01

Krystal bit her lips.

She did it again, avoided Kai's eyes when his gaze wandered around the hall full of fans from the SM Family. Once she was faced with his back, she continuously threw glances at him.

“Krystal,” her older sister nudged her waist and Krystal yelped due to her sharp elbow. “Keep your cool and stop tilting your head towards him every five seconds!”

“I know, I know,” Krystal mumbled as she felt the heat in her cheeks.

“Really?" Jessica asked, her sarcasm hard to ignore.

Krystal couldn't help it; she just liked looking at him - even thinking of him made her heart beat faster and she was afraid it was so loud that everyone around her could hear it. She took a deep breath and roamed her eyes to search for Kai, but he wasn't in the area he was before. It might be a good thing for her; she couldn't see him anymore, just like what Jessica told her, but it only meant that she would look around multiple times until she found him.

Through the corner of her eyes, Krystal impatiently searched for a pair of dark eyes. His dark eyes. They were extraordinary... as if those dark chocolate eyes could perform miracles, she enjoyed them giving her comfort. Sometimes she thought those eyes could easily see her screams, her frustration, her delight.

"He's behind you. Don't freak out, okay?" Jessica said, giving her a teasing smile as she looked above her sister’s shoulder. Krystal blinked twice and stiffened a bit when Jessica tilted her head in Kai’s direction. “Good luck to you, sis.”

“Mhm, good luck to myself,” Krystal thought. With that her sister left her and Krystal tried to be normal again. First, she wiped her sweaty hands on her SMTOWN t-shirt and when she managed to catch a pink balloon, she played with it while she waved to her fans. It was fun really, but she couldn’t help to feel uncomfortable with the lump in , in a good way though, if that sounded logical. Her body temperature increased rapidly despite her tied jet-black hair. She could swear she felt every little drop on the back of her neck, flowing down, cooling her back. The effect Kai had every time he was near was horrible and she hated him for it, but on the other side she also loved it.

Krystal had to admit she had this strange habit of stealing glances from the corner of her eye every five seconds when he was in the same room with her, sharing the same oxygen.

She personally called it her five seconds rule. On good days she was able to resist longer; on bad days she just needed to do that.

Some of her close friends told her she should stop being too obvious and boy, she was totally confused when they did. How was she supposed to know that she acted like that? She did it unconsciously. Who would’ve known that she was actually an open book when he was there? She felt like a little high school girl when she watched his music videos and gawked at how dancing seemed to be so easy to him. She often giggled quietly when she saw his interviews in the night under the safe blanket, when she believed that the other girls from f(x) were already asleep. She considered it a little crush from a fan. Or maybe more than a little and more than just from a fan, but the point was he gave her endless moments of happiness when he was present.

The loud music blasted out and Krystal clapped her hands, matching her movements with the rhythm, circling on her own spot. She smiled to some of her fans and as Krystal’s heart finally slowed down, she searched for Kai just so she could calculate how close she was with him and how to stare at him without being caught. To her surprise he was exactly next to her. In the next second when their eyes met, her facial expression fell and she froze in her spot.

One,

His eyes widened.

Two,

Krystal blinked.

Three,

Kai looked down.

Four,

The corner of Krystal’s lips went down.

Five,

Both of them nodded, acknowledging each other’s presence.

It was the worst few seconds she ever had.

Krystal wiped off her disappointed look and smiled again. Somehow, somewhere in the middle of Krystal's life, he would look at her the way she secretly looked at him. She prayed silently that the time would come while she still had those feelings towards him.

Kai his lips.

There he went again, finding the best way to got as close as possible to a certain girl. But she moved away again and he lost track of her for a moment.

K-r-y-s-t-a-l.

They were the same age and on good terms with each other. Hard-working, passionate; a perfect couple, or so he thought.

“Hey,” D.O mouthed and signed him to come to him as Kai craned his neck to find Krystal.

Kai had to go through the crowd of the other EXO members until he reached his friend. He squinted to get a better view. He recognized other people standing next to him and one of them was Krystal, just an inch away from D.O. “What is it?” his question was directed to D.O, however, his eyes lingered on the most beautiful girl behind him.

