They sat in Starbucks, each clutching piping hot cup of cocoa, sipping away.

“So, how do you feel now that the first performance is over?” Kyu Jong asked, taking a careful sip from his cup.

Kayla smiled a bit, “Relieved, the first performance is always the hardest in my opinion, still working the kinks out, everyone is getting a feel for everything s nerves are at their highest.

Kyu Jong nodded, watching her intently.

“It’s a great feeling though, being out there on stage performing, it’s addicting.”

He smiled. “Yes it is.”

“You said you’ve done some things back home?” Kayla questioned.

Once again he nodded, “I have.”

“Like what if I might ask?”

"Mmm, well musicals and dramas,” he replied, taking another sip from his cup.

“You were in musicals? Seriously?” She asked, shock on her face.

He chuckled, “Yes, me and a few of my closest friends do them sometimes.”

“And…dramas? What are those?”

“I guess they’re like mini series, you have something sort of similar…uhh…soap, soap something,” Kyu Jong frowned.

“Soap operas?”

“Ahh yes, that’s it!”

“Whoa, so wait, you’ve been on TV then?” She blinked.

He gave her a shy smile, “I have.”

“No way! That’s so cool, wow; you’ve literally done it all, amazing! I can’t imagine what that’s like,” she sighed longingly.

“It’s an experience, I’ve learned a lot. Actually I was thinking of trying to take some acting lessons and try to do some commercials to brush up a bit. I haven’t done too much since I’ve been out of the military.”

Kayla, who was in mid sip of her cocoa, almost choked. She looked at him a hand covering as she tried to stifle a cough.

“Military? You were in the military?”

She couldn’t believe it; he just didn’t seem like the type.

He nodded, “Yes, for two years, all men are required to in South Korea,” Kyu Jong explained.

“So it’s like…the equivalent of when we had the draft here. Wow, so how long have you been out now?”

“Just a little over a year.”

Kayla shook her head at her ignorance; she’d really had no idea that there were countries that did the whole draft thing. “I’m sure you’re glad to be home, I bet you had a lot of friends and family that missed you.”

Kyu Jong looked at her a moment, a smile hovering on his lips, “Ne, there were some.”

She gave him a soft smile, “So you want to take classes, well I do go to an acting school myself, the ones that put on the plays and musicals and such that I’m in. They have classes regularly and I go when I can, it’s also associated with the community theater, which I’m in too. I can get you some information if you’d like,” she offered.

His eyes lit up, “Really?”

She nodded, “Of course, we actors have to help each other out,” she winked.

Kayla found she really wanted to help him out, especially since he wasn’t from here, she wanted to him to be able to do what he wanted, at least try to.

“Besides, you came here to support me; I want to support you too.”

It was only right, he’d really helped her out tonight, whether he knew it or not, she wouldn’t forget that.

Kyu Jong smiled gently and bowed his head, “Thank you Kayla,” he said softly.

She could feel herself blushing for some reason; quickly she put her nearly empty cup to her lips, finishing the last few sips.

“May I ask what year you were born?”

“Year?”

He nodded.

“Uhh, sure, 1987.”

“Ahh, so then we are the same age.”

“You too? That’s surprising, you seem older, I just mean more mature,” Kayla went on quickly to clarify.

“Thank you,” he smiled.

“So why is my age important?”

“Just wanted to know how to address you. Is your birthday soon?”

“Nope, not until July, July 10^th actually. How bout you?”

“Next month, the 24^th.”

“Oh, well we’ll have to make sure to do something special for you,” Kayla smiled then frowned. “How to address me?”

Kyu Jong stared at her then chuckled, “Ne, your status, since we’re the same age, there’s no need to be overly formal.”

She frowned deeper, “Formal? Not at all, is that why you’re bowing? You don’t have to, I’m not anyone special, there’s no need for that.”

He smiled a bit, “That’s always done in my home, it is the greeting and to show respect in Korea, but you are special.”

Kayla shook her head, “Nah, but to be honest when you do that, it makes me feel special, silly right? I mean, it’s an everyday thing where you’re from, but it’s not done here unless it’s for the end of a performance.”

