I knocked on Daiyu's bedroom door and opened it before I heard her reply.

"Yes, baby, aw no don't worry. Ugh Maya, what're you doing in my room?!?" Daiyu said agitatedly.

"Sorry," I mouthed silently.

"I'll call you back Jaebum. Well I'll text you later tonight then? Okay, love you too," Daiyu whispered through the phone.

My cousin was becoming more love struck day by day.

"Come sit," Daiyu patted the empty space next to her on the bed. These girly talks started becoming a daily thing seeing as school life was getting more complicated.

I sat with her and crossed my legs, and then proceeded to rest my head on her shoulder. I exhaled deeply.

"Jackson?" Daiyu asked, as if reading my mind.

"He's just so annoying. He ignored me all day. I don't understand him at all."

"Jb told me that Jackson told him he liked the look of you," Daiyu started.

"The look of me?" I scrunched my nose up in confusion, "we've spoke before and he only likes the look of me?"

"I haven't finished! But Jb told me he's intimidated by you."

Daiyu covered my mouth with her hand before I had time to object.

"He doesn't think you're scary, well if he did I guess I could see where he's coming from," Daiyu laughed. I glared at her in reply.

"Jackson told Jb that he's never met a girl like you before. That he would get tongue tied if you had a conversation longer than five minutes," Daiyu explained.

None of it made sense. Jackson was confident, bold and probably the most charismatic boy I'd ever met. How could he be intimidated by me? I stood up and paced the room a few times, trying to collect my thoughts. But I was still confused, so I sat back down.

"And he told Jb that?" I asked, folding my arms questioningly.

"Yes! Jb said Jackson wouldn't stop going on about how pretty you looked today, I knew my hairdressing skills would work a treat," Daiyu winked.

"Jackson said that? I mean, it didn't 'work a treat' because he avoided eye contact all damn day," I said.

Daiyu rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Do I have to spell it out Maya? He likes you. When boys are shy or intimidated, they tend to avoid eye contact. He definitely saw you today. Otherwise how would Jb know?" Daiyu explained.

Maybe he did. But it still seemed like he wasn't the shy type.

I shrugged.

"Is that all you're going to do? Shrug? He likes you Maya, and at Mun's house tomorrow I expect you to make a move," Daiyu said firmly.

I forgot about that. Everyone would be there.

Daiyu tucked a loose curl behind my ear. And then I remembered. Him tucking my hair behind my ear.

Mark.

"No Daiyu, there's something I didn't tell you about," I whispered.

I started thinking back to the same afternoon where Mark had come close to kissing me. I told Mark that I didn't like Jackson. In fact, I forgot all about Jackson at that moment in time. He made me forget, just by touching me, just by being close.

"What is it?" Daiyu said shaking my arm slightly.

I was shook out of my daydream.

"You know Jb's friend- Mark?" I asked cautiously.

"Yeah...who's also friends with Jackson..."Daiyu stated.

I avoided her eye contact. It's like she was talking about Jackson purposely.

"He followed me up to the toilets, and he, he um, almost kissed me Daiyu," I looked at my hands. A sudden feeling of shame washed over me, as I remembered my desperation to feel Mark's lips on mine.

"KISSED YOU?" Daiyu screamed, wide eyed like I murdered her pet cat.

"Shut up Dai," I hissed, "we didn't actually kiss."

"How did it happen?"

"I...I don't really remember," I felt myself blushing for a second time.

"How can you not remember? And what about Jackson?" Daiyu asked.

"It all happened so fast but he didn't kiss me. I thought Jackson was ignoring me so either way it didn't matter."
"And Jackson does like you, oh my god, Maya, what happened?"

"He leaned in and started touching my face, Daiyu," I said impatiently.

"And then...?" Daiyu asked, now interested.

"He said 'maybe next time' and walked away, he's another boy I don't get. In fact, I don't understand any of these boys in this school," I huffed.

Daiyu's mouth was opened wide in shock.

"In the end he told me that he was sure Jackson liked me, but he said Jackson wasn't the only one," I mumbled.

Daiyu got off the bed and screamed.

"Sssh, Uncle will hear you, he's only in the room downstairs you know?" I said gesturing downwards.

"Two boys like you Maya, two boys. Mark is such a dark horse!"

I groaned inwardly and threw my head back to face the ceiling. Daiyu's overexcitement just made me feel ashamed and torn in two.  

"I know you like Jackson. But if you almost let Mark kiss you...wait you wanted that kiss didn't you?" Daiyu gasped.

