“Hmm, this is delicious” she says in between bites, sinking her teeth into the soft bread covered with chunks of chicken in cream cheese “What is it called again?”

“Classified chicken” he replies in a low tone, but enough for Victoria to detect the bitterness in it. Kai lets out another sigh before putting the half eaten pizza down, reaching for the carbonated drinks. “This is not healthy” he mumbles under his breath, staring at the opened box of regular size pizza, a pack of chicken wings and canned drinks messily arranged on the small coffee table in the middle of the living hall.

Victoria shifts her weight slowly; trying hard to restrict the movement of her ankle “I agree. I should be watching my weight right” she chews the last piece of her pizza.

“You should be eating porridge and soups instead of some takeout food” he replies with a pout, which Victoria secretly finds cute.

Judging on the limited space of her coffee table, Victoria bents down and place her empty plate on the floor, away from her clumsy feet. She would normally walks straight to the kitchen with empty dishes, but seeing how the younger guy making a fuss over her injury, she decides to stay put “It’s just a sprained. It’s not like I’m having a cold.”

“You need nutritious food to quicken the healing process” he replies in a mater-of-fact tone, pushing himself up, away from the carpeted floor and quickly reaches out for Victoria’s empty plate.

She tries to stop him but he gives her his don’t-argue-with-me glare, which he had given her a lot today. She backs off, letting him clear the floor, watching him disappears into her kitchen. And thanks for using paper plates, he returns seconds later, settling on the empty one-seater couch across her.

“Well, I believe I’m getting enough protein and carbs from the meal” she retaliates, closing the paper cup to her dry lips, sipping the sweet drinks as she speaks “And lots of sugar.”

She sounds so immature; even childish. She blames her injury for her uncharacteristic act.

His lips stretches into a small smile but immediately replace by a frown “Sorry about messing your kitchen.”

“It was indeed a mess” she lightly teases him, follows by a small laugh, reminiscing their moments in the small space. A space which became much confined with Victoria sitting on the high chair nearby; giving instructions to Kai. Initially, she was forced to stay away while he cleans. But after he made a bigger mess trying to find the cleaning tools and whatnot, she had to step in.

“All those cooking shows are rip-off. They makes it looks so easy but the reality is not” he grumbles, showing that his pride was indeed hurt when they had to throw away his dried and slightly brown colored chicken porridge.

Sensing his darken mood, Victoria opens up “I was 13 years old when I had my first bitter taste of cooking. It was during cooking class and we were supposed to make chocolate muffin.” Victoria’s eyes gleam excitedly, noting that she succeed in getting his attention “I had to admit, I was a bit arrogant back then coz I’m quite good at cooking after years helping my mom. I never thought baking requires different set of rules.”

“How bad was it?” Kai asks, edging closer as he listens attentively to her.

“Have you ever watched the Charlie’s Angle movie?” A naughty smirk dresses her lips.

“The one with Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and the other girl” he answers hesitantly, wondering the relation between Victoria’s story and the big budgeted movie.

She nods eagerly “The other girl is Cameron Diaz” Victoria offers before continuing with her story “There was one scene when Lucy Liu brought muffins to work and shared them with the girls.”

“Ahh the blueberry muffin” he chuckles, visualizing the scene describes by Victoria.

Her ponytail flips slightly as she shakes her head “Chinese Fighting Muffin. It’s lethal”

His smile grows wider “It can’t be that bad.”

“It was. No guys approaches me after the news spread.”

Kai’s laughter stops but his smiles remain unbroken as he reaches out for his paper cup “It’s their lost. If I was your schoolmate, I definitely will try my luck, even if it’ll risk my life.”

“You were not born yet” she teases further, hugging the fluffy cushion tightly.

“Hey! I’m not that young” he barks off, puffing his cheeks “I can prove that I’m better than half of the seniors anyway.”

