

“Hey, Yuri,” I smiled, and then gestured at her partner. “I believe you are Nichkhun?” I asked.

“Yes, I am,” he replied. One could easily notice the Thai accent in his voice. He bowed. “You must be Yoona.”

“Indeed I am,” I said. “Yuri told you about me?”

He nodded, flashing a boyish smile. “She says you’re her newest best friend,” then he laughed. “Although I don’t know how to react about that. Should I be jealous?” he said, making a face.

Whoa, this guy is like the Thai version of Kyuhyun. I thought, smiling over the obvious similarity.

“You don’t have to,” Yuri said, giving him a playful punch in the arm. “Yoona’s a girl best friend. You’re a guy. There’s a big difference.”

“Like what?” he challenged.

“Well, for starters, there’s gender. But the thing is, it’s harder for girls to get close with guys than with other girls.” She laughed, “I’m not sure if it’s even normal.”

I smiled; I could see myself and Kyuhyun in their faces: two happy best friends who get along pretty well.

“So Yoona, is everybody here? Are we late?” she asked in mock horror.

I laughed. “I don’t really know. I wasn’t even sure we’re in the right neighborhood.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow, mildly confused. “Sure, we are. This IS Sunny’s place. Is it your first time here?”

I nodded, flushing slightly.

Yuri smiled. “You better get used to it. Sunny’s got one of the best houses among the students in our school. If you’re already amazed with the exterior, wait ‘til you see the interior!”

With the expression on her face, I had to believe her. Besides, she’s the one who has been hanging out with Sunny longer than I am.

“We’d better get going,” Yuri said to us. “Sunny gets edgy if her guests are late.” She smirked, as if remembering a amusing memory which involved such incident.

“It’s about time you got here!” a new voice cried.

Turning around, we saw a rather distraught-looking Sunny who, from the looks of it, dried her once wet hair which she constantly toyed with her fingers while waiting for us to arrive.

“I’ve been waiting for half an hour for both of you!” Sunny cried.

Yuri laughed at her friend’s discomposure. “And speak of the devil,” she muttered in a low voice that only I could hear. “Sorry, Sunny. Changing from our school clothes took longer than we thought it would,” she said, approaching her.

I made a face. “Okay, we’re both here with our partners, but where are Hyoyeon and Taeyeon?” I asked, hoping we weren’t THAT late.

“They arrived over an hour ago. We didn’t start the movie yet, but the two already raided my snacks.” She laughed in mock sardonicism. “I told you that you should come early,” she winked.

Upon hearing those words come out of Sunny’s mouth, we didn’t waste any time racing towards the mansion. The two pairs of best friends, Kyu with me and Yuri with Nichkhun, sped off while laughing in harmony, leaving a dumbstruck Sunny staring at us as we ran away.

“You guys wait up!” she called, running disadvantageously towards us, the ones who got a head start. Looking her way, we laughed even more.

     We met up with the others in no time. As much as we’d like to deny it, they already consumed two big packs of junkfood and sweets while waiting for us, just like Sunny had said.

“No fair, I wanted the Granola bars,” Kyuhyun moped, looking at Taeyeon who was eating the last piece, grinning sadistically in reply.

“You should’ve been quicker, Kyu,” she said, winking at him.

After settling everybody down in Sunny’s legendary movie room with an enormous movie screen, the couples huddled together as the movie begun to flash.

“Brrrr, I’m already having the chills by just watching the beginning,” I told Kyuhyun, who in turn wrapped his right arm around my shoulder.

“Relax, I got this.” He smiled, cuddling me closer.

The movie was entitled The Seventh Capital, wherein the central plot revolved on a bunch of teenagers going to an allegedly tainted town – as many of the locals call it. Thinking it was all a big exaggeration to entice tourists, the group decided to go to the town during a weekend. But when things became complicated, they became stuck in the town, realizing that the curse was indeed true. One by one, they face a terrible fate, travelling in ever-changing dimensions while they searched for a missing friend. I didn’t expect the movie to be very gory.

“Ugh!” I squeezed Kyuhyun’s arm after seeing a disastrous scene. “That monster practically tore his head off!” I wrapped both of my arms around Kyu’s sturdy torso while averting my eyes from the vivid movie screen.

Kyu patted my back gently, “It’s just a movie, don’t worry.”

“Still, the gore is repulsive,” I complained.

Scenes shifted from horrific to gory, and I tried my best to turn away from every ghastly scene the movie had to offer. That is, before Kyuhyun complained.

“Okay, you’re me Yoona, don’t hug me too tight,” he said.

Only did I realize that I was indeed keeping a very firm hold around him. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

Kyuhyun laughed. “It’s okay, I kinda enjoyed it. But at this rate, you would end up not seeing half of the movie.”

I turned around and saw the other girls having the same expression as I am. Hyoyeon was having a horrorstruck expression, but her gaze never drifted away from the screen. Taeyeon was having trouble in swallowing her food, but she gripped Lee Teuk’s hand tightly. Sunny, however, apparently saw this movie before and was busy snickering on our horrified reactions, including that of her partner, Sungmin.

I tried to gain composure from now on, but would fail on every occasion I tried. I couldn’t help it, I’m a girl, and most of us get scared easily. Kyuhyun would occasionally remind me to losen my grip on his shirt, but I was most of the time too busy cowering to notice he said something. The movie concluded with an epic finish, scaring the wits out of most of us. We watched another two movies after that, and my reactions never seem to change. Movie night ended when the last movie’s credits rolled up on the screen.

I yawned. “That was undoubtedly scary,” I said in a sleepy voice.

“Very,” Taeyeon and Hyoyeon chorused.

“Oh, lighten up you guys, it’s only a movie,” Sunny said, her smile unwavering.

Kyuhyun laughed. “That was fun, Yoona. We should do this more often!”

Sorry for the late update you guys. As I said before, I have become very busy since it is the last quarter in our school. I hope you guys stay tuned for the next update which I hope will be quicker than this one!

In case you wondered what the title of this chapter meant, it states:

"Please don't take his hand."