Midnight Escapades

Incredible Things
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"WHAT?!" I shriek, letting Kai drag me back into his penthouse. 

Oh my God, Hong Kong??  As in, the country?!  With Kai?!  A man?!  That exceeds all I've done with guys my entire life!! 

"You heard me.  I'm taking you and Jongguk along with me to Hong Kong." 

I'm still trying to make head or tails of this new revelation.  Hong Kong is great, and I would absolutely LOVE to go, but.... On whose expense?!  I don't have the money!!  And besides, I still have a non-babysitter life!  There's so much going on at school right now cos I'm about to graduate!

"B-but, I can't!  I mean, I want to, but graduation is in several couple weeks! Prom is in 15 days!  I've just volunteered to be part of the decorating committee!  I have loads to do and I--"

"Haish-- just kidding.  We're not going to Hong Kong."  Kai interrupts me, dropping my hand as he brushes past me and heads to the pantry to grab a glass of water. 

I stare slack-jawed at his back.  "What do you mean...?"

"I was kidding.  I came back not to take you to Hong Kong with me, but because the trip to Hong Kong got postponed."  He then proceeded to mumble something like 'stupid chinese idiots' under his breath but I can't be sure. 

"What?  But.. back there.. you said 'I don't even know why I'm doing this' when you made me open the door--"

"Yeah, that was because I don't completely know why the trip to Hong Kong got postponed."

"You.. don't?"  I stare at him incredulously.  "But you were just there-- didn't you ask?!"

"No, I mean, I know why it was postponed, but I don't understand why did it happen.... like, how did it... happen... so that the trip got postponed..."

I continue staring at Kai, who's staring off, lost in his own network of thoughts.  Something must've happened.  At work.  Whatever work may refer too.  And judging from how they postponed an entire meeting, I'm guessing the something was bad.  But still... Hong Kong...

"So we're really not going to Hong Kong?"  I can't help asking, still feeling a tiny bit hopeful. 

Kai looks at me.  "Did you want to go?"

I look at my feet.  "Well.."

"I thought you said you didn't.  You can't."

"Yes, well, when a guy announces that he's taking you to an overseas country in the middle of the night, I can't just straight away agree, can I?  How would that make me look?  But if we really were going to Hong Kong, in the end, I would still go because.." I pause.  "Well, I've never been overseas before.  I've always wanted to travel.  Go to a place where I can't understand the language and don't know the streets or the street food, and learn the metro stations all over again, and explore the place with the peace of knowing that I won't be bumping into anyone I know there." 

There's a beat of silence before Kai answers.  I look up and find Kai staring intently at me, and I just blink stupidly at him, before he finally says, "What's wrong with bumping into people you know in the streets?"

"Well, most of the time I do something stupid."  I admit.  "Oh, and in a new country, your chances of finding THE ONE, increases exponentially."  I say dreamily.

"You go overseas to find a soulmate."  Kai deadpans.

"No, that's just a bonus!!  If I find one.  I'm happy just with the new streets and the new food and the new everything around me."  I turn to Kai.  "You didn't have to get my hopes up!  Now my head's filled with images of traveling."

"I was just joking."  Kai mutters.  "I didn't know it would turn out this serious."

"Well, it's my fault for getting my hopes up when you said you were taking me too.  I should've known you were just joking.  Cos why would you take me right?"  I sigh to myself.  "I can't even go out with Mark tonight, what made me think I could go to Hong Kong?!" 

"What has Mark got to do with any of this?"  Kai asks, suddenly sounding annoyed.

"If you ever paid any attention to what I said, you might remember that I was supposed to see a musical with Mark tonight.  But because you suddenly announced you were going to Hong Kong, I had to stay in and take care of Jongguk.  But then here you are, 11 at night, not in Hong Kong, making me think you were going to take me to Hong Kong, when you actually weren't.  Am I allowed to tell you that you are sort of an ?"

