Kai came back to school, much to my delight. The seat by the window was once again occupied, and life seemed to be back to normal. Although, I wasn’t sure what normal was anymore.

            He and I spent lunchtime together now, sitting in the courtyard under the tree.

            “Here,” I said, giving him a piece of my kimbap. “Eat. You’re skinny as heck.”

            “Fine,” Kai muttered as he ate the kimbap. But he was munching on it happily.

            The birds were chirping about, and there was a slight breeze. I couldn’t believe that it was March already.

            “So how are you catching up on your classes?” I asked.

            “Easy,” Kai replied. “I got a perfect score on the King Arthur essay.”

            “Wooowwww, nice!” I said, genuinely happy for him. “Also,” I added as I leaned my head against his shoulder, “we should go on another motorcycle date. Last time was really fun.”

            Kai laughed. “The date that we never even knew was a date. Hmm, which reminds me. I told you my turning point. When was yours?”

            “What do you mean?”

          “When did you realize that I was…I dunno, likeable? You know what I mean,” Kai said shyly. “I’m curious.”

            I nuzzled closer to him, then kissed the very tip of his jawline. “When I saw you dance at the talent show,” I murmured.

            “Really?”

            “Yeah. I love the way you dance,” I admitted with a shy chuckle.

            Kai pulled me closer to his chest and kissed the top of my forehead. “I should dance for you more often then.”

            That evening, he and I were studying at my place. My parents weren’t going to be home for a week, so I was definitely taking advantage of it.

            “…the red hat is a motif for something bigger,” Kai was explaining to me. “It’s not just a simple red hat that he feels like putting on whenever he wants.”

            “Ugh this is so hard!” I exclaimed as I slammed my head onto the textbook. “Why the hell is everything so subjective? It’s like paranoia.”

            Kai shrugged. “That’s why it’s so meaningful.”

            Just then, his phone rang.

            “Hello?” he said as I continued to struggle reading the text over and over again. “What now? Fine…I’m coming.”

            “Is something wrong?” I asked.

            “Just work,” Kai replied as he began packing up his books. “I gotta go.” He gave me a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll text you tonight.”

            “Okay,” I said as he dashed out the door. “I’ll be waiting.”

            Kai said he would text me.

            He never did.

            And these things have happened before I mean, Kai was only human and forgot at times. His girlfriend wasn’t his world’s priority.

            But this time, I had a bad premonition. Call it a sixth sense or whatever, but I knew something was wrong. My suspicions were further confirmed when he failed to show up at school the next day.

            “Jackson,” I said at lunch. “You went to Kai’s place once, right? You know where he lives?”

            He nodded. “Yeah. Took a hell of a lot to track it down though. My private investigators were burned out. He really is off the radar.”

            “Can you take me there tonight?” I asked him.

            “Hyemi,” Jackson said in a scolding manner. “Don’t you think you’re being a little too clingy? It’s just one text.”

            “He’s absent,” I said. “And this time is different, okay? I have a bad feeling.”

            Jackson sighed. “Fine. We’ll go tonight. I’ll pick you up.”

            So that night, Jackson and I headed to Kai’s place. I’ve never seen it before, and I would be lying if I said that I was never curious. But I knew Kai was a natural enigma so I would’ve never wanted to pry.

            The place was pretty run-down, on the lower end of town. Jackson and I went up to the front door, only to realize that it’d been busted open.

            This is not good.

            The entire place was trashed, ransacked to bits. Broken glass was on the floor, the coffee table split into two.

            “What happened here?” Jackson asked as he picked at a fallen cabinet. Wood splinters were all over the carpet.

            “Be careful,” I said as I took another step forward.

            I took a turn and saw an open door to a room that I immediately knew was Kai’s. It was a mess, the sheets rumpled and the light bulbs smashed.

            My eye then caught a folder in the waste bin. My hand reached out for it, and I flipped through its contents.

            There was a picture of me, in addition to an entire page on my birthday, my address, even trivial things like my blood type.

            There was a second informational page, one on Kai. I scrolled through it, and then found something odd.

Birth date: January 14^th, 1994

            “It seems to be another birthday,” he said.

            “How are you so good at this stuff and yet you’re almost failing calc?” I asked, putting my phone away.

            Jackson shrugged. “This type of is a whole hell of a lot more fun. Now let’s see…94 is the birth year, obviously. There are no monthly dates exceeding 12 so 14 is the day…which makes 01 the month of January.” He slid his piece of paper over to me. “January 14^th, 1994. Now the real question here is whose birthday is that, and what could the ‘X’ possibly mean?”

            Taemin had warned me. He had warned me about… Kai? The ‘X’ now meant either annihilation or danger. Either way, it wasn’t supposed to be a good thing.

            Kai wasn’t supposed to be a good thing.

            “Um…Hyemi, we kinda have a situation,” I heard Jackson say from the living room.

            “Coming!” I said as I threw the folder back into the bin.

            I rounded the corner to find Jackson being surrounded by about five huge guys in black suits. One of them looked oddly familiar.

            The guy who’d attacked me at the hospital.

            “What are you—“

            But before I could even finish they were already taking action, advancing towards me and grabbing my arms forcefully as they pulled me and Jackson out of the house.

            “LET ME GO!” I shrieked. “HELP! SOMEBODY—“

            One of them smacked me on the head, and I was out.