The next morning was the same old routine. I woke up and pulled myself into the washroom to sleepily  brush my teeth. Half way through, I opened my eyes and found a paper stuck to my cheek. I peeled it off and smoothened the crinkled note and read the faded writing, 'It's all my fault, she's dead because of me...'

 

I gasped and rushed out of the bathroom. The paper flew onto the ground. I quickly grabbed my things and rushed out of the house without goodbyes. I need to talk to Jongin, now.

 

I ran the entire way to school with my breath caught in my throat. "Jongin!" I called as soon as I got to his locker. I frantically looked around searching for his familiar face. I felt like I was lost in a crowd. Taking short breaths into my lungs I snapped my head in the direction to where I heard my name being called. It was Kris. 

 

"Wanna have lunch together today? It's study day today, which technically means it's a free day for everyone!" I smiled at his offer, but that was the least of my worries at the moment. "Kris, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm really busy. Sorry." 

 

About to take my second step away from him, he wrapped his hand around my wrist and turned me around. "Jae. Lunch at the courtyard today. Please?" He pouted. Instead of looking at him I glanced around his shoulders at the open classrooms. 'Jongin.' His name rang in my head. "Fine." I gave in so he'd let go and continued my search.

 

The thoughts in my head practically blurred my entire vision. All I knew was that my feet had a mind of it's own and was jogging through the halls. My mind was on Jongin. My mind was on that note. A jumbled mind and legs almost running isn't the best combination. I slammed into someone's chest. "What is wrong with me today?" I looked up and groaned, "I seem to be attracting all the jerks in my life." 

 

In front of me stood a bright and giddy Luhan. 'If he smiles any bigger his mouth will rip..." My mind barked. "Jae! Long time no see eh!" 

 

"And I intend to keep it that way." I retorted and stepped around him.

 

With swift movements I was his armrest. I squirmed away from his arm. "Jae darling don't leave!" He teased.

 

"Lulu honey bunch, I'm in a hurry." I really needed to find him. As I rounded another corner I heard Luhan laugh and shout, "Check the shed!" 

 

I stopped and backed up to poke my head around the corner and wave a little thanks. From there, I went straight to the shed. My mind was practically screaming Jongin's name now.

 

Through the hallways, crossing the field, and making my way to the shed. My head was spinning from lack of oxygen now. I looked behind the shed and there he was, mouth to mouth with another girl. 

 

A surge ran through my body and caused me to slam my bag into the wall causing a ringing sound. The two jumped apart and looked up. Jongin's eyes widened in shock when he saw my presence. "Jaehi..." He mumbled.

 

I felt myself scowl. "Meet me by the oak trees by the field when you're done. Kay." And I stormed away. Something was clutching inside the pit of my stomach and breathing seemed labored. "What the hell?" I grumbled as I sat under the shade. 

 

I waited for a good 15 minutes and decided to give up. 'Jongin.' His name was on a repeated loop in my head. I decided to believe that he wasn't going to come. I gathered my things that were scattered around the tree trunk and dumped them in my bag. As soon as I zipped it a shadow was cast over me. 

 

"What? No more girls left to prey on?" My words came out with venom. I was taken aback by how angry I sounded.

 

Jongin sat beside me and chuckled, "Jealous much?"

 

I rolled my eyes, "Jongin?" He looked over. I didn't know exactly how to word me question so I stayed silent. He nudged me to go on, still looking at me. "Tell me... What happened with your sister?"

 

I watched his eyes widen and his face grow pale. His mouth parted slightly, and almost immediately he looked away; refusing to talk.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, "Whatever happened, just know that it wasn't your fault."

 

He looked down and started to shake. With a small voice he finally answered, "But it was."

 

I wasn't good at this comforting stuff. If anything, I'd usually make the person stress out more. But nonetheless, for Jongin I tried. "Tell me what happened." I soothed while rubbing his back.

 

He finally found the courage to look into my eyes. His eyes looked sad, like they were in pain. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, 'Jongin is really hurting.'

 

"Let's make a deal." He broke my train of thought. A deal... This meant that I'd have to do something for him. And knowing Jongin, everything has a price. It was the only way to make him spill. "I suppose." I sighed.

 

A smile broke out onto his face and he stood up lifting me up with him. "At date, meet me here at lunch."

 

"Su- lunch with Kris... Dammit." I cut my agreement with another agreement I had made earlier. I looked to Jongin and his eyes had narrowed.

