Chapter 17 -Ticklish

Jea: I miss you :‘(

Aerin: What are you talking about? We see each other almost every day...

Jea: Yeah, but it's been so long since the three of us hung out at my place!

Jea: Come over after school?

Jea: Chaerin is also coming but there is no one to babysit Yejin so she is coming with us

Jea: Fun right?

Aerin: Us hanging out or the fact that we have to babysit Yejin?

Jea: Us hanging out, babysitting is never fun :)

Aerin: Lol, I disagree but alright

Aerin: I’ll come over after school then

‘’And he said he would take me there some time. That would be a date then right?’’ Chaerin asked with sparkling eyes. She was going on and on about Yongguk. To the point it was driving me insane. This didn’t apply to Jea. She was nodding in excitement, agreeing with every word Chaerin spilled.

‘’Chaerin?’’ I interrupted at some point.

‘’Hmm?’’

‘’Is you sister managing down stairs? I mean… isn’t it quite mean of us to hang out here while she’s all alone down there.’’ The moment we entered the house, the three us went upstairs, dumping Yejin in the living room with the television on. Or actually Chaerin did, I wanted to stay with Yejin but Chaerin had promised to only tell us one story she wanted to tell before we would go downstairs and keep an eye on her sister. We didn’t though. It had been twenty minutes and I felt guilty towards poor Yejin.

‘’Are you kidding me? That’s not mean. She’s five years old, she’ll manage perfectly as long as the television is on. Besides I don’t want her to hear about Yongguk, she’ll tell my mom. The little brat.’’

Chaerin was often unreasonable when it came to her little sister. But I guess that’s how a sister relationship could work. Especially the one between Chaerin and Yejin. I stood up from the floor, tired of this monotonous subject, and brushed the dirt of my jeans. ‘’I’m going to check on Yejin. Please continue your BangRin talk further without me,’’ I announced with a playful roll of the eye. Both of them shrugged, silently telling me to ‘do what I want to do.’

‘’Yejinnnn’’ I called playfully while walking along the stairs. There was complete silence, only the sound of the television could be heard. When I entered the living room I met a concentrated Yejin, watching Pororo intently while ruffling her own hair. I noticed how she wasn’t sitting on the couch but instead sitting right in front of the television in a cross-legged position. This couldn’t possibly be good for her eyes, I thought.

She hadn’t noticed me entering – that’s how focused she was. So in a way I had to admit that Chaerin was right, she was managing herself perfectly. I took the liberty of observing the five year old. She resembled Chaerin so much, especially in physics. She would definitely grow up just as pretty as her sister. I chuckled when I thought about all the hearts she would collect in the future. It was a trait Chaerin also possesed and honestly I had always been quite envious of it.

I slowly approached the little girl. Her eyes were still fixated on the television screen.

‘’BOO!’’

Yejin’s eyes widened in shock and it seemed like she wanted to cry for a moment. That’s when she realized that it was me who scared her and she crashed into me, playfully hitting me. ‘’Aerin that’s not funny! Not funny!’’

She laughed though, so I figured that she was just joking. Just like her older sister would often do. I was relieved, I would feel very guilty if I had made her cry.

‘’Aerin watch Pororo with me!’’ She chirped while tugging on my hand. She let go of it when she realized I wasn’t planning on giving in to her request. And so she took her original spot right in front of the television again, focussing on the episode.

‘’How many times have you seen this episode already?’’ I asked in amusement.

She pressed her index finger on her cheek, indicating that she was thinking very hard before she came up with the answer. She stretched out her hand, showing me five little fingers. Everything this girl did was just so adorable. ‘’Five!’’ She answered proudly.

I chuckled while pinching her cheek lightly. I hated it when Chaerin did that to me, but I guess I was being hypocritical at the moment. Yejin gave me this fake annoyed look before shifting her attention to the television again.

‘’Watching so much television isn’t good for your eyes, Yejin. Do you want glasses?’’

