Jaemin shifted her gaze to her floor as she walked through the gates of the school. Murmurs and whispers could be heard but she ignored them. She was already used to them. 

"Jaemin!" A voice caught her attention. She halted in her tracks and turned back. Luhan was running towards her. "You have to come with me right now." He grabbed Jaemin's arm and dragged her towards where he came from. 

"Luhan! What's going on?" Before Luhan could answer her, he skidded to a stop suddenly and Jaemin bumped into him. She was about to demand for an answer when she caught sight of the scene right in front of them. *Isn't that Kai? And that girl is the one he still can't get over. What on earth is going on?* 

Kai was over at Jaemin's house on Saturday morning but he left after she fell asleep and she didn't see him on Sunday. "Luhan, shouldn't we do something?" 

Luhan let go of her arm and turned around to face her. “Jaemin, there are things about Kai that you have to know.” Jaemin’s brows furrowed as she stared straight into Luhan’s eyes, waiting for him to carry on.

“Kai parents are the ones running Seoul General Hospital. That girl who is speaking with Kai, Jaein, her father owns a company that manufactures medical supplies and equipments. From young, Kai parents expected him to be the successor of the hospital but Kai wasn’t keen, at all. He had absolutely no interest in medicine, his goal is to be a lawyer in the future. When his parents were aware of that, they cut off all ties with Kai. He was thrown out of the house, he was 14 that year. His parents bought a small apartment for him and paid all the bills for him but all these years, they didn’t call or visit him to check up on him. His parents were very strict. He didn’t have the access to entertainment, he wasn’t allowed to step out of the house to play. At the young age of 6, he was sent to various private tutors to be taught the materials that he should only be exposed to at least 3 years later. Picking himself up from a heartbreak, he was almost there. But…” Luhan trailed off.

“But?” Jaemin pressed on. “His parents were behind all of that. They arranged for Jaein to get close to Kai and make him fall in love with her. Their plan was for them to get married and Kai’s parents will be able to get their medical supplies and equipments from Jaein’s father company at a lower price. But Jaein wasn’t in love with Kai at all. She has someone else in her heart. So she dumped him that day and fabricated a lie saying that she was just playing around with him.”

“So what made her decide to tell Kai the truth?”

Luhan shook his head. “I don’t know. I left before she could explain further to look for you.”

Jaemin’s head tilted towards the side slightly. “To look for me? Hold on for a moment. You were there when Jaein was telling all of that to Kai?”

Luhan nodded. “I figured out you were probably the only one that’s able to help him.”

Jaemin wasn’t listening at all. Her eyes were glued on Kai who was making his way towards them. He walked past them, not acknowledging their presence at all.

“I’m not so sure about that…” Jaemin said softly as she watched his figure fade away in the crowds.

**

Jaemin stood in front of her locker, staring at the books inside blankly. For the entire day she couldn’t concentrate on anything. Her mind was wandering off all the time.

“Excuse me, are you Yoon Jaemin?” Jaemin felt a light tap on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Jaein standing beside her.

“Yes, I am. Is there anything I can help you with?” She asked politely. Jaein bit her lower lip and curled a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “This morning I overheard Kai telling Luhan that he was going to check on you so I would like to ask for a favour from you. Can you help me look for him and check whether he’s alright? I went to your class but he wasn’t there, all his belongings weren’t there either. So I’m guessing that he ditched the remaining half of the lessons for the day.”

Jaemin twisted her lips and looked away. “As much as I want to help, I can’t. I don’t know where I can find him at.”

“I’m pretty sure he went to the café he frequents. He mentioned before that he goes there whenever he needs to clear his mind. Here’s the address.”

Jaemin stared at the piece of paper held out by Jaein for a few seconds before taking it from her.

“Thanks a lot, Jaemin.” Jaemin gave her a small nod and she walked away, heading to her class.

Eyes scanning through the address written neatly on the piece of paper, Jaemin let out a small gasp. *Well, I guess ditching the rest of the lessons for today won’t be wasted since I can report earlier for my shift.*

Sighing softly, Jaemin locked her locker and grabbed her bag from the classroom before heading off to the cafe.

**

There he was, sitting at the table by the window and staring at the vehicles cruising down the streets.

“Jaemin! Shouldn’t you be in school right now?” Jaemin’s fellow colleague, MiYoon, asked when she caught sight of her standing by the door.

