There was a weird atmosphere going on and Jangmi couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with the situation. She was sitting next to Chanyeol and as she lifted her face, her eyes stopped on Kai’s stoic face. He was looking at the table with a blank expression.

He’s been like that for the last 20 minutes. When she got back after talking to Seunghyub, she noticed how odd he’s acting. She doesn’t know why he’s being like that. She felt like he’s giving her a cold shoulder.

“Okay! Take one each!” Baekhyun exclaimed as he put a cup with sticks on the center of the table. The others started picking one. They carefully looked at what was written on the stick and hid them right away.

“I’m the King!” Krystal stated while showing her stick indicating her position. With a grin on her face, she looked around. “2 and 5, kiss on the cheek,” she blurted before giggling.

Baekhyun raised his hand and looked around. “I’m 2.”

“Seriously,” Sehun sighed and threw the stick on the table. The girls started laughing but Jangmi kept her eyes on Kai. He was just looking at what’s happening but he was not giving any kind of reaction. Something’s wrong and Jangmi could feel that she has something to do with it.

“Now, kiss,” Krystal repeated while pushing her cousin.

“Just do it. Or if you want you can just drink the lemon extract,” Jonghyun suggested and the two frowned by just thinking of downing that sour thing.

“Let’s do this quickly,” Sehun said with a sigh as he stood and walked towards Baekhyun. Hyemi instantly covered her eyes while screaming. The other girls did the same except, of course, Jangmi. Chanyeol and Jonghyun were laughing their asses off when Baekhyun’s lips were pressed on Sehun’s cheek. The two boys shivered after what they did.

They put the sticks back on the cup. Baekhyun shook the sticks randomly while saying that he’s going to get revenge. He put back the cup on the table and they all quickly pulled one stick each.

“King,” Jonghyun stated while lifting the stick on his hand. “3 and 1, hug,” he continued.

“I’m 1,” Chanyeol said while putting the stick on the table. “3,” Hayoung muttered as she did the same.

“Hug,” Jonghyun repeated. Chanyeol and Hayoung stood quickly and hugged each other casually.

“This is not fun,” Baekhyun commented while shuffling the sticks once again. “Wait until I get the King,” he continued while grinning. They all got their sticks and Baekhyun stood right away. His grin was from ear to ear. “KING!!”

He looked around, trying to look at their reactions. “3 and 4, kiss…on the lips.”

Krystal pushed Baekhyun which made the latter stumble on his seat. “What are you doing?” she asked while glaring.

“I’m just spicing up the game,” he replied casually. “You can do it lightly,” Baekhyun continued while batting his lashes cutely.

“3,” Kai stated while showing the others the stick which he was holding.

“Who’s 4?” Hayoung asked while they all looked around. “I’m not. I’m 5,” Chanyeol replied as he put the stick down on the table. Jangmi was looking blankly at the stick that she was holding.

“Oh, Jangmi’s 4,” Hyemi muttered when she saw the number. Kai’s eyes stopped on Jangmi who was just sitting there blankly. Sehun nudged his friend. “Blessing from above,” he whispered jokingly but Kai remained silent. He was just observing Jangmi’s reaction.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Baekhyun started cheering while clapping. Hyemi looked at Kai with a worried expression. She knew that Kai’s not feeling that good after his encounter with Seunghyub. Jangmi looked at Kai and the picture of him kissing her at the hospital came to her mind. Her ears started to heat up.

“If you don’t like to do it then you can just-”

“Oh.”

Sehun stopped what he was supposed to say when Kai grabbed the glass of lemon extract and drank it in one shot. He shook his head after that before drinking water. They were all silent when he did that. Jangmi suddenly felt so cold. Was she expecting something to happen? Why does she feel so disappointed?

Kai’s phone started ringing afterwards. He excused himself from the group and walked away to take the call. Jangmi looked at his back as he disappeared.

It’s the first time that she felt cold just by looking at him walk away. He’s like a different person. It’s scaring her.

Jangmi pulled her legs up on the bench and hugged them while sighing. The others were still playing games but she decided to pull out from what they were doing. She’s not in the mood. Her mind’s state is messy as of the moment. She’s happy to see Seunghyub again. It has been years since she last saw him. He hasn’t change that much. He’s still the warm and cheerful person she knew when she was younger. And without lying, she did feel her heart skipping a beat when she saw him.

But why does she feel something odd deep inside?

“You really don’t know how to sort out your feelings.”

Jangmi immediately looked at her right when she heard Jaehyun’s voice. He was staring back at her while pocketing his hands.

“What are you talking about now?” she asked. Jaehyun sighed before walking towards her. He sat beside her and leaned back on the seat.

“I’m talking about Kai and Seunghyub hyung,” he replied right away. Her eyes narrowed and her brows bristled. “I thought you already moved on. What are you doing right now? Understanding what’s in that head of yours is really stressful, what more when it comes to understanding your heart?” he asked in a nagging tone.

“I’m not in the mood for your nagging.”

“Listen to me Ryu Jangmi. I’m telling you this because you’re using your head too much that you tend to ignore what your other senses are saying. No matter how determined a person is, if you keep on putting him down, he’ll give up.”

Jangmi blinked blankly at what her brother was telling him. It’s the first time that he’s telling her such thing.

“I’m talking about Kai if you’re still not getting it. You know how I feel about you liking Seunghyub hyung, right? Don’t give the man a hard time. You’ll regret it if he gives up on you. I’m telling you this as an older brother. I don’t want to see you crying in a corner once he gives up. Now, organize what’s happening in that heart of yours,” Jaehyun said before standing up and leaving her alone.

Jangmi looked at her hands. What he said is true but now…she’s scared to tell Kai because of how he’s acting. She’s afraid that she hurt him too much.

On the other hand, Jaehyun ruffled his hair while sighing.

“Why am I dealing with other’s heart problems when I can’t deal with mine that well? Twisted world,” he huffed.

Flashback

“I heard you failed your Math quiz,” Jangmi stated as they, she and her brother, walked through the vast school ground. Jaehyun rolled his eyes. “Don’t even start with your lectures. I’m tired of hearing them,” he retorted as he swang his bag to his back.

“How will you enter high school if you keep on failing?” she asked, not really listening to Jaehyun. “I told you already, I’m not going to school after this. I’m going to leave for Japan and live on my own. I’m going to make music and people will recognize me,” he replied while grinning.

Jangmi frowned at the idea. “And I’ll have a peaceful life away from mom and dad’s everyday banters,” he continued. She frowned even more.

“Why don’t you come too? I heard there’s an exclusive scholarship for you there,” he suggested and Jangmi shook her head immediately. “How could I leave Jeno behind?” she asked.

“Hey, if you’re going to say that, I will look like tha bad guy for fleeing,” he complained.

“Yes, you will really look like the bad guy,” she nodded casually. “But I understand your reason. Besides, you’re not really good in studying. Investing money for your education will become a failure,” she continued.