Catch-22, HAECHAN

11 | Cherry red

Chaerin lowers the shades from her eyes to squint at Jaemin beside her, her stepbrother letting out an exaggerated yawn as he stretches his limbs ungracefully on the sand.

"You are such a guy," she mumbles before blindly feeling for her makeup pouch to her right, throwing him the small tube of chapstick once she manages to find it on the mat instead. "Also, put this on, would you? Gross."

Jaemin rolls his eyes, but doesn't say anything as he uncaps the tube to smear the balm on his chapped lips, not even bothering to lift his head from the picnic mat.

Their day at the beach wasn't at all planned. It had started out with Sera wanting to go collect some seawater samples for her science club, with Jaemin of course, until Yena piped in saying that she was just thinking about going on a picnic date with Mark. That in turn led to the two girls forcing Chaerin to come with, and to no surprise, Mark getting Donghyuck to tag along as well.

While she usually wouldn't be thrilled to be the fourth wheel of the group again, she had decided to hold back on her complaints this time round seeing as she still had that assignment she needed to work on with Donghyuck (except it only took twenty minutes of their time and she now finds herself sitting on their picnic mat with nothing to do).

"So. Did you tell him yet?" Jaemin asks, tilting his head lazily to look at Chaerin.

Chaerin shrugs wordlessly as she keeps her eyes on her book, causing Jaemin to let out a loud tsk before snatching it from her hold.

"I was reading that," she deadpans as she sits up, but Jaemin simply tabs the page before shutting it and putting it aside.

"Seriously, why is it so hard to get you to talk? You'd think after over ten years of me being your brother I'd rub off on you and you'd open up a little bit."

"That still won't make me a Na," she mutters sarcastically. Upon sensing Jaemin's unwavering gaze, she sighs. "Stop making this a huger deal than it is, okay? It's not the end of the world."

"I'm worried for you, okay? Here we are, out at the beach on this beautiful day, and you're here under the shade and not having fun. All of this, what, because of a boy? This seriously isn't you, Rinnie," Jaemin huffs. "Wait till I get my hands on that dude. I'm gonna kick his balls so far up you'd see them through his mouth-"

"This isn't about Hanbin, alright?" Chaerin cuts him off, and Jaemin halts his rambling at her interruption. "I'm just... I'm just confused," she utters, keeping her gaze on a certain tanned boy in the distance as the group plays a game of what seems like volleyball (she honestly couldn't tell— there's no net or court, and the players are just making up more and more rules as they go along).

Jaemin follows her vision. "About Lee Haechan?"

She takes in a breath. Now that the cat's out of the bag, there's no use beating around the bush any longer.

"Does Donghyuck have a girlfriend?" She blurts, and Jaemin seems surprised at her sudden question.

"Uh, no, I don't think so...?"

Chaerin squints her eyes at him. "You're judging me."

"No! What?" Jaemin exclaims. "I just... I didn't expect you to ask that question, is all."

"The night at the movies; he was with this girl..." she trails off, her thoughts that translate into words sounding more and more ridiculous by the second. "You know what? Forget it. It's stupid."

Jaemin sighs. "You wanna know what I think?"

Chaerin raises a brow, prompting him to continue.

"I think you like him." He smacks his lips. "And you're mad because he's ruined this whole... not believing in love thing you put up." Jaemin waves his hand to emphasise his point.