Jaemin tore her eyes away from Kai. “Class was boring today so I decided to report earlier today.” Jaemin shrugged. She made her way towards the employees’ room and changed into her uniform. She walked out of the room, heading towards the counter while adjusting her uniform.

“Hey, isn’t that guy from your school as well?” MiYoon nudged Jaemin and she lifted her head up. She casted a glance towards Kai and nodded. “Yeah, he is. What’s the matter?”

MiYoon shook her head and fiddled around with the cups stacked on the counter. “Nothing, he just looks a little... troubled.”

“Excuse me?” A voice interrupted the train of thoughts in Jaemin’s mind. She hurried towards the cashier when she caught sight of a guy. “Sorry. What would you like to get, sir?” She asked with a forced smile on her face.

Jaemin’s brows scrunched together while she examined the abnormally tall guy standing in front of her.

“Can I have a cup of iced latte?” Blinking, Jaemin nodded while keying his order into a machine. “That would be 4 bucks in total, sir.”

Jaemin took the notes from his outstretched hand and a brown wristband caught her eyes. *It’s him! I gave him that wristband as a birthday present for his birthday when he was 9!*

“T-thank you. Please take a seat, your drink will be served shortly.” Jaemin gaped at him when he approached Kai’s table and took a seat across his. *Wait... What?! That giant knows Kai?!*

Jaemin rubbed her forehead with her eyes still fixed on the both of them. She covered when a cough escaped from out of a sudden. Her brows furrowed in frustration. *Why isn’t this cough going away yet?!*

Kai’s eyes fleeted over to Jaemin when he heard a cough. *What is she doing here?! Shouldn’t she be in school?*

She started preparing the cup of iced latte since MiYoon was nowhere to be seen. Well, there weren’t many customers around either. She placed the cup of iced latte on a tray and lifted it up from the counter, walking towards Kai’s table. *Let’s see if you will recognise me, Kris Wu Fan.*

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Kai was eying her with one of his brows raised.  

Jaemin placed the cup down on the table gently before turning towards Kai. Jaemin shrugged. “You should be in school too.”

“Ah, the freedom of a university student.” Kris said sarcastically while sipping on his iced latte. “Shut up, you giant.” Jaemin snapped at him. Kai was gawking at her while Kris was looking at her with confusion written all over his face. *Only that brat calls me a giant...*

“You... Brat!” Kris knocked Jaemin’s forehead without even having to get up from his seat. Jaemin scowled while rubbing her forehead. “Argh. Curse you and your overdeveloped limbs.” Jaemin mumbled while staring at Kris.

Kris snickered. “I heard that, brat.”

Kai looked between Jaemin and Kris with his mouth slightly agape. “Do you two know each other?”

Jaemin snorted. “Yeah, I sure do.” Jaemin stuck her tongue out at Kris. Kris chuckled and shook his head. “So how have you been? How are Uncle and Auntie?”

Jaemin froze at his question and she swallowed hard. She caught Kai looking at her and she quickly averted her gaze.

“Jaemin! You are needed here!” Jaemin let out a small sigh of relief and quickly excused herself from the both of them.

Time passed by quickly with the never ending amount of customers Jaemin had to attend to. She didn’t even notice that Kris and Kai were already gone.

“I will get going first, MiYoon. See you soon!” Jaemin directed her voice towards the employees’ room where MiYoon was in.

“See you soon too, Jaemin! Be sure to keep yourself warm on your back home, it’s getting really cold these days!” MiYoon shouted.

“I will!” Jaemin smiled and slipped into her school blazer. She grabbed her phone from the counter and slipped her arms through the straps of her backpack.

She quickly answered the call when her phone started vibrating.

“Yah, Jaemin! Where did you go today? How dare you skip school without telling me?!”

Jaemin chuckled softly and pushed open the door, stepping out of the cafe. “Sorry, Jung. Something popped out today so I had to leave early.” Jaemin unconsciously shivered at the low temperature.

“Psh. Have you heard about what happened to Kai?”

Jaemin sighed softly. “Yeah, I did.”

“Hey, stop sighing! Your job was to cheer him up! Have you forgotten about that?”

“I know, Jung. But it isn’t easy!” Jaemin admitted.

