“Kai, you honestly need to be less harsh on Hana. She’s trying her best,” Taemin leaned against the mirror as he hungrily gulped down water to quench his thirst.

            “Girls are fragile – I’m a girl myself.” Na Eun added.

            “You should apologize, Kai.” Taemin wrapped a secure arm around Na Eun’s waist.

            Tearing his eyes away from the loving couple, Kai said, “I’m going downstairs to drink water.” As he exited the dance studio, he overheard Na Eun comment, “I almost believed Hana’s façade. But as a girl myself, I can understand her body language – it was a dead giveaway. She’s hurting inside.”

            “There’s nothing we can do about it, Na Eun. It’s not our business.”

            “I know. It’s just that…” Kai didn’t want to hear anymore afterwards. He sprinted downstairs.

****

            Kai had expected Hana to be in the kitchen to drink water as she had said, but she was nowhere to be found. His six friends looked up at Kai’s entrance. Sehun’s missing, Kai mentally noted. Pretending nothing was off, he headed towards the refrigerator to get a bottle of water while eavesdropping on his friends’ conversation.

            “I hope I can formally introduce myself to her next time,” Xiumin said.

            “Yeah, they both seemed to be in a rush to get out of here,” Yixing agreed.

            “But she seems like a nice girl,” Chen sighed, “if only I got to talk to her a little bit…”

            “Hey, there’s always next time guys,” Luhan optimistically said, but it appeared as if he was unsure himself.

            “Chanyeol’s so lucky to have her as a sister…” Knowing they were speaking louder than usual on purpose, Kai finally had enough. Curiosity was biting his insides out.

            “Who are you talking about?” He whipped around as he capped the water bottle in his hand.

            “Hana and Sehun,” Tao nonchalantly said, “they left just a few minutes ago.”

            “Seems like they knew each other from before – lucky bastard,” Chen muttered with a frown.

            “…do you know where they went?” Kai was choosing his words carefully at this point of time. If he showed any bit of emotion for this situation, his friends would know right away that he actually cared.

            “Isn’t Hana your girlfriend? Shouldn’t you be telling us?” Luhan cocked his eyebrow, somewhat amused. Kai knew what his Chinese friend was playing at – he was toying with Kai to see when his inner feelings would be released.

            “I heard they went to get coffee,” Yixing finally answered, “you know, I think you should take better care of Hana, Kai. She can easily slip away from your grasp just like that.”

            If it was only that easy…”Thanks Yixing,” Kai flashed a fake grin before sprinting out the door.

            “He totally cares for her,” Kris concluded as he took a sip of Tao’s orange juice.

            “Kris ge!” Tao began throwing a tantrum.

****

            He pressed himself against the wall when he heard them exit the coffee shop. Surreptitiously peeking his head from behind, he got a view of their retreating backs.  Seeing the two walk so closely angered Kai. Seeing Hana laugh at Sehun’s comment pained him. Seeing Sehun and Hana together…it made him jealous. They were just so perfect together. They looked perfect together.

            Just as Kai was about to pursue after Sehun and Hana, the pocket of his pants began vibrating. Aggravated, Kai fished out his phone. No doubt the caller was his father. His father was the only one who would be calling Kai at such a time.

            Eyes still on Sehun and Hana, Kai picked up, “Hello?”

            “Kai, I can’t believe you finally answered!” A sweet voice filled his eardrum. It was definitely not his father. Krystal Jung. “Can we meet?” Her too happy of a voice deeply aggravated Kai -- it was pushing him to the limit.

            “Krystal, what do you want? Why can’t you just go back to America? That’d make everybody a whole lot happier, me included.”

            “Kai, that isn’t how you speak to your daughter’s mother.” Disapproval was coated on each word she said.

            “What the hell are you talking about?!” Kai’s eyes became livid. Was Krystal actually accusing Kai of having a child with her? That was absolutely absurd. Not once had Kai made love to Krystal. When she did not reply, Kai gripped his Samsung Galaxy even tighter. “I don’t like playing games, Krystal Jung. Even if I did, I don’t have the time to play, especially not with you.” One second. Two seconds. Three seconds…

            “Meet me at my apartment. You know where.” Krystal’s fluid voice became deadly thereafter.