Kai

Kai wanted to hold her hand again, to trace the faint lines on her palm, to rub small circles on the back of it—he wanted to memorize every detail of her gentle hands, just as he’s wanted to memorize all the details about her. He was infatuated her, he realizes that. He knows it isn’t quite love yet: they can’t be in love when they’ve only seen each other a handful of times.

I want to change that. It may lead to something, or it may lead to nothing. The important thing is to try.

Kai smiled at the thought. He started planning. Follow-up promotions are coming soon, so the managers are giving them a few days of free time. If he could convince a few of s to help him out, this may actually just work out. The problem was, the members are Kai’s second family. And just like family, they have the tendency to be nosy and annoying before they decide to help out. It’s almost not worth the bother.

Kai swallowed his annoyance at the thought and started ticking off members to help him out. He’d need just two members to cover his back, but they’d need to be really effective. Kris, Luhan, and Suho hyungs are definitely out—they’d to no end. Sehun and Tao are too immature to handle the situation. Chen would just troll him, and would probably end up trolling her too. Not a good idea. Baekhyun’s a flirt, Xiumin is too cute for his own good, Lay has the dimples to make any girl fall for him, D.O has those wide eyes in his arsenal, and Chanyeol’s voice can be heard on a five-mile radius. Too conspicuous.

Ugh. This is much harder than he thought it would be. He repeated the process in his head, trying to be nicer on his second evaluation. Kris, Luhan, and Suho hyungs are still out. So are Sehun, Tao, and Chanyeol. Chen and Baekhyun are still such teases, no matter how Kai tried to be nice. That leaves him with Xiumin, Lay, and D.O. What exactly is he doing? Did he forget that Clumsy’s a huge Exo fan? No matter who he chose, she’d probably ogle anyway. Kai heaved a big sigh. He’ll just have to wing it.

Just as Kai stood up from the couch, D.O came in. If he had to choose, he’d go with the lesser evil—Kyungsoo-hyung is the least evil of the choices. Here goes nothing, Kai sighed again.

“Hyung,” Kai started.

“Wassup?” D.O moved towards the kitchen, opening the pantry and the fridge. “I’m making a sandwich. Want one?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice. Uh, I was thinking…” Kai’s voice drifted off. How can he say it in the mildest way possible?

“What?”

“Can you help me out?”

“Sure. With what?”

“Uh…”

“Seriously, Jongin. Spit it. What? Got a girlfriend your hyung doesn’t know about?”

Kai’s jaw hung open. How did he KNOW? Kyungsoo’s eyes widened before he burst out laughing. “Oh, wow! I was going out on a limb there, but are you serious? You got a girlfriend? Congrats, man! Who’s the girl? Is it that lady you were talking to a week ago?” He handed Kai his sandwich.

“Um, Hyung, it i-isn’t like that at all,” Kai was dumbfounded. He forgot how perceptive D.O could be.

“Oh, so you need me to move things along?” Kyungsoo wiggled his eyebrow provocatively.

“Hyung! Stop that!”

“Stop what?” Kyungsoo feigned innocence.

“Stop making it seem like it’s something weird!”

Kyungsoo laughed almost apologetically. Almost. He liked seeing Kai flustered. “So is it that lady?”

Kai gave up. “How did you know?”

“I saw you guys have this weird E.T. telepathic thing going on in that hall. You think nobody noticed? You looked absolutely smitten,” Kyungsoo was back to being sincere—he knows Kai’s never done this before. He wanted to give his full support.

Kai didn’t have to ask the next question: he knew his dearest hyung wouldn’t spill his secrets.

“So, now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, what role do I play in your romantic drama?”

“You’ll have to play my girlfriend,” Kai deadpanned. It was D.O’s turn to look dumbstruck. Kai clutched his tummy as he fell on the floor laughing.

“Hyung… I… was just… kidding,” Kai said between uncontrollable bouts of giggling.

“If you’re going to ask for my help, you better ask me nicely. I can say no,” Kyungsoo furrowed his brows, slightly affronted by Kai’s trolling. He may be new to dating, but he’s still Jongin.

