“E-eat?” Kyungsoo furrowed his eyebrows, like he didn’t recognize the word. “With you?”

“Yeah,” Kai smiled, kindly, folding his hands together.

Kyungsoo looked around, as if searching for some authority figure or hidden camera. This wasn’t happening, it couldn’t have been happening.

“Is this a joke?” he asked, quietly moving back into the wall behind him, getting as far as he could from Kai.

Kai’s smile fell, as he realized how scared Kyungsoo was getting.

“I swear, it isn’t. I was on my way to a restaurant before I clumsily fell down,” Kai said, glancing at the watch on his right wrist. “If we leave right now, we can still make my reservation.”

Kyungsoo looked at him, without moving. Kai felt uneasy, noticing how little Kyungsoo blinked and how he seemed like a statue at times, so still and wide-eyed.

“I don’t want to intrude on your plans,” Kyungsoo said before completely disappearing in the bag so Kai couldn’t see his face anymore.

“Please? I’d like the company. I just came from a long trip and it’d be nice to be with someone,” Kai said, softly. It was like coaxing out a cat to come play. He didn’t want to say anything offensive, but this kid needed a meal bad. He didn’t see any food wrappers around, so he couldn’t even tell what Kyungsoo had been salvaging and he already sensed that he wasn’t a thief. He’d probably endure starvation instead of attempting to steal from the markets nearby. “And think of how warm the restaurant will be.”

He saw the bag shift a little as if perking up to hear more.

“You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to, you can just sit there,” Kai suggested, but he knew if Kyungsoo decided to just sit there, Kai would force him to eat anyway.

Without warning, the bag sneezed, making Kai jump a foot in the air.

“Holy ,” he muttered, as Kyungsoo’s head popped out again, like a mole.

“Sorry,” Kyungsoo said, fingers brushing under his nose that was starting to turn red.

“Look, I’m not leaving unless you come with me,” Kai said, sitting criss cross on the ground and folding his arms. He was completely soaked at this point but there hadn’t been any thunder or lightning so he decided maybe the rain would stop soon. Or at least, he hoped it would.

“You could die like that, you know,” Kyungsoo said, avoiding eye contact. This talking was still weird and he wished Kai didn’t keep looking at him like this, like he wasn’t just a homeless person. Because they’d only been chatting for ten minutes and Kyungsoo was already feeling like he wasn’t. Like he wasn’t a homeless person. Like he was Do Kyung Soo, Goyang native, painter, person. An actual person.

“I guess my death will ride your conscience then,” Kai shrugged his shoulders, as if he wasn’t feeling the hint of a future fever inside of him.

“You’re stubborn,” Kyungsoo noted, eyes slitting like maybe he shouldn’t trust this clearly, crazy, stranger.

“I’ve been told, at least five thousand times,” Kai said, starting to whistle a random tune. “Isn’t it nice out here? Even California isn’t this nice.”

“I’m sure this qualifies as blackmail,” Kyungsoo stated in a way that made Kai stop whistling because he could sense a surrender.

“Okay, I-I’ll come, but only if I can bring my things,” Kyungsoo said, referring to his bag and paintings and another bag, though this one smaller filled with clothes and past items. “If I leave my things, people will take them.”

He talked as if it’d happened before, multiple times, making Kai wonder what was taken. Were they pictures? Were they precious tokens of before? And what happened to them? He felt angry, just thinking about it. Who would take from someone that has barely anything?

“Of course, you can,” Kai gave a warm hearted smile. He watched Kyungsoo gently put his paintings in the sack and stand up, showing that the bag he wore was long enough to cover him till his feet. Kai realized it was a makeshift poncho of sorts and he could see some thin, tattered, blankets inside.

Kyungsoo took the bag off and pushed the blankets into the sack, until it was so full it looked like the sack’s stitching would come undone right there.

Kai finally got to look at Kyungsoo properly and what he saw was a sight. Kyungsoo was about two inches shorter than him and definitely a good twenty-something pounds lighter. He wore a thrifty, dark green, sweater and jeans with tears and many holes the size of fingertips. His hands were covered in scratches and bruises and there was definitely a burn mark on his neck.

Kyungsoo looked up timidly, biting his lips.

Kai turned away quickly, trying not to stare so much, and brought out his phone again to re-read the directions.

“It’s only a few buildings away,” he noted.

The rain was finally dying down, as they begun to walk towards this new, fancy, restaurant. It had to be four o’clock now and Kai wondered if four was considered evening yet and what his friends would think of him, eating with another man, in the evening. Even if this wasn’t a date, per-se.

