"I, I... Good morning!" Kyungsoo stammered as the slender girl asked for his order.

Kai, with his face turned away from Kyungsoo, snickered, not so secretly. He was having a heck of a time seeing just how bad his friend's social awkwardness was. It was no surprise to him. During the time Kyungsoo turned into a recluse, there was only a handful of people he interacted with. Those people were Kai, the mailman, and his manager that would come and pick up his paintings to give them over to his buyers. There was also Rx, but Kai didn't count him.

"Say your order, Dio!" Kai said with a grin wide enough to cover his whole face.

"Good- good morning," Kyungsoo repeated with a shaky voice. 

"Bye," the waitress said with a sigh, "just call me when you're ready to order..."

She left and now the two were alone, sitting by the window as Kyungsoo had requested. Kai exchanged a delighted smile at him and Kyungsoo glared in return. He was more than annoyed that Kai didn't offer any help at all. 

 "You like that type of girl?" he asked Kyungsoo as he sipped on his coffee."It sure looks like it."

He ignored him and kept looking through the menu, flipping page after page until he landed on the second to last one. He pointed at the picture with the oatmeal, "Order me this one," he instructed Kai with a voice that carried along an air of irritation.

 "You order it! You wanted to go out and eat in the first place!"

 A small groan exited Kyungsoo. "Please? Come on, remember how I have given you a place to stay."

 Kai clicked his tongue, "Oh, man, really? I didn't think you would go there," he abruptly stood up and leered at Kyungsoo, "Watch..."

 Kyungsoo's eyes followed Kai along as he headed to the waitress, curious to see if Kai was up to anything mischievous. He didn't trust Kai after he claimed, "Watch..." He figured Kai was up to no good and that he would cause the waitress to snap at him for some reason or another. He wasn't totally wrong. After giving her the order, Kai apologized on Kyungsoo's behalf for holding her up and then pointed in Kyungsoo's direction, saying "He's a painter and wants you to be his next muse." The girl was mildly amused and nodded, not knowing what to say in response.

When Kai returned to his seat, Kyungsoo demanded to know the reason why he pointed back at him. Kai chose not to answer, instead just giving a wry smile.

A couple of minutes later, the waitress came and handed Kyungsoo his order. She dipped forward and poured the coffee into his cup, doing her best not to spill. Kyungsoo's heart rate increased and strange thoughts filled his mind. He was definitely attracted to the mundane girl serving him. She was nothing too special when it came to looks, she had a rather homely appearance, at least according to Kai's standards. She was of Asian descent, perhaps Korean, that much Kyungsoo knew because of the way she spoke. But she didn't stand out too much when compared with the tall, blonde, and chestnut-brown haired girls that always popped up on Kai's phone screen whenever he got a call. Her name was revealed by a small badge that adorned her apron, "Ji-". Kyungsoo couldn't make out the rest because he thought he might give her the wrong idea if she saw him squinting to get a better look at her chest area. He was free to admire her short, bobbed hair and small mouth that reminded him of cat, however.

The girl stood up and tucked the stray strands of hair behind her reddened ear, strands that loosened up when she poured the coffee. She expected Kyungsoo to say something, anything really. Anything that might, hopefully, lead to a meeting outside her workplace. After getting a better look at him, she thought Kyungsoo was cute and was very fond of his thickish eyebrows and the way he had a lot "white" in his eyes, the sclera possessed a mysterious force that prompted her to keep looking at him. His eyes twinkled and looked up at her, but he was speechless. He was too hesitant to say even a word of gratefulness .

She left with a small frown, disappointed by his lack of interaction. 

Kai clicked his tongue, "Dude, I hooked you up and you're too dumb to even say 'Wanna' go out on a date?'"

 Kyungsoo sighed and his vision drifted to gaze at the overcast sky, hoping to see the sun peek out the gray clouds. He knew he failed, but he didn't torture himself too much. "I can't go out with a girl, though. I'm a... Monster, remember?"

 Kai exhaled, his long breath indicative of the realization he had, that Kyungsoo was right. "I..."

 Kyungsoo wagged his head, "It's alright, I'm okay even by just looking at her."