"So that's why you're so disappointed?  Because you had to stay in and not go out with Mark when suddenly at night I come back telling you the trip to Hong Kong got postponed?"  Kai asks me, sounding angrier with each syllable that left his mouth.  "To find out that you staying in tonight was in vain?"

"Well, not entirely, but--"

"Do you think I wanted this trip to be postponed?!"  He barks.  "Do you think I wanted whatever-made-the-trip-had-to-be-postponed to happen?!  If I could've helped EX-- If I could've stayed and helped our associates there, I would!  But I had to come back to make sure that no such thing would happen here, because if it did then HOC would really be in-- be facing some serious issues."

"Kai--"  I stop, unsure of what to say.  I wanted to ask him what he's not telling me.  But Kai is seething mad, all of a sudden, and I guess I'm just in no place to know.  It's like I'm approaching an untamed animal.  I cross my arms.  "Fine.  I'm sorry.  I hope that whatever you're going through right now gets resolved quickly.  But you missed my point, Kai.  Yes, I was disappointed because I didn't get to go out with Mark in the end, but I was more disappointed because I thought... well.. because I thought you were taking me to Hong Kong.  Like I said, I've never been out of Korea before.  So I got a bit too excited. It's stupid, I know.  Like, why would you even take me right?  I'm sorry.  I guess I said it wrong.  I know it's not like you wished for the trouble to happen and that you wouldn't want to be back here either."

Kai doesn't say anything for a while.  Finally, he sighs.  "Don't apologize."  In Kai's language that I've come to learn already, this means 'it's okay, it's not your fault.'

"Well then what do you want me to do?!"  I say, on the verge of screaming.

"Is Jongguk asleep already?" He asks instead, ignoring me as always.  Kai heads towards Jongguk room, opening the door softly. 

"He is." 

"Well in that case..." he pauses, his dark eyes lingering on me.  "Come on.  Get dressed." 

"Huh?"

"Come on, I'm going to make it up to you."  Kai says, shaking his head.  "Listen, I already have no idea what I'm doing so I don't know why I'm doing it, so don't even think of asking me that question.  And don't think about talking me out of it either, because this is what I want to do, okay?"

I shake my head.  "Actually, I have no idea what you're planning to do.  Mind enlightening me?"

"I'm going to make it up to you."  He repeats, a little slower now.  "You didn't get to go out with Mark, and I can't do anything to fix that because I can't turn back time.  You're also not actually going to Hong Kong, because it's dangerous right now and I can't do anything about that either.  I've figured that the sole source of all your misery right now is undoubtedly me, and as a human being, albeit with less feelings than others, I feel compelled to make it up to you.  So, I'm pretty sure the only thing we can do right now is--"

I'm not really listening anymore.  My heart is just beating really fast and my brain is in freeze mode cos it can't decide what to tell my body to do.

"You let me take you out tonight," he says, and my heart lurches.  "And I make it up to you by giving you an equally good time as you would have if you were with Mark.  Or in Hong Kong."

My mouth is open.  Oh God, it really is.  Why the is it still hanging open like that?!  Oh right, because I have to say something.  Anything. 

"So?"  Kai asks slowly, looking me in the eye, but I can see that the defiance and stubbornness in them has receded a bit.  "What do you say?" 

"I.."

Oh God.  Is it going to be just the two of us?  Is it a.. date?

Immediately the negative, pessimistic side of my mind took over.  Shut up, Iseul.  Of course it's not a date.  He's only making it up to you because he probably pitied you cos you've never been anywhere in your stupid sorry life.  Yeah, that's probably it. 

I look up at Kai, who, if I didn't know better, would be able to describe as a little nervous now.  Was that it?  Or was he just being nice?  Because he is?

"Give me 5 minutes."  I tell him, running back to my room to get ready. 

I shut the door behind me, nearly banging it, and leaned on it, breathing hard.  My heart's hammering ridiculously hard on my ribcage.  I feel it, and I bring a hand up to my chest in hopes of soothing it a little.  Oh God.  Oh God, why am I like this?  Why am I so nervous?  It's just Kai.  It's not like he's going to hold your hand or compliment you or anything. He's probably going to be mean and bratty like always.  No reason to delude yourself, Iseul.  Pull yourself away from the door and get dressed.  Nicely. 

