Recipe for Love

 

Ingredients:

 

1 Cup of Romance

1 Pinch of Humor

2 Spoonsful of Joy

1 lb of Compatibility

3 Tablespoons of Trust

1 Cup of Respect

½ lb of Sharing

1 Zest of Tenderness

and ¾ Cup of Patience…

13^th September 2020

A man in a white V-neck tee and black jeans stood before the mirror. He sprayed his cologne onto his right pulse before rubbing them onto his neck. Checking his reflection for the last time, he walked of his room’s toilet with satisfaction. His face was glowing with excitement like a kid going for his first excursion.

“For you.” Kyungsoo threw Kai his phone the moment he walked into his sight.

“What for?” With his fast reflex, he managed to catch the phone the older one tossed to him.

“Your y fiancé.” Kyungsoo replied while rolling his eyes. Of course he sensored the middle word so it would not be heard by her over the phone.

Instead of bringing the phone to his ear immediately, the man looked at the phone in his hand and hesitated. Solbi. The thought of just hanging up by pressing the wrong button accidentally was tempting. But he didn’t have the heart to.

He had been ignoring avoiding her on purpose for a few days now. Yes he had received all her text messages and heard all the voicemails she left for him but he just couldn’t bring himself to call her back. Even constructing a simple message became a very difficult task for him. The feeling of constantly reporting your well-being and how his day had been was becoming tiring for him.

“Hello?” Her muffled voice could be heard from the phone, “Kyungsoo! Will you just pass the freaking phone to Kai?!”

Right before Kyungsoo could snatch the phone and snap at the caller, Kai answered, “Solbi-ah..”

“Baby!” Her voice chirped up the moment she heard his manly voice, “I miss you.”

“I…. How are you?” That 3 similar words that he was suppose to reciprocate was swallowed. He was conscious of the things he did behind Solbi’s back but the least he could do now was to be honest with his words. Because he no longer feel right for him to say that he misses when he doesn’t. Not at all.

“I just miss you a lot, can’t wait for you to be back. Are you always that busy with practise? I have a tough time reaching you.”

“Kind of. We are very packed with schedules here.” He paced around the room aimlessly as he glanced at his watch.

“But why does Kyungsoo always have his phone with him then?”

“I’m not sure about that though.”

“Why are you not sure! Can’t you just keep your phone with you like him? What if something happens to me and I can’t contact you?!” Solbi raised her voice slightly to show her frustration. The feeling of having to look for her fiancé through s was embarrassing for her. What’s worst was that she had to bring herself down to ask his childish members for help. Not once, not twice but every other day because her husband-to-be was always uncontactable.

“Nothing will happen to you Solbi. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“So I’m being ridiculous because you refuse to answer your phone Kim JongIn?” With the mention of his full name, the man knew that the woman was mad. That happens everytime they fight since they have been together. She would hiss his full name showing her displeasure and the next thing that would follow would be a cold war between them till he bowed down and apologised. Kai could see all of it coming already.

Running his hand through his styled hair, he sighed in exasperation, “Solbi, please.”

“Please what? I don’t understand how am I being ridiculous when all I’m asking is why Kyungsoo can answer his phone and you can’t.”

Her previous sentence made Kai lose his last bit of patience. He hated to be compared to others, everyone has their own flaws and he is not perfect so he can’t possess everyone’s strengths. “If you are mad because Kyungsoo can answer his phone and I can’t, then I think you should have dated him right from the start. Then this quarrel can be avoided because he would always be contactable, unlike me.”

On the other side of the room, Kyungsoo sat on the couch awkwardly. The poor messenger had innocently become the topic of the couple’s argument. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he watched how the younger one hanged the call and threw the cell phone onto the bed angrily. Witnessing them fight was common for him but what surprised him was Kai losing his cool. For the past 9 years that they’ve dated till they were engaged, he had never seen him raising his voice at her. Not even once. No matter how bad tempered or demanding she can be, he tolerated all of it; sometimes he wondered what was his best friend’s secret to his good temper when it comes to accommodating his loved one.

But before he could even open his mouth and attempt to comfort him, the man had already grabbed his bomber jacket and left the room.

*****

“Who made our dearest Mr Kim so angry?” Aleyah asked an angry looking man on her right, “Tell me, I will punch that person for you.”

Kai looked at the lady whose fists were tightly clenched with her nose scrunched, she was trying to look fierce with that demure face of hers. Her adorableness reminded him of his puppies that always try to pick a fight with the bigger dogs even though they’re so small in compared to them. But her effort did make him chuckle out loud.

“You would? How would you punch that person? Can you please enlighten me?” The couple stood in the middle of Saint Mark’s Square in Venice as they spoke to one another comfortably.

“I would punch that person on the right cheek, then the left, up from the chin before I end with a blow down the head with my super strong elbow.” She animated her words with actions, her hands flying all over the place.

Laughing out loud at her attempt to punish the person who made him mad, Kai shook his head lovingly. What can he not love this adorable puppy of his who was willing to pick up a fight with the big dogs because she assumed that he was bullied? Gently, he covered her tiny fist with his big and warm hands, bringing them down to their sides before he laced his fingers around hers. Leaning his forehead on hers, he decided to put away his unhappy feelings and enjoy this date with her. There was no way he’s going to let anything spoil their date today, especially when it’s their first official date.