He shook his head, “Not silly at all. Since it makes you feel special and you are, I will make sure to continue,” he smiled, finishing his cocoa.

Kayla shook her head, “I’m so lame, seriously.”

Kyu Jong grinned, setting his cup down, “I’m not sure what you mean, but it sounds funny.”

She laughed, “You’re pretty funny yourself.”

“I am?”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Thank you, though I’m not sure why.”

“It’s refreshing, you’re not trying, you just are.”

Kyu Jong looked down at his cup for a moment before looking back up at her, “Those other flowers you got, they were very pretty, but you don’t seem so happy to have them. You don’t really like them,” he stated, watching her.

She blinked, how had he known that?

“I…I…” she didn’t even know how to respond, he’d taken her completely off guard

He gave her a sad smile, “Mianhae, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No…no it’s ok, you’re right actually,” she sighed. “It’s just, I don’t need all that, what I wanted…well…anyway, they were nice, just too much, that’s all,” she finished, feeling stupid for being so riled.

Kyu Jong nodded; he didn’t seem to think she was weird or think she was being silly; in fact he looked as if he understood.

“Sometimes it’s about just needing someone, not a thing, just that physical presence, I understand.”

“Yes! That’s it exactly,” Kayla sighed, he got it.

“It is very hard for some people though,” he said.

She nodded, “You’re not kidding.”

“Would you like another cup of cocoa? It is really good; I’ve never had it before. I’ve heard of it back home, but never bothered to try it,” Kyu Jong said, looking at her.

Somehow he seemed to know she didn’t want to talk about everything with Terrance anymore, she was grateful.

“No thanks, but how about another cup for you for the road?”

He frowned in confusion, “The road? Do I have to drink it on the road?”

Kayla giggled, “No no, just means one to take for the trip back home.”

“Oooh, ahh yes, ok!”

They headed back to the counter and Kyu Jong ordered another cup, overflowing with whipped cream this time and then they made their way out, with Kayla insisting on driving him back as he was going to catch a cab. Kayla reasoned it was a waste of money since they were going to the same place.

They made their way back to the theater and then got into her car, having walked to the coffee shop since it was so close. The drive home was met with a companionable silence, once there; they stopped at Kayla’s door.

“Well this is it, thanks again for coming tonight Kyu Jong, I really appreciate it.”

“It was nothing, I had a good time, and it was a good play.”

Kayla smiled, “Goodnight Kyu Jong.”

“Goodnight Kayla,” he smiled, bowed and then headed up the stairs to his Townhouse.

She made her way in, shutting and locking the door, making her way into the kitchen, getting a couple vases down. Kayla set up one with the massive bouquet from Terrance and left it out on the counter, the one Kyu Jong had given her, she put into a vase and carried it into her room, setting it down on her dresser, somehow it seemed the right place for it. She hadn’t even realized she’d done it until she stepped back and looked at it.

Quickly she undressed and headed in to take a quick shower, once out, she made her way to the kitchen; realizing Shane was still out, knowing more than likely he wouldn’t be home if he wasn’t already. Just then there was a knock at the door, she wasn’t expecting anyone, maybe it was Kyu Jong needing something. She made her way over to the door, unlocking it and swung it open, her eyes widening.

“Terrance! What are you doing here?”

He didn’t respond, he came in, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her up against him before leaning in to kiss her deeply. She let out a startled moan and felt herself being lifted into his arms as he carried her down the hall to her room. Carefully he laid her down on the bed before pulling away,

“Terrance…”

“I love you; sorry I couldn’t make it tonight. Did you get the flowers?” He whispered, trailing kisses over her face.

“Yes but…”

“Good,” he said, capturing her lips for another kiss.

He rested on her carefully and she broke the kiss, panting softly.

“Terrance wait…”

“No, I can’t wait any longer; it’s been too long since I’ve last seen you.”

“That’s not my fault,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

Terrance frowned, “Don’t make me feel worse than I do.”

“I’m not, I’m just saying…”

He kissed her before pulling away, “Don’t say anything else,” he responded, pulling away once again to look down at her, “Just feel.”

