The next morning was fairly normal. Kai bugged you a bit during your shared classes, and you (reluctantly) sat with him and the others at lunch. You sat down with them, and almost immediately, Sehun latched onto your arm.

"Noona! I'm so glad you're sitting with us! You never sit with us anymore," he pouted, and you tickled under his chin like he was a puppy. He ginned and you smiled back.

"Sorry Sehun-ah," you said opening your lunch box. "I've been avoiding someone for a while, but it looks like no matter how many times I squish this roach, he keeps coming back to life." You directed a glare at Kai, who pretended not to notice.

"Are coming this Saturday though, Noona?" Sehun asked, before digging into his own food. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet with you last time. Something came up and I just couldn't way no. You understand right?"

“No problem. I was okay by myself,” you reassured. Kai, unable to ignore his curiosity anymore swiped a dumpling from your lunch.

“What are you guys talking about?” he asked with a full mouth. You scoffed and rolled your eyes at his lack of manners.

“Nothing that concerns you,” you said, wrapping a protective arm around your lunch box in case he decided to steal anymore of your lunch.

“Alright don’t tell me,” Kai said with a shrug. “I’ll just follow Sehunnie when he goes to meet you. No big deal.”

“Aish! This kid never gives up does he?” you mumbled in frustration.

“It’s not polite to mumble,” Kai said in a mocking tone. You slapped his hand away as he reached towards you again.

“Oh shut up, you.” Surprisingly, he did, and stood to visit some friends at another table.

“How do you even deal with him?” You asked the others once Kai was out of earshot.

“He’s not a bad guy, really,” Suho said with a shrug. “I mean, I know he only bothers you because he likes you.” You rolled your eyes. Always the same answer for her questions. Like you? Yeah, right.

“I don’t get why you say that,” you protested, frowning. “I can assure you that the only thing Kai likes is to annoy me. And besides, if he liked me, he is the type that would say so.”

“But what about you, Kaemi-ah?” Chanyeol asked. “Do you like him?” The question was preposterous. Of course you didn’t like Kai. You could barely stand to hear his voice, even.

“Are you insane? Of course I don’t like him,” you scoffed. “How could I like someone like him?” You rolled your eyes at the thought.

“Well, do you hate him?” Chanyeol pressed on. “And besides being annoying, what’s so bad about him?” That left you momentarily baffled.

“Well, I- he’s very- it’s just,” you tried to come up with a better explanation for your dislike of Kai. You sighed. “Okay, so maybe I don’t hate him, hate him. I just really don’t like him. I can’t rest a moment in the day without having to think about what he’s going to do next to bother me. It’s like a never ending cycle with him.”

“So you’re saying you think about him all the time?” D.O. said, giving the other guys a knowing look. They all smirked as they caught on to his thoughts.

“Well, of course!” You said, oblivious to what was going on. “I have to be on top of my game if I am going to make it out of high school unscathed. Even if he is annoying, the guy is creative enough to find a different way to bug me everyday. I have to stay one step ahead, you see.” Your speech reassured that you held nothing but dislike for Kai, while for his friends it served as a reaffirmation for deeper feelings you were denying.

“But he has some good qualities, Noona,” Sehun said, playing the devils advocate. “I’m sure you see that, too.” You paused to think about it.

“Well, everyone has something good about them,” you said, unable to disagree completely. “I guess he’s really dedicated to dance. And he helped a lost little kid find his parents once. And he did return my journal to me yesterday. I guess he’s good for that. But I mean, what girl in her right mind would like a guy that teases her relentlessly?”

“I see what you mean,” Suho nodded, the smirk still present. “You don’t hate him, but you don’t love him. But you seem like you know a lot about him…”

“’Know thy enemy better than thy friends.’ Isn’t that the saying? And besides, we have been in the same school since primary,” You explained. “He was nice back then. What happened?” You mumbled the last part.