She ignored me and kept staring at the television. I frowned at the sight. Kids… they could watch something for the hundredth time and still love it just as much as they did the first time.

Yejin wasn’t reacting, even after I called her name a couple of times. So I grabbed both of her legs and pulled her away from the television.

‘’Aerin noooo! I want to watch Pororo!’’

I laughed at her whining and carefully dragged her further away from the television. She tried to kick in order to free herself and somehow she managed to make me stumble backwards. In that moment I let go of her legs and she took that opportunity to crawl her way up to the television again. She didn’t make it in time though since I took hold of her legs again. ‘’Aerinnnnnn!’’ She whimpered.

I started to tickle her in order to distract her from Pororo. Kids should just play, instead of doing nothing but watching a screen. She almost started to cry from laughter. Her high-pitched laugh was probably heard throughout the whole house. ‘’Aerinn stoppp, stopppp!’’

‘’Beg for mercy!’’

‘’Ssssstop Aerin, I need to peeeee!’’ She laughed.

I immediately let go of her. Scared that she would actually pee her pants. She panted heavily while recovering before abruptly standing up and running towards the restroom. I watched her running as if her life depended on it and wondered if, maybe, I had taken the tickle a little bit too far.

‘’Yejin? Yejin you didn’t pee your pants did you?’’ I asked while knocking on the door of the little room she was in.

‘’No, Yejin made it in time,’’ she answered much to my relief.

I retreated to the living room and sprawled myself all over the couch to catch my own breath. I was actually pretty worn out because of that little romp. I turned around and lay on my stomach, my face turned to the left in order to watch the television – Pororo. I must admit that it was quite enjoyable despite it being a children program.

At some point I noticed Yejin standing underneath the doorpost of the living room, watching me with a naughty smirk as if she was planning something. I frowned at the sight and was about to open my mouth to ask what she was up to before she stormed towards me and jumped on my back. It resulted in me being completely trapped under a five year old.

She started to tickle me, which didn’t faze me at the first. That was until she reached out to my neck and started to tickle there. It was a very weak, sensitive spot of mine and I started to laugh like crazy. Yejin seemed proud finding my weak spot and being able to drive me to tears. She sure had no mercy on me.

‘’Please Yejin, Please stop!’’ I almost cried. Who was the little kid now?

She stopped for a moment, giving me some time to rest, before she attacked my neck again.

‘’Beg for mercy Aerin!’’ She mimicked me while driving me into an insane laughter.

‘’Have mercy, have mercy Yejin!’’

She stopped again and looked at me like she had won. Now I know why Chaerin called her a brat. I let out a very long breath in relief and tried to turn around. She wouldn’t let me though and started to tickle me once again.

‘’Yejinnnnn, Yejinnnn pleaseeeee,’’ I laughed before moving like a lunatic in order to get her to stop. It wasn’t working.

‘’Who’s the best Aerin?’’ Yejin happily yelled.

‘’Yejin, Yejin is the best of the best!’’ Tears were starting to form in my eyes because of the laughter and I was moving so much in order to free myself that I - and Yejin since she was on my back - fell from the couch, on the ground, with a very loud thud.

In shock I quickly sat up and looked at Yejin, who was also lying on the floor, in concern. I hoped that I hadn't hurt her. I made her stand up and searched for any scrapes on her arms, or anywhere. Luckily she hadn’t any. I patted her head while sighing out a breath of relief. She was just staring and chuckled, probably still amused by the fact that she drove me into a desperate state.

It was only then that I looked up from Yejin and locked eyes with four guys standing at the entry of the living room, watching me in amusement. Those four guys consisted of Kim Himchan, Bang Yongguk, Zelo and lastly Jung Daehyun. I grew quite embarrassed when I calculated how long they could’ve been watching me – getting owned by a five year old girl.

Yejin followed my line of sight and opened in a happy o-form before dashing towards the guys. Her arms sprawling out, ready to crash into someone. I looked at her in confusion.