He kissed her again and she stopped talking.

~~~

Kyu Jong slurped the noodles loudly, wiping at his mouth with a napkin. He was starving and the noodles were hitting the spot for him tonight. It’d been a good evening, he’d enjoyed it. When he’d entered the auditorium and watched Kayla perform, it’d been great, made him long to get back out there on stage again.

He grabbed some more noodles with his chopsticks, slurping away. It’d been interesting to see, it was like watching a different side of her, even though he was still getting to know her. What had been even more enlightening had been after; he’d never seen a woman so unhappy with flowers before.

Surprisingly or maybe not so surprisingly, it was her boyfriend’s she didn’t care for, if he was like anything Shane had led him to believe, he could understand it. There was some underlining tension there, he didn’t know what it was, but it was apparent that it was a big issue. The fact that she’d been so happy with the small bouquet of flowers he’d given her, said something to him. His flowers were tiny compared to the ones her boyfriend had given her; the fact that she liked his more was odd. Though somehow, he could tell it was more her style than the massive bouquet he’d gotten her. Not that he’d known that when he got the, he’d just wanted to make sure he didn’t give her the wrong impression and didn’t want to do anything to make it look back against anything her boyfriend may have planned. When he’d given it to her though, her look had been totally worth it, he was glad he’d gone with what he did. Kyu Jong had hoped she would’ve mentioned him, her boyfriend, but she hadn’t. Again he knew realistically she probably still didn’t feel comfortable around him to talk about such things.

Still, he’d been glad he’d decided to go, when he’d asked Shane for the address, he could tell he’d been impressed. Kyu Jong didn’t have anything else to do, but also had wanted to see her and her talent level.

Standing, he brought his bowl into the kitchen, washed it along with the pot and set it in the strainer, yawning. He was still trying to adjust to the time change, he felt tired all the time. Sighing, he headed to his room, feeling decidedly lonely.

~~~

The Next Morning…

Kayla rolled over in the bed, stretching, she ran her hand along the now empty bed. Slowly she opened her eyes to find the other side bare. She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again and slowly sitting up, rubbing at her eyes. She was exhausted; they hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. Terrance had been a man possessed, as if he were trying to make up for his lack of being there the last few weeks.

She looked over at the pillow to see a piece of paper resting on it. She grabbed it and read:

Hey Honey!

Sorry I’m not there, something with work came up early, I’m really sorry. Last night was great, I’ll call you and we’ll get together soon. I miss you and love you.

-Terrance

Of course, work as usual and once again he’d left her a note on the pillow, not the first and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last time it happened. How many times had they done this? and then him gone before she got up or they’d be woken up out of a sound sleep for him to be called in, that was pretty much the extent of their “dates”. It was hard to no feel used.

She didn’t just want him for ; she wanted no needed more than that. She wanted companionship, someone she could spend time with, talk, cuddle, watch TV, and have fun. Kayla wanted a boyfriend, not just in name only, she needed the whole package, and Terrance didn’t seem capable of dong that anymore.

Kayla rubbed at her face before making her way out of the bed, grabbing her robe and putting it on to cover her bare body. Gathering up some clothes, she headed into the bathroom, turning she looked out to see Shane’s room was still empty, that was odd. Making her way into the living room, she looked over to see him sprawled over the couch, half his body hanging off. Shaking her head, she headed into the kitchen to turn the coffee maker on and then headed back into the bathroom and left him to sleep.

Twenty minutes later she emerged and headed into the kitchen, Shane slept on. She poured herself a glass of orange juice since she was a rare non-coffee drinker and walked over to one of their love seats and sat, sipping her juice and watching Shane, a smirk on her lips.

Clearing she yelled, “SHANE!”

He jerked awake, bolting upright to a sitting position, “I’m up, I’m ready, let’s go!” He said, looking around, his gaze finally resting on Kayla who watched him steadily, she continued to sip her juice, smirking at him.

“Morning.”

Shane glared at her, rubbing at his face, slumping back, “You scared the outta me, damnit.”

“Sorry,” she grinned.

“No you’re not, stop lying.”

She shrugged, “Ok, I’m not.”

“Mmm,” he groaned, rubbing at his eyes now. “How’d it go last night?” He asked, yawning as he stood, heading into the kitchen.

