chapter FIVE

 Kkamjong, the Dancing Machine

 

________________________________________

 

"I want all of you to pass on the assignment latest by the end of this week. Any dues will not be tolerated. Class dismissed," a professor in her mid-twenties ended her long, long lecture. Finally! Thank God. I got up and crammed all of the papers and books into my sling bag. And boy, I am hungry! Ugh, I only got to eat an apple earlier since I was almost running late,  and I wasn't really the kind to skip breakfast. My stomach was growling louder by the second that I thought bystanders would be able to hear it later on. Ah but they won't right? That would be down right embarassing then.

 

"Hey wanna grab some coffee?" Eunji asked, making me smile widely while nodding like a little girl. It was like she knew exactly what I was thinking at that time. "Maybe make that a brunch?" I added.

 

"Sure. Whatever suits you."

 

Along the way, Eunji kept on chattering non-stop about how she was worried about the assignment and how her comprehension within the subject was only up to a minimal of nothing. I couldn't really keep focusing on her never ending complaints about it since famish was taking over me even worse by the minute. Occasional nods and yesses at the necessary places was what kept her thinking that I was really paying attention. When on the other hand, all my mind could think about now was food. 

 

I finally arrived at the college's cafe by the sidewalk which was famous for its croissants and coffees. The dining area was outside at the wide open area, perfect to chill and dine at the same time. Students filled in most of the places inside, some were already on brunch dates with their loved ones. I could pinpoint that ponytail girl bouncing her hair up and down as she boisterously laugh at her boyfriend's presumably hillarious wit while clapping her hands on instinct. There was also another couple who were madly blushing and only talking with a volume only they could hear and based on the formal tone they used, I bet they were on their first official date.

 

"Waffles and hot chocolate for me," I informed Eunji after three full minutes of scanning the lit up menu on the board above the counter. They had quite a selection of delicacies for a cafe which was only famous for its croissants and coffees. Why not choose the famous breakfast starters? A, croissants were too little for my appetite at the moment. B, I hate coffee. Like really really hate coffee. I hate at how black it looks and I know there are white coffee or any other kind of mochacinno frapuccino as you may call it, but you can't beat the taste. The overwhelming bitter which bites back at you and snaps you from a boring normal day. The hyperactive energy surged inside you once the caffeine reacts in your body. 

 

I just hate every single bit about coffee. Coffee itself and anything associated with it.

 

Eunji finally made up her mind and she prodded towards the counter to make our order as I volunteered to go outside and save us a seat outside. The autumn breeze was slowly kicking in and the air was pretty humid since summer was not completely over yet. I pulled out a rattan chair out of the two-seat table and set aside all my books and colour-coded files on the round marble table. Just on time, my iPhone buzzed from vibration and the screen flashed out a new text message:

 

New message (1)

Myungsoo

 

My eyebrows furrowed, so he still had my number after all this time. Regardless, I opened the message and unknowingly my lips curved up a bit. It's like one of those times when you just couldn't control your expressions. Couldn't help but laugh. Couldn't help but cry. Couldn't help but feel touched. Couldn't help but smile.

 

Good morning jjung! It's a bit late for a morning text but I have class earlier so yeah, have a good day ahead! ^^

 

Jjung? Who allowed him to call me Jjung? And since when Myungsoo sends good morning texts? A million questions were swirling in my mind but all came down to one conclusion that only mattered; I felt happy because of it.

 

"Mind if I join you?" a voice resounded in the background and I instantly looked up as I straightened my upper body. My fingers whizzing away in the process, closing the text and pressing the home button to leave the phone to be locked. "No, of course not."

 

Kai was just about to sit right across me when Eunji came from the side, carrying the tray of our brunch and putting down all the food and styrofoam cups onto the table. He could be a real gentleman or it could be his manners, but he immediately pulled out the chair for Eunji and grabbed another chair from another empty table right next to us and sat between Eunji and I. 