I do as my brain told me to.  Opening my wardrobe which is starting to fill with my stuff already, I pull out a cropped, puffy sweater and my black jeans with scratched rips on the knee and one on my left thigh. Taking my small black go-to bag, I powder my face lightly, fill my eyebrows in a bit, and spritz my toner on my face.  Just so I won't smell like bedsheets and depression.  After a moment's consideration, I decide to apply a bit of tinted lip gloss on my lips, you know, just in case we meet anyone I know, or Kai knows-- so I won't be such an embarrassment. Twisting my hair and tousling it a bit, I gave myself on last look on the mirror before heading out. 

My so-called date for the night is waiting outside, stuffing what seems to be his wallet and his keys into his pocket.  "Are we really going?"  I ask, still in disbelief.

"Why, you don't want to?" 

"I didn't say that."  I shoot back, barely holding my tongue.  "What about Jongguk?  Should I wake him up?"

"Were you going to take Jongguk with you if you went with Mark?"

"No."

"Then leave him be.  The guys are coming up in a few minutes.  They were at McDonalds and I've asked them to come back already."  Kai answers, slipping on his shoes. 

"Why didn't you go to McDonald's with them?"  I ask before I could think better of it. 

"Because I want to make it up to you?"  Kai answers, throwing me a weird look.  "Now are you ready or what?"

I obediently slip into my chunky black ankle boots and give Jongguk's room one last look.  "Will he be okay?"

"I told you, I've already--"

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. 

Kai looks at me with his lips pressed.  "That's them."

Without even opening the door for whoever is on the other side, the door flew open on its own accord.  "Hello there!"

And yup, that's them indeed.  Suho, D.O., Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Sehun trailing into Kai's penthouse one by one.  Judging from the size of the plastic bags they're all holding and the all too familiar outline of a certain green bottle bulging from it, they're planning to make this short babysitting duty the part of a lifetime. 

"He wasn't lying!"  Sehun whispers loudly to D.O., who's just staring at us with wide Jupiter eyes. 

"What's all that?" Kai narrows his eyes at the aforementioned green bottles. 

Baekhyun proudly holds up the plastic bag.  "This, my friend, is nothing that you should be paying attention to.  We're here, Kai, so don't worry.  You two can run along on your little date now." 

"It's not a date!"  We both yell back in unison, surprisingly enough. 

"You can fool yourself all you want,"  Bakehyun shakes his head mockingly,  "but you can't fool me.  Now, if you guys aren't leaving, Chanyeol and I have plenty of better things to do at my place--"

"Aish, okay okay we're leaving!!"  Kai yells, dragging me out.  "Just don't wake my son up!" 

"Arrasso!" Suho calls, closing the door behind us. 

Kai clears his throat, his tough demeanor crumbling.  "It's not a date."  He blurts suddenly, out of the blue. 

"Tell that to Baek, not me.  I know it isn't."  I reply, crossing my arms. 

"Good.  Let's go." 

Without waiting for my response Kai heads towards the elevator and presses the down button.  I scoff but follow him nonetheless.

Once inside, Kai looks up towards the corner of the elevator towards the security camera and a green beam of light hit him right in the eye.  It scans his retina, as I have come to know, and immediately, a new set of buttons appear.  Just like what my card does, but for Kai it's his eye that does the trick.

He presses one of them and the doors slide close, taking us down in the grey metal box. 

"Where's that one taking us?"  I ask, peering at the button Kai just pressed. Kai's eye opened up a whole new set of buttons.  My card only reveals a P button,  which is where I spend 100% of my time here in HOC.  One day, I vow to myself, I'm going to see where all the other buttons take me. 

"The basement."  Kai says, leaning on elevator wall across me. 

"Doesn't B take you to the basement?"  I ask, looking at the set of buttons that are originally already on the wall. 