“Good, we did well. Apparently we broke a record with ticket sales; I’m looking forward to tonight’s performance.”

“Cool, well I’m planning to come to tonight’s, so I’ll see you for sure. Sorry you didn’t have anyone last nigh,” he frowned, making his way out the kitchen, a steaming cup of coffee in his hands.

“No, I did,” Kayla smiled.

Shane blinked, “You did?”

She nodded, finishing her juice.

“Who?”

“Kyu Jong.”

Shane blinked, “Kyu Jong? Seriously?”

She nodded again, thinking about it make her smile.

“I’ll be damned, so that’s why he wanted to find out the details, he’s good.”

“It was pretty nice, imagine my surprise when I found him after the performance, waiting for me with flowers and wanting me to sign his program.”

“He got you flowers too?”

She smiled.

“Not these,” he said, pointing to the ones on the counter, “Those don’t seem like his style, or yours for that matter.”

“No, those are from Terrance, his are in my room,” she announced.

Shane raised an eyebrow, “Your room?”

“Yeah, those are too much, I-I…Kyu Jong’s are just simpler.”

“And you said he got your autograph?”

“Yeah, Lejna’s too, said every entertainer should be asked for their autograph at least once.

Shane looked at her carefully. “Did he say anything else?”

“Just that he had done some things back home so he knew how important opening is. I’m telling you Shane, when I saw him there and he had those flowers, those perfect flowers and he said he was there for me and had seen my performance, I was floored. He barely knows me, but he was there, my own boyfriend wasn’t there, but a guy I’ve known less than five days comes and gets me the perfect bouquet of flowers, I don’t get it.”

Shane smiled a bit, shaking his head.

“What? What’s that look for?”

He shrugged, “Nothing.”

“You’re loving this, you can’t stand Terrance, you really love this.”

“Hey, I used to like Terrance until he started treating you like and became a pretentious prick,” Shane muttered.

“Shane…” Kayla sighed.

“No, it’s true and you know it, so does he, that’s why he won’t show his face around me anymore.”

She shook her head, they’d argued so much about Terrance she couldn’t take it any longer.

“I’m going out,” she announced, standing and bringing her glass to the sink.

“I’m sorry Kayla, c’mon,” Shane sighed.

“No it’s ok, I’m gonna go see if Chanile is home yet, I’ll talk to you later,” she said, pulling her coat and boots on before grabbing her purse and heading out.

The door swung open to reveal one groggy Chanile looking at her in annoyance.

“Morning!” Kayla grinned.

Chanile groaned and walked off into her apartment, Kayla followed her in, closing the door and pulling her boots off.

“So how’d everything go?”

“Eh,” she groaned.

“What time did you get home?” Kayla asked as she watched Chanile flop down on the couch, closing her eyes.

“About three hours ago,” she mumbled.

“Oooo, you must be tired,” Kayla said sympathetically.

Chanile slowly opened her eyes, “Exactly.”

Kayla smiled then sobered, “I won’t stay, I just had to get out, Shane was starting crap.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he was talking about Terrance again, I’m tired of hearing the same thing over and over,” Kayla stopped and looked at Chanile who raised an eyebrow.

“You know you won’t get any sympathy from me,” she stated.

Yet another person who could stand Terrance, only she’d told him so to his face, so he always treads lightly around her. Chanile was one of their friends that had known him the longest, she’d seen him before he’d changed, even liked him, but when everything had happened and he’d changed, so did her liking of him. They’d gotten into one major fight and since Chanile had been cold to him and he’d been careful, very careful. Neither trusted the other, it put Kayla in an awkward position as they were two very important people in her life; she loved them both very much.

“I know, I just had to get out.”

“So…what’d he do this time?” Chanile asked.

“Missed my opening night, he sent me an unnecessarily large bouquet of flowers too.”

Chanile just stared at her but said nothing.

“It’s nothing new.”

Chanile nodded, “I can’t say anything cause I missed it too.”

“Yeah but this is the first in forever for you,” Kayla sighed.

She continued to watch Kayla.

“It’s ok though, Kyu Jong was there so that…”

“Wait wait, who? Who was there?” Chanile asked, sitting up suddenly.

