In the car. Will be there in 5 mins. 

- Jongin

 

 

I flip the phone over and shove it in the pocket of my grey hooded jacket. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I sit on the wooden stairs of the front porch of our vanilla white gable-front house. I’ve known Jongin long enough to know that when he says he’s in the car, it means he’s just drying his hair; and when he says he’ll be here in 5 minutes, it means I’ll have another 15 minutes of waiting. 

 

 

“I thought you were going out with the boys to play soccer?” I glanced behind me to see my mum closing the front door, dressed in a rose sleeveless shift dress that flows down to her knees and a pair of classic leather slingbacks. My mother has always maintained her elegance which is something I strongly admire about her. In our household, mum is the money maker while dad is the househusband, overturning the stereotypical roles of husband and wife. But that doesn’t make my dad any less than any other dads who work. He keeps the harmony and peacefulness in the house, which, trust me, can be a very tough job when there are two problematic boys – an aimless 22 year old, and an airheaded teenager – under the same roof. 

 

 

“Jongin is running late, you know how he is.” I shrugged.

 

 

“I’m going to meet your aunt downtown, want me to give you a ride?” she smiles adoringly at me, before placing a small kiss on top of my head. 

 

 

“It’s fine, Jongin should be here soon.” I answered as she makes her way to her car. 

 

 

“Oh, by the way…” she started, without looking up while she rummages through her bag for her car keys. “Remember that cute cranky boy next door? The one you used to play with when you were young?”

 

 

My head bolted up, taken aback by my mum’s choice of topic. “W-what about him?”  I stammered. 

 

 

“Well, their back from England just last night. They were taking their luggage in when I got home, such a lovely family. That kid has grown up so much! I can’t believe it’s already been five years!” Neither can I.

 

 

I shifted uneasily, feeling beads of sweat forming at the side of my head making the hairs on that area stick to my skin. “I-I see.” I gulped. Thankfully, she’s too busy looking for her keys to notice my discomfort.

 

 

“I think they went out to visit some relatives today, we’ll go visit later in the evening – there you are!” she exclaimed in relief, finally finding her keys. “I should go.” She gave another smile as she gets in her car. I gave her a small forced smile to mask my anxiousness.

 

 

“Oh and by the way…” she pops her head out of the window, “Sehun says hi.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-October afternoon. It’s officially Autumn. The trees prove it too. I walk cautiously towards the big red maple tree in the back yard just a few metres away from our house. The houses in our neighbourhood usually don’t have fences around to separate them from its neighbour.

 

 

In each careful step, I hear the crunches of the autumn leaves as my footsteps crush them. I realise there’s no use of being discreet; my footsteps are quite obvious to whoever is sitting behind the tree. 

 

 

The said person is crouched against the tree, arms around his folded legs leaning them against his chest, while he rests his chin on his knees. His brows furrowed into a frown, as if hundreds of unpleasant thoughts are currently invading his mind.

 

 

“Sehun?” I recognised him instantly. It’s hard not to when he’s been my neighbour before I even learned to walk. 

 

 

When I realised he isn’t going to respond or acknowledge my presence, I plopped down next to him. I gave out a sigh as I try to figure him out. Whenever Sehun is being cranky, he usually torments other people. It’s very rare that he’s distressed and quiet at the same time. 

 

 

I watch him curiously, with his brows knitted together into a frown and his lips pursed. I realised I’ve never actually looked at him close enough to notice he has long and dark lashes that casts lines of shadows over his cheekbones. 

 

 

“You don’t look very attractive with that kind of face you know,” I teased. A friendly approach was never our thing.

 

 

“Yeah, well, you don’t look very attractive when you try to pry either.”

 

 

I definitely dislike Sehun when he’s snappy; it can be irritating. “Wasn’t planning to pry, but if you wanna share, feel free to do so.” I shrugged.

 

 

“And what will I gain from an airhead like you?”

 

 

I faked a wounded expression, “The most logical advice an airhead can get. Tempting eh?” I nudged him with my elbow teasingly.

 

 

“Sometimes, I really feel like you’re on crack you know,” he laughed amusedly, as he turned his head to look at me and unfolded his legs, stretching them on the ground comfortably.

