Peppermint

Chapter 3: New Girl

~Hyungwon~

I rushed inside with one thing on my mind and one thing only. Gotta tell Kihyun.

Clenching the bag in my hand out of excitement rather than determination to help my brother with his need, I ran around the house to find him. Finally stumbling upon him in the kitchen, I burrowed in like an elephant, making his dark eyes flit up to focus on my face. He looked a little startled, but I couldn't be sure because the frustration and anxiety that came from peppermint withdrawals overwhelmed his features to the point where nothing else could really be seen from his expression.

"Dude, I gotta tell you something," I announced, aware of the way the smile I wore on my face stretched all the way to my ears.

Kihyun seemed to notice too. He raised one critical eyebrow, then looked back down at his current task-staring with deep, irritated concentration into a huge pot of water, waiting for it boil.

"Hand over the bag," he said calmly. But it wasn't genuine calm-it was more like 'I'm on the verge of clawing out your eyeballs or my own but I'm trying to hold back' kind of calm. The scary calm.

Nonetheless, I was too happy to let his snippiness faze me.

"Listen, man. The greatest thing just happened to me."

"Peppermint first," Kihyun demanded, squinting up at me through his bloodshot eyes. I knew that look well. I immediately passed over the bag.

He reached inside to retrieve a few leaves, then stuck them all in his mouth in one go. I watched the process with interested eyes-the process of him chewing, swallowing, and finally getting relief as the menthol hit his bloodstream.

His eyes were the first to change. The redness disappeared and his pupils went back to a normal size so that the brown flecks could be seen in his eyes instead of the black holes they'd been before. Then his pale skin got a bit more color in it-his cheeks grew slightly rosy, and somehow his lips reddened too.

But the most notable difference was in his demeanor. The antsy crabbiness was replaced by relaxed calm.

"Thanks man." He took a few deep breaths, then dumped the rest of the mint into the pot of water. Looking back up at me, he finally gave me his full attention. "So what did you want to tell me? It must be pretty good-I've never seen you this hyper."

I grinned. "I just saw the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my entire life."

Kihyun smirked in his usual cocky way and responded with, "Wow I'm touched. But I prefer the term handsome."

"Not you, weirdo," I said, smacking him in the chest. "A girl. The one that just moved next door. She and her sister were outside walking right when I was done picking the mint. When I saw her...geez. My mind was blown, dude. For real."

My brother gave me a sympathetic look, one that clearly said something like: aw, poor kid doesn't understand he'll never be a normal guy and he'll never be able to do normal guy things like have crushes or date girls. How pathetic. He sighed and reminded me, "Ah...well you know what I have to say about that. Look but don't touch."

I bit my lip nervously, bracing myself for the explosion that would surely come once I confessed to this, "Well...I kinda told her I'd want to hang out with her sometime."

Dropping the wooden spoon he'd been using to stir the pot of water and mint, his small brown eyes widened huger than I'd seen them in a long time. "WHAT?" he shrieked. "Hyungwon! You know we're not supposed to get close to people. It's too dangerous! For both people involved!"

I winced. I'd tried to prepare for his outburst, but I still didn't like it. "I know, I know. But I'm telling you...she was a goddess. I couldn't help myself." I wished we had telepathy-then I could've sent his brain an image of Tokyo's face through my brain, and he would've understood. He would've been just as dazzled by her as I had been, for sure.

He sighed again, heavier this time. "Look, I'm sorry. I know you'd never... Well, it just makes me nervous. We're supposed to be keeping as low a radar as possible... But whatever. If you want to play around and do some flirting, go ahead. Just be careful okay?"

I nodded, my exhilarated mood taking a sudden drop. Kihyun was right...it really was dangerous. But I wanted to try at least. Maybe things would be different, if I was cautious enough. Maybe we could actually work something out... Or was I being too hopeful?

"Well...what about her sister?"

"Huh?" Kihyun's question surprised me. I'd thought the conversation was over.

He raised an eyebrow. "Her sister...you said you met them both. Was she pretty too?"

I had to think about that. I'd been too busy ogling at Tokyo to pay much attention to her twin sister...other than wondering if she was mentally stable, because who else would just sit on the ground like that? She definitely was...interesting.

"Well...I mean, I guess she was a little cute. She kind of reminded me of one of those troll dolls, you know, those short, squishy, pink haired ones that are cute in a distorted, weird kinda way? Oh and she had glasses. But no, she was nothing compared to her sister Tokyo...man. Talk about perfection. The only people I've seen that are that attractive are...well, people like us."

That caught his attention. "You don't think she is, do you? Like us, I mean."

I shook my head fervently. "Not at all, she smelled way too...well you know. Anyway, she's definitely human."

He nodded understandingly. "I see...well, did she seem as interested in you as you are in her?"

The memories were still fresh in my mind. Her face had held a look of shyness when she gazed up at me, but that could mean anything. At this point I had no clue if she was interested in me or not. "Man I hope so. I couldn't tell though. I think she was just jarred by my face."

"Yeah, your face is pretty jarring," Kihyun teased, earning an eye roll from me.

"But she did agree to hang out with me, so that's a good sign right?" I asked.

He shrugged indifferently and twisted a knob on the stove, turning off the heat. "I guess. Did you get her number?"

In an instant, my heart sank. "Dang it. I forgot." In my defense, it had taken a lot of effort just to ask if she wanted to hang out with me, so I wasn't really surprised I had forgotten to get her number. When you're faced with that kind of beauty, everything else, including a working brain, is thrown out the window. Still...what was I gonna do now?

Kihyun shook his head, clearly appalled beyond measure. "Idiot...you better go get it."

I gasped. "No way, I can't do that!"

"Why not??"

"I'm scared..."

"You're scared?" he laughed, ignoring my glare. "How amusing...you realize she should be the one scared of you and-oh, forget it. I'll go get the stupid number for you."

"Really?" I looked at him in shock. Was he seriously going to do me a favor for once?

"Yeah, why not? I can be a nice brother when I want to be."

"Wish you'd want to be one more often," I joked, slapping him on the back gratefully. "Thanks, man. I really appreciate it-seriously."

He walked past me towards the front door. "Yeah, yeah whatever. No need to ruin my mood with your mushiness. Be right back. Keep an eye on the mint!"

After he left was when I realized this might not be such a good idea after all. In fact, it might end up in a disaster. I leaned my head against the cold door of the refrigerator, praying with everything I had that Kihyun wouldn't mess this up for me.