“A life list?” You blink at Kai at confusion. Well, at least he had finally put on a shirt.
Kai nods. “A life list,” he repeats. “You write down things that you will like to do before you die.”
Oh. Do guys like to do stuff like that? How odd.
“Okay,” you agree anyway.
Kai searches for pen and paper and passes it to you. “5 minutes, no peeking.”
Jeez, is it an examination? Kai lies flat on the ground and start to scribble. Only kids write like that, you chuckle.

What you will like to do before you die? You never thought about it before, actually.
You start to think of the stuff that you haven’t done before. Bungee jumping! How can you forget that?
Ever since you saw someone bungee jump in some television program back then, you have wanted to do it badly.
Oh, and of course you want to go to the best university there is. More and more thoughts flow into your mind, and your hand is starting to ache from the writing.

“Done?” Kai asks, as he flips his paper over. He’s being paranoid, you sigh.
“Almost,” You quickly scribble the last few words. “Done.”
Kai detaches his body from the ground and takes your paper. You watch as his expression stays the same.

~ Life list ~

​1. Bungee Jumping!! ㅋㅋ

2. Seoul National University #1

3.  Swimming at the beach (tomorrow!)

4. Take the scarest rollercoasters in Korea

5. Meat 

6. More meat

7. Have a wedding at garden with beautiful flowers and white chairs!!!

8. Meet my real parents (...if they are still alive)

9. why are we doing this again???

Kai stifles a laughter as he read your 9^th. You frown.
“Give me yours,” you extend your palm to him. He hesitates, then slowly puts his paper in your hands.  

Life list:

- Learn to cook meat deliciously

- Dance and dance and dance

- A driving license 

- Become a successful person

- xx xx xx xxxx xxxxx

Kai stifles a laughter as he read your number 9^th.
“Show me yours,” you extend your palm to him. He hesitates, then slowly puts his paper in your hands. 

“xx xx xx xxxx xxxxx?” You look at him in confusion.
Kai simply gives a meek smile. “It’s a secret.”
“I should have wrote all of mine like that too,” You frown. “You’re playing dirty, Kai.”
He shrugs and folds your life list, “This is mine now. You can keep mine too.”
Kai smiles, “Let’s go to our room.”
Our… room? “We’re sleeping together?” Your voice is shaky. Oh no, why are you being jittery all of the sudden?

“Of course. There is only one bed, by the way.” Kai’s lips curl up wickedly.
He’s doing it on purpose! Honestly!
You follow Kai to a room at the end. It seems like no matter which part of the villa you are in, you still can hear the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.
 
“Sit.” Kai demands, as he pats the empty space next to him on the bed. The room reeks of fresh wood; the design is elegant and simple, but yet there is an exquisite touch to it.
You cautiously take a few steps towards Kai. But to your horror, you trip and fall on the way to the bed, landing in the worst possible place ever - Kai’s arms.
He grins at your clumsiness, “Nervous already?”

You flush immediately.
It’s like he knows every emotion you are feeling and he intensifies it on purpose all the time. Jeez!
“Of course not.” You quickly sit up in a hodgepodge manner… Apparently your limbs decide to betray you now.
“Is that so?” He replies, with a hint of tease in his tone. You frown at him.
Kai shifts his position, so that he’s sitting behind you now. “Sit still,” he orders.

What is he trying to do?
 

Kai nervously takes out a box from his pocket. He has been preparing this for almost 2 days.
You sit still, just like how Kai ordered you to do so. You hear nothing but silence, and it’s making you more nervous by the second.
“Close your eyes.” He says in a low voice.
“Wh-“
“Just do it!”
You close your eyes, and Kai checks. “Good girl.”

Kai can feel his heart beating wildly. It’s his first time doing something like this for a girl. Oh, the things you make him feel.
He holds a necklace infront of the oblivious you, and brings it to your neck.
Kai’s unskillful hands fumble for a long while, until he finally clasps the hook of the necklace behind you.
He beams, triumphant.
“Turn around,” his excitement masked by his deep voice.
Did Kai do anything? You open your eyes and find a silver necklace on your neck. It’s in a shape of an angel with wings. Kai is giving this to you?

“Do you like it?” Kai asks. If only you knew how much thought he had put just choosing the design of it.
You nod, “It’s for me?”
Kai rolls his eyes. How can someone be so dense? “Of course.”
You look at the necklace in detail. It’s a simple design, but it actually suits you a lot. “Thank you, Kai.”
He relaxes, finally able to put this off his mind. “It costs about $2, 000.”

