02; Dare.
The Joys and Sorrows of Our Love
Jaemin shook her head with a small smile on her lips when she heard the commotion outside her door. She slipped into her school shoes and unlocked her front door, revealing 3 rowdy boys and a girl, fooling around.
Jaemin winced as the cold wind blew against her. She quickly stepped out of her house, locking the door. "Good morning, Min!" SooJung beamed and engulfed her in a hug. "Morning, Jung." She greeted back and smiled at the others who were standing in front of her.
Jaemin have hung out with Lay and his other friends, together with SooJung, for a few times. But she wasn't really close with them. A familiar face caught her eyes and her brows scrunched together.
"It's really cold, let's get going guys." Lay's voice interrupted her thoughts. They began making their way towards school and Jaemin trailed behind the last few since SooJung was with Lay and she didn't want to disturb them. She stared at the ground while walking, kicking the pebbles that were in her way.
"We have met again." A voice made her lift her head up. "Ah, it's you, Luhan, the one I bumped into yesterday! No wonder I found you so familiar." Jaemin chuckled softly. "Wow, you have seen me for a few times but still, you didn't recognise me yesterday?" Luhan raised one of his brows with a light smirk on his face.
"Well, you didn't too." Jaemin stuck her tongue out at him. A strong gust of wind swished past them and Jaemin sneezed. "Argh, this blazer doesn't help at all." She grumbled and tucked her hands into her pocket.
"Wear this, you are going to catch a cold at this rate." A navy blue sweater came into view. "It's okay, we are reaching school soon." Jaemin pushed the sweater back to Luhan gently. "If she's not going to take it, I am!" D.O popped out and grabbed the sweater from Luhan. "Thanks, Han. I was close to freezing to death." D.O muttered as he slipped his arms into the sweater.
"Perhaps you should freeze to death, you grumpy idiot." Luhan rolled his eyes and shoved him. "Whatever." D.O stuck his tongue out at Luhan cheekily. Jaemin chuckled and shook her head. "Jaemin!" Her head snapped towards the owner of the voice instantly.
SooJung was walking towards her with a smile on her face. She linked her arms with Jaemin's. "I have something to tell you." SooJung said sheepishly. The two of them stopped fooling around instantly and listened to SooJung intently.
All of them, excluding Luhan, were aware of the plan. "What is it?" Jaemin asked curiously. "You know who is Kai, right?" Jaemin nodded in response.
"Well, we have a dare for you." SooJung exclaimed. Clearly, she sounds excited. "A dare? About what?" Jaemin blinked, confused. "We would like you to help us bring the old Kai back. I suppose you do know what happened to him, right?" Jaemin met eyes with Lay and nodded. *Apparently he got dumped by a girl. And it was by a girl he loved deeply. It must be hard for him to accept it, that's why he's no longer like his old self.*
Jaemin have only met Kai once but through that one meeting, she knew that even though he seems really arrogant and a little hard to get along on the outside, he's actually very warm and cheeky. She hasn't really spoken to him before but she knew that the bond between Lay, the others and Kai must be strong.
"Wait, I don't get it." Luhan scratched his head and blinked. D.O rolled his eyes. "That's what happens when you have detention."
Luhan glared at him. "It isn't like I signed up for it either, you fool." D.O shoved Luhan and he bumped into Jaemin's shoulder. "Yah." Luhan shoved him back and the both of them got into a shoving contest.
Lay sighed and walked on the other side of SooJung. "So Jaemin, what's your decision? Are you going to accept the dare?" Jaemin frowned a little. "Well, it isn't really like a dare but I will accept it." She smiled.
Lay chuckled and nodded. "Trust me, Jaemin, it's not going to be easy."
"Lay!" D.O's voice interrupted their conversation. D.O was staring at a certain object a distance away from them. "Kai?" SooJung mumbled softly. Jaemin turned towards the front and caught sight of a figure.
He was walking with his head hung low, hands tucked into his pockets. A figure ran up towards Kai, it was Luhan. He slung his arm around Kai's shoulder. Kai halted in his tracks and the both of them spun around.
Now that Kai's face was visible, it was evident that he lost a significant amount of weight. His brown locks were tousled and the dark eye rings emphasized on his pale complexion even more.
He smiled weakly at the others and it hurts even more that he's trying to pretend that he's fine. "Hi guys." Kai greeted when the small gap between them were closed up.
Lay knew that it was best to leave Kai alone for the time being so he and SooJung were in their own world again, leaving Jaemin alone. Jaemin glanced at the both of them and sighed. *What's so great about love? It's going to be you who ends up hurting in the end. So why do people even bother to sign themselves up for 'love'?*
"They are a sweet couple, aren't they?" Jaemin lifted her head up, her eyes widening a little when she saw that it was Kai who was beside her. She tore her eyes away from him and directed her gaze to SooJung and Lay who were in front of them.
