It was about past 9pm when the class A students finished studying ended and I was able to retreat to the foyer. I managed to remove the head part of the costume was finally able to breathe some fresh air. Removing the rest of the costume was too cumbersome and tiring so I decided to sit down on a table and just feel sorry for myself for falling into a trap that I laid out for myself. Looking at the bright side this was a once only thing which meant I had to get back at him at the n -

“I’m going home,” someone said behind me. I turned towards the foyer’s entrance and saw Kai leaning against the doorway still holding that book in his hand. Come to think of it, he hadn’t been studying like the others had. He had been reading the entire time. I immediately jumped off the table, walked up to him and showed him my back. 

“Help me out of this stupid costume,” I said.

“Can’t you do it yourself?” He sounded annoyed.

“I can’t reach the zipper”, I explained. Kai sighed but then he placed my hair on the left side of my neck and pulled down the chain. I was quickly freed from my costume. Once I got out of it, I hurried to my classroom while he went home.

3D’s classroom was already lit when I opened the door. Inside I found Lu Han snoring very loudly.

“Lu Han!” I called and he jumped.

”I’m awake,” he wiped his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I grabbed my backpack. ”I thought you went home.”

“I fell asleep while waiting for you”, he smiled. ”How did it go?”

”It went and now it’s finally over,” I tried my best to smile back but it turned out looking more like a grimace. Lu Han lost his smile.

”I’m sorry,” he said. ”If only I hadn’t forced that drink in-” He took a deep breath. I honestly felt bad for him. All Lu Han ever tried to be with me was kind but for some reason it was never received well from my end.

”No,” I shook my head. ”I’m the one that’s sorry.” He gave me an awkward smile which I returned. ”I need to go home but I’ll see you tomorrow.” I quickly left the room and hurried downstairs. As I opened the front gate, I bumped into something hard and let out a tiny scream as I quickly took a few steps back. Kai was standing in front of me, again. It seemed like all our interactions revolved around him standing in front of me.

”You scared me,” I lightly hit his shoulder in annoyance. A reflex I quickly regretted as it was something I only did to close friends. I also noticed Kai’s awkward reaction to it and felt even more weird for doing that. ”I thought you went home.”

”I forgot my notebook,” he explained and began walking. I followed him by staying a few steps behind as we made our way home together, in silence. 

I practically rushed inside when we reached the Kim's residence. I smelled really bad and my hair was full of fake fur. All in all a hot  shower was crucial for me at this point.

”Annyeongaseyo”, I mumbled when I entered the living room.

“What happened to you?” Mrs. Kim asked worried while Min Ho laughed at me. ”Oh, Kai’s with you?”

“I’m going to take a shower”, I ran up the stairs. “Then I’m studying.”

During the shower my mind kept going back to the the previous 20 minutes. I couldn’t actually believe that Kai and I had walked together under the night sky to the Kim’s residence. I could clearly remember the sound of his footsteps, the sound of his breathing and the sound of my heart increasingly beating.

Something about the silence had made it so awkward yet beautiful. I found myself biting my lower lip and blushing. Ugh, wasn’t I supposed to be angry at Kai? I needed to wake up, asap.

later

After my shower, I was playing some music on my computer and trying my best at my math homework until Mrs. Kim knocked on the door.

“How are you feeling today?” She asked.

“I’m fine”, I answered. “I just need to study.”

“You seem so different today”, Mrs. Kim commented.

“I failed the first test”, I spun around my chair to face her. Mrs. Kim sat on the edge of my bed.

“I’m so sorry”, she said.

“It’s okay,” I smiled. ”I was way over my head with this first part. I just need to study harder”, I continued. “If I make it to the top 20 I’ll be able to get back at Kai.”

“Get back at Kai?” She frowned. ”I don’t understand.”

“We made a bet”, I explained. “If I make it into the top 20 ranks for the test, I can do whatever I want with him but if I lose he can do the same with me. And I happened to have a low rank today so he won and he made me do something really embarrassing. I feel like killing him with m…” Mrs. Kim suddenly started laughing. ”Mrs. Kim? Why are y-?”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Kai here?” She asked. ”I never knew he could do such immature things.” She continued laughing while I awkwardly looked around not knowing wether or not I should laugh too. ”Right! I forgot. I want to show you something. Wait for me.”

She left for  a few seconds and came back came back a couple of seconds later holding an album photo.

“What did you want to show me?” I curiously asked.

”This album is full of pictures from Jong In’s childhood”, she explained. ”I thought showing you this might cheer you up.” I smiled and we soon went through the photo album but I couldn’t recognise Kai in any of the pictures. They were all photos of a girl.

“Where is Kai?” I asked.

”This is Kai”, Mrs. Kim answered. “I was so certain I was going to have a girl during my pregnancy with Kai I didn’t get the baby’s gender checked and shopped girl items without second thoughts. I bought pink dresses and pink things, but when I gave birth I found out it was a boy instead.  Dong Ho, Kai’s father, wanted to replace everything we had bought but I thought it was a waste so instead I just dressed Jong In with those girl clothes. I even let his hair grow out.” Her eyes lingered on one of the photos. ”He looked so cute.” I took a look at the pictures once again and then I laughed my off. I laughed so hard I had a stomach ache. Who could have ever thought Kai used to dress as a girl in the past? This tea was just too awesome!

”He was really cute”, I commented in between the laughters.

”But don’t tell him I showed this to you”, she said. “He thinks he burned it.”

“I won’t”, I nodded..

