"I can't hide it even if I pretend that I don't know anything
I know how you feel
You seem to be closing off the distance
Looking like you'll be closing it off, but you leave a gap" 
~To Be Honest by Kai~

At the dining area the parents were having their chitchat while their kids had gathered in a corner to talk without disturbance and being dragged into a cringy conversation with the parents. Jennie – still not believing that the guy she was told all this time was that geek – gave her best to avoid Mrs. Lee. She absolutely hated the idea of him being a potential love interest or future husband. Kyungsoo had noticed that she felt too uneasy and upset. Sehun was busy munching the food he had grabbed earlier. Baekhyun slurped his tea and eavesdropped on the conversation of the adults that stood further away.

“Yes, Jennie is absolutely gorgeous. You have brought her up well-mannered, just as expected.”, Mrs. Lee praised the mother of the Chanel beauty and then turned to Mr. Kim to add with a jokingly laughter, “You’ve probably been asked for blessings a lot!”

Mr. and Mrs. Kim joined her laughter, as well as the parents of the other boys. Sehun’s and Kyungsoo’s mother then said something along the lines, that she was happy that her younger son was friends with her too, but they were more like siblings, since they grew up together. Baekhyun’s mother giggled and added, that her son had no brotherly ties to her, so she would love it if Baekhyun competed with Taemin over Jennie’s love. His father raised a glass to this, and Mr. Kim laughed even more. The mother of the cursed boy giggled silently to the words of Baekhyun’s mother.

The blonde boy nearly choked on his tea – placed the cup quickly on the drink table – and cleared his throat, while Sehun glanced at him with a puzzled expression and kept eating. Baekhyun could not believe that their parents were talking about a matter like this as if they were going to buy some vegetables together. This should not be a topic to joke about. He was shocked that Jennie’s father was not the slightest bit strict or protective over his own daughter, who had just started her university life, and less could he believe that his own mother talked about his future without even once telling him about it beforehand. Baekhyun wiped the corners of his lips – he was very angry – and grabbed the arm of his friend and pulled him away. He shook his head repeatedly and frowned, while Sehun was overrun by the sudden reaction of his friend and wanted to grab some more food but unfortunately, he was not able to do so. When they approached Kyungsoo and Jennie, Baekhyun finally let go of him with a growl. The undercut-boy and the Chanel beauty looked at him with a concerned expression. They knew right away that he was pissed.

“Wanna marry me?”, he suddenly asked the sister of his best friend and made her nearly drop her jaw.

Kyungsoo knit his brows – feeling totally unpleased with the unexpected question – and he quickly looked at the girl beside him. Sehun nearly spat out what he was chewing, knocked his fist against his chest and grabbed onto the arm of his younger brother. Baekhyun stared at the Chanel beauty, who took a step back and wrapped her arms around herself and blushed completely.

“Tch. Just as I thought. You don’t know about this either. Our parents are talking about whether that geek or I suit you better.”, Baekhyun clicked his tongue and informed her, then he crossed his arms and added in a whisper that no one else heard, “I don’t even like girls.”

Sehun caught himself and finally cleared his throat, then he patted his friend’s shoulder with a bright smirk.

“Bro, that geek is no competition to you without a doubt.”, he said proudly and asked the other two if he was right.

Kyungsoo nodded right away, while Jennie lowered her head in shame. Baekhyun just rolled his eyes and brushed off the hand of his friend.

“I don’t care. I won’t marry you. You’re Kai’s sis. His sis equals my sis.”, the blonde added and luckily Jennie lifted her head and nodded to his words.

She had never thought of the friends of her brother in a romantic way. In fact, she wanted to avoid all of them because she knew they were all trouble, although Baekhyun was the least one to worry about. Kyungsoo gulped and scratched his arm nervously – getting noticed by Sehun of course – and quickly lowered his head to not face either of their eyes.

