The next morning, Claire woke up to the sun shining through the hotel window blinds. Kai's arms were draped on top of her stomach, and his soft, mellow breaths tickled her neck. She rubbed her eyes and stretched as much as she could without disturbing him. After turning her head to face him, she smiled as her eyes traced his pouted lips, his calm demeanor, and his hair splayed out in bed-head style. Claire then glanced at the clock, which blinked "10:30 am" in bold, red neon letters. It was time to pack up and leave, since checkout was at 11.

"Jongin-ah," Claire mumbled into his ear. He stirred, but only pulled her tighter into his embrace. "Jongin..." she tried again.

He lazily opened his eyes, sleep still apparent as he gazed at Claire. "Morning," he yawned and smiled.

"It's time to get up," she whispered.

"I don't wanna," Kai mumbled.

"We should check out soon, it's 10:30 already..."

"Already?"

"Yep."

Kai yawned again before he his stomach and stretched with his face in the pillow. "You get up first."

Claire laughed, "No sweetie, you're getting up with me." She then started knocking her fists into his back, massage style.

"Ow, ow! What're you doing?!" Kai yelped.

"You're getting a massage, and I get to wake you up! What's better?" Claire grinned.

"Oh you," Kai flips himself over and pins her to the bed, "I'm getting revenge on you." A loud shriek erupted from Claire's lips once his lips blew into her belly.

~~~~~~~~~~~

After downing a whole table-worth of dim sum, Kai and Claire walked hand in hand through the Chinatown and towards the city park. The cool March breeze blew through the air, and Claire pulled up her hoodie to keep her head warm. Kai then stuffed their clasped hands into the pocket of his jacket, and he continued to rub his thumb over her cold fingers. "Is this okay?"

"Mmhm," she nodded.

"We should be there soon."

"Kyungsoo will be there?"

"Yeah, he's waiting for us."

"Is there anyone coming too?" Claire asked.

Kai hesitated, but nevertheless answered, "I think Suho and Hyerin are."

Claire hummed in acknowledgment, but nevertheless muttered, "What fun."

They continued to walk in silence, since Kai had no idea what to say to comfort her. He gazed at her downcast eyes, which stared at nothing, and her fingers felt limp in his own grasp. He then pulled her closer to him, and watched as her attention turned to him, as if she was asking an unspoken "why." He murmured, "I know this isn't what you want, but it's only for a bit."

"I know, I think I'm being ridiculous," Claire nodded and sighed.

"No, you're not," Kai disagreed, "I know you don't want to be with them. You're not being ridiculous."

"It's a three hour car-ride," she retorted.

"It's three hours of you napping with me, how does that sound?" Kai tried to lighten up.

Claire snorted before responding, "Fine, I'll nap with you."

Soon enough, the two caught up with Kyungsoo, Suho, and Hyerin, and while Kai exchanged manly hugs with his two friends, Hyerin wouldn't look Claire in the eye. "What a scaredy cat, can't even look me in the eye when she's the one to lie to me and betray me all of last semester," Claire thought. She stuck her fists in her pockets, and simply entered Kyungsoo's car without a glance towards anyone else.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kyungsoo, Suho, Hyerin, Claire, and Kai all entered the car before driving back to campus, and the atmosphere was rather light, with Claire, Kyungsoo, and Suho talking animatedly about games and anime. Unfortunately, to Claire's dismay, Kai started napping nearly a minute after they left the city, and Kyungsoo wouldn't stop talking about how excited he was about the convention. She didn't actually mind talking about anime conventions, but she just didn't feel all that happy about the current situation.

Hyerin sat next to her, and neither exchanged a word or a glance. Also, Suho and Hyerin were constantly exchanging texts, and with each passing minute Claire would hear a ring, followed by incessant typing on the old-fashioned cell phones with actual buttons. With each second that passed, Claire got more annoyed, and after an hour of trying to be happy and light-hearted, she gave up and stuck noise-cancelling earphones into her ears. Blasting Jpop from her phone soon helped to drown out the sound of nonstop clicks, and Claire felt her consciousness slowly give in to sleep. Before falling unconscious, she took Kai's hand in hers, and after feeling his light squeeze back, she felt better and less ridiculous for being upset at something as little as watching her former friend and former crush type away into oblivion.

