“I don’t hate you.”

“I just hate myself for being trapped like this.”

Kai slowly opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling for some seconds before shutting them again with a sigh. What the hell did I tell her? Alcohol’s really my enemy. Clumsily patting the side of the bed to look for his phone, he couldn’t help but sigh once again. He couldn’t even remember what happened last night at the party.

He just remember having too much of a drink and now, his head is spinning. Talk about a bad hangover. He squinted as he stared at the screen of his phone, looking at the time. 8:27 AM. He grunted while rolling off from the bed and throwing his phone back to the bed. Ruffling his hair, making it even messier, he walked out of the room just to find his friends sleeping beside empty beer cans.

Daniel was neatly tucked on the couch while Seungwoo was sprawled on the floor, making the carpet his own comfy bed. Kai’s sure that they too are wasted. Shaking his head, he went straight to the counter to get some cold water to wake him up. He stared at the floor for a long moment, trying to recall what happened last night because all he had in his mind is Kira’s crying face.

He walked to the fridge and frowned when he saw that nothing’s in there except some more cans of beer.

“You’re up?” Daniel asked with his hoarse voice. He clumsily sat on the couch before stretching his arms and shook Seungwoo with his foot. The latter just groaned and continued sleeping.

“What happened last night? I don’t remember anything,” Kai asked from the counter. Daniel rubbed his eyes and yawned before grabbing his phone from the floor.

“Why? Are you afraid that you said something to Kira?”

No answer.

Daniel let out a playful scoff. “Don’t worry. You did not crash the party if that’s what you’re worrying about. People just kept on talking about how Kira embarrassed herself after falling in the pool. And even if you’re not going to ask me, I’m going to tell you anyway; she looked pretty shaken up after what happened. You should check on her. At least do that as a business partner if not as her fiancé; or as a classmate; or as a human being if you can’t-”

“Shut up. Can’t you answer my questions with just one sentence?”

Kai poured himself another glass of cold water. Daniel stood and started fixing the mess in that room and he started by picking up the empty cans and throwing them into the trash bin. Emptying his glass, Kai proceeded to the bathroom. He could use a cold shower to get his senses back.

“I’m gonna order some food. What do you want to eat?” Daniel asked before shaking Seungwoo’s arm.

“Whatever,” Kai replied, closing the door behind him.

Daniel grabbed the phone and the menu which were both sitting beside the TV. He scanned through the list of food before glancing at Seungwoo. Sighing, he went near his friend and shook him harder this time. “Hey, wake up. Ong, what do you want to eat?”

Seungwoo opened his eyes slowly before grunting, rolling to the other side. “I’m not eating,” he replied, words slurring. Daniel shook his head as he stood, kicking Seungwoo this time. The latter did not even budge.

 “Fine. I’ll just order whatever I want. I hate myself for being too good to the two of you,” he muttered before calling the crew to order his food.

After some time, he sat on the couch. He ended up ordering for the three of them because he’s just too considerate for his own good. The room’s tidier than before. He shook Seungwoo for the nth time with his foot but he was just ignored. He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair.

Ring.

He quickly sat up, looking for his phone. “It’s not mine,” he mumbled when he realized that it was not his phone that was ringing. He stood and walked to the room, pushing the door open. It was Kai’s phone.

“Don’t answer?” Daniel raised a brow when he read the caller ID. He stared at it for some time, thinking if he should answer it or not. He scratched the back of his neck. I think it’s better not to answer it since the caller ID tells so.

Three minutes passed and Kai’s phone kept on ringing. Whoever that person is, he or she sure is persistent. Daniel darted his eyes to the bathroom’s direction then back at the TV. What the hell is he doing in there? He sure is taking his time. He glanced at sleeping Seungwoo and sighed.

A knock on the door made him stand.

“Good morning sir. Room service,” the guy pushing the cart greeted.

“Thank you.”

Daniel pushed the cart inside the room and smiled brightly just by thinking that he’s finally going to fill his stomach with delicious food. He started putting the plates on the table but stopped when he heard the phone ringing again. Huffing, he went back to the room and picked up the phone, answering it.