“There.” D.O put his palms on Kai’s shoulder and pushed him to exchange their spots. “Just take it as a reward for finally cleaning the bathroom.”

Kai beamed at him gleefully. “Thanks!”

“No problem,” his friend said and patted Kai’s arm.

That was when he suddenly realized he was next to Krystal. For real. Not that he never approached her at all or only admired her from afar. Indeed, they often did silly things together such as playing card games when the thunder came or he partnered with her to take turns on buying meat on their diet period. It was just that he intended to keep his gaze with Krystal for five seconds without making a fool of himself.

He personally called it his five seconds rule. On good days he was able to hold it for three seconds; on bad days he mentally hit himself for avoiding it.

“Today seems to be a bad day,” Kai thought as he wiped of the sweat on his forehead. He looked up and saw lots of people screaming and jumping with their posters. All of them were singing the song that was playing and Kai intuitively sang along. He wasn’t ready to do what he wanted to. Not yet.

It was possible for him look at her in the eye, but it would never last long when he started thinking of how great it would be if they were more than just friends. Even if he couldn’t, he’d like to put his arm on her shoulder without turning into a robot, like Taemin. Or getting close to her in general without losing his mind when she flashed him her cute smile. Yes, he would consider it as a good deal, at least as long as they were idols and their CEO didn’t allow them to date and then he would make a move.

His lips became dry again and he his bottom lip. It was unbelievable how big Krystal’s effect was. He wished there’d come a time where he could pull her into his arms, her silky hair, inhale her strawberry scent, kiss her soft lips and more importantly, lose himself in her dark eyes. Her eyes were the most memorable part of her that made him have that little crush on her. Through those eyes, Kai hoped to see what was inside of her. What she thought, what made her smile, what made her cry.

Kai felt Krystal’s hair on the back of his neck and it gave him chills. In a good way, though. He turned around, but immediately showed her his back. Although he only wanted to check where she was, he couldn’t keep his mind straight and already lost his confidence before even doing what he decided to do. Fortunately he had learnt to keep an expressionless face for nerve-wrecking moments like that. He went on singing the song as if nothing happened.

He turned around again and was more than surprised to see Krystal looking at him. His heart rate increased abruptly and he reflexively lowered his gaze to the floor. After only three seconds he couldn’t do what he wanted to do. Kai sighed, pondering if he would have the courage to do it for five seconds. When he lifted his eyes, Krystal only nodded at him and then talked to Victoria.

He filled air into his mouth and blew a flick of his hair away from his sight.

“Kai,” D.O poked his arm and Kai faced him with a small frown. “We have to bow.”

“Hmm,” Kai murmured and let D.O hold his right hand. He stared at his free hand and felt someone pulling his shirt.

“Can I have your hand?”

“Yeah, sure,” Kai simply said and fell into his thoughts again, wondering if he could look at Krystal for five seconds.

“Dude, didn’t you notice it was Krystal or why where you so cold?” his friend whispered and knitted his eyebrows in disbelief of what he just saw.

Kai blinked twice and his eyes grew bigger. He turned his head and saw Krystal smiling at some of her fans.

“What is wrong with me today?” He shook his head and groaned.

“Are you okay?” Krystal asked at the sound of him.

“Hmm? Oh yeah. Perfectly fine,” he answered halfheartedly.

Krystal showed him a small smile and raised their arms in order to bow with the other. His hand was sweaty due to his nervousness and he was afraid Krystal disliked it so he made a mental note to pull his hand away from her grasp after they bowed.

But somehow, after bowing down to the crowd, instead of immediatly letting her hand go, he looked at her the way he usually looked at her secretly – this time without breaking the eye contact.

One,

She stared back at him.

Two,

He gave her the biggest smile he could afford.

Three,

Her lips curled up while her eyes formed two half moons.

Four,

He kept locking their gaze.

Five,

Both of them shook their hands, still looking at each other.

They went their separate ways; Krystal with the other girls and Kai stayed with his friends.

It was the best five seconds he ever had.