“I was drunk.”

The bus had started moving a while back and everyone was debating over what music to play, Key insisting on playing some American Idol’s brand new album while Taemin arguing with him to put on something called Dubstep. While the scope of that conversation was beyond me, I was occupied with dealing with the more pressing issue of trying to convince Minho that I was not, in fact, a part of his massive fangirl community. I might have been harbouring a teensy little crush on the boy, but he didn’t have to know that. I was fairly certain I would soon get over it anyway. I would. Really.

“That is not making your case any more solid” he shook his head at me, his eyes gleaming with something akin to amusement, “In fact, they say that a person is most truthful while under the influence of alcohol.”

“Yes, and so says Sir Under-the-influence-of-alcohol-Minho” I countered, having been reduced to mimicking him. “Listen I had no idea about what I was saying. Maybe I’m just a person who likes saying stupid things when I’m drunk, have you considered that?”

“You say stupid things all the time Hana. I’m sure you do not need any alcoholic aid where that is concerned.”

I stared at him for a moment, dumbstruck. “Jerk.” Having given that very dignified retort, I turned away to face the window. This was going to be one long trip to the camp…

***

It didn’t take Hana too long to fall asleep, and despite all the noise in the bus, I wasn’t surprised at that; not after how much sleep she would have had last night. I watched as she breathed peacefully next to me, head leaning against the window as the sun highlighted the length of her delicate eyelashes. Her lips were slightly ajar and every once in a while she frowned, making me wonder what on earth she was dreaming about. Lizards maybe? I found myself chuckling at the memory of her yelping in fear.

Grudgingly taking my eyes off her surprisingly entertaining asleep form, I dug out the book I had been trying to finish reading for a while. When I leaned against my seat, getting comfortable enough to begin reading, I felt something heavy on my shoulder. Hana was leaning against me. Gently pushing her off, I lay her back the way she was before and turned to my book. Hardly a minute had passed that she was leaning against me again, this time grabbing onto my arm and positioning herself more snugly.

I could feel her warmth emanate through the fabric of my shirt, her cheek against my shoulder, her hair softly falling on her face as her frown disappeared to be replaced by a serene peaceful smile. The way her neck was bent though would, I was sure, hurt later and without another thought I put my arm around her, prying her fingers off carefully, before pulling her closer and adjusting her head so it was now under my chin and rested more comfortably in the crook of my neck. There was something… nice about the way her slight frame fit perfectly with me and I found that I liked the feeling of having her in my arms, thinking back to the night she had simply fallen asleep on the bench. There was something about the way she slept, I could never get myself to wake her up, and that night I had simply let her stay that way, leaning into me and resting there. Was I being weird?

Something inside me, a pleased little monster living in my mind I suppose, was shaking its head at me. It didn’t matter if it was weird if it felt like this, it reasoned. Having no interest in countering the opinion of this newfound imaginary being, I simply went back to my book, having to tear my gaze away from the sleeping girl forcefully, much to the monster’s chagrin.

“Minho… MINHO!” Onew hyung’s voice brought me back to consciousness as I belatedly realized that I had fallen asleep, head on top of Hana’s, book lying forgotten on top of my chest. This was happening too often. The little monster seemed to nod its head in approval and I ignored it, turning to ask Onew what he had called me for. “We’ve arrived.” He explained to my surprise. I had just slept straight through a six hour journey. Then again, this hardly posed a threat to my 48-hour long sleeping record. Hana stirred beside me and I gently shook her to waking. I had to force down a bout of laughter when her eyes widened with realization and she shot up straight, clearly trying to avoid giving me the ‘wrong idea’.

We filed out of the bus (a still sleepy Hana being escorted out by Jina) to step out in front of the entrance to a grand looking lodge that came off more as a luxury resort rather than the small camping supplies counter I had expected to see. I saw prim green gardens and colourful flowers on either side and a wooden swing at a distance. There was no camping ground in sight.

“Hyung, I thought we were going camping…” Taemin echoed my thoughts, getting out of the bus behind a suspiciously relieved looking Key.