"No," I looked away.

"You did! He was the one that moved away. Woah Maya, two boys in only one week," Daiyu laughed.

"You're acting like I've kissed these boys, it's nothing big," I replied seriously. Who was I fooling? This was big.

"Believe me, you're going to get one of them!"

"This isn't a game Dai, they have feelings," I whispered.

"Yeah, they've both got feelings for you," Daiyu smirked.

I liked my cousin's positivity. I'm not entirely sure if either of them really liked me deep down, but there was no harm in finding out...

"So what now?" I asked.

"Mun's sleepover. I'll talk to the others and see if we can get you, Mark and Jackson together alone," Daiyu smirked.

"ALL THREE OF US?" I screeched in horror.

"No," Daiyu started laughing hysterically, "You and Mark and then you and Jackson. See if one of them really does like you and if you really do like one of them back."

"What if it goes wrong," I said uncertainly.

"It won't," Daiyu replied firmly.

"I don't want this to turn into some kind of joke. I don't want to hurt either of them."

"It won't backfire. Just follow mine and the boys' instructions tomorrow and it will go fine," Daiyu instructed.

"But...oh crap. Mun likes Mark and Mark likes Mun," I sighed.

My cousin shrugged. "She actually has her eye on Jr, but if that was the case anyway we can always blame it on the truth or dare," Daiyu said, winking mischievously.

"If we decide to play truth or dare," I corrected her.

Daiyu raised an eyebrow.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to go ahead with another one of my cousin's crazy plans, but I had nothing to lose. All I knew was that tomorrow was going to be eventful.

---

I stood in front of the mirror, inspecting my reflection critically.

My hair was down, secured only by a single pin on one side. My dark curly hair fell around my shoulders.  

I was wearing a navy blue dress which stopped mid-thigh. I wasn't used to dressing up, but it made a nice change.

Daiyu was wearing a red dress, similar to mine in style but hers was a little shorter.

"We look great," Daiyu smiled, applying some red lipstick on her plump lips before taking a final look at herself.

"Remind me why we're dressing up for a sleepover?" I asked.

"Hmm lets think about this one. Mark, Jackson and Jb?!" Daiyu stated as if I was dumb.

I thought about Mark and Jackson and my stomach suddenly tightened up.

"Ugggh," I groaned inwardly.

"Dad, we're going!" Daiyu shouted, walking down the stairs and grabbing the door handle as I followed behind, carrying all our sleeping bags.

My uncle came out from his study, with his car keys in his hand.

"That dress is very short Daiyu," my uncle scolded, eyeing our somewhat tight dresses.

"Daaaad, It's a sleepover and a girls sleepover, so no boys will see us," She lied, batting her eyelashes sweetly.

"Get in the car then," he sighed.

Daiyu knocked on Mun's front door. She lived in an apartment that looked contemporary on the outside but homely from the interior.

"Hi Daiyu! Hi Maya," she smiled, letting us in and giving us a warm hug each.

I was envious of Mun's looks in honesty. Her big eyes were lined with smoky black. Her hair was in it's usual bob cut worn down, but it looked messy and hot, instead of it's cute way at school.

"Oh god, the pair of you look amazing," Mun said in shock.

"You look hot yourself, Mun!" Daiyu replied. I nodded in agreement.

"All the boys are here, and Jinhee and Yugyeom's girlfriend- Jessica. I'll introduce you to the rest of them," Mun smiled taking our bags to the front room.

Music was playing once we entered the room and there was the sound of chat and laughter.

"Guys, this is Maya; Daiyu's cousin," Mun said pointing towards me.

Silence filled the room as everyone looked at me, mostly mouths open and eyes wide. I felt like I was back at my first day of school. I smiled faintly in embarrassment.

"Why are they staring at us?" I whispered to Daiyu. She responded by nudging me to be quiet.

"Mun, stop making things awkward. We already know Maya! Apart from Yugyeom, Youngjae, Jr and Mark," Jb stated.

I scanned the room briefly and saw Mark sitting on the floor cross-legged. His hair was styled differently to what I'd ever seen it, in a quiff rather than messy. He was wearing a white vest underneath his open shirt.

He seemed to be playing nervously with his hands. Was he not going to tell Jb that we actually did know each other? That we were close to kissing each other?

All the boys I hadn't been introduced to, stood up and introduced themselves. Each bowing their heads politely.

"Hey, I'm Jessica- Yugyeom's girlfriend," a brown haired girl smiled at me.

