My mind was fluttering about in Neverland—the place I would always go to whenever something in the real world weighs me down. I hadn’t been there in a long time. This was the first in the last ten years since I’d paid a visit. I was playing around with the fairies, battling with the pirates, swimming with the mermaids, when the body I’d left in reality yanked me back.

Hold up.

My mind whirled again and everything froze.

Wake up, princess, you’re dreaming again.

In a blink of an eye I was back where I was, in the real world, surrounded by real people, swarmed by a real crisis. I was still at the party, still standing in the middle of the dance floor, and still locked tight in Kris’—

No, back up! Back UP!

No, I couldn’t.

Yes, you can.

No, I really couldn’t.

And I was right, and the voice in my mind lost.

That feeling when Kris finally pulled away hit me like a sack of rocks. But he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he shifted his eyes to the side, not even paying the slightest attention to my look of utter horror.

Slap him, Rika.

No.

You know you want to.

This time the voice was right—yet I still hesitated, and instead I backed away. Kris caught me when I was slowly backtracking. I froze. Gulped. Swallowed—and then started to run.

Man, I never knew you were such a coward, the voice in my head taunted.

Shut it.

“Hey, Rika, hold on!”

I yelped at the voice that was coming from behind me, but I couldn’t force my feet to walk further.

“Would you hold still for a sec?” I felt his fingers clamp around my wrist.

“G-G-Get away—”

Curse my stutter.

When I looked at him, I found myself automatically closing around my lips with one arm. My feet started to move again.

“Hold up!” He spun me around, so hard, that I almost tripped.

“Let go of me!” I shouted as I made my way out through the ballroom doors. I didn’t care whether anyone heard. “Y-Y-You—” I couldn’t even find the words, and instead poured out multiple curses, some in Korean that made him lift a brow. “Kris, you jerk! Idiot! ert!”

I could see his face heat up in embarrassment as he caught the look from a passerby.

I frowned even more. “Gah! I knew Sehun was warning me about you for a good reason!”

“S-Sehun? What— Oh, come on! Would you calm down already?”

“No, I will not calm down!”

He stepped over. “Rika—”

I backed away, both hands in front of me. “Don’t you dare come near me.”

 “Would you just relax already?” He created a space between us, just so he could actually speak up. “If I think what you think, it’s not what you think.”

I noticed that he was trying to calm me down—but then he couldn’t stifle his laughter. He tried to stop himself by closing his mouth. My face burned red. He actually found this funny.

“Shut it,” I said.

He chuckled. “Gosh. I never would’ve guessed you were this…”

Raising a brow, I waited for him to finish.

He pressed his lips together, obviously trying to suppress a smile. “Innocent,” he finished.

Despite the blushing shades around my cheeks as I thought about it, it didn’t make a difference. I was still determined to whip his at any time. 

He stepped over.

“Get away from me,” I warned.

He refused to listen.

My voice got higher. “Don’t you even think of coming closer. Don’t even think I’d even want to see your face again—”

In one swing I was pulled, my face landing hard against his chest as he gripped my wrists tight with only one hand, the other over my shoulder.

“The heck—” My voice was muffled as I was bound within his white blazer. My face got hotter from the heat, and then after a minute I managed to break free. Or more, he let me go.

I was ready to pounce when he cocked his head to the side. I paused, lifting one brow. He was pointing over to his left, and I turned. I caught a glimpse of a figure, passing by just for a second and then disappearing right down one of the hallways.

No doubt it was Kyuhyun.

It’d been a while since the last time I saw him. I felt my body stiffen. And then, I built up all I had and turned back around to Kris with a hard expression. He seemed indifferent, his shoulders drooping down his sides in a shrug as he looked back at me.

“He saw you,” he said. “Dancing.”

I blinked, only once.

Kris shrugged. “I guess he wanted to see who you were with.”

Or who I kissed, I corrected inside.

I chewed my lip. “You planned it,” I said.

He didn’t say a word.

I snorted. “Jerk. Couldn’t you have at least told me?”

“Like how I didn’t tell you about the dance competition?”

“Exactly that.” I rolled my eyes, then I could see a tiny smirk form on his face.

“Well,” he said. “Everything worked according to plan, right?”

“Sorta.” I turned to look back at the spot where Kyuhyun had passed, then got wondering. What was he really doing there, anyway? Everyone else was at the party. Me and Kris were the only ones out here in the hallway, except for a few of the waiters.

He stretched a bit and smiled proudly to himself. “I’m a genius.”

“You wish.”

He didn’t take in my sarcasm, and waved me down the hall instead with a half smile. “Go get him.”

I started to run in a billow of skirts.

Had that giant’s plan actually worked? I was a little too afraid to trust the situation. But I already knew. Kyuhyun had stood right there, and I knew what it meant. I just knew.

He actually came to peek at me.

Just think about it sent my heart racing up and down, but I wasn’t sure of what it was really. Thrill?

I caught sight of him walking down the corridor. Picking up my skirt, I skipped to follow. Should I call him?

No. Not yet.

I mad