Kai had taken a cold shower. Cold, because he needed to cool off. His head was still spinning. He trembled and feared what would come. He fantasized about the dialogues he would have to have with his sister later tonight. He had already brushed his teeth and was ready to go to bed, but his mind would not let him. His brain worked intensely. He expected Jungah to appear any moment. He needed to explain it to her, tell her that the handsome senior was not that bad of a person. He walked up and down in his room nervously. He fidgeted with his fingers and bit his lips, then suddenly his phone rang. Taemin was calling him. Kai quickly went to the door and locked it. He did not want to get walked in on his talk with the guy who had caused ruckus at his sister’s café. Then he got back to his bed, sat on it, took a deep breath, and finally picked up.

“Hello?” he said into his phone with a shaky voice, “Hey… No, I’m- I’m alright… How about you, does it hurt? I mean your cheek… Uh. I’m sorry about it…”

Taemin apologized to the sun-kissed junior too and asked him if they could meet tomorrow to talk it all out, as he wanted to sincerely beg pardon to his crush in person. Kai declined because he needed to have a talk with Jungah first.

“Mm, I’ll see you at the faculty…” Kai said and hung up.

Then suddenly a knock occurred on his door. Kai immediately put aside his phone and straightened his pajamas. He became insanely nervous in an instant. He took another deep breath and unlocked the door. He was surprised to see the polite senior in his doorway.

“Hey… may I come in?” Onew asked and smiled at him all cutely.

He raised his hand and shook it from left to right. He had brought along two bottles of Soju and waggled them in the air. Kai was a little confused to see him here. He clenched his lips and nodded quietly, while stepping aside. Onew put his free hand on the door frame and observed the darkened room. As he carefully entered, he looked left and right. It was his first time meeting the junior alone. He was amused to see that Kai’s room was a little messy, entirely different than Jungah’s. Then he noticed a piano right next to the door.

“Oh! Do you play the piano?” Onew added another question and put the bottles of Soju on Kai’s desk.

He turned around and walked towards the piano, but unluckily he stumbled over some clothes of the messy junior and tripped forward. Kai tried to catch him, but he had reacted too late. A loud throb filled the room.

“Ouch ouch ouch…” Onew panted in slight pain and then he grinned.

As he stood up, he scratched his hair and tilted his head a little mortified. Kai smiled back at him with his brows lifted, as he felt awkward and quite embarrassed about this situation. The sun-kissed junior picked up his dirty laundry from the ground and put it in the basket beside his wardrobe.

“Senior Jinki…” he finally said and blinked in confusion, “What- What are you doing here?”

Onew sighed deeply and pointed towards the piano, indicating if it was okay for him to play it. Kai nodded without a word. The clumsy senior pulled the stool and sat on it, then he opened the lid of the keyboard and pressed the keys. Surprisingly he was a great pianist too. Kai raised his brows again and pouted slightly in amazement. Onew played a slow piece called ‘Blue’. Kai walked to the senior and stood still next to the piano. The melody of the music was breathtaking. Kai was blown away by it. It made him forget about the struggles he had for a moment. It was an amazing feeling. When Onew was done playing, Kai clapped softly.

“I didn’t know that you played the piano…” the sun-kissed junior admitted and smiled cutely.

Onew nodded thankfully and told him that he played occasionally. He then got up and asked the junior why he did not join the music courses at the faculty. Kai clenched his lips, lowered his glance, and took a deep breath.

“I- I stopped playing…” he said after a while and sulked, “I stopped after the death of my father…”

Onew lowered his brows due to sadness. He felt bad about reminding the boy of his loss. He approached saddened junior and patted his shoulder. Kai looked up and smiled. Still, he seemed sorrowful.

“Did… did Tae told you to talk to me?” the junior asked curiously and sat on his bed.

Onew shook his head from left to right and took place on Kai’s chair. He grabbed the two bottles, opened them, and handed one to the younger student.

“Here, let’s drink together.” he offered nervously.

Kai glanced at the green bottle, hesitated but then took it. Again, he was a little confused about the situation. Onew raised the bottle and waited for Kai to clink it. The sun-kissed junior did so without a word and expected the senior to take the first sip. Kai then turned his head away and drank too, right after Onew. He felt a little ashamed drinking with the senior in his bedroom. He would rather invite Onew to a drink somewhere outside, since his room was a total mess. There were loads of sheets and paperwork on his desk, clothes all over the floor, some dumbbells behind the door in the corner, a laptop on his bed and a bunch of cords. Onew looked around and chuckled.

“Ah, it’s good, isn’t it?” the clumsy senior asked and smiled while he lowered his bottle, “Unfortunately my stamina isn’t that great…”

He added a laugh and took another sip. Kai nodded wordlessly and drank too. After a while the phone of the sun-kissed junior buzzed. It was Taemin who called him, but Kai ignored it, since the clumsy senior was with him in the room, and it was not the place to talk to the handsome player now. Onew cleared his throat and clenched the bottle between his knees.

“I’m… I’m dating your sister.” the senior finally admitted and looked Kai deep in the eyes, not escaping his gaze, “Originally, I wanted to take you both out to dinner tonight… so we could get to know each other, you and I…”

Kai choked on the Soju and instantly wiped the corners of his lips. He coughed and stared at the senior. Kai had opened wide his eyes, and he gasped in surprise. He knocked his own chest to stop the cough and cleared his throat. He had not expected that at all. He had thought that Jungah would end up with Minho sometime, because of their close friendship. Never had he thought of Onew. The senior got up to approach him and wanted to pat his back because Kai had choked, but as clumsy as he was, he tripped over his own feet this time. Luckily, he kept his footing though. Kai gulped and wiped the tip of his nose too, then he focused on the senior and put aside the bottle.

“I’m sorry that I’ve ruined your night…” the sun-kissed junior apologized, got up and bowed to the older one.

Onew shook his head and touched Kai’s arms to straighten him.

“Don’t apologize for something you aren’t accountable of.” he said and smiled, “Jungah asked me to talk to you instead of her. She feels guilty for what has happened to you, and she feels sorry for nearly slapping you… And… she wants me to talk to you about Taeminnie… She feels like maybe it’s best for you to talk to a guy about this matter… Talk to me, as I’m a close friend of Taemin and the boyfriend of Jungah…”

Kai gulped and shook his head quickly, negating what his sister had told the senior. He did not want to make her feel bad about him. It was not her fault because it was all just Taemin and Kai being careless in public. The apologetic student cleared his throat once again.

“I’m happy that she’s dating you… senior Jinki… and I’m thankful that you came here to offer me your supports and help.” Kai added and bowed again, “But I’m sorry, if I can’t talk to my sister, I need to talk to Tae first, before I talk to anybody else about this…”

Onew nodded understandingly and they clinked their bottles again.

꧁༺ ༻꧂

Taemin lied on his bed, his arms crossed behind his head. He stared at the ceiling with a concerned expression. He had taken a shower and wore boxer shorts because he was feeling hot. His cheek still itched a little. He knew that he had messed up, but he could not help but act on instinct. The teen-aged girls drooling for and molesting Kai had made him all furious. Taemin hated the idea of other people liking the guy he now had given his heart to. No one should even get close to Kai anymore. He stretched his hand to the drawer next to his bed, unplugged his phone and scrolled through the university’s chat. He read all the messages. Some of the teen-aged girls had relatives at the faculty and knew about the student, who worked at Kamong. He was famous for being the good-looking part-time waiter who declined confessions of many girls o