"It's nice to meet you Jessica, I'm Maya," I smiled back warmly.

Once the further formalities were out of the way, Daiyu went to sit next to Jb who scooped her up for a hug and a cute kiss.

"Awww," everyone said in unison.

"Get a room, please!" Jr sighed.

Jb shot him a look. Mun seemed to resume her place on the floor next to Mark.

I caught Mark's eye. He stared at me momentarily before his eyes looked me up and down. I suddently began to feel self-conscious and looked away.

Jackson was sat on one sofa with Youngjae and Jinhee. Yugyeom and Jessica were sharing an armchair and Jr and Bambam sat on another sofa.

I decided to join Bambam and Jr.

The room was once again filled with chat as we all had out individual conversations for a while.

"Hey Maya, I missed you," Bambam whined, as I sat comfortably inbetween the two dark haired boys.

"Aw, I missed you too," I replied sincerely, leaning my head momentarily on his shoulder.

And I meant it. I hadn't seen Bambam that much since all of the Mark and Jackson drama.

Jr raised his eyebrow at my bold action.

"We're friends," I warned and Jr nodded in reply.

"Don't get the wrong idea Jr, Maya likes Mark," Bambam laughed.

How did Bambam know I even knew Mark? I shot him a look. As if reading my mind, Bambam said "Daiyu told me about your encounter yesterday."

I hid my face in my hands. Too embarrassed to even imagine my cousin telling my best friend the details from yesterday. However nice they were at the time. Bambam really didn't need to know.

I looked over to Mark again who was now taking selcas with Mun. I admit, they looked cute but my jealousy was bubbling over the surface. I wanted to enjoy the evening. I was annoyed at how cute he acted when he was around Mun, and just other girls in general. But with me, he acted cold and intense.

I looked over to the other side of the room. Jackson was playing a game on his phone and Jinhee was resting her chin on Jackson's shoulder watching.

They're all just friends, Maya, just friends.

Bambam must have seen my jealous glares at both parties, because he stood up abruptly.

"Right okay guys, we're gonna start truth or dare now!" He shouted.

"Yes," Jessica smiled.

Daiyu started clapping in agreement.

"I'll start! Jb truth or dare?" Mun asked.

 "Hmm...truth," Jb insisted.

"Is it true that you're in love?" Mun questioned.

The room fell silent, all eyes on Jb and Daiyu.

Daiyu shifted underneath Jb slightly.

"Yes, I am in love," Jaebum said kissing Daiyu passionately.

There were some more collective aww's in the room.

"Okay guys x rated and everything! We have younger audiences here," Jackson laughed.

Everyone started to laugh, including me and Daiyu broke away from the kiss, blushing hard.

"Jr, truth or dare?" Mun asked turning to Jinyoung.

"Truth!"

"Ugh, why is everyone picking truth?" Jinhee rolled her eyes.

"Do you have feelings for anyone in the room right now?" Mun asked.

Jr lifted his eyes slowly and glanced around the room. He tried to do it discretely, but I saw the extra long glance he gave in Mun's direction.

"Yes."

Mun's cheeks flushed a deep red.

"You're going red, Mun," Youngjae laughed.

"Oh, right um," Mun shrunk back in her seat.

"My turn! Mark truth or dare?" Bambam asked.

"Dare," Mark said softly. There was a glint in his dark eyes, I was sure of it.

"Finally!" Yugyeom shouted.

"Mun do you have any small spaces around here? Like a cupboard or something?" Bambam questioned.

"Um, we have a tiny spare room just down there to the right," Mun directed.

"Everyone follow me!" Bambam explained.

He was really going all out with Mark's dare. Bambam eyed Daiyu in a knowing way.

We all stopped outside of the spare room.

Bambam grabbed Mark by the wrist and dragged him into the spare room.

I felt myself get shoved into the room by Daiyu.

"Daiyu what are you do-"

"Mark, I dare you to kiss Maya!" Bambam said quickly.

"You've got five minutes," Daiyu said before winking at me and locking the door.

I heard laughter and gasps from behind the door.

"We'll give you some privacy now," I heard Mun say from the other side, followed by footsteps heading towards the front room.

I was facing the door but could feel Mark's concentrated stare on the back of my neck.

I turned to face him.

"Uh, time for part two?" Mark asked softly, scratching the back of his neck.

---

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please remember to tell me what you think- I love reading the comments! +  also remember to subscribe.

Thank you guys, l love all of you,

Maria xo