“Where’s Tao?” I asked.

                “The guy’s in the restroom, I don’t want to know what he’s doing there,” Kris answered.

                It’s still early and I’m with Kris at the moment, processing the whole checking out. Our stay here at palace hotel has been the most peaceful, and now that we’re out, we are back once again on a rollercoaster ride. I just pray that nothing will happen as early as now. Just, at least this day, help us arrive at our destination without any problem.

                Kris is standing beside me like a model. He is absolutely fashionable compared to the others. We are still inside and though the sun’s not blinding him, he’s wearing shades. People in the lobby are attracted to him, probably whispering who he is. Kris is Chinese, but really he has distinct American features. He could pass as a Hollywood star.

                The rest of the 8 are just sitting on the couches laid out in the lobby. Sehun is sipping his bubble tea and I’m resisting the urge to ask him if his stomach is not aching at all from doing that. Xiumin and Chanyeol are just silent in one corner, wearing their earphones and listening to music. Kai, on the other hand, was reading a newspaper. Sometimes, I think how Kai is so mature. Seriously, do teenagers even read newspaper? D.O. keeps fiddling with his bag, probably checking if all of his things are there. He’s another responsible dude, to be honest. Luhan is nowhere in sight.

                “Where’s Luhan?” I asked.

                “He’s probably out in the front, paying for service or so,” Kris said.

                “Oh okay.”

                We went back to where the others are but Kris and I didn’t sit. Once there, I went straight to business.

                “Ready to go?”

                “Yoyoyo!” Chanyeol burst out gleefully. He pulled his earphones out and painted on his face his signatory but creepy smile. “I’m ready for Busan!”

                Yes, Busan. That’s where we have to go. The travel to the city takes at least 3 – 4 hours. Last night, we called the house of Han Yoo Jin to inform them that we are coming. We explained the whole situation and they perfectly understood. The one I’ve talked to is Yoo Jin’s great grand son and he sounded a lot like a teenager. He said the only people living now in their place is him and his grandmother which is the wife of the son of Han Yoo Jin. Their family is pure duirean, he pointed out. He also said that they’ve been getting a lot of weird auras lately and now he knew what that was all about. They will wait for us to arrive there so we could have a good talk about the matter. Apparently,  phone deals are very eavesdrop-prone. I thanked him and ended the conversation.

                The funny thing is, we talked a lot, fixed a lot of schedules, and I didn’t even ask his name.

                Suddenly, I felt someone put his hands on my shoulder blades. 

                “Everything’s ready,” Luhan informed me. “We can go.”

                We went out of the front door only to be welcomed by a van. Luhan said he already paid for it to drive us straight to Busan. I didn’t even think about doing that. All this time, I was thinking of riding the bus. Then again, I’ve never been used to having a lot of money. This set-up, if it was the me back then, would have been my last choice.

                D.O. went ahead and sat in the front seat. I entered the van first so that I will get the back most space. Luhan soon followed and sat right beside me. When Kris entered, he looked at us and I could see how badly he wanted to roll his eyes. He took the seat in front of us which made Luhan chuckle and soon Tao, and Xiumin followed. Kai and Sehun took the seats just behind the driver’s. As soon as the door was slid shut, the van started moving.

                “Nervous?” Luhan asked me, lacing his hand on mine and putting it on his lap.

                “No, not really,” I said. “I just want this to get over with. I just hope that we’re on the right track and not wasting time unnecessarily.”

                “Hey,” he said, looking at me with those bright eyes of his. “You were the one who thought of this. I’m sure you can’t be wrong.”

                “I don’t know…” I admitted. “I just had this sudden feeling, like instinct. You know how unreliable that is.”

                “But you’re different,” he assured. “I’m not even doubting any of your decisions.”

                “Really?” I said, and smiled at him.

                And then his gaze lowered down to my lips. He tugged my hand that he was holding so that my shoulders bump into his. I was starting to melt with his stare when he suddenly looked away to the front of the van.

                “Yaaa~” Luhan said but it wasn’t that loud. Everyone turned and I was kind of embarrassed to be seen so close to Luhan. I looked slowly up to see where Luhan's gaze is directed. It turned out he was fighting a staring contest with D.O. who was, I can see, resisting the urge to grin.

                “You said you can’t read…?” Luhan started, and I just know the next word. “MINDS”. Of course, he didn’t say it out loud. The driver is a mortal after all. But still, everyone got it so there’s no problem.

                So this is what this is all about. D.O. read what the hell is in Luhan’s mind. I bet he warned him or something. I got embarrassed about this. But I can’t stop thinking how I would like to have D.O’s duire right now.

                “I’ve been improving and was just testing it out,” D.O. defended himself. “I’ve found out it’s easier when the topic is about Mi Yeon.”

                “SO CAN YOU READ MINE NOW?” I asked D.O., dreading the answer. For all I know, I might have dirtier thoughts than Luhan.

                “Still can’t,” D.O. said. “It’s really harder with you. And the first time I was able to do it is only now. With Luhan.”

                To say that I was relieved is a bit of an understatement. I was feeling ecstatic at the moment. Just then, Chanyeol opened his mouth to say, “It’s not like we don’t know what you guys are doing.”

                “Yeah,” Kris said. “Stop being around each other too much.”

                “I was aching to say that, thanks for the favor, Kris,” Sehun added.

