CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: Plans

{ "I seriously have no freaking idea what you're trying to pull here." } * Click for BGM!

"Your Aunt Jae is in the hospital right now, Hyejung. She has a serious case of lung cancer." 

Hyejung stared up at Kai, wavering, her eyes flickering a series of emotions. Her countenance was faltering.

"I-I," Biting down on her quivering lip, she in a brief, sharp breath. Without another word, she made no hesitation to turn on her heels and rush down the halls.

"Hyejung! Hyejung, wait!" Kai called out, taken aback by Hyejung's sudden, haste movement. He ran after her, making a sharp turn and immediately spotting her faint figure burst through the front doors of the Gangnam high school. The rain mercilessly crashed down onto the pavement, the heavens erupting deep sounds of distant thunder. 

"Hyejung," Before Hyejung can run aimlessly any further, Kai grabbed a firm hold of her wrist and briskly pulled her back from descending down the steps. Standing under the little roof attached right above the school's entrance doors, Kai found his hands trailing upwards and clasping earnestly to the sides of Hyejung's arms.

"D-Don't," he breathed through his quick, soft pants, his charcoal eyes fixated solely upon her and nothing else. "Don't do that."

Hyejung felt uneasy, her arms shivering due to the cold or perhaps the tender touch of Kai's hands. "Don't do what?"

"Run like that," Kai deadpanned, sliding his against her arms until he grasped her shoulders now. 

"Run?" Hyejung retorted, quietly snorting. "Y-Yah, after hearing news like that, I had no choice. It's not like I was gonna sob my freaking heart out in front of you," her voice grew noticeably weaker as she rambled on with her sentence, gripping her fists until they whitened. 

Kai's brows knitted together. "Hyejung, that's-"

Just then, one of the front doors suddenly opened with D.O. popping his head out. He blinked his big eyes numerously, watching Kai's and Hyejung's tensed, dark eyes whip their attention to him. 

"Hey, um, yeah. Apparently you two won the competition," D.O. said, still eyeing them in suspicion. "So, congrats. You guys better hurry up or else the judges are gonna give the ribbons to some other people."

Hyejung sniffled, a bit too loudly, and briefly glanced up at D.O. "Uh, thanks. We'll be there."

D.O. nodded, opening the door a little wider to let Hyejung speedily slip inside. "You coming?" he asked, looking up at Kai in question.

Kai turned his attention to his friend, his pockets stuffed in his pockets. Glancing over D.O.'s shoulder, he stared at Hyejung's dark silhouette until it vanished from his line of site.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Yeah, I'm coming."

~*~

"Yay! Congrats to Hyejungie and Kkamjong on a fantastic win! Woo woo!" Sehun whooped ecstatically as the Exo-K boys, Hyejung, and Luhan (Sehun couldn't help but drag his favorite hyung along) shuffled into Suho's house, a couple hours after the competition.

Hyejung touched her blue ribbon, feeling the ends in contemplation. "I'll be, um, up in my room," she said Suho, pointing up to the stairs. "I kinda want to freshen up and stuff."

"Yeah, you better go do that, Hyejung. You're starting to reek of dying pigs or something," Chanyeol snarkily joked while strolling by, receiving a fierce kick in the calf by the said girl. "Ow! Aish! You need to be tamed, seriously woman!"

Suho rolled his eyes, looking good-naturedly towards his cousin. "All right, then. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." 

"Okay." Hyejung nodded, grasping onto the railing of the stairs and striding up. She heaved a deep sigh the moment she entered her bedroom, lightly kicking the door behind her that didn't close all the way. 

Running her fingers through her tresses, Hyejung trudged into her own private bathroom and turned the warm water fully on. She glanced up at the mirror, observing her blue ribbon; it felt awfully nice to achieve victory, but for some reason, it felt bittersweet winning on a night like this.

Hyejung slipped an brown elastic band from her wrist, tying her back with a little of her fringe still draping down. Not really caring, she squirted a tad of her face wash and started vigorously tending to her face. Her contemplation seemed to be too deep when she groaned irritably, wincing when she felt soap creep up to her eyes. She breathed a string of pained curses as she continued to wash herself, her lip harshly bit down the whole time. 

"Stop."

Hyejung knew that voice from anywhere. With her eyes still closed and small soap splotches on parts of her face, she muttered, "Stop what?"

"Stop that," Kai pressed quietly, lowering his hand under the sink and rinsing her face for her. Hyejung sputtered the water at first, and Kai shook his head in amusement. "You're hurting yourself."

Hyejung sighed defeatedly, her lips formed into a stubborn frown while Kai washed her face. By the refreshing smile on his face, the lad seemed to be enjoying himself.

Flicking the faucet off, Kai whipped a face towel off the rack and started wiping Hyejung's face dry.

"Yah, yah! I can do it, I can-" Hyejung's protests were muffled into the towel, and she glared up at Kai when he pulled the towel away. 

Kai shrugged innocently, placing the lightly damp towel back on the rack to dry as Hyejung started strutting out of the bathroom. "Hyejung."

"What?" Hyejung stopped, whirled around, and stared at the boy. Kai noticed that her expression, and how it was salted with weariness.

"Can," Kai started carefully, taking a step forward. "Can we talk?"

Hyejung scoffed weakly, letting her fringe hover over her eyes when she slightly bowed her head. "Why? Is there really a need to?"

"Yes," Kai took another daring step forward, making Hyejung lean back hesitantly. "Yes, I think there is a need to." There's a drawn out silence before he continued, "How...how long long has your aunt been dealing with this?"

Hyejung wrapped her arms around herself. "For awhile now."

"Does Suho and the family know?" Kai asked. "Do they know all about this?"

