“So I have a question.”

            “Which is?”

            I rested my elbow on the table, hand to chin. “What’s up with your name anyways?”

            “My name?”

            “Kai,” I said. “I’m curious. What’s the meaning behind that?”

            Kai sighed and leaned back in his chair, stretching. The two of us were sitting in the library, working on our last written assignment of the semester. “If I tell you,” Kai said, “then my mysterious aura will be diminished and my reputation will go down the drain.”

            “Oh please,” I said. “Don’t be so full of yourself. Now tell me!”

            “It’s a long story.”

            “I like long stories.”

            “You might not like it.”

            “I’ll take my chances.”

            Kai glared at me, then gave into my demands with a roll of his eyes. “When I still attended dance classes there was this Japanese girl who joined. She didn’t speak much Korean, so she spoke in Japanese often. She liked my dancing apparently and said that I danced very smoothly, like the ocean. So she always called me ‘Kai’, which means ocean in Japanese. Then everyone else started calling me Kai as a nickname and it grew onto me. I liked it, so I kept it.

            “Plus, my dad had been the one who named me ‘Jongin’. I’ve always resented him. So Kai was a much better change, and I prefer it since it has a more positive connotation to me.”

            His dad. Of course. He’d left Kai and his mother when he was younger. I suddenly grew a deeper interest in Kai’s childhood, but didn’t want to pry. Plus, he always seemed kind of broken when he talked about his past.

            Now that I thought about it, I realized that I didn’t know much about this person named Kai. He knew a lot about me, but all I practically knew about him was that he was poor and liked to dance.

            Then Kai smirked. “You know what’s funny though? I feel like if you called me ‘Jongin’, then I wouldn’t mind.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “The name would hold a different meaning,” Kai said simply with a shrug, although I didn’t really understand what he meant by that.

            “By the way,” I added casually. “That Japanese girl. Was she pretty?”

            Kai thought about it, then nodded. “Mhm. Really pretty.”

            The fire of jealousy began to burn in my heart. I crossed my arms and looked away, thinking about how a pretty Japanese girl had given Kai the nickname that he still uses to this day. Did they have some secret thing when they were younger? Did they ever partner up and he had to dance with her? Was he her first love or some and if she was then—

            “Awhhhhh looks who’s jealousssssss!” Kai cooed as he pinched my cheek.

            “OW!” I shrieked as people in the library glared at me for being loud.

            “Jeez Hyemi. This is a library,” Kai said mockingly. “Calm down.”

            “Shut up,” I snapped. “You were the one who brought up pretty Japanese girls.”

            “Hey, you asked! I did warn you that you might not like it.”

            “Whatever,” I mumbled as I picked up my pencil and started writing.

            Kai chuckled beside me, enjoying my infuriation. “Nothing happened between me and her, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

            “I wasn’t wondering about it,” I fibbed.

            “Fine then,” Kai said, hands up. “Suit yourself.”

            The two of us got back to work in silence. Then, in a whisper that I wasn’t even sure I was meant to hear, Kai said, “But she wasn’t as pretty as you.”

            “Hyemi.”

            “Yes mother?”

            “How is Hongbin?”

            Hongbin? I haven’t thought about him in forever…

            “Uhhh I don’t know,” I said.

            “I hear you and he had gone on a couple of dates?” my mother asked.

            “How do you know that?”

            “Oh Hyemi,” my mother said. “Word gets around quickly in business. So how is he? Vixx has been doing very well lately. He also seems very generous.”

            “Mom,” I said. “He and I have nothing to do with each other anymore.” Talking about Hongbin didn’t exactly make me happy. I was still pretty pissed at him for calling Kai a mutt.

            “Hyemi, you should really keep boys like that close. They can prove to be useful in the future. Therefore, that is why I’ve arranged a dinner with him and his family this Saturday!” my mother exclaimed happily.

            “You arranged that on your own?” I asked. “Are you kidding me?”

            “Well honey, we do have to be open-minded about our investments,” my mother said.

            I really didn’t want to argue with her. She would never understand why I didn’t like Hongbin. Sure, he may be nice and generous but he was so typical. An investment was exactly what he thought of me. Can’t you be happy without having to use people all of the time for money?

            Then I immediately thought of Kai.

            “I can’t go to dinner,” I said quickly. “I have a date this Saturday.”

            “Really?” my mother asked. “With who?”

            “Kai,” I replied.

            My mother frowned. “The poor boy? The one who looks like Taemin? You’ve been keeping in contact with him?”

            “Mom,” I said. “He’s a good friend.”

            “And you’re leaving a dinner with Hongbin to hang out with…him?”

            I didn’t like how my mother was acting like Kai was some type of trash. But I ignored it as I said, “Yes, I am.”

            The thing was, I could’ve easily said Jackson. Hanging out with Jackson was no big deal, and it would please my mother since she found him to be one of her little ‘potentials’ for me as well.

            But the mere mention of Hongbin had pissed me off to the extent where I was in the mood to hang out with the guy who was the very opposite of guys like Hongbin: Kim Jongin himself.

            So that night, I texted him.

Hey. Are you free this Saturday?

Probably. Why?

You still owe me a motorcycle ride! (:

Ohhhhh that’s right :D

So is Saturday okay?

Yeah. It’s fine.

Awesome! It’s a date

Haha you seem so excited

I am

            Kai picked me up on his motorcycle at exactly 6 PM sharp. I was in desperate need to get out of the house.

            “A boy? On a motorcycle?!” I heard my mother shriek as I dashed out of the front door.

            I snickered to myself as Kai handed me a helmet. “Your mother seems to like me a lot,” he said sarcastically.

            “Totally,” I replied as I climbed on to the backseat.

            “Hold on tight,” Kai warned.

            I naturally wrapped my arms around his waist and did as I was told.

            We had decided to go downtown, because I didn’t really feel like sticking around my usual area. The wind blew through my hair as Kai sped up, the adrenaline pumping fast through my veins.

            Kai parked his motorcycle by the KBBQ restaurant. “Whoa,” I said as I took off my helmet. “That was amazing! Really lived up to my expectations.”

            “I didn’t think you liked motorcycles,” Kai remarked, politely helping me off the bike.

            I didn’t, I thought. Not before I met you.

            The two of us got seated in the KBBQ place and ordered meat to our heart’s content.

            “Pass me the kimchi,” I said with my mouth full.

            “We need to order more,” Kai proposed as he surveyed our table: all of the meat was almost gone.

            I nodded. “Agreed.”

            So Kai and I had a blast at the KBBQ place. When it was time to pay the bill I immediately offered.

            “I invited you,” I insisted. “So I pay.”

            “No,” Kai strangely objected. “This is a date, isn’t it?”

            I’d always thought that Kai and I had been using the word ‘date’ casually, but the way he said it made it sound…real.

            “Uh….I guess?” I stupidly stuttered.

            “Exactly,” Kai said. “Therefore, the guy pays. No exceptions.”

            “I’ll pay for a fourth,” I offered. “Please?”

            “No,” Kai said adamantly before taking out some bills. He left his wallet on the table and headed up to the cashier.

            I sat there at the table, patiently waiting for him to come back. My eyes wandered over to his wallet sitting on the table, and I caught a glimpse of something.

            I took Kai’s wallet and opened it. Inside behind the plastic flap was a picture of me.

            Oh my god…

            I looked up. Kai was nearly done paying.

            I quickly closed his wallet and put it back where it’d been.

            “So,” Kai said when he got back. “Where to now?”

            “Anywhere you want to go,” I said. “As long as I’m with you.”