Light It Up | NCT

Chapter 33

Ten's POV

"Alright, I think we're about done!" Taeyong announces, standing up and stretching.

I start asking him questions about the concert, and the next thing we know, Kayla's paid for everything. We were supposed to pay for that!

"Just consider it a gift, please. Plus, my card has faster shipping," is her excuse.

I'm about to interrogate her again, when she jumps up and runs onto the balcony. Seeing that everyone else is going, too, I follow them and go with the flow.

"Wow..." I gasp, gazing down at the view in awe. From here, we can see the pool and the deck that we've already been to, but also her backyard. It's a perfectly mowed, perfectly green, perfectly clean, perfectly flat expanse of grass. It almost looks fake.

Just then, I'm yanked out of my daze by a high-pitched, fake-sounding voice. That's not Kayla. It's actually a girl wearing way too much makeup walking towards us. Why does she look intimidating?

"Who are these handsome men behind you?" she asks Kayla, blinking at us over exaggeratedly. Was that an attempt at a wink?

"Friends," Kayla answers curtly. Her demeanor has completely shifted. Her usual kind eyes are now shooting daggers at the person who I assume is her older sister. She looks tense and even... anxious.

"Oh? You have friends? Wow!" the other girl exclaims. Rude. I'm getting bad vibes from her...

"Yes, and we'd like to leave now, bye!" Kayla dismisses her. I admire the fact that she's staying calm and not yelling or anything. That takes a lot of control.

"Aw, don't be so rude! I wanna get to know your friends!" the girl calls. Her voice is hurting my ears. I glance at Taeyong and notice him frowning in disapproval.

"I'm 20, by the way. Where are you all from?" she asks, flipping her hair. I wrinkle my nose in disgust, trying not to pass out from the strong perfume wafting through the air.

"They're my college friends, Katelin," Kayla says, beginning to sound annoyed.

"Wait, you're in college?" the Katelin gasps, looking genuinely surprised. I thought they were family? These people are mysterious.

"Yes, but you wouldn't know," Kayla retorts bitterly. Ouch.

I feel Taeyong grab my arm, pulling me towards the door. I tap Johnny on the shoulder so he knows to follow, since he's watching the exchange like a drama. Typical Johnny.

Once in, Kayla locks the door behind us and takes a deep breath. "Sorry about my sister..." she apologizes.

"No need to apologize. But I feel like you guys don't have a great relationship," Hendery says directly.

"Yeah, my whole family's like this. You can just ignore them if you ever see them," Kayla sighs.

Just as I'm about to ask her about her family, we hear someone knocking insistently on the bedroom door. Kayla jumps up, and in the blink of an eye, the door is locked.

"Kayla! Let me in!" a younger-sounding voice calls from outside the door.

"Go away, Katie," Kayla orders calmly.

"I heard you had friends in here," the person named Katie says from the other side of the door.

Kayla sighs again and gets up to peer out the balcony door. She quickly locks that door, too.

"They've trapped us," she hisses in annoyance. Trapped us?

"Kayla! What college course are you taking? I didn't think you were smart enough to take college," I hear Katelin jeer from the other side of the balcony door.

"Yes, I'm in college, and it's none of your business. Why are you interested in me all of a sudden? If you're here to bother my friends, they're downstairs," she responds.

"Oh, your 'friends' aren't here? Good. I'm not sure why they'd want to be friends with you, anyways. Bye!" A moment later, the pattering footsteps of two people are heard running down the stairs. I exhale in relief.

"Ah, yes. My family is very rude and annoying. Please avoid them at all costs," she warns us. "Anyways, let's go outside. They usually avoid the outdoors at all costs, so we'll be safe."

After checking if the cost is clear, Kayla beckons for us to follow her downstairs. I notice her sisters, looking for us in the bathroom. Why would we be in there?

As quickly and quietly as possible, we dash down the stairs to the first floor, scrambling to pull on our shoes so we can run outside.

"Ten! That's my shoe!" Xiaojun calls. I toss his shoe at him and take the one that belongs to me, before continuing past the garage into the backyard.

~💡~

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