❝Chapter Thirty-One

"Do I what?" Taemin nearly choked on the air he had swallowed.

"You like her, don't you?" Kai gave him a crooked smile, seeing the panic momentarily flash through his older brother's eyes.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

There was a long silence, only the ticking of the clock able to be heard. Neither of them looked at each other, only looking at the clocks. Kai was counting the seconds it would take for his brother to reply, while his brother was counting the seconds it would take for their friends to return and save him from this confrontation.

"If you don't reply, I'm just going to take it as a 'yes,' you know that, right?" The younger one began to get slightly annoyed by his hyung.

Taemin awkwardly squirmed around in his spot, praying for the others to return. But realizing that they weren't coming anytime soon, he quickly thought up a response. And a stupid one, at that.

"I have to use the bathroom," he hurriedly blurted, standing up from his seat.

"I don't think so." Kai yanked on his leg, forcing him back down. "Do you really think I'm stupid?" he asked, scoffing almost. Then when he got no response from his older brother, he asked another question. "Since when?"

"Since when what?" Taemin asked, pretending to be clueless about the obvious subject.

Kai rolled his eyes and propped one elbow up on his knee. "Since when did you start liking her?"

Taemin bit his lip and brought his legs up to a ninety-degree angle, resting his elbows on them and entwining his hands together. "I... don't even know," he answered honestly, earning a slow nod from his younger brother.

And just like that, a long silence engulfed the two brothers, and the tension could be felt from a million miles away.

Taemin had no idea what to do or say. Apologize? Laugh? Smile? Leave? He wanted to apologize but couldn't force it out of his mouth because he knew for a fact he had nothing to be sorry about.

Even if the guilt was eating every inch of him right now, he didn't feel sorry for his brother at all. As a matter of fact, he felt relieved for himself; relieved to finally admit, not only to Kai, but to himself that he liked Jae Hee.

And while he felt a grand burden being lifted from his shoulders, Kai felt a heavy load fall onto his. What was he supposed to do? Yell at his brother for falling for the same girl he did? Punch his brother? Cry? Ignore the fact his brother just indirectly confessed he had feelings for the same girl?

Letting out a low, frustrated growl, he lightly banged his head back onto the wall. He was angry. Not at his brother but at himself. *Because I have no right to be jealous.* He ruffled his hair, letting out a bitter sigh.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, it was somewhat true.

She was never really his in the first place, so does he even have the right to tell other guys to stay away from her? She was single, and any guy could take her at any minute.

And he was definitely not okay with that fact. Especially if that guy was his own brother.

"So are you going to confess...?" Kai asked slowly, trying to seem less eager than he really was.

Taemin hesitated for a bit before he shook his head.

The younger one raised a brow, questioning his brother's answer. "Why not? Don't you like her? Aren't you going to confess to her?"

"Because you like her," the older answered. "I'm not going to confess to her because... you... like her." And although his voice was low and quiet, it was obvious that there was a large chunk of envy surrounding those words.

Without thinking, Kai answered: "Good." Seeing the frown on his older brother's face, he realized how selfish that sounded. But he didn't care if it did. "Becuase I really love her." Kai gave his older brother a look, pushing aside the guilt he was getting from seeing the heartbroken expression on his older brother's face.

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Jae Hee stared at the guy in front of her as he smiled at her like some kind of idiot, and it took all the self-control she had (which wasn't that much) to not punch that idiot in the face. Muttering an insincere apology about barging into the room, she left the room, slamming the door.

Almost instantly, the guy's smile turned upside-down, and he quickly set his guitar aside before running out after her. "So when'd you come back?" he asked, finally catching up to her.

"I'm just visiti-" She stopped. *Why am I even answering him?* She cleared and kept shut as she sped up her walking pace.

"Visiting?" He blinked, trailing right behind her. "Cool. For her anniversary?"

And just like that, she came to an abrupt stop, so abrupt that he almost crashed into her back.

*Oh, geez.* She bit her lip, her heart growing heavy. *I can't believe I forgot...*

It was almost April 4th. Having been so caught up in her feelings for Taemin, she had forgotten the important date that had made her the way she was now, the date that made her "hate" love so much. But no matter how much she tried to resist falling in love, it seemed like she was still the vulnerable little high schooler she had used to be. And she hated that; she hated falling so easily, even when knowing the prices one had to pay for love.

"So who was that guy?" the guitar player suddenly asked, bringing her back to reality.

"Who?" She gave him a weird look, confused. *Did he say something while I was spacing out or something?"

"That guy!" he said so loudly it could be considered yelling.

"That guy?" she repeated and then gasped. "Oh!! You mean the one with the face? And the arms? And the hair?" she asked so enthusiastically that it was offensive, almost.

"Geez," he frowned back at her. "Have you always been this sarcastic?"

Not even answering him, she turned away and exited the school, and of course, he was following right behind her.

"But seriously." He jogged next to her. "Who was he? Your boyfriend?"

"...No."

"You hesitated," JY pointed out, his eyes disappearing as he smiled sincerely. Because he felt she deserved some happiness after everything that had happened.