“It’s really hot, don’t you think?” I exhaled.

 

“Yes, it is,” he answered carelessly, making me pout.

 

“I’ve been really good these past days, don’t you think?”

 

“No, I don’t.”

 

“Ya!” I protested.

 

“Just telling the truth,” he shrugged.

 

“Ugh, come on! I deserve some treat for behaving well!”

 

“I think you already had your treat since you shamelessly feasted on my neck and-”

 

“YA! If that’s what you call a treat, then I’d rather die right now!”

 

“If you say so,” he shrugged.

 

I fumed but I tried to calm myself down. Grr. ALL and I mean EVERYONE, except me, the pest and his grandparents were out, because Grandpa told them to unwind, go to a mall, watch a movie or something. I’m really jealous!

 

“Come on, pest. Just this once, I want to go out to a mall and eat ice cream or watch a movie or buy a pair of shoes. . .”

 

“You’re not allowed to go out, much less use credit cards.”

 

“Treat me for an ice cream, then,” I said.

 

He looked at me for a moment. “You’re not allowed-”

 

“I’ll cover my face up. Please?”

 

He sighed heavily.

 

“Jiyong, let her go eat her ice cream just today,” Grandpa said.

 

The pest sighed heavily again. “Fine.”

 

“Yes!” I jumped. “Wait, I’ll just go change my clothes”.

 

 

 

Later. . .

 

“I’m good to go!” I grinned at him. I was wearing a hoodie and sunglasses. I even borrowed a handkerchief to cover my face.

 

“You’re not really a good influence on anyone,” he muttered.

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“Nothing,” he answered.

 

“Pfft. You talk too much,” I mumbled.

 

“Seatbelt,” he said as we were both inside the car.

 

“You notice everything,” I mumbled again.

 

“You complain too much,” he said.

 

“And so do you.”

 

“Stubborn,” he muttered.

 

“And so are you,” I said. “Let’s get going already.”

 

 

Much, much later. . .

 

“Hmm. . .Ah. . .” I moaned as the ice cream melted inside my mouth. “I missed this!” I added.

 

“I thought you said you don’t want to get fat again? Do you know how much fat one scoop of ice cream contains?”

 

“MYOB,” I said. “Don’t ruin my moment with my ice cream.”

 

He chuckled. “What’s that?” he asked.

 

“What?” I asked back.

 

“That thing around your neck?”

 

“Oh, this,” I mumbled as I took out the pendant from the confinement of my shirt.

 

“Diamond?” he asked as he saw the pendant.

 

“Yes,” I confirmed.

 

“I’ve never seen you wear that before. When did you buy that?”

 

“Wooyoung oppa gave this to me.”

 

“Oh,” he mumbled. “Of course.”

 

“Are you done?” he asked a while later.

 

“Yes,” I quietly answered.

 

“Let’s go,” he said then stood up. He then started walking without waiting for me. What the hell is his problem? I trailed behind, half-jogging and half-walking as I tried to keep with him. The moment I reached the car, he was already sitting in the driver’s seat. I opened the door and stomped inside. The moment I closed the door, he fired the engine up.

 

“What the hell is your problem?” I asked as we were now running smoothly back to the house.

 

“Do I look not okay?” he asked.

 

“Well, no but-”

 

“Then there’s nothing wrong with me,” he cut off.

 

“You’re such an old maid!” I pouted. “You’ve got a lot of mood swings.”

 

He chuckled once, the fell silent again. I really can’t understand him! Aish! But why am I even trying to understand him? He’s just a pest, a total waste of time! He doesn’t deserve even a second of my precious attention. Pfft.

 

I crossed my arms across my chest and looked outside the window. The way back to the house was nothing but silence.

 

“Something’s wrong,” he said as the house came into our view. He quickly stopped the car, not bothering to enter the garage and stepped out.

 

I followed him inside. I can sense tension vibrating off him. It made me wonder what have caused it. He suddenly stopped, making me bump against his back. “No,” he croaked as he weakly went down on his knees. I frowned. What the hell is going on?

 

“What ha-” I started but stopped. My hand quickly went to my mouth as I gasped in shock. My body went numb as I saw Grandma and Grandpa’s lifeless body. Grandma was sprawled on the floor, her limbs on odd angles. There was a hole and something dark and red on her forehead. I gasped again as I realized that she’s been shot in the forehead. Grandpa was down on his stomach, one arm extended towards Grandma, bathing with his own blood. My eyes started to sting as my heart gave a painful squeeze. “Oh God!” I whispered weakly.

 

“I shouldn’t have left.”

 

My head went to the pest. My heart gave another painful squeeze. “Jiyong, I’m so-” I started but stopped as I heard footsteps from behind me. I froze. The pest must have heard it too because he quickly stood up and pulled me behind him. His hand reached out behind him and pulled something. My eyes grew wide as I realized it was a gun.

 

“Grandpa, I’m back!” Kevin suddenly stopped as he saw the gun pointed at him.

 

Upon realizing it was Kevin, the pest lowered the gun. “Take care of my grandparents. You know what to do,” he said.

 

“You know I always do. What-?” he stopped again as the pest stepped aside, pulling me with him, giving Kevin a full view of the scene.

 

“Oh my God!” he gasped. He looked so pale I thought he was going to faint.

 

“We need to go. This isn’t a safe place for Dara anymore,” the pest said. “See to their burial.”

 

Kevin didn’t answer. He looked like a lifeless corpse. “I can’t believe this!” he cried.

 

“Kevin, I already told you that something like this would happen,” the pest calmly said. I looked at him. How can he be so calm? But somewhere from a memory, Grandma’s words echoed in my head: “he doesn’t know how to cry, nothing”.

 

“It’s too early. I didn’t expect. . .” Kevin choked.

 

The pest didn’t answer. He turned back to his grandparents, knelt down and kissed each of their heads. After a moment, he stood up. “Let’s go,” he said.

 

“I think we should stay and pay respects to the burial- argh!” I broke into a squeal as he threw me to his shoulder and carried me out. He then threw me to the passenger seat a bit carelessly, making me whimper in pain.

 

As soon as he was inside the car, too, he immediately keyed in the ignition and sped off. I let twenty-minutes of silence passed between us.

 

“Maybe we should go back, pay respect to their burial or something,” I said but he didn’t answer. “Jiyong, I’m sorry.”

 

He didn’t answer again.

 

“Ya!” I suddenly burst out. “Stop acting like you don’t care! Crying is just a normal thing!”

 

“Grief is not only shown through tears,” he said. I let out an exasperated sigh and slumped back on my seat.

 

After fifteen minutes, the silence totally irked me. I was about to argue again when a car suddenly stopped in front of us horizontally, blocking our way. I heard the pest cursed once. He started running the car backwards when another car stopped behind us. My head whipped back and forth to the cars in front and behind us.

 

We’re trapped.