Out of the corner of your eye, you could see everyone craning their necks to gain some insight into your conversation with Kris and his mother. Chanyeol was particularly erratic and Baekhyun had to hold him down in fear that he'd stand up and yell out the truth that you and Kris were in fact, not a couple. 

Xiumin watched his younger dongsengs, amused by their behaviour but even Jae Min was eager to find out what was going on. He had to leave eventually to continue with his open day duty and he left reluctantly. Aaron was having a crap time, stuck with people he didn't know and going through the thought that you might possibly be Kris' girlfriend. You on the other hand, were silent. All you heard was the yelling of Kris and his mom as they sat right next to you. 

'Are you really his girlfriend?'

You opened your mouth. 

'Don't speak' Kris said.

You shut your mouth and looked at him. You could see tiny beads of sweat forming on his head and he gripped his trouser legs like he needed to hold onto them for dear life. 

'Kris, you don't understand how much we worried when you left us so suddenly'

'I left you a note'

'You disappeared on the day of the engagement party! God, it was such a waste. She was there on time, looking beautiful and you never even showed up.'

'Mom! Please!'

Kris pleaded with his mom, throwing looks in your direction.

'Can we not talk about that please? I'm... I'm sure my girlfriend doesn't like it'

Kris' mom looked amused. 

'She's not much of a talker, is she? What do you see in her?'

You gulped and opened your mouth to retaliate but quickly stopped yourself. 

No, Haneul. She asked Kris. Remember your manners.

'H-Haneul? Well she's... She's...'

You glanced at Kris and saw the pained expression on his face. The other boys did too and they all sighed. It was the expression he always used whenever he spoke about his past. 

That same expression. 

'Well? Why do you like her so much? Convince me to let you stay here with her. How do I know you're not lying to me?'

Kai looked up this time, paying full attention.

What's he going to do now? Come on hyung, think of something.

'I-I...' Kris stuttered, barely able to get a word out. 

'Hyung... Come on...' said Tao gripping the table. The suspense was killing him.

'I... I....' 

Kris' voice was becoming more and more inaudible. Sweat was literally dripping from his forehead. 

I owe Kris a lot and now it's time to give him back the favour.

You slowly reached up to his forehead and dabbed away the sweat with your sleeve, trying to look as loving as possible and catching his attention. You needed to remind Kris' mom that you understood everything she had been saying. You could see that Kris' mother was surprised and you knew it was working well. 

On the other table, Aaron was being held down by Sehun and Tao, the male maknaes in the family. 

'What is this?! Is she actually...?! Let go of me!' 

Jinri covered his mouth with her hand.

'Ahn Taejoon! Shut up! She's obviously putting on a show, okay? Just be quiet. For Kris-oppa's sake!'

For once in their lives, the boys didn't mind her calling him 'oppa'. It was evident that Jinri wanted Kris to stay. Referring to him as 'oppa' only helped her case and Aaron quietened down.

'I need an explanation. Immediately.' was all he said.

'You'll get one once Kris' mom leaves, okay? But for now, lets just be quiet and pray this goes well.' Chen said. 

You had wiped Kris' forehead and leaned in. Kris froze. His mom froze. Everyone froze. 

Kris grabbed your hand underneath the table as is to say, 'what are you doing?'. You squeezed it back in reassurance and whispered into his ear in Korean. No one but him could hear and his mother didn't understand. 

'Kiss me. Trust me, it's the only way she'll believe us. Just play along. I know you don't want to but we've got no choice.'

You took a look at Kris' face, disapproving but also desperate for a solution. 

Do it.

Kris placed one hand on both sides of your face and pulled you towards him. You felt your breath quicken slightly and shut your eyes.

You felt Kris slowly your cheek and move your hair behind your ear, fulling showing your side profile to not only his mom but everyone left sitting at the table. 

You leaned in for a kiss, as did he and it wasn't until you felt his fingers tremble that you knew you were just millimetres apart from each others lips. 

5...

4...

3...

2...

You felt soft skin against your face. Kris planted a kiss on the corner of your lips, where the skin meets the mouth, angling his head so his mother and everyone else couldn't see that his lips weren't actually on yours. You felt your fingers loosen as Kris relaxed his grip and you stayed like that for just a few seconds, not too long and not too short, Kris kissing the left corner of your mouth and you with your eyes shut. You played the role of a couple perfectly.

You opened your eyes when you felt the loss of contact and saw that Kris was looking directly at his mom with a tiny smirk on his face. 

'Mom, this is why I can't leave. I'll keep in contact from now on but my life is here now.'

He got up and pulled you away from the table and around the corner, away from the eating area entirely. 

Everyone sat in silence, stunned at what the two of you had just done. They thought you had actually kissed.

arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

that is all I can say. even more complications. even more fuel to the fire. even more omgaaaad

oh and congrats to all the 'To The Beautiful You' fans, you chose Ahn Taejoon! Ah it was great watching the polling go crazy. Taejoon was always in the lead and I knew it would be tbh but wow, Taejin came back fighting! It was about 3 votes behind Taejoon when I went to sleep and then when I woke up this morning, it was like 10 votes behind it and Yoonjae came out of nowhere. Before I went to sleep, it had literally no votes and now it has almost as many as Taejin! Waaaa DAEBAK! 

Anyhow, Taejin was actually my favorite name ^^ Maybe I'll use that for another character sometime?

Someone asked me to remind them of all the character I've created so I've decided to write them here (I havent included really minor characters that I feel like you don't need to know):

1. Haneul Shin/ Hana (You)
2. Hyun Ki (Haneul's only alive cousin)
3. Joon (Haneul's deceased brother)
4. Mr Park/ Park Sunsengnim, Park-ssaem
5. Kai
6. Jongjae (Kai's elder brother)
7. Sehun
8. Suho
9. Baekhyun
10. Maddie (Haneul's best friend in London)
11. Ah Ri (Haneul's best friend in London)
12. D.O
13. Chanyeol
14. Jiyoung (Chanyeol's sister)
15. Jun Sook (Jiyoung's maniac ex)
16. Tao
17. Kris
18. Lay
19. Luhan
20. Xiumin
21. Chen
22. Shinyeong (D.O's ex-girlfriend, Haneul's ex-friend)
23. Daehyun (Crazy guy who should never ever get drunk)
24. Minwoo (Childhood friend of Shinyeong and Daehyun, Boyfriend of Jenny)
25. Jenny/ Jaekyung (Girlfriend of Minwoo)
26. Jae Min (Swim Captain)
27. Jinri (Younger sister of Jae Min)
28. Nana (Part of the y Trio)
29. Eun Mi (Part of the y Trio)
30. Yun Hee (Part of the y Trio)
31. Aoi (Aki's twin, Kai's helper in High School)
32. Aki (Aoi's twin, Kai's helper in High School)
33. Chihiro (mute Japanese girl)
34. Jeremy (Chanyeol's chauffeur)
35. Josh (Child in the care home in London)
36. Alice (Child in the care home in London)
37. Susan (Haneul's old social worker)