And in mere moments, Victoria feels her cheeks redden, remembering the close encounters they shared earlier. She remembers how the younger guy presence cheers her up when her world was dark and gloomy. How he makes her laugh when her tears threaten to fall. How his warmth calms her unruly emotions.

“Wow, look at the time. I need to get ready” she changes the subject, tilts her head to avoid his line of vision, staring straight at the metal clock hanging above the small book shelf.

But to her disappointment, her choice of subject brings bigger issues onto the table “Where do you think you are going?” he asks, sounding like a father telling off his daughter for coming home late.

Victoria heaves deeply, rearranging her words carefully. But in the end, she bluntly speaks “I have work.”

“You’re not going. You’re not fit to work” he states monotonously, without any lacking of conviction, staring down at her.

“It’s just a sprained” a quick quip from her and in split moment, in order to show her protest; she pushes herself up putting her weight on both feet. It doesn’t last long before she yelps in pain causes by the sudden friction.

Kai rushes to her side and without any further words he scoops her off the couch in one strong pull and steps towards her bedroom in his sturdy glides; cradling her in his strong arms. She momentarily froze, too shock to react while her heart doings all sort of flips inside.

“Put me down” her voice quivers.

He obliges, gently places her back on the undone bed. He grabs a pillow and leans it straight on the headboard before gently pushes Victoria towards it, enough pressure for her to lean back. He then plops another pillow near the edge for her ankle.

“You are going to have a proper rest today” he announces firmly, carefully placing her wrapped ankle on the fluffy pillow. But as soon as he raises his head towards her, he sees Victoria stubborn lips purses into a thin line. He softens his words “I know it’s just a sprain and you’re stubborn enough to carry on. But, if you put too much pressure on it tonight, you might end up with longer sick leave later” he sits at the edge of the bed, carefully dodging her injured legs. His eyes darken with worry.

His words make sense but somehow her pride refuses to admit. It shows on her face.

Seeing her motionless, Kai stands up and steps towards her closet; racking it without any hesitation, pulling a dress after another.

“What are you doing?” her voice rose seeing him tossing her dresses on the empty side of the bed; piling it up unceremoniously.

He suddenly stops, hands holding two knee length dresses “Which one looks better?”

“Huh?”

“I like this one better” not bother waiting for a reply, he answers instead; tossing the blue glittery dress onto the pile before he disappears into the bathroom.

“Kai. What are you doing with my dress?” Victoria yells from her spot, confuse with the scene she just witnessed. 5 minutes later he steps out from the bathroom, clad in Victoria’s black and white jersey dress; proudly reveals his slightly bulky arms and hairy legs. The tight dress strategically molds his abs, leaving Victoria speechless for a moment before bursting into a tandem guffaw.

“Oh my god! What are you trying to do?” her musical laughter erupts, expressing delight with her full body “Are you trying to kill me?”

“If you refuse to call in sick, I’ll be your replacement instead” he gives a twirl follows by an odd curtsy “My friends always tell I have a pretty face. I’m sure with proper make up and maybe a wig, no one can tell the difference.”

She laughs so hard till her eyes glisten. Kai returns to the edge of the bed and awkwardly crosses his legs, trying to show him feminine side, but he fails miserably. He pulls the dress down to hide as much flesh as he could.

“You are pretty” Victoria replies in giggles “Okay. You win” she held hands out “Can you get my phone please. It’s in my handbag.”

He jumps off the bed and quickly snatches the leather bag. He had a hard time looking for the small device hidden among the clutters in a woman’s bag. But not a complaint escapes his lips. Once he succeeds, he quickly hands it to her, returning to his spot like a loyal puppy, staring with his anticipated brown eyes.

She texts Heechul and her best friend, telling them her condition and whereabouts. They reply shortly after, fussing over her carelessness. Kai then sorts back the mess he made while she attends to her texts. After few minutes of texting, she finally shoves her phone under her pillow. She gives him an approving smile for clearing her bed “Okay I’m done. You can change now. You’re ruining my dress.”

