Thankfully Kai didn’t have the need to set his infinite amount of alarms and we get to sleep in a little more than usual, waking up at 8. My eyelids begin to open when I hear Kai’s mumbling next to me and I chuckle, watching him. His mouth’s ajar and he’s grumbling nonsense, something related to the very comprehendible “Merf da ppook le nam ja def.”

I laugh quietly and grab my extra pillow, slowly lifting it up and slamming it down on his stomach before laying back down quickly and shutting my eyes, staying immobile. Kai sits up with a loud “UMPH” and I hold in my laughter, biting my lip.

I’m such a good sister aren’t I.

He grabs the pillow and chucks it at the other bed, whacking Sehun in the face. I peek through a half-opened eye as Sehun’s eyes snap open, his arms instinctively throwing the pillow back. Sadly his aim falls short and he hits me in the head and I grunt lobbing it his way, ignoring the laughing apology received from his end.

He ducks at the last second and it hits Luhan in his stomach, his arm reflexively shooting up and falling down, hitting Sehun in the head. Sehun glares him down and pummels him with a pillow, Luhan fending off with one hand as he tumbles over the edge of the bed. He lands on the ground with a soft thump and I laugh, lying back down.

“Get up.” Kai pokes my stomach and I shrivel in response, jabbing his sides. He squirms around and we commence a tickling war, ending it with sitting on opposite sides of the bed while staring each other down.

I clutch the pillow in my grasp tightly against my chest, my lips in a tight line. “Stay away.”

He’s mirroring me, gulping. “Likewise.”

“Are you guys really that ticklish?” Luhan asks, yawning.

I nod, my eyes not leaving Kai’s.

We continue our staring contest, waiting for one to attack the other and before I can attempt a sneak attack, Luhan pounces out of nowhere and lands on Kai, tickling him. Kai squeals oddly and I laugh, moving off the bed and landing on the ground to stay away from possible tickle attacks.

“Are you ticklish?”

I cower away at the voice, sitting in one of the chairs and pulling my legs up, wrapping my arms around them. Sehun chuckles from where he’s sitting on the bed, shaking his head.

I’m honestly more terrified of being tickled right now than facing Sehun.

Seriously.

It’s that bad.

“Let’s get ready now,” Luhan chirps, dragging Sehun by the wrist. They leave and I hesitantly get up, keeping at a safe distance away from Kai.

“Where are we going?” I ask, but he shakes his head in response.

“I dunno. Wherever.”

We eat breakfast at the hotel and afterwards board the van, the manager being fuzzy about where we’re going. We end up somewhere a bit outside of Tokyo, the skyline fading behind us as smaller yet cozier buildings begin to surround us. There’s a surprising amount of people strolling around and as the van furthers in, a big outdoor market comes into view.

“We’re shopping?” Baekhyun asks, furrowing his eyebrows as the manager parks the car.

“It’s a traditional market. Of course we are. Learn some Japanese traditions.”

We hesitantly get out of the van and I gasp when I look around the crowded streets. There’s families and foreigners everywhere, traditional styled buildings lined up along the road. Far in the distance the bustling city of Tokyo is visible, an obvious layer of smog hanging over the silhouette of the skyline. It looks calmingly beautiful and I don’t hesitate from taking pictures with my phone.

We walk around a lot, my fingers darting every which way as I marvel at the beautiful simplicity of the aging structures. I stop in front of a small table with small accessories dotting the table and my fingers immediately reach for the Pacman earrings that look like a duplicate of the ring that wraps around my finger.

Kai calls for me to catch up and I gently put down the earrings, my feet dragging me up to my brother. He’s gawking at some baseball hats and I pick one out, plopping it down on his head. He chuckles, fixing his hair before admiring himself in the hazy reflection of his phone.

I nod in content, watching him. “It suits you,” I note.

He grins, tilting his head around. “I like it a lot.”  He makes to remove the hat but I put up a hand to stop him, handing bills to the elderly woman standing behind the table. She bows and accepts the money and Kai gawks at me as I walk off.

“Eunji!” He snaps, stalking up to me. “Why’d you buy this?!” He points at the hat awkwardly half-perched on his head.

“You’re an adequate brother.” I pat his head so the hat will fit itself all the way on his head and he shakes his head, smiling.

“Well, you’re an adequate sister. Thank you.”
I shrug, smiling.

We end up on a bridge that overlooks a narrow river passing under it, the afternoon sun burning down on my back. I push up my sleeves a little but they carelessly fall down and I slump over on the bridge wall, my head in my hands. Although it’s burning, the scenery’s too gorgeous to be in a bad mood. The thin river snakes its way through the town, clothes hanging over it on thin lines that connect small homes with long roofs together. Far ahead the river disappears into a canvas of faint blue mountains, whispy clouds hanging calmly over the tips of the slightly fear-invoking tall hills.

I feel something tap at my foot and turn my head, a soccer ball rolling around me. I pick it up and turn my head when a shy voice calls out “Noona?”

A wary boy, looking around seven looks up at me with big doe eyes, eyes that remind me a lot of Luhan’s deer-in-headlights expression. The boy’s digging at the ground at the foot of the bridge, his hands behind his back as he teeter-totters this way and that.

I smile and approach him, kneeling down. “Hi there,” I greet him, a wide smile on my lips, “is this yours?”

He nods bashfully, holding out a hand for the ball as he focuses on a pebble his foot is fighting with.

I hand him the ball and he takes it, dashing off immediately. “THANKS NOONA!” He shouts and I laugh at the aggressiveness of his tone.

I turn and watch the river flow calmly, the ripples dotted with white streaks of reflective light swaying whichever direction it wishes. I sigh, content with the happiness that such a calming scene can bring.

“It’s pretty.”

My heart thumps wildly at his voice and my throat thickens, my tongue losing all moisture. I steady my eyes on the dancing waves that occasionally thump against the walls that constrict it from flooding anything.

“I wasn’t finished, yesterday.”

I grimace, closing my eyes as a fresh batch of butterflies fling themselves every which way.

I honestly don’t know what to say.

A common reaction when one’s flustered, I guess.

Sehun’s leaning against the bridge and I look down it, seeing the other guys slightly farther down.

Where’s an overprotective Kai when you need him.

Sehun sighs, staring down at his intertwined fingers. He looks up at the sky, before turning towards me and propping himself up on his elbow on the bridge.

“Can I ask you something?”

No.

Please, god no.

He stands up straight, sighing and smiles, a smile lacking distaste, anger, irritation, sarcasm, all negative qualities that I usually connect Sehun and smiles with.

It’s a genuine smile.

“Eunji,” He starts, his eyes delving into mine, “will you be my girlfriend?”