Written by Mai

Chapter 23

Chansung held his hand over his mouth, trying to keep himself from gasping out loud. His eyes wider than the moon, he tripped backwards and started to run back to the room he and Mai shared, leaving behind an unpeeled banana on the floor. One question that ran through his head repetitively was, ‘WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!’

Twisting the door knob roughly and jerking the door open. He slammed it shut and slid down, now on the floor. “How can he do that? That traitor!” he said angrily to himself. Chansung paused for a moment and saw Mai standing there in her PJs, her hands on her hips, and a not so happy expression on her face.

“What are you doing?” Mai asked a distraught Chansung.

He glared up at Mai and pointed at her. “This is your fault!” he exclaimed.

Mai just sighed and walked closer to him and crouched down to his level.  “Now, before blaming me,” she said in a hush tone. “What happened?”

Chansung cocked his head sideways, surprised that Mai wasn’t being mean to him for once. He looked away at once at her staring and stammered before getting up. She followed him while he talked. “I saw Nona and Junho kiss.” Chansung plopped down on the couch and his body laid down on top of his blankets.

Mai let out a cackle. “And you’re blaming me for that? Wow, you have some…issues,” she said before walking off to her bed.

Chansung stood up and followed her. He watched her as she tucked herself under the blankets. “I just don’t want him to get hurt. He’s my best friend, how can I trust him with HER. She’s bipolar! What if she tries to kill him?”

Mai let out a grunt and sat up straight this time. “At first, I was like you. I was against the idea of the girls falling in love with you….pretty pop boys. Hearing that Junho kissed Nona, I am not all that surprised, nor am I mad, it was bound to happen. I could tell. Think about it though, Chansung. Lyssa is a killer as well but she has Taecyeon right now, has she killed him? No.”

“She was supposed to kill Taecyeon. What if she ended up killing him?” Chansung asked. “What makes you think Nona won’t kill Junho? It’s a possibility.”

Mai just rolled her eyes and got out of bed. Somehow, Mai wasn’t in the mood for arguing and was tired, so she didn’t care if she out of character. She grabbed Chansung’s arm and dragged him back to his sleeping area and sat on the coffee table across from him while pushing him on the couch. Chansung didn’t understand what was going on but he watched her as her lips moved. “Lyssa didn’t kill Taecyeon because she couldn’t, remember? When you love someone enough, you would never try to hurt them. Junho really likes Nona and I think Nona really likes Junho. I think for the first time in Nona’s life, she has someone to love and someone who loves her back. Do you think she would make that same mistake and hurt someone she loves? I don’t think so. Now, go to sleep, okay? I am really tired right now and you don’t want me cranky the next morning.”

Mai got up from the coffee table and walked back, but Chansung called out to her. She froze. Chansung didn’t know how to say this, but he made her feel better. He actually believed in her words because her voice was so sincere. “I trust in your words then.”

Mai had shivers run through her body. Did he actually trust her now? Was he actually warming up to her? She turned around and saw that Chansung was already lying down on the couch and under her sheets. She watched him for some more before going toward her bed.

-

The next morning, it was like Junho and Nona hadn’t kissed last night, but one could tell something did happen that night because they were being all weird with each other. The first one to notice was Chansung and Mai, of course.

Lyssa came into the kitchen rubbing her back. She had some bruises from yesterday and her back was a bit in pain. She went through the cupboards looking for painkillers. Everyone watched her except Mai. Taecyeon was nowhere to be seen and Lyssa hasn’t seen him at all. Although they had a little argument that spewed out yesterday, she was missing him. She had felt bad, but it was the right thing for her to do. Maybe she was insensitive towards Taecyeon’s feelings; maybe she would find him later and apologize.

“We’ll be training after breakfast,” Mai said hopping off her chair before walking out the door. Lyssa just watched as she left. Lyssa let out a sigh and sat down while Nona put breakfast on her plate.

“She has you working hard,” Nona smiled cheerfully.

Lyssa just poked the food with her fork and then let out a sigh of frustration. “She has, I don’t mind at all though. It’s just Taecyeon and I got into another fight and I just feel bad. I didn’t mean to upset him; I just want to work hard to protect him. I wish he understood that.”

Junho popped up beside Nona and put a hand on Lyssa’s shoulder. “But then again he is only arguing against you to protect you as well.”

Lyssa just nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll find him later to apologize. I know his intentions are not to get into fights.”

“That’s right, you guys will work it out and he won’t freak out when you go train to with Mai. You better eat up though, you don’t want Mai waiting,” Nona said putting more food on Lyssa’s plate.

Just then Lilly walked into the kitchen. It looked like she just came back from jogging outside. She had sweat trickling down on her face and she went straight to the fridge to get a glass of water. She engulfed it and set the glass in the sink.

“You want some breakfast?” Nona asked holding up the pan. Lilly just shook her head and walked towards the door.

Wooyoung came along this time and they both froze. Everyone in the kitchen watched them as they both stared at each other. Everyone knew what was up but they didn’t say anything.

“Lilly,” Wooyoung greeted her. She just nodded her head in return and bumped past him. Wooyoung closed his eyes for a second before walking up to one of the chairs next to Lyssa. “I don’t know what I did wrong,” he whispered.

Nona piled food on his plate this time while Junho came around the counter to pat his friend on the back. Nona just smiled before taking her apron off.  “Since this kitchen is really a talk show studio, why not tell us what’s up?”

Wooyoung looked up to see Nona’s bright face in front of his. He was a bit startled but he cleared his throat. “I…well I kind of found this picture of—“

“GiKwang, right?” Lyssa asked, interrupting him.

Wooyoung looked over at her with a flabbergasted expression. “Well, yes. You see, I broke the picture of them by accident. Lily said he was his first love and it was the only memory she had left of him. Who was it? Can I ask that?”

Nona and Lyssa looked at each other. Junho on the other hand was curious to know as well. “I don’t think it’s our right to tell you. You’d…have to ask Lilly yourself.”

“I can’t, we aren’t talking right now. I was just really lucky today.” Wooyoung slouched in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. “I wish it wasn’t like this. I wish I could talk to her, but what can I do? She’s always going out.”

This time, Lyssa, Nona, and Junho looked at each other, as if the same thing was running through their heads.