“My stomach hurts,” Kevin complained.

“It’s your fault,” Lexi shot back. “Nobody told you to snarf down everything on the table.”

Kevin pouted.

“Pathetic,” she muttered and turned away. “How did I manage to put up with this?” They were sitting in the car, having just said goodbye to Kevin’s mom.

He’d declined –uh, no. actually he forced the driving on to her, having just consumed more than half the dinner his mom made. At the moment, he was leaning back, eyes closed –whether from pain or something else, his face didn’t show. Lexi stared at him, unwavering now that he wasn’t looking back.

After a few minutes, Kevin opened his eyes to return her gaze. “Uhm,” he muttered, his thoughts suddenly scattering. “Aren’t we leaving yet?”

She snapped off and wordlessly started the car.

“So?” Kevin persisted when she didn’t speak, ten minutes later.

“So what?” She was careful to keep her eyes on the road.

“How was tonight?”

“Seriously, Kevin?”

He smiled and started doing the aegyo act she found both irritating and oddly heart-racing.

“Ugh!” She stepped on the breaks so fast they would have been thrown out the window if they weren’t wearing seatbelts. “Yamero!”

“Ooh, Japanese,” he muttered.

“Psh.” She blew a strand of hair away from her face. “Fine. Evening? Great. Now would you lay off of me while I’m driving?”

“Ah, that’s more like it,” he said.

Lexi felt like they were slipping in a twilight zone where she was seventeen again. “If you value your teeth…” She let the threat hang unfinished.

Kevin held up his hands in mock defeat.

They hit traffic half an hour later. Lexi was about to ask why when she saw a sign that practically made her scream in protest: ROADWORKS AHEAD FOLLOW DIVERSION FOR SEOUL.

“This is all I need right now,” she grumbled.

“Why?” Kevin asked. “It’s road reconstruction or something.”

“No,” she shot back. “It’s a big stonking hole in the ground that’s going to make us get home late.” Frustrated, she drummed on the steering wheel, feeling the ever-present knot in her stomach everytime she thought of the prospect of being alone with Kevin in an excessive amount of time. It tightened further when she thought about the kiss, her row with Xander and Ye Jeun’s desperate attempt at threatening her.

“You know, you should probably wind down,” Kevin continued, apparently unaffected. “Before you get indigestion.”

“Shut up!” She laughed despite herself, following the cars as they merged into one lane and began crawling through the bright orange traffic cones. “Oh, god. Can this get any slower?”

Kevin tugged at her hair. “Hey, calm down superstar.”

“Seriously?” She gestured at the speedometer. “We’re going less than five miles an hour!”

Painstakingly slowly, they took a left and started weaving through various sidestreets until she finally sighted what looked like a main road. She edged forward, bumper to bumper. It went on for an hour until Kevin spotted a side road they always took to avoid further traffic. By then, Lexi was red in the face, both from the traffic and her own tangled nerves.

“Lex, maybe we should change sides now,” Kevin offered, tucking her hair behind her ear in a familiar gesture. She didn’t even think about it. She was too tired.

She just modded and brought the car to a gradual stop.

Kevin breathed heavily once they were in the car again. He wanted to tell her. Hell, he was urging himself forward. But he knew it wasn’t possible. At least not at the moment. After one year(or more) of estrangement, what he wanted was next to improbable. He was susceptible and she was on-guard.

“Thank god for private detours,” she sighed, finally breaking into a smile.

He smiled back, showing off his perfect set of teeth. “Yes, thank god.” They were still two hours from Seoul and another thirty minutes from their respective dorms, but yeah, it was relatively closer.

Or not.

They were just getting used to the idea when the car suddenly spluttered.

“Hell, no,” Lexi muttered, eyes widening. “No break-downs. It’s freaking snowing!”

Kevin wasequally nervous and kept stepping on the gas, trying to get the car to speed up. It continued sputtering.

And then the engine died.

“ARGH!” Lexi shouted, startling Kevin.

They stepped out and popped the hood. It was already freezing even through Lexi’s turtleneck and jacket.

“What’s wrong with it?” she asked, more calmly this time.

“Uh,” Kevin mumbled. “I don’t know.”

“What?” Lexi screamed and kicked the car with so much force it quaked. “What kind of crap car is this?”

“Hey!” Kevin said, stopping her. “Chill out. That’s a Prius right there. Don’t disrespect it!”

Instead of calming down, Lexi started freaking out. “What the hell, Kevin?! We’re stranded halfway through Seoul and you’re worried about me disrespecting your crap car?!” She gave it another kick. This time, her shoe left a one-inch scratch on the door.

“Hey!” Kevin protested and trapped her in his arms. “Calm down. Okay?”

Thwarted, Lexi stopped dead. Feeling the pressure building, she relaxed against Kevin’s arms and let him lead her back inside the car. She hunched over the glove compartment. “Okay, come on now Lexi, just relax,” she instructed herself sternly. “Getting all stressed isn’t going to make this car move, is it?”

