Sorry for taking so long to update. I was on writers block/laziness.

 “Get out of the way!” I heard someone shout from afar as I blankly stared at Hyuna and Joon. They seemed to break out of the tension as well once all of us realized that we were standing on front of a blazing fire. We ran further away from the house to keep safe. A few fire trucks began to pull in our driveway. The rest of the evening was blank in my memory. I still couldn’t get over what I had just revealed regardless if it was true or not.

***

The house was wrecked. The fire had consumed it thoroughly and it was entirely my fault. After our parents had arrived, we were brought to hospital for further tests. Joon sprained an ankle from that high drop, but other than that, everyone was okay. Of course, Hyuna followed along and stuck onto Joon the entire time. Later on, we had to go through inspection to help the police determine how the fire started. I lied of course, saying that the outlet on the wall exploded on its own. They spared us the night and avoided any more question seeing that we looked tired.

It was late, and we had no choice but to stay at a hotel for the night. We didn’t want to bother anyone by barging into their home. Once we got there, I first noticed how tired Mrs. Lee looked. Her expression seemed overwhelmed and annoyed all at once. Mr. Lee, on the other hand, became short tempered and cold. It was quite scary. I reminded myself that everything was working out perfectly and I had never thought that making them miserable would be so easy.

The hotel was nice and cozy. We finally managed to find a late dinner. It was then that I realized that there was only one room available. Mr. and Mrs. Lee crashed into their room right when we got in, leaving Joon and I in the living room. We set up our stuff, mine on the sofa, his on the other. It felt extremely awkward, especially after that random confession I now regret making during the fire.

I knew that Joon was trying to pretend like nothing happened. The silence that reigned in the room became unbearable. And the worse came… He had to change his clothes. He took off his shirt on front of me and I gasped, totally not expecting it. He was 18 years old, only 3 years older than me, yet his body was very much built.

I turned around, not wanting to see anymore, and walked out of the room towards the balcony. I sighed in relief that I was out of there.

“Minyoung’ah, calm down,” I whispered to myself to take those lustful thoughts away from my head.

Ironically, the hottie appeared right beside me shortly. He leaned on the stone  of the balcony and gazed out at the sky. I bit my lip to keep my mouth shut and looked away. My heart began to race as he elbowed my side.

“What?” I asked as I turned my head to face him. Joon stared at me with that look. It was the most annoying thing ever, mostly because I always fell for it. My heart nearly melted. It was as obviously than it ever was: I was without a doubt in love with him. Even I couldn’t deny it.

“About today…” he began. I cut him off, trying to avoid  my shameful and embarrassing revelation from earlier.

“Is your ankle feeling alright?” I hustled over his words. Joon was taken aback.

“Ah, yeah. It’s alright. I guess.”

“You should’ve let me jump out the window last. I have strong legs, you know.” I felt that he was getting impatient.

“Minyoung’ah…”

“Eotteoke? What will we do about the house? Our stuff are all gone.” I changed the subject and pretended like I didn’t hear a thing. He insisted, shouting;

“Are you really in love with me?”

I froze. My eyes grew as I clenched my teeth tightly. I searched for words, but nothing was coming out.

“Today, when you said that I was doing stuff to make you fall in love with me, was that true?” His gaze was beaming on me. I could feel it burn bright red. Still not looking at him, I responded with a smile;

“When did I ever say such a thing? That doesn’t even make any sense! You’re 18, I’m still a 15 year old brat. You’re popular and I’m nothing. And on top of that, we’re siblings now, so that’s impossible. I’m sure that you were hallucinating when you heard me say that.” I convinced him cheekily.

Cutting me off, he abruptly pulled my chin up and brought me near him. His hand slowly cupped the side of my face as his lips overlapped mine. The kiss lasted for five seconds, but it felt like forever. His lips were soft and warm and his breath smelled like mint gum.

“I’m sure I heard you right. I know that I wasn’t dreaming when you said that,” he whispered gently with his nose rubbing on my cheek. Joon slowly let go of me and looked away awkwardly. There was a pause before he finally spoke again. “Forget that ever happened.”

