You're mine.

What?

Wait.

I suddenly didn't understand.

I stared at him. He was looking straight ahead as he drove the car. But I could see his eyebrows furrowed. It was as if he was in deep thought and that he meant what he said. I didn't say anything anymore. Somehow, my mind processed the fact that he was just carrying on whatever his father and my father had agreed regarding us marrying each other once we both reach twenty one.

He didn't say anything else, either. He drove silently, until we reached my house. He also silently got out of the car and opened the door for me. I thanked him, though. He just nodded and went back inside his car after I got out. I punched the security code at the gate and once I was inside, I heard his car speeding away. I turned to look back and stared after his car. I just gave a sigh and walked toward the house.

Kris gege was in the living room, lounging. He had a bowl of chips on the coffee table. His feet were propped up on the table as well. As soon as he saw me, he patted the space beside him and nodded at me. I rolled my eyes, but went to sit down beside him anyways. I threw my bag on the armchair.

Kris: So, how was your day?

Me: Good.

Kris: Just good?

Me: Well...I think it's better than other days.

Kris: You said you had a group project thingy...why are you home early?

Me: Oh- that. 

Kris ge raised his eyebrow and popped a chip in his mouth. He chewed like a goat and grunted.

Me: We rescheduled.

Kris: Ahh..

Me: Yeah. Anything else?

Kris: How are you and Jungkook?

Me: Why are you asking?

Kris: You are my only sister, of course, I want to know how you are doing with the...uh...guy you will be..married to. Ahh I hate that word. Can you just do the same thing you did with Taeyong?

Me: Gege...

Kris: I'm here if you need back up, you know.

Me: I know.

Kris: I'm worried.

Me: I'm okay, I guess. For now. But like you said, you are here if I need you.

Kris: You like him that much?

Me: Aish. No comment.

Kris: He better not make you cry or else.

Me: I'm gonna go upstairs now. 

I patted his arm and picked up a handful of chips from the bowl on the table. He snorted and playfully slapped my hand away from his bowl of chips. I chuckled. It felt good being able to annoy him for once. I grabbed my bag from the armchair and ran toward the stairs. I felt something hit my hair. I turned around and saw Kris ge laughing. He threw some chips after me. That was when Xiumin oppa appeared from the front door. 

Xiumin: Oi! What's going on here?

Kris: Your sister is annoying.

Xiumin: My sister?

Me: Says the one who's more annoying.

Xiumin: Are you two fighting?

Kris: Yes. Hahahaha.

Me: He's selfish.

Xiumin: Oh? 

Then he saw the bowl of chips on the table. He placed his car keys on the table and took one chip and popped it in his mouth. Kris narrowed his eyes at him and cleared his throat. I slowly made my way up the stairs.

Me: Like I said. Selfish.

Kris: You are not allowed to go out and see Jungkook.

Xiumin: Papa said?

Kris: No. I just made it up.

Xiumin: You do know papa likes that boy for your sister.

Kris: Your sister is better off to be a nun.

I didn't hear any more. I reached the top of the stairs and walked to my room. Inside, I sat on the bed and thought about what had happened earlier with Jungkook. Was he serious? I mean, he did say he didn't like seeing me with Yibo. Was he jealous? Did he like me? But he looked happy when he was with Halla. I could see that he could freely say what he felt when he was talking to her. When he was with me, he either was silent or careful of what he says. Maybe to avoid getting misunderstood by me? I don't know.

Chenchen's birthday has passed and Yixing ge's. Before, we usually threw a party for them, but since they started university, all we could do was to greet them via phone call or video call. We send our gifts via courier and not be with them physically. Except for the times when I was still in London. I was able to celebrate birthdays with some of my brothers. It has been a while since I was able to celebrate with the other boys. I kind of missed the times when we had to keep the birthday surprise for one of them. It was only during my birthdays that they didn't keep surprises a secret. Of course a surprise is meant to be a secret, but I guess you know what I mean. The oldies would be busy preparing a little get together for me, especially those times when papa and mama were out of the country.

