“Kai,” You tug at his arm. “Wake up.” The car comes to a halt. You look outside of the window to see the huge and famous Incheon Airport.
It is your first time being here, and not to mention it is going to be the first time that you ever left Korea.
Kai removes the hoodie from his face. He mumbles something inaudible and gets out of the car.
“I’ll park the car, meet you later!” Dad leaves a peck on Mom’s cheek before driving off. You can’t help but squeal quietly at the scene.
Kai raise a brow, “You didn’t squeal like that what I did that to you.”

To you? You blush in embarrassment. You know what exactly Kai was referring to. Kai smirks relentlessly, making you blush even harder.
“W-why would I?” You trip on your words. Oh no.
Kai smirks again, but doesn’t reply.
 You and Kai follow Mom to the reception, checking in the luggage.
Mom passes you and Kai the plane tickets. “First class?” You gasp.
Kai seems to be totally unperturbed by it.
Mom smiles cheerily, “Of course its first class honey.” You purse your lips.
It is going to take a while before you get used to these…

Dad joins all of you not long after. Kai looks around the airport. It’s been a while since he last came.
He flinches upon remembering the reason why he decided to come along.
Mom and Dad settle the flight stuff, while you and Kai sit in silence. You want to talk to Kai, but somehow he seems rather uninterested today.
He doesn’t talk much, and it constantly feels like as though he’s lost in his thoughts the entire day.
You wish he would tell you about what’s on his mind… Kai feels so distant, and you hate it.

 Finally, you board the plane. You and Kai sit next to each other, while Mom and Dad sits in front. They close their eyes upon settling in their seats.
They are probably tired from all the travelling, you thought.
You breathe heavily. Your stomach flips once. Twice. What is this unnerving feeling? You close your eyes.
Kai notices your fidgeting, and he reaches out for something in his bag. “Eat this.” He says, handing you a flavoured sweet.
You shake your head in refusal, definitely not in the mood for sweets.
You gulp as the captain’s voice booms through the speakers, saying something about the plane taking off soon.
“Goodness. Just eat it.” Kai says in a rough voice. You shake your head again.

Kai sighs. “Trust me,” he pleads, his voice rather soothing. It convinces you to take the sweet.
“I used to be like this too.” Kai murmurs while watching you sit up straight, obviously uncomfortable.
“Can we talk? I’m too petrified to sleep,” You admit, the gripping fear in you is beyond control.
What if… what if the plane crashes? Or, what if the pilot faints in the midst of the journey? You shiver at the thought.
“…It’s not like the plane will crash.” Kai says. What! He read your mind again, like, all the time actually.

The plane finally takes off after what seem like hours to you, but in reality, it was only a couple of minutes.
You shut your eyes close tightly. Your stomach flips again for the third time, as the plane stabilizes at some 30,000 feet above ground.
“Still nervous?” Kai asks. “Let’s talk then, to get your mind somewhere else,” he watches you with a slight tinge of worry in his expression.
You try to think of a topic that can last the entire journey, but nothing comes up in your brain. It’s clouded with your fear.
“I’m never flying ever again,” You groan in despair.
Kai shrugs, “There’s still the return trip. Unless you want to stay there forever.”

The return trip! You cover your face in frustration.
Kai tries to distract you. “Do you want to see me imitate Kro-“
“No.” You cut his sentence, your face buried in your hands. “It’s not cute at all.”
Kai frowns. Why do he bother anyway? He wonders.
“Tell me stuff about you then.” He says, lying back onto his seat.
You remove your hands from your face slowly. “Me?”
“Mm,” Kai replies.
You ponder for a while. “I like reading.”
“I know that.”
“I also like meat.”
Kai rolls his eyes. You are simply telling him stuff that he already knows about you.