“Nah I’m fine.” He pinched the bridge of her nose lightly before giving her a light kiss, reassuring her.

“That’s good.”

“Someone looks different today.” Kai pulled back and eyed her from top to bottom. Instead of the usual long skirt, she was clad in an olive green button down shirt, dark blue denim jeans and boat shoes. “Are you finally sick of long skirts?”

“I wish I could wear my long skirts but I can’t. They are too obvious. Once people see it, they will recognize its me that was with you. And I don’t think it’s wise since we are…” Aleyah shook their intertwined hands to finish her sentence.

“You look good by the way.” He smirked at her just like how he had practiced in front of the mirror earlier as he anticipated for her reply.

“Thank you.” She replied meekly, hiding her smile. The way he backcombed his hair on their first date (after she told him that it was her favourite hairstyle of him) and the way he smirked at her was too obvious that he was waiting for her to reciprocate the praise. His puppy eyes that were twinkling with anticipation gave him away.

However, much to the man’s dismay, the lady simply turned her back on him and walked away. He was  stranded by her once again.

“Don’t you have anything to tell me?” Kai caught up and walked alongside with her, hands in his pocket.

Aleyah simply shook her head as she noticed he bit his lips to prevent himself from frowning; still trying to be cool.

“You really have nothing to tell me?” This time he distanced himself and adjusted his jacket collar just as he said that. Hoping that she would notice something different about him today.

“Nope.”

Pulling her wrist, he turned her around to face him. “I backcombed my hair today.”

“I saw.”

“So is there anything you want to tell me regarding my hair and erm, me?”

“The hairstylist had done a good job with your hair today.” Aleyah avoided the words he was dying to hear on purpose just so she could watch this rare cute moment of his.

Unknowingly, Kai pouted because he was disappointed with her being so unobservant with his appearance today. Especially when he had spent almost an hour preparing himself, perfecting the hairstyle she loves the most. “No, not this.”

“Then what should I say? Will you please enlighten me then?”

“You are supposed to tell me that I look good too! Isn’t that what people always say when you praise them? They reciprocate!” He whined.

“Hahah, do you know that you are adorable whenever you pout and whine?”

“You did it on purpose didn’t you?” Giving her the loped-sided smirk, he crossed his arms on his firm waist. “You are so dead.”

“Hahahah. Please don’t tickle me..”

“That’s your punishment.”

“But you are really adorable when you pout! It’s the truth.”

“You are even cuter when I tickle you so come here now.”

“Never!”

*******

In Venice, evenings are made for wandering. Couples can be seen having candle light dinner by the canelside under the dimmed streetlights or strolling down the dark and distant backlanes of the city hand in hand enjoying each other’s company. Whereas some prefers a romantic glide under the moon with a gondola ride as the musicians serenade them with their lovely music pieces.

For the soulmates, they’ve done everything that had been mentioned. Right now they were sailing through nighttime Venice with the man embracing the lady from the back, her head leaning on his broad chest as they locked hands around her waist. Their gaze followed the moon as it sailed past the otherwise unseen buildings. In the city of masks, they were anonymous; they were just another couple in this city of love.

“I prefer the other picture we took earlier.” Aleyah told him as she looked through his phone’s gallery that were filled with their pictures.

“Which is? We took tons of pictures today my dear.”

“The one at the restaurant earlier.”

“Ah, that.” Kai smiled as he recalled the picture that they took. He loved that picture too. They were standing beside one another in front of the Grand Canel with his hands on her waist, looking into each other’s eyes. They looked so hopelessly in love that the owner of the restaurant wanted the photo to be pasted in his restaurant’s wall where he kept all the pictures of loving couples that patronized his deli.

“I took a picture of the polaroid.” He scrolled to the photo and showed to her.

“Send me?” She tilted her back and looked at him, he nodded. “Thank you for today Kai.”

“Did you have fun?” He turned her around so he could see her beautiful face.

Aleyah nodded as her lips curled into a blissful smile, “Thank you for making my first date so memorable. I don’t think I will ever forget this.”

Her words sounded a little sad in this romantic night and it wasn’t difficult for Kai to pick up her melancholy. His eyes watched her force out a smile as he reached out to graze her cheeks lightly with his thumb. He wasn’t stupid to not realize the reason to her sadness, but he needed time to sort things out. However he doesn’t know that time was running out for her; she was Cinderella whose magic will soon wear off before she bid goodbye to her prince charming.

“Then don’t forget. Let it be the best memory you ever had because it’s definitely mine.” Under the moonlight, Aleyah saw how his eyes were burning with his love for her. And that moment she solved that mystery that she thought never could be solved - the reason to her attraction when she saw him on the screen, the familiarity to his presence even when she doesn’t know him personally and the reason to her sinning now.

“I won’t forget. Never will I.” She gave him a light feathery kiss on his thick luscious lips before pulling away to make another promise, “I love you Kai.”

“And I always will.”

*******

Finally! Aleyah said those 3 words! And it its in Venice, the city of love! Awwww~ 

Wells, Kai also quarelled with Solbi for the first time too. Actually I'm kinda curious, what do you guys think of Kai and Solbi? I've been reading a lot of comments about Aleyah and Kai or Aleyah and Sehun, but none on Kai and Solbi. So maybe you guys can give your views on that couple?

Enjoy~ And please don't forget to leave a comment too! Thank you.