“I.NEED.TO.TALK.TO.YOU”, Kei pulled Rio’s desk chair and twirled it around to make her face him fully. The poor girl nearly jumped from her seat after feeling a strong pull from behind, spinning her office chair, nearly dragging her laptop attached to her headphones.

“What the heck, Kei nii-chan? You can’t just barge in my room whenever you want to, you know!”, Rio rolled her eyes before feeling Kei trapping both her shoulders on the back of her chair.

“Why not? I used to come into your room all the time when we were kids”, Kei pointed out. See, Kei and Rio’s families are very close friends and the two basically treats each other like brothers and sisters. Every now and then, Kei comes around Rio’s place to snoop around and ask advice about the girl he’s been having an eye on for months now. The same girl happens to be Rio’s best friend – Kim Orihara.

“I’m not four years old anymore, nii-chan!”, Rio rolled her eyes, trying to free herself from the tight hold of Kei from her shoulder. “And let me guess, it’s about Kim-chan again, right?”.

“Your best friend is impossible! I kept asking her to be my girlfriend, but she keeps turning me down. I’m usually good with girls but with her, it’s different. She really is a MAN HATER!”, Kei pouted then gave off an exhausted sigh. It’s been a few months since he decided to pursue Kim, but Kei finds himself defeated by the girl’s hatred on men. “It’s like she’ll only date me if I don’t have a ing !”, Kei scuffled his hair in annoyance before hearing the sound of a certain someone enter the room, making both their heads turn to the source.

—

“Rio-chan! Your front door was open, so I let myself--”, Ryosuke entered the room and soon had his sentence fall flat after seeing a familiar guy pinning Rio on his desk chair. Immediately, Ryosuke rolled Rio’s chair away from Kei and positioned himself in between them. “Inoo-chan, you’re here quite a lot these days!”, the younger one glared. He’s been wanting some ‘alone’ time with Rio since last week and having Kei around definitely isn’t appreciated.

“Ryo-chan… You know Kei-chan is like my brother, right?”, Rio asked, sensing that her boyfriend is about to have a heated argument with Kei. The older boy just raised one of his brows and watched Ryosuke act like an overly-protective and jealous boyfriend.

“I do! But he comes and goes anytime he wants in your apartment. How come I can’t do that?”, it was Ryosuke’s turn to pout.

“Well, Rio-chan’s parents gave me a spare key to her apartment to check up on her occasionally. That’s the advantage of being a trusted ‘childhood’ friend”, Kei said with a smug face, wanting to troll the younger boy down to his core. “Saying that, having known her since childhood, I already saw her when we were young”, Kei continued to mock and the life out of Ryosuke’s body.

“Nii-chan! You’re not helping!”, embarrassed, Rio looked at her half-dead boyfriend in front of her and involuntarily covered his ears from listening to Kei’s nonsense. Rio then cupped Ryosuke’s face and tried to reassure the latter, “Yama-chan, Kei nii-chan just came for some advice about your cousin”

—

“Cousin?”, Rio’s voice tingled inside Kei’s ears. Did he hear her right? Kim is Ryosuke’s cousin?

“Oh yeah… I haven’t told you before, right? Ryo-chan is Kim-chan’s cousin… so, you really have to treat him well if you want to be part of the family”, it was Rio’s turn to tease Kei. She gave off a smirk and soon enough saw the older boy push her aside and step towards Ryosuke.

-

“You like my cousin?”, Ryosuke asked… “Are you sure you like Kim-chan? She kinda hates men”.

“I know!! That’s why you need to help me!”, Kei pleaded but suddenly felt nervous when Ryosuke gave him a smug look. He quickly pulled Kei to the side and whispered, making sure that Rio cannot hear their conversation.

“What about this… I’ll help you out with Kim-chan if you give me the spare key to Rio-chan’s apartment”, Ryosuke tried to compromise. He extended his hand and it was almost immediately, Kei shook it and accepted the deal.

