Se Ri pulled back and frowned up at Kai who was a head taller than her.
"What?" *Did I hear right? Was he calling unnie's name?*
Kai who seem to just realise what he was doing, quickly let go of Se Ri's arm. He grabbed a fistful of his hair, looked away and sighed heavily. Se Ri took a hesitant step forward and peered to look at his face which seemed distraught.

"Kai, are you not feeling well? We can go ho-"

"NO!" Kai suddenly raised his voice. Se Ri jumped at the volume and the tone of his voice. She could tell he was mad about something. Seeing the scared look on Se Ri's eyes, Kai sighed again. He shut his eyes and breathed out. He opened them and looked at Se Ri with gentler eyes now.

"I-I'm sorry Se Ri....I was...I was a little detached lately. I'm sorry." He took her hand and squeezed them.
Se Ri looked at him, unsure.

He noticed the look she was giving him and sighed the nth time. He brought her hands up to his lips and kissed them.
"I promise you, I'm okay."

Se Ri gave him a weak smile and nodded.

"Let's go. We'll be late for the movie."
And Kai led the way.

------
They came out of the theatre laughing heartily. Se Ri recalled the funny scene from the movie and Kai laughed.

"I told you this movie was good. But you keep insisting us to watch that...that....gory movie. Urghh. I'm glad I talk you out of it." Se Ri commented as she rubbed her arms to soothe her goosebumps that were forming on her them.

Kai put his fist to his mouth and chuckled, "Okay okay. The next time, we're going to watch that "gory" movie." he said while quoting the word 'gory' in the air with his fingers.

Se Ri whipped her head to Kai and  gave him a NO sign with her hands. He chuckled and ruffled her hair. She turned beet red at that gesture and cleared , hoping he wouldn't realize her embarrassment.

"To Baskin Robins!" she said marching forward with Kai trailing slowly behind her.

He was smiling as he looked at her back. She turned around and gestured Kai to walk fast. At that moment, Kai's face turned rigid as he saw Saejin calling out to him with her hands out urging him to follow her. His body turned cold and his hands started to tremble. He squeezed his hands together hoping it would stop trembling. He shut his eyes for a few seconds and opened them. Saejin was gone. All he could see was Se Ri skipping into Baskin Robins with an elated smile.

"Kai! Come on!" she waved excitedly at him.
He blinked at her and entered the ice cream parlor.
Se Ri excitedly eyed the variety of flavor of ice cream in front of her. He tongue stuck out as she pondered on which flavor to get. Kai chuckled by her side.

"What's so funny?" Se Ri tilted her head at him.

"You." he replied nonchalantly.

"What?" her face grew confused.

Kai shook his head, smiling. "So what are you getting?"

"That, that, that and ummmmmm that one!" she replied happily as she pointed to the vanilla, chocolate, mint and cookies and cream flavored ice cream.

He raised his eyebrow. "For a small girl, you sure are greedy."

"Hey! I was planning to share it with you." she pouted.
Kai stared at her affectionately.

"I'm kidding. Pick whatever you want and we'll share." He smoothed the back of her head. She beamed and ordered her pick.

After Kai paid for it, they took a seat near the window that was overlooking the theatre they went to a few minutes ago. Se Ri gave Kai his spoon and they indulged in their ice cream. They exchanged their ice-cream cups halfway to have a taste.

His eyes played tricks on him again as Saejin's face flickered in his head and projected in front if him. He shut his eyes tight and shook his head.
*This is Se Ri, not Saejin.* He reminded himself. He look up and to his relief, Se Ri didn't notice anything.

"Se Ri?" Kai called.

"Hmm?" She looked up at him with the desert spoon stuck inside .

"You have something.....there." He motioned towards the right side of his lips with his fingers.

"Huh?" She took the spoon out of and grabbed a tissue from the box on their table. She wiped the side of her lips.

"Gone?" she asked him with her doe eyes.

"No...you missed, it's there..." he shifted to the left side of his lips this time.
Se Ri wiped the left side of her lips now.

"Ermm...no no...there.." he pointed to his chin. Again, she complied.

Kai tried to stifle his laughter by biting his lips but he failed. Se Ri looked at him with a confused face. Then it dawned on her. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Kim Jongin, you are making fun of me, aren't you?" she feigned anger.

Kai looked at her for a few seconds before her spoke, "That's the first time you called me by my real name. I like it." He smiled genuinely.

Se Ri blushed and awkwardly stuffed herself with her melting ice-cream. "Hurry up and eat. Your ice-cream's melting." She said without looking at him.

Kai shook his head and laughed as he finished up his share of ice cream.

--------------

Se Ri was surprised when Kai offered to send her home. Before this, Kai had never initiated. Usually, she would call Chanyeol up and he would be fetching her from where she was at. This time round, Kai's offer made her truly happy. They walked hand in hand up the slope, occasionally exchanging jokes and teases. At first Se Ri was shy to hold his hands but Kai seem to know what she was thinking and beat her to it. A few blocks later, they arrived at Se Ri's home. Se Ri turned to face Kai with twinkling eyes. Kai glanced at the house and noticed that the light was on. His eyebrow creased questioningly.

"Is someone inside?" Kai questioned, eyes not leaving the house.
Se Ri glanced back at the house and back to Kai, "Yeah, probably Chanyeol is still up, skyping his girlfriend." She rolled her eyes.
Kai look at her and she knew what it meant. "He's staying with me for a while but sometimes in the day, he would be visiting his parents at their home."
Kai nodded, though he didn't fully understand but he let that go since Chanyeol is her best friend and because he had no say in this matter.

"You better go in now. It's getting late." Kai jerked his head to her home with a smile.
"Okay...you go home safely, Kai." she said.
Kai nodded and ruffled her hair. Se Ri dared herself to go on her tippy toes and kiss Kai on his right cheek. Kai's eyes widened in surprised. Before Se Ri could turn around, he grabbed her wrist. She look back at Kai who was staring at her with intense eyes. He took a step forward, tilt his head to the side and gently, as gentle ever, pressed his lips to Se Ri's. She shut her eyes intuitively and savoured the kiss that she was sharing with Kai.

They pulled away slowly. The sound of each others heartbeat could be heard and it was beating fast. Kai's ears were red and so was Se Ri's cheeks.

"Ummm..I better get going....." she trailed and turn around. She briskwalked up to her house and shut the door behind her.

Kai stood rooted for a few minutes. He squinted his eyes and scanned the vicinity of the house. Then, he turned around and made his way home.

He was sure, the last thing he saw at the house was Saejin entering her home.