“Yunjae, you know that I get when I’m drunk, right?”

Yunjae shakes his head.

“Oh,” Haerin frowns.  “Well, as a matter of fact, I do.  And it was only one time that I got drunk on purpose, because of this guy right here,” She points at Kyungsoo.  “But the rest, which was a total of about one time, I got drunk because I didn’t know what I was drinking.  And thankfully, Jongin was there every time I did.  I kind of discovered my drunk habits through him and I don’t know, I guess it—this—just happened,” She grimaces at the vagueness of their relationship.

‘Have you had with him?’ Yunjae asks.

“We haven’t, and that’s why I found in him what I didn’t find in Kyungsoo,” Haerin explains.

‘And what’s that?’

Haerin glances at Kyungsoo and returns her gaze towards Yunjae.  “Trust,” She says.

Kai turns to look at Haerin in surprise at what she just said.  He didn’t know that her feelings had ran that deep for him.  He watches as the two siblings stare at each other, as if they were sharing a thought forbidden to him or Kyungsoo.  Yunjae had his sister’s personality; he was understanding and he fully grasps the whole situation before making a judgement.  

Yunjae’s eyes landed on Kai for a moment.  Kai was trustworthy alright.  He knows how much Kai cares for her sister and he knows how many times Kai had taken care of her when he, as her brother, wasn’t there for her.  ’Tell him to take care of you or he’s going to die in my hands,’ He sighs.

“What did he say?” Kai nudges Haerin’s elbow.  She was grinning at her brother.

Haerin reaches over to squeeze Yunjae’s hands.  “Thanks for understanding, Yunjae,”

‘Just do it in a less public place,’ Yunjae lifts his sister’s hand up and kisses her knuckles.  ‘And use protection,’

The two laughs lightly and stands up from their seats.  

“You don’t feel guilty?” Kyungsoo asks, genuinely curious.

“No, not really,” Haerin shrugs.  “I’m human, after all.  I have my own libido and Kai has his pheromones.  That’s kind of what happens when a man and a woman gets stuck all alone in a house,”

Kai glances at Yunjae.  “I’m alright, right?”

Yunjae lifts a shoulder nonchalantly at him before giving him a subtle nod.  

Kai felt as if he just passed a huge test.  He breaks out into a grin at Yunjae and kisses Haerin’s head quickly.  “I have to go.  I’ve got tutoring,”

“Oh?” Her body recalls the want she had for him and pulses slightly with the desire.   She bites her lower lip at the sight of Kai’s collarbone and buttons him up properly, eyes shying away.

“Acting all shy,” Kai snickers and ruffles her hair.  “I’m going, okay?”

“Okay,” Haerin squeezes his hand as he grabs hers, playfully shaking it as she smiles.  “Be careful on your way,”

“Mm,” Kai nods and with a wave, leaves the house.

Kyungsoo eyes the intimate exchange with a knowing gaze and when he meets Haerin’s eyes, throws a question onto the table.  “Why aren’t you guys dating already?”

Haerin shrugs.  “We kind of like it this way.  It was some kind of an unspoken agreement,”

“But you’d hate it if you saw him with some other girl, right?”

“Some..other girl?” Haerin frowns at the phrase, as if it wasn’t possible for Kai to have any other girl friends aside from her.  “Would I?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo shrugs.  “I think you would,”

“Maybe I would,” Haerin nods, still uncertain.  It had never crossed her mind that Kai is seeing someone.  “Does he have another girl? I mean, not that he has me or anything but—you know what I mean?”

Kyungsoo chuckles.  “I don’t know about that.  He doesn’t normally tell me a lot of things,”

“I thought you guys were kind of like brothers,”

“We are, we are, but we’re not like girls; we don’t talk about our issues and problems,”

“Oh,” Haerin’s eyebrows dig even deeper into her forehead.  “God, Kyungsoo,” She glares at him.  “Did you really have to ask me that? It’s bothering me now,”

Triumphantly, Kyungsoo laughs out loud.  “I’m just here to help Yunjae with his groceries so, I’m leaving now.  Sorry, but you gotta solve that on your own,”

Haerin groans after he leaves and flops down onto the couch.  The memory of Kai’s touch on her body lingers and she crosses her arms as she glares at the ceiling.  Is it possible that Kai is seeing some other girl than her? I mean, they agreed to have this no strings attached thing and doesn’t that mean that they’re free to date anybody they want even if it’s not one another? Doesn’t that mean that their relationship is purely physical?

“I’m home,”

Haerin sits up abruptly at the sound of Nara’s voice.  “Hey, woman, over here,” She gestures with her fingers and pats the spot on the couch beside her.

Nara eyes her with a questioning look and rushes over when Haerin raises her eyebrows.  “What is it?”

“I was—ahem—making out—with Jongin just now and Kyungsoo and Yunjae walked in on—“

“NO WAY!”

“Do NOT interrupt me!”

“Okay,”

“And then well, we talked it over and the problem—which I wasn’t sure what—was solved, and then Jongin left for tutoring and then Kyungsoo, out of nowhere, asked me whether or not I’d hate it if Jongin was with another girl,”

“And..? Your question is?”

“Would I hate it?”

Nara blinks.  “Did you just ask me a question that was supposed to be yours to answer?” Haerin was about to fling a pillow at Nara’s head before she cowers away with her answer.  “I think you would, even if you’re not supposed to,”

Haerin freezes with the pillow above her head.  “Seriously?”

Nara hesitates before pursing her lips and shrugging.  “Yeah,”

“Would he-would he feel the same way, i-if he saw me with someone else?” Haerin carefully treads through the question.

“I can’t answer that,” Nara shakes her head.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know,”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t!”

With a heavy sigh, Haerin buries her face into the pillow.  What she was really curious about wasn’t exactly how Jongin would feel; but it was whether or not he was actually seeing some other girl and whether or not he was treating that girl the way he treats her.  She feels Nara patting her knee.

“Don’t fuss, it happens,”

“What happens?”

“ friends only have two endings; complete strangers or lovers,” Nara shrugs, putting out two fingers.  “Call girl’s honor,”

“But we’re not friends,” Haerin lamely retorts, pouting into the pillow.  “I don’t think I’d want to lose him, Nara,”

Nara sends her a lopsided smile.  “I know you don’t, but sometimes when you put guys high up in the sky; they don’t wanna come down,”