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chapter 6

story by misstalkytalk - 

After that visit, she was different. Not in a bad way, but a good way. The pages in the book no longer had stains on it, it was completely clean and dry. She started helping out more and wanted to do things she learned. To me, it was a good thing, because it was all real. A smile was on her face more, the smile a lot of people talked about before, the one that captured their hearts. When they said she was talented, she really was, but all she needed was encouragement and she could get anything done. The book changed, it was no longer dull with only plain letters written in it; the book was filled with color that was never seen before. But everyone has those moments, where they forget something valuable. When you see something new and interesting, you tend to grab it just because it's something you've never experienced before.

Every book an author writes is loved by them, but when they release a new book, of course their attention will be shifted. They'll find interest in the new book, and leave the old one in the corner. That doesn't mean the author didn't love the old book anymore, it just meant they're focusing on something else. But that also doesn't mean the author's priorities changed, it was just, in the moment, the author was lost. For the first time, the author was lost, not the book.

Kai stood at his locker, leaning against it as he waited for Krystal after her gym class. Today their gym class was the very last period since there were many announcement. But being Kai, he decided not to attend it just because he “wasn’t interested”. Kicking the ground, Kai looked up when he heard footsteps leaving the gym. In front of him were a crowd of students, getting ready to go home. Squinting his eyes, Kai saw Krystal as she walked out the gym, flyers in her hands and a smile on her face. Running towards Kai, Krystal looked at him with a big smile.

“Is there a reason why you’re so happy?” Kai asked, raising his eyebrow as the two started walking out the school.

“Let’s try out for the dance team,” Krystal suggested, holding out the flyer towards Kai. Quickly glancing at it, Kai shook his head before he continued leading her towards the bus stop. “Why not?” She asked, her eyes looking down at her feet. “Seulgi told me that you like it.” She whispered, before Kai chuckled softly.

Ever since the trip, Seulgi and Krystal had basically became best friends. Every now and then Seulgi would come over and invade the two’s apartment. The two girls would stay in Kai’s room and giggle about who knows what. Sometimes he wanted to join but other times he just let them had girl times, since after all, it had been a while since Krystal had real friends. Deep down inside, Kai was jealous that Seulgi got close to Krystal so quickly but he couldn’t blame her, they were both girls.

“You know I don’t want to do those kind of things,” Kai said, waiting at the bus stop.

“There’s soccer too. You’re really good at soccer, I heard.” Krystal replied, showing him the flyer. Looking at the two flyers in her hand, Kai reached for it slowly, reading it carefully. “I got it just for you. There’s more too.” Krystal added, giving him all the flyers. Math club, dance club, the soccer team, it was all in Kai’s hands.

“Cheerleading?” Kai asked, before Krystal’s eyes went wide and she reached for it. Letting her take it from him, Kai stared at her quietly. “Do you want to be on the cheerleading team again?” He questioned, before Krystal shook her head quickly.

“No, of course not, never.” Krystal replied, crushing the paper in her hand and shaking her head. “I didn’t like it anyways.” She muttered before Kai let out a sigh, knowing she was lying.

“You should do what you want,” Kai told her before the bus pulled up and he followed Krystal inside.

“You’re being a hypocrite,” Krystal laughed softly, taking the seat in the back, Kai sitting next to her. Kicking her feet back and forth as she looked out the window, Kai looked down at the paper.

“But then studying and it means I won’t always be with you,” Kai muttered.

“We can always hang out after your practices,” Krystal smiled. “I know you’ll make all three teams. You’re smart and talented. We’ll always spend time during the dance team, that’s if I make it. And then I can always visit you at practice. I’ll join the math team later on, I don’t feel like I should be in it for now.” Krystal explained, before Kai nodded, agreeing to her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to cheerleading? Is it because of Sulli? Minho?” Kai asked, noticing Krystal shifting in her seat at the mentions of the name. “They don’t bother you anymore, so why not?”

“I just don’t feel like it’s my place. I never liked it anyways, I promise,” Krystal smiled, looking at Kai.

“Well then, I guess we better start practicing,” Kai suggested before Krystal nodded excitedly, reaching for her phone to text the one and only, Seulgi.

