”Ji Eun, wait!” Without turning around or looking back I walked pass the drunken crowd all the way to the gate. Once out of the party's perimeters, I stood there and that’s when I realised I had been crying silently. ”Ji Eun ah.” This voice. I immediately turned around. Kai was standing a few meters away from me. I couldn’t really see his facial expression but I knew it wasn’t good and just the thought of him being angry or disappointed made me more upset. ”It’s okay to cry out loud” However once I heard that sentence I felt brave enough to let it all out. 

I don’t know when but at some point I stopped crying. Kai and I made our way home without uttering a word once. I was a talkative person but sometimes, especially right now, silence did more good than simple words. When we entered the Kim’s, I hurried up in the hopes no one was going to see me. First thing was hoping in the shower and removing everything that had happened from my body. After throwing on some pyjamas, I snuggled up in my bed and turned my phone on. It had turned off sometime during the party. As soon as it lit up, my phone vibrated with notifications of missed texts and calls from Tao. I was about to call him when it ringed.

”Ji Eun ah! Are you okay? What the happened?” I explained everything to Tao how I remembered it and could hear him turn more upset than he already was. ”I never should have left you alone. I thought he was a good guy.”

There was a knock on the door.

”I'll talk to you tomorrow”, I hung up.

”It’s me”, Kai entered. He was holding two cups and handed me one. ”I made cocoa.” I accepted the drink and sat up on the bed. Kai stood a bit far from me but close to the door. When he brought the cup to his lips, I saw his left hand was covered in a bandage. That hadn’t been there earlier. Could it be that? I looked up at him.

”Did you hit him?” I asked when I made the correlation. Kai cleared his throat.

”Yes”, he admitted. ”Look, Ji Eun. If I had known Chris to be that way I would have never let you be near him.”

”Thank you”, I said. ”Really.” He looked like he was about to say something but he didn't.

”I’ll let you rest”, he said instead before turning to the door.

“No”, I said. ”Stay.” Kai pulled my desk chair out and sat down. We proceeded to drink our cocoa.

Monday came faster than I had hoped. I wasnt ready to go to school after what had happened. I didn’t know how many people knew about what had happened and honestly I didn’t want to know, but going into that place blindfolded was also the last thing I wanted. However I was already inside and there was no going out. As I walked I tried to avoid eye contact thinking people would be staring at me but no one even cared. It was as if no one knew anything. I felt relieved as I hurried to class 3D. Maybe they didn’t know.

“Good morning!” I greeted everyone and went to my seat.

“Morning”, Lu Han said shortly. The fact that he was even speaking to me meant that he had at least calmed down. I opened my biology textbook and was met with scribbles of Kai’s name. Embarrassed and hoping no one saw I quickly closed it. I had once dedicated myself to writing his name with hearts all over my book, something I cringed at now that I was looking at it. The door violently opened and Tao stepped in. He immediately ran up to our table and pulled me into a bear hug.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you”, he said. 

“I know”, I said. We had already had this talk all sunday. “It’s okay.”  He let me go but at the same time he didn’t. For the rest of the day he was glued to my side. It was so intense the others commented on it as we were leaving school later in the afternoon.

“Let her breathe Tao”, Lime complained. “Whatever happened this weekend? You guys have been weird all day.”

“I’m just being protective is all”, Tao answered. 

“Alright”, Se Hun gave me a hug. “I’ll see you all. Lime and I have a date.”

Lime blushed when he held her hand. I watched them go and felt so happy for the two of them. Lu Han followed suit without saying good bye and Alice quickly waved and ran after him. I understood Lu Han was having a difficult time after what had happened and knew he just needed some time to come around.

“I’ll walk you home”, Tao said as we headed to the school’s gate.

“I can go alone”, I refused. “I’m not helpless.”

“I know, I know.” He took a few steps back. “I’m sorry.” He looked at me with his puppy eyes and I couldn’t stay mad.

“Fine”, I gave in. We finally left school ground and only managed to make it a few steps before I was stopped. It took me a few seconds to recognise his face due to it’s aggravated state but when I did, I hurriedly stepped back and Tao stood between us.

“What did I tell you, Chris?” He asked in a threatening voice I’d never heard him use before. “Stay away from her.”

“I know”, Chris said calmly. He had a bruised nose, swollen lip and the corner of his left eyebrow was hidden behind a band-aid. His whole body language was screaming that he didn’t want any trouble. “I just had to come and apologise for what I did.” When he laid his eyes on me, I looked away. “Really, I’m sorry Ji Eun. I’m so ashamed and disgusted by myself. I have never done anything like that to anyone before. i don’t know what came over me. I’m so s-“

“Stop”, I interrupted him. “Just leave.”