—

Kei looked at the printed piece of paper which laid out Kim’s schedule for the whole week. Ryosuke sneakily snooped around Kim’s room and had a glimpse of her diary for Kei to see. This gave him the opportunity to ‘stalk’ Kim around and finally get her sweet ‘yes’. 

“What the hell are you doing here?”, Kim felt her eyes twitch after seeing a familiar figure of a guy trailing behind her back. Kei only had his attention away from Kim for a few seconds and the girl already caught him snooping around her work place. 

“Maa, I just wanted to see you. Also, it’s unsafe to walk alone at this time so I was gonna offer to send you home”, Kei replied with a smile but Kim was quick enough to deflect the amount of sunshine shining on the boy’s face. He’s emitting so much pheromones that he’s attracting all the ladies passing by… and Kim HATES that. She basically hates Kei for being such a lady killer: attracting girls, making them swoon over him then leaving them with nothing. 

“W-Wait! Wait! Why do you keep avoiding me?”, Kei sounded betrayed after seeing Kim’s back turning away from him. 

“Didn’t I tell you… I.HATE.MEN.LIKE.YOU!”

“Give me one good reason why!”

“One: You flirt with every girl, Two: You make them think you like them but in actual fact, you just wanna boost your ego and Three: You’re merely an ‘EYE CANDY’ - nothing important”, Kim pointed out, making an invincible arrow pierce Kei’s heart.

“What do you mean I’m ONLY an EYE CANDY?”, he asked with his remaining strength.

“Yeah! You’re admired by women but it’s all superficial. It’s just for your looks! And they never actually want to love you!”, Kim coldly said, enough to make Kei’s soul separate from his body. 

“I-I’m just an eye candy?”, he whispered to himself after some deep contemplation. He was about to counter Kim’s mean words but it was already too late. The girl’s figure quickly disappeared from his peripheral view. 

Kim = 1 Kei = 0

—

It’s the second day of Kei’s stalking and he finally caught up to Kim after her work hours. The girl seems to have bought something from the convenience store. 

“You again?”

“Oh! What a coincidence… you’re here too!”, Kei excused but was easily read by Kim. 

 “Stop following me, baka!”, Kim instructed but Kei’s persistence is just too much for her. The boy just kept trailing her back up to a point that Kim had no choice but to let him. The couple wizzed through a crowded street towards the train station. Kim walked in a steady pace while making sure Kei was within her peripheral view (making sure he’s not causing any trouble). 

They walked for a few minutes and Kei didn’t even notice Kim entering a public toilet. He cluelessly followed Kim inside the female’s lavatory and just realised his mistake when he heard girls screaming at him.

“BAKA! Why did you follow me inside? GET OUT!”, Kim pulled the older boy outside the rest room and couldn’t help but blush after feeling Kim’s hand on his. “Just stay here and stay out of trouble!”, she warned like a mother giving maternal lectures to her own son. 

-

Kei patiently waited for Kim outside the females’ toilet and earned a few judging looks from the people around. At last, the lady he was waiting for finally came out and tried to lose Kei’s attention, however, she failed after feeling the boy intertwine his fingers on hers. 

“Do you want a beating?”, Kim tried her best to stay composed while hiding her blushed face. It’s true that he kinda ‘hates’ Kei. Well, maybe ‘hate’ is a strong word as Kei had his way on making Kim fluster. 

“Mou, I don’t want to lose you in the crowd”, Kei smirked then ran towards the train Kim usually catches for home. 

As soon as their feet landed on the inside of the train, Kim immediately dropped Kei’s hand and took a few steps away from the boy. Kei felt defeated, and like an obedient puppy, he just watched the girl he likes from afar. 

--

Five o’clock - it was rush hour and the couple found themselves in the middle of a crowded train, packed with a number of people hoping to be home on time after a long days’ worth of work. Kei’s gaze never left Kim and just continued to watch the girl despite a number of bodies in between them. After a few minutes, Kei’s eyes landed on a guy standing right behind Kim, his hand sneakily rubbing the back of his palm on girl's skirt. This made him quite alert and slowly squeezed himself through the gaps in between people to reach Kim. 

Meanwhile, Kim felt her eyes widen after feeling