The door was opened, but then they heard another voice in the house beside Jihyo’s mother. Both of Jihyo and Kai received glances from each other, looking confused. Then, Jihyo saw a pair of shoes on the floor, looks like a man’s shoes. Her eyebrows met in the middle, then, she made a serious face. “Hmm, my mom brought someone home?”

“Mom… I’m home,” Jihyo yelled while removing her shoes and changed it to her home shoes. And Kai, he was standing still on his spot because he was nervous. He could not move at all. Then, they heard Jihyo’s mother yelled a “Welcome home, dear,” to Jihyo.

“Do we have a guest?” Jihyo said as soon as she stepped into the living room. Her eyes widened when she saw the man sitting on the couch, smiling at her. Her mom gestured her to joined them and Jihyo walked to them.

“Yo… Welcome home,” the man said and told Jihyo to sit near him.

“Jong Suk, what are you doing here?” the first thing came out from Jihyo’s mouth. She received a pout from Jong Suk.

“Geez, am I prohibited from coming here? If so, you should hang a ‘STRICTLY, NO LEE JONG SUK ALLOWED’ on your apartment door,” Jong Suk said while making a frown, he was pretending to sulk to grab Jihyo’s attention. And he was succeeded to do so because now Jihyo was trying to sway Jong Suk. On the other side, Jihyo’s mother was watching the lovey-dovey couple so dearly.

“It would be nice if you guys were a couple,” Mrs. Song commented which then made Jong Suk and Jihyo stopped their little fight and looked at each other, confusedly. Then, they gave a look to Jihyo’s mother. After a moment of awkward silence, both of them laugh at Mrs. Song’s nonsense comments. It was true that they looked nice together, but not as a couple, as a very close best friend. However, at the other side, Kai’s ears caught the word ‘couple’ and his jealous mode was . He made a small pout and his eyebrows met. He really did not like that idea. Kai wanted to just barge in and told Jihyo’s mom that he was Jihyo’s boyfriend. But, his appearance at that time did not allow him to do so. He could only make a disappointed face when he heard them laughing so happily inside.

“Ehmm, excuse me,” a peculiar voice with a high note sound of the voice grabbed the attention of three people in the room. Simultaneously, they looked at the owner of the voice which made their laughter came to an end. Jihyo widened her eyes as if remembering something while cursed herself. Jihyo’s mother was looking at the ‘girl’ in front of them from her toes to her head and she made her judging face after she was done scanning the person. And the most interesting reaction was Jong Suk. His jaw was dropped opened wide and just waited for any flies to come in while his eyes never left Kai’s face. The most obvious thing written on his face was “What the hell?”

Luckily he did not drink the juice that Jihyo’s mother served to him. If he did, maybe Jihyo or her mother would be the victim of ‘Jong Suk’s Juice Spray, fresh from his own mouth’ right to their face. Oh, and it was free. 

“Omo! Who is this pretty young girl?” Mrs. Song asked delightedly while walking closer to Kai who was making an awkward smile. Jihyo nearly speechless as her mother approaching Kai but she snapped out of it when Jong Suk tapped her shoulder. He made a “what’s going on?” face to Jihyo and she answered him with a silent “I tell you later.”

“Uhmm, mom, let me introduce to you my roommate… uh… her name is… uhm… Kai…” Jihyo trailed off as they forgot to give Kai female name. Jihyo’s mother was facing her now, waiting for the answer. Kai was bewildered by Jihyo’s stammering and at the background was Jong Suk, still focusing his eyes on Kai’s new face, did not care about the crisis they were having right in front of his eyes.

“…la. It’s Kaila. Kim Kaila,” Kai a.k.a Kaila gave his friendly smile. Jihyo and Kai let out a relief sigh when Jihyo’s mother seemed to believe their act. Mrs. Song told ‘Kaila’ to join them however; Kai refused it because he did not want to risk his hard work on disguising. What if he suddenly blurted out that he was a man?

“Oh, come on, we want to know more about you,” Jong Suk said and showed Kai his fully visible front teeth which then annoyed Kai to the point that he wished he got a gun at that time. Jihyo shoved her elbow to Jong Suk’s waist and glared at him in a killing way. Jong Suk growled in pain and held his painful waist.

“It’s too early to go to bed. And I believe that you haven’t eaten yet,” Mrs. Song kept on persuading Kai to stay with them and tell everything about him, well in this case, her. Cold sweat started to form on Jihyo and Kai’s forehead. After a tough battle of persuading and rejecting, finally, Mrs. Song successfully made Kai agreed with her.