 

 

“And to me, you look stoned…all the time.” I smiled widely at my own comeback. It’s like an on-going competition between us for the last seventeen years: to say a wittier response till the other is left speechless. Too occupied on waiting for some kind of retort from him, I didn’t realise how long we’re been staring at each other. And when I did, I shifted uncomfortably, the smile leaving my lips and replaced by an uneasy expression, while he seems to be studying every dent on my face.

 

 

 “Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, unable to mask the anxiousness in my voice. His stare bore deeply into mine that I had to look away as if he’ll be able to see my darkest secrets if I held his gaze any longer.

 

 

“Because I am thinking whether I should kiss you or not,” he answered ruminatively with a low and raspy voice, like it was the most natural thing to say.

 

 

Taken aback by his statement, my head jolted sideways to give him a questioning look. “What did you say?” I convince myself that I’ve heard him wrong.

He smirked, then leaned closer to me that even when I scooted backwards, I can still feel his warm breath on top of my nose. Wearing an amused expression that makes my insides swirl, he looked at me in a way that makes me feel like he’s assessing my reaction.

 

 

“I said, you look like you need my kiss right now,” he said with an irritating wry smile. 

 

 

I blinked at him, trying to absorb his words. I feel my face heat up, especially my ears. After gaining my senses back, I gave him a scowl. With the palm of my right hand, I shoved his face away till he stumbled backwards, while I swiftly got up on my feet.

 

 

“Why so rough?”  he said with a grimace while dusting the dirt and dried leaves off his hands, “And by the way, your ears are red, Chinatown,” he wiggled his eyebrows at me with a teasing smile.

 

 

I took a deep breath to compose myself. I hate that nickname. And I badly want to cover my ears. They turn red when I’m nervous or when I’m about to lie.

 

 

I turned my gaze down to him, and with a smirk, I said, “You do drive me nuts you know, crank.”

 

 

He hates that nickname. Looking up at me with a raised eyebrow, I continued, “And you look more like someone who wants my kiss.” I smiled daringly.

 

 

Oh, we both like to play the same games. Whenever I’m nice to him, he’ll be nice to me; and whenever he punches me, I punch him back. It’s something we’ve both grown accustomed to.

 

 

“You’re always so unpredictable you know. I like that,” he laughed as he slowly got up on his feet.

 

 

“I can say the same to you.”

 

 

“And yes, maybe I do.” He looked at me with an expression I can’t read; something between sad and scared.

 

 

I puckered my eyebrows and tilted my head slightly in confusion, “Maybe you do what?”

 

 

“Want to kiss you.”

 

 

Sincere. Something he usually isn’t. And the genuine sincerity in his voice evoked an emotion in me that I thought I’d never feel towards him. The desire to kiss him.

 

 

And before any other irrational thoughts enter my mind, I turned around to leave and walk back to my house. However, before I can make my first step, he took hold of my wrist firmly and swung me around. 

 

 

I didn’t get any time to process the situation in my mind, as I felt his soft lips against mine, one hand holding my wrist and the other cupping the side of my face gently.

 

 

I should push him away, shout at him or maybe punch him. But I didn’t do any of that. I didn’t want to. I’ve never realised how much I want this until now. 

 

 

I can feel the hesitation and cautiousness in the way his lips move as if he’s scared that I might explode any moment. To reassure him, I circled my arm around his neck and responded to his kiss. Gently moving my lips against his, he wraps his arms around my waist securely. The slow and soft kisses soon became intense and passionate. 

 

 

Wordlessly, we decided to break off the kiss before we start stripping each other right here in the open. I glanced at him, our faces still close to each other, and noticed the tinge of sadness in his dark brown eyes.

 

 

“Why did you do that?” I asked breathily, searching deeply into his eyes for answers.

 

 

His lips curled upwards into an impish smile, “Because you needed it.”

 

 

We’ve always been two complicated individuals. We may have known each other all our lives, but we disagree more than we agree and we argue more than we enjoy each other’s company. Our relationship is just like that, very patchy and difficult to comprehend. And neither of us has done anything to change that. Ever.

 

 

Well, not until now.