with love, flora

fourteen.

"I need a break," I heard Kitty whine even as Daeheon continued to encourage her. "I cannot digest one more fact, or I'll puke."

Why couldn't she be as positive about her grades as she was about romance? I slid the probiotic milk I had on me, which I kept especially for Kitty, across the kitchen island as I passed by to grab Minho's collagen water.

"To help with your digestion problem."

I was gone before she could address me like I saw her attempt. Q pulled her down from the kitchen island to try to get her moving. I was sure it was also meant to distract her from what I'd done.

"Let's get your blood pumping." Q gave me a look I didn't know how to interpret as I walked away. "Let's do some jumping jacks, okay?"

"Clean up after yourself if you puke," Minho shouted her way as I rejoined him on the couch inside. His demeanor changed instantly for the better as I gave him his water bottle with narrowed eyes. "Thank you."

"That was mean," I said as he drank his water.

"Don't say that after you made that remark about her digestion." He held the bottle my way once he was done. My eyes latched onto a little drop of water that still sat on his lips even after he'd patted his mouth clean. "Would you like some?" I shook my head, and was caught off guard when he leaned in to give me a tiny kiss. "Have a taste anyway. I could see you had your eyes on it."

I patted my cheeks to calm my blush down, only looking up when I felt more composed. "I was serious. About Kitty, with the milk."

"Very serious." His almost smile told me he didn't think so.

"I was," I insisted, only failing to make my point since I felt myself blushing again.

"Uh-huh," Minho nodded along before eventually breaking out into the brightest, most dashing grin I'd ever seen, which I would have loved to admire for a long, long time.

Unfortunately, it fell quickly as we heard Daeheon's voice ask from the kitchen area, "We all need coffee. Who's coming with me?"

I didn't like the way his face soured. "You should go with Daeheon."

"Now I definitely know you're joking. I'm mad at him," he said obviously.

It was of course obvious to me that he was unhappy, but I didn't understand why.

"Why are you mad at him, really?" My head tilted of its own accord. "I'm mad at Kitty for forgiving such big and unneeded lies so easily, for not giving herself the time needed to process all of this and jumping head in with Daeheon. He only lied to you because of Yuri."

"I'm mad that he's taking this so lightly when he and Kitty are so serious. I may not like her, but she flew thousands of miles just for him." His hands landed on my shoulders with a frustrated sigh for his best friend and mine. "The least he could've done was give her some morsel of the truth to hold onto."

I couldn't help but agree, my anger for Kitty waning the more I thought about it. "It's not been easy for her, despite how upbeat she's been this whole time."

"It hasn't been easy for you either. You worry about Kitty so much that Dae lying to her indirectly hurt you too," Minho said strongly, probably because he saw my resolve weakening. His hands removed themselves from my shoulders and flew around as he went on. "You had to convince her to stay twice, and almost missed spending Chuseok with your grandma because you felt bad for her. You've been constantly worried about how she is doing, and Dae being truthful could've prevented that."