“You’re leaving?!”

Kikwang eyes grew impossibly huge, his mouth hanging slightly agape. Nearly dropping the plate of food in his hand, he walked over to Jaeni until he stood right in front her. He leaned over, face inches away, as his eyebrows slowly furrowed together. “Why?” He asked in a quiet, seemingly bitter sneer.

Jaeni could only inch her face back, until her head hit the wall behind her. “U-um..”

“Because.” The ever-so-protective Junhyung had his hand on Kikwang’s head, prying him away from his sister’s personal bubble, half-glaring at the boy who now looked surprised, and scared of what Junhyung could possibly do to him. “She was only here on vacation.”

Kikwang pried himself away from Junhyung’s grip. “But!” He cried out, “At first I thought she was a real Pikachu, and turns out she’s not. Then I thought she was going to stay forever, and turns out she’s not either!” He was flailing his arms in the air to try to make a point. “I feel so deceived!”

The rest could really only stare, unsure of it was an act, or a joke, or Kikwang really just being completely confused on everything.

“I was only here on vacation.” Jaeni spoke up softly. “I came to see Junhyung oppa, and since my vacation is almost over, I have to go home and finish another year before I graduate high school.”

“When do you leave?” Kikwang’s face turned from being frustrated, to pouting out his bottom lip.

“This weekend.” It kind of made her sad, realizing that it was already Thursday evening, and that the weekend was only a day away. She didn’t want to leave for so many reasons. She had just started getting close to her older brother and their relationship had just began to become closer. She had also gotten the chance to meet Hyunseung, her biggest bias, and now an even bigger crush. And lastly, she didn’t want to go back to school just yet. “Cake!” She suddenly said, she didn’t want to get into a sulky mood. “Who wants cake?”

Jaeni rushed back to the long table, which had all the food on it, bringing her mood back to a brighter one. Now that she thought about it, she was absolutely touched that her brother, Yunji, and the rest of Beast went through the hassles of preparing a party for her. She grabbed as much plates as she could, cutting up the cake she had brought with Yunji earlier, placing a slice on each plate.

“It’s your party, you really shouldn’t be the one serving us.”

Surprised, Jaeni turned around, nearly dropping the fork in her hand. It was Hyunseung, standing behind her, his smile in place as he caught the fork before it hit the ground. “The cake looks delicious.” He said, wiping a bit of frosting off the fork and dabbing his finger on Jaeni’s nose.

Jaeni shook her head frantically, “I... No, it’s… Um, well… But, cake…” She began to stutter, feeling her face get hotter.

“But cake?” Hyunseung had to chuckle. “You’re cute, Jaeni.” He tilted his head, still smiling, before he turned to the table and picked up three plates, one in each hand, and the other being balanced on his forearm. “Cake!” He called out to the rest of the guys, who were all sitting in a circle on the floor. Doojoon and Yoseob both scrambled to their feet, taking a plate from Hyunseung. Dongwoon took the liberty of picking up his own plate from the table, Jaeni served the last few plates to Junhyung and Kikwang.

One last plate was left on the table. “Where’s Yunji unnie?” She suddenly asked, looking around the dance room, Yunji was nowhere to be found, but her bag was still on the couch where she had placed it on when they entered. “Did she go out?”

“I saw Jiji go out.” Kikwang took a bite out of the cake, “Maybe she went to the bathroom.”

Jaeni was a little worried, to say the least, but knowing her bag was still there, surely Yunji would be back. Perhaps she really just did go to the bathroom. She sat back down, between Junhyung and Hyunseung, enjoying her slice of cake.

“Card. Kissing….” Yoseob began to make drum roll sounds on the floor. “…Game!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

Junhyung was the first, and only, to vehemently reject the idea of playing the game. “Out of all the games in the world, out of all the games!” He kept shaking his head, “Besides, we don’t even have…”

Hyunseung was quick to pull out a deck of cards from one of the nearby paper bags. “Cards!” He was proud to have made a checklist. He pulled out the first card, “Who should go first?”