‘’Yongguk!’’ She yelled while practically throwing herself into his arms. I watched the scene unfold with a dumb look on my face. I wasn’t the only one with that look on my face; all of the guys were staring at the two with that exact same expression. Yongguk, however, smiled the most genuine gummy smile I had ever seen somebody smile and began to ask Yejin all sorts of questions, such as: ‘’are you hurt somewhere?’’ ‘’How are you doing?’’ and lastly about the whereabouts of her sister.

I was still sitting on the floor, watching both Yongguk and Yejin interact before I noticed Zelo towering over me. He stretched out his arm and offered me his hand in order to help me stand up. I gratefully took it and thanked Zelo for his help. ''No problem,'' he smiled before settling himself on the couch the closest to the television.

Daehyun brushed past me, sat himself down on the other couch and watched Yongguk with raised brows. I heard noises coming from the stairs and it took a couple of seconds before both Jea and Chaerin appeared in the living room. The latter seemed to be happy to see Yongguk, but her expression shifted when she noticed her little sister who was taking all of Yongguk’s attention. He hadn’t even noticed Chaerin’s presence.

I sat down on the same couch as Daehyun and watched a slightly irritated Chaerin in amusement.

‘’Were you and Yejin fighting or something?’’ Jea asked jokingly while making her way towards me. She was holding a pack of cards in her hands and the sight made me frown. What was she going to do with that?

‘’No we-‘’ I tried to answer before I got interrupted.

‘’She got owned too,’’ Daehyun decided to reply for me. I turned my head to look at him and rolled my eyes once again. I noticed how this had become a habit. A habit that made me seem quite y.

Daehyun must of thought this too because he randomly put his arm around my neck. ‘’You seem to be really sensitive and easily annoyed lately, you probably need some love to cure,’’ he mocked.

I guess that his love was referring to his arm that casually rested around my neck. That arm that made me realize the close proximity between us and caused me to smell his manly cologne once again. His nice smell wasn’t helping this whole situation. I didn’t know what to do, or say even, and just let his arm rest on me – awkwardly. Jea was eyeing us, especially Daehyun, with a suspicious look and so did Himchan and Zelo. Yongguk, Yejin and Chaerin weren’t paying attention to anything, except each other.

I was embarrassed because of Daehyun’s sudden public affection towards me. He, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind this whole thing. He was a bold and carefree guy after all. I was wondering what I had done to make Daehyun so comfortable around me. I guess he really viewed me as a friend. Though at some point he removed his arm, probably realizing that I felt awkward with the gesture.

It wasn’t like I was uncomfortable with the gesture itself, to be honest it felt kind of nice to have his arm around me like that. It were the stares from the others that made it quite embarrassing actually. They would surely assume things, things that weren't true. Moreover, Daehyun wasn’t supposed to be this ‘tender’ with me. There was something between him and Yuna right? It could’ve hurt her feelings if she would see this and that wasn’t okay. Actually I knew nothing about the relationship between the two. Though I could easily guess since the the signs were there: How Yuna could cling to him, Chaerin’s statement about the two being friends with benefits and the writing on the wall, DaeNa. Who else would the Na be referring to? People were certainly viewing them as a couple and I couldn’t blame them. It did seem that way and therefore I wasn’t supposed to meddle. Because the one who could get hurt wouldn’t be Daehyun. But it could be me.

I shook the thoughts of DaeNa off and paid attention to my surroundings again.  Jea had walked towards Yongguk and his fangirls to invite them - with the exception of little Yejin - to play along with a game of cards. Both Yongguk and Chaerin agreed, creating a pouting Yejin, before Jea shifted her attention to the rest of us and invited us to play along too. Both Zelo and Himchan nodded while making their way towards the table where the game would be played. I declined the offer since I wasn’t good with card games – at all.  Daehyun seemed too busy with his phone to actually hear the invite. Which made Jea shrug before taking a seat at the table and organizing the cards.

Yejin who wasn’t allowed to play suddenly averted her attention to me again and she skipped towards me before settling herself on my lap.

