29

“Dinner’s ready!” D.O announced, carrying the last plate of dish to the dining table.

All gathered straightaway away after hearing the announcement. An array of delicious dishes awaited as one by one quickly grabbed their seats. Everyone was there, except for Lyorin.

“Can someone call Lyorin down?” Kris asked. He thought she was in her room.

However, Chen said. “She’s in the library.”

“Okay, I’ll get her.” Luhan volunteered and off he went.

Kai and Sori sat side by side. He helped her with the food and placed it on her plate. The rest of the guys had not spoken to him ever since Mr Lee left their house. He had been brooding in his room all this while. He was glad the guys somehow understood. Yet, little did he know that the rest of them were quite unhappy with the way he was handling the situation. They wanted at least for him to talk to Lyorin but no. She was avoiding him but Kai should take the initiative to at least approach her first.

EXO was still not going to believe that Sori and him had become a couple.

Suho nudged his arm softly. “Kai, are you serious when you said ~” The leader asked but only to receive a cold reply.

“Yes, hyung!” He blurted.

Momentarily, everyone else stopped and stared at him.

“What happened to you?” Lay asked.

However, Kai remained quiet and continued munching the food. He couldn’t care less about the glares he was receiving from them. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He was just as upset as the rest.

Sori blinked innocently and replied to Lay instead. “Nothing is wrong with Kai oppa. He’s happy.”

“Yea right ~” Sehun muttered sarcastically. In fact, it was a tad too loud which caused Sori to scowl at him.

Kai kept on eating, ignoring the obvious tensed atmosphere. He wanted to just quickly finish his meal and walked away. Being around EXO, at the moment, would only cause more him more harm than good. He didn’t want to create the friction between himself and the rest of his brothers. He was sure they were disappointed in him because he was disappointed in himself. He wanted to avoid more conflict and hope they would understand him once they knew of the truth.

Luhan walked the long hallway to the library, whistling lightly to a soft tune. Upon reaching the huge door, he gave it a knock before entering.

“Baby bear, it’s time to eat.” He called out.

With gentle steps, he walked in to the silent and still library. He scanned the entire room the first time, but didn’t see Lyorin. Again, he called out.

“Baby bear, I’m going to ~”

He stopped immediately when his eyes landed on a figure sprawling on the floor. His legs hurried to her and when he reached her, he crouched down, picking her up by the shoulders.

“Lyorin! Lyorin!” He shouted, tapping her cheeks. Her eyes were tightly shut and her face was deathly pale. She was not responding to his calls which made him even more worried. He didn’t know what happen to her.

Breathing not another word, he carried her in his arms and ran out of the library.

“Lay! LAY!” Frantically, he yelled.

EXO wasn’t expecting anything. They were casually eating their dinner when suddenly, they heard Luhan’s loud voice. Anxiously, all of them turned their heads to see what was going on. They stood up from their respective seats instinctively when they saw Luhan’s panicked face with Lyorin in his arms; unconscious.

Kai was chewing the last bit of rice when he looked up and saw Luhan with Lyorin. His eyes widened and without wasting a second, he put down his spoon and ran for her. Sori grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving her side just for Lyorin. However, Kai roughly brushed her off and went straight for the girl who was still the most imp0rtant to him.

“Hyung, what happened?!” Kai asked as he watched Luhan placed Lyorin on the sofa in the living room. 

Luhan didn’t reply to Kai. Instead, he pushed him away and said. “Lay, please check on her.” Then, he turned back at Kai and replied to him quite harshly. “I’m pretty sure you know what happened to her.”

Kai looked down in shame. Luhan was absolutely right. It was stupid of him to even such a question when he already knew the answer. He moved his eyes at Lyorin and gazed at her. Even with her eyes closed, she still looked sad. His heart broke into million pieces knowing that he was probably the cause of her being sick, no wait; he was the cause of it. He wanted to give her a hug so badly and her cheeks but he didn’t deserve it. After all that he had done, he didn’t even deserve to touch her.

Lay placed her wrist down gently and spoke. “Blood pressure is low but thankfully still on a safe level. I reckon that she’s under immense stress.”

A breathe of relief spread across the living room as everyone crowded around to watch her. Even so, they were not going to take it lightly and hoped she would get better soon. Tao knelt by her side and brushed away the strands of hair on her forehead.

He faced Kai and hissed. “Are you happy now?”

~*~

Kris put down his book and gazed out the night sky through the window in his bedroom. The sky was filled with twinkling stars and the full moon was beautiful. A peaceful night like this was just perfect to bring someone out. He pushed his chair back and stood up. He grabbed the black jacket hanging in front of the wardrobe and marched his way out of his room to another.

