“Umma, Appa! I’m home!” You called as you entered the shop. It seemed to be fairly empty, which came as a relief; you could take your time getting settled. You mother appeared from the back storage room, holding a large box with neon-colored things poking out of the top.

“Oh, Kae! You’re here,” your mother said, readjusting the box so that it rested on her hip. “Good! You can keep an eye on the counter while your father and I finish with the inventory, yeah?” You nodded. Leave it to your mom to get straight to business.

“Oh, and when you get hungry, just check the cabinet underneath the counter,” she said with a smile and returned to backroom. Curious, you made your way to the counter and dropped your stuff down. You looked in the aforementioned cabinet. Inside was a bag of kale puffs. They were your favorite snack, despite the weirdness of their flavor, and you appreciated that your mom picked some up for you.

“Ah, thanks Umma!” You called towards the back. You hopped up into the rolling chair behind the counter and pulled out your homework. Hopefully, things would be pretty dead and you could get it all done before having to close up for dinner. It was quiet for a while before you heard the telltale tingle of the bell above the door.

You only quickly looked up to see that someone was browsing over near the key chains. Well, those were pretty simple; if they need your help, they would call to you. Another few minutes passed before you heard steps approaching the counter. You put your pen as a place marker in your textbook and looked up. Your eyes widened in shock as you met eyes with the handsome stranger from before.

“Hello again,” he said, placing six key chains on the counter. “Fancy meeting you here, huh?” You blinked and tore your eyes away from his face to concentrate on ringing his purchase up.

“Ah, yeah, I guess,” you stuttered, trying to not to seem nervous, but failing. “Sorry about earlier.”

“That's okay. It’s not everyday I get to bump into a pretty girl. Twice, at that,” he said with a smile. A blush rocketed up your cheeks, and you fumbled with the barcode on one of the key chains. “I’m Ko by the way. Ko Huang. I just transferred her last week from China.”

“I’m Kaemi. Shin Kaemi,” you said, avoiding his eyes. You felt that if you really did look straight into them, you would melt. “Um, that comes to 22,000KRW (approx. $19.50). I’ll put them in a little bag for you.” After putting the cash in the register, you started to reach below the counter when you felt his hand grab your wrist lightly. The touch sent shivers down your spine.

“I don’t need a bag,” he said, leaning slightly closer. You instinctively moved back, your heart racing. For some reason, the enamored feeling you had towards him vanished in that instant and you felt uncomfortable under his calm gaze. You slipped your wrist out of his grip and looked away, in the process, knocking your textbook to the ground.

“Well, have a nice day,” you mumbled. He stood there for another moment, looking at you with that calm smile before giving you a short wave and walking out of the door. When he was out of sight, you let out a sigh of relief. Sure that guy, Ko whatever, was handsome; but he was creepy, that’s for sure. Shaking your head, you bent to pick up your book and close the cabinet. When you lifted back up again, you were surprised to find Kai’s face not two inches from your own, smirking.

“Omona!” you shouted, flinching backwards. Before you could fall, he grabbed your hands and pulled you forward, steadying you on your feet. You snatched your hands from his and glared. “What are you doing here, Kim Jongin?”

“Happy to see you too, Doll Face,” he said, lounging idly on the counter. “Been a while since I’ve been here. I missed it.” You pulled a face; this guy was such a nuisance.

“Oh, Kai! You’re here,” your mother said as she came out of the back room. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. How have you been?” As much as you loved your mother, you wanted to just push her back into the back room. She liked Kai, despite all the complaining you did about him.

“Hi ahjumma. I’ve been well. I missed hanging here, so I thought I’d drop by to say hi,” Kai said, giving your mother an innocent smile. You mentally face-palmed – this guy was such a up! Yeah, back when you guys had first started high school, he was hanging around the shop a lot, too much for your liking, and he got to be on good terms with your parents. It was something that you had grown used to (like many other things where Kai was involved) but you still didn’t like it too much.