“Hey, Doll Face. Didn’t I tell you mumbling wasn’t polite?” Kai said, taking the empty seat on the other side of you. You made a face at him, to which he smiled.

“That’s really cute,” he said, though by his expression and his tone, you couldn’t tell if he was serious or not.

“Don’t say things like that,” you said, rubbing your arms to get rid of the imaginary goose bumps. “It’s weird coming from you.” He just continued to give you that unnerving smile. You could feel the color rising to your cheeks in embarrassment.

“Alright, I’ll leave first,” you said, quickly gathering your lunchbox and book bag. “Sehun-ah, I’ll text you later.” With that, you swept out of the dining hall.

“Well, that was sudden,” Kai said with a shrug. Another look passed between his five friends.

“She likes you,” Baekhyun said after a moment. Kai gave him a skeptical look.

“And what makes you say that, Hyung?”

“You missed that part of the conversation just now, but I can assure you. That person likes you. She just doesn’t know it yet.” Kai frowned.

“But I still don't’ understand why that makes sense,” He said. “She likes me. Pffttt, that’s a joke. Well, I leave it alone for now.”

But the words wouldn’t leave his mind for the rest of the day. He didn’t even notice when it was time for the last class of the day. Having the unfortunate luck of being in every single one of the same classes with him, you noticed his distraction.

“Yah, Kim Jongin,” you said, poking his shoulder. “Get up, the next class is soon.” You weren’t happy about having to prod this guy into moving, but you knew that the teacher would call you irresponsible for not helping out your classmates.

“Oh, really?” he said, standing and grabbing his things. “Thanks, I hadn’t realized.” You frowned and eyed him suspiciously.

“Are you okay?” You asked him as you walked along. “No insults or snarky comments or anything?”

“What? You actually want me to annoy you? Because-”

“No, I was just curious. You seem out of it,” you answered honestly. He didn't say anything but just kept walking towards the next class. It was an awkward silence, and you wished he would say something snarky just to make it less uncomfortable.

“Do you have someone that you like?” He asked you suddenly, as you stood in front of the door to the class. You turned slowly to face him and squinted closely at his face for signs of mischievousness, but there was nothing but seriousness in his gaze.

“What?” You asked, taking a step back. He took one step forward and the distance between you decreased significantly.

“I asked if you had someone that you liked,” he said again, his voice was low and you could feel his breath brush across you face.

“Wh-what kind of q-question is that?” you said, trying to avoid eye contact. Your heart was hammering in your chest, and you could feel your ears growing hot. “And wh-why would I tell you if- if I did?”

“I was just wondering is all,” he said, his hands coming to push a stray hair away from your face. But just as his fingers grazed your temple, the door to the classroom was yanked open and a startled student stood there staring at you both.

“Ah, sorry, noth-” You jumped back from Kai, you face flush with embarrassment. In your haste however, you tripped and started to pitch backwards. Before you could fall, Kai grabbed you hand and yanked your body towards his. You landed against his chest with a soft thump, one of his arms wrapped around your waist and the side of your face pressed firmly into his clothes.

The student, who had witnessed the whole thing, cleared his throat, jolting you and Kai both apart. You shuffled into the classroom with your head bowed to hide the tomato-like color of your face, and he entered behind you, an equally embarrassed look on his face. Inside, though, he was secretly excited.

Class started soon after that, and you could barely concentrate. Kai was acting strange, no doubt about that. First he’s quiet, then he’s serious, and then…and the last part was especially strange. It was almost as if… as if he was going to kiss you. And then when he saved you from falling… your heart began hammering again and you looked around to see if anyone was reacting because they could hear it. What was going on with Kai today and why was he making you feel all weird? You shook your head in an attempt to clear your thoughts.

But you couldn’t help thinking how nice it felt to be in his arms like that.

A/N: So I am finally back! It's been a long time since I have updated anything, but I am really excited because I finally know what direction this story is going to go. And I already have a sequel planned, starring Eun Chae, the plucky best friend of Kaemi. Remember to comment and subscribe!