Before he stepped in to Lyorin’s room, he gave a knock. He didn’t know why but he was slightly nervous at the thought of spending the night with her. He wasn’t particularly close with her and they rarely exchanged words. He was afraid she might feel awkward or uncomfortable around him. But he was adamant to bring her somewhere, hoping it would somehow make her feel better and maybe, their relationship could strengthen.

He opened the door only to see her sitting on the bed with her eyes fixed on a cassette tape. He knew what the tape was. Slowly, he walked to her and stopped when he reached just by the bed. She gave him a weak smile which was so painful to see. He went on to sit on the bed, opposite her and looked at her face with worry and concern.

“Lyorin, are you okay?” He asked. He knew it was a dumb question because obviously she wasn’t okay. She didn’t reply and continued staring at the cassette tape. He moved his hand and picked up the tape. “Have you listened to this?” She nodded. “Was it the time when you were in the library?” She nodded again.

Instantly, his heart sank after knowing the real cause why she had fainted yesterday. She must had been so stressed up and stretched to the limit. Worst, when she had to endure everything all by herself without the comfort of others. He leaned closer and pulled her for a hug. He wished a hug could absorb one’s pain.

“You’re a strong girl.” He whispered. She remained in his embrace and kept quiet. She wasn’t even crying because she had cried all her tears away. She didn’t even know what to feel. After the brief hug, he then lifted up chin and asked. “Do you want to go somewhere?”

She tilted her head curiously. “Where?”

He got up and reached out his hand for her. “Wait for me at the balcony.” He said. He walked to her wardrobe and looked for a black hooded jacket.

She went to the balcony as requested and waited. She was quite perplexed why he asked her to be at the balcony. With the black jacket in his hand, he walked to her.

“Wear this jacket please.” He told her.

“Oppa, where are we going?” She asked again.

However, Kris remained quiet and gave her a smirk instead. He waited for her to wear the jacket before asking. “Do you trust me?”

She frowned but still managed to reply. “Yes ~”

“Then we are going for a ride!” He announced. Once she was done with the jacket, he bent down and lifted her off the ground in his arms. She whimpered in surprise and immediately blushed.

“O-o-oppa, w-what are y-you doing?” She stuttered.

Without breathing any word, Kris walked to the edge of the balcony and then closed his eyes. That was the first time she saw his face up close and noticed how handsome he was; his sharp tall nose, his luscious lips and dark brown eyes.

Kris looked at her eyes. “Look down.”

Lyorin looked down, and instantly closed her eyes frighteningly. There were up in the air floating. She didn’t even realise because she had been admiring his handsome face. She hugged him tighter and squeezed her eyes.

“Oh , I’m going to fall.” She said.

Kris chuckled, obviously amused by her. “Do you feel like you’re falling?” She shook her head vigorously. “You’re not going to fall, silly. You’re flying! Come on open your eyes!”

Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at where she was at. She could see the stars and even the bright full moon. Then, she tilted her head and saw the whole of Seoul from a bird’s eye view. Her jaw dropped and everything was just too magnificent for her to breathe a word. She was beyond speechless. It was surreal. She had never been up in the air, few hundred feet of the ground, especially in a guy’s arms. 

“Let’s sit somewhere.” Kris finally spoke after the moment of breathtaking silence.

She nodded and allowed him to bring her anywhere. Kris flew across the Seoul City, and then passed the skyscrapers and finally landed his feet on the tallest building’s roof. He hushed her to stay keep her voice down because they weren’t supposed to be at the roof. It was a restricted access and only construction workers and maintenance personnel were allowed to be on the roof. Of course, which normal being would want to sit on the roof of a 50-storeys tall building?

It took less than 10 minutes to reach by the unconventional way. If by car, it would have probably taken them almost two hours.

Kris sat at the edge of the building bravely. Lyorin was not as brave as him to sit at the edge. She was afraid she might just fall.

“Come sit beside me, the view is nicer here.” He reached out his hand for her. “You won’t fall, I promise.” He assured.

Hearing his soothing words, she took careful steps towards him and sat beside. “Wow! This is so cool!” She exclaimed with bright eyes. “Do you come here often?” She faced him and asked.

He looked straight ahead and nodded. “Once in a while, when I feel like getting away from all the stress, I will come here. Not necessarily here, just fly anywhere freely.”

“The furthest you have been?”