“So, Kaila, I never seen you before. Did both of you just met?” Jihyo’s mother looked at Jihyo and Kaila. Both of the said person looked at each other and made a “what should I answer?” face. Jong Suk could not hide his smile when he saw Jihyo and Kai’s panicked yet funny face.

“Well, actually, I have to go back to… uhm… New York last month to visit my parents because my father was sick,” Kai forced a gentle yet awkward smile to Jihyo’s mother to avoid her suspicion. Jihyo prayed repeatedly that her mother would buy the lie

“Oh, that’s why your name is Kaila. It’s a bit foreign to me for a Korean girl,” Mrs. Song nodded when she bought the lie and her face was showing that she really believe everything that was coming out from Kai’s mouth. The three partners in crime felt guilty for deceiving the innocent Mrs. Song but that was the only way to avoid Jihyo’s mother from getting a heart attack.

“That’s because my mom is an American while my dad is a Korean but lived in New York,” Kai became an expert on making up stories and acting as their conversation continues. Jong Suk shook his head as more and more lies were made up by Jihyo and Kai. He almost laughed out loud by every reaction they gave when Jihyo’s mother started to throw another unexpected question. Well, it was true that you became more intelligent when a crucial moment came, like what happened to Kai and Jihyo, their brain cells working so quickly on finding ideas to make up the stories. Jong Suk just closed his mouth with his palm to avoid him burst out laughing.

“If this questioning and answering session continued, I'm sure that I’m going to be busted in anytime. Why did her mother asked too many question?” Kai grumbled in his mind when it was Jihyo’s turn to answer her mother question. Jong Suk who noticed how tensed the younger boy look, tried to help them get out from the ‘code red’ situation.

“Uhm, auntie, I guessed you asking too many question. I never knew that you are a reporter. Pity her for having to answer all your question,” Jong Suk said jokingly as an attempt to stop Jihyo’s mother never-ending series of question which could end up tomorrow morning if it was continued. You could even make the questions into a book with a 200 plus pages. Jong Suk showed his pearly white teeth as he smiled to Jihyo’s mother.

“Oh, fine. I just want to know her better since she’s my daughter housemate. Well, since it’s already late why don’t you get some rest. You must be tired,” Mrs. Song sulked but just for a quick seconds then she smiled again to Kaila (Kai) and told the youngster that she needed some rest too because she had some business to take care of tomorrow. The three of them sighed in relief after Mrs. Song left the scene and each one of them laid their back on the chair’s board lifelessly.

“Fuh… that was a close call. So, mind to tell me what’s going on?” Jong Suk started the conversation, his eyes looking straightly to Jihyo and Kai’s eyes. He looked so serious in a sudden.  Jihyo took a deep breath before explaining every detail of their plan. And every words that came out from Jihyo’s mouth which then fly into Jong Suk’s ears made him burst into laughter. Both of Jihyo and Kai looked at him in confusion.

“Wow, you guys are so great! How can you act up like that?” Jong Suk complemented Jihyo and Kai for their amazing acting skill between his remaining laughter. He even suggested to them to act in a movie or drama with their talent which made him received a free death glares from Jihyo and Kai. They talked for almost two hours and Jong Suk excused himself to leave but before he goes, he took some selfie with Kai a.k.a Kaila. He said that he would never forget the day when Kai became a cute, pretty young lady. After hearing those nonsense things from Jong Suk, Kai was so annoyed and forced him out from Jihyo’s apartment. And the long day had come to an end.

“Here, let me help you,” Kai was struggling with his dress zipper and Jihyo proposed to help him since he was doing it almost for ten minutes. Kai gave up on having a fight with the stuck zipper and nodded to Jihyo’s suggestion. He goes to Jihyo and backing her so, she could the dress. However, as Jihyo started to it, Kai suddenly felt embarrassed and he thought that something was not right.

“Why do I feel like I was the girl in this situation? Shouldn’t I be the one on Jihyo’s position? Gosh, is this what people call as romantic comedy?” Kai was doing a monologue by himself and he did not notice that Jihyo was already getting ready to go to bed.

“Hey, mister, don’t you want to sleep. It’s already late,” Jihyo’s voice brought him back to reality and he turned his head to Jihyo’s direction. Jihyo was already lying on the bed and she looked so cute even if the reality it was a not-so-pretty sight. But, as a guy who was in love with her, Kai always sees Jihyo as a beautiful girl no matter what she does. Kai walked to the closet and changed to his comfortable clothes after he came out from the shower. Well, since, Jihyo was already asleep he just wore his clothes in the room, nobody was watching him (slap myself for writing this).