“Are you serious?!” Seulgi cheered, standing up from the dinner table before Kai threw a glare at her and she ran towards Krystal. “Is it true, Soojung?” Seulgi asked, jumping around her while Krystal cooked with Kai. Krystal laughed, nodding before bringing the food to the table. “Kim Jongin, I told you to listen to me, and you don’t! Instead, you listen to Soojung~ I wonder why, I wonder why.” Seulgi winked at Kai while he brought the utensils over and pushed her to the side.

“You’re annoying, go home,” Kai replied, sitting down before pulling out the chair for Krystal as she sat across from him. Seulgi sat right next to Krystal as the two girls giggled softly, Seulgi nudging Krystal.

“I’m sure Jongin is going to make the team. I’m so proud of you.” Seulgi smiled widely before the two started eating and Kai kicked her foot under the table. “Soojung, he’s being mean!” Seulgi whined, only receiving a soft laugh from Krystal.

“Shh.” Krystal demanded putting food into Seulgi’s mouth before she chewed it and swallowed it.

“I wish I went to your school,” Seulgi smiled. “So I could always be with Soojung. I’m so lonely at my school, it’s boring too. There's probably so many cute guys at your school too.” Seulgi pouted.

“There’s this thing called transferring, and please don’t do it because I don’t want to see you more than I have to,” Kai rolled his eyes, eating the food while watching Krystal’s reactions quietly. Seulgi’s eyes flicked back and forth as she glared at Kai, threatening him with a punch.

“You’re always welcome,” Krystal smiled before Seulgi hugged her tightly, making Krystal laugh and pat Seulgi’s head.

“You disgust me,” Kai groaned, glaring at Seulgi before placing food into Krystal’s bowl.

“You’re just jealous.” Seulgi smirked before Kai stepped on her foot, causing her to squeal. Krystal’s cheeks flushed red before she started laughing when Seulgi got up and went over to Kai, ruffling his hair. Kai was protesting, pushing Seulgi off before he threatened to pull her hair and she hid behind Krystal. “Don’t hurt me. Soojung is watching!” Seulgi teased before the two chased each other around the kitchen.

It had been about two months since Krystal started living with Kai. And just a few weeks ago, they visited his parents. Krystal and Kai walked down the school hallways as everyone was muttering. Surprisingly it wasn't about them, but it was about Sulli instead. No, no, it wasn’t bad things, Sulli would never let bad rumors about her fly around school. Anyways, the word that was going around was about Sulli having a big party for her joint welcoming and birthday party for her best friend, the new girl in school. Her name was Bae Suzy and she was apparently one of Sulli’s close friends since they were young. Krystal knew the girl as well, they went way back, Soojung, Sulli, and Suzy. When they were young, they were always called the “Triple S Girls”. But all that went downhill when Sulli started hating Krystal and Suzy moved to another school.

“Hey, Kai, join us today at lunch,” the guys from the soccer team called as they passed him to go to class.

“Kai, we have lunch in the dance room if you want to join,” the girls from the dance team smiled as they left.

“Don’t forget about the meeting for the Math Club after school,” the President of the club said before leaving as well.

“Seems like you got involved,” Krystal commented before arriving at her locker and opening it. Kai only opened his locker quietly and shrugged slightly. It was true. After the break, Kai decided he should join and be more involved in school, and a part of it was because Krystal did convince him. Since then it got him thinking, why hasn't he joined all this time? His scholarship let him have everything in school, so why not take the chance and do it? Krystal was back to normal, she was no longer afraid, no one was bothering her, so it was Kai’s turn to care about himself. Ever since school started, Kai never did anything he liked and only hid in the dark. Wasn’t it about time for him to have even a little bit spotlight? After all, during the trip, he did promise Krystal that he would show his talents. He didn’t need all of the attention, as long as he was doing what he liked.

“Did you check if you made the soccer team or dance team yet?” Krystal asked. “You obviously made the dance team, I saw your name when I was checking for mine.” She smiled softly, closing her locker after getting her things.

“Well, did you see your name?” Kai asked, raising an eyebrow as he followed her to class, looking at his feet as they walked.

“I was there, I made it too,” Krystal said, a hint of happiness can be heard in her voice before they arrived in their class and took their seats, waiting for the teacher to arrive. Taking out her notebook, Krystal placed it on her desk, looking over her notes before the discussion could start. Kai glanced at her, but before he could pass her the banana milk he had packed for her from home, a bunch of people gathered around him.

