Triangle. |Stray Kids

Seven.

"Hey, hey, hey." Lilly yelled at the one in front of her. "Don't you freaking dare to put them there."

"What did I even do?" Lino whined.

"You are handling my paintings harshly and I swear if I find any of them harmed, I will serve you as a present to a virgin ghost." Lilly threatened him.

Lino was about to talk back but didn't have the chance as Chris came out of nowhere and grabbed the paintings that Lino was holding. Chris, somehow, knew how to handle the paintings delicately so he decided to be the one responsible for the task. He took the paintings and silently, walked away to the room Lilly was going to use as her studio.

Lilly chuckled lowly at the scene ahead of her. Her friends didn't change even a bit. Chris had always been the quiet one who works silently without talking much or whining about it. He would always, like always, find the perfect way to finish whatever task he has. He sometimes tends to be strict and tough but never harsh or hurtful. On the contrary, there was the loud talkative Lino who would always whine and make a fuss out of literally nothing. He won't follow plans and likes to improvise. Just like how he was handling the paintings now.

Right now, the three friends were in Lilly's old house. The house she used to live in nine years ago before she leaves Whitehorse. Of course, the house was a mess and needed a lot of cleaning and fixing. Being the typical Lilly, she made her two friends help her around the house for two days. Chris didn't say a word and did exactly what she wanted but Lino would whine and throw his tantrum every now and then, making Lilly blackmail him with his old teenage photos so, he shut up and worked with his friends.

The house was finally back to how it used to be. How the three friends remembered it. They had a lot of memories in that house. That living room where they used to have their movie marathons with snacks prepared by Lilly's mother. Lilly's room where they would stay up and chitchat in whispers over silly topics like how Lino had a new crush that turned out to be crushing on Chris. The rooftop where they would pretend to be studying when they were the farthest from doing so. That house used to be their base. But the last time they gathered up in it, it ended with a disaster, making Lilly obligated to leave, and her friends to be scared of ever stepping in it again.

But there were the three of them, cleaning and preparing the house, moving Lilly's luggage and paintings in for her stay there, trying to ignore the bitterness filling the air and how Lilly was keeping her tears locked inside.

Chris came back after handling the paintings thing while Lino was still standing sulkily in his place, trying to look as if he was doing something when actually Chris did nearly everything.

"I guess we are done." Lino said, walking to the sofa and dropping himself with a loud huff.

"Yes, we are done." Lilly smirked at him, pointing at her and Chris. "Not you." She walked to the sofa and kicked his legs and dropped down. "Go make us something to eat."

"I'm tired!" He whined.

"You did nothing except cleaning the stairs railings! And it took you two good damn hours." She snapped at him.

Chris walked past Lilly, handing her a cold bottle of water and throwing another at Lino. The boy grunted when it hit his knee but caught it and opened it to gulp the cold liquid down. Chris dropped himself to the armchair and uncapped his bottle. He lifted it to his pinkish lips and started gulping the water down.

Lilly was distracted by the scene ahead of her. How his Adam's apple popped up and down while drinking. How his jawline flashed in her face as he dropped his head back down. How his hand gripped the bottle. How his neck looked thick.

Lilly was distracted to notice the one smirking behind her. She was distracted to feel the flushing in her cheeks. She was distracted and didn't snap out until she felt something cold touch her cheek, making her flinch. She shoved her head to the right to find Lino resting the cold water bottle on her face.

"You need to cool down." He winked at her and then stood to his feet to walk away. "I'm making food. Any special requests?" He yelled from afar as he almost made it to the kitchen.

"Don't count me," Chris said. He stood up and capped his finished bottle. "I'm leaving. I have work. We're still interrogating The Ghost. I guess I'll come back a little late tonight."

"You don't have to!" Lilly talked. "The house is already done. You should rest at home, Chris. You've been overloading yourself."

"Who said I won't rest?" He said as he walked towards the door, collecting his belongings and grabbing his shoes. "I'll rest here." He gave her a firm look. "I told you I'm not leaving you alone here so, I'm staying. Lino will be around too."

"What?" She gasped. "No! Who allowed you to stay in my house?"

"Lilly," Lino called. Lilly looked at him to find he was crossing his arms over his chest while leaning on the kitchen's doorframe. "It's you stay with one of us or we stay with you. You'll not be left alone."

"See?" Chris talked. He opened the door to walk out. "See you tonight, Lil." He winked at her and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

"You two rascals united against me!" Lilly scowled.

"Lil," Lino called, flashing her his broken smile. "We need to stick together. You said there's a chance in fixing all of this. This means you have something planned and that's why you are back. So, let's stick together and get this done."

"But being together for all time would bring harm to you two, to the world. You saw it yourself, the moment we united again, the sky went crazy and you two started to see and hear things clearly all over again when you didn't for the past nine years."

"It's inevitable, Lilly." He inhaled loudly. "It's time to pay back."