“Kyu Jong, oh right, you don’t know about him. Shane has a guy from South Korea staying with us for some sort of work exchange. His name is Kyu Jong, Kyu Jong Kim.”

“Kyu…Jong?” Chanile frowned.

“Yeah, he’s with us for a year, he’s moved into the townhouse above us,” Kayla explained.

“So some random guy is with you? That’s crazy,” Chanile frowned deeper, growing agitated.

Kayla shook her head, “I’ve been through this with Liz already, he’s fine, very nice actually. We’ve hung out a bit.”

“You’re cheating on Terrance?” Chanile’s eyes widened.

“No! I’ve been helping him to get settled is all, after he came to the show yesterday to my surprise, we went out for cocoa and talked.”

“Cocoa and talk, he came to your performance?”

“Yeah, I haven’t even known him that long but he came to see me perform, even brought me flowers.”

Chanile’s features softened, “Really?”

Kayla nodded, “He’s really nice, I had no one yesterday, and then suddenly there he was. He even asked me and Lejna for our autographs,” she smiled.

Chanile nodded in approval, “Smooth, so Terrance did nothing at all.”

“Besides the flowers no.”

Chanile rolled her eyes.

“Then he came to see me last night and stayed over…”

“Yeah and then left before you got up right?” Chanile frowned.

Kayla said nothing.

“Why does he insist on treating you like a booty call?”

“Chanile!” Kayla cried, her eyes widening.

“It’s true, he does.”

She shook her head.

“He does so! You have and then he’s gone before you get up, who the hell leaves a note on the pillow on the bed after? It’s demeaning, he’s doing it too much and you deserve better than that,” Chanile finished, looking pissed off.

Kayla sighed and looked away.

“Aww Kayla I’m sorry, c’mere,” Chanile said, patting the couch next to her.

Feeling stupid, she made her way over, sitting next to Chanile on the couch; Chanile wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I just want what’s best for you, I think you deserve more. It’s up to you, if he makes you happy, then that’s all that matters,” Chanile said softly.

Did Terrance make her happy?

“So…when do I get to meet this other guy?”