 

"Fine, I'll pick you up at 6 tonight instead." He said as a smile grew on his face. He snapped my hanging jaw shut at walked back towards the shed. I felt my face go hot. Collecting myself I turned and saw Jongin walking backwards, his eyes still on me. "Have fun at the shed!" I teased with a grin. "I definitely will!" He yelled back with his signature smirk and a wink to top it off. Laughing, I left to go find the others.

 

. . . 

 

"I don't care. Let me study!" Hana said as I poked her side. I still hadn't told her about the day's events. 

 

"Fine, then I guess I won't tell you about my date with Kris. And my other date with Jongin." I knew she wouldn't be able to restrain herself.

 

As expected, she slammed her book shut. Not expected, her arms jerked me back and forth while she yelled, "SPILL," in my face. "Nah, you can go back to studying." I joked. Her eyes darkened threatening me to tell her. "Okay! Okay!" I told her about my day up to that point in full detail, but I left Jongin's sister out of the picture.

 

"Jae... Make sure Kris hears about your date with Jongin. Okay? Meaning, if he finds out where your date it, he still likes you!" She squealed. Well, Hana did kind of make sense. 'If Kris manages to somehow find me, that'll show that he still cares.' Yeah, it made sense. But was it also understandable that I was excited for our date tonight? 

 

I shook ofd my thoughts and looked at the time on my phone and jumped to my feet. I had to get to Kris; and I found him in the courtyards, sitting with a big box of pizza and a grin on his face.

 

I sat down beside him and grabbed a slice from the box. "You really know how to win a girl's heart." I laughed before finally savoring the taste of cheesy goodness. "I do, don't I?!" He laughed as well. "So, what are you up to tonight?" He asked as he scooted closed. Turning to look away, "Jongin. He's taking me out tonight!" I turned back to him, "We're going out on a date." His eyes widened and pizza got caught in his throat. Coughing, he finally regained his posture. "You okay?" I asked innocently.

 

He looked at me and let out a nervous smile, "Perfect, just perfect." He mumbled.

 

. . . 

 

Today I walked home alone. Jongin had some sort of dance meeting which caught me really off guard. I didn't expect him to belong to a club, or dance as a matter of fact. "It just doesn't suit his personality." I whispered as I fumbled with my keys to open the front door. 

 

As soon as I opened it, a pant-less  Jaemin sped past me with my mother on her tail. "Honey! You need pants! Jae help me!" I rounded the corner by the kitchen because I knew she was going to burst out of the doors any second. 

As soon as she did, I scooped her up and heard an, "UNNIE WAE!" in reluctance. "Gotchya," I smirked.

 

My mother came through the exact doors, panting and flustered with a pair of pants hanging from her right hand. "Minnie, how bout, we sign you up, for track and field? You should spend that energy, there, not at home. Becuase, I can't, breathe." She panted as a bead of sweat made its way down her smooth face. I looked at Jaemin, "Yah... Did you beat the record?" She smiled and nodded, "An hour and twenty three minutes!" She said with pride. "Not bad." I shrugged.

 

"Jaehi, what do you want for dinner?" She said while struggling to put pants on a stubborn Minnie. "Um actually," I tried to avert my eyes, "I'm going on a date tonight." I said. Usually when I brought up the boys subject in the household, especially when my dad was home, everything seemed so tense. "Oh? Okay, with that sweetheart, Kris! That's fine!" She agreed. 

 

I felt my face drop at his name, "Mom, Jonging is taking me out." I corrected her. "The boys next door? Great honey! Please dress nicely... You know we should have him over for dinner soon." 

 

'Is this really my mother?' Why was she so open? This wasn't right. The opening of the door brought me back to reality. My dad walked in with his briefcase in hand, a file folder in his other, and his tie draped around his neck.

 

Jaemin ran to him and engulfed his legs into a big hug. "Jae has a date tonight!" She looked up at him with big eyes. My dad looked up at me.

 

"Hey darling. So... Name, age, address, family, criminal record?" He raised a brow. My father wasn't the type to warm up to boys or the idea of me dating. If it was up to him alone, I wouldn't be dating anyone until I was 35.

 

I walked up to him and swatted his arm, "It's Jongin, dad. He lives next door..." And with that I bolted up the stairs to get ready for my date.

