Chapter Fourteen
"You left me, remember?"

4th of December 2014

Minseok closed the door behind him gently, sighing quietly when he knows that probably, Hee Young isn’t in a good mood. Like, who would be in a good mood at this time? His plan to do something for a while now had failed, totally. Although to some people it might be such an easy thing to do but to him it isn’t. Definitely and obviously it isn’t. Anything that involves Hee Young can and will never be easy for him. With a thumping heart, he turned around to see that she was sitting on the seat by the window.

She noticed Minseok’s eyes and she turned her head, meeting gazes with him. She noticed how he glanced down to the carpet floors where there was a trail of drips leading towards where Hee Young was currently sitting. The both of them simultaneously looked back up and she was the first to speak, “I had to sit here, in my defense.”

Minseok snorted and shook his head, his smile never fading as he , “Are you worried about that?”

Minseok noticed the slight (the tiniest) blush on her cheeks as she looked away from him, looking out of the window with a scoff. She rubbed her arms slowly and ignored him. However he noticed how her lips were quivering. She’s cold, . He cursed in his mind, this close to scolding himself at how thoughtless he was. Almost too quickly, he paced over to his closet and she couldn’t help but feel startled when she heard him rummaging through his closet. She noticed how he was digging here and there over the piles of clothes he had in his closet but was never satisfied with any clothing he held onto without shoving it back in with a dissatisfied sigh. Her eyebrows perked up as she stood up, attempting to peek over his shoulder, “What are you looking for?”

Her head somehow bobbed backwards from the partial shock because it was the first time Minseok hadn’t responded to her. Usually, he would either tell her to wait or give her a rough idea of what he was doing but this time, he didn’t say a word. He was so busy as if he was in his own world, his hands fast and swift to pull out each item he had in hopes of finding that one clothing that he knew Hee Young-

“Found it.” Minseok breathed out with a wide grin as he held up a white sweater. He managed to mumble a soft ‘catch’ as he threw it over his shoulder and hastily but surely, Hee Young managed to catch it after stumbling forward. She furrowed her eyebrows upon holding onto the sweater he had tossed to her and she lifted it up to somehow appreciate what he was doing. Her eyes looked over the sweater she held up – she could see Minseok finding for a pair of sweats that wouldn’t be too big for her to wear considering Minseok was at least a size bigger than her. She could hear the faint mumbles and curses he was letting out upon trying to find the right one for her, it was almost amusing. It was like a live sitcom for her to enjoy and it was somehow lifting her mood up from what happened earlier.

However, when Minseok turned around, that smile of appreciation she had faded away as if it was on command. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while the other lifted up the pair of black sweats, “I-I think this would fit better on you compared to the others.” Minseok muttered under his breath, breathless from the immense digging he had been doing in his closet. She couldn’t help but snicker a bit, making Minseok’s heart race faster than before as she reached over to pluck the clothing off Minseok’s fingers. His eyes widened and his lips parted at her, not used to seeing her smile this often around him. She gave a slight nod before saying, “It’s nice of you, Min. But you do know that I could’ve just gone back to my dorm, change clothes and meet you back here, right?”

The look on Minseok’s face was priceless as he felt… stupid. Instead of feeling proud of himself, he wished he had thought of that earlier instead of making a total mess out of his closet. He looked over his shoulder for a second and he could already see the havoc he had caused just trying to find the right clothes for Hee Young.

She noticed how he faced back to look at her with a disappointed look, as if he regrets not being able to have this idea in the first place. So, she tried to make him feel better. After all, Minseok was there for her every time and every moment she needed someone. The least she could do was attempt to make him feel less dumb of himself.

“But you know what, since you went through such trouble to get this for me, I’ll head back to my dorm, shower and then I’ll put this on. I’ll be back here in thirty, alright?”

Just like that, Minseok’s face brightened with an overdone grin, nodding his head twice, “I-I’ll get things ready before we can go.”

She raised an eyebrow, unsure of what was about to happen later, “Go? Go where?”

He hurriedly grabbed her by the shoulders, leading her towards the main door where he made her stand in front of it for a brief moment. He then opened the door for her and nudged her out, “Go shower and come back! You’ll see!”

She tried to at least get some more information as she turned around instantly the moment she was nudged out from his dorm. But much to her dismay, the door was already shut when she turned to face the door. With a light kick she gave on the wood in front of her, she rolled her eyes as she walked away from his dorm with the clothes she had in her hands. Knowing she didn’t know where they were going to go, she couldn’t help but think about it as she made her way back towards her own dorm. As she walked down the corridor, she noticed how there were faint voices from a distance speaking to one another.