He was glad to hear that. Kai slumped over the table and rested his chin in his palm, aiming a warm smile at Kyungsoo, one that resembled a father's. They continued to eat until the only thing left on their plate was small traces of food, crumbs of a muffin on Kai's plate and a stray, slimy grain of oatmeal on Kyungsoo's bowl. People kept passing by their window, each heading off to their distinct destinations, one of them caught Kai's attention. He thought he saw Rx across the street and squinted to get a better look, but he was wrong. It was just a woman.

 But the thought of the adversary stirred curiosity. "Hey, so how many of these creatures do you think there is?"

 "You sure it's safe to talk about that here?" Kyungsoo whispered with his hand shielding the side of his mouth as he spoke with caution.

 "Yeah, people will just think we're talking about a game or whatever."

 Kyungsoo shrugged his shoulders, "Alright." He paused to gather his thoughts and said, "I don't know. It feels like they're endless. And I find it strange that I never see Rx anywhere around when they pop up. I thought I'd manage to catch him when they appear, but he's never there. I guess he doesn't care if The Flock go out on feeding frenzies. I never sense his presence, although I'm always able to sense whenever any of the monsters that make up The Flock show up. But, I just know he's evil. Thinking back, I feel like he just wants to use me for something. I don't know... All I do know is that I have to stop him at all costs. It's a gut feeling, but until he appears, I'm stuck in limbo. I don't even know the first step to locating that castle he took us to."

 Kai rubbed his chin and shared his nagging concern, "You think you'll ever go back to being a regular guy?"

 The word that filtered his mind was "No." But he couldn't actually say that, since it was just an answer that the pessimistic side of Kyungsoo dictated him to answer. Kyungsoo clashed his metal utensils against each other. With a half-smile upon his face, he answered, "I hope so. I pray for it every night. God's bound to answer one of these days, right?"

 Kai couldn't help but relish in his optimism, he smiled and replied, "You're right... I just hope he answers mines, too," he added with a sigh.

 "I got you covered. I always pray for you!"

 Kai simply smiled, after which he called for the waitress to fill up his cup with more coffee

She came by and Kyungsoo, this time, spoke up, "I think you're pretty."

 The waitress was stunned. She stood still for a long second before she said a word. "I...thank you."

Kyungsoo swiftly turned his head away in embarrassment.

 "Forgive him, he just has a bad time talking with girls," Kai said with a gentle smile.

 The waitress nodded, her eyes glued to the sight of Kyungsoo, who was now slapping Kai's hand that rested on the table. "Shut up, Kai!" he mouthed with a look of anger.

 "Say something else to the pretty girl," Kai taunted.

 Kyungsoo stuttered at first, but he mustered up all his courage and said, "Can I paint you?"

 The waitress was bewildered, unsure of what to say. After an awkward moment of silence, she returned back to her work for fear of being scolded by her father, the owner of the establishment.

Kai laughed a hearty laugh and finally regained his composure after several seconds of seeing Kyungsoo scowl at him. "I'll come back with you here and maybe, just maybe, I can get you a date with her. Where would you take her, though? How about the-"

 "An aquarium," Kyungsoo interrupted. "It reminds me how'd it feel to travel into space and to experience the glory of the cosmos in motion! And it'll be on a sunny afternoon!" Suddenly, randomly, the thought of redeeming the time struck Kyungsoo. "Hey, when was the last time you talked to your parents?"

 Kai rolled his eyes and scratched his head. "I...I know you're trying to help out, but I know they hate me," he said with a voice indicative of reluctance.

 "How can you be so sure? And why?"

 Kai, annoyed by the question as he was, shared his sincere reasoning, "I left home without telling them a word? Why wouldn't they? It's been nearly a decade since I last spoke to them, too..."

 "Just call 'em!" Kyungsoo insisted.

 "Alright, but only if you promise to take out that girl on a date when all this mess clears up, got it?"

 Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes at Kai. "Only if you call now, though."

 Kai relented and took out his phone, shortly dialing the numbers by memory. No answer, but Kai left a short message anyways (not expecting for it to ever, ever be heard).

 "Told ya! They hate me!"

 Kyungsoo vented out his breath through his nose, "I'm sorry. But maybe they were just busy!"

Kai rubbed the nape of his neck and forced a grin.  "You still have to come back here with me and ask the girl out. It'll be fun. At least, for me."

At 3am, Kyungsoo hastened to leave, but Kai insisted on coming along. He took out an antique gun with a golden trim and exclaimed, "You don't have to worry about me with this!"

 Kyungsoo widened his eyes and immediately questioned, "Where'd you get that?!"