Onew, who was helping with unloading the bags looked up sheepishly at Taemin. “Did I really say camping?” he let out a nervous laugh and there were more than one disappointed grumbles. I only shook my head and thanked the lords that Key’s mosquito sprays (plural because he simply didn’t think that a single bottle would suffice for two whole days) wouldn’t be aimed at my face any time soon.

“Minho can I have a word with you?” I was getting my bag when Hana’s sister approached me. The careful, blank look on her face told me that she wasn’t simply going to talk about the weather.

We stepped aside, away from the group while everyone gathered their belongings and began to follow Onew into the lodge, Taemin still complaining about betrayal – his words – and Key trying to hide his smile. Once we were out of earshot she turned her narrowed eyes at me. “I should inform you that Hana is not the only over-protective one in the family.” There was a glint of animosity in her eyes. When I didn’t respond it seemed to rile her up. “I was there the night you brought her back home, if you can’t remember. You kissed her and no matter what she tells me about it, I know what I saw.” I couldn’t help but smile at her words. So this was about that night. “Look,” her tone softened a little as she visibly tried to calm herself down. “She’s already been rejected once and she doesn’t need some guy stringing her along… especially now that your parents are fixing you up with that other girl… I… hope you know where I’m going with this Minho.”

I did know where she was going, and I couldn’t deny that the thought of Minhee and my parents brought a bitter taste to my mouth. My mildly amused mood dipped and I only shook my head in response. “I don’t intend to let that happen.” And with that I turned around to leave. I did not want to have this conversation and I think she was finished with it herself as she made no attempt to stop me. Halfway to the lodge though, on a whim that I could only attribute to the dissatisfied monster inside, I turned around again to face her and then informed her in the most respectful manner that I could. “I really didn’t kiss her that night.”

Not the way I should have at least.

***

It was around 7:00pm that I had finally opened my eyes and not fallen back to sleep on the more than comfortable cushiony queen sized bed of the lodge’s guest room. I had barely paid any attention to the place around me, still too exhausted from the previous night’s escapades.

“Are you feeling better Hana?” my sister asked. She was sitting on the other side of the bed and looking at me with concern. A sudden wave of guilt washed over me when I saw her.

“I’m sorry” my voice came out a little raspy but that wasn’t going to stop me as my curiosity won over my guilt. “But I really can’t understand how it all happened. How long have you even known him? How did it happen… wait isn’t he younger than you?” My wall of questions was answered by a simple shrug and honestly, it drove me crazy. Onew?! Lee Jinki the blubbering clumsy guy who always ate up all my chicken?! Then again, there was much more to him than that, and I had learnt that by now, after all those days spent with him in theatre. Truth be told, I couldn’t have chosen anyone better for my sister. Rationality was a lost cause though. I was too baffled for logic and reason, and clearly no one was going to be good enough for my older sister, no matter how much I respected him. “I want the whole story.” I demanded, telling myself that if I was to get any answers, this was where to begin.

Suddenly the door flew open and Jonghyun tumbled in with Key and Taemin right behind him. “I want the whole story too!” he chimed.

“Onew hyung is being a total about it”. Key told us, nodding his head. “Won’t tell us a thing!”

Before I or Unni could properly respond to this sudden intrusion, Taemin, shaking his head in disapproval at the other two, reminded them that they were here to call us out for the bonfire. “Also, have you seen my Dr Dre headphones?”

And so it was that a few minutes later we were all gathered around a fire, everyone talking animatedly about the play, Jonghyun doing a variety of imitations and people poking fun at Onew and his new “older woman”, and consequently my apparently violent tendencies towards people that did not please me.

“Hey Hana, I wonder if you turn all green like the Hulk” Jina joined in and I was in the midst of chasing her around when Onew interjected. I was about to tell him to step away unless he wanted my fist on his face again (I didn’t intend to go ahead with that, I swear) when I saw that someone was standing beside him and staring at… me?!

“I’d like to introduce you guys to someone” Onew announced, pointing at the tall, tall person next to him. Something about him was familiar, those piercing eyes and the aura of power… I had seen him somewhere before. “This is my good friend Wu Yi Fan, or Kris as he prefers. This lodge belongs to him and it’s because of his generosity that we are staying here.”

