"Shall we continue?"

Everyone remains quiet as the professor reshuffles the cards and places them on the table. One by one, they draw their numbers. Some have not picked their cards yet when Mr. JP places his on the center of the table to silently announce that he's drawn the king.

The students look at each other anxiously just as Mr. JP poses the question, "How about a kiss between number nine and number ten?"

"I thought we're supposed to keep it family-friendly?" Rain asks.

"It's just a game and I don't see anything wrong with one innocent kiss," Mr. JP answers with a grin. "It's not like I'm asking for a lip-lock."

Sunshine shows her card, revealing number three. "Not my problem so it's fine with me."

Sighing, Rain reveals her card. She's holding number eight.

Cloud and Lia do the same. They have numbers two and four respectively.

Eujae opens his card and then frowns upon seeing the number. He has no time to react when Nick peeks at his card and then exclaims, "Eujae has number nine!" He then looks at the one he's holding and adds, "Lucky number seven!"

With a raised brow, Risa looks at Eujae, flipping her card to show the number six, as she says, "So I guess we're down to the twins."

Eujae looks at the twins, unsure of what to feel about the development of the game. What kind of absurdity is this? And it appears like the twins have the same thought as he does, based on how Poll is glaring at his card and how Tem's face is twisted into a grimace.

"How about you two open your cards at the same time," Nick suggests.

"Fine," Tem mumbles and turns to her brother. "On the count of three."

Despite his obvious displeasure, Poll complies as he places his hand on the card in front of him. "One."

"Two." Tem sighs, resigned.

"Three," they speak simultaneously and flip their cards.

There is another silence as all of them stare at the numbers.

Upon seeing who has the number ten, Eujae faces Mr. JP. "I don't think this is appropriate, Sir." He frowns. "I know this is just a game but there is no way I'm going to kiss someone who's already in a relationship with others, even if they're my friends."

He can feel his friends looking back and forth between him and the professor. Mr. JP keeps the smile that starts to unnerve Eujae. He glances at the number ten card in front of Tem again, and then at the number five in front of Poll. His gaze goes higher, stopping only when his eyes meet Poll's dark brown ones. As they keep staring at each other, Eujae tries to figure out what Poll is thinking with that blank expression.

"Oh, aren't you a gentleman?"

Eujae's head jerks back to the older man in front of him.

Resting his face on his hand one more time, Mr. JP leans a little bit forward.

Eujae's frown deepens, not liking either the look or the smile that the professor is giving him.

"Then I can take a compromise if one of the closest persons to Tem is willing to take her place."

Suspicious, Eujae narrows his eyes at Mr. JP. "By closest persons you mean?"

"Either her boyfriend or her brother." Mr. JP's grin becomes wider if possible. "Oh, but I take it you won't do it with Cloud either since you said someone who's already in a relationship is out of the question."

Eujae starts to argue but before he can say a word, someone butts in, "Let's just forget about this round. This is ridiculous. There is no way that jerk is gonna do it with me either."

With a glare, Eujae turns to Poll. What's his problem now? "You're making it sound like you want me to kiss you, Apollo."

Horror comes across Poll's eyes as they become rounder. Slamming his hands on the table, he stands up and leans in Eujae's direction.

Tem grabs her twin brother's hand, probably to stop him, but seeing as how the male twin doesn't show any sign of backing down anytime, she lets go. She rubs her temples with a hand, grumbling, "Seriously, don't you two get tired of this? Because I am. We all are."

But Poll isn't listening to her at all as his attention is solely focused on Eujae. "Don't put words in my mouth, jerk! I was just saying the truth! Wasn't it you who said you didn't want to have anything to do with me?!"

"And didn't I also tell you to watch that mouth of yours?" Eujae stares at Poll sharply. Even he finds this exhausting, to be honest. Why can't this guy give him a break? It is like whatever he does, whatever he says, all Poll can see is something negative about him.

"So what? You want to shut me up? Wanna punch my mouth? Then go ahead."

That's it. Reaching the end of his patience, Eujae stands too, ignoring Nick and Lia on either side of him who also make an attempt to stop him. All the while, Poll keeps mouthing him off.

"Or, are you just all bark after all?"

Without warning, Eujae reaches across the table and grabs the back of Poll's head, pulling the guy towards him.

