Another week was over, and Friday night settled peacefully over the campus. However, Kai and Claire were back in her common room, studying late into the night. The box of clementines was nearly empty, and the thin bottle of champagne was nearly finished as well. Sounds of drunken girls and booming music have receded into the darkness, not to come back until the next night. A peaceful silence enveloped the room, with Claire reading through research articles and Kai running some codes for his thesis. 

Claire suddenly snapped her book closed. "I think I'm done for the night, it's 3..." she spoke while stretching her limbs.

Kai looked up. "Going to sleep then?"

"Nah, I'm not tired enough to sleep, just too tired to think," she replied, "you?"

"Same here," he shook his head.

Claire nodded. "Do you want to do anything in particular? Or do you want to head home?"

"Mm... I'll stay if you want to do something," Kai smiled.

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well," Claire suggested, "maybe we could watch a show? Or a movie?"

"Sure!" Kai nodded.

Claire and Kai then moved into her room so it would be more comfortable. she then pulled out her laptop, connected it to the charger, and then pulled up Netflix. After asking Kai about movie preferences, to which he didn't have any, she clicked open "Love Actually," and pressed the play button.

*

Both Kai and Claire fell asleep to the comfort of her Squishable Panda and Golden Tiger before the movie ended. As dawn approached, rays of sunlight shown through the blinds. By midday, the sunlight penetrated nearly the entire area of Claire's square room. Kai was the first to wake up, for he was not used to the brightness of her room, and noticed that Claire was still sleeping soundly next to him. He could feel her breathing slowly and deeply into his shoulder, and could feel her fingers graze his arms when he moved around. Not wanting to wake her up, he cautiously lifted himself off the bed, took her laptop off her legs, and proceeded to settle himself into her desk. He took another look at her, and smiled at her peaceful state. He held a breath when she stretched herself in the bed, and released the breath when he watched her turn in the blankets and snuggled herself further into the blankets. Kai chuckled, and wondered how long it has been since his heart warmed up like this.

He pulled out his own laptop and started to get back to work. Around an hour later, Claire finally woke up, and released a loud yawn. It caught Kai by surprise, for he yelped and turned to face Claire.

Claire's eyes widened, having forgotten that Kai slept in her room until now. "Ah, morning Jongin!" she squeaked.

"Morning, Claire," he laughed. "Sleep well?"

"Mm, very..." she murmured and scratched her head. "What time is it?"

"Around 1."

"Oh my goodness, I need to get up and work!" Claire panicked.

"Ah wait, Claire..." Kai started.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking, what if we did something nice today?"

"What do you mean?" Claire tilted her head.

"I mean, let's not work today," Kai smiled, his deep voice rumbling.

"What? I can't, I have to work..." she mumbled.

"Claire..." Kai stopped her again, "you're too stressed out! Let's just do half a day, then? I want to show you a place."

"Ah, really?"

"Yep," he grinned.

Claire shook her head in disbelief. "You really want me to stop working for a bit, do you?"

"Really. You haven't stopped, until our movie yesterday, but we passed out soon after."

She bit her lip and sighed. "Okay, show me this special place of yours then," Claire smiled at him.

"Great. I know you'll love it," Kai patted her back before heading to the bathroom to wash up and get ready for the day.

*

After buying sandwiches from the local deli, Kai and Claire walked past the edge of campus and reached a large hill. Soon enough, Claire realized they were nearing the town's cemetery. "You're bringing me to a cemetery?" she asked.

"Yeah," Kai responded.

"How come?"

"I like to come here to get away from everything," he spoke. "No one else comes here," he continued, "and it's really peaceful and quiet. The place I like is just up ahead..."

They continued up the cemetery hill until they reached a marble mausoleum. There was no name on the mausoleum, but the metal gates were rusted, and a rusted padlock kept trespassers from entering. Upon arrival, Kai sat down on the marble stairs, and Claire followed. "Take a look," he motioned for Claire to look at the landscape.

"Wow," she gasped, "this is beautiful." She didn't realize that they climbed so far up. The mausoleum overlooked the entire college campus and the surrounding vicinity. With spring approaching, trees with light-green leaves dotted the landscape, and their fellow students looked like ants in the distance. The bright blue sky was clear, vast, and void of clouds. A breeze rustled the just-blooming flowers on the ground, and Claire's hair flowed in the wind.

Kai admired the simple beauty that sat next to him. Her luscious black hair, still slightly unkempt from earlier in the morning, glistened under the sunlight. Her skin was peachy and clear, and her eyes, though not large by any means, were bright and inquisitive as they took in the immediate surroundings. Her facial expressions showed a peace of mind, and any trace of stress seemed to disappear at that moment.

Claire turned to Kai, "Thanks for bringing me here."

"Of course. You like it?"

"Yeah," she took a deep breath of fresh air.

"I'm glad," Kai smiled. "You know, you're welcome to come here anytime."

"Oh?" Claire turned to him for an explanation.

"You look less stressed now. Your eyes look more... free."

Claire hummed in agreement. "Yeah, I definitely feel better now that I'm here." Kai nodded and faced the distance as she continued to watch him. "But you know?" she continued.

"What's up?"

"I think I'd like to come here with you, if you want to that is."

Kai raised a brow. "Of course I would. How come?"

"Well," she started, "now that you brought me here, I associate this place with you. I feel relaxed with you, anyway..."

"Ah, I see," he nodded. "If you need me to come with you then, I'll come."

Claire smiled. "Great." She watched as he turned to observe the landscape. His brown eyes gazed far into nothingness, and his tan skin seemed to turn bronze under the sunlight. Although skinny, his frame seemed to command the space around him, and Claire found herself feeling safe and comforted. She thought back to all the moments when he took care of her, when he stayed with her past the normal bedtime, and when he was simply there for her. Whether it was after that encounter with Suho and Hyerin or dealing with the stresses of homework and thesis, Kai was there to lift her back up. Claire admired his giving and patient nature, and his ability to calm the people around him. It was at that very moment that she knew what her own feelings were.

She was also determined to not do what his dear friend did to her, so she decided to come clear with Kai. "Jongin?"

He turned to her. "Yeah?"

Claire fiddled with her fingers, and her eyes gazed at his knees. "I have a question," she murmured.

"What's up?" Kai asked. He felt nervous, especially since her eyes seemed to focus more on his feet.

"I know this is a crazy question to ask, and you don't have to answer..." she paused. Kai waited for her to continue, so she took a breath and said, "Do you like me?"

Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter, along with a minor cliffhanger~ I know this is rather sudden for a relationship to suddenly sprout, but in trying to create a story based off real life, especially senior year in college, I purposely skipped through all the moments which Kai and Claire studied together. Since spring is just arriving, you could also assume this chapter takes place sometime in March. Nevertheless, I hope you'll like it! The next part of this episode is coming soon. And once again, thank you to all my readers and subscribers! I'll have more coming up soon :) xoxo