Sunday Afternoon

“You want to go instead?” Shane asked, not even bothering to contain a smile.

“Yeah, why not? I don’t mind and you had to work all night, so I don’t mind going to get K, really,” Kayla smiled.

Shane chuckled, “You don’t have to explain to me, by all means, you can go on.”

Kayla grinned, hurrying around to get her keys and windbreaker, “Ok great, we may stop to get lunch if he’s up for it, so we may not be back right away.”

“Alright, he just sent me a text letting me know they’ve landed, so you better hurry since he doesn’t have a carryon so he’ll be…” Shane stopped as she stormed out the door, a huge smile on his lips.

~~~

Kayla hurried out the car and into the airport. She rushed to the baggage claim and waited, looking at the prompter she saw his flight’s luggage was set to come through, which meant he should be on his way anytime.

Walking back to the center of the area, she started to pace a bit, unable to stand still. She looked around, where was he? It was taking entirely too long for him to get there, she hoped she hadn’t missed him and that he wasn’t wandering around looking for Shane.

She stopped, he was expecting Shane, what if he would be disappointed that she was there? Kayla hadn’t thought of that until now. She wanted to surprise him, it was exciting for her, but she hadn’t even considered him. She let out a breath, she lifted her head, her eyes widened, there was K, making his way to her, a huge smile on his face. Her eyes lit up and she waved frantically as she hurried over to him, all thoughts of calmness out the window.

“K!” She said as she came up to him.

“Kayla ssi, hi! It’s great to see you, what a nice surprise,” Kyu Jong beamed.

She reached out suddenly, grabbing his hand, “It’s good to see you too! Feels like it’s been forever and not just two weeks. How are you? Did you have a nice flight? How about we go out for a quick lunch, I bet you’re starving and tired,” she babbled.

Kayla couldn’t help it, she was so excited to see him, to have him back with her, she couldn’t contain herself.

Kyu Jong smiled wider, “Sure Kayla ssi, I would like to get lunch. I’m doing well and the flight was pretty good, long.”

“I bet; I don’t know that I could do it. You can pick what we eat,” she said as they made their way out and over to her car.

Once on the road, it was decided by Kyu Jong that they would go for burgers and Kayla suggested “Five Guys” to which Kyu Jong had advised her he never had before. Once there, they headed into the restaurant. After ordering, they took a seat, Kayla brought over a small tray filled with peanuts and set them down. She watched as Kyu Jong’s face lit up as he took one, cracking it open and tossing them into his mouth, munching away.

“I bet it was good to go home,” she said suddenly, grabbing a nut for herself.

He nodded, “Yes, I missed my home very much, so it was great to go back and see my family and everyone.”

“How are your parents? I’m sure they were glad to have you back,” she smiled.

Kyu Jong nodded again, “Ne, they were glad to see me, my Mom was upset that I had to go again. It’s not that she wasn’t used to it, I traveled a lot with the group, but that was primarily in Asia. I’m a bit further away now and I think she has to get used to it again. If things take off here, I will be coming here more often. I don’t want to think too far ahead and worry her for no reason, so…” he shrugged.

“Aww I’m sure it’s hard. I’d miss Shane if he were gone for long, even though the thought sounds appealing,” she chuckled.

Kyu Jong shook his head, “Kayla…”

“Well it does! I’d change my mind eventually…I think,” she giggled.

He shook his head again in amusement and their food arrived a few minutes later and they ate, Kyu Jong shocked and amazed by the sheer amount of fries they received each. After eating and proclaiming it was one of the best burgers he’d ever had, they headed home. A few minutes later, they arrived at the townhouses and Kayla and Kyu Jong stopped outside her door.

“Thank for coming to pick me up Kayla ssi,” Kyu Jong announced.

“I didn’t think that maybe you’d be looking forward to seeing Shane until I got to the airport so…” she said nervously.

Kyu Jong chuckled, “I am always glad to see you Kayla.”

She could feel her cheeks warming up, “Thanks K, I’m glad you’re back. I’m glad you enjoyed your visit home, but honestly, I’m even happier to have you back,” she said softly, looking down shyly.

“Aww Kayla, I’m glad I’m back too, I…missed you a lot while I was gone.”

She looked up at him to see his cheeks were flushed too.

“I’m gonna go rest, I will see you later, ok?” Kyu Jong said softly.

Kayla blinked and nodded, watching as he bowed and then headed up to his townhouse.

