Kai has been giving you the silent treatment. 

"You're joking, right?" Sehun asks on the other side of your phone. You hear some rustling in the background and then his voice is a bit lower and sharper than previously. "Kai doesn't do silent treatment."

"That's what I'm saying!" you shout. 

"Oh, I don't know," Eun says next to you. "He does seem the type to do silent treatment." 

"But he's not," you argue. "If Kai is angry about something, he'll scream it into my face. Eventually pin me to the wall." 

"And then make out with you angrily until his annoyance goes away," Sehun speaks up. You can almost hear him smirking and you roll your eyes at Eun, who grins. 

"He has a point," she says.

"That is not what happens," you say. 

"Who are you kidding right now?" Eun snorts.

"Kai and Dal, sitting in a tree—"

"Shut up Malfoy," you say, but it doesn't stop both Sehun and Eun to scream out 'K-i-s-s-i-n-g,' on the top of their lungs while also laughing wildly. "You're not my friends anymore," you decide, standing up from the couch to leave the two of them to their fun. 

"You love us!" Eun shouts.

Later that day, you unlock the door to Kai's loft and walk in with a bag of groceries. You hear Kai talking to Taemin in the living room and as you enter it, you see the two of them going at it in Mario Cart, sitting in front of the TV on the floor.

"Hey Dal!" Taemin screams, not even looking over his shoulder. "So now that you and Kai aren't a thing, am I free to flirt with you?" 

Kai kicks him and Taemin falls onto his right elbow, not letting go of his controller. Seeing Kai's reaction makes you feel a little bit less ty about yourself. It means he's not that angry, just sincerely wants you to feel bad for keeping the truth about Jaejoong away from him. 

"No," you reply, heading for the kitchen. "I'm taken forever."

"God, that's so sad," Taemin mutters. Kai kicks him again; you don't see it, but you hear his grunt and a word of protest. "Did you buy any chocolate?" 

"No," you answer, putting the grocery bag down onto the counter and going through the things inside. You finally pull out a jar of Nutella with 'i love you' written on it, and you bravely head back to the living room. You stand next to Kai - they're still playing Mario - and Taemin looks up at you. He spots the jar in your hands and opens his mouth (probably to shout or something) when you stretch your arms out towards Kai, practically shoving the jar at his face. Kai jerks back a little, looks at the jar, spares you a quick glance, and then looks at the jar again. 

He stares at it for three more seconds, takes it with his left hand, and puts it down next to his knee just to continue racing with Taemin. 

He wins because Taemin is too dumbfounded by him turning down the peace offering. 

"Ugh," you say, turning on your heel, resigned.

"Dude," you hear Taemin whisper.

*

You place three cups of chocolate pudding in front of Kai. He looks at it, momentarily tearing his eyes away from his phone, and then completely ignores it.

Kai ignores chocolate pudding. 

"Uh," Amber says, noticing the whole thing. "Is Kai sick or something?" 

"He's in the middle of Dal withdrawal," Taemin informs. 

Everyone around the table gasps. Even Heejin. Silence fills the air. Everyone stares at you and Kai, at you and Kai, back and forth, back and forth. You grimace, sigh, and sit through their judging, looking at the ceiling. Kai just keeps on staring at his phone. 

"God," Sulli says. "This feels unsettling." 

"Word," Min mutters. "Is this about Jaejoong?" 

"Don't say the 'J' word in Kai's presence," Taemin reminds her. 

"Oops." 

"Who's Jaejoong?" Heejin asks. 

"What did I just say!" Taemin shouts, pretending to angrily slap the top of the table. Heejin falls for it easily and opens her eyes widely, scared. Taemin bursts out laughing, just like half of your group around the table, and Heejin's cheeks go red. 

"Don't do that!" she scolds, her voice high-pitched. 

"Aw, that was cute," Taemin says, shaking his head.

"That's Heejin we're talking about, duh," Baekhyun says, rolling his eyes. 

"Oh my God, stop," Eun says, "you're making her red." 

"Now that you pointed that out I'm only gonna get redder!" Heejin says, placing her hands over her cheeks. Kai cracks a smile at that and you giggle, making a move to take the puddings away from him. The second your fingers brush the cups, Kai's hand curls around your wrist, forcing you to stop your advances.

You look up to find his eyes staring into yours and your heart literally beats out of your chest. Well, not literally, obviously; that'd be quite a ridiculous sight. But it's been two days since Kai has last looked at you - really looked at you - and the sudden hard gaze makes your whole body buzz with energy. You find yourself swallowing hard. Kai, not tearing his eyes away from yours, slowly puts his hand away, and places it on the top of the table. His fingers linger on your skin even as he withdraws his arm.

