Chapter 19

The next morning found AJ and me sitting silently in the coffee shop, slowly sipping our lattes. Neither of us knew exactly how to handle our imminent goodbye, knowing we would not see each other until the end of the day. It was odd. I had told DongHo and Hoon the night before, so both of them were hiding from the two of us. I was glad, in that moment, for their absence, yet simultaneously yearned for their jokes to gloss over the bittersweet feeling of the first real goodbye between myself and AJ.

In the last moment, I was able to laugh at my own dramatic attitude. AJ stood, and I mimicked his actions, placing my latte on the table and stepping over to him. "Well," he sighed, "I suppose we say farewell here?" A sad shadow fell across his features, and it pulled at my heart.

"I have something secret to tell you," I said quietly, motioning for him to come closer. He moved his head towards mine as if listening for a whisper, and, seizing the chance, I planted a kiss on his lips.

He seemed more surprised than I had anticipated, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. I grinned at him, and he smiled back slowly. "I'll see you later," he said meaningfully, looking directly into my eyes.

"Of course," I chuckled, wrapping my arms around him for one last hug before watching him leave the shop.

"Wow, up until now I have never wanted to simultaneously cry and vomit at the same time," DongHo commented lightly.

"Oh, shut up!" I laughed.

"It's the truth though!"

"You do realize, DongHo, that this is the first time since we have been together that AJ and I have actually spent the day apart, right?"

"Yeah but you don't have to be so dramatic about it," he shrugged. I lightly punched him in the arm.

"You wouldn't know. You don't have a single romantic bone in your body." DongHo stood there thoughtfully for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

"You're right, I don't!" He said. "I have to fix that!" He ran over to where Hoon was at the piano, grabbed his face, and planted a kiss directly on Hoon's lips. DongHo was quickly and forcefully shoved away by the frustrated pianist, stumbling backwards and toppling over a stray chair. By that point, I was in stitches.

"What the heck was that?!" Hoon cried, furiously wiping his mouth.

"But soft!" cried DongHo, propping himself up on his knees. "What light through yonder piano keys breaks?"

"DongHo, shut up, or I'll break your "yonder light!"" Hoon cried, stepping up to the boy.

"IT IS THE EAST, AND HOON IS THE MOON! Or is it sun? I can never remember that part..." DongHo paused, twisting his features up in thought. "Ah!" he cried, pointing a finger in the air. "It was the sun!" He paused, cleared his throat, and began again. "IT IS THE EAST, AND HOON IS THE--- HEY WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

By that point, I was a horribly inarticulate mess, unable to even so much as make a laughing sound. I just plopped down in a chair and shook. DongHo had his hand gently cupping his cheek where Hoon had punched him.

"Will you shut up already?!" Hoon cried.

"Dude, it was a joke!"

"I don't care if it was a joke!" Hoon's face grew bright red, but it wasn't from embarrassment or anger.

"Well I'm sorry! I didn't know you would get so mad!" DongHo scowled up at Hoon, stood, and retreated to the safety of the counter. Hoon huffed and marched back to the piano. The strange thing was, though, that Hoon simply sat there staring at the keys. He did not play anything angry. He did not play anything sad or calming or apologetic. He just stared, and that scared even my laughter away. "H-Hoon, I didn't mean..." DongHo began, slowly making his way to the piano once more.

"Will you just... Just leave me alone?" Hoon's eyes were shiny with tears. I gasped, quickly covering my mouth with my hand in an attempt to cover up the noise I had made, desperate to keep from interrupting the two.

"Hoon, please, I'm really sorry, I really am," DongHo said quickly, stepping up to his friend.

"You can't do things like that, DongHo, not even as a joke," Hoon sighed.

"And why not?" asked DongHo adamantly, stepping back into his more comfortable defensive mode.

"Because it might give people the wrong idea!"

"Oh, people will think we're dating because I kissed you and you punched me?" DongHo scoffed. "Yeah, that's very likely."

