12
Love Is...
Chapter Twelve
"Why do we need to go here?" Kai asked irritably.
We were parked in front of Ilhoon oppa's new house.
It was huge, but not Kim's residence huge.
The gates were wide open, but there was no one in the front lawn.
"Should we enter?" I asked.
Kai didn't answer. He was just sitting on the hood of his car looking at the house, completely uninterested.
I shook my head and went for the doorbell. I pressed it twice and waited.
An old man wearing huge reading glasses whom I recognized as Ilhoon's father went out of the house. He squinted at me then said, "Minah?"
I smiled. "Yup, Kwon Minah," I said. "Ilhoon oppa said we should visit him sometime and I think that now is just the right time."
He gave me that fatherly smile of his and nodded towards Kai's direction. "You're with your boyfriend?" He asked.
"Ah, anio! That's Kai." I dragged Kai away from the car and we stood in front of Ilhoon's father, Junhyung.
"Jongin? The son of Hyunseong and Jungah?" He asked, a little shocked.
"Nae," I said.
But then I realized that it wasn't me who should be answering so I tapped Kai's back.
"Ah, yes! I am that... Guy."
I can't understand why he was acting like this all of a sudden. I mean, what's so wrong with visiting a friend's house?
Junhyung smiled again. "Come in!"
We headed inside.
Ilhoon was doing something in the kitchen when we entered.
"Ilhoon-ah! Your childhood friends came to visit you!" His father shouted then motioned for us to sit down on the couch.
Ilhoon hurriedly came out and went to the living room. "I didn't know you were gonna visit today! You should have called or something." He said.
"We wanted to surprise you," I giggled, "right?" I glanced at Kai who was of course, in a different planet once again.
Ilhoon looked at him. "Jongin?"
It took a moment before Kai answered, "Hey," he said simply.
"I missed seeing you guys, but before anything else, I should cook something for us to-"
"No, it's okay!" I said, "We just ate lunch outside."
"Ah, that's better!" He chuckled. "I'll just finish what I'm cooking and then we'll hang out." He said then excused himself and headed back to the kitchen.
Kai was playing with his cellphone.
This guy.
"Ya,"
"Hm?" He said, not looking.
"Are you not happy to see Ilhoon oppa?"
He didn't answer.
"I remember that time when you kept saying he was your favorite Hyung."
This time, he locked his phone then looked at me.
"That was like, how many years ago?" He replied.
And I was completely sure he does not want to talk about Ilhoon anymore.
"Is there any problem?" I decided to ask him.
"I don't know if I'm supposed to be happy or not happy about the vacation."
"Why?"
"I should be happy because I will be spending one whole month with you, but the fact that you lost your only job kept on bothering me." He paused for a moment then, "Is it because of the wedding?"
"Don't blame the wedding." I said, "And you shouldn't be worrying about this. It's my problem, not yours."
He sighed. "Are you okay with it? Answer me honestly."
I'm okay with the one whole month Jeju vacation, I'm not okay with the wedding.
How is that?
"I am, of course I am." I answered, honest.
He looked at me, like he was pulling out my soul. "Kwon Minah," he said with his deep voice.
"What?" I asked, a bit loudly. "I really am."
He removed his gaze and sighed. "Okay,"
...
"That guy was really kind," Ilhoon giggled.
He was telling a story about that old man who gave us free ice cream when we were kids.
It's good to see that Kai was somehow joining the conversation and laughing with us.
"I suddenly remembered your dog, Mirae, the one who used to chase us whenever we were playing in your backyard." I said.
Ilhoon pouted. "It was really sad that he died. I wasn't able to take care of him and play with him that much because I was always busy with school and now I miss him. He's like, a huge part of my childhood."
"Our childhood," I said, "that's why it says that you should learn to appreciate things before they're gone."
"But Junhyung bought you a new dog, right? Where is it?" Kai blurted out, pushing away the gloomy atmosphere.
"You mean, Gus? The brown Labrador?" I asked.
"Yeah, where is he?" Kai said.
"He's in Jeju. At my Grandmother's house. I sent him there cause I'll be flying to Jeju by next week so we'll be together, soon!" He smiled at this.
"We're gonna be in Jeju, too!" I beamed.
"Really?! When?"
"After the engagement party."
"You mean, on Wednesday?!" Kai asked, shocked.
I nodded.
"I didn't know it was so soon," he said.
"So, I guess we will still be able to hang out when we're in Jeju." Ilhoon said.
"Yup, that sounds fun!"
"Are you going to attend the engagement party?" I looked at Ilhoon.
"I really want to, but-"
"Then you should!" Kai stated.
"Are you inviting me?" He asked and Kai nodded. "Thanks! Guess I should start preparing for what I am going to wear already." He chuckled and I did the same.
So, I guess the engagement party is where everyone will be united.
My family and friends with Kai's family and friends.
I have to admit that I am excited about this. Not super excited, just excited. But I can't hide the fact that I am also feeling very nervous about it, and I totally have no idea why.
We continued sharing stories about our happy childhood.
About what happened to this guy and that guy and where they were right now and how their lives are going. And last, but not the least, we talked about how are lives were after very long years.
...
We were strolling inside a Mall in Hongdae when I spotted Game Zone in the very end part of the Mall, right beside the food court.
I looked at Kai and he knew right away what I wanted.
I got inside Game Zone and he trailed behind me.
He bought fifteen tokens and gave me five.
I hurried towards the Pinball station and inserted a token into the machine.
I was just starting to get serious with the game when suddenly, 'Game Over' flashed on an LED screen above my head. I tilted my head to the side and saw Kai covering his mouth as he giggled.
"What? Think you can do it? It's not easy, you know!" I rolled my eyes.
He pulled out one token from the pocket of his jeans and inserted it inside the Pinball machine. "Watch and learn," He smirked before focusing on the game.
Thirty tickets came out of the machine.
I glanced at the LED screen and there it says, 'Great Job!'
Kai's POV
Right when we entered Game Zone I noticed that Minah was eyeing a huge pink teddy bare on the counter which costs five hundred tickets. I think she wanted to get it.
First, because it was pink. And second, because she just love stuffed toys.
I'm not really a good Pinball player, but I tried my best to get the largest amount of tickets to be able to buy that bear.
I think she got mad at me because right after I got all the tickets from the machine she transferred to another game. Mini Bowling.
She stood up in front of the station and inserted two tokens inside.
There were two Mini Bowling stations in there so I stood up in front of the other station and inserted two tokens inside the machine.
I looked at her as she was focusing on hitting the middle pin. Mine started and I played.
First try: eight bowling pins down, while Minah got four pins down.
"That is not as easy as Pinball!" She said, chuckling as she held the bowling ball again.
"Really? Pinball was easy?" I said, waiting for mine to come out.
She released the ball and it hit the middle pin. Ten pins down, strike.
"Hah! Did you see that?!" She vaunted. "Two more tries," she said in a singsong way.
I ignored her and picked up the ball. I aimed on the middle pin as I released the ball, but then it rolled to the side and hit nothing.
Very nice.
I glanced at Minah once again and she was busy with the game.
Thank God, she didn't see what I had just done.
Her game finished and the tickets came out of the machine. It was twenty-five tickets or something.
I held the bowling ball in my hands as I got ready for my last try.
I need to make this a strike.
I released the ball and it rolled straight and hit the middle pin causing nine pins to fall.
Thankfully, the ninth pin hit the pin that was left standing and both of it fell down.
"Strike baby!" I whooped.
Comments