Kayla looked at her and chuckled.

~~~

Kyu Jong was at a loss of what to do. Back home he always had a packed schedule, he was sure starting tomorrow he would go back to having one but until then he was at a loss. He supposed he could go out sight seeing; he was still worried about getting lost though. Still, he couldn’t stay locked up; he had to figure something out. He grabbed his tablet he’d brought with him from home and turned it on; going online to look up some info on places he could visit, trying to get some kind of itinerary up together.

After about twenty minutes he figured out a plan, it seemed workable in his opinion, but considering he didn’t know his way around, that didn’t stand for much. He hoped he’d be able to accomplish it in a slightly organized fashion. He gathered up his money and such, dressed and started out. Since he didn’t have a domestic phone yet, he decided that would be his first stop, above all, he had to get a taxi. Kyu Jong made his way down and was surprised to see Kayla making her way over to her townhouse.

He smiled, “Hello.”

She looked over at him and smiled, he could detect a hint of sadness though in her eyes.

“Kyu Jong, hello, nice to see you.”

He bowed, “Yes, nice to see you as well.”

“You’re heading out somewhere?”

He nodded, “Ne, I need to get a phone and then I made a list of places I want to visit. Most places close early on Sundays it seems, so I figured I’d go out early try to get as much done as possible.”

Kayla nodded, “Oh that sounds like fun.”

“I hope so.”

She stared at him for a moment before giving him a small smile, “Well, have fun.”

She headed towards the door and Kyu Jong started past her and then stopped, turning back to look at her.

“Kayla?” He said softly.

She turned her head to look at him, “Yes?”

“Would you like to come? I would be nice to have some company,” Kyu Jong offered.

She blinked and he gave her a smile. A slow smile spread over her lips, a look of relief filled her features.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“Of course, it’ll be a lot nicer with you,” he said and grinned when he saw her blush.

“I don’ know about all that, but if you’re sure…”

“I do and yes, I’m very sure.”

“Ok then, yes I’ll come along. Just let me tell Shane so he doesn’t worry and change into something more appropriate. Come on in,” she said, motioning him over.

She unlocked the door and they stepped in.

“Kayla look, I’m sorry about what I said about Terrance, I didn’t mean to…oh, Kyu Jong! Hey man!” Shane blinked, clearly startled to see him, and then smiled. “Good to see you.”

“Hello hyung,” Kyu Jong bowed.

Kayla headed past Shane only have him gently grab her arm.

“Kayla…”

“Forget it Shane, it’s fine,” she said, pulling her arm away and heading into her room.

Kyu Jong watched Shane closely, wondering what’d happened. They must’ve had some kind of argument about her boyfriend, was that why she was out so early?

Shane sighed and turned to Kyu Jong, giving him a pained smile, “Sorry about that.”

“Is everything ok?”

Shane shook his head, “Not really, sometimes being the big brother …”

He could relate to that, he’d had a hard time with his sister sometimes. Granted he hadn’t been around her a lot once he joined the group, but before that there had been moments. Still he wouldn’t trade it for anything, he loved being an older brother and he loved his sister.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Kayla, but it’s hard to see things she doesn’t or choose to acknowledge. I just want what’s best for her ya know?”

Kyu Jong nodded, “Yes, I know.”

And he did.

Just then Kayla came out, breezing past Shane who frowned.

“We’re going out, I’m gonna help Kyu Jong do a little sightseeing. We’ll be back shortly,” Kayla said, heading towards the door.

Shane frowned, “Hey, Kayla…” He said softly.

She made her way out; Kyu Jong watched her leave and then looked over at Shane who looked truly hurt. Kyu Jong gave him a sympathetic smile and turned to leave, shutting the door after him.

He made his way over to Kayla, who was digging into her purse. She pulled out her keys and started towards her car.

“I was going to just take a taxi.”

“No need, I’ll drive; don’t waste your money if you don’t have to.”

“Thank you,” he said, bowing before getting into her car, and putting his seatbelt on.

“Now, what did you have planned? I wanted to see which way to go that makes the most sense.”

Kyu Jong handed her the itinerary he made and watched as she looked it over. She was looking at it, but he could tell she was distracted.

“Ok, we can do this, but we should get a start, as you said places close early on Sundays. Where would you like to start?” Kayla asked as she turned the car on and buckled her seatbelt.

“Mmm, well I did want to get a phone to use while I’m here,” he stated.

“Ahh yes, good idea. Well there are a lot of companies to choose from.”

“Can I use the company you are with?”

“Well sure, if you want. You may want to shop around to find the kind of phone you like and whatever.”

Kyu Jong nodded and they were off. After stopping at a few different cellphone places, he found one he liked and managed to get a plan that would work for his situation. From there they made a stop at each of the places he had listed. He enjoyed himself and Kayla was great company, even if she was a bit distracted. She also took him to a few of her favorite places and he took pictures with his new phone. She did advise him that it would be better to come back in the spring or summer when the weather was better; Kyu Jong stated that he would.