“What would you have answered Kris, if I didn’t take you away?” Kai asks, his voice hesitant but curious.
Kris… you play with your fingers nervously. You hope he’s doing fine, wherever he is.
“I would have said no,” You confess. “I’m not ready for a relationship now… its just too quick.”
Kai relaxes his tensed muscles. He smiles briefly, but you don’t see it. “Oh,” he replies.
“I would have turned into a mess if you didn’t take me away,” You continue to say.
You still remember the feeling, standing there in the middle of the crowd.
“…You know I won’t let that happen.” Kai says in a low voice, his eyes hooded.
Your heart skips a beat. Kai can be really weird at times… you remain poker faced.

“So,” You say. “Tell me about you then, Kai.”
Kai stares down at his shoes. “What do you want to know?” You smile gleefully, happy at Kai’s willingness to open up.
“Hmm... Have you ever been in a relationship?”
“No.” Kai answers.
You frown. You were hoping to get some juicy information out of him, but it seems like it’s going to be impossible.
“Have you ever liked someone, then?” You ask.
Kai looks at you subtly, then removes his gaze quickly. “Haven’t I told you already? I like someone.”

Oh, right. You remember now. “Who is she?” You ask, curious and yet at the same time, deep inside, you honestly didn’t want to know who it is.
Why are you afraid to know the answer, ____?
Kai tries to come up with an impromptu name. “Ji… Ji Eun,” he replies. “You don’t know her.” He quickly salvages.
You feel your heart sink. Just a bit. “How is she like?”
“She’s…” Kai should have known it was a bad idea to lie from the start. “She’s pretty stubborn, and she eats a lot. ”
Kai smiles, his eyes dazzling. Little did you know, he is actually describing you.
“She’s very sincere, and she treats everyone around her with genuine care and concern.”

“Oh.” You hide the disappointment in your voice. Why did you ask Kai that question again?
You feel like your heart has been taken out and thrown on the ground. The feeling is completely foreign to you.
“Does she like you?” The curiosity in you makes you ask.
Kai’s smile slowly fades off. “No. She doesn’t.”
“Why?”
“Just because.” You hate it when Kai answers with that.
How is ‘just because’ an answer? It should be made illegal. You frown.

“I can’t like her.” Kai says, his voice distant. You sense his unhappiness immediately.
“But you still do,” You say, in all honesty.
Kai stiffens. How he wishes that you know all about the overwhelming feelings he has for you.
“Yeah. Do you think I should stop?” Kai asks. He’s asking for your opinion? You blink at him, surprised.
“Well… if you really like her, you shouldn’t! Nothing is impossible.” You gave a smile.
Compared to Kai when you first met him he is so much more open now, and it’s comforting to know that he trusts you.

Kai remains silent, in deep thought over what you just said.
He turns and looks at you, his expression unfathomable. You hold the gaze, as it gets more and more pressurizing by the second.
“I think I love her.” Kai confesses. “A lot,” he whispers.
You watch as Kai’s eyes soften with traces of pain in it. You blink for a few times.
Kai’s gaze is very alluring, and his bottled up emotions seem to have escaped.
What is this side of Kai you are seeing now?
“Am I scaring you?” Kai finally speaks after what feels like forever. He chuckles, breaking the eye contact.

“No,” You quietly answer, shifting yourself awkwardly.
Kai purse his lips, “Enough of the questioning. Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”
Something that he doesn’t know about? You tilt your head, unsure of what to say.
“How about you ask me questions?” You challenge, to Kai’s delight.
“No regrets?” Kai asks. What regrets will you have? You shook your head, “Shoot the questions.”
“If.” Kai says. He carefully chooses his words. “If we aren’t siblings, what will you think of me?”
Now you understand what Kai meant when he asked if you would have no regrets. “What?” You furrow your brows.
“You heard it. Answer me.” Kai says. His tone was a little bit more confident than usual. What’s up with him? You frown.