The building was made of gorgeous marble white bricks, the doors of gold metal, and through the windows they could see matching silk, gold curtains, and people eating underneath black chandeliers and soft candle light.

, Kai thought. , , .

“You were going to eat here, alone?” Kyungsoo turned to Kai, confused. “It’s kind of... romantic?”

Kind of?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. I’d only just heard of it from my parents and- I wanted to try it out today and... I’m sorry, if you’re uncomfortable, you don’t have to come with me,” Kai sputtered out, hand reaching to his head, and combing through his hair. His parents. Of course, they would recommend a place like this. Along with giving him gallery duties, they’d been dropping massive hints about him finding a girl and starting a family and things like that, things he thought weren’t for people still in their early twenties.

“It’s beautiful,” Kyungsoo looked through some of the windows again, not saying anything else. Not saying if he was uncomfortable or going or staying.

Kai stood dumbly before gaining the courage to tug Kyungsoo’s hand with his own. “Come on, then,” he motioned to the doors.

He walked through first but Kyungsoo followed so closely behind, it was like they were one person. It reminded Kai of a puppy and then he realized that everything Kyungsoo did he compared to an animal. Kyungsoo was a cat and a mole and a puppy and who knew what else. His skin showed hardships but his mannerisms held a hesitant innocence, like a child that hasn’t learned what evil is, and would walk through a dark forest with only a dim flashlight.

Kai walked to the mahogany front desk, with such confidence, suddenly Kyungsoo got the feeling Kai had done this before. Kai had been to restaurants like this before and wore fitted suits like this before and he wasn’t just a dancer but he was really someone.

The front host eyed them suspiciously, taking in Kyungsoo’s belongings and their wet clothes.

“I’m sorry, but we seem to be all full today. Maybe you could come another t-” the man began, before Kai interrupted.

“Reservation for Kim Jong In, please,” Kai said, showing off a toothy smile. The man’s words trailed off and his mouth quivered in shock.

“Kim Jong In?” he asked, flipping through the papers before him. “Oh, there. I see, I see.”

“I know I’m a little late, but I had to pick up a friend,” Kai said, looking over to Kyungsoo who was now staring at the ground, as if caught doing something bad.

“It’s perfectly fine, we’ll have your seats taken care of in just a moment,” the host gave three short bows before hurrying over to the closest waitress.

In this waiting area, the boys could hear a jazz band play, and the clink of glass and the volume of small talk and laughter rising and falling like waves.

Kyungsoo mouthed “friend?” to himself, silently.

He didn’t have time to bring this word up because he felt his hand being tugged again and they were beginning to walk into the dining area, following a waiteress in a black skirt suit.

“Thank you for your patience,” she said, giving them a wide smile and nod. Her hair was pulled back in a neat pony tail and Kyungsoo hoped his face wasn’t too dirty. Not that he was interested in her, but his mom always said present yourself to women well.

Kai noticed his fidgeting and wished the woman didn’t smile so much.

“Please, help yourself to the towels on the table. I’ll come back for them shortly,” she bowed her head as they sat down across from each other.

The table was big enough for half a dozen plates but intimate enough that they weren’t so far apart and the other tables were far enough so that even though they could hear talking, they couldn’t hear what people were actually saying.

Kyungsoo looked at the leather bound menu below him and thought how even this leather was worth more than all he had at his side. He’d placed his bags next to his chair so people would stop staring at them. But even though the bags were obscured from view, he still wasn’t.

Kai quickly surveyed the room and just as he did, people busied themselves in turning away.

“People are weird,” he said, attempting to comfort Kyungsoo.

Both of them, picked up a towel from the table and gently dried their faces and clothes a bit.

Kyungsoo contained a happy sigh at the feeling of deep cotton, he could’ve fell asleep right then and there.

They picked up their menus, simultaneously, just as the waitress returned.

“Done with the towels?” she asked, taking them. Kyungsoo couldn’t help but stare at the towels with longing. He wanted to keep his. While Kai, couldn’t help but notice Kyungsoo stare at the woman’s hands. They were very pretty. Her nails were perfectly clipped and manicured and her fingers ringless.

“Yeah,” Kai smiled, as if telling her she could leave now.

“Ready to order?” she asked.

Kyungsoo quickly looked at Kai, not knowing what to say. They hadn’t even had a chance to look through the menus and he was sure he wouldn’t recognize any of the dishes offered.

“We’ll just have two waters for now,” Kai answered, not skipping a beat.

Kyungsoo looked deeply relieved.

Kai opened the menu, his bottom lip in concentration before glancing back up and asking,

“Do you want a kiss?”