“What?!” You jump, completely taken aback.
Kai narrows his eyes, “It’s nothing, actually. If you give it back to me, be sure that I’ll throw it away.”
He should totally be a psychic, you think to yourself.
You nod reluctantly.

“Why did you pick this design though?” You ask, admiring the necklace.
Kai sighs at your inability to read between the lines, “It’s my feelings for you.”
There are those words again! You feel something churning in your belly. It feels like butterflies. No, it’s a lot of butterflies all fluttering around every corner inside of you.
Don’t blush… don’t start blushing no-
Kai chuckles, “You know, I am the one saying it, not you.”

Kai and his mind-reading skills again. You sigh in defeat.
“I’m tired. Let’s sleep,” You mutter. Oh no. Did you just tell Kai ‘let’s sleep’? Great choice of words, Kim ____.
Kai stares at you, his eyes wide. He breaks into a wide smile that almost blinds you.
“Sleep,” He says, the smile almost unmovable from his face, And in the next instant, his shirt is off again. Poor shirt, Kai barely wore it for an hour.
You awkwardly lie down and sink your head in the pillow.

Kai props his head on his elbow right next to you. He watches you as your nervous gaze flickers everywhere but on him.
“Go to sleep,” You try to sound confident and unaffected.
“Oh. Don’t bother,” Kai smiles, playing with your hair. He stops and lies down on his back next to you.
You stare hard at the ceiling. At this rate, you are never going to fall asleep.
Although you and Kai have slept on the same bed before… but it’s still extremely unnerving.
Probably cosmopolitan can help.

Silence fills the room, the only sound coming from the waves outside. It’s peaceful, but you cannot remain calm.
Kai turns to face you, the moonlight shining on his face. “Tomorrow, let’s pretend that we are not siblings. Just for a day.”
Not siblings? For a day? You don’t know whether you are happy or sad about this.
“Then? What will we act as?” You ask, although you seem to have a vague answer already.

“Two normal people,” Kai answers in a monotone. “I’m Kai, and you are ____. We are not siblings.”
You quickly nod as your eyes start to droop. “Goodnight, Kai.”

* * *

The next day, the first thing you hear are the waves. You can totally get used to this.
You expected to see Kai next to you, but it’s empty. No bare chest, no nothing. Where is he?
You clumsily get out of bed and drag your feet out of the room. What time is it?
“Good morning,” Kai greets. He is clad in a plain white tee and a girly looking apron, cooking something in the pan.
You remember his words last night. Not siblings huh?

“Morning, Kai.” You yawn.

“What are you cooking?” You frown. Kai and cooking is a very bad combination. “You should have woke me up to help you.”
Kai simply smiles. Seems like he’s not having any problems with cooking today. “I couldn’t bear to. You sleep talk, by the way.”
What?! Oh no… You don’t recall having any dreams last night.
“What did I say?” You quickly ask. Hopefully it isn’t something bad. You furrow your brows in worry.
Kai shrugs, “Get changed and I’ll tell you over breakfast. I placed some clothes of mine that you can wear, it’s on the table.”

Oh, right, your clothes. You had totally forgotten about the fact that you didn’t have spare clothing.
“Thanks,” You mumble, slightly ashamed.
You pick up the clothes and scurry to the bathroom. You decide to take a quick shower so that you will be in time for breakfast.
Kai can be rather considerate, actually. You ponder as the warm water runs across your skin.
So you’re supposed to be normal people with Kai? But there wasn’t any difference earlier between the both of you as compared to usual.
What exactly are you supposed to do then?

You hear a knock on the door. “Breakfast is ready,” Kai yells from outside.
“I’m almost done!” You reply, as you step out of the shower carefully, in fear that you will slip.
You hold up the clothes that Kai lent you to wear. It’s an oversized t-shirt, but it should fit just right on Kai since he’s so much taller.
You immediately love the shirt. It’s comfortable and airy, although it makes you look like a dumpling somehow.

Kai waits patiently as he looks through the dishes again. He had woken up 3 hours earlier just to prepare breakfast, another first in his life.
Once again, he went out of his way – because of you.
“Eggs, bacon, ham, and pancakes.” Kai heaves a sigh of relief. Finally after 3 hours of struggling, it’s completed.
All he hopes now is for you to like it.

