Chapter 36

Kim Jongin

Background Music

Kai opened his eyes.

For a moment he was confused about where he was. Why was the dorm ceiling a little higher? He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked over at D.O, who was reading in his bed on the other side of the room. D.O looked over at him.

"Good afternoon, Kai." he said, and went back to reading. Kai stretched, still confused about where he was, and went over to D.O.

"Where am I, Hyung?" he asked sheepishly. D.O knit his eyebrows together, looking at his younger member in confusion. 

"...The dorm?" D.O said in puzzlement. He noticed that Kai was even more out of it since the group signed onto YG.

"But it's not the same." Kai stated.

"We've been living here the past two weeks. Are you sure you're okay, Kai?" D.O asked. Kai racked his fingers through his bed head. Had he really been in this new place for two weeks?

"What are we doing today?" he asked, now rubbing at his eyes again.

"We're supposed to go out with Jewelz to celebrate successfully transferring to YG in about three hours. You slept a long time, are you sure you're not getting sick?" D.O tried to make sense of Kai's behavior.

"I'm fine...I think..." he mumbled, and walked out of the room.

Truth be known he was not okay. It drove him absolutely insane that Aisha was within his reach but he just couldn't pull her into his embrace. He thought back to their courtcase...how he felt so nervous to even try to sign to her, expecting that she wouldn't even notice his okay-ish sign language. But instead she ended up congratulating him. The simple gesture brought him to confusion and discomfort. Was she okay? Was she still mad at him? What would she do if he found her and apologized? Was Jewelz in a dorm here? They may not since the girls minus Minji still had college.

The rest of the time that had passed had seemed to be a blur of paperwork and moving Exo's things to the new dorm in YG. They had begun working on music as well. Today was more or less a day off for them, so the boys took the opportunity to sleep and relax. Kai made his way to the kitchen and heated up some ramen. He plopped himself down onto the couch. Luhan and Tao looked up from their phones and at the newcomer.

"You slept a long time." Luhan said casually. "It's pratically the middle of the afternoon. Did you stay up late last night?" Kai nodded while eating. 

"What's all this about going out with Jewelz?" Kai asked a few moments later.

"Minji came by this morning and asked if we had the day off too. We said yes and so she invited us to go out to eat as a celebration from not being under the Fist anymore. It's kind of a bigger deal than we originally thought because this will also be the first time Jewelz and Exo appear out in public under YG. Minha Noona and SangJun Hyung will be there with us. Minha has an announcement to make, well that's what Minji said, and then it'll pretty much be us with our sisters." Tao said. 

"I know it'll be a bit awkward for you..." Luhan said slowly, "But this is supposed to be fun and friendly. Maybe...you and her...can work something out."

"I hope so..." Kai said glumly, finishing his ramen. "I can't believe I forgot we moved into the dorm."

"You did?" Tao asked, puzzled.

"Yeah...I asked Kyungsoo Hyung where I was..." He shrugged meekly.

Luhan bit back a chuckle. "I bet he liked that."

"So...does Jewelz have a dorm here?" Kai asked as he put up his stuff. He saw Kris enter the room, catching his question. Kris nodded.

"Yes, they moved into their dorm the same time we did. Shame we've been so busy adjusting to the new-ish lifestyle to think about the simpler things." He noted. Kai nodded, and began to wonder about how well the girls adjusted to dorm life. Naturally Sage wouldn't be there, but since she was most likely Minha's assistant again she could come whenever she wanted to. He went to go look for his phone which he had left charging and noticed he had a message.

From: My Beautiful Black Pearl

Msg: Hey...tonight can we talk?

Kai read the message over and over, heart thumping faster. He swallowed hard. It had been a month since she texted him, and he just didn't have the heart to change her name or the settings on his phone. He had given up on texting her a while back, seeing that when she was angry or hurt she went back to being completely silent. His fingers hesitated over the keys, contemplating on what he should do/say.

To: My Beautiful Black Pearl

Msg: Yes, whenever you want to.

He decided to keep it simple, even though he thought of a billion things to say, all set around the theme of her being his again. She texted him back a smiley face and a thank you, which made his spirits soar. He thought back to the fight that had happened a month ago, remembering her saying something about the media not taking to her having a port-wine stain very well. He searched the Internet on his phone about the situation and was shocked by what he found.

Post after post was written about her, many fans absolutely disgusted by the fact that she kept such an 'ugly mark' on her face for so long. So many people talked about how it was a great thing that the Fist had forced her into the laser surgery so now she doesn't have to be ugly anymore. If those people thought they were still Gems after saying those cruel words about his Black Pearl, they were very mistaken. It angered him to the point of wanting to set up an account and vent to all of those people that that was his girlfriend they were talking about and it should've been her choice whether or not to get the laser surgery done.

He understood now. He understood why she wanted to think that they weren't together/keeping a low profile. She had all that garbage t