It was 3:00 PM. After spending the past two hours cleaning my apartment, I had made barely any progress. It had taken me two months to even start cleaning, but I guess even from that I should have assumed that little was going to get done. I had about two more days to finish cleaning and gathering my belongings before I had to move for my first job out of university. Perhaps it was time to take a break, I could really go for some coffee.

 

    As I walked into my kitchen, I noticed piles of old photo books. How did I get to this point? I swore I was cleaner as a child. I’ll just ignore the mess for now.

 

    I opened the cupboard and grabbed my favourite mug, covered in galaxy designs. I continued to search through, picking the first tea I saw that looked caffeinated and filled my mug with hot water waiting for it to brew. Once I had sat down, I heard my phone buzz. Looking over, I read the screen. I had several unread messages, the first being from about three hours ago.

 

“Hey Kai! Up for coffee tomorrow?” I read. Taemin was always really enthusiastic about coffee, even in high school. He was the only friend I actually kept in contact with since then, especially because we went to the same university.

“No reply? Let me know soon!” I need to start checking my phone more often. Either way, I have nothing to do and I would love to talk to Taemin,  perhaps I’ll go.

“Sure. Have a time planned?” I replied. Almost immediately my phone buzzed again.

“Does 11:30 AM sound good?” Not too early, I could still sleep in.

“Yeah, sounds good!” Maybe I’ll tell him about my new job…

“Oh, before you head off, I thought I should let you know that I have a surprise for you!” He said, sparking my curiosity.

“Any spoilers?” I responded, hoping to get something out of him.

“Nope ;) See you then!” Taemin said, ending our conversation for the time being.

“I’m looking forward to it! See you tomorrow!” I respond, pretty excited for the coffee tomorrow.

 

    I continued waiting for my tea to brew, as I paced around my kitchen. I could hear rain starting to fall outside, making a peaceful sounding rhythm. I started to close my eyes, trying to relax.

 

“She's my cherry pie, cool drink of water such a sweet surprise, tastes so…” My phone started to ring, the obnoxious song removing me from my relaxed state.

“Oh for god’s sake! Why did I choose that awful song in the first place?” I groaned under my breath.  I’ll have to change that at some point...

 

    The song started to fade away and I left my phone untouched. I’ll check who it was later.

I looked over to my kitchen island, as I eyed one of the chairs. My tea looked sufficiently brewed, but it could probably use some milk. I shuffled over to my fridge, picking out the only milk I could drink, unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Being a lactose intolerant-vegan limits my diary alternative choices, but you gotta do what you gotta do. While I shook the bottle, I moved the cup closer towards me and poured it in until it seemed like there was enough. How many almonds had died for this milk to be made? I didn’t really want to know at this point.

 

    I sat down and started to sip at my tea, the warm beverage heating up my stomach and complementing the rainy and calming atmosphere. Observing my surroundings, I noticed the photobooks from earlier scattered across the counter. Maybe I’ll look through them as I drink my tea…and avoid cleaning for just a few more minutes.

 

    Flipping open the first book I saw a collection of photos from when I was one or two years old. I always hated having photos taken of me, so in every photo I was either looking away or covering my face with my hands. It had ruined most of the photos, but I still do that today, so I guess any commentary on that might be hypocritical.

 

    Leaving the other book behind, I opened one from the time when I was in highschool. My friend Kyungsoo had put this together back when we still hung out in high school. The pages were filled with class photos, pictures from events, and photos Kyungsoo had taken of us and other friends. I continued to flip through, a smile appearing on my face.

 

    As I came across one of the last pages my smile started to fade. I had never reached this point in the book before and I hadn’t seen this photo before. It was a rare picture, one where I was sleeping, my face completely exposed with a stupid grin on it.

“That snake…” I mumbled. When did he even take that photo?

 

More photos covered the page, most of them being of me and Kyungsoo, the exception being the occasional photo with Taemin or some other friends. In every single photo I had some sort of silly facial expression or my face wasn’t even visible. I looked more and more at the photos, during which a feeling of regret and guilt started to come over me. My tea started to taste less pleasant and increasingly bland, as I sat in my chair staring blankly at the book.

 

- Seven Years Earlier -

 

    Me and Kyungsoo were sitting in my living room, surrounded by video games, unhealthy beverages and chips as we relaxed after a long day of exams.

“Kai, up for a game?” Kyungsoo sits over beside me, handing me a beat up looking controller.

“Definitely. Just be prepared to lose.” I reply, making a joke. Exams just finished and high school was almost over. I was having a great time and I didn’t have to worry about anything for the first time in a while.

 

    “Looks like you were wrong Kai!” Kyungsoo says sticking his tongue out at me, after defeating me several times in Street Fighter, our game of choice.

“You cheated.” I say looking defeated, while lying on the couch.

“Liar!” Kyungsoo says in response, still feeling quite proud about his success.

“You know how I’m moving to London soon?” Kyungsoo continues on. I nod, realizing he has to leave.

“Yeah, what about it?” I say, looking at my feet, which were sockless and bare.

“I’m putting together a photo album of us and our friends before I leave…” He answers.

“..and?” I say, knowing he is obviously getting to something.

“Just be prepared for lots of photos!” He says in response, earning a groan from myself.

Just as he says this, Kyungsoo takes his phone out.

“Smile!” Just as he takes the photo I make an annoyed face.