Maybe it's anger. Maybe he's fed up with hearing Poll curse at him every time.

Or maybe it's stubbornness. Maybe he just wants to prove the guy wrong.

"What the f–"

Whatever it is, it drives Eujae to shut Poll's mouth.

With his own.

Eujae doesn't bother to close his eyes, watching as shock flashes on Poll's wide, brown ones.

There is nothing romantic about the situation that they are in, Eujae thinks. Those love story books were being ridiculous when they described these kinds of scenes as something sweet, something that would make anyone feel the butterflies in their stomachs. If they are in a romance novel, this would have been the catalyst for them to fall in love. But they are not, so there are no tingly feelings, there is no sweetness, and more than anything else, there is no chance of falling in love.

This is far from fiction. Even now that his lips are pressed against Poll's, all Eujae can feel is frustration. This is the real world where the only thing in between them is enmity. A reality where Poll hates him. And where he hates how much Poll hates him.

The only description from the books that's spot on is the deafening silence, giving the illusion that they are the only people in the world. Their friends must have been too stunned to make a sound or any little movement.

As he is perfectly aware that they are not in a romance movie, Eujae has expected Poll's uncliched response. But even as he anticipated the punch, he has not braced himself enough for the pain that comes after.

"What the fuck was that for, jerk?!"

Doing the dare and shutting you up, Eujae muses but knows better than to say it out loud and behave like a total asshole at this time. Not that he didn't already act like one.

He feigns ignorant and he refuses to look at Poll, but he clearly heard the quiver in the other man's voice. Poll sounded furious, but at the same time, it was like he was about cry.

Somehow, it makes Eujae feel guilty but as stubborn as he is, he continues ignoring Poll and pretends to focus on the injury on his left face. Poll didn't really hold back with that punch. Eujae runs his tongue on the left side of his inner mouth, tasting his own blood. At least, his jaw and all his teeth are still intact.

There is screeching of a chair, followed by heavy footfalls of someone running out of the room, and then Tem's loud voice as she calls after her twin brother.

After a short pause, Tem speaks again, "Honestly, why did you have to do that, Eujae?"

Finally, Eujae looks up.

Tem is glaring at him now. "That was a jerk move, you know?"

"I know." Unfaltering, he stares back at his friend. Of course, he knows that he was an ass for doing that. He won't even make an excuse for himself.

Tem sighs, her expression softening. "Let's talk about it later," she says before turning to go after her brother.

"Is your face okay?" Lia asks, her expression a cross between worry and disapproval of her cousin's earlier action.

"It's fine. I guess I had it coming," Eujae answers honestly, and then sensing that someone is staring at him, he turns to Mr. JP. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? I don't know what you're trying to pull, Sir, but I'd really appreciate it if you stop messing with us."

The older man still has the nerve to look amused. "I don't know what you're talking about, young man. How could I have done it on purpose? There is no way I could have guessed which card was which. I mean, despite all the rumors about me, I'm not a psychic." His smile changes from annoying to sincere. "And I was messing with you, you say. But the way I see it, you two were already a mess, to begin with."

Eujae doesn't have an answer to that.

Mess. That's right. Everything about him is a mess at the moment. His thoughts. His emotions. This whole thing with Poll. It's a total mess.

They are a total mess.

And Eujae has no idea how to put all of it back in order.

How can he make it better? If staying away from Poll doesn't fix it, then what else is he supposed to do?

He doesn't know anymore. People always see him as someone smart, but could it be he's dense when it comes to this stuff?

"I'm sincerely curious though, Eujae." Mr. JP is starting to sound like a real concerned professor, instead of some meddling stranger. "You were quick to make an excuse when you knew that Tem was the one holding the number, but if it had been Poll, would you have done the same? Would you have objected if the order from the beginning was to kiss him? Or would you have used the excuse that it was just a game to do dare?"

Eujae opens his mouth to deny all the assumptions but quickly closes it again, realizing that even he's not sure. Would it have been different? He could have protested sooner if he wasn't fine with either of the twins. But why didn't he? Could it be that a part of him would have been okay if it was Poll?

"I don't know," he breathes, more to himself, and ruffles his hair. All he knows is that, recently, Poll has been driving him crazy.

He has never felt this way before, has never lost his cool to this extent. And it's taken only that one person to throw him off balance.

What the hell is all of this?