[unedited chapter]

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Kai grinned when he saw Yookyung waiting by the school gate. He peeked at his watch; it was only ten to twelve. He noticed what she was wearing and though she wasn’t showing much thigh or chest, surprisingly, he still enjoyed the view. It was a refreshing change to the usual school uniform. Believe it or not, apart from during class and at lunch, he rarely saw the girl. Her outfit was a lot more casual than their school blazer or the lilac dress she wore the first night they met. She sported beige ballet flats with a white sundress and a brown, leather bag. She in turn thought that he dressed relatively well for a rowdy teenage boy. He wore a navy, long-sleeved baseball shirt, classic blue jeans and a pair of converse. His eyes were covered with a pair of Ray Bans that, he thought, added to his charm. Yookyung couldn’t care less in all honesty.

“Excited to go eh?” Kai smirked as he approached the heiress.

“Don’t joke around Jong-In. I’m never late to anything.” She replied earnestly.

“Right, right, I forgot.” He chuckled with his hands up in surrender. He grabbed her hand but she just snatched it back. He stopped and looked at her, then to his hand. No response. He took it again but only to have it retracted, again.

“Come on, hand.” He gestured for Yookyung to intertwine hers with his.

“Why? I can walk perfectly fine by myself.”

“I know, but is it a crime to want to hold your hand?”

“Probably. I’m sure you’d get thrown into jail if my father was around.” Kai was taken aback by her comment. He studied her expression. She was dead serious. Oh. My. God, he thought to himself. He face-palmed and grabbed her hand tightly before running off.

“What the- Hey! Slow down!”

“No!”

“Why not?” Yookyung called after him.

“You’ll just let go again!”

“No I won’t! Just slow down!” She cried out. He looked back at her in doubt.

“Fine.” He huffed.

He stopped for a moment; to let the girl catch her breath before the pair continued to walk, at a semi-regular speed. She kept her promise and let him hold her hand, though she didn’t hold his back. She always stuck by her word; she was Hong Yookyung after all. After a few minutes of silent walking they stopped at a bus stop. Yookyung looked around in wonder. She started the walls, trying to get a feel for the odd, half open metal box (bus stop) she stood under. She traced her fingers over the light blue, peeling paint and memorised the route map immediately. She didn’t understand the strange patterns, colours and lines but she knew it was a map and she figured it would be useful, which she believed was enough reason to memorise it. She read through the bus guide, and recited each direction, one by one.

“Bus four-oh-one takes you to…” She mumbled.

“Having fun there?” Kai looked at her amusedly.

“Yeah.” She replied, not even throwing a glance in his direction. He chuckled for his question was supposed to be sarcastic and rhetorical yet she replied with complete sincerity. A big metal rectangle on wheels drove up the road and came to a halt and emited a loud gush of air. As they entered, Kai handed her a metro card and told her to tap it on the electric box hanging from the frontal pole. She followed his instructions and heard a beep. She examined at the peculiar instrument and saw that she had ten dollars remaining. Kai did the same action as she, but he only had four dollars-fifty remaining. She realised that he must take the bus a fair bit to have such a small amount left on his card. Kai let her have the window seat, and sat down next to her on the right. She took out her purse and asked him how much the magic card cost him. He told her to think of it as a gift. She smiled in gratitude and told him her thanks. A happy chatter filled the bus as a group of children entered up the three steps. They looked at Kai and Yookyung and giggled. She raised her eyebrows at Kai.

“Why are they laughing? Am I dressed inappropriately?” She questioned the boy. He laughed heartily.

“No, trust me you’re dressed perfectly fine.”

“Then why are they laughing at us?” He found her naivety to be rather cute. As smart as she was, she sure lacked life experience.

“They think we’re a couple.” Her eyes widened.

“Why would they think that?”

“Because we’re on a date.”

“No we aren’t.”

“Yeah we are.” He argued back.

“No we’re not.”

“Then what are we doing?” He smirked.

“You asked me to hang out with you and you wanted to… oh…” She scolded herself for being so dense. He shook his head at her innocence. She was a funny one.

“Did you make the list?” He asked. She nodded. Yookyung pulled out a piece of notepaper, neatly folded twice to fit in the front pocket of her bag. She unfolded it and passed the sheet to him. He skimmed through the text, admiring her girly lettering and smiled at her simple requests.

“Okay, these are pretty easy, I’m sure we can get them done by the end of the day” Yookyung’s eyes widened in shock for the second time that afternoon.

“All ten? Are you sure? That is a lot of stuff.”

“Yeah, but if you think about it, your take on freedom is quite modest. That’s not a bad thing though. I actually really enjoy the stuff you’ve got down.” He informed her.

“Let’s see here. What to do first? Hm. Eating ice cream from an ice cream parlour, feeding bread to a flock of ducks, buying a balloon from a street vendor, tasting street food, riding a bicycle, running through a street fountain of varying force, sitting on a bus, walking down a street filled with shops after seven pm, buying a phone.” He read the list out loud.

“Are you sure it’s not too difficult?” She asked again.

“Trust me on this one. Look, you’ve even got riding a bus down on your list. We’re doing that right now. One down, nine to go.” He grinned.

♡

Kai led Yookyung to their first destination, the ice-cream shop. She felt too inexperienced to choose a flavour of ice cream so she requested that he choose for the both of them. He offered for her to sit down whilst he bought the two scoops. She said that it was alright as she wanted to see how the whole buying ice cream process worked. He chuckled for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

“Thank you for the ice cream” She told the teller.

“No problem sweetie, have a good day with your boyfriend.”

“Oh he’s not my-“

“We will, thank you ma’am.” Kai had cut Yookyung off before she could finish her sentence and flashed a charming smile at the elderly lady.

“What a well-mannered young man, you’re one lucky girl honey. You better hold on to him tight.” The cashier winked. Kai gestured for her to play along.

“Ah yes, thank you I will. Have a good day ma’am.” Yookyung breezily answered. You’d think she’d react shyly and fumble over her words but as always she was Hong Yookyung: A girl with over a decade of practice. Kai led her to a booth at the back of the shop.

“Try it, it’s my favourite.” Kai said, his eyes gleaming with curious excitement.

“Thank you Kai. Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Definitely, but I want to see your reaction after taking your first bite of shop bought ice cream.” He grinned.

“Oh. Okay.” She scooped some ice cream up with her little pink spoon and put it in , she chewed the cold desert a bit before swallowing.

“Sooo?”

“It’s good. Really yummy.” She said with a somewhat awkward and seemingly forced, thin-lipped smile. Kai’s expression deflated at her lack of enthusiasm.

“Do you not like it?” He pouted.

“Didn’t I just say it was good?”

“I thought you were being sarcastic…”

“Since when am I ever sarcastic?”

“True.” Kai pondered for a moment.

“Ah damn it, just smile a bit why don’t you” He tugged on her cheeks.  She rolled her eyes at him before taking another bite. He gave up and quietly ate his own. He grinned at the deliciousness of the cold confectionary and went to buy another. When he came back he saw that Yookyung’s cup was empty, indicating that she enjoyed it. He smiled, satisfied. Even if she wouldn’t express it, knowing that she ate the ice cream happily was enough for him.

“Come on ice princess, get up, it’s time to get you a phone.” Kai started walking out the ice cream parlour. Yookyung quietly followed. She took a mental picture of the store and promised herself that she’d be back soon.