"I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE!" Hoon yelled loudly. Every eye in the shop turned to the two men bickering at the piano, but neither of them seemed to notice.

"Oh really? Well then who are you talking about?" DongHo raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Maybe I... I was talking about... me..." said Hoon quietly. Despite his efforts to be discreet, everyone heard him. The collective silence which followed was riddled with suspense, as we all waited to see how DongHo would respond to the sudden knowledge that Hoon might, in some strange way, be in love with him.

DongHo's face had frozen with an adamant expression, but as Hoon's words sunk in, his features became relieved. "Well, all you had to do was say that!" he laughed heartily.

"DongHo, what--"

Before Hoon could get a sentence out, DongHo was nose to nose with him, and planted a light kiss at the corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry, Hoon," he giggled.

The entire shop broke out in thunderous applause. DongHo grinned widely, and Hoon's face became an even darker shade of red. Even so, Hoon managed a weak smile.

"Gosh, Hoon," I sighed, shaking my head, "it hurts me to think that you'd cheat on me with, well, DongHo of all people!" I joked. At this, Hoon threw his head back and laughed loudly, DongHo chuckling alongside him. "Payback," I winked, walking off to the kitchen to don my apron and begin work. Seeing the two so happy lifted my mood quite a bit, and I was glad to have, in that brief moment, been able to tear my thoughts from the absence of my boyfriend. I tied the strings of the starch white apron around my waist and stepped back into the shop, where I was met by the smiling face of DongHo and the most joyful piano song I had ever heard coming from where Hoon sat gleefully.

"Congratulations!" I grinned at my friend.

"It's actually sort of thanks to you, y'know," DongHo laughed. "I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't challenged my romantic side!"

"I still think you're dangerously lacking in the romance department, DongHo," I chuckled. "But Hoon generously makes up for it."

"Hey!" DongHo cried in mock offense, lightly and playfully slapping my arm. We both laughed lightly and began taking orders, falling back into that barista routine I had never thought to miss over the course of the last month.

All too quickly, my shift ended, and a different employee came in to take my place. I handed over my apron, said my farewells, and decided to take a walk through the park before heading home for some much-needed novelling time.

Walking through the park, I passed a pond that, ordinarily, is completely devoid of any life whatsoever. But that day, as I passed it, my gaze fell on a tiny little spotted duckling, waddling around at the water's edge. It was rather adorable, and despite being desperate to write, I ran back to the shop, grabbed a roll (much to the confused protests of Jack) and dashed back to where the duck still stood. I tore off a piece of bread and tossed it gently in the duckling's direction. It took one hesitant step toward it, stared at it curiously, and then picked it up and ate it.

"Here, ducky!" I crooned, tossing it another piece of bread. Slowly, I lured it over to me. I placed my last few chunks of roll in my hand, and the duckling hungrily ate them up. Then, much to my surprise, it jumped into my palm and began searching for more. Every time I attempted to put it back down on the ground, it cried out in protest. So, I continued my walk, this time with a duckling to accompany me.

I followed a long, winding path that took me to nearly every spot in the park. I ambled past the picnic table where AJ and I had our first real introductions. Part of me laughed at how much I had hated him then. "He was so mean back then, Cuddles," I told the duck. "Well, I mean, he seemed really mean. He wasn't actually mean, though. He just didn't know how to show that he wasn't." I shrugged and looked down at the speckled animal. It quacked back at me, almost as if it understood what I had said. I knew it didn't, but it made it nice to have something to confide in.

A few minutes later, we passed the tree where AJ had kissed me. "It seems like such a long time ago," I told Cuddles. "It really wasn't, though. It was a very short time ago." I sighed and stepped under the leaves of the willow. "I got so mad at him, Cuddles. I had thought he was just the most despicable human being on the face of the planet." I sighed, disappointed in my former self. "If I had just bothered to admit that I missed that kiss so much after that day, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to just spend the day apart right now!" I had missed it, I realized then. I had missed that kiss with very nearly every fiber of my being. I had just been too conceited, too stubborn, to acknowledge it. And, having come to that realization, I missed him even more.

