“Oh my god. Hyung, you kissed her?” My eyes widened upon seeing Jackson and Nikki with equally shocked expressions on their faces in front of the now-closed door, a few steps away from us. I must’ve been too engrossed with Mark’s presence and our conversation that I haven’t even noticed or heard the door creak open.

“Oh my Mork.” Nikki remarked with a dead-panned face. She covered right after to prevent herself from creating some more unnecessary squeals.

Mark and I exchanged awkward glances. I swallowed hard. If there’s anything that could be more awkward than being alone with him all afternoon after the kiss, it would be the fact that other people are trying to make you talk about it while you are still in the middle of decoding everything. It is beyond awkward and yet, it excites me to hear what he has to say.

“Did you guys like… uh… kiss on the… lips?” Jackson tactlessly asked, totally curious. Nikki hit him in the head right away, making Jackson yelp a bit. “Hey, let’s give these two some privacy.” She said while dragging Jackson away.

“Hey… Wait…” Mark finally spoke up and stood from where he was seated. It was pretty obvious that he was also feeling uncomfortable with the sudden turn of events. “We should eat first.” He suggested.

And then his eyes met with mine again and subconsciously, I smiled. It was awkward and I don’t know how many times I’ve mentioned the word awkward in my head today, but it really was awkward. I thought I’ve surpassed the awkward stage with Mark already. But I was wrong. Really wrong. And this may go on for long. Unless I get to hear all the answers to these questions hovering my messed-up brain at the moment.

“Right. We should eat.” I agreed. “It’s past 7PM already.” I gave Nikki a look and we exchanged the voices inside our heads.

“Yep. We should eat!” Nikki forced a wide grin and tried her very best to sound cheerful. She immediately exchanged a look with Jackson as if to tell him something. Have these two learned the art of telepathy as well?

“Mia noona. Jinjja baegopa!” In a snap, Jackson was already acting cute towards me while pouting his lips.

Jackson’s magic immediately worked and I found myself chuckling at his cuteness. “I’ll serve the food right away.” I said and headed to the kitchen.

“Oh my god. We need to talk.” Nikki caught up from behind me and suddenly whispered in my ear in between gritted teeth while trying to hold in her excitement. I gave him an equally excited look but told her to save all her curiosity for later.

The four of us instantly gathered on the dining table. Nikki sat opposite Jackson while I was seated in front of Mark. The atmosphere was still unbelievably awkward but it was a good thing that Jackson had all these stories to tell about his life’s adventures and misadventures.

“So, do you guys have any schedule tomorrow?” Nikki asked Jackson and Mark.

“Yep. We have a magazine photo shoot at 9AM. And then we have to leave for Japan the next day.” Jackson answered and turned to Mark. “Ya. Manager hyung will kill me if I can’t bring you back to the apartment before sunrise.”

“We’ve already talked about it. I’ve assured him I’ll be back tonight.” Mark responded and continued eating.

“But it’s still raining hard outside.” I said while taking a quick glance outside through the glass window.

“Hyung, can’t you see that my jacket’s still all wet?” Jackson motioned at his jacket hanging on an empty chair. “Let’s just spend the night here and leave early tomorrow.”

“What?!” Nikki and I exclaimed together.

“Wh…. why? Wae? Did I say something wrong?” Jackson slowly asked with an innocent look on his face. “Can’t we spend the night here?”

“We can’t let you sleep on the other rooms. They’re locked.” I said.

“We can stay at the living room.” Jackson responded.

“It’s cold in there. Tonight’s unusually cold. Although it’s summer.” Nikki said.

“Uhm… we have this thing called blanket?” Jackson sarcastically said.

“Oh… so there’s that thing huh…” Nikki responded while copying Jackson’s trademark dumb look, making Jackson laugh so hard.

What’s up with these two and their crazy talk?

“We’ll spend the night here then.” Mark suddenly talked and I almost choked up upon hearing his statement.

My hormones have been acting all crazy the entire day and now, he’s telling me that he’s spending the night in our place?

Mark Tuan, you’d be the death of me!

“So, shall we play some games after dinner?” Nikki excitedly proposed.

“I like that!” Jackson immediately reacted and the two exchanged hi-fives. Nikki and Jackson then looked at me as if waiting for my response.

“I think it will be fun.” I said and smiled. And then both of them turned to Mark.

“What?” Mark gave them a confused look.

“Ummm… Games?” Jackson stated.

“I don’t think I have a choice.” Mark shrugged. The crazy duo did a high-five once again.

“It’ll be a truth-or-dare game.” Jackson stated and I choked up… literally!

“Omo. Water! Water!” Nikki ordered and Mark hurriedly handed me a glass of water. I slowly gulped down the life-saving liquid in my throat while hitting my congested chest. In a few seconds, my breathing returned to normal.

“Ya. Wang Jackson. You almost killed my best friend!” Nikki exclaimed.

“I was never told that words could actually kill.” Jackson innocently stated and I instantly chuckled at his remark.

Wang Jackson will always be Wang Jackson!

“Wait… wait… Truth or dare?” I clarified once and for all.

“Yep.” Nikki beamed evilly.

“Can’t you think of another game other than that?” I asked.

Why didn’t you see this one coming, Mia? Why?

“I think it will be fun though.” Mark was suddenly smiling with teeth proudly showing while his eyes stayed focused on me.

“Did you just say… fun?” I asked him slowly.

He nodded. “Why? What’s wrong?”

What’s wrong?

Is it just me or is he purposely teasing the heck out of me right now? If he continues to be like this, I’d probably end up on my deathbed before the clock strikes midnight.

“Well, I believe it’s a deal then!” Nikki announced.

---

After dinner, the four of us comfortably sat on the matted floor in the living room with an empty bottle, some fruits and pop corns, and a red lipstick.

“Hey, what’s that red lipstick for?” Mark asked when Nikki placed it on one side.

“We made some variations on the game.” Jackson started explaining. “It’s truth-or-dare-plus-lipstick. You may choose to answer a truth question, or dare to do something and in addition, we’ll put a red lipstick on your face.”

“And then the person with the most red lipstick marks on his/her face will have to post a selca on his/her Instagram account.” Nikki added.

“That’s crazy.” Mark uttered, laughing.

“Seems like you’ve really put a lot of thought into this game.” I commented.

“No. We’re just effortlessly smart.” Jackson responded with a comical straight face.

“So, let’s start?” Nikki excitedly asked.

“I’ll spin the bottle now.” Jackson volunteered. And in a few seconds, the bottle was rapidly spinning at the center.

And then it pointed towards Jackson.

The three of us laughed in unison while looking at the betrayed look on Jackson’s face. “No way!” He uttered disbelievingly and laughed with us a second later. “Fine. Truth!” He bravely stated.

“Haha. Are you nervous?” I asked.

“No. Why should I? I have nothing to hide from you guys.” He confidently said.

“Really?” Mark asked with a teasing look.

“Really!” He asserted.