“Aigoo! So well mannered,” your mother gushed. “Well, stick around for a while. Maybe you could help Kaemi for a little bit.” She finished up placing some shirts on a rack (her original purpose for coming out to the floor) and retreated back into the storage room.

“So…” Kai said awkwardly, leaning against the counter. You didn’t even look up at him and instead angrily flipped open your textbook and picked up where you had left off from before.

“Did you lose something today by any chance?” He asked suddenly.

“I would say my sanity, but I’ve known you too long to not have,” you mumbled, rolling your eyes.

“Seriously, Kaemi,” He said, causing you to look up. He never called you that unless he really wanted your attention. “Because I found your notebook in the hall today.” You scrunched your eyebrows in confusion before suddenly realizing what he meant. Snatching up your bag from the floor, you dumped its contents onto the table only to find that your precious notebook wasn’t there.

“You found it? Really?” You looked up to see that he was holding it out to you. You took it and cradled it to your chest. “Thank you!” You gave him a genuine smile. He could be very annoying, and your hate for him wasn’t letting up anytime soon, but you were thankful that he had returned the book to you.

“No problem,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “There was this guy in the hall trying to steal it, but I got it from him.” Kai puffed his chest out a bit in pride, making your oll your eyes. The same ol’ same ol’.

“Well thanks, anyways,” you said, making sure that this time, the notebook was secured in your bag. You sat back down and tried to continue your work, but the air was heavy and you felt Kai’s gaze hovering over you.

“Must you stare?” You asked, looking up from under your lashes. You were slightly taken off guard by the soft look in his eyes. Normally, it would be a mocking glare, or a playful glint, but this was something…different.

“Sorry, I’ll go now then. I just wanted to return that to you,” he mumbled. He began to head towards the door, but before he made it even five steps the door opened and in poured three of his friends, looking as if they had just come from some sort of photo shoot. But then again, they always looked that way, even Kai with his slightly disheveled, bad boy look.

“Hey, Kaemi!” Baekhyun said, sidling up to the counter, and completely ignoring Kai. “Long time no see, yeah?” You smiled at him.

“Yeah, I guess,” you said. Despite not liking Kai, his friends were bearable. They were nice, a little 4-D, but pleasant enough to spend a little time with. They were popular in school because of their looks, but none of them let it get to their heads (except Kai, but he seemed to be the exception to every rule).

“Kaena!” Sehun, the youngest of the group called her, using his nickname for her (Kaemi+ Noona= Kaena). If she had to pick favorites, he was definitely hers. At first, his slightly cold exterior made her uneasy, but he was more fluffy and cute than she had imagined.

“Hello, Sehun!” she gave him an even brighter smile, at which Kai scoffed.

“You never say hi to me like that!” He protested, to which Kaemi just rolled her eyes.

“That’s because you're a meanie,” Sehun said, sticking his tongue out and causing everyone but Kai to laugh.

“Laugh while you can maknae,” Kai mumbled, sending him a glare. “What are you guys doing here anyways?”

“What, we can’t come by to see our friend?” Suho, the eldest of them all said. “Kaemi likes us, unlike you, right?” All eyes were on you now, and you shifted you gaze sideways.

“Sure,” you said, trying to keep you voice as even as possible. They all accepted it, and Sehun gave Kai a triumphant look. “But really, what are you guys doing here?”

“We got bored hanging at home, and D.O. and Yeollie are still at school helping with something or other,” Baekhyun said. “But enough about us, what about you? We hardly ever see you in the cafeteria anymore.” He tucked a stray hair behind your ear, and it took all of your power not to slap his hand away. If Kai was a notorious flirt, then this guy was as greasy as a plate of bacon (see what I did there?).

“Thanks to someone,” you said with a pointed look at Kai, who looked positively peeved. “Don’t give me that look. You still manage to find me no matter where I choose to eat.” Kai scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“It’s not my fault your lunch is better than the schools crap,” he argued. “Besides, lunch is boring enough as it is. I need something to liven it up.”