"Kev?" A voice said behind me. I brushed it off as my imagination.

"You know, Cuddles, I feel a little ridiculous sometimes. It's not even been that long and here I am acting like he died!"

"Kevin," the voice said again. I turned around, shocked speechless at the sight of AJ. "I wondered why I wanted to come to the park so badly today," he laughed.

"A-AJ!" I spluttered. I ran up to him and threw one arm around him, careful not to crush Cuddles.

"Were you talking to yourself?" AJ asked curiously as we pulled apart.

"I'm not crazy!" I laughed. "I was talking to Cuddles." I held up the little duckling to show him, and he smiled down at it.

"So you kidnapped a duckling?"

"No, the duckling kidnapped me!" I grinned.

"That makes so much more sense," he chuckled. Suddenly, his cell phone beeped, and he pulled it out and opened the message. His smile fell and his eyes grew wide.

"What's wrong?" I asked, becoming concerned. He held up the phone for me to read.

Hey, AJ, I was just wondering, where does Kevin keep the fire extinguisher? xoxo Ted

"Tell him it's in the kitchen, right beside the refrigerator!" I said hurriedly, pulling my cell phone from my pocket. I dialed the fire department and quickly reported the incident, following AJ to his car as I did so. We drove quickly to my house to find smoke spurting out the window nearest to the kitchen. We heard the sirens from the fire truck as we climbed from the car, and Cuddles began half-squeaking, half-quacking at the sound. I cradled the duckling closely and waited beside AJ for the fire trucks.

"Were you the young man who reported the fire?" One fireman asked once he hopped off the truck.

"I did," I said immediately. "We think his grandfather is inside." I gestured to AJ and the fireman nodded, pulling an ax from the side of one of the trucks.

"Don't worry, Sir, we'll get him out soon." Three firemen ran up to the door and kicked it open, while a group of others began unrolling hoses and locating nearby hydrants. Soon enough, the three firemen dragged an argumentative Ted from the building, and the water from the hoses rained down on the window.

AJ and I dashed over to Ted, who was still trying to fight his way out of the grasps of the three firemen. "Let me go! I have to get the biscuits out of the oven before they burn!" he cried.

"Ted!" I called, running up to him. "What happened?"

"I had it handled," he said. "I just accidentally dropped a napkin on the stove and I was looking for the extinguisher when these jerks come in and rip me away from my food. And now my biscuits are burnin'!"

"Grandpa, there's smoke pouring out the window!" AJ cried in frustration. "You could have burned Kev's house down!"

"Well, I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" Finally, Ted wrenched himself from the firemen's grasps. The hoses had been turned off and the smoke was gone.

"Looks like it was a kitchen fire, sir," a fireman informed me. "Next time, make sure there's nothing flammable near the stove and you'll be just fine." He pulled Ted off to the side to get more information for his report, and AJ and I went inside to inspect the damage. Luckily, the majority of the house had remained intact. There was only the business of the smoky smell and the charred stove to take care  of.

"Don't worry, Kev, I'll take care of the stove," AJ sighed.

"No, it's fine, I can handle it," I protested.

"Look," said AJ, "it was Ted's fault and I'm responsible for him. Let me take care of it, okay?"

"Oh, alright," I shrugged. "But next time something like this happens, let me, okay?"

"Deal," AJ smiled crookedly.

With Ted in tow, we piled into AJ's car and headed for the store in search of air fresheners and stoves. Ted  decided that he wanted to just stay in the patio section, "testing" porch swings for when his house was rebuilt. We left him under the sharp eye of an employee and headed to the kitchen appliances.

"Pick out any stove you want," AJ said. "I have it covered, okay?"

"You know what?" I said, looking up at him. "Let's pick out one together, okay?"