Cross that, it sounded like an argument.

Usually, she would ignore it and mind her own business but this time it was different. There was something that urged her to go towards where the sound came from, which was just a few more steps away from the corner of the corridor. She took a few steps and soon she was peeking from behind the wall. It was just as who she expected it to be.

"Do you like her?"

Soon Hae had taken the chance to ask a direct yet personal question as if she had the rights to. Then again, she has a mouth, so technically, she does. Kai felt as if those simple four words that had slipped from Soon Hae’s mouth were like four sharp daggers to his heart – stabbing and hitting a certain spot. He rolled his eyes irritably with a hand raking through his hair, figuring how he should phrase his words because he didn’t have to answer her if he didn’t want to. But he wouldn’t want to just leave her with the wrong idea in her mind, either.

As he found out what he should say or rather how he should say it, he met gazes with her. She had this look of curiosity yet a certain flare of anger whereas Kai was already blazing with anger in his eyes. She took a step forward and tilted her chin up, almost glaring at him, “Answer me, Kim Jongin.”

Kai’s lips parted slowly, taking longer than he would need to just open his mouth. His eyes darkened by tenfold upon hearing her voice calling his name out, “Don’t call me that.”

“It’s your name, isn’t it?” She cocked up an eyebrow, obviously testing his limits and he was so close to losing his cool. If it was possible, there would be steam coming out from his ears and he had the need to break something – her, if possible.

“So ing what if it is?” His voice went down an octave and Soon Hae knew better than to give him attitude. Instead of wasting any more time, he had decided to say what he had to say. To say his piece and leave was what he had in mind. That was the whole reason why he dragged her out here in the first place.

“Listen to me and listen well, do not ever pull something as low as that again. You don’t even know her.”

Soon Hae felt the chills running down her spine upon seeing that gaze that she was given by Kai. That was once the gaze Kai would give another guy whenever someone messed with her but now it seems like Kai was protecting someone else – and it wasn’t her. She didn’t falter, though. She had the audacity to glare into his eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest, “And you think you do?”

No, I don’t, Kai’s inner mind spoke. “At least more than you ever will.” Kai found his voice to say out just that part, hiding the first three words in his mind.

Soon Hae couldn’t help but let the strong image of hers fall down to pieces. She let her true intentions appear just by saying desperately, “What about me, then?”

Kai scoffed, taking a step back as he looked away from her for a second – what the ? He can’t believe she’s doing this to him right now. Is she at her right sane of mind at all? Does she even know what she’s doing? Kai found the strength to look down on her where his fiery eyes met with her vulnerable ones but it won’t change a thing.

“You left me, remember?”

She her lips nervously, a hand reaching out to hold onto his shoulder, “But I-“

“You left me, cheating with another guy!” He shoved her hand away and unknowingly, he was much stronger than before that she had her back against the wall. She was somehow afraid yet regretful of her choices back then, “, I caught you having with the guy.”

“I-It was a mistake and-“

“Yeah,” Kai nodded, clicking his tongue as he rolled his eyes at her. He wanted nothing to do with her anymore and he wanted to make sure it was clear to her. He glanced back at her again and his words that he chose would definitely hit her heart, “You were a mistake.”

Kai didn’t give her a chance to reply or respond because in the next second, he was already making his way away from her. There was no way he was going to let anyone ruin this. ‘This’ being what he has with a certain girl in mind. He has no idea exactly what he really does have with Hee Young nor does he know where the both of them stand as of now but he does know one thing.

He had taken the liberty in getting closer, finding more about her and there was no way he was going to let all of that fade away just like that. Whether Hee Young likes it or not, he’s not going to stop at nothing to find out more about her.

Hee Young swore that he could hear her breath hitching because when he lifted his chin up, that was exactly what she did. Screw you, reflexes, she cursed mentally, finding it more than just impossible to move away in time when Kai had already caught a glimpse of her figure. His eyebrows furrowed as he paced towards where he heard soft shuffles on the ground but he was too late. By the time he reached to where he thought she was, she wasn’t even there anymore. The small pool of water dripped onto the ground confirmed one thing; she was listening the whole time.

Kai swallowed hard but his eyes were still roaming around in hopes he could see her. When that failed, he shook his head and made his way towards the dance practice room where he was sure to meet with one person. His fists were clenched as he walked down the corridors, making sharp turns and he was more than just determined to make things right.

"Just you wait, Kwan Hee Young," He breathed out quietly, his hand twisting the doorknob of the room he wanted to enter. The moment the door came to an open, he met eyes with Mr. Kang. That was when Kai's mind continued the sentence he started, "You're going to come back here if it's the last thing you do."