“I hope you’re having a good time” Kris said politely to everyone as recognition slowly dawned on me. My thoughts were confirmed he turned to Unni and greeted her respectfully before launching his towering self at me to wrap his arms around me and actually lift me off the ground. “Song Hana! It’s been such a long time!”

“Kris!” I laughed, still finding it hard to believe it was really him. When he finally put me down, he pulled me closer, putting his arm around my shoulder.

“You and I have a lot to catch up to!” he told me. “How’ve you been?”

I told him everything had been fine and that he still had an accent. “And you’ve grown a lot taller.” He laughed and in the brief silence that followed I realized that everyone’s eyes were on us. I could practically feel the misunderstanding shoot from all the eyes around and was about to clarify things but Kris seemed to have noticed the awkwardness as well because he straightened up and then politely asked everyone to  “please have a wonderful stay” before he looked at me pointedly and asked me to meet him for lunch the next day.

As soon as he left there was a collaborated hoot and I found myself trying to explain myself to the group of around fifteen people and failing miserably. My sister was too occupied with her new boyfriend to pay any attention and back me up and I had to simply accept defeat and take my seat, face as red as a ripe tomato. I won’t lie, my eyes kept wandering to where Minho was sitting, talking to Jonghyun. He didn’t seem to have even noticed and I felt a distinct feeling of disappointment. What were you expecting? The hero to come and fight for you?

Maybe a little?

Idiot.

“We should play truth or dare!” one of the dancers suggested. We had just finished putting away our plates of barbeque – courtesy Onew – and Jonghyun had started strumming on his guitar. Her suggestion was met with loud cries of “Are we in seventh grade?!” and “What next? A pillow fight in our pyjamas?!”

Jina however interjected and insisted that it would be fun. “But let’s change it to Kiss or Dare.” She added, silencing most of everyone. Jonghyun’s immediate – and enthusiastic – approval followed and thus a minute later one of the empty beer bottles was spinning on the uneven ground while everyone watched in anticipation.

The bottle spun to a stop, pointing its open end at Jonghyun and the other at Key. Before anyone could even ask Jonghyun what he had decided to pick he jumped to his feet and all but threw himself at Key who instinctively jumped away yelping. “Commere lemme kish my princess!” Jonghyun cooed.

“Jonghyun what the hell?!” Key looked like he was running for his life as Jonghyun chased after him while the rest of us laughed mercilessly at his expense. Finally Taemin caught him and with Jina’s help held him in place for Jonghyun. It was rather pathetic to see Jonghyun approach Key with an evil look on his face.

“This is for all that nagging that you put me through.” Jonghyun grinned before he leaned into a screeching Key, cursing at everyone and promising that he would have his revenge (which was mostly ignored). At the end though, Jonghyun simply kissed his cheek and then proceeded to wink at him before walking away.

The bottle spun again and stopped right at me, pointing at my sister at the other end. I was quite gleeful, this was going to be a piece of cake. My joy was short-lived however because Key immediately objected. “I nominate Minho.”

“You can’t do that!” What?!

“I can.” Key told me. “Everyone agrees.” And as if on cue everyone nodded. I could hear my mind voice snicker and I slouched in my seat. Needless to say that even the thought made blood rush to my face and my heart pound against my chest like a freaking elephant doing the salsa (Excuse the ridiculous analogy). Adding to that the conversation I had had with him in the morning made me willing to chew ants instead.

“I pick dare” I grumbled, completely unable to look Minho in the eye. I did not want to look at him. I did not want to know what he thought of this. I was not curious about him in the least. My choice dampened the mood quite a bit and I was asked to do a girl group dance that turned out to be as miserable as ever and I was left undisturbed for the rest of the game, left to sit and be gloomy.

After an hour or so, Jonghyun had started playing his guitar and Onew had joined in, singing with him as people started leaving for bed one by one; we had an early morning trekking trip planned for the next day and everyone was exhausted. Using that as an excuse myself, I took my leave. My sister was preoccupied giving Onew the big goo-goo eyes and Jina was having some sort of a dance battle with Key. Taemin and two other dancers were leaving too, and Minho was nowhere to be found.

Sighing I reached my room and made to unlock the door when I saw Minho standing right beside me causing me to drop the key in shock.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him, tempted to clutch my chest dramatically.

