Chapter Three

“You know, Kai isn’t so cold after all.”

“Oh?” There was a mischievous glint in Sulli’s eyes.

“Um yeah. I kind of bumped into him last night.” Sulli lets out a girlish squeal.

“Spill! I’m a student council officer and I myself haven’t even spoken to him or his friends.” She was leaning too close to me and I playfully shove her.

“It was nothing.” I suddenly regretted telling her anything.

“Krystal!” she whined. We were walking, arm in arm, on our way to the classroom. Sulli was waving and smiling to anyone we passed by.

“It really was nothing. I was at a playground near our house and he happened to be there too and we just conversed for a while.”

“Conversed? Well that sounds boring.” I sigh in relief when she finally lets go of the topic.

We reach the end of the hall and enter our noisy classroom. Kai’s seat was still unoccupied and I push aside the feeling of disappointment in my chest.

We sit down on our assigned seats and continue to chat about random things. Sulli opens her bag and takes out her feathery pen and bejeweled notebook in preparation for our first class of the day while I tie my hair up into my usual loose up-do.

I feel someone walk behind me but I already knew whom it was. I hear his chair scrape the floor as he takes a seat and the soft thud of his backpack on the floor. I wasn’t expecting that he’d change his ‘protocol’ and say hi to me in front of everybody, so in turn I ignored him too.

The day droned on in its usual uneventful manner and in no time it was lunchtime again.

“I’m really sorry!” Sulli said for the umpteenth time. I shook my head at her to let her know that it’s really okay.

“I promise it won’t happen every lunch break. It’s just that the student body president wanted to have an emergency meeting because of misplaced funds.”

She was feeling guilty about leaving me alone for lunch knowing that I haven’t made that much friends yet.

“I’ll be fine by myself. Go before the meeting starts.” I tutted. She gives me a bright smile and half-runs half-walks to her meeting.

I eye the long line in the cafeteria counter and the overcrowded tables and thought that skipping lunch would be for the better. Just for today, anyway.

I stop by the student relation office to sign up for an after-school hagwon class and bide my excess time by leisurely walking back to the classroom. The hallway to our floor was deserted as most of the students are having their lunch at the cafeteria. I could here my footfalls echo across the hall.

Reaching the end of the stretch of classrooms I notice the slightly ajar fire exit door beside our classroom door. Light seeped through the open doorway and I felt my feet shift towards it unconsciously. As I near it I could hear faint music playing and rubber soles squeaking on the ground.

I push away the heavy metal door find myself staring at Kai’s dancing form with my mouth agape. With a lean body his movements were sharp and lithe at the same time. I was so fascinated that I didn’t even notice him stop and turn to my direction.

“What are you doing here?” he didn’t seem furious at my presence; just surprised, abashed even. He bends over the rusty emergency stairs to pick up his phone, he presses a few buttons and the music fades.

I bite my lip in hesitation. “I was going back inside the classroom and I noticed the open fire exit door.”

“So you took it as a sign to barge in and watch?” his tone was accusing but his mirthful expression says otherwise.

“Well…” I didn’t know how to respond.

He takes three long strides to where I stood. “So how was I?” He leaned on the wall beside me.

“What?” I asked, bewildered at his sudden mood changes.

“What did you think of my dance?”

I feel my cheeks burn. “You were good. Amazing, even.” I congratulated myself for not stuttering.

“You’re blushing. You’re not attracted to me now, are you?” He pokes my cheeks. I probably looked like a tomato with my red cheeks and red hair.

“No way!” I sputtered. He laughed out loud.

“Chill. I was joking. Although I’m not one to complain if the Krystal Jung falls in love with me, a mere commoner.” He shakes his head at his own ridiculousness. My erratic heartbeat, however, serves as a proof of how much his words are not that ridiculous.

I’ve never seen Kim Jongin with this much expression in his face before.

“Do you dance as a hobby?” I asked, failing to think of other things to say.

He shrugs. “I guess you can call it that. I dance to let out my aggression.”

I purse my lips and look at him questioningly to prod him to explain but he didn’t seem to want to talk about it any longer.

“So are you starting to hate this town?” he suddenly asks me, referencing our conversation from last night.

“No. I don’t think I ever will.” I thought about the wonderful coffee shops and the tiny eclectic stores I passed by last night, not to mention the fresh air and how everything in this town makes you feel in touch with nature.

“Of course you’re saying that now, a few more weeks in this hellhole and you’ll be saying otherwise.”

“Do you despise me so much that you want to see me pack my bags and leave huh?” I joked.

“You know I didn’t mean it that way!” he said defensively. I laughed at his expression.

“All of your friends are here though, why do you want to leave so much? And what about your parents?” I sat down on the metal stairs while he did the same on the cemented ground.

“They’re dead.” His tone was devoid of emotions and I instantly feel guilty for being so nosy.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s okay.” He looks at me and lifts one shoulder.

“Me and my friends--- we all dreamt of moving to Seoul together since we were kids.” Once again he refrained himself from saying too much. That was one thing I noticed about him, he had no problems making other people talk but when it’s his turn to share something about himself he keeps it short and brief.

I respected his privacy and decided changed the subject.

“Why aren’t you with them right now anyway?”

“When you grow up and spend most of your time with the same people for sixteen years, it gets a bit suffocating.” He shrugged.

“It’s not a bad thing to make some new friends. You can’t ignore everyone in this school forever you know.” You don’t have to ignore me either.

“I’m not good at talking to people I don’t know.”

“You’re talking to me aren’t you?”

He looks at me weirdly, “You’re different.”

“I don’t know if that is a compliment or not, honestly.” I said with a laugh. Deep inside my heart was doing a somersault.

“Different, in a good way. And for once, Tao was right about one thing.”

My brows furrow together in confusion.

He faces me with a charming crooked grin, a total three-sixty degree turn from his previous somber expression, and reached over to pick up a loose lock of my hair between his nimble fingers.

“You do have pretty hair.”

Author's Notes:

/swoons/ Kai is such a sweetheart behind that stoic gaze don't you think?

Once again, thank you for subscribing and just comment down below for questions, suggestions or not-so-violent reactions. I could only update once a week due to my academic commitments so please bear with me, I really am trying my best to write as much as I can. :)