"Yes, but B1-" he gestured to it, "takes us to my basement."

I my head to the side and stare at Kai.  Hard.  He reciprocates.  "What?"

"You have your own basement."  I state. 

"Not entirely my own..."  Kai shrugs.  "The guys and I share it."

"What do you keep in your basement that can't be in the regular basement?" 

The elevator does it usually dinging thing, indicating we've arrived, and the doors slide open once more.  Kai pushes himself of the wall and turns to leave.  He glances at me sideway, and with an air of haughtiness that looks irresistibly y on him, he says, "My own car."

So what I've been riding all this time isn't his car?  Kai gets more mysterious by the minute. 

Once again, I tail him out and see what he means.  OH.  That's his own car. 

I've only realized, as I walk up closer to it, that I've seen it somewhere before... somewhere like a... James Bond movie.

"Aston Martin."  I whisper, trailing a hand on its gleaming silver paint.  "Kai, I think I want to quit and work as a security guard in HOC."

"Don't be stupid."  Kai waves a hand at me and opens the door for me, a gesture that some may deem cute but I'm sure it's because he doesn't want my clumsy hands to scratch the paint. 

"Is that a Maserati?" I stare in awe at the  metallic blue beauty several parking spaces blocks away.

"Suho calls it Clarity."  Kai says, throwing a glance at it.  "What can I say?  He's been a millionaire since birth.  He doesn't let anyone eat in it."

I can't help but giggle.  "So men really do name their cars!  And the Bentley?"

"Jaywalker, Baekhyun's."  Kai is now giving me a tour of this ing posh basement.  "He jaywalks a lot and decided to name his car after his favourite hobby.  I don't like how thick Bentleys are, personally."

"Yeah, me neither.  The Porsche?"  I ask, pointing to a very expensive looking Porsche that I've never seen on the streets before. 

"D.O., and that's Titanium.  Because it's white, you see? He never drives it during rush hour."

"I bet the cheque made him do that.  What about the Jaguar?" 

Jesus, I'm beginning to feel like I'm in an auctioning room. 

"Chanyeol's, and that's like the second most expensive model they have.  Try and guess what it's called?"

"...Mercury?" I guess, looking at its metallic grey color. 

"It's called Kitten.  It's ing called Kitten!  When he got it, he was like, hey I got a Jaguar and I'm going to name it after some lousy animal, the complete opposite of it, like... kitten!"

I laugh.  "Kittens aren't lousy!"

"I think that's a secret of his.  You know, being called kitten."

"People nickname others kitten?!"

"During .  Sometimes."  Kai shrugs, and my jaw drops for the 50th time that day. 

"So um, beside Kitten, that.. Tesla?" 

"That's Vegas.  Sehun keeps on saying someday he's going to drive that baby of his to Vegas."  Kai rolls his eyes.  I laugh and walk back to Kai's waiting Aston Martin. 

"And this?  Which model is it?" I ask, hopping inside. 

Kai cracks a small smile.  "It's a new DB9."

"What is it called?  Bond?"

"Nope. MI6."  Kai winks, before getting into the driver's seat himself. 

"If one of you guys owned a Ferrari, or a Lambo, or a Bugatti or maybe even a Rolls-Royce, I might start to think I'm actually working for the mafia or something."  I joke, laughing. 

Kai gives me a shocked look before chuckling along a bit.  "Of course not.  But you know, the Maybach Exelero jumps a little ahead of what you mentioned.... it costs $8 million and is said to be the most expensive car in the world right now." 

"Holy , and do you want that overpriced little piece of ?!"

"No, I'm happy enough with the power to control the whole MI6."  He jokes, patting the steering wheel.  For those of you not getting it, MI6 is the name of the secret organization Bond works for.  "Seatbelt."

As soon as I click it on Kai glides his MI6 smoothly up a ramp and onto the quiet streets of Seoul under a starry sky. 