You sit opposite him as you gape at the American style breakfast that’s laid infront of you.
“You did this all on your own?” You ask in surprise.
He nods. “I’m starving. Let’s eat.”
Kai hungrily wolfs down the food, but at the same time he watches out for your facial expression every time you try his food.
Luckily, there wasn’t anything that you find unpleasant.
Kai leaves the last few pieces of bacon and ham for you, seeing your immense liking.
“So…” You swallow, “What did I say in my sleep?”

Kai leans against the back of his seat, an amused expression on his face. “You really want to know?”
You kick his leg under the table. “Tell me already!”
Kai’s laughter is very euphoric. “You said my name.”
Oh no, you said what? His name? Kai?
“A..and?”
“Kai, don’t leave me.” Kai’s happiness is evident, “That’s what you said. Thrice.”
You almost choke on your food, “I said that… thrice?!”

Kai looks at you, his eyes gleaming. “It made me very happy. So I woke up and made breakfast.”
You glance at the dishes on the table which are almost empty by now, too embarrassed to look at Kai who is probably smirking at you.
“You like me, do you?” Kai’s words hit you hard.
Your heart is screaming and yelling a big fat yes, but all your mind forbids you to say anything. It’s lamenting you now, even. 
You remain dead silent, aware that Kai is observing your every move.

“I’ll go and wash the dishes,” You stand and quickly pick up the empty plates.
Kai sighs, "I'll take a shower."
You finally relax when you hear the bathroom door shut close.
If you tell Kai that you don’t like him… he’s going to be upset and you know that it’s lying to yourself. But if you tell him otherwise, you are not sure if you can face the consequences of it afterwards.
Kai has probably thought of all these before he decided to tell you about his feelings, didn’t he?
Does that mean that he is prepared for whatever consequences? That thought makes you smile to yourself.
It’s rather comforting to know that Kai loves you that much.
The only factor now, is you. You sigh as you shake the thoughts off your head.

"What time do you want to go for a swim?" Kai appears behind you, the same just-bathed look on him. His eyes are a little forlorn. 
"I'm fine with any time," You reply. Kai looks at his topless self. "Let's go now then."

Kai remains deep in thought while you and him made the way back to the beach.
Without missing a beat, you hurriedly ran to the sea. The seawater sparkles under the hot afternoon sun as you made a loud entrance into the sea.
“Kai!’ You beckon. He strolls casually and joins you in the water.
You playfully splash him with water, just like how you did at the hotel’s swimming pool when you and Kai were in China.
This time however, Kai doesn’t retaliate. He wipes the water off his face and completely ignores you.
You frown. Why is he being such a spoilsport?

“Kai,” You splash again. No response. “Kai!”
He finally turns to look at you. “Answer me. You have feelings for me, don’t you?”
You take a tiny step back.
“We’re not siblings today,” Kai reminds. “So just tell me.”
You can’t tell whether if the water on his face is his tears or the water that you splashed on him. He sniffles, causing your heart to ache badly.
“Why are you crying?” You quickly wipe his tears away. “We’re here to play, Kai…”
Kai turns away from you and rubs his eyes to make himself stop tearing. He faces you again, his expression melancholic.

“I thought that I would be able to accept the fact that maybe you won’t feel the same way,” Kai’s voice is trembling. “But I guess I’m wrong. I’m sorry.”
You shake your head, contemplating if you should tell him the truth.
“I was hoping that you liked me enough to ignore whatever consequences,” he murmurs.
So he’s aware! You know that you feel the same way for him, you do.
The overwhelming courage in you makes you hold Kai on his sides. He stares, trying to guess your next move.
“Kiss me.” You say, your voice light and faint.
Kai places his hands on your elbows, “What?”

“I’ve said it once, I’m not going to repe-“
Kai pulls you towards him and presses his lips onto yours, moving passionately yet gently. Butterflies, that’s all you can feel.
You feel Kai’s feelings overflowing in the kiss. The way he holds you like you are the most important thing to him, like he can never afford to lose you.
You reciprocate the kiss as your hands find its way into Kai’s drenched hair.
Kai can’t help but smile into the kiss, as he feels what you feel for him.
He pulls you closer to him, not wanting you to even be an inch away. Kai loves you! Your subconscious mind screams.

Kai breaks the kiss, to your dismay. You and him are already breathless, forehead to forehead.
“That’s my first kiss. You have to take responsibility for it.” Kai’s smile is simply enchanting.
“I-“
Kai kisses you again, without any warning. This time it’s slower, but still as passionate. You stop the kiss, “I’m sorry that my first kiss-“
“Doesn’t matter.” Kai’s lips meet yours again as he holds your chin up. His kiss is filled with so much of his love, and it’s all for you.