~~~~~~~~~~

Much to Claire's relief, she napped for the rest of the drive until they arrived on campus. Although Suho and Hyerin were still typing away on their phones while Kyungsoo parked the car, Claire didn't mind much anymore. She decided on the spot to simply stop caring about those two, and proceeded to wake Kai up by poking his cheek. He blinked an eye open, and smiled at her before stretching himself awake. Kai then gazed at Claire while unbuckling and asked, "Did you nap well?"

"Yep, I did," Claire nodded.

"Good. Are you hungry for some lunch?"

"Lunch would be nice," she smiled.

"Let's go then," he nodded, and yelled a "See you later!" to Kyungsoo and Suho before taking his and Claire's bags from the trunk. After Claire adjusted her bag's straps, they walked off from the car and towards the one street that was considered "downtown."

Kai looked at Claire, and found that she had a small bounce with every step. "You doing okay, Claire?"

"Yep!" she grinned.

"You seem happy, which, you know," he stumbled on his words, "I don't mind at all... but are you really okay?"

Claire took his hand and massaged it before speaking up, "I really am happy, Jongin-ah."

"Even despite being in the same car as them for three hours?"

She suddenly hugged him, which took Kai by surprise. "Well, I wasn't quite happy at that, but I decided to stop caring about who hurt me and start putting my time and energy into people who love me and who genuinely want the best for me."

He nodded, and a small smile made its way onto his face. "That's good. When did you decide that?"

"Just now!" Claire exclaimed, "I just realized that I don't feel as bad when I only think about those who cared for me, and not those who saw me as someone to play with."

"What do you mean, played with?"

She shook her head, "Don't worry about it, Jongin-ah. It's not important, it's the past. Let's go eat tikka masala!"

Even while Claire tugged his hand, Kai couldn't help but think that Suho and Hyerin were the ones who "played" with Claire. The fact that his friend may have hurt her made his heart wring in discomfort. He wanted to approach Suho about this one day, but didn't think Claire would approve. Nevertheless, Kai decided to put these thoughts away for the moment, and simply admire Claire's ability to order more food than her stomach could take. Not that he minded, he knew she could eat large amounts of food and at the same time enjoy it as much as she could.

Soon, their food arrived, and Claire dug in. However, she looked up at Kai when she noticed that the table was silent, and found him staring right at her, his head resting on his hand, and his food untouched. "Jongin-ah, eat up! Your food will go cold," she exclaimed before sticking another spoonful of basmati rice into .

Kai grinned and replied, "I like looking at you eat."

"Do I look weird?" she asked, and started to feel self-concious.

"No, you look beautiful," he replied sincerely.

"While I eat?!" she reacted in surprise.

"Always."

Claire stopped eating and gazed intensely at him. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes."

"Then what about compared to your ex? Your female friends? I'm probably fifty pounds heavier..."

Kai sighed and replied, "I don't care about that, I think you're attractive, and frankly I like that you're not too skinny," while taking her hand in his.

"Really?" Claire asked.

"Yeah," he smiled. "You look healthier than me, and I like that."

She nodded, but then continued, "Then how come you didn't answer me when I saw Rina's message to you?"

Kai paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "I didn't understand then why you would be upset about it..." When he saw that Claire raised an eyebrow at him, he continued, "But, I thought about it, and I know now why that can hurt women. When you don't fit the ideal, it hurts inside because it seems less desirable. Yeah, my ex fit the ideal. Yeah, Rina does, but it doesn't necessarily mean that I find the ideal attractive or desirable."

Claire nodded, and she felt her eyes water. "Then what are you attracted to?"

Kai smiled and said, "I find girls who smile like they're the happiest people in the world attractive. I find girls who can eat like no other and love food attractive. I find girls who can outswim me in the pool attractive. I also find people who are comfy to cuddle with attractive. This list can go on, actually."

Her lips started to curve up as she heard those words. "Oh? May I ask how so?" Claire asked in a teasing manner.

"How many things would you like for me to list that describe you?" Kai stated.

Claire shook her head and laughed. "You don't have to, I understand."

He circled the back of her hand with his thumb, and paused for a moment before saying three special words, "I love you." Only a short amount of time passed before the love of his life replied, "I love you too."

Hey everyone! I'm finally back! Hope you all liked this chapter~ I'm going to be updating around once a week, but let me know if you want me to include anything! As always, feel free to comment and subscribe if you like this story. Thanks again! <3