I can't help but stare around me.  The inside compartment, in one word, is neat.  Totally neat.  I'm sitting on the finest, smoothest leather I've ever landed my poor on.  It smells like dollar bills and new cars, both of which I'm pretty sure it essentially is.  I smile giddily to myself.  Gee, I'm in the passenger seat of an Aston Martin right now!  Life is good.

"Oh!  A full moon!"  I cry, pasting my greasy forehead on the speck-free window. 

"YAH! NO PRESSING YOUR SWEATY FOREHEAD ON MY BILLION WON WINDOW!" Kai yells, eliciting the exact reaction I was expecting.

"Aish. So can I wipe my hands on it?"  I ask, chortling happily as I wipe my hands all over the window, smearing it with handprints. 

Kai suddenly makes a u-turn.  "You.  I'm throwing you out.  That's it.  This whole plan is being aborted.  You can go back to sleep."

"Noooo!!" I wail, jerking a bit in my seat at the centripetal motion.  "Fine fine fine I'll wipe it off--"

"NOT WITH YOUR SLEEVES YOU IMBECILE!  DUST AND RANDOM PARTICLES WILL GET STUCK TO IT!!"

"THEN WITH WHAT?  MY UNDERWEAR??" 

"AISH, open that compartment in front of you!!"  Kai says impatiently.

"What compart-- oh.  Uh.. how do I-- oh, here we go.  What do I do now, your highness?"

"Take that blue cylinder.  You'll find a piece of cloth in it." 

"Woooo."  I whistle at the cloth he mentioned.  "What is it, silk?"

"No, finest cashmere.  Just wipe, Seul." 

"There isn't an automatic window wiper on this thing?"  I say, still feeling the soft, rubbery thing in my hand

"That would look ugly on the car.  Yah, wipe properly!"

"I am!  What's wrong now?"

"Gently!  Don't be harsh on my baby!"

"Gee, you love MI6 more than Jongguk, don't you??"  I quip sarcastically. 

"Aish, do it like this, woman."  Kai presses a button, and suddenly, the car starts driving by itself.  Cool!!  An autopilot mode!

Before I can say that out loud, Kai's leans over in my direction, his whole face and upper body in front of me.  I blink, unprepared.  He snatches the cloth away from me and starts wiping his precious window, rattling on about how I should've done it, and I'm not really listening because how could I really?  Oh, his shampoo.  It smells wonderful, like mint, coffee, and ambition--even better than this car.  And oh God, his hair looks so soft.  It's so black and thick and shiny and I want to feel it in my fingers.  His eyelashes, delicate as snowflakes.. His...

"YAH, ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME OR NOT?!"

I jump a bit and bite my lip, a bit flustered.  "Yeah yeah, now can you just go back to driving?  I don't think we should trust the autopilot feature that much."

Kai tchs impatiently.  "You didn't hear a word I said did you?  You were to busy staring at my freaking hair.  Why, did you want to touch it?"

"No thank you."  I say quickly, looking out the window.  Kai narrows his eyes at me and throws the sacred cloth on my lap, and I give his window a good little wipe with it one more time before I roll it back into its tube and shut the compartment door back close.  

"Slowly!" Kai complains, as whiny as ever. 

"God, what would you do if I accidentally scratched your car with a stick?"

"I'd beat you with that stick and run you over with my car, that's what. Wanna try?"

"No thanks, I choose life.  I have a question; how is the HOC paying you guys exactly?  Gold bars?"

"Diamonds.  Only of the finest cut."

"Seriously, Kai.  Are you really only just a security guard?  Because I'm pretty sure this car alone costs the annual salary of all the security guards in SNU." 

"Well, I do get overtime bonuses."  Kai shrugs.  "And raises."

"Still... an Aston Martin?!"

"I negotiated the price a bit."

"But still!!"

"Aish, just let it go!  You don't know how much Suho's car costs." 

"I just feel like there's something you're not telling me.  Like, all those cars?  I might be stupid, Kai, but I'm not oblivious!" 