"Yeah..." Jaemin muttered. Well, she got to agree that SooJung really do seem that she's genuinely happy when she's with Lay. Being her friend, Jaemin is happy for her too but deep down in her heart, she secretly hopes that Lay doesn't hurt her. *Lay seems like a good guy though, maybe I'm just worrying too much...*
Twisting her lips, Jaemin looked around and noticed that Baekhyun and Chanyeol wasn't around. Her eyes caught sight of Kai, who was staring at her. She blinked, a little flustered. "E-er, why are you staring at me like this?"
Kai chuckled softly. "You look cute when you are flustered." His laughter was like music and the way he smiles, was capable of making every single girls' knee wobble.
"I'm-" Jaemin didn't get to finish her sentence when she was flung against something hard. Her head and back collided into the cold, hard wall and it sent her crumbling down onto the floor. Jaemin was sprawled out on the floor, wincing at the pain shooting through her lower back.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?!"
Jaemin lifted her head up a little, catching a glimpse of the guy shouting. It was D.O who looking as if he's going to tear off the limbs of the girl standing in front of him. Luhan was standing behind D.O, holding him back by his arm. SooJung and Lay were nowhere to be seen.
"O-oppa, a filthy girl like her doesn't belong with you guys!" She retorted, stomping her foot.
Jaemin planted her palms onto the floor, trying to push herself up. *i have to get out of here, I'm not going to let myself be humiliated in front of everyone.*
But she collapsed back onto the floor the second she tried to get up.
"Don't even try to move." That was the last thing she heard before everything went black.
**
Jaemin's eyes peeled open and she lifted up her hand to block away the lights that were blinding her. She held onto her head which she could feel the pounding in her head. *Gosh, why is it hurting so much?*
"Hey, how do you feel?" Kai towered over her, waving his hands over her face. Jaemin lightly pushed his hand away. "I feel fine." She looked around the room she was in, her palms started to get clammy. "Am I... In the hospital?" She glanced Kai who was sitting by her bed.
He nodded. "You was unconscious and your head was bleeding so I brought you to the hospital. Thank goodness you are fine, you scared me." He placed a hand over his heart and exhaled heavily.
Jaemin's brows furrowed, she wasn't listening to him after the word 'hospital'. The only thing she knew was that she HAD to get out of the hospital. Fast.
"K-Kai?" Jaemin stuttered. "Can I get out of here please?" Her voice was trembling slightly.
Kai knew that she wasn't fit enough to be discharged yet but he saw the look in her eyes.
"Er, okay... I will get the necessary procedures done for you. Get a change of clothes in the meantime, alright? SooJung brought over a set of clothes for you." Kai said while glancing at Jaemin worriedly. Jaemin merely nodded in response and Kai slipped out of the ward, heading to the counter.
Kai returned to the ward only to find Jaemin, dressed in a grey hoodie and black shorts, sleeping on the couch. *I must have took quite some time, huh?* Kai had a hard time persuading the doctors to grant Jaemin's discharge. Apart from Jaemin's injury, Kai was also informed that she was too thin and she's been skipping meals.
*She's really too skinny.* Kai frowned as he made his way to the counter again, telling them he needs a cab. The nurse nodded and booked a cab for him. Kai went back into the ward and slung Jaemin's backpack over his shoulder.
He walked over to her carefully and slid his arms under her knees and neck, lifting her up from the couch easily. He didn't know why but he felt that he had the duty to take care of her. Something in her eyes earlier on told him that she was more than what she seems.
Sure, on the outside, she looks strong and cheerful. But Kai knew that she's not close to any of that under that pretense she's putting up. He placed her down onto the leather seat of the cab carefully before getting in himself. *Guess I have no choice but to bring her back to my place...*
After getting a address from Kai, the cab driver started driving while humming along to the song that the radio was playing. Kai glanced at Jaemin whose brows were furrowed. He placed his finger in the middle of her brows, smoothing them out. *Just what is it that's bothering you?*
A good 15 minutes later, the cab pulled to a stop in front of Kai's front porch. He paid the cab driver and lifted Jaemin up in his arms again. He had a hard time trying to unlock the front door but he finally managed to do so. Heaving a small sigh of relief, Kai walked up to his room and set Jaemin down onto his bed.
He pulled the covers over her and the heater since the temperature was dropping these days. He went towards his wardrobe and grabbed a fresh set of clothing, blankets and pillow before heading out of the room quietly.
Kai dumped the blankets and pillow on the couch before proceeding to take a shower. He took a quick but thorough shower so that he can be tucked under the comfy blankets soon.
Not even bothering to dry his dripping wet hair, Kai buried himself under the layers of blankets and knocked out immediately.
It's been long since he fell asleep voluntarily. For the past few weeks after the breakup, he couldn't sleep at all. He had to force himself to sleep using various methods every single day. That was why he was looking more and more horrendous as each day passes. But today, was the first that he finally felt that maybe, he will be able to let go of the past and move on.
There are lots of things that are not revealed yet as of now but rest assured, they will be revealed in the upcoming chapters!
ENJOY~
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