You remember the first time you met Kai. “I would probably not want to be affiliated with you, if you are not my brother.”
It’s Kai’s turn to frown this time. “Why not?”
“You seem to hate everyone. Except for the oppas, of course. Other than them, you don’t like anyone else…” Your voice slowly trails off as you watch Kai’s expression getting darker.
“Will you like me?” Kai’s eyes are wide, expectant.
You, liking Kai? Is it even possible?
“No. You will just ignore my confession letter, won’t you?” You answer, a slight hint of tease in your voice.

“Are you teasing me now?” Kai growls, obviously annoyed.
He shrugs. “I can’t help it. When I’m not interested, I can’t force myself to be.”
You scowl at his response. He sounds so nonchalant. “Why do you always sound so aloof?”
You feel a slight pity for the female student that wrote him the confession letter, how hurt she would have felt if she saw how Kai dismissed her letter entirely.
“I do? Yeah, maybe.” Kai shrugs again. “Is that wrong?”
“Of course!” You are close to yelling.
“How can you simply ignore other people’s feelings for you? Like Mom and Dad. You don’t even talk to them nicely. They are your parents, Kai.”

Not this topic again? Kai’s expression darkens by another shade.
“You won’t understand. What do you know?” Kai hisses through his gritted teeth. He feels his temper rise.
Kai’s anger is blatant to you, but you have to get your point across.
You hate it when Kai treat his own parents like as though they are nothing.
“You should treat them better, Kai.” You cannot contain your anger as well.
Your words pushed Kai off the edge. “Treat them better? You obviously don’t have any idea what kind of people they are. Money is the only thing they care about, you idiot.”
“That’s what you think. They care about money, of course! Why do you think you get to live in luxury all these years?” You insist on getting your point across. “They care about you too, Kai. I’m sure-“

“Just shut up will you?” Kai snaps. He has really reached his limit. Nobody has ever told him off like this, ever. “What do you know? Huh?”
Kai’s words crush you entirely, Did he just tell you to shut up? 
“…I will.” You say feebly, turning away from him.

Kai cringes. Maybe his choice of words was a little too harsh.
He bites down on his lip, taking a peek at you and realize that you have your eyes closed.
He sighs, closing his eyes as well. You don't understand, ____..

* * *

“Welcome to China!” The man holding up a ‘Kim Family’ paper welcomes warmly.
He leads all of you to a vehicle, “We’ll be going to the Wu Corporation’s hotel now to meet Mr. and Mrs. Wu.”
You and Kai do not speak for the entire car ride. Mom and Dad happily share experiences of their previous trips to China.
Kai gives a few smiles once in a while, but the smiles never reaches his eyes and you know that he isn’t really smiling.
“We brought Kai here once when he was very young,” Mom gushes in excitement as she basks in her memories.
“It’s nice that we can come here as a family now,” Dad says with his twinkling eyes.

The car stops at the entrance of a very luxurious looking hotel.
It reminds you of the hotel that Kris brought you to the other time… it feels very much the same.
Maybe it is just you, you thought.
“Rooms 306 and 307.” The receptionist says.
Room 306 has a large king-sized bed, while room 307 has two queen-sized beds.
Both rooms are furnished with exquisite looking couches and even the lamps look like they cost a fortune.
“Woah…” You gaped at the majestic looking rooms.

“You and Kai will take room 307. Dad and I will take the other room! If there’s anything, we’ll just be next door.” Mom assures, handing the hotel card to Kai. “Don’t lose it.”
“We must really thank the Wu’s for the rooms. Kids, get prepared. Wash up a bit, we’ll be meeting the Wu’s soon.” Dad says, as he head to his room with Mom.
You and Kai stand there awkwardly, no one speaking a word.
“I..I’ll wash up first.” Kai mumbles as he scoots to the bathroom quickly. You sigh.

* * *

Author's Note:

 the comments are such a joy to read! 
Sorry to Kris fans (if any)! He will appear in the next chapter ;)
I've to admit, I almost fell asleep writing this chapter! HAHA! 
<3 I love you guys teehee! Probably another update coming up real soon in a few hours time!

KEEP THE COMMENTS COMING! 

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