Then the doorbell rang, and a petite maid opened the door. She stepped aside with a respectful bow, and it did not take her long to inform Mrs. Lee about the awaited guest. Taemin’s mother excused herself and walked to the door with fast steps. When she saw the old Buddhist monk, whom she had met years ago, she nearly broke out in tears. She even forgot about her manners and hugged him. The old man kept his arms down as to him touching a woman was not allowed, also being touched by others – no matter what gender – was not welcomed either. Taemin’s mother quickly realized and pulled back with apologetic bows. The old man smiled to her and just blinked slowly. She stepped aside and bid for him to walk in. The other guests were surprised to meet a monk on an occasion like this and the mothers of Sehun, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun felt a little embarrassed, as they wore revealing dresses to the small party.

“I’ll be right back, please enjoy the food in the meantime!”, Mrs. Lee told them and led the old man to the door that would lead him down to the bedroom of her son.

Jennie lifted her brows in confusion and the boys next to her could not believe that they saw a real monk here in this mansion.

“Isn’t that geek… Christian?”, Sehun questioned the others.

Kyungsoo shrugged, Baekhyun lifted his hands to his side – as he had no idea either – and Jennie nodded to Sehun’s words. As far as she knew, Mrs. Lee was Christian, but she had heard of her own mother, that Taemin’s mother would pray to all gods, if she was in need. The group of friends became curious as the old Buddhist monk walked downstairs and vanished in the dark. Mrs. Lee went down with him and on their way to the door of her son, she told the old man, that her son was cured, and it was a miracle, and she could not be any happier.

“He has no urge to follow my orders anymore!”, she informed the wise man all excited and could not stop smiling all over her face.

She was close to tear up and cry in total euphoria. The monk nodded wordlessly to all her talking and when they reached the door, he asked the mother to give him some minutes alone with the son. Mrs. Lee first hesitated – she wanted to witness the moment the monk declared her son as cured – but then she did as she was told. She turned around and walked back up the stairs. The “friends” of her son looked at her with curious expressions, but the mother of the cursed boy only smiled at them and then walked to the other parents. Mr. Kim asked about the monk once again, and Mrs. Lee lied to them by saying that her son wanted to meet the monk as he was interested in temples these days and since his anxiety was gone, his mother had prepared this present for him – little did the others know about her real intentions – and they just praised her for doing such a kind thing for her son.

Taemin stared at the old man. The Buddhist monk wore comfortable clothes – a grey and brown colored Seungbok, which was a typical attire for Korean monks – and held his beads but no staff. The cursed boy was like paralyzed – his eyes big and his heart racing like a machine – and Kai – with his face still red – tilted his head to look over the shoulder of the cursed boy and take a glimpse of the Buddhist monk. He was surprised and so happy to see the old man. The orange-haired troublemaker bowed instantly, and he grabbed Taemin’s neck and pushed him down too.

“Show… some… respect…”, he whispered and gave his best to not react to the sting in his pal, because he had touched the cursed boy.

Suddenly Kai felt intimidated by the monk – or was it overstrained by the situation that a monk was this close to realize that these boys had something weird going on between them – and stayed in a bowed position, while Taemin next to him flinched to the touch of the delinquent.

“Straighten yourselves, please.”, the Buddhist said with a calm voice.

His words were so powerful, that Kai and Taemin followed in a blink of an eye. The monk eyed the cursed boy from top to toe and back up. Then he glanced to the delinquent and observed him too. Silently both boys were examined by his soft yet very intimidating stares. He stepped inside the room, walked in a circle, and looked around with his chin lifted. He then noticed Taemin’s notebook and asked the cursed boy to show it to him. While Taemin grabbed it with trembling hands and brought it to the Buddhist, who had given it to him years ago, Kai took some steps back and stayed in the corner – he felt a little out of place – and watched the two. The old man unwrapped the brown chord and opened the notebook. He brushed his fingers over the words he had written in it, smiled briefly, then skipped some pages and to read what Taemin had recorded all these years. His facial expression did not change at all. He had a calm attitude, yet a strict and distant aura – to Taemin he seemed unreachable, to Kai the monk was from an entirely different planet. After some minutes of sile