"Oh, okay," AJ smiled. We walked through rows and rows of kitchen appliances, pointing out various intriguing pieces, but never really deciding on one. Finally, we played eenie meenie minie moe between our top five and came up with an average-priced, well-outfitted stove. I had second thoughts about letting AJ pay for it, but he insisted until we had the receipt and were on our way back to the patio section to get Ted. We found him entertaining three little kids with goofy jokes. As we walked up, he was using the baby boy's bib as an earring, and all the children erupted in fits of giggles. We stood watching from the side for awhile until Ted looked up and noticed us. He ended his little "show" and the parents pulled their children along,

"That didn't take very long at all!" Ted exclaimed.

"We were gone for half an hour," AJ informed him. "You were probably just too distracted by your little audience." The three of us chuckled at this, picked up some Febreze, and piled back into AJ's car. "How about we go to a restaurant since we won't have a functioning stove for dinner?" AJ suggested. Ted and I quickly agreed, so we drove to a quaint little French restaurant a few blocks from my house. We had a nice time at dinner, poking fun at Ted for his goofiness and sharing stories from our workday. When we climbed back into the car, Cuddles, who had been hanging out with Ted in the backseat, began pecking hungrily at my hand.

"I suppose we should bring this little guy back to the pond," I sighed.

"Probably," AJ agreed.

"I'm definitely going to miss him."

"Well, there's not much we can do about it," AJ shrugged. I nodded in agreement and held Cuddles close as we drove back to the park.

When we got to the pond, I placed my hand on the ground and tried to get Cuddles to go back where he belonged. Despite the encouragement of the three of us, Cuddles once more refused to go.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"Pet shop?" suggested AJ. Ted and I agreed that going to the pet shop would probably be our best option, so we drove there. The clerk at the register looked up in surprise when we approached the counter with Cuddles.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I found this duckling by the pond this afternoon, and I was wondering--"

"PHILLIP!" cried a little boy, running up to me and snatching Cuddles from my grasp. "You came back, Phillip!" He held the duckling close to him. His mother walked up to me and grinned.

"Thank you so much for finding my son's duck!" She grinned. "We came to the pet store yesterday for some food and Charlie lost him. We didn't think we'd ever see him again! Thank you so much!" The woman wrapped her arms around me and enveloped me in a tight hug.

"Uhm... You're welcome..." I said, unsure of how to really handle the situation. "I found him by the pond at GongWon Park," I shrugged as she released me.

"Thank you for bringing him here!" she grinned. "Charlie, thank the nice man for finding Phillip," she whispered to her son.

"Thanks dude!" Charlie grinned.

"You're very welcome," I smiled at the boy. "Cuddles -- I mean, Phillip! -- is a very lucky duck!" The duckling quacked in agreement.

We said goodbye to the woman and her son and headed back to my house. "I'm gonna miss that little duck," I sighed.

"At least you made that little boy very happy," AJ laughed.

"It's been an eventful day!"

"Yes, it has," agreed AJ. I smiled, glad to have had such a fun time, and hopeful for the events of the next day and all the days that would follow.


A/N: HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I'm making today (hopefully) a 10K word day, and I'm halfway there, so mayyyyyyybe you'll get another chapter tonight. I MAKE NO PROMISES THOUGH. Also, is it DongHoon? Or HoonHo? Or maybe even DongMin? I don't know. Someone please enlighten me <3. This chapter is 3,069 words and Cuddles the Duckling is my favoritest character evar. Just so you know. Also, as a side note, I have been entertaining the idea of a series of one-shots following the end of this story in which I write amusing little anecdotes in the characters' lives. It would be like tangents instead of one continuous story. After all, this story is very nearly 50,000 words already, which is only slightly excessive for a story, and I'd rather not be one of those let-me-write-fifty-gazillion-chapters-when-the-plot-vanished-in-the-thirtieth-chapter-type stories, y'know? Let me know what you think! ^_^