~~~

A Few Days Later

“So, he’s been back for a few days, I haven’t seen you this happy in months,” Lillian grinned, taking the paperwork from the patient and setting it on the pile.

“I am no different,” Kayla groaned.

“Yeah right, you’re practically prancing around the office, even the Dr. noticed,” Liz chuckled.

“He has?” Kayla frowned, printing the document she just finished typing.

“He asked if something was going on with you,” Liz nodded.

Kayla shook her head, “Honestly, I’m no different. I mean, I’m glad he’s back and all, but it hasn’t affected my life that much.”

Liz and Lillian both stopped to look at her and Kayla’s eyes widened.

“It hasn’t!” She cleared , “Anyway, the Sony Company part is coming up. Shane asked me to go again this year. I keep telling him to invite Chanile, but he’s too much of a chicken,” she said, rushing to change the subject.

“It’s that time already?” Lillian commented before answering the now ringing phone.

“Yeah, it comes up so fast and now I have to go dress shopping,” Kayla sighed.

“I love dress shopping,” Liz sighed wistfully.

“Good, then you’re coming with me,” Kayla smirked.

“If I’m not busy you can count on it,” she grinned.

“You too Lillian,” Kayla said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

“Ok fine, how about inviting Chanile too? Maybe we can all finally hang out,” Lillian reasoned as she hung up the phone.

Kayla’s eyes lit up, “Yes, great idea! I’ll call her tonight and see when she’s available and see what we can all work out.”

Liz gave her a thumbs up and Lillian winked before turning back to the window as the last person came up before the office closed for lunch.

“Uh…uh Kayla?”

She turned to see a slightly confused but curious Lillian looking at her.

“There’s a guy here for you, he has bags in his hands.”

Kayla frowned, “A guy? Terrance?”

Lillian shook her head, “No, I know Terrance, he is definitely not Terrance. No, this man is Asian.”

Kayla blinked and hurried over behind Lillian’s chair, her eyes widening, “K!”

Lillian quickly slid the small door open and Liz rushed over behind Kayla, looking intently.

“Hello Kayla ssi, I don’t mean to bother you at work.”

“Not at all, hold on, let me come out,” she said, hurrying out the door.

She made her way around and into the lobby where Kyu Jong was waiting for her.

“K, what are you doing here?”

“I brought you and your co-workers lunch,” he stated, lifting the bags up for her to see.

“Aww K! You didn’t have to do that,” she stared at him in awe.

Turning she looked to see Liz and Lillian try to act as if they weren’t watching. She waved for them to come out and the two hurriedly dropped what they were doing and made their way out the door and into the lobby. Kayla shook her head, looked like they were finally going to get their wish. Liz and Lillian made their way into the lobby, grinning broadly at Kyu Jong.

“Liz, Lillian, this is Kyu Jong Kim, K, these are my friends and co-workers Liz and Lillian, they have been chomping at the bit to meet you,” Kayla smirked, shaking her head.

Kyu Jong smiled before bowing, “Hello, it is nice to meet you, Kayla ssi has told me a lot about you Liz and Lillian ssi.”

“You too!” Liz grinned.

“Nice to meet you Kyu Jong,” Lillian smiled, giggling.

Kayla rolled her eyes, “Ladies, K was nice enough to bring us lunch so…”

“You did?!” Liz asked excitedly, her eyes wide.

“Ne, I was in the area running some errands and I found out from Shane hyung where you worked so I thought I’d surprise you all. I brought Korean, mianhae, I didn’t know what you to get that you’d all like or eat, so I got an assortment of different things for you to try,” Kyu Jong smiled nervously.

“Oooo, I’ve never had Korean before,” Liz cried, looking at the bags.

“Me either,” Lillian agreed, looking at Kyu Jong in admiration.

“Well what better time to try than now?” Kayla announced, getting a kick out of the two women, Kyu Jong certainly had a way with the charm.

“You should join us!” Liz stated suddenly.

“Yeah!” Lillian grinned.

Kayla smiled and looked over at Kyu Jong.

“Oh, ani, I don’t want to get you in trouble, I can just drop this off here and…”

“No way! We’re allowed to have friends and family here for lunch with us and we’re all friends now, let’s go,” Lillian said, coming over to hook her arm through his as Liz reached out to take the two overstuffed bags from him as they led him into the office and into the breakroom. Kayla trailed behind, shaking her head in amusement.

