❝Chapter Twenty-Five

Sighing, Jae Hee walked past the fountain and up the doorsteps of Kai's house. She reached out to ring the doorbell but couldn't. *What am I supposed to say to him?* She bit her lip as she thought about it.

Suddenly, the door flew open, and Kai almost crashed into her. "Jae Hee," he blurted.

She awkwardly waved. "H-Hi," she stuttered.

Without another thought, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms. She blinked in surprise before her eyes widened in shock.

"You didn't answer my calls…" he mumbled, his face nestled into the crook of her neck, "…or reply to my texts…" he chuckled humorlessly, "Do you even know how worried I was? I thought you got hurt…"

Her eyes softened before she slowly hugged him back. "…I'm sorry," she whispered guiltily into his chest.

"You better be," he chuckled and put his hands on her shoulders as he pushed her away.

She shook her head and avoided his gaze. "Not for that…" She made a face. "I mean, I am but…"

"But what?" He raised a brow and pulled his hands back. He had a feeling he knew what she was sorry about but pretended not to know.

"I'm sorry I-"

"Oppa."

They both turned their heads towards the direction where the voice came from.

"Um…" Min Hee looked down. "Were we… interrupting something?" she asked timidly.

"No." Jae Hee stepped away from Kai and looked at the ground, avoiding Taemin's gaze.

"Did you need something?" Kai let out a frustrated sigh, upset they were interrupted.

Min Hee bit her lip and shuffled with her feet. She felt like he hated her. *He probably does.*

"Min…" Taemin hissed gently as he nudged her arm and gave her a soft, encouraging smile.

Jae Hee pursed her lips and watched his actions closely. It hurt to see him smile so sweetly at another girl, to look so lovingly at another girl, especially since this was the girl he loved.

 "Um…" Min Hee gave Taemin a quick smile.

Kai raised a brow, growing a bit impatient.

She finally cleared but mumbled as she stared at the ground, "I just wanted you to know that I'm willing to, um, uh, uhum, let you go now. Not that it matters, since I'm not your mom or someone you need a blessing from, but I really hope that you and Jae Hee will live happily ever after, since I know you really love her, so I want you guys to make lots of beautiful babies and-"

"Min." Taemin nudged her arm, and she let out a deep breath, "Sorry, I didn't mean to talk so fast. It's just that this is so weird and awkward. I mean, who has these kinds of talks? It's just not normal. Anyways, I-"

"Slow down." He nudged her arm again.

She blushed as she breathed deeply, "Sorry…" she slowed down on her words so that they were actually understandable, "Basically, I know you really like her, Kai, so I hope you'll be happy with her."

"Wait, so…" Kai furrowed his brows and took that all in, "……you… you actually… moved on?"

She scratched her head. "I'll try… but it'll be hard…" she mumbled the last part.

"Pffft," he scoffed, "Of course it'll be hard! I'm Kim Jongin you're talking about! Moving on from me is practically impossible! Seriously! I'm too freaking hot and se-"

"Are you trying to give me reasons to keep liking you?" She raised a brow. At that question, his mouth immediately taped itself shut.

It was silent for a really long time, none of them knowing how to respond to stuff like this, until Min Hee spoke again, "Can I have a hug?" She blushed and stared at her feet.

"……Come here, you idiot," Kai chuckled and opened his arms for his best friend, glad to have her back.

She gave a soft smile and immediately tackled him, burying her face into his chest, taking in his scent, and enjoying the moment as much as she could.

Taemin smiled at them, happy to know she was finally going to move on from him after all these years.

Jae Hee, on the other hand, was barely paying attention to them. She was just looking at Taemin and thinking about how he loved Min Hee. She pursed her lips to fight a frown. *Of course Taemin would be happy.* She thought bitterly.

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After Min Hee had gone home, Taemin headed up to his room, getting ignored by Jae Hee who was still butthurt over the fact he loved Min Hee. Once he left, Jae Hee also headed up to her room, followed by Kai.