As the time for the debutant ball was fast approaching, I had been to Vera Wang's atelier several times. Most of the time, it was Luhan who went with me. Papa had gone back to Phuket to oversee the resort management. He was bound to travel to California to check on Tao and Kyungie after that. Kris and Xiumin remained in Beijing for the meantime. Sehun and Kai had found a way to sell Gao's car without the oldies' knowledge, and Kai's idea was actually good. He sold the car to Gao himself. Sehun liked the idea so much that he raised the price for the car, just so Gao would be pissed. But I guess Gao wanted his car back and didn't want to explain to his dad that he lost to a drag race, he was forced to pay the price, no matter how high it was. Kai made sure that Gao paid it in full and would just give the car as soon as the money was posted in Sehun's account. Kai was wise in checking with the bank that the cheque deposited was good. I knew what Kai and Sehun planned about the car because they included me in their secret meetings. But of course, Sehun owed me money.

Chanyeol and Chen was in on the secret as well, but they didn't say anything to the oldies or papa...as long as they have a small cut in the profit. Sehun got annoyed and vowed to tell Baekhyun about Chanyeol's involvement in the poor demise of his bathroom door. Blackmail. Compromise. So, yeah. Chen and Chan forgot about asking for their cut. Hahaha. They knew better than to earn the ire of Baekhyun, especially now that the "French" gege was serious in his university studies and didn't like people bothering him with trivial stuff such as who broke the door of his bathroom in his rented apartment.

Anyway, at school, it was somewhat weird. Weird in the sense that Jungkook's presence was felt anywhere I go. May it be in the middle school campus or in the senior campus. Although he didn't come near me, I could see him in the vicinity whenever I was out of the classroom buildings. At the locker area, he would always dawdle whenever I'm there. He would say "Hi" and I would respond the same way. I avoided going to their skateboard practices, and that was the only time I didn't see him. During lunchtime, I would always see him in the middle school canteen. I wasn't sure why, but somehow, I hoped he was doing that because he was keeping an eye on me. I was hoping that he was jealous and wanted to "guard" me from guys. I felt weird for thinking that, but it also felt good to think he was jealous.

Around the last week of October, our school got busy with the halloween preparations. The school student guild had planned a contest for the best homeroom decoration design. I was one of the assigned to draw up a plan for our classroom decoration. Yue was assigned to head the project. The seniors were sponsoring most of the prizes and Kai was proud to announce that he sponsored the third prize. Sehun had given him a cut on the proceeds of selling Gao's car. Sehun had paid me off in full as well, but he decided to keep his job at the ice cream shop. He said he learned a lot while working. He saw how hard it is to earn money, and he appreciated the fact that there are people working for us to make our lives easier. He had started helping out at the kitchen on his free time. Yeah, it was one of those weird changes at home.

So yeah, we finally had a decoration design for our classroom and we were given time to put it up. Halloween was on a Monday and the school guild planned to hold the event before that. A week before the 31st, we were given the time everyday at last period. With the materials in boxes on the floor, we started working. Yue was giving out instructions to the boys and I chuckled to myself. She sounded like a housewife scolding her kids who were not behaving. I imagined her married to Jimin and them having babies. I blushed at my own imagination. I wasn't even thinking of... Yeah, I was thinking of him. You know who I meant.

Yue: Xiao Yi, what are you laughing at?

Me: Me? Laughing? I'm not.

Yue: Yes, you are. 

Me: Hahaha! You sound like a mother scolding her children.

Yue: Aish. You know I want to win. And the boys just don't seem to want to cooperate.

Me: It's just a friendly competition, it's okay even if we don't win.

Yue: It's still better if we win. And we should do our best to set these decorations up. Can you get that cobweb thingy stick to the ceiling? I'm gonna ask the boys to get the wood planks for the coffins. I received a text message from the lumber shop that our order is ready for pickup.

Me: Oh, sure. I'll need Lei to help me though. He's taller than most and I need his height to get these cobwebs up on the ceiling.

Yue: Okay. The others should be back from buying the other stuff we need, they can help when they return.

Me: Right. You can go. We'll get these done in no time.