“Welcome to the soccer team, Kai! I’m Xiumin, if you never heard of the name,” the guy smiled as Kai looked at him and all the guys from the soccer team around him. They were all patting his back, complimenting his soccer skills and wondering why he was hiding from their team the whole time. From the corner of his eyes, he can see Minho glaring at him from afar.

“If anything, you might even become Captain,” a tall guy name, Chanyeol joked before the team nudged him, telling him to shut up, because Minho wasn’t too far from them.

Kai only nodded, feeling awkward since he never had this much attention at school. Even when he was the top of their class, no one gave him this much attention. Maybe talent does really outshine academics these days. Looking down at his books, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Just because you’re on the soccer team too, you can’t forget your responsibilities in the dance team,” a guy name, Taemin said, before the teacher walked in and everyone ran towards their seats and sat down.

“And the math club, but someone like Jongin can handle it, right?” the teacher asked as Kai nodded, looking down at his notebook once again. Looking over at Krystal, he saw her quickly look away from him, picking up her pencil quickly and writing. Was she avoiding his gaze? Usually she did get shy when they made eye contact but it was the first time she was acting weird. Well other then that one time when they were at his hometown and she disappeared when she met Seulgi, but that was different. Letting out a soft sigh, Kai looked to the front, seeing Sulli and the new girl stand in the front as everyone stared at the so called, “Suzy” in awe. Sulli just kept getting stronger and stronger in the school.

“I’m Bae Suzy, nice to meet you,” she introduced, making eye contact with Kai as she smiled at him, while the class greeted her.

“Treat her well,” Sulli demanded, before the girls went to their desk.

Krystal looked back and forth between Suzy and Kai, seeing them make eye contact and Suzy smiling at him. He didn’t even blink when they made eye contact, he didn’t look away, like he does when Krystal makes eye contact with him. Before Suzy sat down, her eyes met Krystal. Krystal stared at her silently before looking away when Suzy sat down.

“Don’t mind her, I’ll tell you the story later,” Sulli whispered to Suzy as she nodded.

Lunch time finally arrived as everyone started rushing out the room. People were inviting Kai from left and right. He only ended up being dragged out of the room. Without any thought, Kai followed the soccer team and cheerleaders as they headed towards their table. The dance team wasn’t too far and made an agreement that Kai would move from table to table every day. Everyone let Kai sit in the seat, right in front of Minho, who was next to Sulli. And the person next to Kai, was Suzy, the new girl.

“Two new people, isn’t it perfect, Minho?” Sulli smiled, turning to Minho, who was glancing at Kai.

“Perfect.” Minho muttered before getting up with the team to go get his food as they called Kai to follow them. Standing up, Kai walked to the lunch line but only stopped when he didn’t see the familiar figure in the cafeteria. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked around but didn’t see her anywhere, his teeth biting his bottom lip.

“Looking for someone?” Suzy asked behind him as Kai nodded slowly. “Jung Soojung? I heard about the two of you.” Suzy added before Kai looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Suzy let out a soft laugh, explaining how she knew everything since Sulli kept her updated all the time. But she assured him that he didn’t have to worry, because Suzy had no intentions hurting Krystal since they had a good past together. But she also told him that she couldn’t promise anything if Sulli picks a fight with Krystal, because after all, Sulli hated Krystal the most. Kai only looked at the girl with a questioning look. How can someone nice be friends with Sulli? But why was she standing by Sulli’s side if she knew Krystal was getting hurt by Sulli? Kai had a lot of questions but he didn’t have the time to ask at the moment.

“I’ll be back.” Kai told the team before walking quickly out of the cafeteria. His eyes looked back and forth for the person he was searching for, but she couldn’t be found. Reaching for his phone, he dialed her number, waiting for it to ring until he heard a familiar ringtone. Running towards it, he saw Krystal heading down the stairs, staring at her phone. Krystal stopped, looking up at Kai as she took a step back. “Aren’t you going to lunch?” He asked slowly, walking towards her but stopped when she shook her head at him. “Why?” Kai questioned, looking up and down at her, making sure nothing happened to her.

