Her cousin stood side by side with Yoongi to her right. The to Shindae unfamiliar sight didn’t seem as unusual to the younger girl though. She seemed more than familiar in Yoongi’s presence. The hooked fingers with the ash blond boy to her left was the proof. They had grown awfully close since the meeting at the mall and Shindae found herself wondering how and when this happened. A short guess was the involvement of the redhead, with the satisfied smirk.

She cursed under her breath upon hearing her cousin’s voice. “Thanks again for the dress.”

“Why are you here?” was Shindae’s immediate response as her eyes lingered on the girl’s devious smile.

“I was invited,” Hyejoon casually replied with a small shrug of her shoulders.

“Why…” Shindae paused shortly as her eyes shifted from her cousin to Yoongi “ are you with him?”.

“Simple,” the world rolled from her cousins tongue.

Shindae arched an eyebrow at the strange response. Hyejoon lifted the lid of the purse on her shoulder and took out a rectangle object with a familiar size. Somehow dumbfounded by the object being in her cousin’s possession, the red haired kept eyeing the piece even after Hyejoon showed its face to her. The familiar polaroid with her and her cousin on the beach caught her attention completely. opened to speak, but she was forced to swallow her words when her cousin took the rope first.

“You were incompetent,” she heard her say. “Because of your inability to get this back, I had no choice but to step in myself.”

Shocked was an understatement to Shindae’s state right then, just before her expression changed into utter rage. She felt betrayed. “You little…”

“We had a deal, a very simple one. I’d give her what she wanted, if she gave me what I wanted.” she heard Yoongi interrupt her.

What he wanted? Now that was another mystery to her. What exactly had he been scheming and how long? When did they start working together? Shindae’s glare landed on an unfazed Hyejoon, whose smile really started to anger her. She hadn’t expected her to go against her like this. Not when she was supposed to have her back. It stung, badly. When her gaze locked back with Yoongi’s, she officially titled him as her nemesis.

“I hope you got what you wanted, Min Yoongi. I’m out.” she announced before turning away from the tree, seeking the exit of this hellhole.

Before she could even reach the door however, the taller ash blond boy had moved, effectively blocking  her escape route. Soon enough he was joined by Hyejoon right beside him. She cast her deadliest scowl at them, expecting them to give in. The expression that usually caused people to either turn away or flee from the scene, didn’t seem to have an impact as strong anymore. She kept it up though, watching the new couple slide through the door and slam it shut. Another heavy sound booming against the wood, told her that she wouldn’t be able to escape anytime soon.

“ing great.” she cursed audibly, not minding whether the other person in the room heard it or not.

She glanced back over her shoulder, to find Yoongi standing at the same spot and still staring at her. She turned around completely, facing him for the nth time that day. Frustrated, angry, sad and above all tired. How important was this game that he had to turn her cousin, a complete stranger to him, against her? How far was he willing to go, for whatever he wanted? What was the purpose of all of this?

“Still working on it.”

His words came after a pause that had lasted at least a minute and hence threw Shindae off guard for yet another moment. She had almost forgotten about her indirect question, assuming she was never going to receive an answer. She wasn’t supposed to care about that answer. This whole plot, this whole sly planning behind her back should be enough reason not to care anymore. To just leave and not turn back. Why was she still curious?

“On what?” escaped from her lips, before she could catch her words.

“Getting what I want, Song Shindae, is not as easy as retrieving a simple photograph. Although your cousin also acquired more than that.” Yoongi’s tone was smooth, almost as if he was reciting a poem, if not for the content.

“Do you remember Shindae?” he then asked, his voice a bit more prominent.

The girl had taken note of the dropping of honorifics and arched her eyebrow. But she kept silent as a sign for him to continue.

“The times I fell, because of- no, for you.” he continued, slowly stepping to her. “And the times I took something from you.”

“I stole a kiss and then fell, at our first meeting under your tree. The hallway was when I fell for the second time and the picture was the second thing I took.”

Yoongi was now a step away, looking down at her with a questionable fondness in his eyes that Shindae could not seem to place. She caught a glimpse of his front teeth behind his small smile. The shivers ran down her spine when he spoke up again.

“They say third time’s the charm right?” he voiced in a barely audible whisper, he took another daring step. “You made me fall again, Song Shindae.”