“Hyung, you’re too serious sometimes. Lighten up,” Kai got up off the floor and patted his hyung on the shoulder. “I was hoping you could cover for me when we go on a date.” He took a huge bite off his sandwich. “Mm. This is awesome, hyung.”

“Thanks. By covering up, what do you mean?”

“I mean, you’ll tag along with the date so it doesn’t look like a date.”

“You want me to be a third wheel?! Really? No.” Kyungsoo was shaking his head vehemently.

“Wait, wait, wait! You’ll have Minseok-hyung with you!”

“So you want us to be spare wheels?” Kyungsoo didn’t like it.

“Well if you put it that way…” Kai scratched his head.

“No.”

“Wait! Kyungie-hyung! It’s my treat for that whole night!”

“You can’t bribe me with food, Jongin.”

Kai smacked himself in the forehead. He forgot who he was talking to.

“I’ll do whatever you want for a week,” Kai finally conceded.

Kyungsoo’s ears perked up. “Just a week?”

“Fine. Two weeks. That’s all I’m signing up for.”

D.O scrunched up his nose as if he was about to say no again.

“Come on, Hyung. Have mercy on my poor bones,” Kai gave his best friend his best puppy eyes—D.O’s weakness.

“Don’t act cute around me, Kai. That’s gross. Fine. But you’ll still be paying for everything.”

Kai was already prepared for that. Convincing Minseok-hyung was much easier—the lure of food was too good to deny. But Kai didn’t go unscathed: Xiumin made sure his dongsaeng felt as uncomfortable asking him as possible.

After swearing both hyungs into secrecy, Kai plopped down on his bed, exhausted. It felt like he just wrestled with elephants.

Now, for the most nerve-wracking part of the evening yet: asking her out.

Kai started texting her.

Hey, Clumsy. Wanna go

Kai hit backspace.

Hi, Clarissa, are you doing anything on Saturday?

Kai hit backspace again.

Texting seems too impersonal. Kai took in a gulp of air and dialed her number.

The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. Kai was about to give up on the fourth ring when he heard a rustle.

“Hey,” she answered, her voice as bright as he remembered it to be. Kai already felt his face break into a smile.

“Hey. How are you?”

“I’m good. Just got home from work. Ugh. That was a really tiring day, but it was so fun!”

“Oh yeah? Tell me all about it,” Kai nestled his head on the crook of his elbow, getting comfortable as he listened to her soothing voice wash over him. He loves her enthusiasm and her passion for the work she does.

“Hey, I’ve been talking about myself for the longest time,” he heard her laugh on the line. “Wassup? Why’d you call?”

Kai sat up straight. “Uh… actually, um,” Kai felt nervous.

Clarissa waited patiently on the other end.

“Are you free on Saturday? I was thinking maybe we could hang out?” Everything Kai was saying was coming out a question. Come on, Jongin. Be more confident.

More silence on the other end. “Hello?” Kai was growing more nervous.

She finally got back on the line. “I have nothing on Saturday, so why not? But won’t your fans go crazy? I mean, I know we’re going out as friends and stuff, but they’re gonna immediately register ‘GIRL!’ and stab me to death.” He heard her laugh.

“Which is why I was gonna ask you if you mind having company,” Kai felt himself relax, although in the back of his head, he felt a pang at the word ‘friend.’

“Uh. Company?”

“Yeah. It’ll be a surprise,” Kai smiled into his phone.

“Well, if you’ve got it planned, then I can do it! Like the little train that could,” she joked.

Kai laughed loudly at the reference. “Then it’s settled. Should I pick you up?”

“Um, n-no.” Is she nervous? “We’ll just meet there, okay?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. See you on Saturday!”

“Okay!” Kai felt giddy. Friends or more than friends, I’m going on a date!

--

They're going on a date!! Yay! Haha Sorry for updating late. College orientation came up, and I was having trouble thinking of what to write about, so yeah. But all I've got to say is, you guys have been such awesome readers! :D Every one of you guys is important to me, and seeing your comments really boosts me up. 

Since I'm being lame anyway, can I be shameless and ask you guys another favor? If you haven't already, please check out my oneshot! *puppy eyes* It's called "Two Years," and I'd appreciate your thoughts on it. :D Thanks for being awesome as always, and I wub y'all. <3