Then he looks away from you, grabs the puddings and protectively slides them closer to his own chest. 

You realize that your cheeks are burning. Kai smirks, picking up his phone again, and you open your mouth, outraged, nothing coming out of it. 

"Five bucks," Taemin says to someone. 

"Damn," Baekhyun groans. "Could've sworn he'd crack today." 

You look at them, eyes wide. "Are you—why am I even surprised anymore?" 

*

Chicken nuggets is the last resort you turn to. You enter the loft bearing the gift. You shut the door behind yourself and at the same second, Kai walks down the stairs, wearing sweats and a loose t-shirt, seemingly ready to sleep. He sees you and crosses his arms over his chest, looking at you expectantly. 

"I have chicken," you say, showing him the bag. He can probably smell the food already, but you feel awkward enough to point it out. He stares at you, not saying a word, not moving, not even breathing (or at least that's what he looks like). After ten seconds of mutual staring he raises his brows judgmentally. 

"Oh my God," you say, letting your hands fall onto your sides. The bag rustles in your left hand. "Can we stop that already? I'm sorry!" 

"Could've started with that instead of buying me Nutella," Kai speaks up. Hearing his voice directed at you is like hearing music for the first time in a week, and you go from annoyed to blissed-out in 0.3 seconds. 

"He talks!" you gasp, cupping your cheeks and accidentally hitting your ribs with the chicken box inside the bag hanging loosely from your hand. "The day has come!" 

Kai approaches you. You grin up at him, but he takes the bag from you and walks past you like you're nothing. The smile falls off your face.

"Kai," you start, turning on your heel. You watch his back as he heads for the kitchen (his back and his , okay, yes) and quickly catch up to him. Kai sits by the counter, on a barstool, and you quickly sit down next to him as he unpacks the food. 

"Just because you bring me food doesn't mean I'm not angry with you," he says. 

"Jaejoong asked me not to tell you," you explain, leaning over so that you can be closer to him. You crave his contact. You didn't even realize how much you've missed it until you're this close, until you can feel his body heat with your cheek and bare elbow. "Kai..." 

"We don't keep secrets," Kai says, abandoning the food. He looks at you. Internally, you're happy that he's paying attention to you. That's the first thing you feel - excitement. Then you realize that he's mad and bitter, and you feel awful again. "You know what happens when we keep secrets." 

"We...don't date for years?" you ask, squinting. Kai almost smiles at that. "I saw the corner of your lip twitch." 

"It did not," Kai argues, turning away. "And stop staring at me." 

"Kai." 

"No. I'm angry." 

"Then shout at me!" you say, rising your voice. "But don't ignore me! I feel ty and guilty, but I know that I don't have the reason to. I didn't lie to you, I did something I promised someone to do. It was Jaejoong's secret, not mine. You know that I don't keep secrets from you. You know that." 

"Do you know what hurts me most?" Kai asks, turning in his seat. Your knees collide and you're face-to-face now, and he leans in. "You've gotten so good at lying, I can't even tell when you're doing it anymore." 

You swallow hard at that and your heart does that unpleasant thing where it beats, but it feels shallow and...not all there. It's like it drops down your ribcage. Kai's eyes are sincere and hurt, moving from your left eye to your right and down to your lips. He still looks at you this way, his pupils still dilate when he looks at you, and you feel your annoyance and guilt softening. 

"You can't hear it because I don't lie to you," you whisper. "I hid the truth from you because Jaejoong asked me to. Would you tell Heejin about Suho being a werewolf if he explicitly asked you not to?"

"That's different," Kai says, looking down at his knees. "That's—"

"Not your secret to share," you finish for him. "Just like Jaejoong's." 

You feel like he understands, but he still needs to be angry about it for a while. Just to make a point. And maybe that's the thing - he wants to make a point. 

"I'd never lie to you," you say. "Unless I have to because it, let's say, saves your life. Or something. Now can we make out angrily?"

Kai groans, turns away from you, and grabs the chicken box. 

"Not even a peck on the cheek?" you ask, finally touching him by placing your head on his shoulder.

"No," Kai says. "Get away." 

"Rude."

"Your face is rude."

"Yours is ruder." 

"I'm not a bad boy because of my grades." 

"Merlin's beard!" 

"Please don't say that."