Hyoyeon watched in awe as Kai finished his third bowl of noodles. She was still on her first and barely eating it. Usually she was no stranger to eating her emotions, but she felt really awkward sitting there with Kai given what just happened.

“So…you’re really not going to say anything about what happened earlier?” She twirled her noodles around with her chopsticks.

“I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would have already, but I’m guessing no.”

“Not really, no.” She took a bite of her food then swallowed slowly.

“So what do you wanna do after this? Movie? Arcade? Ice cream?” His face lit up at the last suggestion.

“Ha! Thanks for rescuing me, but you don’t have to babysit me for the rest of the night.”

“I’m not babysitting you, but if you want to go home and sit alone in your room all night feeling sorry for yourself…”

“Hey!” She pretended to almost hit him with her fist when her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket.

From: Jerkface

Look, I’m sorry I yelled earlier ok? Can we please just settle this in private?

Hyoyeon stared at the message. She wondered if she should just meet up with him and settle this once and for all, but she also felt guilty at the idea of suddenly leaving Kai to meet with up Eunhyuk. As she was about to respond Kai snatched the phone out of her hand. Hyoyeon was in such disbelief that she did nothing as he started texting back on her phone.

From: H.Y.

Maybe later but not tonight ok? I just need to time to think and sort my feelings out.

Kai hit “send” and handed the phone back to Hyoyeon who quickly snatched it and read what he sent. She was prepared to be furious/humiliated/mortified but instead she just felt relief. It was exactly what she felt at the moment. She smiled and put the phone in her duffle bag.

“How did you know?”

“Seems like you two have history. Plus I might have been eavesdropping on your argument through the door.” He bit his lip then smiled sheepishly.

She laughed and went to hit him again but he caught her hand and held it. He got up, still holding her hand, and with the other hand pulled some money out of his pocket and put it on the table.

“Hey I thought you said I was buying dinner tonight?” Hyoyeon was being pulled to her feet. She grabbed her bag with her free hand.

“Next time. Let’s go ok? Now that I just canceled any other plans you may have had, you’re mine for the rest of the night.”

Hyoyeon blushed and bit her lower lip, letting Kai lead her out of the restaurant. They walked around for a while getting to know each other. They talked about family and friends. Hyoyeon was surprised to find that Kai was friends with Jessica’s boyfriend and that he and Kris met when Kai’s family moved in next door to Kris over the summer. They were amazed about how much they had in common when it came to music and dancing and their passion for both. By the end of the night they were sitting on swings in an empty playground eating ice cream.

“Why are you so nice to me? You barely know me.” Hyoyeon asked.

“I dunno. Should I be mean to you then?” He smirked and tried to swing sideways to bump into her.

“No! I just…twice this week you’ve come along at the right time when I needed a distraction.” She looked over to thank him and noticed he had gotten ice cream on his nose. She burst out laughing.

“What?” He looked like a confused little puppy.

She got off her swing and walked over to his, standing in between his legs. She handed him her cone and cupped his face with one hand while wiping his nose with her fingers. Even holding two cold ice cream cones Kai suddenly felt very warm. Her hands were soft. The dim park lamp softly lit up her face. He suddenly felt the urge to blurt out how pretty he thought she was, but he knew it wasn’t the right time so instead he stifled his confession by shoving his ice cream in his mouth.

“Hah! What are you, five years old? I just finished cleaning your face!” She snatched her ice cream away.

She watched as he hurriedly wolfed down the rest of his ice cream. Why was he acting so strange all of the sudden? She quickly finished hers and they both decided to call it a night. He walked her home. They stopped in front of her front door.

“Hyoyeon, can we be friends?”

“Of course!” She smiled. “How can I not be friends with my Knight in Shining Sneakers?”

“Ah, hehe.” He nodded. “Well then friends should have each other’s phone numbers right? Like in case of emergencies or something?” He looked at the ground. Real smooth Kai.

She paused then smiled and took her phone out of her bag. She asked for his number and he took hers in return. She then did something that completely took him by surprise.

“Picture please.” She stated.

“What?”

“For all my friends I have a picture of us as the Caller I.D. so it pops up when they call. I even have one with Kris, see?” She showed him the photo. Kris was giving his best smoldering ‘I’m too cool to be taking selcas with girls’ look while Hyoyeon was smiling, flashing a peace sign. Kai laughed hysterically. He couldn’t wait to make fun of Kris for this tomorrow.

“Heh, ok sure.”

He stood next to her under the house lights and leaned in. She pretended to kiss his cheek while he made a shocked face. They both looked at the picture and laughed.

“Uh…can I have one for my phone too?” Kai asked shyly.

Hyoyeon smiled and leaned in. They did the same pose only reverse, Kai pretending to kiss her cheek while Hyoyeon looked surprised. She thanked him for a fun night and went inside. Before she was able to close the door Kai called out to her.

“Is there a picture of you and Jerkface in your phone?”

She was a little caught off guard by his question, but she had no problem being honest with him.

“…No, not anymore.” She seemed a little sad as she said it. Hyoyeon waved goodbye and closed the door.

After a nice hot shower Hyoyeon flopped on her bed and spread out. She really did have a nice night with Kai. It was nice to have a new friend, especially with all the recent drama going on. She was just about to close her eyes and drift off when her phone buzzed.

From: Kai

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. Goodnight Hyoyeon.

From: Hyoyeon

Message received, success! Goodnight Kai.

Kai lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He turned his phone on once more and stared at the photo of him and Hyoyeon. He touched her face with his thumb.

“Pretty…” 

I'm so sorry for waiting so long to update. Things got incredibly busy! Thank you to those who have subscribed, commented and or upvoted. I appreciate it! <3 - Yourhyoliness