사랑 참 어렵다 (Love is hard)

Chapter Twenty Two.

[ Dohee pov ]

Soon we were all gathered around the lake in our swimwear and towels. I placed my towel down near the tree and took a seat. We packed a light basket full of fruit and water bottles which I insisted because it felt like forever since I've sunk my teeth into an apple. Sehun wanted chicken, but he always wants chicken.

The sun was shinning and not a cloud was in the sky. The water glistened against its rays and the air was cool.
It was a perfect day to be outside in the sun with friends.

"CANNONBALL!!" screams Tao as he jumps into the lake.

A smile is plastered on my face as I watch the scene in front of me. Happy smiling faces. Kai and Heesoo being lovebirds in the lake, chasing each other and laughing. Namjoon pretending to be them, chasing after Suho in the water. If strangers were watching us now, they'd think we were all childhood friends.

"May I join you?" says Kris as he looks down at me.

I nod my head and smile, patting the spot next to me "be my guest."

He smiles and takes a seat down next to me.

"So" I say breaking the silence that settled over us "It's nice weather today" giving up on my brain that was trying to think of conversation starters but failed.

Kris chuckles and smiles leaning back on his hands "It is nice weather." He looks over at me and smiles "So Dohee, tell me more about yourself."

He wants to know about me....

If only there were a way for him to know me but not really know me. I'd tell him everything with no hesitation.

"Well, what would you like to know?" I ask him as I take a bite of my apple.

Kris turns back to look at the guys at the water and shrugs "basic things like your family, interests and hobbies. That kind of thing"

At the sound of family, I swallowed my apple a little too quickly that I fidnt chewy it all properly. It felt super painful going down my throat. As if it was going in slow motion and the edges were piercing my throat.

"Oh. Of course." I say slightly choking as the apple finally escapes my throat.

"Are you ok?" Kris asks looking at me.

I nod my head taking a huge gulp of water, hoping that it'll soothe the pain. "I'm fine. Just swallowed it too quickly."

He nods, his face still worried.

What did I do to deserve such concern? I'll never know.

"My family consists of my grandparents, my older brother and I. My parents passed away when I was little." I say softly

"I'm sorry about your parents" Kris says sincerely. And I can feel that he meant it.

But sometimes I wonder why people say that. It's not their fault my parents died, so why say sorry? I always get confused.

"How old is your brother?" Kris asks as he eats some grapes.

"Old. He is 27." I reply back.

My older brother was something else. So determine and responsible. My teenager self use to tease him day in and day out. But he took it all. All of my screaming, all of my beating and all of my tears. I owe him a lot.

"What does he do nowadays?" Kris asks interrupting my reminiscing.

I arch a brow at him and chuckle "what is this? 21 questions?" I grab a grape and softly chuck it at his forehead. He chuckles and smiles playfully acting as though he was dying.