Yoongi’s hands moved up, trailing her bare arms with a feather light touch upwards. They lingered on her shoulders for a second, before continuing along the path up her neck. She was completely immobile and eventually felt his hands come to a halt, cupping her face. His touch sent electrifying surges all over her body, causing her breath to hitch and heart beat to skip too many times to be good for her health. She felt his right thumb grazing her left earlobe and clenched her jaws.

“And this time, it’s your heart I’ll be taking.”

With Yoongi’s raspy voice dying out, his thumb grazed her lower lip. Light and gentle, almost as if asking permission. And when she kept silent, his face drifted forwards down to hers. There was barely any space left between their lips. She could feel warm whiffs of air meet her lips and chin. His scent overwhelmed her, clouding her mind and preventing it from thinking clearly. Or thinking at all actually.

The thumb that had been caressing her lower lip was replaced by a much softer touch. When Shindae seemed to respond to the kiss, he took the chance to lift her chin slightly granting him with better contact. After a satisfying moment spent in bliss, Yoongi was the first to break the contact. His hands remained in the same place, cupping her face, while he gazed at her with a gaze that Shindae had never expected to see him with.

His eyes sparkled, seemingly in delight, while looking at her. She was mesmerised by the smile playing at his lips and the adoration he expressed. Shindae wasn’t sure where it had come from and if this was the reason he had been playing this ridiculous game of tag with her. Was it to get her attention and trap her in her position? She couldn’t deny that she liked seeing Yoongi with this expression. She could most definitely not deny that the way he looked at her, made butterflies flutter. And the kiss, god, the kiss.

“You’re an .” Shindae heard herself say.

The hurt in her voice was more than she intended to show. A waterfall of emotions downed on her and Yoongi saw the girl’s walls collapse more easily than ice cream would melt on a hot summer day. His smile didn’t fall, nor did he remove his hands from her face. Instead his thumbs gentle circles on the skin of her cheeks on both sides, in an attempt to reassure her and calm her down. He waited patiently for her to continue.

“You’re a bastard, Min Yoongi.” she affirmed and he saw yet another wall collapse in her eyes. “You had no right to play with my feelings like that.”

At that moment Yoongi’s left hand stopped and trailed down her right arm. He wrapped his hand around her smaller one, lifting it until it rested against his cheek. A simple glance at her told her everything, when his fingers eased off. Shindae drew back her hand and with a mild pressure, struck the boy’s face. He didn’t move, nor showed any reaction. The smile was still there, the twinkle in his eyes still directed to her. And she hated it.

“I hate you.”

Yoongi let out a small laugh, delighted and amused. He took half a step back and this time leaned in again, closing every space between them. His arms wrapped around the shorter girl’s frame, enveloping her in his warmth and the scent that blurred her mind, but also soothed her. There was no need to hold herself back. Shindae realised long ago that the betrayal she had felt wasn’t only because of her cousin. It was also directed to him. She had no idea with what expectations she came to this party of his, but she was sure that unconsciously she didn’t dislike this.

“Well, then we have a problem, Shindae-noona.” He spoke and the girl could hear the smile in his voice. “Because I’m pretty sure, I love you.”

Shindae’s arms wrapped around Yoongi’s torso, clinging onto him like a small child. His voice brought a warm smile to her face and a tingling impression in her chest.

It was a good 20 minutes later that the two popped up in the living room again. Although a bit awkward, the two were side by side. Yoongi donning half a crooked smile and Shindae with her neutral face. Saenan and Chaima were the first to spot them and without restrain approached the even newer couple. The satisfied grins on their faces was something Shindae wanted to punch out as soon as she saw it.

“Is this a new couple thing, or something?” Chaima asked, eyeing the two with increased interest.

“Well, I guess red looks good on you.” Saenan added her two cents.

A whistle took Yoongi’s chance at a comeback and he was forced to seek the source to his right. “Looking awfully close. I bet something good happened.” Namjoon intersected.

More comments flew by and Yoongi seemed not to mind the teasing much. Instead he had a response that weirdly enough, was okay with Shindae as well.

“I’ll let this go today, because I’m in a good mood.” A parade of cheering followed. “Tomorrow however, you’re all dead.”

This time the response was silent with a soft groan here and there. Shindae had brief eye contact with her cousin, flashing her an expression Hyejoon was familiar with. ‘I’ll deal with you later.’ To which Hyejoon responded the sweetest smile she could muster up.