 

"I didn't know we're having a plus one brunch," Eunji quipped as she took a sip of the steaming hot coffee in her right hand. She shot me a meaningful look and realization began to wash over me as my palm hit my forehead. "Right. Eunji, this is Kai. He's from EXO. And Kai, this is my roommate, Eunji."

 

"Pleasure to meet you," Kai shook Eunji's already put out hand as he flashed a smile that I bet swooned tons of girls before. His smile was pretty charming come to think of it. Reminded me of Myungsoo's smile. But his was warm and friendly. I meant the genuine one. Kai's was more towards confident and charming.

 

"And how do you know an EXO before I even do?" Eunji shot me a playful look this time, she had that amused expression on right now. Oh, now she really reminded me of Sulli. Somehow, I could sense that she was teasing me big time then.

 

"We met at the after rush party," Kai interrupted before I even could and Eunji seemed lost. She was sure I stayed at Infinite's and not EXO's, or maybe it was only her who had been busy talking to Hoya the whole night (yes, she told me from A to Z of what they talked about and practically squeals every three seconds during it). "It's a long story," Kai shrugged, not bother explaining more.

 

"Are you a freshman too?" Eunji kept on bombarding him with questions as if she's my mother and he's the guy I brought home. Or it could be because she wanted to be close to someone from EXO for sorority purposes. Or it could plainly be because of her bubbly attitude. 

 

Kai nodded politely to which she responded, "Oh really? Well then, annyeong chingu!" He chuckled at her spontaneous reaction and she laughed too afterwards. I grinned towards the latter, her ways around people sometimes was just full of surprises. Eunji could always be cheerful and amiable but sometimes her being spontaneous was a bonus. She could instantly ease any awkward situations, I could tell. Makes me wonder if she ever encountered one.

 

After a whole lot of talking with us all trying to get to know each other better (cough cough Eunji interrogating Kai as if for qualifications to marry me), we all stood up and ready to part ways. Kai mentioned that he had to go practice then and I was intrigued by it. Did I mention he was a dance major? He specified in all kinds ranging from ballet to jazz to even hip hop. He also went on and on about his passion for dancing and it made me feel good to see someone purely liking the thing that they do. Kai offered Eunji and I to follow him to practice and said that it wasn't any official kind of training, just him and some other guys practicing personally to improve for self-satisfaction.

 

"I have an appointment. Sorry, can't make it," Eunji flashed an apologetic smile but something twinkled in her gaze. I eyed her suspiciously as she winked at me and started to gather her things from the table. "But Soojung's free. Why don't you just go with her, okay?"

 

With a simple wave and an endearing eye-smile from that Busan girl, she fluttered away leaving us. On purpose, I'm sure of it. That girl, she really is acting as if Kai's my boyfriend or anything. Tch, is she always this teasing and playful?

 

"Let's go then."

 

 

Kai pushed the double doors to a room quite discreet from the main streets on campus. I had to follow him through routes and alleys to get there. Kai explained that the room we were heading to was sponsored by a sunbae from the dancing major 5 years back and it was open for anyone who wished to dance. He or she didn't have to be a dance major to use that room and so me visiting there wasn't really a problem.

 

There were only two guys in the room whom were already drenched in sweat and had wrapped their necks with towels one each. They both seemed familiar, one was the blondie with dark roots and the other was the guy at the cafe with Kai the other day. Kai sauntered towards them as both of them were slightly startled by my presence. 

 

"Oh? It's the angel," Sehun remarked. I raised an eyebrow while pointing at myself, questioning what he called me earlier. "The beautiful angel that rescued our Kkamjong." Sehun's wide grin made him seem like a little child, his eyes becoming the shape of crescents like the moon and I thought that he was cute then. Not like his usual stoic, matured facade when I first met him. 

 

The latter's grin was replaced by a frown and a "Yah!" as Kai absentmindedly had smack him at the back of his head. He deserved it, I guess. Why call Kai Kkamjong? I mean, I get it that he is a bit more dark skinned than most of us, but isn't that the additional physical feature that made him just even more handsome? They must be pretty good friends to be calling around nicknames like that.

