I stiffened, shivers running down my spine as I watched him pass me, feeling his shoulder brush against mine in a harsh manner. I was passed by like I was an invisible ghost, the wooden door closing behind me loudly. I flinched, feeling a bit lost again. He didn’t invite me in. Not for the past five months.

My eyes flickered, realizing in delay that he’d ignored me again. Since when? For how long? For how many times? I could not count anymore.

My lips twitched up in reflex, a pretentious—forced—smile occupying them automatically as I turned around, facing his door.

“Sehun,” I said his name, already losing count of how many times I called for him and yet without hearing him calling back to me voluntarily. No response. I smiled wider. “There are reruns of Running Man on tv. Mom, your dad and I are watching. I-I just thought it’s be nice if you’d be able to join us.” I laughed. “I mean, isn’t that your favorite show? You missed it over the weekdays and you might not want to miss it now. It’d be fun!”

I continued to emit laughs until they died down in my throat, my guts telling me there was no way he was going to respond. I get it, Sehun. I get it.

The silent treatment continued, but not for long. As I was about to go back down to the living room suddenly the door was flung open and I was face to face with an expressionless Sehun who stared at me.

“Sehun,” Again.

But he only walked past me, brushing shoulders.

I couldn’t let the opportunity pass that I hastily turned around, calling after him again, this time, louder. “Don’t you want to watch with us?”

Silence.

“Sehun?”

His disappearing figure was slowly decending down the steps. I followed, not being able to resist trying, and grabbed on his arm. “Where are you going?”

He didn’t turn to face me. “None of your business.”

A pang pinched at my heart. “You’re my business.”

“Am I?” He finally turned around, giving me a stoic look.

“Yes,” I said, breathless, being provoked by the challenge in his voice. There was no way I was going to let this chance pass. “We’re family.”

At the words, he quickly pulled away, saying, “Are we? Aren’t you just extra baggage just like your mom?”

I was frozen, hit by his harsh words. He continued descending the steps without any remorse, without thinking whether he had hurt me, and what I could only do was watch him be gone.

A couple of minutes later, as I got back to the living room, mom and Mr. Oh watched me going back. I gave a slight smile, trying not to look dejected.

“So what did he say?” mom asked.

I pressed my lips to a thin line, shrugging, sitting down beside her. “He said he was going out.”

“Again?” Mr. Oh questioned, doubting, quirking a perfect eyebrow.

I nodded sheepishly. The hardest part was always the lying part, but by now I was somehow mastering the art. “With friends. He’s hanging out with the gang.”

“Oh?” He still sounded like he was in disbelief.

“Yes,” I breathed.

“Without you?”

“All boys,” I pointed out.

“All boys,” repeated he, sighing.

“But,” I said, on second thought. “Can I join them? I mean, I’ve already finished homework and stuff, mom, so…”

She sweetly smiled, patting my knee gently. “Of course. I trust that the boys would take care of you. Why not ask Yeri to come, too? The girl needs a break and some time to socialize. You’ll be the best candidate to accompany her around.”

I chuckled, not believing. I was not obviously the type, but I try. “You’re kidding me mom, but thanks.”

I sprinted out of the house quickly, itching to see where Sehun was going. For sure, he hadn’t gotten that far. However, the moment I stepped out, he was nowhere to be found. Gone like the wind. I sighed, the exhilaration dying down with me. Hands on hips, I looked down at my feet, sulking. Until when are we playing charades?

A call from not too far caught my attention. Jongin.

He jogged towards me, with a smile on his face. He was wearing some baggy clothes that I assumed he just came home from dance practice. Must be. A smile automatically lit up my face. The boy’s angelic smile was just that infectious.

“How are you?” I shouted, waving.

He halted in front of me, panting on his knees. “Tired, but I think I already got back my energy after seeing you.” I blushed a little, not being able to ignore the cheesy way he expressed himself. “Why are you outside anyway?”

I grinned sheepishly, shrugging.

He took the bait, shaking his head with a smile of his own. “Want to grab something?”

