Part 2 of the New Years double update! Important info in the author's note!

An hour later, Saemi and I are sipping coffee at Caffe Bene, a quiet, cozy establishment with free refills.

She’s sitting in her wheelchair; Taehyung wheeled her into the cafe. After giving me a dirty look he told Saemi, “Call me when you’re done.” Saemi and I are sitting alone now, a bit of an awkward silence hanging around us.

    “Haven't we been to this cafe before?” I question Saemi. “It was to watch some band perform, right?”

    She winces. “Er, yeah. You don’t remember the band that sang, do you.”

    “Nah. But Dr. Do personally knew them, right? Do you remember when he literally shoved through the entire crowd just to say hi to them? For a short, wimpy-looking guy, he sure is strong.”

    Saemi laughs. “Oh my god, yeah. And remember when Dr. Yoon bought you that hazelnut macchiato and you literally spit it out?”

    “Dr. Yoon got so mad at me,” I chuckle, and for a moment Saemi and I are giggling together, forgetting the tension. Then we are quiet again.

    “How’re you doing?” I say softly.

    “I’m alright. The pain's faded away. Taehyung’s taking care of me.”

    I pause, and then say, “Saemi? Can you please explain everything to me?”

    “It’s complicated...,” Saemi sighs. “Taehyung used to take care of me when I got hurt as a kid. He knows how to tend to my cuts and bruises. I thought I would be more comfortable if I stayed with him. Plus, he said he owed me.”

    “And do you feel more comfortable? He hasn’t tried any funny business on you, right?” I purse my lips. “You’re hurt. You’re in no condition to be fooling around with that guy-,”

    “No!” Saemi screeches, rapidly shaking her head. “We’d never do that. God, Sojin.”

    I sigh. “Teenagers.”

    “So how’s it going with you and Kai?” Saemi inquires, and my face flushes. “Oh my god, no way. Sojin, why’s your face so red? Tell me now.”

    “We’re... kinda together now.” I cough, scratching my head. Saemi’s jaw drops.

    “He came over to make dinner yesterday, and now all of a sudden you two are a thing?” Saemi says. “Dude, how did you land Kim Kai anyway? I know you two went to the same high school, but I didn’t think you guys, like, talked to each other.”

    “I didn’t exactly tell you the whole truth,” I tell her. “See... Kai and I did know each other. A little too well, actually.”

    “Huh?” Saemi listens as I recount the entire story of me and Kai’s history. By the time I’m finished her jaw’s hanging to the floor.

    “What the hell, Sojin,” she breathes. “I didn’t think you’d actually fall for him after he did all that to you. But at least he’s better now. He was super nice when we talked.”

    I give her a small smile. “Kai and I have a bit of a tentative relationship right now. We both like each other, but we’re afraid of making even the smallest mistake. I wouldn’t exactly call him my boyfriend right now, but Kai’s definitely special to me. It's complicated. We're going to take it slow... well...,” My face turns hot as I recall our activities last night.

    “I hope everything works out for you two.” Saemi places her hand on top of mine. “You really deserve it. Sojin... I’ve never told you this, but you mean a lot to me.”

    “Same here.” I affectionately tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re the closest thing I have to family.”

    “Same here,” Saemi says, and suddenly she's tearing up, sniffles beginning to shake her body. I inhale sharply and move to her side of the table.

    “Don’t cry, Saemi, don’t cry,” I comfort her, gently hugging her. “I’m here. You can tell me everything when you’re ready, okay?”

    “I’m screwed up,” she cries. “Nobody loves me except for you, Sojin. Sometimes I really hate myself.”

    I look straight into her eyes. “That’s absolutely false, Saemi. Dr. Do, Dr. Yoon, and Dr. Smith view you as their daughter. Your friends care for you as well. And most of all-,”

    “Did you make her cry?” Taehyung booms, rudely shoving me aside. “Why’re you sad?” he asks Saemi in a milder voice, holding her hand. “Mimi, don’t cry.”

    “Mimi, huh?” I laugh, and Saemi and Taehyung’s faces redden. “Saemi, I love you, sweetie. You’d better call me every day. Once your wounds heal you are coming straight back home. I don’t even know why I’m letting you stay with this kid.”

    Taehyung snaps, “I’m not a kid!” and I turn to him.

    “I need your phone number, address, and your parents’ phone number,” I command. “I might need to contact Saemi urgently while she's staying with you.”

    After some grumbling on Taehyung's part, I’m finally satisfied with the information he’s given me. I hug Saemi one last time and head out the cafe.

As I’m walking to my car, my phone rings.

    “Hello?” I say.

    “Hey, Sojin, this new frozen yogurt place opened up a few days ago,” Kai tells me over the phone. “Do you want to go check it out?”

    “You bet.”

 Kai and I have identical froyo tastes: we both get cappuccino yogurt- with some green tea yogurt on the side- and basically every single topping dumped on top.

    “Bon appetit,” Kai winks, and crams a gigantic spoonful of the sweet treat in his mouth. “Ow, ow bwain fweeze!” he cringes, clutching his head.

    I giggle. “You’re obviously inadept at the art of taking big bites of froyo.” 10 seconds later my head is buried in my hands and I’m , “Oww, my head.”

    “We both at this,” Kai remarks sadly.

    “But it’s so good.” I grin, taking another bite. He nods in ardent agreement.

    “So how was your day?” He inquires. “Did you talk to Saemi?”

    “Yeah, I did. I still have a feeling that she’s hiding something, but she’ll tell me when she’s comfortable. I trust her.”

    “That’s good to hear.” Kai smiles. “How’s the muscular dystrophy project going?”

    “Incredibly well. I really think we’re on to something.” I tell him, my voice rising out of excitement. “We collected samples from patients and are running genome analyses on them. This sounds really strange, but I have a hypothesis that only a few nucleotides are causing the disorder. I’m not sure why, though.”

    “That’s really interesting,” Kai says in awe. “If you could identify why they were causing the disorder, it would be revolutionary.”

    “I know. I love science.” I smile. “We’re helping so many people, you know?”

    He laughs, playfully ruffling my hair. “It’s you that’s helping people. I’m just sitting in my office taking care of company matters.”

    “Oh, shush, Kai. Don't act like you're not doing anything!"

    “If you say so.” And Kai leans over the table and pecks me on the mouth. His lips are cold, but somehow cause a warm feeling to rise up in my chest.

    It’s crazy what he can do to me.

A/N: This story's almost over, guys ;~; but I made a spinoff! It starts a few months before Kai comes back to South Korea, and continues from there. The main characters are Saemi/Taehyung, but it'll feature Kai and Sojin as well! All the unanswered questions will be addressed in the spinoff. 

Click here to view it