 

"Stop making her blush, Sehun-ah," the other guy who I remembered as Lay told Sehun off as he packed his gears into his backpack. He then turned to me and flashed off a sweet smile with dimples dancing on his cheeks. Cute. Again. Ugh, are all EXO guys so cute and good-looking?

 

"What are you doing here, Soojung?" Lay inquired and with his facial features, he seemed just so innocent. "I didn't really have anything to do so Kai asked me to follow him to practice," I replied concisely. I couldn't help but to crack up a smile to him as well, but I bet mine couldn't beat those dimples of his. I never even knew guys with dimples are cute. Not until then.

 

"Pfft, Jongin wants to show off his y dance moves to our angel here," Sehun snickered and dodged Kai's hand, almost smacking his head again. Lay chortled before slinging his backpack strap over his left shoulder. "Well, come on then. Don't want to interrupt your moment together. Let's go, Sehun!" Lay dragged him out of the dance studio as he waved frantically and grinned at me. I chuckled at this. Kai seemed to notice as he apologized for the latter.

 

After a couple of warm-up sessions which Kai deemed me to follow suit as well ( he said it's important to avoid any injuries ), he plugged in his iPod to the speakers and a familiar beat started playing. He did a few simple but slick moves combined with a cool way of putting on his cap. One simple turn and he held out his hand towards me, his head still covered by the cap he was wearing. I was slightly taken aback by his gesture, unsure what to do. Noticing my lack participation, he looked up to me, hand still held out and signalled for me to accept his 'invitation' to dance with him, I supposed.

 

Oh well, what's the harm?

 

"You know this song right?"

 

I nodded slowly, not comprehending what was on his mind. "So, dance with me!"

 

He started breaking out into moves, the chorus part slowly made its way through the atmosphere. His choreography synchronized with the beat of the song, Bad Boy. Yes, the Bad Boy by Rain. He looked flawless while doing so, combined with a hint of smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, adding the bad boy effect. Not that he didn't look like one before. "Come on, Soojung!" he started to get frustrated by my staticness and started to move my two flailing arms into movements that somehow mimcked his earlier. 

 

Absentmindedly, I did as told and his pout was replaced with a growing smile. "That's it. I'm gonna be a bad boy~ Gonna be a bad, bad boy~" he sang-song while still doing the choreography. I chuckled a bit at his singing but he seemed more focused with my dancing instead. "Your legs, do it like this," he kept on giving me instructions to dance just like him. Let's face it, I love dancing but I'm not some kind of dancing machine. Kai was just so into this that he was making sure I was doing it perfectly too.

 

It frustrated me to see him doing it so easily and here I was, struggling my out to dance to a song titled Bad Boy. He on the other hand couldn't stop laughing at my mistakes in between which made me even more determined to perfect the dance. 

 

"Yah! Don't laugh!"

 

Kai stifled his laugh with the back of his hand, he looked like he was enjoying me getting angrier by the second. Ugh on second thought, I should join Sehun and call him Kkamjong as well. 

 

 

It was dinner time. The smell of cold noodles being served stirred my appetite and my stomach growled. I was totally worn out by the end of the 'dance practice.' It turned out to be more of a dance practice for me rather than him. I was fanning myself with my hand, sweats still glistened at the ends of my forehead. It didn't cool me down much really, I was hoping that the cold noodles later would.

 

"So what do you want?" Kai asked as he flipped through the menu provided. "One mul naengmyeon ( water cold noodles ), please," I ordered and the ahjumma immediately scribbled away. "Make that two. And could you please bring us cold water as well?" the ahjumma merely nodded her head and prodded away to get the cold water already put in colourful flasks by the counter. She then walked away to get another order from the family who just came in.