Yue nodded and herded the boys out the door. Lei stayed behind to help me. He pulled the teacher's table at the center of the room and climbed up. He started sticking up one end of the cobweb props when his phone rang. He fished it out from his pocket and answered it. Unfortunately, something came up and he had to leave me with the cobweb props. He apologized and went hurriedly out of the room. He didn't say what kind of emergency it was, and I didn't pry. I just nodded and sat on a chair. So, I was alone. 

Fighting, Xiao Yi!

I stood up again and pulled a chair. I hoisted it up on the table. I wasn't as tall as Lei who didn't need a chair to reach the ceiling. I pulled another chair and placed it beside the table. Of course, I needed something to step onto to the table.

"What are you doing?"

I quickly turned my head toward the sound of the voice. Jungkook was standing at the doorway of our classroom. One of his eyebrows was raised. His hands were in his pockets. I tilted my head. What was he doing here? I forgot that he would always randomly appear wherever I was in school.

Him: Are you committing suicide?

Me: No. What makes you say that?

Him: Well, there's a table, there's a...sort of rope thingy sticking from the ceiling...and well, you know...

Me: Duh. They're not rope thingies. These are cobweb props. I need to stick these on the ceiling. We're entering the decoration contest, you know.

Him: Ah. Need my help?

Me: No. I can do it myself.

Him: Suit yourself. But make it fast.

Me: What? Why?

Him: I got a call from Luhan hyung. He can't accompany you to the atelier. He asked me to...drive you there.

Me: Ah..

He walked toward me and stood by the table. I had made my way up the table and held one end of the cobweb props on both hands. I stepped on the chair that was on the table. Fate will have it that the chair wobbled and I lost my balance. I grabbed the nearest thing to me and clung to it to prevent my fall. I realized not a long while that I had wound my arms around Jungkook's neck as he stood in front of me. He caught me as I fell. I heard him mumble, "Klutz..."

I wanted to say something witty as a response, but I got tongue-tied when my eyes met his. And then it was Phuket all over again. I was transported back to that time when we were in Phuket, at the beach. That time when I was sure he was about to kiss me. That time when Jimin interrupted the moment. Only this time, there was no Jimin to interrupt. Jungkook's face was mere inches from my own and his eyes locked onto mine. Weirdly enough, I couldn't see any hesitation from his eyes. It was like he really wanted to kiss me. I felt my heart beat faster. I swear I think he also felt it. I was pressed against his chest because of the fall. And then his face went nearer. My cheeks felt warm. I wanted to scream, but I also want to keep silent. 

I felt his hands around my waist. My arms were still wound around his neck. Then his lips touched mine. But only for a fleeting second.

"Oh my God. Can you please be careful with that? You know we don't have any more money to buy materials? Unless you want to sponsor?"

Yue's voiced echoed in the hallway. They were back. Jungkook and I suddenly broke apart. I was able to quickly grab the cobweb props and started to step on the chair. Jungkook cleared his throat and took another end of the props and told me to step down, just in time before Yue stepped inside the room.

Yue: Jungkook! Why are you here?

Jungkook: Helping out?

Yue: Oh, cool. What are you doing up there, Xiao Yi? Where's Lei?

Me: Lei had to go. Emergency.

Yue: Ahh. Get down from there. Jungkook can do that, right?

Jungkook: Uhm, yeah. I can.

I stepped down and let Jungkook do the work. I turned around and when I was sure he couldn't see my face, I exhaled deeply. 

What was that? We were going to kiss, right? No. I swear I felt his lips. We kissed? What? OMG! I'm not sure. Can I die?

I busied myself with helping with the other decoration. I avoided Yue as well. I knew she would notice something was wrong with me, not that what happened was something wrong. That didn't make sense, did it?

Of course, I still had to be with him after school. Didn't he say that Lu ge asked him to accompany me to the atelier for my gown fitting? Lu ge was at the restaurant, meeting with Xiumin and Jin about the current set up of the soft opening. Yue told me to just go ahead and that they can finish putting up the decorations without me. Anyway, we still had the next day to finish it. As much as I wanted to stay behind to help, I had a scheduled appointment for the fitting, so I excused myself. I followed Jungkook to his car. He had parked it just outside our classroom building. He opened the passenger door for me. I slid in the seat and he closed it as soon as I was safely inside. He walked over to the driver's side and got in.