“I’m not hungry, and I have things to do, go ahead and go to lunch, I’ll see you after school,” Krystal said quickly before running past Kai and down the hallway. Before Kai could call her back, he walked after and watched as her figure disappeared into the classroom. Assuming that she had volunteer work to do, Kai made his way back to the cafeteria. He was only going to sit with them for a bit and go back to Krystal, nothing bad will happen.

And like that, a week and a half went by. Every day, Kai’s after school would change from soccer practice to dance practice. And even at dance practice, all the attention was on him. When she was missing, no one noticed, not even Kai. A lot of nights, he even came home late because of math club, and studying with the soccer team and the cheerleaders. Without realizing it, Kai was actually enjoying himself, even though something in the back of his head was telling him, something or someone was missing, but he didn’t know what.

On the other hand, as the days went by, Krystal stopped waiting for Kai outside the school gates. Every time she waited, he didn’t show up. At first it was him coming late, then it became text messages, and now it was nothing. It resulted in Krystal going home by herself. She would stay in the bedroom and study or clean around the house. Whenever she heard the door unlock, Krystal would just go back in the room, knowing Kai was too tired to talk to her. Krystal left dinner for him on the table all the time, but the next morning it wasn’t touched at all, and he had already disappeared to school, doing who knows what.

It was finally Friday, and everyone was excited for the weekend. One, tomorrow was the first big game for the soccer team, and two, tomorrow was Sulli's big party. Krystal knew that if the team won, the party was going to be even bigger. And most likely their school will win, their soccer team was the best after all and this year, there were a lot of good players.

Class ended as Krystal began gathering her things, putting it in her backpack one by one. Before everyone could rush out the room, Sulli stood up. "Don't forget, tomorrow's party. It will be a celebration because I know our team will win. And even though Suzy's birthday was a couple days ago, it's still a party for her. No need for gifts! Invite everyone, mostly everyone." She said, looking at Krystal before everyone cheered and walked out. Krystal sighed softly, letting everyone leave first before she got up and left the empty classroom.

Her feet dragged itself down the hallway before she heard people chattering about the soccer practice going on. "I almost forgot too." Krystal muttered, remembering how she packed Kai healthy snacks and drinks. Making her way towards the soccer field, her eyes looked back and forth, remembering the times she had come to support the team. It had been a while since she came back. Looking around, she saw the cheerleaders practicing, the team captain being strict as always, it was Sulli after all. Krystal wasn't surprise that Suzy was accepted into the cheerleading squad so quickly, connections was how you get through life. Avoiding the group of students watching the team, Krystal sat by herself, getting a perfect view of Kai, number 88. He really was good at everything he did.

Seeing how they had been practicing a long time, the coach decided to give the team a break. Quickly standing up, Krystal grabbed the bag she had prepared for Kai and made her way towards the players' bench. Walking towards him, her tracks stop when Suzy approached him. Krystal's eyebrows furrowed, watching them from afar. They must have gotten close because the look Krystal saw on Kai's face was like the one he had when he was with Seulgi. Hesitating to approach Kai, Krystal turned around quickly, only ending up losing balance from the impact, before dropping her things.

"Maybe you should be careful and not come onto the soccer field without knowing your way around." A voice laughed as Krystal started to bend down to pick up the things. The hand grabbed Krystal's shoulder, signaling her to stop before he bent down and picked up the things for her, putting it back in the bag. "There you go, Miss. Jung." He smiled before Krystal squinted his eyes at him. "Is there anything else I can help you with?" The guy asked curiously before Krystal nodded and held the bag towards him, glancing behind her quickly. The whole time, Kai had been talking to Suzy and didn't even notice Krystal.

"Can you give this to Jongin? I mean, Kai." Krystal whispered before the guy laughed and nodded, bending down to make eye contact with Krystal as she leaned back.

"Don't lose your balance again, Miss. Jung." He warned, before patting her head and giving her an 'okay' sign. Krystal bowed to thank him and started walking away.

Turning around, she saw him approach Kai as she stared at the back of his uniform. "Oh, 94?" She read softly, tilting her head, before she continued walking out the stadium. Shaking the thought away, Krystal let out a soft sigh, walking down the hallways of the school. "He's happy, he deserves to be happy." She whispered to herself. "Don't stop him, Soojung, you told him to do it."

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