 

"Tch, copycat," I glared playfully. He shrugged innocently and replied, "What? I'm hot and sweating too." Kai poured me a glass of the cold water before he did the same for himself. I chugged down the cold water fast, as if I had been thirsty since forever. The water was refreshing even if it was just plain water. Maybe everyone feels the same when they're sweating like this. Even plain water is good enough to quench the thirst.

 

"Drink like a lady, will ya?" his voice disturbed my oh-so-peaceful moment in cooling down.

 

"I'm thirsty. And besides, how do you even drink like a lady? Like those models in CFs? Like you're having tea with the queen, Kai-ssi?" I drawled in a formal tone, just to mock him back for being so judgemental. 

 

But his only reply was another chuckle. This guy, he had been laughing at everything  I do. Am I that funny? Gosh, it was starting to get annoying but at the same time, he did look good while smiling. Wait, what? 

 

"You know EXO hyungs had been talking non-stop about you ever since that night."

 

"Eo? Really? Why?" I blinked my eyes in confusion.

 

"They keep calling you 'angel.' They all said that you're very pretty and how I should move on and yeah, you get the picture."

 

That reminded me, that night he did seemed heartbroken. I was itching to ask about Yoona, but my lips was only pursed into a thin line. Would I be rude asking something so personal when I barely knew him?

 

"Yoona's my first girlfriend that I dated for 2 years. She broke up with me to go after some dude. What was his name again? Lee Sunggyu? Lee Seunggi?" he tried remembering, even when it was obviously not that important. Kai seemed like he knew how to read minds. Or at least my mind. He just answered a question in my head earlier. God, him reading only my mind? That would be the worst thing ever.

 

"I don't read minds. I just thought you might be curious."

 

Okay, seriously? Don't read minds?

 

"It seems hard for you to move on though," I finally spoke up. 

 

"Yeah, well first love's not easily forgotten. Something like you don't always end up with your first love but you'll always end up remembering them?"

 

"Oh my god! I know that saying too! Gotta say that couldn't have been any more true."

 

"Why? You can't move on over your first love too?" he had that glint of curiosity in his brown eyes.

 

I avoided his gaze and mumbled, "Maybe. I don't know." He kept on boring his eyes onto me, as if piercing my soul with his intense gaze. "Fine. It's complicated, alright?" I slammed my hand on the table with a sigh of frustration.

 

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, he retreated back to lean to the back of his chair. "Love is always complicated. Tell you what, why don't we help each other to move on? I mean, we're friends now right? And friends help each other."

 

"And how are you going to do that?" I arched an eyebrow at him.

 

"I'm not sure too but if maybe you need someone to drink your sorrows away, I'd be there. I'd be your drinking buddy, your caretaker-when-you're-drunk buddy, your bodyguard, your shoulder to cry on, anything. But...you have to do the same for me. You already did it during our first encounter, so let me return the favour."

 

"Hmmm...." I hesitated. Would Kai's idea work? Myungsoo went to the same college as both of us and I bet Kai would beat him to pulp if he knew the guy is Myungsoo, especially when they were rivals. I was really confused. If I said yes, a part of me felt like I shouldn't get over him yet.

 

But then again, it had been 4 years! 4 years of unrequited love, Soojung. That's pathetic and the newly reformed Soojung shouldn't be holding on to the past, right? With a sigh, I agreed. "Okay."

 

"Hey Soojung."

 

I looked to my right and was literally shocked. What the hell is Kim Myungsoo doing here? I'm not hallucinating, am I? That would be really bad as the first step in moving on.

 

"What are you doing here, L?" Kai looked more tensed than shocked. His face was void of expression. No chuckling, laughing or any smirking by the very least. I sighed. This is going to be a long night.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 author's note 

» wow I'm sooo happy I'm done! ^^ so I have my laptop and I'll try updating when I have time. A lot of you are freaking out about kaistal and no worries, I haven't decide anything and I don't want to spoil anything here okay. so please don't ask if the ending would be myungstal or kaistal. my lips are sealed. so don't panick over nothing, kay? and urm yeah, comment, subscribe, upvote! thanks for reading ^^