‘’You’re not a baby anymore Yejin, get of Aerin’s lap,’’ Chaerin, who was now sitting around the table with the rest, remarked irritated when she noticed what her little sister was doing. I bet she hated how attention demanding her little sister was, but I guess it was a trait Chaerin also possessed. And Yejin was little, it was only natural to seek attention in this way. Yongguk narrowed his eyes at Chaerin before playfully flicking her forehead. It was a cute sight, one that made me quite envious of the relationship they seemed to have.

‘’Don’t listen to Chaerin,’’ I whispered in Yejin’s ear in a way to comfort her. She turned around to look at me and nodded with the most adorable smile. At some point she took one of my hands and started to inspect and play with it like it was the most interesting thing in the world. I guess she was just bored. Pororo wasn’t playing anymore after all, instead there was this boy-ish action cartoon which didn’t seem to impress Yejin all too much.

‘’So now you’re interested in me again, huh Yejin. When Yongguk is occupied?’’ I teased. She just laughed sheepishly and nodded, not even denying anything.

‘’That’s how kids are,’’ Daehyun suddenly spoke. He was sitting on the other end of the couch now, his elbow resting on the armrest while typing away on his phone. He hadn’t even looked up. He had said those words while his eyes were glued on the screen in front of him. He seemed really engrossed in the device.

‘’What’s that?’’ Yejin asked with sparkling eyes while pointing to Daehyun who had caught her interest with the sudden presence of his voice. The latter looked up to lock eyes with Yejin and eyed where she was pointing at, so was I. She was referring to Daehyun’s shirt. It had a bear with glasses and a red snapback with the English word filthy on it.

I knew for a fact that Yejin was crazy about bears. It was one of her favorite animals, if not her favorite. Her most precious possession also being her stuffed teddy bear. So it wasn’t unusual for het to point the shirt out.

‘’This?’’ Daehyun asked with a sudden smile I had never seen him wear.

Yejin eagerly nodded before crawling of my lap, settling herself between Daehyun and me, and cheekily touching the bear - and therefore touching Daehyun’s stomach - with much adoration. It was a good thing that Chaerin wasn’t paying attention to her little sister anymore because she would surely scold Yejin. Daehyun started to laugh this crazily cute laugh probably amused by Yejin’s straight-forwardness.

‘’Do you like bears?’’ He asked genuinely curious, averting all of his attention towards Yejin instead of the phone he seemed so engrossed in just moments ago. The five year old nodded excitedly before telling how she once went to the zoo with her dad and saw a - as she stated - very nice bear. She told how lovely that day had been because she got to spend it with her dad who wasn’t home that often. Daehyun and I exchanged this certain look before silently agreeing that Yejin didn’t seem upset enough, with the mention of her dad and his absence, for us to comfort her. In fact she wasn’t upset at all, instead she happily chatted about how hard her father worked. It made me realize that kids could be so innocent. That innocence was once proven when she formally introduced herself and asked for Daehyun’s name in return. It was a very cute gesture since she would demand a handshake and I guess that she was quite fond of him already.

‘’Why do you like bears so much?’’ Daehyun asked at one point.

‘’Because they’re strong just like my father!’’ Yejin beamed proudly.

He nodded in understanding. ‘’And just as strong as you are, right? You beat Aerin after all!’’

Yejin started to laugh hysterically. It was such a genuine happy laugh that it could’ve melted my heart if that had been physically possible. Somehow I appreciated Daehyun for bringing such a sincere smile on Yejin’s face. Even though he was teasing me once again.

I stared at the interaction between Daehyun and Yejin in adoration, resulting in a smile creeping on my own face. I realized that this was a side of Daehyun I hadn’t seen and hadn’t suspected. He seemed so… soft and different now. It was a nice side. I had this soft spot for people interacting with kids and Daehyun was not being an exception.

‘’Aerin isn’t strong but she’s very nice and bears are very nice too!’’ Yejin exclaimed happily while looking at me and patting my cheek. I guess it wasn’t worth to mention that bears weren’t as nice as they were portrayed in toy shops, since bears were labeled as dangerous creatures who could kill you in a tight hug. But it was quite adorable that she was sticking up for me like that and so I had ignored those facts. I looked at Yejin with a smile before looking up and locking eyes with Daehyun.