Contemplating, I pouted.

“Don’t tell me you’re refusing food?” he asked, feigning a gasp.

I chuckled, slapping his arm playfully. “Who is? Let’s go,” I said, slinging an arm around his neck—his tall height dwarfing me and making it hard for me to reach him—before dragging him down the street.

He willingly followed, making conversation on the way. We chatted, talking about the good old days and then the funny antics of our beagle friends, that I almost forgot Sehun. We visited this local restaurant not too far from the high school campus, that we discovered from a couple of months ago, and settled at a corner table, to avoid being noticed, because a lot of the kids at school loved hanging out at the place and a lot of them knew Jongin.

Like predicted Jongin became a sought after face even in high school—with half of the population coming from the other three bigger middle school campuses in town—that he was known everywhere he went. Being his friend became a little harder because of this due to the scrutinizing stares always on me, as if saying ‘who are you?’, ‘what is a girl like you doing with him?’. Only Jongin made it seem like being with him wasn’t a crime.

“What would you like to get?” he asked, grinning, leaving me doing the same.

I hummed in thought, looking at the menu by the counter even though I was well aware of what I was craving for. “Meat?” I hinted and Jongin stood up to order, ruffling my hair before he left. The warmth of his touch left me touching the same spot his hand had been two minutes ago.

He left for a couple of minutes, leaving me to stare around the place. My eyes trailed from the huge glass windows serving as walls and at the writings on it now mirrored down to the many faces I came to recognize. Most likely, the kids hanging out today at the restaurant were our seniors—either a junior or a senior—that were grilling meat in the middle of their tables and having a good laugh while drinking. The drinking part made me cringe. They were underage and yet they were served with alcohol. Not that it was a problem with the locals; in fact, they were pretty lenient with it. They let go of any taboos, even minors drinking at their age, despite it being prohibited by the law.

This reminded me briefly of what Jongin and I did with the champagne last Christmas. It made me chuckle softly, remembering the secret we kept to both ourselves. I was pretty sure nothing like that will happen anytime soon. Maybe next Christmas again? I looked forward to it, knowing I’d probably be stuck in this place until the end of high school since mom had found her happiness here and now they were officially tying the knot. Only God knew when.

The thought of it made shivers run down my spine. Sooner or later Sehun and I had to reveal the truth to our friends, before it was too late. I knew we kept it for too long already and it was already strange and funny why nobody’s gotten whiff of the news yet. I knew I should be thankful for it, but it was not like I’d ever be at ease while still having the secret with me. At least, I could probably reason out somehow that maybe because we didn’t invite people in the house now unless they were clear of our parents. And it just so happened that they were always in the hospital, on shifts. Mostly, graveyard shifts that only allowed them home in the morning and made them crawl to bed quickly, sending the two in twelve hours coma afterwards.

I was still in the middle of thinking when Jongin settled back down with a grin on his face, again, telling me how the ajhumma would just bring the meat to us. He poured soda over a glass that he got from the counter for the both of us and settled back down on his seat, arranging everything for us before the meat arrived.

We were in the middle of eating when he started on another topic. “So, your mom and Mr. Oh are finally deciding to marry?” he asked, gulping meat down his throat.

I nodded, furrowing my eyebrows at the prospect of it. “Yeah. Mr. Oh proposed to her at dinner two weeks ago. With me and Sehun on the table,” I said, reminiscing that night. I was so happy for mom that I almost forgot about Sehun.

“Sehun didn’t tell me anything,” he mused, putting grilled meat on my bowl.

“Thanks,”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Not like he can tell you. He knows not that you already figured we are not cousins, right? It’s only you and me.”

Suddenly, a tinge of pink occupied his cheeks. “I was just checking. It’s not like I forgot or something.” I rolled my eyes at Jongin.

He grinned, showing me his perfect set of white teeth.

“But don’t tell him that I know,” he added, gaining my attention.

For a while, I contemplated as to why. Why did Jongin and I even hide the fact to Sehun that he already knew? And it had been what? About seven months since Jongin lear