❝Chapter Twenty-Three

Jae Hee's eyes couldn't even close. She stood frozen like a statue and didn't know what do in this situation.

It took a few seconds for her to process the fact that Kai was kissing her, and when she did, she closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back.

When he felt her kiss him back, his lips curved into a small but meaningful smile. He lightly traced her bottom lip with his tongue, and she returned the kiss by parting her lips.

It was soft and slow, as he didn't want to rush it, but full of passion.

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"DIEEEEE!" EXO-K and SHINee all crazily sprayed their water guns at some little kids.

"Oh, no!" Chanyeol squeaked, "I've been hit!" He clenched his heart and fell onto the grass, spazzing for a few seconds, before he became 'dead.'

"NOOOO, CHANNN!" Baekhyun's eyes widened in horror.

"Baekhyun Hyung!" Sehun squealed, "Watch ou-" It was too late for Baekhyun to survive, as a little girl had sprayed Baekhyun right in the forehead.

"HEADSHOT!" Jonghyun laughed at the now-'dead' Baekhyun.

"Jonghyun!" Onew squealed.

Jonghyun turned to the leader and blinked. "Wha- Pfft!" Water suddenly sprayed into his mouth, and he choked on it.

"Stupid dinosaur! You're supposed to be extinct already!" the little kids laughed evilly. Jonghyun would've smacked them, if he wasn't already 'dead.'

"I won't lose. I can't lose," Minho chanted quietly to himself. He aimed carefully at a little girl and sprayed water right between her eyebrows, and she fell to the ground. "Mwahahahaa!" he laughed evilly and looked around. He wasn't going to lose. He couldn't lose, not to little kids.

"Aigoo." Taemin shook his head as he watched from the side-lines and drank his banana milk. He quickly threw the empty carton in the trash and went to get another one.

"Oh, Min." He blinked at Min Hee. "Why are you just stan- Min?"

She didn't respond.

He followed her eyes to Kai and Jae Hee, and his mouth fell open in shock.

He didn't know why he was so shocked. They were a couple, so it was only right for them to kiss, right? He should have been happy, right, happy that his brother's relationship with his girlfriend was going well? But he wasn't. He felt the complete opposite of happy.

Min Hee felt her bottom lip tremble, and she quickly ran out of the park.

Taemin snapped out of his daze and ran after her. He finally caught up with her when she arrived near the bus stop. He grabbed her wrist, causing her to stop running. He stared at her and breathed heavily, exhausted from all that running.

She averted his sympathetic gaze and stared down at her feet as she watched her tears hit the tip of her beautifully painted toenails.

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Kai gently pulled away from the kiss first and rested his forehead on Jae Hee's.

Jae Hee's eyes fluttered open at the loss of contact.

They both panted lightly because of the breath-taking kiss. Neither of them spoke or even dared to look into each others' eyes.

Kai was too busy thinking about his own actions.

Should he not have kissed her? What if that kiss ruined his whole relationship with her? Should he confess to her? What if she rejected him? Millions of questions ran through his mind, and he didn't know the answers to them.

Jae Hee was also so confused.

Did she like Taemin? Did she like Kai? Did she like neither of them? Did she like both of them? She really didn't know how she felt anymore, and she hated not knowing.

After a few seconds, when their breathing calmed down, he leaned down more so that their lips grazed each other again.

"……Why do I care?" He asked softly in a whisper, sending vibrations to her lips that were right on his. He waited until she finally agreed to meet eyes with him.

She swallowed hard as she waited for his answer and stared into his eyes. She had a feeling she knew what his next words were going to be…… and she was right.

"I like you."

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Min Hee and Taemin both sat on the bench, waiting for the bus to come.

Min Hee was in deep thought.

After all these long years, reality had finally set it. After all these long years, reality had finally hit her… and hard, too.

Kai had never loved her. Kai had never seen her as more than a friend, a sister.

She had always just been a nuisance, following him to his house, following him to his university, calling him a hundred times a day, interrogating his whereabouts like she was his girlfriend or mom.

She had always known this, always, but was too in-denial to admit. Seeing Kai kiss Jae Hee was basically like her wake-up call.

Kai was in love, in love with someone he was going to marry, in love with someone he was going to spend the rest of his life with, in love with someone who… wasn't her.

"He hates me… doesn't he?" Min Hee asked bitterly, tears staining her cheeks yet again.

"No, he doesn't…" Taemin softly shook his head. He heard her sobs and felt his heart deflate even more.

He was bothered by Kai and Jae Hee's kiss. Why? He didn't know. It just kept replaying itself in his mind and made his heart break a little more each time.

Love?

*No, that's not it…* Taemin bit his lip.

I mean, there was no way he would fall in love with his brother's fiancée, right? That was just stupid and impossible, right?

"I love him so much!" she burst into loud sobs, "I-I mean, it's not my fault I do! You can't help who you fall for!" She really wished she hadn't fallen in love with her best friend because sometimes, falling in love with your best friend could be the sweetest, most wonderful thing in the world, but other times… it could just ruin everything.

*You can't help who you fall for?* Min Hee's words continuously rang through Taemin's mind, and out of nowhere, Jae Hee suddenly popped into his mind. *You can't help who you fall for.* He mentally repeated and gulped.

"Why can't he love me, too?!" Min Hee yelled, not caring about the fact other people waiting for the bus were giving her strange looks.

*Because he loves Jae Hee.* Taemin answered in his mind. He didn't want to say it out loud because he didn't want to face that truth either.

"I don't get it!!!" she screamed, "I-I've been with him almost his wh-whole life! It was al-always me wh-who wiped his tears and ch-cheered him up…! It was always me!" Her voice became strained and consequently died down into a hoarse whisper.

*Yeah…* He agreed silently. *It was always you who wiped his tears and cheered him up…* He rested his head on hers. *……but it was always me who wiped your tears and cheered you up……* He thought bitterly.

"I-I love him so much!" she cried louder, "Why can't he see that?!"

Taemin didn't respond. He didn't know how to respond.

After a few minutes, she finally became exhausted from all the crying and gently fell asleep against his shoulder.

Taemin looked down at her and sighed disappointedly to himself, "…………I love you so much. Why can't you see that?"