“I understand, Min. We wouldn’t have asked for your help if we are capable of cheering him up. Hey, I have to go. Lay is waiting for me.” SooJung giggled shyly.

Jaemin shuddered. “Argh, spare me from all the lovey dovey details, Jung. Alright, I will see you tomorrow then.”  

“See you tomorrow too!” SooJung chirped before ending the call. Jaemin slipped her phone into her skirt pocket and sighed.

“How many times are you planning to sigh today?” Jaemin jumped and whipped around, eyes wide in surprise.

“What the hell, Kai?! You scared me!” Jaemin narrowed her eyes at him. Kai shrugged and closed up the gap between them with a few large strides.

“What are you doing here? I thought you left the cafe long ago?” Jaemin asked while staring at her shoes.

“I was waiting for you outside the cafe but you didn’t notice me.” Kai said while glancing at Jaemin. “And there was something I wanted to ask you about.”

Jaemin’s head snapped up immediately. “What is it?”

Kai cleared his throat awkwardly. “You seemed a little uneasy when Kris mentioned about your... parents.”

Jaemin bit her lower lip and directed her gaze to her floor. “Oh, about that... It’s a long story.” Jaemin said softly.

“There’s still a long way till your house but it’s okay if you are not comfortable with it.”

The both of them walked in silence for a little while.

“Everything started going downhill when I was 14. My mum was diagnosed with lung cancer and she was admitted into the hospital. From that day onwards, my father would come home drunk every night and on certain nights, he would vent his anger on me. He would whip me, kick me or punch me. Perhaps the news of losing my mum soon was too devastating for him. My mum stayed in the hospital for a year and she passed away when her organs started failing her. My father kicked me out of the house after the funeral was over, blaming my mum’s death on me. So that was how I ended up working to get myself enough money to be able to continue studying in school and to get a roof over my head.” Jaemin lifted her head up when she didn’t get a response from Kai.

She found him staring straight into her eyes. “W-why are you looking at me like that?” She stuttered a little due to Kai’s intense gaze.

Kai smiled and looked away. “You look so strong outside, Jaemin. No one will ever guess that life was that tough on you.”

Jaemin snorted. “Well, don’t judge a book by its cover.”

“But there’s still a thing that I can’t figure out though.” Kai met her eyes with traces of seriousness in his eyes. “Why does everyone in school pick on you that much?”

Jaemin blinked. “Er... The night that I was thrown out of the house by my father, some students from our school witnessed it. They heard the names my father was hurling at me – , , and so on. So well, I guess that they mistook that my mum died because I seduced my Dad or something?” Jaemin chuckled bitterly as she faced the front once again.

Just a few more minutes and they will reach Jaemin’s house.

“There’s something seriously wrong about their brains.” Kai mumbled and scowled. Jaemin laughed and nudged him in the arm. “Why are you so worked up? You look like you are capable of tackling down a bull right now.”

Kai glanced at Jaemin who had a radiant smile plastered on her face and her eyes were curled into crescents. *How do you manage to be so cheerful when everyone is sprouting nonsense about you?*

Jaemin halted in her tracks suddenly and Kai nearly bumped into her if his reflexes weren’t that fast. They were standing in front of Kai’s house. Jaemin spun around and faced him.

“Goodbye, Kai! I will see you in school tomorrow. No more ditching!” Jaemin narrowed her eyes at him and wagged a finger at him. 

Kai swatted her hand away. “It won’t hurt by ditching the remaining half of the lessons. Wait, I’m the one who was supposed to walk you home, not you!” Kai stomped his foot on the ground cutely.

Jaemin laughed. “My house is just down the street. What could possibly happen to me?” She stuck her tongue out at Kai.

Kai frowned. He knew this was a battle he had to lose. “Fine, see you in school tomorrow then. Be careful on your way back even though it’s less than a minute walk from here. It’s already night now.” Kai nagged on and on and on.

Jaemin clamped her hands over her ears. “I got it, Kai umma! I will get going then!” She said cheekily while waving and walking down the street towards her house.

Kai scowled and waved back to her. He glanced at her retreating figure for a few more seconds before heading into his apartment. *Yoon Jaemin, you sure are a special girl.* 

Tadah, her past! I have a feeling it ........ :x

Like it's too cliche? Sigh. 

But anyway, let's welcome KRISSSSSS~ wohoooo.