“Nothing.” His elusive answer peeked my curiosity and his proximity my pulse. When is this crush going to die already?!

Ignoring my mind voice for the millionth time I bent to pick up the key only to almost bump into Minho as he too reached for the fallen piece of metal. With a start I stepped away, letting him pick it up and unlock the door. On legs that were beginning to feel like jelly I practically wobbled into my room, thoughts of stupid claims at wanting him to kiss me and certain games that required me to actually do so flooding my mind unnecessarily. I shuddered with horror as I turned around to close the door behind me only to come face to face with Choi Minho who had stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

“How do you know that Kris guy?” his question caught me completely off guard, not to mention his presence in the closed space of my room sent my blood cells on a race to see how much faster it could move every second, and it took me a while to even understand his question.

“He… was my neighbour back when we were young” I told him, sounding more dazed than my self-respect would allow me to admit. Thankfully I caught myself and pushed my brain cells to do their job and command a carefully nonchalant shrug. To add to said effect of nonchalance I stepped away from him – and this had nothing to do with me wanting to keep a safe distance from him – and then sat myself down on my bed, pulling my feet up and resting my back against the headboard. “He’s older but we used to hang out a lot. Unni was always busy so the two of us got really close and then he had to return to the US.”

“How close exactly?” he asked, leaning against the wall, eyes trained straight at me. His expression was unreadable but a small part of me wondered if I detected a hint of jealousy. Or was my mind just playing tricks on me?

“Why do you want to know?” I asked him keeping my tone light, or at least attempting to for the sake of keeping up that façade of nonchalance in what was proving to be a very tense atmosphere.

He shrugged. “He seemed to like you.” He said. “But it’s kind of pointless considering you’re all into me these days huh?” He laughed, clearly referring to my phone call to him. Jerk.

I scoffed at him. “Stop kidding yourself. I think your stupid fangirls got to your head.”

He raised his eyebrows at me, eyes sparkling in the yellow light of the lamps in the room. Look away from the eyes! Not the eyes dammit!

“Are you denying that my mere presence here has absolutely no effect on you?”

“Tsh. Hell no.” I think I heard a clear thud from my chest.

“The fact that I’m here in your room with you all alone, at night at that, makes you feel absolutely nothing?” Thud.

“Nope. Nothing. Nada.” Thud.

In a flash of a second Minho was right next to me, face just inches from away and eyes looking right into mine. If my heartbeat had been louder than usual before, it was reaching downright crazy decibles right now. Every nerve ending in my body was suddenly coming to life and I would have literally pushed the boy away had it not been for the fact that those Basilisk eyes of his had me frozen into place and I was at a complete loss. “What about now?”

His words barely had time to register in my addled mind before he broke eye-contact, only to trail his eyes over the route down my nose to my lips. I should have understood in the split second when his own lips curved in some sort of a secret smile and probably done something, anything. But I didn’t. Or I couldn’t. I do not know which it was at that point. All I know is that in the next moment, his lips were on mine and the entire room around me melted into darkness as my eyes shut on their own. I had thought I was frozen in place before, but now it was like time itself had decided to take a hike in the woods. Choi Minho was kissing me. Choi freaking Minho. Was. Kissing. Me.

A million, trillion questions zapped through my mind creating a traffic jam right in the middle of the hypothetical road that was my brain. But all of that didn’t matter. Because before it had even begun, it was gone. His lips having barely grazed over mine moved away, just out of reach, enough to drive me insane. I should have felt relief, or at least I should not have been missing the warmth of his lips on mine. But my body defied the sound logic of my brain and my eyes remained closed, breath still stuck in my throat and heart pounding so hard it felt like the air around me was pulsating to its beat.

I should open my eyes now, I told myself, letting out a quivering breath. I should open my eyes and –

His lips pressed against mine once again, parted lips caressing mine into submission. And submit I did, leaning into him instinctively to press my mouth to his with a breathy gasp that was swallowed by his willing lips. My hands automatically grasped at his shirt, fingers curling into the soft material as he cupped my cheek in his palm, running his thumb over my jaw to draw another gasp from me.

I let my eyes open to see him retreat, his own eyes opening to stare into mine.