He was happy, alright, very happy. He was finally going to have his best friend back, his best friend who used to always talk to him about random instead of interrogating him on his whereabouts, his best friend who used to always set him up on dates with girls instead of scaring away every girl he met.

Then there was Jae Hee who was on the opposite side of the spectrum. She was upset, very, very upset. No, 'heart-broken' would be a better fit.

Now that Min Hee was willing to move on for Kai, there was a possibility she could fall in love with Taemin. It would be easy since they had known each other a long time, and the fact he loved her didn't make it any harder.

Just thinking about the fact Min Hee and Taemin could end up together made Jae Hee's stomach turn.

After she took a long shower, she watched TV for a bit before she turned it off and climbed into bed. She couldn't fall asleep, though. Why? Because that stupid, banana milk-loving idiot kept running through her mind.

*.* She scoffed as she pulled the blanket up to her chin. *How could he just kiss me when he already was in love with someone else?!* She growled as she bit on the blanket. *Freaking douchebag.* She made a face at the ceiling and pulled the blanket over her head, continuing to mentally curse Taemin out.

Kai was at his desk, a small lamp , as he started on his reports for his classes. After a few minutes, he had assumed she had fallen asleep, but she was more awake than he was.

They both stayed awake, Kai working on his homework, Jae Hee thinking about Taemin. After a few hours past midnight, Kai finally shut off his laptop, turned out the light, and climbed into the bed.

It wasn't until she had whispered his name that he had realized she was still awake.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Kai grumbled and put a forearm over his eyes.

Jae Hee shrugged as she bit her lip, "I wanted to tell you something…"

"What?" he asked, "You like me?" he joked, "It's okay. I like me, too."

"Kai." She rolled her eyes. He let out a deep, husky chuckle that made her blush, "What?"

There was a long silence. She couldn't figure out how to say what she wanted to say, whether she should say it or not, but decided to. "……Tomorrow, I……" she took another long pause, "……I'm leaving."

"……You're what?!" His eyes immediately opened in shock.

She mumbled half-heartedly, "That was the deal, remember? For me to stay until Min Hee was willing to move on. Now… the deal's over," she whispered softly.

She truthfully wanted to stay. She had grown quite close with Kai, Taemin, and the rest of SHINee and EXO-K. She just couldn't stand to stay any longer, not with Mrs. Kim always ordering her to clean something, not after she had found out Taemin's feelings for Min Hee, and definitely not after she had realized her feelings for him.

It was like Min Hee had planned the perfect timing to choose to move on.

Now, Jae Hee could leave before her feelings for Taemin grew any more than they already have. She didn't want to fall any deeper for him, not when he already had feelings for another girl. Staying would only result in her getting her heart broken. She didn't care if she was running away, or if she was being a coward, because she would much rather be a 'coward' than a heart-broken idiot.

"No," Kai blurted, "Y-You can't just go!"

She raised a brow at the ceiling. "Why can't I?"

"B-Because!" he stuttered, "I like you!" he blurted again, "You can't just leave me like this!"

She stayed silent but ultimately replied, "Sorry…"

"But…" he whispered, "……that kiss."

She didn't know why she kissed him back. Love? She knew that wasn't the answer.

As cringe-worthy and cheesy as this sounds, she didn't really feel anything in that kiss. I mean, sure, she enjoyed the kiss. It was soft and sweet but there really was no (prepare for the cheesiness) magic? Sparks?

If it wasn't love, was it lust? Guilt? Shock? Or maybe just the plain, simple fact that he was a damn good kisser. She really didn't know. No matter what it was, though, it was nothing compared to what she felt with Taemin.

Kai let out a long sigh when he didn't hear her respond, "You don't…" he paused but started again, "You don't like me back…… do you?"

She didn't reply. How was she supposed to reply? She didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him she liked his brother. At the same time, though, she didn't want to lie to him. After she thought about it for a few seconds, she decided it was best to give him an honest yet vague and simple answer.

"No."