“Where are you?” a girl’s voice asked and she sounded impatient.

“Ummm…who is-”

“Forget it. I’m going to wait for you here. Let’s talk.”

Beep.

What the hell. Who’s that? He threw the phone back on the bed before walking out. She sounded pissed off. Why would Kai- Stop.

“I thought you said you’re not eating.”

Seungwoo just flashed him a sheepish smile before grabbing a pair of chopsticks. His hair looked like a bird’s nest and he still had his eyes half-closed when he started picking some food for himself. Daniel scooted beside Seungwoo and they quietly started eating.

“I think my head’s going to explode,” Seungwoo commented while in the middle of chewing his food. He rubbed his eyes and opened them, squinting to have a better look of the food in front of him. “Where’s Kai?”

“Bathroom,” Daniel replied.

“I can’t believe he said those words with his own mouth,” Seungwoo remarked as his lips curved into a playful smile.

“What words?”

Seungwoo turned to Daniel with a ‘did-you-forget’ look on his face. “I thought you’re the one with the best memory out of the three of us,” he replied. “You don’t remember what he said when he stood on the stage with Kira? He even wrapped his arm around her shoulders.”

Daniel shook his head. “Was I there when that happened?”

Seungwoo thought for some seconds before exclaiming. “Ah! You were at the restroom at that time.”

“What did he say?”

Seungwoo cleared his throat and wrapped his arm around Daniel’s shoulders. “She’s an important person in my life.”

“He said that?”

“I was surprised when he suddenly said that. I’m telling you, he lose every control when he’s drunk. That’s the reason why his father does not want him to drink that much,” Seungwoo stated before sitting properly. “I wonder if his confession made it to the internet. I also wonder if Kira’s feeling okay. I heard she caught a cold.”

“Why would he suddenly say that?” Daniel muttered, lost in his thoughts. The two of them suddenly lifted their heads when they heard Kai coming out from the bathroom. Kai was drying his hair with a towel.

“Why?” Kai asked when he noticed the weird looks on their faces.

They both shook their heads.

Let’s just keep our mouths shut and let him learn about what he did on his own.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

“I’m okay now.”

Minhyun sighed on the other line and she could imagine him shutting his eyes and shaking his head. He always does that when he’s worried about her. Kira pulled her phone away from ears before covering as she coughed.

Hyunbin was rushed to the hospital that night and Minhyun had to stay with him for the whole time. The doctor said that it was food poisoning and the two knew that it was not because of the food at the party because he did not eat anything there. He must have eaten something somewhere that got him to that state.

“I heard what happened. News travels fast. Did you really just fall in the pool because you lost balance?”

Kira, sighing, stood and started fixing the contents of her bag.

“Kim Yuna pushed me. I swear I’ll really pull all of her hair off once I see her again.”

“Sorry. I was not there.”

“It’s not your fault. I was just so embarrassed when the people there started looking at me. I wish I can just turn invisible. I just hope no one will put any of what happened last night in the internet,” she stated, frustrated and annoyed at the same time.

“Bad news, Peach; I just saw some pictures when I my phone. Internet’s a scary thing. But don’t worry; people will eventually forget about it. And you still looked pretty in those pictures,” Minhyun joked and she rolled her eyes, chuckling a bit.

“I just hope that happens.”

Minhyun stayed quiet for a while before speaking again. “I also saw a video of you and Kai on the stage. He looked pretty drunk.”

Kira halted, pursing her lips into a thin line.

“Let’s not talk about that,” she muttered and Minhyun paused.

“Okay,” he replied. Kira suddenly felt bad. She’s channeling her frustration on his friend who had done nothing wrong.

“Sorry. I just-”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me. I understand.”

A small smile crept on her face.

“The doctor’s here to check on Hyunbin. What time are you going back to Seoul? I think I can accompany you if you want to.”

“It's okay. Stay with Hyunbin until he gets better. I can manage things on my own.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Take care, Peach.”

“You too.”

A sigh escaped her lips as she put her phone down. She put her hand on her chest, trying to explain why her heart’s in a lot of pain.

Flashback

“I just hate myself for being trapped like this.”

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