-Chan Yeol’s POV-

“Alright, where are you taking me?” I asked as I took the grocery bag from Aerin which held two bottles of banana milk, a big bag of chips and a couple of melon ice cream sticks.

She smiled as she exited the grocery store. I followed close behind her. She didn’t say anything and just kept walking at the sidewalk until we reached their neighborhood again. She walked past their house then turned right to the intersecting street. Suddenly, she stopped walking, facing the wooded area at the side of the road.

Aerin looked at me and said, “We’re going to the meadow. It’s like our secret place. You’ll see when we get there.” She smiled more to herself than to me.

I arched a brow at her. “You said ‘our’. Whose secret place is it aside from you?”

“Sehun,” she said matter-of-factly. “We found it before term started. Well, actually, he did. Since then, when we felt like releasing stress, we’d go there.”

It’s Sehun again. Was I ever going to win? I was glad that she chose me to be the one to see their secret place, but the fact that he was a part of it was unsettling. I simply nodded at her, standing close. “Is it far?”

“No. It’s just a little hike up the woods. You’ll love it. I do.”

I already knew I was going to. “Anywhere is fine as long as you’re there,” I told her.

At that, she laughed. “You’re funny, Chan Yeol.”

I sighed. Trust Aerin to find me hilarious when I’m trying to be serious. She started going up into the trail so I followed her.

“So why did you decide to bring me here if it’s a secret?” I asked her.

“We could always turn back if you want.”

“That’s not it. It’s just that it loses the sense of the phrase ‘secret place’,” I answered quickly. The last thing I wanted was to offend her.

“It’s not really a secret. Surely, some other person might have found the place.” Aerin paused then glanced at me. “I just thought you needed some cheering up. You look down.”

I frowned. “I do?”

“Yeah, you do. Your reactions to what the boys were saying earlier were quite off. You don’t think I’d fail to notice, do you?”

Was that it? Goodness, the more I get myself involved with her, the more she sees through me like everything was transparent. “I was feeling sort of bad since this morning,” I admitted.

“Yeah?” she asked. “Why is that?”

I smiled down at her. She was just to pretty that I couldn’t help but be honest with her. “I didn’t see you, that’s why.”

Aerin’s eyes grew as wide as saucers as she stared at me. Her cheeks were slowly suffused by a delicious pink hue as her expressions shifted from being flattered to bewilderment. How cute was that! Kwon Aerin was really something. She makes the most mundane things seem phenomenal. I don’t know if it was just me. Honestly, I couldn’t care less. She chuckled nervously after a while then continued on her hike ahead of me. She didn’t glance back again after that which was good since I’ve been suppressing laughter all the while.

“Are we there yet?” I asked when she stood still at the edge of the woods.

She nodded. “We are,” she answered. “Hurry.” She met me halfway, took me by the hand then ran as she pulled me. Soon, we were in a grassy clearing at the top of the hill where a gazebo stood in the middle. The place was beautiful and one could see the whole neighborhood from up there.

“I told you you’ll love it,” she said, taking the groceries from me. I watched as she placed it on the floor of the gazebo, beckoning me to sit with her and so I did.

“Wouldn’t you be breaking your pact with Sehun if he finds out that you brought me up here?”

She grinned at me, offering a bottle of banana milk. “It’s sort of a payback.”

“Payback?”

“Yeah.” She looked down the hill, shaking her head. “It was a week after we found this place and there was this girl who was just here on a holiday with her cousin. Sehun said he liked her and asked me if he could show her here. I thought he really liked her so I agreed. Come afternoon, he’s already complaining about the girl. He could really be stupid at times, mistaking infatuation with true love.”

“So you brought me here to make things even between the two of you?” I asked her. Her story was funny. I have to remember to tease Sehun about it. “Not that I’m offended or anything.”

To my surprise, she shook her head. “I was feeling stressed out myself and I think it’d be nice if I came up here with you.”

“Something’s been bugging you lately, I noticed. I think it got out of hand when you started yelling at us at the mini-theatre yesterday. Mind telling me?” I took a sip from the milk, staring at the grass.

Aerin shrugged. “That’s true, but it’s pathetic. Even you wouldn’t want to hear it.”

I laughed slightly. “Try me,” I said.