                “Shut up,” I told Sehun. It’s almost become a habit of mine to retort back to him.

                “Did I ever tell you that D.O. is messing up my pace?” Luhan suddenly turned his head and whispered to me.

                I know that was an innocent question, but I felt blood rushing to my cheeks. I took a peek at Luhan, only to see him surprised at my reaction. Soon enough, he realized what the issue is with his utterance. This made him smirk. 

                Gd. I’m going to be teased about this forever. Pabo Mi Yeon.

                                Luhan then draped his arm around my shoulder. 

                “Oh yeah, I remember now,” he whispered in a low voice. I looked away to hide my embarrassment. “The last time I said that, we were doing something interesting.”

                “Did anyone here what I just said?” Kris asked no one in particular. 

                Both Luhan and I chuckled at this. I found out it was kind of funny to irritate Kris. As I was having my own amusement however, I saw Kai slumped down rather indignantly on his seat and quickly put his earphones on.

                Recently, I’ve been feeling a bad aura around him kike he’s still not getting over the whole ideal. I noticed too that he’s still not talking to Tao. But maybe, I was just overanalyzing things.

                I don’t know if Luhan saw it too, but when I turned to him he was smiling at me and he pushed my head gently down his shoulder.

………….

                For the most part, I just slept and slept. There was this weird moment when I woke up and Chanyeol was singing while Kris was fooling with him. I’m not sure if that was just a dream, but I didn’t know that the two of them were getting close. After that, the van stopped at the gas station for a while and Xiumin and Kai went out. I don’t exactly what they did.

                I remember Luhan asking me if I was hungry, but I said no.  And then I asked him if he could sing to me. He did, but I don’t know if he was shy because it was so soft but at least he did. There were no lyrics, just a soft tune and I found myself slowly drifting back to sleep.

…………….

                The next time I woke up, the only ones in the van are Luhan and me. Luhan was sleeping on top of my head. He doesn’t snore and that I kept in my mind. I slightly turned my head, careful not wake Luhan up, and looked out of the tinted window just to notice Kris and Tao standing like guards close to the van. I can’t see where the others have gone to. I also don’t have any idea why even the driver is not around. I haven’t been to Busan before but I just know that we are already in the place, or probably just the outskirts of town.

                I looked at my wrist watch and saw that it’s already been 3 and 30 minutes since we’ve gone on this ride. Still, I didn't feel like we’re running late, so I just stayed put in my position and turned my head to get a good look at Luhan.

                I think this is the first time that I’ve seen him sleeping. He looks so peaceful and so much like a baby. I smiled to myself. Before I realized it, I had my hand held out and touching his face. He has such smooth skin, smoother than mine I think. His face was bright despite knowing that he’s probably not having enough sleep from worrying. I touched his long eyelashes and then traced down the curve of his nose. I don’t know what’s gotten into me but this is really the first time that I’m watching him up close without having my eyes shut too. Doing this, it made me realize how perfect his features are. After his nose, I touched his cheeks lightly and accidentally grazed his pink lips. They look so soft, but it does not compare to how soft they actually feel when their on mine. There was a small scar at the right corner of his lip, mostly hidden (probably the reason why I’ve only noticed it now), but it doesn’t matter to me. He still looks wonderful.

                I know I’m probably having indecent thoughts right now but looking at his lips just make my heart palpitate. I just stayed like that, watching his lips as I felt his cold breath on my skin. My heart was still beating loudly, almost like I can see it bouncing off the corners of the van. I don’t why, I don’t know when this happened to me. I used to admire only his face since we’ve met. I remember that I even thought he was following me when we’re in fact, classmates. I remember accusing him of just getting close to me because I’m the heir. I remember that night when we first kissed. But I don’t remember how I’ve fallen for him this hard. It just kinda happened. This liking…that is gradually turning to something I can’t even name myself.

                I must have been crazy and downright out of my mind because the next moment, I felt myself leaning towards him and grazed my lips on his. If my heart was beating loudly a while ago, now, it’s beating wildly. Will my heart ever get used to this?

                I meant for it to be just a peck after I quickly realized what I was doing. But just when I pulled out, Luhan put his right hand at the back of my head, and brought my lips back to his, all these with his eyes still closed. His lips started moving against mine gently and softer than ever before. As always, I got caught up with him. I put my arm around his nape as he put his other around my waist. We were kissing like it was the first time and the feeling never changed. I was still drawn that much into him, and I hope that he is too.

                When he pulled back, he looked straight into my eyes and said, “Why were you trying to move away so quickly? That was a really nice way to wake me up. I could get used to it.”

                I was still red from what we’ve done but I still managed to scoff. “I see you’re getting spoiled.”

                He let out a laugh, like he’s really a child and that kind of tickled my heart. I wish I could see him like this forever: carefree and just happy. Knowing that I’m probably causing it is really making my heart burst.

                Luhan put his arms around my body and hugged me really tight. “Aigoo~” he said. “My Mi Yeon is accusing me when she’s the one doing the spoiling.”

                “Tss,” I said, jokingly trying to break out of his grip. “Let me go, jerk.”

                “Nopes, don’t think so,” he said. “I’m never going to get you out of my sight.”

                “You’re such a child!” I said.

                “So? You like this child still…” he grinned. “Anyway,” he said, touching the corner of my lips. “Thank you.”

                “Hmm? For what?” I said.

                “Nothing,”