After he finished wearing his clothes, he walked to the bed and took a seat beside the sleeping Jihyo. She was sleeping so soundly that she did not feel that Kai was kissing her forehead.

“Good night, Jihyo,” he said after kissing her temple. Kai looked at her one last moment before going to bed, well; he slept on the floor to be specific.

“Kai, Kai, wake up,” Jihyo whispered to Kai’s right ear in the middle of the night. However, the said guy did not give a sign that he was awake. Jihyo rocked his body to the left and right for several times which then made him groaned lazily. Kai opened his eyes with so much force and he squinted a little after he saw Jihyo’s face with the help of the night lamp.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked while sitting up facing Jihyo who looked rather scared. The latter was hesitating to tell Kai what was happening and it took her ten minutes to finally spoke.

“Uhmm, can you sleep with me,” Jihyo’s question made the sleepy Kai wide awake. Jihyo looked at him innocently like a little girl who was waiting for his answer and of course it would not be a ‘no’.

“Are you serious? I mean we… are… uh…” Kai scratched the back of his neck trying to find the right words. He did not know how to act to Jihyo’s sudden request. He never knew that Jihyo would ask that question so early, and out of nowhere.

“I know this is not appropriate for me to ask you. I have a terrible nightmare and I can’t go back to sleep. Usually, my father would be there for me every time I have a terrible nightmare or I’ll call Min Jung and tell her about my nightmare. And, since, you’re here; I guess I should just ask for your help. So, can I sleep with you,” Jihyo sounds like a little girl who was asking his older brother to sleep with her and Kai could not say any other words than ‘Yes’ as an answer. (Like duh, how can he miss the golden chance to get close to Jihyo?)

Kai moved from his place, on the floor and went to the bed. Both of them was lying on the queen sized bed that Jihyo thought was too big for a guest room. She did not know that the bed was useful at this time. They were looking mindlessly on the ceiling waiting for their eyes to close again. But, neither of them could do that since their heart was beating so fast and they could listen to the thump sounds.

“I still can’t sleep,” Jihyo said her eyes still on the ceiling.

“Me too. How can I sleep when the girl I love was lying beside me,” Kai suddenly blurted out the words that playing on his mind. Jihyo caught the words and turned her head to Kai but the guy did not notice at all.

“Am I troubling you?” she asked and fixing her gaze to Kai. After hearing that simple question, Kai also turned his head facing to Jihyo. They staring at each other for a brief ten minutes until Jihyo broke it with a sudden kiss on Kai’s lips. The young man was startled with Jihyo’s action. Even, the person who did it was shocked by her involuntary action. Jihyo pulled herself back after she came back to reality and stared at Kai with wide eyes.

“What was that?” Kai asked, still surprised.

“A kiss,” Jihyo answered simply which was not satisfied Kai. He thought that Jihyo still could not love him and would never be but why she kissed him? He gave Jihyo a that-is-not-what-I-mean expression and Jihyo got the code. She took a deep breath and tried to remember what she was thinking but at the end she did not remember anything.

“I don’t know what’s happening. I feel like I was under a spell while looking at you,” there was a brief silence after those words came out from Jihyo’s mouth. “Do I love you?”

“I hope so,” was the only answer Kai could give.

“Me too,” then, like a magic for Kai, the woman he loved moved closer to him and hugged his waist. He could feel that his heart beat was beating simultaneously as Jihyo’s. He closed his eyes to feel the warmth that Jihyo gave to him. “I hope that I do love you because I don’t want to be confused anymore.”

“Let’s find it out, okay?”

“Okay.”

Kai Jihyo’s wavy hair gently which slowly made Jihyo fell asleep. And that night, Kai could feel that he was certain that he really love the woman in his embrace. Kai gave a light kiss on Jihyo’s forehead before he drifted to dreamland.

However, will their love be accepted by their elders?

~TO BE CONTINUED~

So, I choose the name Kaila for Kai's female name.

It means several things in different languages. In North American Indian it means "wolf". In Hawaiian it means "Style" and a variant is "Peaceful sea". In India it means "bananas". Okay maybe I prefer the North American Indian's meaning for Kaila. I think it suits him.

I tried my best to include Jihyo and Kai's moment in this chapter. I don't really know how you think about it cause I was not so good in romantic scence so, I used some shoujo manga and novels as refrance. 

Sorry, if this chapter is boring. T-T Stay tune for another chapter. Thanks for reading.

Oh, and remember that Kai's hair was still blonde in this story :)