“You force me to” he answers, stretching the clingy dress further.

“Do you want to change? I may have few larger tees for you” she offers, receiving a small nod from him. “Lowest drawer on your left” she points to the off-white wooden cabinet at the corner of the bedroom “I think there’s a sweat pants as well.”

Kai strides over and quickly search for it “I’ll take this towel as well” he announces before heading towards the bathroom, carrying the new set of clothes.

Victoria remains in her spot, pulling her blanket over to warm her legs. She’s finally alone. The sounds of the shower echoes in her room, reminding her that it is the first time she had another man in her room besides Nichkhun. Though the circumstances are purely innocence, she could not help it feeling a prickling pain of guilt lingering in her heart.

“What’s with the long face?” Kai’s deep voice interrupts her train of thoughts. She tilts her head up, staring absently at the towering guy, wet brown hair half covered by the thick towel. He looks so fresh with a soft scent of green apple lingers the room.

But the moment she looks down at his over size Arsenal jersey paired with her grey abused sweat pants, another loud laughter erupts. The sweat pants turned into a three quarter pants once on the tall guy “You look hilarious.”

“Glad that you find me funny” he pouts, hands briskly drying his hair. Instead of settling on the edge of the bed like earlier, he pulls out the dressing table’s chair and sits close to her “For the record, I’m not a fan of Arsenal.”

“I hope none of your fans going to see you in that” Victoria teases, wiping the happy tears away from her eyes.

“How did you know that I have a fanclub” Kai snorts.

She rolls her eyes. Brat…

As she about to reply to him, her ringtone beats her to it. She reaches out for the small device and click on it; revealing a short text form Nichkhun.

19 : 30

I’m really sorry for my earlier outburst. It has been a tough week for us.

Would you meet me up for lunch tomorrow? We have lots to talk about.

If you agree, I’ll wait for you at the gym.

“It’s from him isn’t it?” Kai’s asks softly.

Victoria lifts up her head, mouth slightly open but she swallows her words and reply with a nod.

They stay in complete silence.

Kai is the first to break the silence “Do you love him?”

She blinks to the question, feeling drying up “We’ve been together for years now. We’ve been through a lot.”

“You haven’t reply to my question” he states factiously “After all the years being together, do you still love him?”

Victoria her head down, staring at her covered toe as an attempt to avoid Kai’s piercing eyes “What a silly question.”

“It’s not a silly question if you have a smart answer to it” he challenges further.

“You sound like my best friend” Victoria grumbles, tucking the blanket tighter.

“You have a good taste in friends” he answers.

The gap is fills with another moment of silence before Kai rose to his feet and says “I better make my move now.” He disappears into the bathroom to hang the wet towel and return with his jerseys tuck under his arms “I’ll return these once it’s clean. And thanks for treating me lunch.”

Victoria gives a nod “Yeah… You have classes tomorrow” the reality slowly sinks in once again.

Her words seem to offend him in some way as he purses his lips tightly, eyes cold and expressionless. Kai pushes back the chair into it rightful place before stepping towards the bedroom’s door.

He’s about to leave when Victoria gentle voice stops his track “Thanks so much for today. I had such a bad day earlier, but your presence changes everything. I don’t know what will happen to me if you’re not around. Thank you.”

He seems surprise by her words, but a smile slowly graces his lips “It’s me who should be thanking you… Thanks for being you.”

**********

He inserts the key into the ignition slot and twists it. The car roams lightly as he presses the accelerator, heating up the engine. Then he turns on the radio and slips in his favorite CD into the slot, raising the volume higher.

Apparently it is not loud enough as his ears could still catch the faint sound of his phone blares its message tone.

He reaches for it and clicks on the blinking device.

His earlier smile falters into a frown.

19 : 59

We need to talk.

Meet me up in the gym tomorrow after practice ends.

~Nichkhun~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please accept my deepest apology for the overdue update.

No excuse, but will try my best to pick it up once gain ya :)