“Really Kyungsoo? You know I don’t like photos taken of me?” I say, displeased.

“Just go with it, you never know what you might look like in one~” He sings, in a cheery tone.

 

- Back In Current Time -

 

    “Ugh…” I moaned to myself, thinking back to myself in high school. Looking back at the photo albums I could see how awful I looked in all of the images. Was the idea of preserving the moment really that bad? Even now, I continue to place myself above it.

 

    Yawning, I moved my hand back over to my tea, lifting it up for a final sip. God, does it taste terrible. As I walked over to the sink to throw away the now revolting tea, I felt a wave of tiredness come over myself.

“Time to sleep, I guess…” I mumbled. At least I had done something today. I continued walking towards my room. Briefly looking at the clock, I changed into my pajamas and lied down underneath the covers, covering myself so that I could hide from the now cold, rainy air.

“I wonder what the surprise will be…” I whispered to myself, closing my eyes, dreaming about the next day.

 

- The Next Morning -

 

    Opening my eyes, I heard the sound of muffled music playing around my room.

“Cherry pie… Sweet Surprise” The few words that I picked up informed me of what was happening immediately. A phone call. Is it the number from yesterday? I guess I never checked. Looking at my screen I saw Taemin’s number multiple times.

“Why would he be calling” I say to to myself, ultimately more confused than anything. I should probably call him back. As I dialed his number, I looked outside my window, seeing that the rain from yesterday had dried.

“Oh, at least it will be nice outside…” I whispered.

“What was that Kai?” Wait, when did Taemin pick up?

“Oh, nevermind, I didn’t realize you had picked up.” I responded, a little embarrassed.

“No problem, in any case, I just wanted to confirm the coffee thing…” Taemin explained.

“Yeah, I’ll be there at 11:30 as planned.” I said, confirming the meeting.

“It’s nice to see you having some fun now then, I’ll see you then!” he finished, quickly hanging up immediately afterwards.

 

    I quickly walked over to my closet, picking out a suitable outfit for a coffee meetup.

“Wait a second… I haven’t actually gone out with friends for a while…” I spoke aloud, realizing that I wasn’t quite sure what was appropriate. It’s Taemin though, I shouldn’t need to dress formally or anything. I doubt the surprise calls for any particular style as well. I grabbed a random button-up shirt and jeans, slipping them on with a pair of galaxy converse, with the stylish addition of gold shoelaces. Looking over at my clock, I read the time as 11:05.

“Oh damn! I gotta go!” I say sharply, walking outside of my apartment quickly. Outside of my building, on the large busy street filled with cars and lights, I flag over a cab. Quickly getting in, I tell him the destination and we start moving.

 

    While I opened the cab door, the driver handed me the cash back from the fare that I paid. I stepped out onto the sidewalk, looking down the street, trying to locate the coffee shop. I walked down the street, stepping into the warm atmosphere, filled with people talking and chatting over their warm drinks. I observed my surroundings, looking for Taemin.

“Yo’ Punk! Over here!” I heard someone yell in a joking manner, their laughter almost completely masking their words. I looked to where I thought the sound had come from, to see Taemin and a familiar looking man waving at me. I waved back, glad to see Taemin. Was the other guy sitting with him the surprise?

 

    “Hey Taemin! Nice to see you! Who is this?” I said to Taemin as I sat down in the third chair around the circular table. The other person sitting at the table looked sad when I said this.

“Do you not remember me, Kai?” He replied, picking his phone out of his bag. Calming pulling me over he opened his phone’s camera and posed for a picture. Wait…

“Kyungsoo? Wait, I thought you were in England?” I cried out, a little bit louder than I had intended.

“Yep, it’s me! I’ve been back for about a month.” He answered, with a large smile on his face.

“I haven’t seen you for so long, this is awesome.” I replied to him, just as happy.

“This was the surprise I assume?” I said in a questioning tone to Taemin, already sure of it.

“Maybe?” He replied, with a smirk on his face.

“Hey Taemin, Kai, could you come over here for a second?” Kyungsoo asked, interrupting my thoughts.

Me and Taemin walked over beside him, wondering why he had requested for us to do so.

Kyungsoo quickly pulled us beside him, putting his phone out in front of us for a photo, for the second time.

“Save the memories, right?” Kyungsoo said jokingly. “Yeah, sure…” I replied. Taemin  nods in response as well. Kyungsoo opened the camera on his phone and took several photos, with different poses. He then passed me the phone, allowing me to look over the photos, thinking back at what I used to do. I can finally see my face clearly in a photo for the first time since I was a little kid. I laughed, then I handed the phone back, giving him a thumbs up.

”I think you’ve finally gotten out of your old habits, Kai.” Kyungsoo whispered to me, ligntening up at the prospect of actually having me cooperate for once.

“Only for you!” I said in an excited, but hushed tone. Kyungsoo quickly looked over.

“Sorry, what was that?” He asked me. I could see Taemin holding back a grin. Clearly his hearing had changed, similar to how I was changing now.

“Oh I said, I think maybe I have…” I said in response, a long gone smile appearing on my face.

 

I think I’ll keep that photo, I think the memories are worth it, at this point.

 

“Kyungsoo, want to make a new photo album?” I ask him.

“I never thought you would ask…” He responds in a playful tone.

The End

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Thank you so much for reading my story! If you have any ideas for a story or oneshot, let me know!

I would love to hear what you think of this, whether it is good or bad. Thank You!