Lillian coughed a bit, “Whew, that is spicy! I’m usually good with spice, but this…this is a whole other level of spice! Wow,” she cleared , wiping at with a napkin before reaching out to take more.

Kayla watched in delight, chuckling. She looked over at Liz who was popping a piece of pork belly in and she moaned in pleasure.

“That is so good,” she sighed.

“Glad you like it, try it as a wrap, put a little garlic and some kimchi, that’s my favorite combination, you make like it,” Kyu Jong suggested.

Liz nodded, grabbing a piece of lettuce and filling it up before stuffing it in , groaning again, slumping in her seat, “Ooo ib’s soooo boood!”

Kyu Jong chuckled and Kayla reached out to grab a rice cake, putting it in and chewing intently. As expected, Lillian and Liz seemed to love Kyu Jong, they bombarded him with questions about the food and Korea and how he enjoyed being in the US so far. Kayla could tell at first, he was a little overwhelmed, but soon he relaxed and seemed to enjoy the questions and the ladies.

Forty-five minutes later, they were all back in the lobby, saying their goodbyes.

“It was so nice to meet you finally Kyu Jong, thank you so much for lunch and giving me and Lillian our first taste of Korean food,” Liz smiled.

Kyu Jong gave them a soft smile, “Ne, it was nice to meet you both as well. Thank you for letting me join you and share my food with you both. I’m glad you both liked it so much.”

“We did, it was delicious, thank you, we’ll have to return the favor and take you out with us sometime,” Lillia said, grinning at Kayla.

Kyu Jong looked stunned, “N-ne, I would like that.”

“Good, we’ll set something up with Kayla then,” Lillian nodded, looking over at Kayla.

“Sure thing ladies,” she laughed.

“Well, I must be going, once again, it was nice to meet you,” Kyu Jong said, bowing again.

Kayla shook her head at the flustered giggles from her co-workers, who bowed back, waving at Kyu Jong as he left after promising Kayla he would text her later. Turning, she looked over at her co-workers who were grinning broadly, Kayla chuckled.

“So, what do you ladies think of Kyu Jong?”

“He’s so sweet!” Liz grinned.

“He is! Wow, that was so nice of him to bring us lunch,” Lillian smiled.

