“Your family seems nice though.” Sehun kicked at a rock, leading the way to my house.

I snorted, following behind him down the rain-soaked street. He had kept his word on walking me home even though it was still drizzling out, something much better than the storm from earlier which we were still shivering from. No matter how cold I was, though, every time I recalled just what had happened only half an hour before, my chest buzzed with a certain warmth.

“Sure. Just crazy,” I told Sehun as we halted to wait for a moment to cross the street. We watched two pristine black cars pass.

“I think everyone is a little crazy if only for a second of their life,” he replied, stepping off the curb when the street cleared.

I walked after him, eyes on the sky where nighttime was falling seemingly faster because of the remaining storm clouds.

“Do you read? You always sound like you’re quoting some mighty book of verses.” I looked at him inquiringly, though all I saw was the back of his damp head. His hair was once again a mess from him combing his fingers through it every couple of minutes: a habit, I’d noticed.

Out of nowhere, I heard a splash and felt an elbow in my ribs before my feet were gone from the ground. I looked down to see his Nikes being drenched in the giant puddle as Sehun carried me heavily onto the sidewalk and roughly placed me back down, his hand almost knocking one of my ribs out of place.

“Are you aware that you ask the strangest questions?” he continued with our conversation, resuming our journey down the street.

I gazed down at the puddle he literally just carried me over before running to catch up with him, massaging my aching ribcage.

“I don’t ask just anyone those kinds of questions though.” I walked watching his footprints that he left behind from his wet shoes. Instead of walking beside him, I absently stepped in his footprints, realizing just how much longer his legs were and how they allowed him to take much more lengthy steps than me.

“Could you count on one hand who you’ve asked odd questions?” he asked, not even noticing what I was doing.

I jumped to his next right footprint. “Probably.”

“Names?”

I narrowed my eyes at his back. “Yes.”

He tilted his head back, apparently looking at the sky as his footprints faded out.

“Tell me,” he insisted.

Still trying to follow his footprints by watching where he was stepping, I thought for a few moments.

“You.”

“I don’t count. Name five people besides me.”

I missed a footstep, frowned, and raced to catch up with his next one.

“No fair. You said I just had to count them all on one hand,” I said, slowing down my steps as I was about to run into him.

“Okay, name three.”

“Can I please count you?” I asked.

“No.”

I huffed, making my annoyance known before stepping to the next left non-existent footprint. A person popped in my head as I shivered.

“My grandma.”

He nodded.

“Hmm . . . God. He counts.” I nodded towards the big man in the sky.

“Of course.”

I almost said Kim Taehyung but he was really the odd one that asked strange questions. I never really asked anyone else out of the ordinary questions.

“My dad, I guess. I get my weirdness from him. I don’t normally see him as often as I do my mom and sister but I always have good conversations with him,” I said, giving up on following his footprints: my calves were burning from the wide stepping I had to do. “He’s a wise person, very kind, long temper, honest.”

My dad was actually the one I had technically first approached about my bullying. I’d indirectly asked what his response would be if he were bullied just to see if I could discreetly get any advice. He told me to kill them with kindness, something I discarded right away. Even if I didn’t see him all too much because of work and school, he still made his love known to my sister, mom, and me. Sometimes he just seemed so wise that I feared asking for advice because I didn’t want him to be disappointed in me or hearing the very thing I knew I needed to hear but didn’t want to.

Sehun snickered quietly. “Daddy’s girl, huh?”

Scowling, I caught up to him with a quick jog. For a moment I considered retorting that he was a mama’s boy but decided to keep it to myself in case I soiled the moment like I’d almost done earlier but didn’t, thanks to Sehun.

“Well, you know what they say?” I blurted, ready to defend myself.

Sehun glanced over. “No, I don’t. What?”

I went blank for a good comeback.

“I don’t either.” I shrugged, scuffing my shoes against the sidewalk. “Old folks are always like: ‘they say the beach ain’t what you think it is,’ or ‘they say a seaweed facial a week keeps the wrinkles away.’ But who is ‘they’?”

“I think you mean ‘who are they’?”

“Don’t correct me,” I snapped.

Sniff