After a brief purse of her lips, Hyejung muttered in reluctance, "No."

Kai stared at her. "What?"

"They don't know, okay?" Hyejung impatiently deadpanned, gripping her fists. "And in actuality, I don't want them to know."

Kai scoffed lightly, incredulous as he rested a hand on the sink. "Why?"

"Never mind." Hyejung turned her body to the side with a sigh, ready to storm out. "You wouldn't understand." 

"Who says I wouldn't?" Kai challenged, grasping her wrist and pulling her back. "Hyejung, for once in your life, stop being so stubborn and just-"

"Aunt Jae is solely my responsibility, okay?" Hyejung whipped her hand back, taking Kai aback at her sudden rashness.

"Hyejung," Kai stared at the girl, watching her twist her lips uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

Hyejung ran a hand through her locks, biting her cheek before saying, "Ever since my parents left, it's always been me taking care of her and her taking care of me. That never changed. I don't need help because this is something I need to solve by myself. It - It's like my duty. Sort of." she twisted her lips before continuing. "After hearing about the dance competition's big prize money, I knew that that would help me pay for Aunt Jae's medication. She needs it, and I want to be able to say that I got it and accomplished that for her. And well, with you as my partner too. That's why I was so eager to sign up for all this." She grabbed the end of her blue ribbon, waved it, and let her hand drop back down to her side.

Kai softened, concern fleeting over him as he stared down at Hyejung inquiringly. He had questions to ask her, no doubt, but he felt like now wasn't the right time. Hyejung was broken, and all he wanted right then was to piece her back together.

"So, please," Hyejung pleaded, her breaths heavy. "I know it may sound recklessly stupid of me, but in this one matter, please leave me to my independence." She bowed her head lower, her fists white and gripped tighter. "Please." 

Kai fixated his gaze upon her, her own brown eyes quivering in uncertainty. "I do."

Hyejung's brows furrowed. "What?"

"I do understand, Hyejung. I...I was just concerned, and I still am," Kai said, stepping forward. "I respect you and your decisions."

"Huh?" Hyejung sniffled a little, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles. "Really? You - you do?"

Kai chuckled softly. "Yes, I do. And hey, there's absolutely nothing wrong with crying," he murmured, affection in his every touch as brushed her fringes, revealing her light watery eyes. "You don't need to hide from me, because it's not like I'm going to make fun of you because of something serious like this, Hyejung. I care about you too much to do that. Okay?"

Hyejung twisted her lips, nodding her head ever-so-slightly. Without another thought, Hyejung unexpectedly wrapped her arms tightly around Kai's waist, pressing him against her. In reality, she didn't know why on earth she was embracing him, but it seemed like her body acted on its own, yearning for some source of comfort. She didn't sob or cry, but a rim of hot tears pooled up in her hazy eyes while her lips formed into a straight, pursed line.

She hated it. She hated appearing vulnerable, appearing weak. But at that moment, she knew that sometimes she had to allow her walls of defense to fall down, and just give in. 

"I just - sorry," Hyejung whispered, her tears staining Kai's shirt. He didn't mind.

"No. No, there's no need to be sorry," Kai quickly mumbled, bringing her closer into his chest. "Don't you remember? I'm here for you, and always will be. Don't be afraid to let your heart out to me. Please," he whispered the last little part, rubbing small circles on her back. 

A comfortable silence washed over the room. Hyejung felt warmth and comfort absorb her as Kai soft breaths subtly blew past her reddened ears. The loneliness she possessed all this time didn't seem to be too overbearing when Kai was here, being here for her like this. 

It made her feel loved, just when she needed it most. 

Lingering moments slowly fleeted, and soon,

Knock Knock.

Hyejung and Kai abruptly backed away (well, Hyejung pushed away. Blame it on the reflexes), stumbling out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. Right at that moment, Suho opened the door. "Hey, dinner's ready." He glanced from both Hyejung and Kai, noticing the redness in their faces, particularly Hyejung's due to her tears. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Kai promptly answered, and he felt Hyejung briefly glance up at him in question. "Yeah, everything's okay, Suho-hyung."

Suho smiled and nodded, humming as he walked away. Kai and Hyejung followed suite, and with her looking away, the lad reached down and entwined their hands into a tender lock.

"Wh-What the-" Hyejung blurted, staring up at Kai with wide eyes.

"I need to protect you, Hyejung, remember? I don't want you tumbling down the stairs or something," Kai made an innocent excuse, squeezing her hand while starting to step down the fleet of stairs.

Hyejung snorted stubbornly, letting her eyes fall downcast. She knew Kai was a bit of a reckless one, but she learned not to mind it as much as she used to.

~*~

The following week was tough for Hyejung.

Ever since she heard the news about her aunt, her demeanor changed to be more quiet and moody. Aunt Jae was constantly on her mind, and Hyejung couldn't help but feel useless in her situation. She didn't even bother thinking of going back to Busan, considering the fact that she had no good hard cash and had to difficulty keep everything a secret from Suho. Other than that, the dance competition was on top priority for her, and she wasn't gonna let it down so easily. 

But through all this, Kai was secretly formulating a plan. He was currently sitting at his seat in Science, all the way in the back on the right hand corner. With his elbow propped up on the desk and his chin resting indifferently on his palm, Kai thought and thought whilst spinning his pencil deftly at his finger tips. "Hmm," he hummed, taking a glance at Hyejung through the corner of her eye. She was mindlessly picking at a old, withered piece of bubblegum stuck to the bottom of her desk, a dull expression contorting her visage. 

Kai sighed, loudly enough for Hyejung to hear. With his free hand, he reached out and tucked a long strand of her hair behind her ear. "Geez, Hyejung. You had