”I should leave you to study now”, Mrs. Kim headed to the door but then she looked at me. “I don’t know if I should be doing this, but since Kai has made you suffer so much I’ll just do it.” She opened the photo album and took out a picture. “This is for you.” I took the picture and bowed.

”Thank you, Mrs. Kim."

“Don’t think twice about using it against Kai”, she said.

“I will use it to my fullest content”, I said.

“And call me Tae Ri”, she said in the hallway. “Mrs. Kim makes me feel old.”

“Yes!” I said. I took a look at the picture and smiled. I knew Kai’s secret and I was going to use to fullest advantage.

Next morning I was determined to go to school before Kai so I woke up really early making sure his childhood picture was in my pocket and had breakfast by myself. I was heading outside when Mrs. Kim stopped me.

“I haven’t put your things in your bag yet”, she said. I looked at the kitchen table where I could only see school books. Mrs. Kim put a couple of books in my bag and gave it to me.

“Thank you”, I said and hurried out of the house.

I thought I was early to school, but apparently I wasn’t as there were many students present. My classroom on the other hand was empty. I sat down at my usual seat and looked around the room. This was the first time being this early since I started high school. It felt really strange. Well that is until I heard a grunt.

“’morning” Someone said behind me. I literally jumped from my seat so startled I was. I turned around and saw that Lu Han had been lying down on the floor under a table.

“What are you sleeping on the floor?” I asked.

“I fell asleep here yesterday when you left”, he laughed and I furrowed my eyebrows.

“You guys are early today”, Lee Tuk entered the class followed by the other students. Lu Han and I greeted Lee Tuk. Lime and Alice greeted me with sad faces and sat at their seats. Tao, my neighbour, sat down next to me.

”If it isn’t the bear?” He commented. I put my thumbs up to showcase me dislike of his comment. ”Fine, I won’t comment on yesterday’s event but I’ll say this. Blame yourself for being humiliated once again by him.” I sulked and lowered my head.

“I know”, I said.

“Students”, Lee Tuk said. “After yesterday’s test results, I gotta say I’m disappointed in you.” He looked at each and every one of us. “I expect better from all of you for the upcoming test.” He looked at me. “Especially you Ji Eun ah. You’ve got to prove those A graders that they’re wrong about us.”  The entire class cheered on Lee Tuk’s words.

I only sulked feeling even more burden on my shoulders.

Everyone was strangely calm today during break time. The girls were the only ones busy talking about a drama they had been following. I on the other hand was secretly looking at Kai’s childhood picture. He was so cute I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the photo. Kai was really one of kind. He was handsome from his younger days.

“What is it you’re looking at?” Lime asked. I immediately put the picture back in my pocket.

“Nothing”, I innocently answered.

”Are you sure?” She asked.

“Guys”, Alice suddenly said. We looked at her and saw that she was pointing towards the door. I looked at the door and felt my heart going thump, thump. What was Kai doing in front of 3d’s classroom in the middle of the day?

“What is he doing here?” Lu Han asked. “Ya! Get lost! You’re not welcomed here!”

“Take your bag and follow me”, Kai said while looking at me not really caring about what Lu Han had said. Lime, Alice and probably everybody else present in the room was looking at me. I gave Kai a suspicious look. What was he up to?

”W…Why?” I asked. ”Why do you need my bag?” He didn’t answer but instead he left the room. I hesitated at first but I later found myself following him to wherever he was going. Since everyone was on a break, they were all curiously looking at us. I was sure they were going to start gossiping once again.

I followed Kai outside to the school’s park. The two of us stood under a big tree that gave the both of us some shadow.

“What do you want?” I asked. ”I remember you telling me not to talk to you at school, but why have you been talking to me all this time?”

“I didn’t say I couldn’t talk to you”, he began. “I said you couldn’t talk to m…” Kai He around the park and scratched his head. “This is so annoying!” I checked out my surrounding too and saw the students were now looking at us in front of the school.  Kai took out a little note book from his pocket.

“This is yours”, he handed tin to me. I took the notebook and recognised Lu Han’s drawings on it.

“How come you have this?” I asked.

“My mom”, Kai said. ”Who else? Now give me my notebook so I can go back to class.” I looked through my bag and took out an unfamiliar notebook. Kai snatched it away from my hand before I could even give it to him. This made me feel worthless, useless and unwanted. I was tired of him making me feel that way. Immediately an idea came to mind.

“Is it true you used to dress like a girl?” I asked and tried not to laugh. Kai dropped his note book on the ground and slowly turned around.

“What did you just say?” He asked. Looking at him, I saw fear in his eyes for the very first time. His once cold eyes were now filled with fear. I pulled the picture out of my pocket and showed it to him from afar. His eyes slowly got bigger and his cheeks were turning into a pink colour.

“Where did you get that picture?” He asked.

“A little angel I know gave it to me”, I said in a bragging way.  Kai headed towards me.

“Give it back”, he said. I shook my head with my eyes closed. His footsteps were speeding by the seconds. I stepped back a couple of steps but he was already closing in on me. “Give it back!”

“No way!” I ran away from him.  That’s how I ended up running in circles away from Kai as he was chasing me. I might have been tired, but it felt good. I was making a fool out of Kai for the first time.

“Give it!” He yelled behind me but I only ran faster.

“You want it?” I teased. I decided to look behind me only to check at the distance between the two of us. “Try and catch me if you c…” But I ended up tripping on something. 

Kai somehow tried to catch me and the both of us fell on the green grass. I felt something fall hard on me and opened my eyes only to see Kai was on top of me.

A/N

Oooohhh Things are starting to happen.

Two updates !!!

Don't forget to comment and suscribe if you like the story so far