Sorry for no update in a while. School was just kiling me. I'll try my best update often from now on.

“Sure. Why not? I don’t care,” said Joon, monotone and expressionless as he turned his back to them, marching over to where I was snooping on their conversation, in his room. I stood in place for a good two minutes, not too sure what was going on. I felt the door push my back, making me tumble face down.

Joon gave me a quick glare, with me clumsily standing up from the fall. Shifting focus, he grabbed my bag and angrily left the room again. As my mind tried to process what was going on, Byunghee popped his head past the doorframe. He smiled with worrisome traces of mischievousness.

“Minyoung-ah, you’re sleeping in my room tonight,” he announced without even asking for my consent. I blinked a few times with my eyes as wide as ever.

***

I carefully chose nightwear that covered as much skin as possible; red pants, and a shirt with sleeves that covered my hands. In some way I was angry at Joon for leaving me with the most flirtatious of friends for the night like I was some kind of teddy bear they could pass on to each other, but all that could go through my mind was the anxiousness of spending the night in a room of a twenty year old.

My fingers trembled as I tiptoed out of the bathroom, peaking through the crack first. Closing the door behind me, all the other boys eyed me like this was a kind of practical joke. I tried to ignore their teasing and turned my back to them. On my way to the room, I crossed paths with Joon. We stopped for a moment, trapped in each other’s gaze.

Joon’s lower lip trembled, his voice struggling to exit his throat.

“D-d-don’t you d-d-dare k-k-kiss him,” uttered Joon under his breath, with a gentle and worrisome voice. He flew past me, while a rush of anger invaded my thoughts. Why the hell did he even put me in such an uncomfortable situation to begin with?

I shifted my focus back on front of me and found Byunghee smirking just as he did earlier. Trying to look away as he neared me confidently, I was taken by surprise as he got a hold of my wrist, dragging me to his room. He shut the door behind me and released me from his hold. His laugh invaded the room, my eyes shut with fear.

“Joon is gonna freak!” he exclaimed playfully. Byunghee charmingly shuffled towards his bed with a chuckle. I opened my eyes to find him lying on the bed, limbs spread out comfortably. “I give him twenty minutes before he comes knocking at that door, begging to get you out.”

His hand was now behind his head. He tapped the pillow next to him, indicating my cue to jump on the bed myself.

“Make yourself at home, Min,” he said politely, as he always was. I blinked nervously keeping my steps towards him small. “Don’t feel nervous, Min. You know that I won’t do anything to you. You’re like family.”

His assurance brought me some sort of relief. I released a sigh and sat on the edge of the bed, near the little nightstand.

“But you can’t stay up past midnight. Sorry, Joon insisted you still go by his rules.”

I smiled, mostly out of relief that G.O wasn’t mad at me anymore, so it seemed.

I suddenly felt familiarity in the room when G.O took out a manga. I leaned in closer to take get a better look: Ouran Hish School Host club, it read. It wasn’t new for Byunghee and I to read mangas together, it was our common interest. Everytime, he was over at our place, he’d bring a stack for me to borrow. We both fell, chest down and read the manga together, with our legs hanging off the bed. It was quite enjoyable. Suddenly, after a few minutes in, the idea of being in Byunghee’s room didn’t frighten me as much.

“Yo! Do you have a glass of water for me?” I asked with a suddenly dry throat.

“Gosh. So needy. We only read, like, 5 pages and you’re already exhausted enough to need water,” he teased getting up and pointing at the glass of water on the nightstand. I grabbed it without looking. My fingers slipped clumsily as I brought the edge of the glass near my lip. Water covered my shirt in one spill, the glass hitting the side of the bed, and then the floor, shattering the glass with pieces.

“Dang it!! I’m so sorry,” I apologized at the mess I made on the bed. I was soaked. “I’m always so clumsy, messing things up and all.” I hit myself on the chest in frustration. Byunghee was already kneeling, laughing it off like nothing mattered. He was always so care-free.

Without thinking, I took off my shirt, removing the damp cold fabric off my skin. All I had on at this point was a light blue bra. I shivered in the cold and covered my bear skin with my arms.

In the midst of the commotion, a bang on the door resonated throughout the room. We both turned at the reckless noise. Mumbles on the other side sounded panicked as the door flung open.

“What the hell are you doing Min?” he shouted, his voice cracking and vibrating in anxiety. It was Joon. His glare brought shivers to my spine, and paralyzed the rest of my limbs making me drop the wet shirt in my hands.

“I-I-I was just… I just. The glass… It fell. I-I…” I muttered pointing in all direction clumsily. Joon didn’t seem at all pleased at the sight of my shirt off. His eyes traveled up and down my body in disgust, and turned abruptly to Byunghee.

“You sick bastard!” he whispered angrily at his good friend, taking a step forward to hit him, but retained himself half way through.  “How can you be taking advantage of my sister?”

“Jonnie, it’s not what you think,” he assured with a forced smile on the corner of his lip as if the whole situation were a joke.