Although Junhyung was the only one to say no, the other’s faces were filled with worry, they were all laughing nervously. Doojoon took the card from Hyunseung’s hand and placed it against his lips, taking in a sharp of breath to keep the card on his lips, leaning towards to where Yoseob was seated. Yoseob, however, was laughing hysterically, until Doojoon slapped his arm and pointed to the card. The main vocalist made an unsure face, pressing his lips to the other side, taking in the same sharp breath. As Doojoon sat back, the card stayed on Yoseob’s lips.

“That was disturbing!” Doojoon laughed, shaking his head and shuddering. “Can we play something else, please?!”

“See? Leader’s orders. Change game.” Junhyung was more than pleased.

“It doesn’t look that hard.” Hyunseung placed the card to his own lips, testing how long he could keep it on.  He dropped the card to his hand, “Seems easy, Dongwoon?” he eyed the maknae, who laughed.

“No, hyung. I’m still eating.” He reasoned, taking a bite from his slice of cake. He wasn’t trying to let it show, that he was down, due to the recent events between him and Yunji. His eyes scanned the room again, Yunji still wasn’t back and it had been more than 10 minutes. Surely, no one took that long in the bathroom. He stood up, and with a smile, excused himself from the rest. He placed his plate back on the table and stood there for a few moments, contemplating on what to do.

His thoughts were broken by a small tap on the shoulder. He turned around to see Kikwang standing there. “You’re wondering about where Yunji went, aren’t you?” He asked, but before Dongwoon could reply, he continued. “She’s probably outside, try the terrace, or the lobby. She’s probably at some quiet place, thinking. Either that, or she’s really in the bathroom, probably…” His voice trailed off, then he laughed. “Go find her, Woonie.” He gave Dongwoon a reassuring pat, his eyes turning into little slits as he smiled. Dongwoon could only nod, Kikwang retreating back to where Hyunseung was still trying to convince the others to play the card kissing game with him.

With the encouragement from Kikwang, Dongwoon quietly slid out of the room without anyone noticing.

“Jaeni, have you ever tried this game before?” Hyunseung asked, facing her.

“I’ve only seen others play it, I’ve never. I don’t think I’d be good at it.” She fiddled with her fingers. “I’d probably be the black hole if I was on anyone’s team.”

“Let’s try, ne?” Hyunseung smiled before the card was on his lips again. Jaeni began to blush. Hyunseung was inching closer and closer to her.

Doojoon, at this time, had his eye on Junhyung. He knew the rapper would react instantly and take the card away from Hyunseung. The moment he saw Juhyung shift on the floor, he slung a shoulder around him, making sure he wouldn’t go anywhere. “Don’t do anything.” He said in a quiet voice, “C’mon, you should let her have this.” He smiled, reassuring Junhyung that Hyuseung wouldn’t do anything stupid.

What else could Junhyung do but not? He didn’t want to be the one to actually ruin the party, especially for his little sister.

Jaeni’s face was bright red, she was unsure. A part of her was thinking it was probably a joke. “Don’t you want to try it?” Hyunseung asked, he didn’t want to insist.

“A-ani.” She cleared , a little shy that she had sort of admitted that she did want to try the simple game with Hyunseung.

“Why don’t you go first?” He handed the card to Jaeni.

Jaeni took a deep breath, putting the card against her lips and in her breath. Hyunseung smiled shyly, leaning over to take the card. She could feel his warm lips across the card. She felt as if time stopped, or as if she had lost all her senses. Sure, it was just a game, but her heart was beating through her chest.

She didn’t know, if it was just in her mind, that she felt Hyunseung lingering there, or maybe it was just her distorted perception of time at that short moment, but as quickly as he came, Hyunseung was seated back on the floor, the card on his lips now, a happy glint in his eye.

“That was easy! You wouldn’t be a black hole.” He dropped the card on his palm, then gave Jaeni a thumbs up.