~*~

It had been days, or weeks? She didn’t know how long it had been but one thing was for sure – she was waiting for that feeling to subside, at least. But whenever Seyoon saw Kai, she could feel her stomach flattered, until the feeling would travel up her chest, only stopping in and she couldn’t speak properly anymore. She tried to sound normal whenever she talked to him but she knew that she still produced stuttering voice. She knew she was…Was it really that? No, it couldn’t be, she thought. It couldn’t be since she was still young, they were still young. It couldn’t be that feeling… Lov–

“Yah!”

“Oh!” Seyoon shrieked in surprised. “Don’t scare me like that,” she said to him.

“Did I? I was just greeting you naturally,” he said.

‘That’s not a normal greeting,’ Seyoon thought.

“Besides, you are spacing out. Are you thinking of something? Someone?” Kai asked with a joking tone.

“Me? No! I am just wondering where they are now,” Seyoon said nervously, hoping that Kai wouldn’t notice her stuttered voice and flushed cheeks.

“They should be on their seats now. Let’s go inside the theater. The program will start soon.”

“Wait. I promised Chanyeol that I’ll greet him before the performance starts,” Seyoon looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Hm? That boy has a lot of conditions before he starts performing. Tsk. Alright, I’ll come with you,” Kai said as he held Seyoon’s hand and went to the direction of the backstage.

Seyoon’s heart was pounding waves of beats but she was hoping that the feeling would go away or else, Kai might notice it through her pulse. She tried to focus on looking for the room where Chanyeol was staying.

Kai and Seyoon went past a bunch of people. Some looked familiar because they were wearing the same school uniform while the others were probably students of other schools. Just when they were walking towards their school’s designated waiting room, someone bumped in between their shoulders, separating Kai and Seyoon from walking hand in hand. Seyoon looked at the stranger. She had the same length of hair as hers but she couldn’t see her face covered with strands of her flowing hair. She apologized quickly before she fled. She’s probably in a hurry, Seyoon thought.

She looked at Kai who wasn’t seem to be bothered by the crash. “People these days are way too busy to look where they are heading to,” Kai said with his cold eyes, no hint of dismay, just nonchalant. “Let’s go,” he said, resuming the link of their hands.

Seyoon saw Chanyeol inside the waiting room, nervously walking back and forth. From time to time, he would glance at the clock and then at the music sheet he was holding in his other hand. “Chanyeol!” Seyoon called her friend’s. She could see Chanyeol’s face lightened up, ease with the tension and covered with excitement. He immediately had his infamous radiant smile.

“I am happy you’re here,” he said to Seyoon. “And you too, Kai.” Kai looked at him and smiled just a little. “I promise that I will give my best for my performance later,” Chanyeol said to Seyoon, clasping her hands with his huge sweaty hands.

“Yah, yah, yah. Enough with the drama. We should go to the theater now. Our seats are probably waiting for us,” Kai said impatiently as he removed Chanyeol’s hands from clasping Seyoon’s. The taller boy glared at him but still maintained a smile when he looked back at Seyoon.

“Do your best! We’ll be there to support you!” Seyoon said before she waved goodbye at Chanyeol.

When they got inside the theater, it already was almost full and the lights were already off. Instinctively, Kai grabbed Seyoon’s hand as they tried to walk to a dimly lit stairs, passing rows of audiences who were also there to watch. Seyoon blushed by Kai’s abrupt act but she was thankful that the theater was dark so Kai wouldn’t see her already rose-tinted cheeks.

It took a few minutes before they saw Kyungsoo, Sehun, and Baekhyun, who were already sitting two rows from the front. Chanyeol made sure that Seyoon and his friends would have the best seats, especially when he wanted to make sure that he could have a glimpse of Seyoon’s reaction while he was performing on stage.

Few performances have passed and there were roughly about four performances left. Based on the program printed on a booklet, Chanyeol’s performance would be just a performance away. But before him was a piano performance by someone named, Jung Soo Jung.

When the curtain was lifted, there already was a piano on the stage. Then, a girl in a white dress and long hair entered the stage. Seyoon looked at her and her familiar appearance. And then, she realized that it was the girl they bumped into earlier. “Kai, that’s the girl we just bumped into a while ago,” Seyoon whispered to Kai.

“What girl?” he asked and took a peek of the girl on the stage. Kai looked unconcerned somehow. Maybe he didn’t recognize him. Maybe he wasn’t really paying attention to her at all, Seyoon thought. Kai looked at the girl with a blank, emotionless expression. “I don’t remember,” he said to her.

Just when she thought that was the last time she would see that girl, she would never thought that they would meet again the next year. Because of that piano performance, she received a scholarship in their high school. She remembered that the girl played “First Love,” by Yiruma. Seyoon knew that piece well because she loved Yiruma. And ironically as it was, she never thought that the girl would be the one who would steal her ‘first love’ from her.

~*~

“It’s not what you think it is,” Krystal said after seeing Luhan, dragging Seyoon, towards their direction. She saw how Luhan had that smirk embedded on his face. “It just happened that I have two passes here given by a friend. And I just happened to see Kai in the theater a while ago so I asked him to accompany me,” Krystal nervously explained.

‘So they are hiding their relationship,’ Luhan thought. He gave them a smile. “Relax. We are not asking anything although, that explains a lot. I mean, I’ve never seen you and Kai to be this close in school. But whatever it is, we really don’t need an explanation,” Luhan smiled at them which cause Kai’s eyes to roll. “Right, Seyoon?” Luhan continued.

Seyoon nodded her head. Surprisingly, she seemed aloof, emotionless, uninterested after seeing Kai and Krystal together. Luhan was expecting a different reaction, probably surprise or something, and so was Kai but they got nothing. Instead, she gave a reaction like she didn’t care at all, and she smiled.

But Seyoon knew that deep inside, she was holding it all in, the pinched she received somewhere in her chest when Luhan nudged her and pointed at Kai and Krystal, together. Good thing, she had mastered the act of putting a cold face after all these years, especially in front of Kai.

“Well, I guess I don’t need to explain our side. I mean, the rumor has already spread around the school so…AH!” Luhan growled in pain when he felt Seyoon nudged his right abdomen, somewhere near his ribcage, and it hurt so badly.

“Don’t mind him. We are only here to have fun,” Seyoon said, trying to sound cool.

“So where are you guys heading to?” Luhan asked them. The two looked at each other and shrugged, clueless of what they should do next especially when they were distracted seeing Seyoon and Luhan there.

“That’s too bad then. Well, Seyoon and I have plans so we’ll get going,” Luhan said, grabbing Seyoon's hand. Kai, for no apparent reason, instinctively looked at their linked hands. 

“No. Why don’t you come with us?” Seyoon said. Luhan and Kai looked at her, surprised. Luhan was disappointed. Just when he thought he was lucky enough to have the whole day with just him and Seyoon alone, he was wrong. And Kai, on the other hand, didn’t expect her sudden invitation. He thought that his and Krystal’s presence might intimidate them or what, but she seemed not to care at all.

‘‘What are you saying?’’ Luhan mumbled in a voice that only Seyoon could hear.

“What?” Seyoon scowled in a low voice.

Seeing the two, Kai noticed that their relationship was different now compared to the time when Luhan just came back from China. It just a few weeks, they were already close. Although they were merely teasing each other, he knew that feeling of closeness. He didn’t know what to reply to them. Would he accept her invitation? Or would he just let them alone together? Afterall, he was there for Krystal. And it was not a group date, but two separate dates. He looked at them. Took a deep breath and, “I think we are…”