“Isn’t it a little bit awkward to go by ourselves?” Kai asked you. “What happened to all those people you asked to come with us?”

You laughed nervously at him. “They all said they had other plans,” you answered. “But I haven’t done a Noraebang session yet and it’s been on my to-do list since forever.”

It was nighttime and the streets were lit with fluorescent lights from shops and stores as well as the lamps towering over your heads. It cast eerie shadows here and there, but with so many people buzzing by, you didn’t care much. In addition to that, you felt safe anywhere near Kai. He walked beside you with his hands shoved into his pockets apathetically. He kept his eyes in front of him the entire time. In contrast, you couldn’t keep your eyes off of him.

“I’m not a big fan of karaoke, though,” he admits, turning his eyes down.

“Why not?” you asked. “Aren’t you a singer?” It was strange that Kai wouldn’t be a karaoke fan. He didn’t seem to have any qualms with singing in front of a camera or a huge crowd of fans. What could be so intimidating about singing in front of a TV in a little room with other people?

“I just—,” he began to say, but suddenly decided to keep his mouth shut. “Nevermind. I just never really got into it, I guess.”

You elbowed his rib cage lightly. “But I really want to try it out!” you whined. “You’re not going to run from me at the first chance you get, are you?”

He laughed and looked at you for what seemed to be the first time since the two of you set out on your commute to the Noraebang rooms. “Of course not the first chance; that’d be too suspicious. I’m definitely going to wait until you need the restroom and then I’ll leave you with the check. You’ll be stuck doing dishes for them for a month.”

“So that’s your true nature, huh?” you retorted. “Jerk.”

“You love me,” Kai teased.

The two of you arrived at the Noraebang rooms in good time and the two of you were given a room. Kai removed his jacket and threw it casually onto the couch that they provided while you excitedly grabbed the songbook and remote. You flipped through the songbook, trying to contain your feelings. What would you sing first? What song could you force Kai to sing? The songs in the book were relatively recent, but even still, you doubted any of EXO’s songs would be there. 

“I might actually believe that this is your first time in a karaoke room,” Kai said. You turned to him.

“Huh?” you said, not fully paying attention to him at the moment. “Oh. Yeah, it is!” 

You turned back to the songbook and found a few songs that stuck out to you: a few of them were oldies that your parents played for you when you were younger. Some were more modern like Wonder Girls’ “Nobody” and Sistar’s “Ma Boy”. 

“Why are you taking ten years to choose a song?” Kai asked. He scooted over closer to you to see the songbook better. He took one look at the page you were on before smirking and taking the remote from your hand.

“What are you—?” you asked.

“I got one for you,” he said. He quickly punched in the number on the TV and then handed you the mic. He then grabbed your elbows and made you to stand up closer to the center of the room.

“I know you know the dance to this, I’ve seen it before,” he said mischievously. He pointed back at the screen, and you saw that he had chosen Hyuna’s “Bubble Pop” for you. 

“What?! Why? Kai!” you turned to him to protest, but he just pointed back at the screen frantically.

“It’s starting! It’s starting! Go!” 

“Ugh!” you turned back at the screen, and the song was indeed starting. You brought the mic closer to your mouth:

“Cheombuteo ttokgatji nal bakkuryeo ma—” you began singing. 

“Where’s the dance?!” Kai protested, trying to keep himself from laughing too hard. You turned to face him with a pout. 

“I am trying to sing here!”

“It’s more fun with the dance, though. You already know all the moves. Why are you so embarrassed?”

“Well… because… I don’t want to do the dance!” you yelled back. A blush was creeping up onto your cheeks now. You were a fan of Hyuna, but sometimes her dances could be a little too provocative for your taste. It definitely wasn’t a dance you were about to do in front of Kai. 

“Aishh,” Kai said, walking up to you and taking the mic from your hand. “You’re no fun!”

“I thought you said you didn’t like karaoke? Don’t complain when I’m the one paying for you to be here!”

“If it’s that much of a problem, I’ll pay for myself. But at least make this more fun for the both of us!”

“Hmph,” you said, crossing your arms. “Fine, you sing it, then!”

“Me? This song?”

“Yeah, why not?!”

“Hmm,” Kai said, studying the lyrics of the paused song on the screen. He bit his lip and then turned to you with one of his heart-stopping smirks. “Fine,” he said. “Start it over.”

“Really?!” you said excited, grabbing onto his sleeve. “You’re gunna sing it?”

“And I’ll do the dance,” he said. “Go sit down. Watch the master.”

You pressed replay on the remote but decided to stand right where you were where you could better see Kai doing the dance. The music started up again and Kai began singing the first few lines, even doing the dance!

