3rd POV

“Never have I ever liked Kim Jongin.” Aya said.

Kai looked at Aya and clenched his jaw in irritation. “Aya.”

“No wait. Let’s see what she does.” Aya said to him, never taking her eyes off of Suhan. “Well?” She asked.

Suhan just stared at Aya with nervous eyes. Her heart was pounding against her chest and she heard a buzzing in her ears. Suhan hated being the center of attention, especially for things like this.

She choked down the lump in to speak. “I-” She cleared her dry throat, “I-”

“Suhan, stop. You don’t have to answer to her.” Kai said as he cut her off, but never looking at her. “Aya, don’t be ing annoying right now.”

As if she had DID, Aya’s face softened and her eyes let go of Suhan’s gaze. “Relax, will you?” She playfully chuckled. “I was just joking.”

“Aren’t jokes supposed to be funny?” Kai asked.

Aya shrugged. “I thought it was.”

“You have a sick definition of funny.” He said.

“Maybe you just don’t have a sense of humor.”

“If your sense of humor is playing with people’s emotions then no, I don’t have one.”

“I wasn’t playing with people’s emotions, I was simply pointing out the elephant in the room.”

“Or maybe you’re just trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

“Or you’re just afraid to face reality.” Aya said them softly, but everyone felt her words.

The two stared each other down; the tension thick as butter. No one said a word, afraid that if anyone spoke, the ticking time bomb would just

explode.

It wasn’t until a few seconds later, that D.O., the only one who had could defuse the situation stepped in.

He walked over to the two with an amicable chuckle and put his arms around both of their shoulders. “Well, that was an interesting game.” He

laughed. “But I think we should go back inside now; it looks like the party’s starting to end.”

Seulgi stepped in next. “Yeah, Soo’s right. Let’s go.”

And with that, everyone gathered themselves and stood up. They dusted themselves off from some of the grass that stuck to their dresses and tuxes and started going back inside.

Taemin took Suhan with him, not wanting to leave her alone with Aya or Kai. But as they walked, Suhan couldn’t help but glance back. She looked at Kai who was walking next to D.O. He had his vest hung over his shoulder and was staring at the ground as he walked. Suhan wondered what he was thinking about. What would he had done if she put his finger down? Why was he so adamant on her not answering?

Suhan faced forward and sighed, her shoulders slightly deflating.

“Of course he didn’t want me to answer. If I had put my finger down, I would just burden him.” She thought to herself.

Suhan looked down at her hand by her side.

Ever so slowly, she put her pinky down.

“At least I got one down.”

Suhan ran down the stairs with Donggie’s leash in her right hand. “Mom, I’m gonna take Donggie out for a walk at that park by our house.”

“What did I say about using slang?” Her mom said back from the study room.

Suhan silently groaned and rolled her eyes. “I’m going to take Donggie out for a walk.” She said, her teeth gritted so tightly she felt as if they were about to implode.

“Better.” Her mom said. “Be back soon, it looks like it’s going to rain.”

Suhan didn’t say anything; she just quickly attached Donggie to the leash and slipped her sneakers on before jogging out the door.

She walked down the breezy and empty street. Suhan looked up at the sky and realized why there wasn’t really anyone outside. Anyone with common sense could tell it was about storm. The sky was covered with dark gray clouds and there was a sporadic wind blowing the trees over. The weather was kind of warm but with the sun blocked out and the cool wind made it perfect. Suhan loved this weather more than any other kind, it always put her in a good mind despite its dreary appearance. In movies, intense storms meant something dramatic or exciting was about to happen and Suhan transferred that into real life. She always felt like something big was going to happen during intense storms.

Of course nothing ever did, but she still liked to hope.

She lightly smiled to herself as she turned into the empty park. There weren’t any kids which was obvious. There were about 3 other people exercising on the track. An old couple walking around, a boy on the other side of the track.

Suhan put her earbuds in and began walking through the trail that cut through the little forest.

She thought back to Friday, the dance.

“I think I know what I want for my wish.”

“That you be my date tonight.”

Suhan felt her stomach flutter and she smiled to herself.

“I'll play if Suhan plays.”

“Oh my God, Kai.” Suhan softly chuckled.