"Hmm."  Kai hums non-comittedly, and I get the feeling he doesn't want to be questioned anymore so I let it drop.

"So um, where are we going?"  I decide to ask as Kai goes right. 

"You were going to see a musical with Mark earlier tonight right?"  He asks, sounding a bit more eager now. 

"Yeah, Hamilton."

"Well I obviously can't make that happen... but I can take you to another show."  Kai looks sideways at me, one hand on the wheel.  Urgh, does he have to be so attractive at times?!

"What is it?"

"Now You See Me 2.  Premiers midnight."  he grins, showing me the midnight premier cinema schedule on his phone.

"Two tickets to the Now You See Me 2 midnight premier please."  Kai says as we enter a posh part of the cinema that I never venture into.  Because I usually wait till the movie goes off the premier section and into the regular one, where the ticket price will decrease by... half, maybe?  But then again, I'm with a guy who drives an Aston Martin.  He really wasn't kidding when he said he'd make it up to me, I guess. 

"Where would you like to sit?"

Kai nudges me.  "You choose." 

"Um... here?"  I ask, pointing to a spot in the middle.  But I'm a little distracted by the seating map... the seats look different from they usually do in the usual studios.

Oh crap.  Oh no.

Okay okay, calm down Iseul!  It's probably not it.  You stop hyperventilating over nothing and act like a normal human being. 

"There."  Kai says, nodding to the spot I'm pointing at. 

The girl hands Kai our tickets and I quickly whip out my wallet, not wanting to let Kai pay for me. 

"Don't even think about it."  He says in a bored voice, calmly taking out his own wallet from his pocket.  Note to self:  in the future possibilities of needing to steal Kai's wallet-- it is the back pocket, right side.

"It's not a date."  I say firmly, handing the cashier girl a wad of cash, who's now looking at Kai with interest.

"But I told you I was going to make it up to you.  Were you going to pay for the musical you were supposed to go?"

"Um...." I rack my brain.  Did Mark say anything??   Oh yes, I was!  I think it was for the prom fundraising right?  "Yeah, there are tickets for it!  Mark said--"

"Yeah and Mark probably would've paid for it too.  So."  Kai turns to the girl staring at us in confusion.  "Don't take any of her money." 

In the end, Kai paid for everything, obviously.  We wander around, trying to find the studio.  There's not many people around at this time, so the soft piano music playing in the background tinkled clearly in my ears. 

"Food?  Drinks?"  My fellow associate suddenly asks. 

"Drink." I answer.  "And I'm paying for myself."

I get a lemon tea with grass jelly and Kai orders an iced espresso. 

"You get a free bag of popcorn with two drinks."  The artificially blond guy behind the counter says, looking a bit sleepy.  "Sweet or salty?"

Kai and I look at each other for a moment.  "Sweet."  We both say at the same time, and my eyes widen in amazement.  Who knew that this cyborg still had a little sweetness in him?

Armed with food and drinks, we finally head into the premier studio.  "Oh crap."  I whisper, more for myself.  I was right.  The premier studio has less seats, which meant the seats was spaced out more sparsely and are also much bigger, like a reclinable sofa.  The best part?  They are placed two by two, which means.... yep.

"I'm not even going to try anything weird on you, so you can stop whispering 'oh crap' now."  Kai says, walking past me and straight to our seat.

"I-I know!"  I stutter as I follow Kai, who either ignored me on purpose or did not hear what I said.

"Did you see the first one?"  I ask Kai as we settle down, Kai reclining comfortably on his seat with a handful of popcorns already, and me, sitting upright and not quite relaxed yet. 

"Mmm."  Kai nods, munching.  "Henley was hot.  Shame she's not here anymore."

"I don't think the new girl looks that bad."   I offer, pushing myself down on the seat a little.  

"We'll see.  Are you gonna freak out?"  He asks as the lights dim, indicating that the show is starting soon. 

"No, I've been to the movies plenty of times, remember?"

"Oh yeah, you once tried to sneak into one too didn't you? The time I had to rescue you from the police office."