“Jeju. I wanted to fly to the North, but nah ~”

She chuckled. “No wonder you complained about taking the plane to Jeju. You can fly there on your own.” He laughed when she recalled the little episode they had when they were going to Jeju for a holiday. “Is it hard being the leader?” She posed another question.

“Truthfully, it’s a tough role and I’m so thankful to be sharing the duty with Suho. If it was just a one man leader, I don’t think I’m capable.”

“But the rest of them are scared of you.”

“Well that’s because I’m fierce and strict with them. But, it’s not easy because I’m not really that type of a person.” He explained.

She looked at him and smiled cheekily. “Oh, really?”

Kris pinched her right cheek playfully and responded. “I may appear serious all the time but I’m quite a nice guy okay?”

“Yea yea ~” She nodded but her response had a tinge of doubt.

He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him. He then came up with a different topic. “I want you to answer me honestly; are you upset with Kai?”

The mention of his name caused her to slumped back in misery. She hated how he was affecting her so much. Tried as she might not to be weak, but every time she heard Kai’s name or saw him in the house, her heart would crush. Since she had to be honest, she gave him the real answer. “Yes, sort of.”

“Do you like him?” Instead of answering it verbally, shyly she nodded. “Does he know?” This time, he didn’t receive a nod. She remained silent. “So he doesn’t know ~ why didn’t you tell him?” Again, there was silence. She faced him with teary eyes and instantly Kris pulled her for a hug. “Shh ~ don’t cry. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked.”

She sniffed and said. “It’s okay. I’m being too emotional I guess. How could I possibly confess to someone who already has a girlfriend right?”

Kris lifted up her chin so that he could see her eyes. “Do you really think he loves Sori?” Lyorin shrugged her shoulders, unable to answer his question. In fact, she wasn’t quite sure whether Kai really loves Sori because everything happened too suddenly. Even so, she should believe him, meaning she had to accept that they were together no matter how painful it was.

Kris let out a long loud sigh. He wasn’t sure himself.

“Lyorin ah, forget about him okay? Don’t think so much and stress yourself till you get sick.” He stopped and looked at her tenderly like a big brother. He reached out his hand and her cheeks. She smiled and let his touch warmed her heart. It was nice and comforting. “If you have anything, talk to anyone of us. Don’t bottle up your feelings. I know all of us are guys and you might feel uncomfortable talking to us, but don’t worry alright. We’ll try to be the best ears for listening and the best shoulders to cry on.”

“Thank you.” She replied sincerely. It was touching to hear it from the strict and fierce leader for once.

All Kris ever wanted is for their favourite girl to be happy. He knew how hard her life had been. She just lost a dear friend and also a confidante. He hoped they could replace the void in her life even if it wasn’t as perfect as it used to be. Yes, he could be strict towards her but deep down, whenever he looked in her eyes; it will soften his steel cold heart.

After several minutes and the temperature seemed to have dropped, he stood up and reached out for her. “Shall we go back?” She looked up at him and then accepted his hand.

Just like how they first came, they had to go back the same; which was to fly back. Swiftly, he lifted her up and off they went from the roof of the building. Again, she let out a soft whimper. Even if she wasn’t really afraid of height but the idea of flying on someone’s arms could be quite daunting.

It took them just a few minutes before Kris’s feet landed on Lyorin’s bed balcony. He didn’t her put down straightaway. Instead, he walked to her bed and then finally placed her down. Without saying anything throughout the fly back, he kept the silence and pulled the bed cover over her and tucked her in.

She watched as he turned from the scary leader to the most caring person she had ever seen. She was absolutely touched by his sweet gestures.

“Keep yourself warm okay? You were out in the cold far too long and I don’t want you to get sick.” He made sure she was well covered. “Do you want any hot chocolate? I can ask D.O to make for you.” She shook her head, rejecting the offer. “Are you comfortable? Do you still feel cold? Do you want me to get the medicine ~”

“Oppa, thank you ~” She sat up, pushing the cover that he just pulled for her and embraced him tightly. She nuzzled on his broad chest, closed her eyes and whispered. “I have never said this before but I want to tell you how much I appreciate all that you’ve done for me. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for being patient with me despite my stubbornness. If I sore your arms because I’m too heavy, I’m sorry too. I love you, oppa. I really do.” She sniffed.

He smiled at her sudden confession and gently her back. “I love you too, silly girl.” Then, he chuckled. “Oh and you’re not even near heavy. Don’t worry and just go to sleep okay?”

She nodded obediently and lay on her back. “Goodnight ~”

(To be continued)