I put my hands in my jean pockets and took a step further away from him. He leaned on the piece of fancy stone on front of him. I watched him rub his lip from the side of my eye. We stayed there, in silence, for a few more minutes before going to bed. I couldn’t sleep at all. My enemy stole my first kiss, and that was all I could think about. My enemy made me fall in love with him, and I couldn’t do anything too stop that, no matter how much I tried.

I felt like I was betraying my family for actually liking Joon.

***

A few years went by, 2 to be exact. We got another house in place of the old one. The Lee’s lost a lot of money after the house fiasco. The family was bumped financially and it almost seemed like my plan was going too well. Parents had to work double jobs to pay for the big loss that insurance didn’t cover.

I eventually took a break on my revenge plan and figured that it would be enough for now. There was no use in raging forever, although I still felt bitter towards them. I tried my best to like them, and until now, I can’t say I do. I saw them as a billet, people whom I’m staying with. They are nowhere near being family even if I act like they are for the most part.

Joon and I never spoke about the kiss ever again. In fact, he continued treating me like an overprotective brother and nothing more. My feelings never changed as hard as it was to admit. My heart pounded every time he was around, which was always. We did become closer, in the sense that we spoke more comfortably in a way, but I still kept a certain distance. His wacky side he once told me he had became visible over time as all his shyness had vanished out of his character.

As for Hyuna, she’s still his best friend. They hung out often which always made me feel left out. Often, they would have lunch in their own little corner or go to the park and sit in the shade. It reminded me a lot of me and Junho, my best friend and beloved brother. I wasn’t sure weather that connection she had with Joon or my own jealousy made me dislike Hyuna so much. She was the odd type, that’s for sure, but he really liked her so I tolerated it. Eventually, they were together so often that Joon was barely home anymore. It became annoying.

It was a late afternoon and I sat at the dinning table with Seungho oppa. He was helping me with my homework since my ‘brother’ wasn’t home, as per usual. It was helpful to have him around since I never got into making friends. He was a kind soul and the most gentle out of all of Joon’s friends.

Joon, unexpectedly, came in the house from behind with a bag of chips in his hand. He dropped his bag on the counter, leaned on it, and eyed us as we ignored him completely.

“Thanks for saying hi,” he remarked.

Seungho turned around and glared at him while giving him a sarcastic greeting. I proceeded with my work, not even paying attention to my brother.

“What are you doing here, hyung?”

“I’m helping your sister with homework since you’re too busy to do your job.”

Joon smirked and eyed me impertinently, almost as if he was teasing me with his eyes.

“Midget, do you still need help with homework at that age?”

Midget? I looked at my figure for a second and frowned. I was a very small person, but he didn’t always have to rub it in the way he did.

“Yah, I told you to stop calling me that!”

“You said that you didn’t like me calling you Minnie… What else am I supposed to call you?” I glared harshly from the side of my eye. I stood up and made my way to the washroom. I splashed water on my face, dried it and stared at myself in the mirror. I wasn’t as pretty as Hyuna, but he didn’t have to rub it in. I made my way back to the kitchen after a few rants.

“Yah, Joon’ah. You should be nicer to your sister. I think that you’re hurting her feelings way to often nowadays,” I heard Seungho speak before I entered the kitchen. I hid behind the wall out of curiosity of what he had to say on that manner.

“Nah, I’m just teasing her.”

“I don’t know… you haven’t been home lately and she’s been getting quite upset.”

“I know that I haven’t been with her as much as I’d like to, but Hyuna has just been asking me to go with her everywhere. You know her… So persistent.”

“That’s cool, but I feel kinda sorry for your sister. It already hurts that she lost her brother. Don’t you realize that having your minimal attention is frustrating for her? I think that she really needs a brother and you should be there more often than not. I just wanted to be there for her, so I came today in your place,” explained Seungho with a soft voice.

“I am aware of that. Don’t you think that I don’t feel bad about that every single day? If her brother is dead, it’s because of me,” he said a bit irritated by the lecture.

My palms began to sweat. I played with my fingers in anxiety as he went on.

“If I hadn’t shouted and hit appa before the accident happened, he would have never got distracted and hit that red light. We would’ve never crashed into Min’s car. Min wouldn’t be like this now if it weren’t for me. I feel so terrible every time I see her.  It kills me.”

My eyes grew wide. So it wasn’t just a random accident. It was Joon’s fault this whole time…