Isn't It Love?

9 PM. The night was growing late, but at the Clove’s family home, the living room was still as lively as an arcade.

Kai and four girls were playing a card game with using a lie detector. Kai watched the four girls having fun. Even Chloe looked healthy with her loudest, most obnoxious laugh compared to the others. It seemed like her brain with its few KB of capacity forgot that her body was actually sick.

They had been playing this game for hours, and for some reason, the four girls got more and more excited grabbing cards from the table.

"Hahaha, my turn!"

Chloe took a card from the table and stared at Risa. A grin spread across her face. "Risa. Did you still wet the bed until elementary school?"

"Ha! What kind of question is that? Of course not, you idiot Chloe!"

BUZZ!

The machine let out a buzz that made Chloe, Lily, and Daisy stare at Risa without a word. Getting those looks, Risa’s face turned tomato-red, especially when she saw her brother, Kai, pretending not to hear the buzz. That made her feel like a steamed lobster.

"I never wet the bed!"

BZZ

"Okay, I wet the bed until first grade."

BZZZ

"Uh... second grade..."

BZZZ

"...Sixth grade."

DING

Everyone went silent before Chloe burst out laughing loudly. Risa, now even redder, leaned forward with her arm ready to slap the hell out of that idiot girl who was laughing. But of course, Kai calmed his sister down, which made Risa huff and snuggle into Kai’s side.

"Hahaha~ wet the bed until twelve years old~" said Chloe, holding her cheek that was a bit sore from too much laughing.

"Shut up, you idiot Chloe. I just always forget to go to the bathroom before bed!"

"Emm... that’s okay, Risa. I wet the bed too... but back in kindergarten, if I remember..."

Daisy raised her hand to pat Risa’s head. The gentle attitude Risa showed really made her seem like someone fit to be a wife.

If only she could keep that innocent, ’pure,’ untainted nature until she graduates high school.

Kai looked at Daisy and let out a pretty heavy sigh, because in his mind, images of CG from the bad ending for the "Daisy character" suddenly flashed like a photograph reel.

"My turn now."

Kai took a card from the table and looked at Lily, read the sentence on the card, and looked at Lily’s smiling face. With a bit of hesitation, Kai read the question out loud.

"Erm... Lily, right. The question on the card is... has someone already taken your first kiss?"

"..."

Silence. All eyes from the girls were now on Lily. Daisy and Chloe, of course, were curious about the answer from the richest girl at school.

Lily, still smiling, slowly blushed. She took off her glasses before covering her face with her palms. She let out a small sound like a cat’s mew. Her voice was small and soft as she nodded and said, "Yes."

DING!

Kai prayed to whoever was above, hoping Lily wouldn’t spill and tell who kissed her.

"Lily! I thought you were an innocent girl... but turns out you’re naughty too. Even I haven’t had my first kiss yet," Chloe said in a very, very teasing tone, especially with her signature stupid grin still clearly on her face.

"Big sister Lily, who was the person who kissed you? I’m curious."

"Ehh... who? Hmm..."

Seeing Lily’s gaze and hidden little smile, Kai immediately looked down like it was a rare activity for him on a Sunday.

Seeing her dearest big brother acting a bit strange, Risa tapped Kai’s cheek before he looked down and saw her brother’s face from below.

"What are you doing... you’re acting weird."

"Just a stomach ache..."

Risa, of course, didn’t believe him, but yeah... maybe her big brother had his own reasons.

Daisy, with a soft voice, also blushed. Curiosity also appeared on this innocent girl’s face. She wanted to know who the lucky guy was who kissed the number one girl at school.

"So, um... Lily, who kissed you? Is he here?"

DING!

"..."

That annoying bell rang again. Chloe, Daisy, and Risa looked toward the bell that had just rung before their gazes shifted toward Kai.

There was only one person of a different gender, the male gender, in this room. All eyes turned to none other the Kai Clove.

"What..."

"Did you kiss big sis Lily?"

Risa asked the perfect question that left Kai frozen, confused about what to answer.

Looking toward Lily, Kai hoped the girl would at least help him out of this question. But it seemed useless when the girl threw him a thin, sly smile and a wink that said, "good luck with that."

Kai swallowed. He heard his own loud gulp. Because suddenly, for some reason, the stares from Risa, Chloe, and Daisy were like cats that had cornered a mouse.

"There’s no way I kissed Lily... I mean, I’ve just recently become friends with her. Maybe the device is broken."

Bzzz

Stupid device, why are you thinking my freaking words is wrong? I really have just become friends with Lily, dammit!

"W-wait, the device really is broken." The high pitch and stutter at the beginning made his position even more cornered.

"Prove it."

The three girls said the same word. Checkmate. Kai couldn’t dodge anymore. Only honesty could save him.

When he thought about it, what was wrong with being honest... it wasn’t like the three girls would go berserk or become yandere girls. I mean, they were friends, no special relationship, and his sister, Risa, also knew that the "brother" now was different from the "Kai from before."

Honest... yeah, I have to be honest.

"I have kissed someone before..."

DING!

"...But it wasn’t with Lily."

DING

Silence followed, before Chloe laughed and was joined by the other two girls.

"Hahaha~ true, come to think of it, why would Lily kiss Kai anyway."

"Hum-hum... Lady Lily... couldn’t be that vulgar, right."

"Haa... I knew it. My brother wouldn’t just press his lips against a girl like big sister Lily."

The cheerful mood returned to Chloe, Daisy, and Risa. But one person’s mood turned a bit sour. That person was Lily.

Kai had created a new problem because if he remembered correctly, when they kissed in the park on that rainy day, he had said it was his first kiss. But in reality, it wasn’t.

It was the first kiss he had given to a girl. But if asked who was the first person to kiss his lips, that person was Arisa — his friend from when he was still Ryan.

"So... who was your first kiss? Is she here?" asked Lily with a slightly annoyed tone even though her face was still smiling.

Seeing that, Kai looked at her and smiled. The question Lily gave him was easy to answer. It was a question he himself wished he could answer before he felt comfortable living here.

"No, she’s not here."

Ding.

"That kiss came from a girl who liked me, and I didn’t have a chance to learn how to love her back... I think that’s the right way to put it for me now."

Ding...

The four girls stared at Kai, feeling confused by his words that sounded like a confession, before Risa raised her hand to wipe away the tears that fell from the corner of her brother’s eyes.

"Are you okay, brother?"

Kai lowered his sister’s hand and laughed. "Sorry you all saw me like this. Let’s continue the game. Your turn, Daisy."

"EH! UM, okay."

Daisy continued, and the game continued. Everyone was still looking at Kai, and Kai smiled at them.

If Arisa were here, he would say, "Now I’m more aware of a girl’s feelings and no longer a goody-two-shoes type of person."

Maybe a little late... but I like you, Arisa.