VII
Black Soda DrinkI woke up to a crash in the kitchen the next morning. I imagined Kris muttering curses to himself and realized I should get up. I scrambled out of the sheets and to the kitchen, where I found Kris trying to stand up from the floor.
“What happened?”
He looked as tired as I felt, and I held his arm as he rubbed his neck. “Nothing. I just fell. Sorry for waking you.”
His eyes were barely open and I wondered why he was up so early when it was a Saturday. He didn’t have work today.
“Did you want something to eat?”
Kris shook his head. “I just couldn’t sleep.”
The sky was still dark outside and I pushed him towards the bedroom. It was his bed after all, and he should have first dibs on it. “Go sleep on the bed. I’ll make you some warm milk.”
“I’m fine, Yuan.”
“Kris,” I said his name in a voice that told him there was no point in arguing.
“Fine,” he grumbled and trudged to his room.
I warmed up some milk and brought it to him a minute later. He looked to be already asleep, so I left it on the nightstand beside him.
“Yuan?” he called right before I was about to turn to the door.
“Yes?” His brows were creased as if he was having a bad dream, and I knelt down beside him.
He opened his eyes only slightly. “Do you get nightmares?”
“Sometimes. Why?”
His tongue came out to his lips and then he closed his eyes again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”
“Kris…” What was he saying? I patted his blond hair, the same way he would do for me.
“He told me to protect you but I think we got our roles reversed.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Yuan. I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”
My lips trembled when I realized he was blaming himself for Yixing’s death. He shouldn’t. It wasn’t his fault. It couldn’t have been his fault.
I leaned forward and kissed his brow. I didn’t know what else people did in these situations but it was painful to watch him suffer like this.
“Don’t be sorry, Kris. It’s not your fault.” I kept repeating that until he fell asleep, until I fell asleep kneeling beside him with my hand still in his hair and tears threatening to fall out of my eyes.
-
That night, I came back from dinner feeling pumped. I told Gura about how far I’d progressed with the script and she gave me a clearer deadline. I had another few weeks, which gave me enough time to go over it with Kris and possibly train him for a role.
“Kris?” I called his name as I entered the living room. He was sitting there with a photo album in his hands and I set down the plastic bag in front of him. “I hope you haven’t had dinner yet.”
“Why?” He closed the album and dug through the bag before I even sat down. I saw his eyes light up when he pulled out the Styrofoam box and a can of Cola.
“My friend and I went to Arirang, and I remembered you and Yixing used to go there all the time for their fried chicken and sweet potato cheesesticks.”
The smile on his face was so bright, I had to look away. I busied myself with forks and napkins as he spoke excitedly. “How did you know I was craving this stuff?” He bit a cheesestick and clapped his hand. “I think I could kiss you,” he said with his mouth full.
I nearly snapped the fork in half.
“Have you ever tried these? I didn’t believe Yixing when he said they were good but, man, I was so wrong.” He put his half-eaten cheesestick by my lips and I hesitantly opened my mouth. Quickly, he pulled it away and I made a pout.
He was teasing me.
I sighed. At least he wasn’t sad anymore.
I refused when he offered me more food and instead pointed at the photo album. “Are those your baby photos?”
He nodded and looked like he was about to say something but his mouth was full of chicken.
“Can I see?”
He nodded again.
I reached around him and opened the heavy black album. The first picture was one of him as a kid, maybe five years old, frowning. A coo escaped my mouth before I could even hold it back.
Kris stopped chewing to give me a weird look.
“You were so cute! What happened?”
He swallowed his food and brushed his hair out of his face. “What do you mean? I’m still cute.”
I tilted my head and studied him. Cute wasn’t the right word for him. I pinched his cheek. “You still have the same chubby cheeks, at least.”
He turned back to his food, pretending to ignore my comment about his cheeks.
“Your mom is very beautiful,” I said, flipping through the pages.
“Yeah,” he mumbled back.
I noticed that I didn’t see his dad in any of these photos, but I didn’t mention it. Then his school photos started showing up. He wasn’t looking but my shoulders shook as I tried not to laugh.
When I got to his high school pictures though, I couldn’t hold it in. “Jeez, Kris, what happened!” I fell back against the couch, laughing so hard by myself I thought I was going to pass out.
“You’re going to regret laughing at those pictures.”
I couldn’t stop. Puberty was very kind to him, helping him flourish into what he looked like now. Puberty...and a set of braces along with a good haircut.
When I finally quieted and looked up, Kris was glaring at me but he had crumbs all over his mouth. He looked just like those yearbook photos.
I laughed again, clutching my stomach. He never smiled in a single picture and it made him look so weird, so not like Kris.
“Are you done?” he asked, poking my stomach.
“No!” I swatted his hand away because it only made me laugh harder when he started tickling me. “Stop that!”
I yelped as he grabbed my wrists with one hand and began tickling me nonstop. I squirmed underneath him, trying to catch my breath but also trying to tell him to quit it. Finally, I managed to twist my wrist free.
The next moment, he had me pinned against the couch, hovering over me with his huge hands pressed to my arms. Our smiles died as our breaths quickened.
He was going to kiss me.
I’ve been kissed before. I knew when boys wanted to kiss, and Kris was already tilting his head to the side. I stared at his lips, now void of crumbs, and nearly melted into the couch. Just imagining those lips was enough to kill me.
My eyes slowly closed as he leaned in. I could feel his breath against my cheek. One more inch and—
Kris let out the loudest burp I have ever heard.
My eyes snapped open and I saw that he was already sprawled out on the other end of the couch, laughing as hard as I was.
“What the hell!” I snatched a cushion and slapped his knee with it. “That was gross, Kris! Why are you such a pig!”
He grabbed my arms before I could do anything though and then laughed at me again while I struggled. I really was no match for him.
I squirmed under his grasp. “I can’t believe you burped on me.”
“I couldn’t resist,” he said, out of breath from laughing. “I’ll make it up to you. We can go for drinks on your birthday.”
I wasn’t a drinker but the thought of being so sophisticated and drinking with Kris made me almost forget that this man had burped on me. “That doesn’t change the fact that you still burped on me!” I crossed my arms and sat on the other end of the couch, glaring at the coffee table.
I could feel his stare on me as I fumed. I was so embarrassed but so angry at myself as well. I actually thought…
“You wanted a kiss, didn’t you?”
I shook my head vehemently but Kris leaned over and took my chin between his fingers, forcing me to look at him.
I pressed my lips into a thin line and looked away, furrowing my eyebrows so much that I feared they would stay that way permanently.
Then he kissed me.
My eyebrows relaxed. Heck, my whole body felt like a bowl of Jello. I felt numb everywhere except where he touched me. It was as if his skin was sending electrical current through mine and bringing me to life.
Oh man, it was even better than I thought it would be.
His lips were so soft and they pressed against mine so nicely. My hands were nearly shaking and I thought I was going to lose control of my entire body. I wanted to grab onto him, especially when he pulled away.
When I opened my eyes, he had that signature smile on his face, the one that made the corner of his eyes crinkle. “Thank you for the food,” he said before standing up and taking his empty container to the kitchen.
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Some of my friends are already out for summer holiday and I know a bunch of people who are on spring break! So lucky T__T I hope you guys have as much luck as they do!!
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