I feel my cheeks heating.  "Yeah, but you pulled quite a stunt of your own too, right?  How did Dae get behind the officer's wheel?"

"It is my business to know and yours to wonder."  In the dim light, I can see Kai smile enigmaticly.  Why?  Why?  Why is he doing all this?  Why would he want to make it up to me by taking me out for a midnight adventure in his Aston Martin, ing up all my feelings as he goes? 

WHY IS HE SO NICE ALL OF A SUDDEN??

Relax Iseul.  Just sit back and focus on the movie.  I repeat it to myself over and over again like a mantra as I fiddle with a little button on my side. 

"Honestly, Iseul.  Relax a bit will you?  If you like sitting up so much I should've just registered you a place for some piano exam!"

"It's dark, you idiot!  And there's a dude beside me!"

"I thought you said it didn't bother you?!"

"It doesn't!"

"Well, relax then!"

"I can't!  How do you make the chair recline?!"

"Aish, have you never been in a premier studio before?"

"Some of us aren't paid with diamonds, you know."

"Your boyfriend never took you to one?"

I shoot Kai an irritated glance.  "He's not my boyfriend."

Kai clucks his tongue softly.  "Shame, isn't it?"

"Whatever." I mumble, finally getting the damn couch to recline.

"Hey, don't get sulky.  I bet he's going to take you to prom."

"I don't know..."

"Or does he have.... another woman?"  Kai says, a little playfully, but it really got me thinking.  Suzy...?

"I don't know."  I sigh.

"Well, you can take Jonnguk to keep you company during prom, if you like.  I'm sure he'd be excited."

I glare at Kai.  "Yeah, and let him run off to bathe in the punch bowl this time?  I'm not letting that kid anywhere within a 5 km radius of SNU."

Kai laughs.  "You're never going to let it go, are you?"

"Never, Mr Kim.  You should be prepared."

"Arrasso.  Do you feel more relaxed now, Ms Seo?"

I blink, realizing that now I'm already a little more reclined and my feet are-- whoa, when did they get up here? 

"Yeah."  I nod slowly, crossing my legs as I snuggle down further in my seat.

"Good."  Kai turns to face the screen.  "Don't fall asleep." 

“What… the… ing…. hell.”  I breathe, as the closing credits roll in front of my eyes.  “YAH!  WHAT THE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRCASE?!”

“Son of a …”  Kai gasps.  “So it was all… planned?!  PLANNED?!  WHO THE HAS TIME FOR THAT?!”

“What were they looking at in the end?!” I shriek, still not wanting to believe that the film was over. 

“How did Daniel Atlas even stop the rain?!”  Kai asks, gesturing at the screen wildly. 

“He used the trick from the Chinese shop!  Remember?  When Dave Franco saw that thing by the cashier where the water droplets seemed to the freeze in mid-air?  He used that concept!  He just did it in a bigger scale with the lights at the bottom and the sprinkler at the top and the—“

“Yeah but HOWWW??  And where did the dude who went into the teleportation cabinet go?  I have so many freaking questions!  What the ?!”

“The thing I’d like to know is how in the world did Dave Franco get so hot?!  He wasn’t like that in the first movie!” I exclaim, throwing myself back on the seat.  “This is really comfy.”  I say, snuggling down.

“Okay, I’ll tell Dae to pick you up tomorrow.”  Kai says, standing up to leave.

“Yah!”  I quickly jump up, scrambling to put my bag on.  I check my phone.  “2.30 am.  Congratulations Kai, you are officially the first person to take me out past 12 am.” 

“Twelve is your curfew?!”  He says it like it’s the most ridiculous thing on the planet.  “Holy , Iseul, you really have no life.”

“Hey!  I’ve arrived at the age of 21 without being arrested, fined, or kicked out of a place and that’s a pretty good life, isn’t it?”

“No, that’s exactly it.  That’s not living.  That’s just bleakly wandering around the surface of this goddamned planet.”

“I am leading a peaceful life, Kai, and I am pretty content with that.”