I could tell that Joon wanted to sprawl on top of G.O, the look in his eyes suggesting that he was even ready to kill him. Before Joon could make a move, I came between them, pushing Joon, my bear skin pressed on the fabric of his shirt.

Our eyes were locked in a strong gaze before I gave him a shove out the door, my body still glued to his. I could feel his tense arm soften as I rested my hand on his bicep. I closed G.O’s door behind me after giving my reading partner a quick glance in apology for creating such a messy situation. I turned back to look at Joon, only to find his nose but a few inches away from mine. We stood silent for a while before he sighed heavily, getting ready to speak.

“You didn’t… Did you? Nothing happened, I mean?” he asked with a soothing and concerned tone, one that made him so lovable. My eyes dropped to his lips; they were dry. Why was I even looking at them?

“I’m pretty sure that I would kick G.O’s before I let him get near me in that sort or way, ” I assured, trying to highlight my toughness. But when I realized that he didn’t laugh at the joke, let alone react, I coughed and brushed it away.

My guard searched for anything other than his serious gaze. I felt myself being pulled towards his lips, but I forced myself to hold back.

“I-I-I n-need a shirt,” I filled the void. Joon moved away to create a space between us, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh right…”

“I’ll ask G.O for my things,” I said referring to my belongings that I had left in the room I had just escaped from. But Joon had already jumped to the door before me.

“No!! I’ll go! You just go to my room.”

His hand had kept a tight grip on the doorknob. I could tell that he just didn’t want me to go back in there with G.O. I turned around, just like he asked, and made my way to his room at the other end of the hall. I smiled a bit at Joon’s protective nature, though it had always been that way. My body shivered as the cold air that hit my skin brought goose bumps all over. The spare room Joon was staying in was very plain, his clothes hung on the chairs, his books stacked on the night table. I glanced over at the bed. It was small alright… Not meant for anything that should carry more than one person.

Joon bumped me from behind and threw a T-shirt over my head, covering my face entirely. I pulled it away, and slipped it over my head. It felt good to have something finally covering my very plain blue bra.

Joon muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite understand as he moved his pillow to make room for mine. He had a stupid grin on his face, poking at my curiosity.

“What?” I demanded for him to repeat. He looked at me with his confident gaze.

“Just go to bed,” he insisted, brushing away my question.

“Not until you tell me what you were whispering.” I lifted an eyebrow and sat down next to him on the bed. I jumped at the side of the bed next to the wall and claimed it as my own. Joon opened his mouth to speak, his lip not able to form out the words he want.

“I- I don’t. It’s j-just…” He gave up. “You looked really cute in that bra,” he said a bit panicked.

My eyes grew, beginning to feel disgust at his erted remark. I smacked him hard across the head.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I’m still a minor as you may have forgotten, old man. And checking out your sister is not exactly very appropriate,” I pointed out in an aggressive tone. He was rubbing the part of his head that I violently targeted. “No way on earth am I sleeping with you, ert.”

“Old man? ert? Isn’t that a bit too much? I was just kidding. Jeez.”

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves down and sat back down peacefully on the bed. Seeing that Joon had already put his head on his pillow, I did the same. It was silent for a while, both of us staring directly at the ceiling. It felt different. The more comfortable relationship we had developed over the past 2 years had suddenly vanished faster than I could even blink an eye. Normally, we would talk about parents and school and friends. Normally, we would laugh at our inappropriate and stupid remarks. Now, it was empty. None of us could even make a joke without it coming out serious to the other ear.

“Goodnight,” I mumbled to avoid the uncomfortable silence, turning to face the wall. I could feel him turning in the opposite direction as well.

“By the way, you should really stop referring to yourself as my sister. I hate the idea of you being related to me. It’s gross.” His words came out monotone, slightly formal. I bit my lip.

“If you hate me so bad, then why are you helping me?” I asked.

“What?” questioned Joon, rolling on his back to turn his head while executing a frown.  

“I know that being called your sister would be too much for me to ask as of now. After all, I nearly killed you and I totally ruined your family’s life. But why are you still helping me if you don’t even like me?”

No answer. I couldn’t tell if he just fell asleep on me. There was no movement on the bed at all, not even a small vibration, the sound of breathing or a brush of skin on the sheets.

Suddenly, I felt him pull me towards him, in a sitting position. I gawked at him awkwardly as he held both my arms with slight urgency. The dim light of the lamp nearby framed his brown eyes perfectly. Although it was out of the blue, I somewhat expected it. We both sat, facing each other, him holding onto my short sleeves. He blinked twice and began speaking.

“I never should have called you my sister in the first place,” he whispered gently. My heart began to race, my hands trembled, my eyes widened. “I never should have treated you like a sister.”

He stared at me for a moment, without anger, without hatred. Only sadness. The glow in his eyes gave the illusion that he was going to cry. His lips neared my face and pressed on my left cheek. The pressure wasn’t too aggressive, nor was it too soft. It felt like a breeze, a quick to the face. The sound his lips made on my skin brought me shivers.