“Please, Ji Eun”, he begged. I forced myself to look him in his eyes. Those blue eyes that I had trusted for only a few hours. Those same blue eyes were currently filled with guilt and sadness.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself”, I said after contemplating for a moment. “We all make mistakes. It’s our actions after that matter.” His troubled face tensed up. I gave him a weak smile and pulled Tao along with me so we could leave.

Tao and I took our time as he walked me home.

“Who told you what happened?” I asked.

“Chris”, he answered. I took a double take. Had he just said Chris? “I went to the pool house looking for you. When I entered I met Kai in the hallway, he seemed weird so I tried to ask him what was wrong but he rushed pass me so I went to the living room. Then a moment later I saw you run pass the room and called you but you literally slammed the door behind you so I thought you were mad at me and was about to go after you, but then Kai showed up and said he’d go after. He asked me to check up on Chris before disappearing.” Tao took a pause to gather himself in his storytelling. “I tell you, when I found Chris...” He shook his head. “Kai ed him up.”  I felt chills down my spine just thinking about Kai hitting someone. Remembering Chris’s face from earlier I could tell just how much damage he’d done.

Honestly the fact that Kai had beaten somebody up for hurting me had still not sunken in.

“Ji Eun”, Tao gave my arm a nudge. “I think we are here.”

“Ah! Thank you for walking me.”

“No biggie”, he smiled. Tao gave me a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waved goodbye and I watched as he furthered from me with each step he took.

11:27pm

I was cozying up in bed with a Kim Soo Hyun drama when my phone vibrated. Alice had sent me a text asking for help with the chemistry homework. Of course, I couldn’t be of help to her since I had forgotten about the homework. I didn’t want to do it but at the same time I wanted to keep my clean record which I’d kept for the pass three months. I forced myself up to search for my chemistry book and quickly zapped through the pages when I saw I had written homework on one of them. The questions made no sense since I hadn’t paid attention during the class itself. I scratched the back of my head, I needed to do this. Maybe Kai could help me? 

I wasn’t comfortable with bothering him at this hour, especially after all the things he’d done for me but I had to. I left my room and tiptoed all the way to Kai’s room and knocked.  When no one answered I knocked again and slightly opened the door as silently as I could and looked around. The room was dark but I could see Kai’s sound body moving underneath his cover as he breathed. It was my first time being in Kai's room but by the looks of it in the dark, it didn’t seem like it was ever in a mess. 

I carefully entered the room without closing the door behind me to let some light in. I thought maybe I could check his own chemistry book to get a better understanding of the questions. I walked to his desk which was facing his bedroom window and looked around for his chemistry book with help from my cellphone’s led flash but I didn’t find anything.

I scanned the room once again and noticed a couple of books were on his bed. I slowly approached his bed and took a look at the books. When I found the chemistry book, I quickly looked for the homework. My goal was to get the information I needed and leave asap. In no circumstances did I want Kai to catch me in stealing his homework. I was about to put the book back down when my hand was held, startling me. I turned to Kai and gasped when I saw that he was awake.

“What are you doing here?” He let my hand go and sat up on the bed.

“Kai!”, I said a little too loudly and little too high pitched. “I got lost.” I knew it was a lame excuse but hey, I had to try it. Better me being lost than me stealing his homework answers. 

“You’re lost?” He asked. From what I could tell with the little light, he was definitely raising a eyebrow. Kai gently pulled me down on the bed, so I was seated right next to him. “Why are you lying to me?” The proximity of our bodies created a heat that was becoming too much for me by the second.

”Fine”, I gave in. “I wanted to borrow your chemistry book.”

“It’s called borrowing when you ask the owner permission”, he turned his face towards me while talking and his breath tickled on my face. Remember when I said the heat was getting too much? Well now it was unbearable. My heart was beating so fast I was scared he’d hear it. “Are you sure you only came here for the book?” A gasp left my mouth.

”No”, I quickly answered. When he smirked I realised my mistake. ”I mean yes!” Kai maintained his eyes on me for I don’t know how long and as a result the heat turned into lava. My face was burning hot. ”Stop!”

“Stop what?” He feigned ignorance at what he had been implying and at what he was doing. That’s when I realised our faces where only inches away. I nervously gulped down whatever drought was in my mouth and patiently waited but nothing happened. Kai was just looking at me with those dark eyes of his at a dangerously close range.

”Okay”, he finally said after what felt like forever of awkwardly looking at each other. ”I’ll cut you a deal. I help you with your homework and one day you’ll return me a favour.” I didn’t know wat Kai wanted me to do for him but one thing I knew for sure, I was to be wary of cutting deals with Kai since I always ended up getting the short end of the stick no matter the outcome.

Before I could answer he’d grabbed his chemistry book.

A/N

Yeah, another upload! What do you think about the story so far? Do you think Ji Eun's intuitions where right and that Kai was about to kiss her?

All comments and subscriptions are appreciated, thank you!!!