We didn't talk on the way to the atelier. He simply set his GPS and followed the directions from there. He didn't ask me anything either. I was still not over feeling flustered over what sort of happened earlier. I was grateful he didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I had to think of things to say that would divert the topic away from what happened.

We reached the atelier and I went inside ahead of him. He followed after he parked the car properly. I was there for my final fitting. The gown would be shipped to Paris ahead of time by the designer's team. They were the same team who made Jungkook's tux. He finished his final fitting the week before. I was escorted to the changing rooms and the attendant helped me get in my dress. Miss Wang was there to personally make sure that the gown fit me perfectly. She wasted no time checking the seams and how the gown molded my body. I was going to wear one of her creations at one of the most prestigious social events for fashion and charity, so she wanted to personally be there for my final fitting.

After what seemed like a few hours, I was done with my fitting. I walked toward the reception area of the atelier. I saw Jungkook joking with one of the shop's staff. I could see how the girl was enjoying his attention. I scoffed. He's mine. And as if he heard my mind, his head turned to look at me. He grinned. 

Wow. So now, you acknowledge my presence properly. That's good..

I smiled back.

Him: Done?

Me: Ne.

Him: Cool. So, ready to go...home?

Me: Uhm...I...C-can you...to the restaurant?

Him: Ah. Okay.

I kept my head down as I followed him out the door. I had softly thanked Miss Wang and the staff on my way out.

And like before, we didn't talk on the way to the restaurant. The atmosphere wasn't like the last time when we had that sort of heated argument. The current atmosphere was awkward; we were avoiding something. He had turned the music on to ease the awkwardness. I fixed my gaze outside the window. I could hear him humming along with the music, and that didn't help whatever feeling I had inside my awkward heart.

The building where the restaurant was, came into view. He slowed down and made a U-Turn for it was on the other side of the street. He carefully parked the car outside. But he didn't step out of the car to open the door for me. My hand automatically went to grab the door handle. The locked clicked. I couldn't open it. I turned to look at him for help. He was smirking. 

He locked the door. OMG this guy. Grrrr....

Me: Open this door. Jungkook.

Him: Later.

Me: Why? 

Him: Just sit there for a bit.

Me: Why?

Him: Don't you want to talk about what happened earlier?

Me: Which one?

Him: You know very well what I mean.

Me: Jungkook, open this door. I have to go out. Lu ge might be looking out that window.

Him: *sighs* Okay. But just so you know, I should apologize for what I did earlier...but I won't. I'm not sorry I kissed you. I wanted to do that for the longest time.

And he unlocked the door. My hand was still on the handle and the lock clicked open. I couldn't move from my seat, but I knew I should. I tested moving my fingers. I was able to. All the while, I was thinking of what to say to him. I made up my mind and before I said it, I quickly slid out of the car. As soon as I was out, I told him: "There's nothing to apologize for. It's...okay. Take care." 

I half-ran, half-walked toward the restaurant front doors. I could feel my cheeks burning. I refused to look back at him. My cheeks probably looked liked an overriped tomato and I didn't want him to see that. I pushed the door open and ran to the girl's restroom. I bumped into Xiumin oppa as I ran toward the restroom. 

Xiumin: What's up with you? You okay?

Me: I need to pee!

Yeah right, Xiao Yi. You mean you are just blushing too hard and didn't want your brother to see your tomato face. Because....Jungkook...me...I mean...we....actually....kissed? 

*hysteric giggles*

"Xiao Yi? You look sick. Are you alright?"

Shut it! I should have ran faster to the restroom. Why did Lu ge have to see me right now?

FINALLY. I know, it's been long overdue. But it's never too late. As long as we have patience, everything will be alright.  JungYi is finally happening. 

Anyway, I suggest you listen to  "More Than You'll Ever Know" - Boyz II Men (Twenty) while you are reading this. It's the song that was on loop as I wrote the draft for this. 

吴爱你，我爱你！

감사합니다 ♡JungYi♡