“It was, I wasn’t expecting that at all. It’s been a long time since anyone brought me lunch,” she said softly, giving them a sad smile.

~~~

“Ok K, welcome to your first art lesson,” Kayla grinned, looking at Kyu Jong who looked thrilled.

“We’ll start with the very basics, going over all supplies and such. First as a general overview and then each individual thing with the different types and kinds and whatnot. Of course, feel free to ask any questions you want and when you’re comfortable, we’ll move onto the next item, ok?”

He nodded and Kayla went to her supplies she set up that morning. They’d set up for their first lesson the night that he’d come to bring her lunch at her job. To say the ladies had been excited would be an understatement. She’d heard about it for the next couple of days and Kayla couldn’t help to be happy with them. It said a lot that they liked him so much, Terrance had never received such a warm reception, especially after the first meeting.

They had already planned ahead for them all to get together for the reciprocal lunch. It’d been hard since Kyu Jong was even busier with promotions going on for his album. He had interviews and such going on as well as final preparations for the full release of his album. They’d managed to find time for that and for his first lesson as well as getting ready for their mutual performances coming up in just a few days.

She grabbed a package of pencils and turned to him and they started. Forty minutes later, they sat on the couch, looking the stuff she’d brought over.

“What do you think? Feel pretty confident with the overview or do we need a run throught?”

Kyu Jong shook his head, “Ani, I think I feel pretty good about it so far, you explain it well Kayla ssi.”

“Well thanks K, so long as you feel that way,” she smiled. “Let’s go on.

After about fifteen minutes, they were knee deep in discussion over the different types of paper, when there was a knock at Kayla’s door.

She stood, making her way over, “So you used that for watercolors only, you can feel the difference between that and the paper for pastels, right? Pretty big…Terrance?” Kayla blinked as she opened the door to see Terrance standing there.

“Hey baby,” he smiled.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came by to see you of course.”

She narrowed her eyes, “Why?”

Terrance frowned, “Why? Why not? I wanted to see you, do I need a reason besides that?”

Kayla sighed, “I’m busy Terrance, you could call me or text me first to let me…:

She was cut off as Terrance pushed past her inside. Kayla sighed and shut the door, turning to see Terrance looking coldly at Kyu Jong, who for his part, looked caught totally off guard.

“What’s going on here? This is what you meant by busy?” Terrance asked accusingly, staring at Kyu Jong.

“I’m giving him art lessons.”

Terrance turned to look at her, “Lessons?”

“Yeah.”

“What is it with you?! Why are you always here with my girlfriend?” Terrance fumed.

Kyu Jong’s eyes widened and then something happened, something she’d never seen from Kyu Jong in the short time she’d known him. He looked annoyed, annoyed and angry and as if he were trying hard to hold back as he narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"Hey!" Kayla said firmly.

He looked at her," What?"

“Terrance would you stop it!” She said.

“No, every time I come by, this guy is here, what the hell?”

“Right, where you should be huh?” Kayla snapped.

Terrance looked at her, narrowing his eyes coldly.

“And what about you? You don’t have the courtesy to call me or text me to tell me you’re coming over, it never occurs to you that I may be busy, you’re the only one with a damn life right? Then you’re gonna get mad because I’m hanging out with a friend who…”

“Not just any friend, HIM! It’s always him!” Terrance said angrily.

“What of it Terrance? Huh? What? And HIM has a in’ name, it’s Kyu Jong, use it! And can you for one minute, not come in here acting like a damn ?!” Kayla yelled.

The room went deadly silent and Terrance’s eyes widened in shock.

“I’m so tired of this, really. I don’t wanna fight with you for weeks. If you don’t have anything decent to say and you if you can’t act like a damn civilized human being with manners when you’re in my ing apartment and my friend Kyu Jong is here, then get the hell out ok?” Kayla said angrily, staring hard at him. “I don’t have time for this  Terrance, I don’t and I’m not going to entertain your constant tantrums anymore.”

Terrance looked taken aback, he took a deep breath, the anger radiating off him in waves, as he started for the door.

“And don’t slam the in door either, I’m tired of that too. Kyu Jong is right here, you don’t need to keep reminding him you’re acting like a barbarian,” Kayla stated, turning her back to him.

There was a moments' hesitation before the door opened and then closed. Kayla let out an angry breath, looking over at Kyu Jong.

“He’s a damn moron, I’m tired of apologizing for him Kyu Jong, but I’m sorry for his treatment of you, I mean it.”

Kyu Jong was quiet for a moment, looking at her intently and she shifted, feeling a bit awkward at her suddenly out of character outburst.

“Did you make up with him while I was gone?” He asked softly suddenly.

She blinked, suddenly feeling guilty for some reason. The next thing she knew she was talking, telling him how it was, why it happened.

“…And then he started calling and you were gone and it seemed like I had no other choice. I was lonely and missing you,” she sighed, rubbing at her forehead with her hand, squeezing her eyes shut. “It was easier than to just…I never had that problem before, but since I’ve known you, spent time with you, I’ve gotten stronger and without you here…It was a moment of weakness, done for the wrong reasons. I can’t use you as crutch, but you make things better and I…” she looked up, stopping suddenly he was right in front of her, watching her, her heart started to pound. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to blurt all that out like that to you. I don’t want you to feel…”

“I missed you too,” Kyu Jong said suddenly, cutting her off with quiet his words.

She went absolutely still.

“I won’t do it…” he went on.

She frowned in confusion.

“I won’t leave you again, I won’t go and leave you alone like that,” he whispered, his eyes searching hers intently.

Kayla looked into his eyes, her own welling up, “Promise?”

Kyu Jong brought his hand up to cup her cheek, giving her a gentle smile as she felt a piece of her
heartbreak a bit, knowing he couldn’t promise that.

____________________

A/N: Hey all! Thanks again for joining me for another chapter! Whew, great chapter I think! K returns to an excited and estatic Kayla who couldn't wait for his return. K finally meets Kayla's co-workers who have been dying to meet him. They both seem to really like him as do most people who meet him. But woo boy how bout that blow out with Kayla and Terrance huh? Point Kayla, way to give it to him, it's about time. He was acting like an immature brat really, glad to see her finally put her foot down.  Another chapter soon! Stay safe everyone!

Till next time!

MO~