‘’Aerin is a very nice girl, indeed.’’

He said those words slow, making my heart skip a weird beat with every word that came out of his mouth. Right then it was like it was only me and him in this room. Not our friends who occasionally yelled in frustration due to the game they were playing, not even Yejin who was sitting in between us. Only us. The way he had looked at me, his handsome smile on his face, while saying those words send weird shivers down my spine. It was the first time that Daehyun was complimenting me in a way I could actually sincerely believe it. We looked at each other for a while, letting his words sink in, before I grew a little flustered and looked away shyly – at Yejin. She was just staring at Daehyun with a smile plastered on her face and nodded eagerly in agreement.

That’s when Yejin crawled back on my lap and motioned for me to bring my ear closer to her.

‘’I like Daehyun, he is really nice and handsome,’’ she whispered shyly. I looked at her with a surprised look on my face which resulted in Yejin burying her face in my shirt in this sort of cheeky child embarrassment. I looked at Daehyun and he seemed confused for a second, which was quite understandable.

‘’What is it?’’ He asked curious.

Yejin immediately sat up straight, pushing her little hands in front of my mouth, enabling me to speak.

Daehyun only laughed while playfully narrowing his eyes at us.

‘’You can’t tell him Aerin,’’ Yejin softly whispered before removing her hands of my mouth.

‘’Can’t I? Yejin said that-‘’

‘’Noooooo!’’ She whined.

‘’Are you over me already Yejin?’’ A sudden deep low voice asked. It was Yongguk and he was feigning a mad expression. I turned my head to look at the table I almost forgot about because of both Yejin and Daehyun. It seemed like Yongguk was the first one to win and therefore he had to wait until the rest of them were done playing.

Yejin only grinned deviously before shaking her head.

‘’What did you whisper to her?’’ he asked, still pretending to be hurt by Yejin.

Yejin turned to look at me with big eyes before shaking her head, indicating that I should remain silent about her being fond of Daehyun. Her behavior made me chuckle, while it made both Yongguk and Daehyun frown.

‘’Does Daehyun know?’’ Yongguk asked. Yejin seemed to radiate at the mention of Daehyun’s name. automatically curled up in a smile and that didn’t go unnoticed by both Yongguk and Daehyun.

‘’Who do you like the most?’’ Daehyun cheekily asked before pointing towards Yongguk, ‘’Yongguk hyung,’’ then he pointed to himself, ‘’or me?’’ Daehyun’s well-known cocky smirk appeared and it caused me to roll my eyes playfully.

Yejin turned around to look at me as if I was supposed  to help her choose. I only shrugged which resulted in an indecisive Yejin.

‘’Daehyun!’’ she suddenly exclaimed with a wide grin. Yongguk seemed surprised while a happy Daehyun lifted both his hands to high-ten the little girl. He seemed really proud and I must admit that it was an adorable sight. Actually Daehyun interacting this way with kids was an adorable sight. 

Daehyun: What did the little one whisper in your ear?

His sudden message - now on KakaoTalk - surprised me. We had bade goodbye some hours ago.

I couldn’t help it, but I instantly started to smile because of his message. It was weird, but somehow I couldn’t wipe this grin off. I must admit that Jung Daehyun being this adorable with kids had amused and charmed me, more than it should.

Aerin: Yejin? You want to know, huh?

Daehyun: Yes, what did she say?

As straight-forward as ever, I thought while allowing myself to fall on my bed. My back came in contact with the mattress and my hands were stretched out holding my phone between my thumbs while eagerly typing a response.

Aerin: She said that she liked you

Daehyun: Hahaha of course, what is there not to like?

Aerin: Nothing, there is nothing not to like

And with everything that has happened today, him interacting with Yejin in that way that had melted my heart, I realized that I wasn’t even lying.