“Yeah but don’t you want to know what it feels like to get chased by cops?  And then to break free from them?  To get bailed out of jail?  To get thrown out of a club?  To drunkly wander around the streets and have someone pick you up?  Wait, you did that last one already.”  Kai makes a face, referring to the time I got so wasted in the middle of the day after the Jongguk came to ruin my reputation at SNU.  “Don’t you want to know how it feels like to commit a crime?  A light one, of course.  I’m not saying that you should kill someone or something.  Like, you know, just be a delinquent for once in your life?”

I stare at Kai, who has apparently become the apparition of an evil tempting spirit.  “Satan!”  I howl, pointing at him. 

“Seriously, Iseul, what’s the fun in life if you never do anything you might regret?”  Kai rambles on as we walk out of the cinema.  “Listen, the bad choices always make the best stories.  Take it from me.” 

“And what will I do with an arsenal of interesting stories and a bad reputation in the police office, may I ask you?”

“You will…” Kai pauses and spreads his arms widely for effect, “captivate people.”

I had to laugh out loud at that.  “Kai, I’d just become those people parents warn their children about.”

“You’d have things to laugh and shake your head about when you’re 80.”

“If, with the lifestyle you’re recommending to me right now, I get to that age.” I remind him. 

“Suit yourself, Iseul.”  Kai shoves his hands into his pocket.  “But don’t let yourself be sitting around at the age of 80, sadly wondering where the hell did your life go as you sit on your rocking chair with a cat in your lap and an ugly knitted scarf in your hands.” 

“But it’s just not me, you know?  I don’t want to… do reckless stuff that may end up in the police station and stuff.”

“Well, okay.  Don’t do th

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neonflowers
[Incredible Things] Finally complete! Thank you so much for joining me on this looong whirlwind journey 🥰 hope you join me on my other stories!

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leechoding #1
Chapter 57: Rereading this for 120th time. I'll never get tired of this story. It's like one of the best fics ever written on this app.
samara12 #2
This is the best fic on AFF. I cried when it ended. It felt something was missing from my life after finishing this. You are best writer ever. Some published books are not even this good. Please don’t ever delete this story. Best of best. My favorite fic of alllllll time… I honestly don’t think I will ever find anything better than this. I promise this is not fake flattery. This really is the best!!❤️
xiuminbaek
#3
Chapter 66: Oh my god. It's take me about a week to finish this. I really love this fic so much 😭😭. The roller coaster emotion i am having for this one is so real. The fact that i kinda hate mark so much for leading iseul to think he likes her. And to hate suzy for treating iseul like . I kinda mad at iseul for being kind to much. She's really a forgiving person. She's really quick to forgive mark for everything he did to her. And have him back as her friend. Also she's quick to forgive Suzy for breaking her relationship with jongin 😭. Eventhough the break really helped their relationship a lot. Also lucas appearance really helped too. I wish i could see them being mushy more before iseul getting back with jongin haha. But at last. I love it how iseul is accepting jongin's back. I love the effort jongin have to get iseul back. Everything in this story is so good and i love it. I love u for giving iseul a best friend she deserve like bom. The one who will stick with her. I thought the getting back between iseul and jongin will be a little hard. Like iseul will be playing hard to get or smthg 🤣. But well she loves him so much. And it's good for them...anyway!! Thank you so much for the fic! I enjoyed them so much!!
theshadyone
#4
Chapter 68: Can’t believe I finished reading this, it took me several days of non-stop fangirling and crying but I finally made it! Thank you for the ride, I simply loved this story with all my heart 💜
Ekale_erie
#5
Chapter 13: I'm seriously doubting Mark!
And who's this new person now?
Ekale_erie
#6
Chapter 12: Don't know why I feel suspicious of Mark...
Ekale_erie
#7
Chapter 8: Oh my God! That last line is just aksjskakakja!!
Ekale_erie
#8
Chapter 5: Jongguk is such a cute lil ball of sunshineeeee!