“What about us, Hyung?” Sehun said with a frown. But then he narrowed his eyes and a big smile spread on his face. “Oh, I know why you always bother Noona. It’s because you l-” Kai nearly tackled the poor boy to the ground trying to cover his mouth. Everyone just started at him, Sehun struggling to rip the hands away from his mouth.

“O-kay~” you said, giving up on homework and settling back into the chair. “You guys are so strange. How are you even popular?”

“And how are you not popular, Kaemi? You’re much prettier than the queenkas we have now,” Baekhyun cooed.

“Oh, God, stop with the greasiness, Baekhyun,” Suho moaned in protest. “It’s sickening.” Kaemi couldn’t argue with him there. “Anyways, Kaemi-ah, we just dropped by to say hi. We figured Kai would be here with you, so we’ll take him out of your hair now.” With that he grabbed Kai’s collar and dragged him out of the shop, Sehun and Baekhyun waving goodbye as they followed. The whole time, you could see Kai tracking you with his eyes, but you just smirked and stuck your tongue at him.

The store was quiet now, and you sighed, trying to fill the silence. Your mom appeared a few minutes later.

“Was that the Kai’s friends just then?” she asked, coming behind the counter and leaning against the back of the chair.

“Yeah, they were just coming to say hi,” you answered, packing your things back into your bag. “And Kai found a notebook of mine. That’s why he was here.”

“You sure it wasn’t for some other reason?” she asked you, her voice hinting that she had a better reason.

“I’m sure,” you answered, your eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing. Just observing,” she said with a sly grin. You knew that pestering her wouldn’t get you any answers, so you decided to let it drop for now.

“You’re strange, Umma,” you said, shouldering your bag and walking out from the counter. “Appa! Mom’s being strange again!” He poked his head around the doorway and gave you a look.

“Ah, but you take after your mother, sweetie,” he said and jokingly stuck his tongue at you. You wrinkled your nose at him and he came and gave you a big hug. You loved the warmth of his arms, and was happy to call him your Appa, even though you were only related by marriage. He had been the only Appa you'd known, and you wouldn't change it for the world. He also was a hit with some of the girls at school. Young, good-looking and a foreigner by birth, he was the talk of some friend circles on the days he came to pick you up from school. Sometime, when he was working the counter, the shop would even get an influx of female customers. It kinda creeped you out, but there wasn't much you could do about it.

"Appa, as much as I love your hugs, you have to let me go," you said. "I have to eat and finish my homework. I didn't get anything done with that Kai annoying me before." His hears perked up at the mention of Kai and he released you.

"Kai? Oh, the kid that likes you? I didn't know he was here," he said, tapping his chin. You gave him a strange look before bursting into laughter. "What?"

"The only thing Kai likes is annoying me, Appa," you said through your giggles. "Everyone is so weird about that, you know. I don't like him and he doesn't like me. It's how our relationship -- if you could even call it that -- works."

"I'm just telling you what I see," your Appa defended, shrugging. "But never mind that. Go eat something. Don't stay up too late, yeah?" You nodded, gave him a quick peck on the check and made your way to the back staircase that would lead you to the apartment.

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5.9.2012: I was originally planning to get this chapter out yesterday, but I had two finals, and two papers due, so yeah. But anyways, here it is. A bit shorter than the last one, a mostly, just filler, but it's still kinda cute, and you get to meet most of the EXO-K guys. D.O. and Chanyeol will make their appearance next time. I don't think I am going to have Ko be that much of a creep. Honestly, even though I am the one who made him up (by request from my friend) I find him a little too creepy. Maybe he'll just be a side character and I'll introduce somebody else more likeable as a rival to Kai. Any suggestions?

Have fun reading, and remember to comment, subscribe, and pass the word along!

5.9.2012: Just made an edit. It said "...looking at you  with that clam smile..." when it was supposed to be "calm smile." Keke I wonder what a clam smile would be like though...