 

I browed my closet as my mother's yelling interrupted me. "What are you wearing?" 

 

I rolled my eyes, "Skinnies and a shirt." I heard her footsteps get closer up the stairs and my door flew open. "Wear a skirt, it's more ladylike!" She crossed her arms. "If I can't get skinny jeans off my lower half, neither can a ." I stated. She opened to argue, but obviously I won that round. "Okay." She left and shut my door behind her.

 

"Okay, okay, okay. One hour Jae, you can do this!" I gave myself a pep talk and a hwaiting. I had one hour to prepare.

 

. . . 

 

(Jongin's POV)

 

6PM sharp and I rang their doorbell. Mrs. Kang opened the door and stood there beaming with joy. "Annyeonghaseyo." I bowed 90 degrees and straightened out. "Annyeong oppa!" I looked down and saw a smiling Jaemin. Ruffling her hair I crouched down to her level and said, "Annyeong princess Minnie. I'm here to take you on an awesome adventure!" She squealed and wrapped her arms around me causing me to lose my balance and land on my behind. I immediately stood up and bowed as soon as I heard Mr. Kang clear his throat in the doorway. 

 

"Where are you taking her? What time will you be back?" Mrs. Kang slightly pushed her husband, "Yeobeo, don't scare him!" She chuckled, "Be back before 11 since it's a school night okay?" 

 

"Jongin?" I heard Jae's voice from inside the house. She emerged from between her parents, dressed in black skinny jeans with a leather strip running down the sides and loose white v-neck with an oversized cardigan. Her hair was pulled to the side and revealed her slender neck that led to her collar bones. "You look beautiful." I heard myself blurt loud enough so her parents could hear. Her face turned red. "Good bye. I'll have her back on time." I promised. 

 

I walked her towards my car and reached to open the door. Mr. Kang's voice blared down the driveway, "Don't do anything or I'll make you regret it son!" I laughed at what was supposed to be a threat and decided to turn to Jaehi to . But, she seemed embarrassed enough. She was redder than a tomato and trying to cover her face with one of her hands.

 

I backed out of the driveway when I sat in the car. "Where are we going?" She asked me. I smiled and took my arm off the back of her seat to put the car into drive, "It's a surprise." I teased. I was planning to take her to a new bubble tea café that had opened in downtown. The café was packed because they had a special performance that day. LeeHi, one of the YG trainees, was performing. I knew how much she like YG so I assumed she's like to see a trainee before her debut. 

 

I parked the car behind the café and walked out of the car. She stepped out and straightened her cardigan while I walked up behind her to I cover her eyes. She was clearly shocked, "Jongin?" Her voice shook. I couldn't help but laugh at her nervousness. "Don't worry." I said in a low tone, and I lead her into the café.

 

 

"You can open your eyes now." I whispered. As soon as I moved my hands I saw her eyes glisten. Her eyes were set on the stage where LeeHi was getting ready to perform. Jae let out a little scream and pulled me into an unexpected hug. I awkwardly patted her back and said, "Let's go find a table."

 

. . . 

 

(Jaehi's POV)

 

'Jongin. He's the sweetest fake boyfriend ever!' I thought. I watched him ordering something off the menu and continued even when the waiter left and his attention was on me. "What are you staring at?" He grumbled. "Yo know, you might actually have a heart." I contemplated. He glared at me, "Such sweet words to say to your boyfriend." His voice was thick with sarcasm. We both laughed until something caught my eye.

 

Jongin's laughter died down as he followed my gaze until we were both staring at the approaching figure. "Gimme a break." I heard him grunt. A chair was pulled from another table and brought to ours. 

 

"Fancy seeing you two here..."

 

 

 

 

FORGIVE ME FOR THE WAIT! T~T sorry for taking so long to update! Honestly I knew what would happen, I just couldn't seem to explain it so I kept rewriting this chapter LOL. Again it's uploaded off my phone so please ignore any spelling/grammar errors. SO, WHO CAME TO THE CAFÉ?! IS IT SOMEONE FROM SCHOOL? FAMILY? FRIENDS? EX? NEW CHARACTERS? Hmm I wonder? Is it Kris? Did Hana's friends follow? DID HER DAD FOLLOW? IS IT THE REST OF EXO? I dunno... LOL WE SHALL SEE! 

 

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And thank you to all who are reading this story! It means a lot! :)

 

- tickleherheart