“Cheombuteo ttokgatji nal bakkuryeo ma—!”

You couldn’t take it anymore. You held your stomach from the amount of laughing that you were doing then and there. 

“Aigoo,” Kai suddenly said, standing still and pausing his singing in the middle of the song. “I can’t do this. Here, you sing and dance—”

At that moment, Kai swung his arm, with the microphone still in his hand, backwards with the intent of handing it back to you. But Kai was almost a good head taller than you. Stronger, too. And when he swung the length of his arm back, the mic in his hand made solid contact with your face, hitting you like baseball bat straight to your cheekbones. 

Immediately, your hand flew up to your face where the mic had hit you. It felt like your entire face was throbbing, and because it was so sudden and hit you like a truck, a round of hot tears began to sting your eyes. 

The sound of the song on the TV was muted in your ears, but you vaguely saw something falling to the floor. It looked like the microphone but you couldn’t be sure. A whimper escaped your mouth, but before anything else happened, Kai cupped your face in his hands and made you look up at him.

“Oh my god,” he said. “I am so so so sorry, I didn’t mean it! Are you okay?” Kai felt a ripping sensation in his chest when he turned your face to look up at him only to see the tears in your eyes. He made you cry, he thought. His heart sunk. 

“I’m—,” you tried to assure him that you were alright, but before another word even left your tongue, your instincts kicked in and you began to cry for real, and against your own will. Kai gingerly touched your face where he had hit you with the mic and you winced. Panic began to set in.

“I-I’ll get you some ice,” he said and then promptly left the room. In the meantime, you tried to gather yourself. You liked to think that you weren’t so much of a crybaby as to burst into sobs when someone hit you. But it really did hurt you when the mic hit your cheek. Kai was back in the room before a minute could pass and this time he had a towel filled with ice cubes in hand. 

He handed you the makeshift ice pack and went back to cupping your face.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I am really sorry about that. It was an accident, I swear!” 

“Kai, I’m fine,” you manage to choke out despite that occasional sobs that racked your throat and rendered you incapable of coherent speech. 

“There’s a bruise now,” he said, touching your cheek again. Guilt welled up inside of him seeing that your cheekbone was turning the same color as the sky. “I hit you really hard, didn’t I? Did it hurt a lot?”

You could’t say anything so you decided to just nod, not even bothering to lie for his sake. You couldn’t seem to stop yourself from crying no matter how much you really didn’t want to. Kai suddenly wrapped his arms around your shoulders and hugged you as tightly as he couln. At first, you couldn’t breathe because he was squeezing you so tightly, but he was warm and comforting and you eventually melted into his embrace.

“I think that’s enough Noraebang for today,” he finally said. “Come on. Forget about paying, I got it. I’ll take you home now.”

Kai ran over to the couch and grabbed both of your jackets before turning off the TV and handing you your coat.

“But I still want to—”

“No,” Kai said. “We can do this again another time when we’re sure that I won’t hit you again. But for now you should just keep icing your face; it looks like that will leave a nasty bruise, though.” 

“And it’s your fault,” you said.

“Yeah, I know,” he said. He put his arms around your shoulders again and led you out of the room. Fulfilling his promise, Kai paid the clerk for the room even though you both used it for less than fifteen minutes, and then led you back out onto the streets.

“It was fun while it lasted,” you said, your voice a little bit deep from having cried. Kai didn’t look at you; instead he just continued to stare at his shoes. 

“Next time, everyone I invite better not flake on us,” you said. “I invited Chanyeol and Sehun to come also, but they had schedules today. I also asked my friend and my cousin to come but—”

”__-ah,” Kai said, cutting you off. 

“Hmm, what?”

“Sorry,” he said, still looking at the ground.

“You said that already,” you answered. “I know you didn’t mean it so it’s okay. Just be careful next time.”

“Still,” he said. “It’s going to make me feel guilty every time I see that bruise now. I would have been okay if you just took it, but you started crying and… well, now my heart hurts.”

You smiled at his cute confession. It wasn’t all the time that Kai decided to show this sensitive affectionate side of him. But you would remember it every time it popped up. He broke his concentration on the ground and took this opportunity to look into your eyes again. They were still pink and puffy, and your cheek was still slowly turning blue, but you really did look happier now. In contrast, Kai looked guilt ridden and awful. You reached for his hand.

“Well at least now we understand each other better,” you said.

“How?”

“I’m no longer a big fan of Noraebang, either.”

Author's Note: Ummm, so yeah here’s my second one-shot.. Hopefully, it’s slightly better than my first one.