“You…what?” Kris stood in front of me, his mouth hung open.

“I got the date for you, hah.” I grinned proudly at him.

He didn’t smile, nor did he frown. He just seemed in complete an utter shock. I was expecting for him to jump like a kangaroo or something. But he didn’t.

“Sheesh, I got the freaking date!” I told him, and I grabbed his tall shoulders, pulling him down to my height. “Go and do your happy dance already!”

He just blinked.

“Wow,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “Wow? That’s all you have to say?”

He scratched his head. “Well, how do you want me to say it?”

I sighed and slapped my forehead. “Never mind, then. Now that the deal’s settle I can go and get packing.”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” he said. I spun around, my eyes wide at the words, and more over the fact that he was pulling me back, as if I would escape any minute. “You’re not going back to California,” he verified, in case I still didn’t get it.

Not that talk again…

“Kris,” I said, my voice firm. “I’m going back.”

“No you’re not,” he said, as confidently as his ego would allow.

My nose crinkled. “What? Come on, dude. Do you know how tired I am? At least when I go back I’m in the same comfort of my home, back inside my room, far from Kyu—”

I stopped—mainly because his fingers were pressed against my lips. I thought he was just joking like he usually does, but something was different with the air around him. His eyes were…dark, somehow.

“First step,” he said, “stop saying his name.”

He let go of me and I was able to speak.

“What?” I frowned.

“We’re not done yet,” he said.

I slumped my shoulders, releasing a tired sigh. “Kris… Come on—”

“You’re not done yet,” he corrected.

“Hey, he said it already,” I told him. “Do you want me to repeat his exact words? ‘I love you, you’re my sister—’”

He shut me up by pressing his fingers to my lips again. It was as if he disliked it, so badly, his eyes would darken every time I bring it up. My body tingled at the sight.

After a moment he pulled his hand back and slid them inside his pockets. His lips were pressed tightly. “What kind of guy would—” He stopped halfway, shaking his head roughly.

I stood at the side, watching as it looked as if he were having a moment of thought.

“This,” he said, “is not over.”

“W-Well— I declare it over,” I said. He then turned to me. I released an awkward sniffle from the cold I had. “Wouldn’t it be better…if we just forget about it? I mean, approaching it is just going to make it harder.”

“Yeah, but not difficult to make him regret,” he said with such casualty.

“R-Regret?” I stuttered at the word. “W-What exactly are you planning—”

“There’s a party this Sunday,” he said, ignoring me.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard.”

“You have?”

“Yeah, Sehun told me—” I stopped and bit my lip at the sudden memory that came back icily, making me shiver even more. No, no. I wasn’t going to think about that. Run away from it, Rika, run away.

“So here’s the thing. You’re going to that party.”

“Heck no!” I said. “Honestly! I don’t dance. Why does people keep going on about that?”

He lifted a brow.

I grimaced and turned away. “No way. Please.” I was almost begging.

He shook his head. “This ain’t over yet.”

“I say it’s over. It’s done.”

“Nope,” he said. “Now wait for me at SM building.” He started walking away.

“What? No! I’m not going to—“

He kept on walking.

“H-Hey! Where are you even going?! Kris? KRIS!”

I hugged myself and then began to think.

Dancing.

It was going to be interesting, alright.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I looked at the clock and waited. Kris had told me to wait for him, and again I’d been waiting for a half an hour already.

Instead of sitting down I paced back and forth—till I almost bumped into someone. My beanie fell off. A hand caught it for me. I looked up.

“T-Thank you,” I stammered, and then I blinked and took another glance. My eyes widened. “Sehun?”

He tossed me my beanie, his eyes not even bothering to meet mine. It was too obvious that he wasn’t comfortable in meeting me here, but it was me who was being nosy at a place I didn’t belong.

I caught something different. His entire self was different. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It’d only been a couple of days since he left on his bike, and yet I still felt the guilt rush over me whenever I think about it. I wanted to bite my own tongue, but even doing that wouldn’t throw away the awful regret.

No, wait. I wasn’t regretting it. It was the never-ending guilt that was eating me up to the point where I wanted to really drown myself. Thinking about it, I wished I had thrown myself over the railing and fall into Han river. Beats having to deal with this.

He gave me a short nod, then moved past to keep on walking.

I whirled around and called  him. “S-Sehun—”

He turned, a dry smile forming. “Yeah?”

Even though he acted so casually, it was still eating me up. And the easy smile he had on made it worse for me.

“You know,” I said, “about that—”

His smile disappeared, almost instantly.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “I, uh— I’m sorry for— the other night.”

I cringed. “Wait, I—”

He didn’t give me another single moment to speak, and disappeared out from the lobby. I heaved a sigh. Things just couldn’t get worse. I started to think that maybe getting my salary at the café straight and then buying the quickest plane ticket would do me good.

“Erika!”

As I straightened from my slouched posture, I looked up, and somehow was hoping that it was Sehun—till I saw Kris running over with a large box in hand, almost half his size. I should be happy that it wasn’t Sehun, to be honest. Even if it was him I wouldn’t even know what to say.

“What the heck—” I stared at the box as he made his way over to me.

“Alright, let’s head up to the dance studio,” he said.

I was staring at the box, when he suddenly said the word ‘dance.’

“O-ho, no,” I said, shaking my hands, and I quickly darted for the nearest exit. He caught the my elbow. I wriggled free.

“Come on, Rika.” He turned me around easily with one hand and caught the back of my shirt as I tried to crawl away.

“Are you crazy?! Haven't I made myself clear, 'I don't dance'?!”

He kept on pulling me as I choked on his tight grip, and just like that I was dragged straight down to Hell.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Take a spin,” Kris ordered.

“I don’t want to,” I snarled, for approximately the twenty-third time.

Standing in the dance studio, it was almost distressing, to see the mirrors and then having them reflect me. I didn’t want to do anything, I didn’t want to feel anything—I just wanted to close my eyes and drift away from everything.

“For crying out loud,” Kris sighed. “It’s not that hard!” He pulled my hand and brought me over to him. “You just move a little—”

I flinched at his touch and pulled away.

He rolled his eye