Irene's never had high opinions of Cai Xukun ─ the boy that the entire school seems to be in love with. In fact, she thinks he's stuck-up, always staying away from others. But as she gets to know him better, she realizes that he's actually very diff...
"Kun Kun? Where are we going?" I asked. It was a pretty familiar situation. With a few changes from last time. A week had passed from the auditions.
During those seven days, Cai Xukun and I talked about things from time to time. He had opened up, had started trusting me more. We had a serious discussion about Autumn, who, speaking of which, had went off somewhere. She was no longer part of the show. The judges and majority of the audience had deemed Autumn guilty of theft, plagiarism, and dishonesty. She never came back.
The last time Cai Xukun had come out of his shell was that time on the hill. And that's how I noticed something was up. Cai Xukun was friendlier and less withdrawn, but somehow, I could tell he wasn't one-hundred percent open with his thoughts. It was like he was still nine-percent (*wink*) closed-off at times. I never pushed because being able to communicate at all was an achievement in itself. We never did talk like this at school. It was like we were...friends. The type that could talk for hours without getting bored. A warm feeling bubbled up in my chest. Friends, huh?
Friends or not, I had no explanation for why Cai Xukun was currently dragging me around like a sack of potatoes. We arrived in as secluded hallway, where Xukun finally let go of my wrist. I rubbed at it, giving him a puzzled look.
"You know, it's really unfair." I felt my back brush the wall. Cai Xukun's proximity made me feel like I was on fire.
There was something especially different, strangely wrong about him. Xukun must've been blind to my extreme uncomfortableness, because he made no move to step back.
"We've spent all this time together, but still you're only eyes for Justin." I gulped when he looked over my appearance. I was dressed for my date with said boy.
"W-what are you talking about?" I stammered, forcing myself to meet his eyes.
"Irene, I..." he swallowed, "I like you." The words came out whispered, as if the moment was fragile, delicate. He was so, so, so close that I had watched his lips form each syllable.
Cai Xukun daringly moved even closer. His earlier confidence gone, I could see him trembling. I froze completely in the moment. Could I like him too?
I remembered when he saved me from those people. If he hadn't come sooner...it would've been a lot worse than having yanked hair. And though we had a rocky start, we've helped each other with music. He's taught me a lot at school. And I convinced him to regain the courage to pursue his dream.
Without realizing it, my relationship with Cai Xukun had become so much closer, more friendly. I cared about him. And that's when I knew the answer.
Yes. I liked him too.
There. But the massive of pressure weighing my thoughts down had not disappeared. Because the guy I've been thinking about since the very beginning still occupied part of my thoughts. Justin Huang.
"You're thinking about him again," Cai Xukun whispered. Is he reading my mind, or am I that obvious? I stared back at Cai Xukun, wondering what exactly lay behind those dark eyes.
The second my eyes fluttered shut, the remaining distance between us was closed. Cai Xukun pressed his lips gently onto mine.
The sweet moment was over in seconds, and reality crashed over us in waves.
"I-I don't know." It was all I could say. I didn't want to think about how horrible my words were. All I could think about was the kiss. I just kissed Cai Xukun. Who isn't my boyfriend.
I took a step back. I don't know what to do. How could I like two people? Oh my God. What if Justin saw what happened? I don't even think I can call it a misunderstanding.
Hurt flashed across Cai Xukun's face, and I knew I just fell into another mess of complications. Thinking about Justin again. I took a deep breath.
"Just...give me some time," I plead. "I need to sort it out." Cai Xukun nodded slowly. I took another shaky breath and quickly pecked him on the cheek.
It was reckless, but worth seeing his smile. The last thing I wanted was for him to be hurt. Especially by me.
❅ ❅ ❅
Autumn
I can't say I was surprised to see Irene with Cai Xukun. The girl seemed like the type of person who enjoyed messing around.
Who am I kidding? Of course I was surprised to see the two of them standing around, exchanging secret kisses. That two-timing ▆▆ .
She goes as far as to cheat on a guy who genuinely likes her and a boy who's already been hurt before. Hurt by you. I ignore myself. I might've done some bad things in the past, but the past was in the past. The best I could do right now would be to protect Cai Xukun.
I watched as Irene begged for more time before desperately giving him one last kiss on the cheek.
I roll my eyes. How dramatic. Cai Xukun watched as she walked away, down the hall. He never once took his eyes off her walking form.
I pushed the stop button on my phone, smirking. Solid evidence. What are you going to do about it, Irene?
A/N:
Hai guys! I'm finally back from vaca. I also wrote half of this chapter on a train, so there may or may not be random mistakes. This chapter was somewhat hard to write because I'm horrible with those scenes.
▆▆ these are for blocking out language. I don't curse, but I do understand that phrases like "darn it" aren't exactly things people say anymore.
Also, since the plane (and train) rides were so long, I spent some time planning out plots. There were several different options, and several different endings. The main question is, would you guys prefer if the ending was coming pretty soon, or for the story to go on for some more?
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^ for the ppl who've been wanting more Cai Xukun: WOOO HE CONFESSED !