Kevin watched her talk herself to relaxing, a wry smile on his face. This was something new. She never got stressed out. His brows furrowed.

“Take a deep breath, ”she was muttering.

He followed her voice. “Breath in. out. In and out. In and out. In and ou-”

“Oh, sod it.”

Her eyes had snapped open. “This is useless. I’m not going to spend  the night here in the cold.”

Kevin looked at her quizzically. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m going to have to ring Xander and see if he can come or at least get a tow truck,” she announced.

“Good idea. I’ll call Eli,” he answered.

Desperately, Lexi snatched up her iPhone. But just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse,

THEY DID.

There was no reception.

She jumped up and snatched Kevin’s phone away from him. She stared at the blank signal bar and groaned. “Great. JUST GREAT. What am I going to do now?!” she threw the phones towards the road.

Kevin squawked in surprise. “Hey! We’re going to need those!” He ran to retrieve them. “Just, just stay in the car. Please.”

She flopped down in exasperation and glanced around: the snow was falling heavier now. Jesus, she thought. Don’t let it become a blizzard. Distractedly, she let her eyes drift, taking in the surroundings. She hadn’t been paying attention because of her freaking out but she realized the road was familiar.

“We used to drive here when we sneaked to Seoul,” he muttered as if reading her mind.

She nodded. “Only when we weren’t in a hurry.” She looked at him. “I wonder how long it’s been since I was last here.” Her memory flicks back. It was the same day Xander caught them chilling in the UKISS dorm. It seemed another lifetime ago. Like another person.

Kevin glanced at her through the rearview mirror. Lexi had a goofy smile on her face, which mirrored his expression, the summer wind blowing through her hair. The radio was on and they were singing.

It was them. A year ago.

Funny how he suddenly flashed back on it.

“Kevin!”

Lexi’s voice snapped him out of his daze. She was waving a hand in front of his face, a worried look in her eyes.

“Stop,” he said, snatching her hand out of the air.

“You don’t start going into shock or anything, Kevin Woo,” she threatened.

He laughed dryly. “Ya think?”

She stuck a tongue out at him.

Kevin glanced at his watch. It was nearly ten. “Aren’t you sleepy yet?”

“Eager to get rid of me?”

He pouted. “I’m just saying.”

That was when she noticed that her hand was still in his. But none made a move to separate.

“Tell me,” Kevin muttered. “What happened in Japan?”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

Kevin leaned in towards her, giving her an unobstructed view of his brown eyes, and vice versa.

The smile slipped from her face, and Kevin knew he was being an idiot. She pulled her hand from his, feeling the first semblance of rational thought creep through her brain. This was the elevator scene all over again. She forced the thought of him out of her mind, thinking about other things instead. The album, Japan, Chrictmas, Byunghun, MC, Xander. They circled through her mind in turn, like a cd on replay. By the third flash on Xander, she opened her eyes.

“It wasn’t him I ran after for absolutely no reason…” Her statement echoed eerily. “It wasn’t him who made me come back…” No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t get that out of my mind.

“Lexi? I’m sorry if I said something that hurt you or something.”

“Don’t talk, Kevin,” she muttered, turning away. “Let’s not repeat the last time.”

“What is so wrong, Lexi?” he persisted. “I think we’re alone now.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“The truth.”

“What?” She turned again.

“I love you.”

She froze, then shook her head. “Kevin, stop it. ” Her heart was pounding. She wanted badly to run away so she couldn’t hear him say it.

“I do.”

She closed her eyes. “You don’t get it, do you? It’s not in my agenda to look like a fool for the second time.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Damn right, it’s not,” she seethed. “Because you’re going to stay the hell away from my heart.”

Her words stung him. “I understand.”

At the same moment, her phone rung. She picked it up. “Hello Xander?”

Kevin turned away, his eyes blurring with tears. All of a sudden, he understood. Really understood. He’d lost his chance. A single drop fell from his eyes as he tried in vain to blink them all back. But they continued freely. Someone sure was more important to her now.

“No, I’m okay.” Lexi turned to look at him again. “Kevin?”

He froze, unwilling to look back at her and signaled with his hands instead.

Lexi thought for a moment. “No, you don’t have to.  Just call a tow truck for tomorrow. We’re perfectly safe.” Then gritting her teeth, she forced Kevin to face her.

“Kevin!”

Like a child, he hid his face in his hands and bumped them on the steering wheel.

“Are you crying?” Her eyes widened. “Please don’t tell me you’re crying.”

He looked at her furiously. “What if I am?”

She stared speechlessly at his tear-streaked face. flopped open and close like a fish out of water.

“Just don’t ask me to give up,” he all but sobbed. “Give me a chance.” He caressed her face, gingerly as if she was going to disappear any moment. “Don’t disappear on me until you’re sure. Please.”

Her eyes widened further. “Kevin…”

“Lexi… ” He took a deep breath. “I love you.”

i think it's sort of lame. do you think it's lame? XD

wait up for the next!