They then decided to stop somewhere for Chinese food for lunch, they found a restaurant and headed in. After a few minutes they were seated, Kyu Jong looked the menu over, trying to decide what to get, he glanced over at Kayla who was also studying her menu as well. Kyu Jong looked back down at his, making his mind up, he closed it and set it down. Taking a sip of his water, watching Kayla as she made her mind up and also set her menu down.

“So you have another performance tonight?” He asked.

She nodded, sipping at her water as well, “Mmm, tonight and tomorrow. I think tonight should be a bit smoother, I’m looking forward to it honestly,” she stated.

Kyu Jong nodded, “Last night wasn’t bad, but I’m sure tonight will be even better. Will anyone be coming?”

Kayla nodded, “Yeah, Shane said he’ll come, so that’ll be nice.”

He looked away, he had to be careful.

“Do you have any siblings?” She asked suddenly.

He nodded, “Ne, I have one dongsaeng, that’s a younger sibling, a sister.”

“Ahh so you’re an older brother too huh?” She said sighing.

Kyu Jong smiled gently, “Ne.”

Kayla was quiet for a moment, watching him warily and Kyu Jong just continued to smile and sip at his water.

“So…I’m sure you and your sister probably fought a lot,” she probed.

Kyu Jong shook his head, “Not too much, we had our moments for the last several years we didn’t see each other much, I traveled a lot, but there were times,” he stated.

She stared at him, “So I bet you tried to tell her what to do too.”

“Sure I tried, but she was going to do what she wanted anyway,” Kyu Jong said chuckling.

Kayla bit her lip, Kyu Jong could tell she wanted to say something, looked to be fighting some inner battle with herself as to if she should say something.

“It used to make her mad, but I only did it because I cared.”

That seemed to do it.

She shook her head, “No, you can’t say that, cause if you cared you wouldn’t do it in the first place. You don’t have to approve, why can’t he just respect my decision? Why does he have to be right about everything? Why can’t he just trust me to know that I know what I’m doing?” She blurted out suddenly.

Kyu Jong felt a bit relieved, he was glad she let it out, glad she’d said something. He leaned a bit closer and looked her in the eyes, which were filled with pain and sadness.

“It is hard to understand as you are not an older sibling,” he stated.

She frowned.

“It is…difficult to watch your younger sibling do things you may not agree with. We are raised to look after you; it’s not something taken lightly. We get used to it, from a young age. Then you get older and you start going out on your own and you do things, things that we can see will cause you pain, hurt you and we just want to prevent it because we’re just doing what we’ve always done, take care of you, even if you don’t want it. It’s not that we don’t trust you to do the right thing, or think you don’t know what you’re doing; we just don’t want to have to see you hurting or your heart get broken when we can possibly avoid it for you. I guess it could be kind of selfish on our part, but why would we want you to be hurting or even worse, mad at us? We love you, you’re our younger siblings, we always only want what’s best for you,” Kyu Jong finished softly, smiling a bit when he saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I don’t know what happened with you and Shane hyung, but I do know that he doesn’t want to hurt you and he doesn’t want you mad at him. He’s just protecting his dongsaeng, he loves you that much.”

Kayla nodded, wiping at her eyes, “I’m such an , I feel like a major ,” she sniffled.

Kyu Jong blinked, clearing his throat, “No, no you’re…”

“I am, I’m an , wow. When you explain it like that…” she shook her head, “You’re right, I don’t understand, I never really thought of it that way before either. I don’t like being mad at him either and I know he wants what’s best for me. I guess…I guess it’s hard to hear it; I don’t want him to be right about this. We’ve argued over it before and I keep…” she stopped and looked up at him and he smiled. “I’m sorry; you don’t want to hear this I’m sure.”

Actually he did, he really wanted to hear what she thought.

“Just know that I heard what you said loud and clear, thanks Kyu Jong.”

He shook his head, “Nothing to thank me for.”

She looked at him, her head tilted to the side, “Do you mind if I call you K as a nickname?” She asked suddenly.

Kyu Jong blinked, “K?”

She smiled, “Yeah, we’re friends right?”

He nodded.

“Ok, friends come up with nicknames for each other; I could call you K if you don’t mind.”

That was different, he was known as mantis, gorilla, even center, but no one had ever called him simply K. It seemed simple and yet made him feel good that she thought of him well enough to come up with a nickname for him after such a short time.

Kyu Jong smiled, “Ok, you can call me K.”

Kayla smiled broadly, “Great! I’ll reserve your full name for situations and all.”

He nodded and she smiled again.

“So what about the rest of your family? You‘re the oldest of two.”

“Yes, I am the oldest and then of course my parents. I have four others who are like brothers to me as well.”

Kayla nodded, “I know how that goes, I have a few friends like that too. So you’re here for a work study you said, are you looking into doing the same thing Shane does? He says he didn’t think you were sure.”

“Mmmm, not really, at least not now if I were going to. I’m very much interested in the music field though, I’d like to see how things are done here.”

“Do you do a lot with music back home,” she asked.

He hesitated, he hated to lie, but it wasn’t as if she’d know if he told her anyway, she probably wouldn’t even care.

“Some, I’ve done a little singing.”

“So you sing and act too? Wow, that’s pretty good and now you want to learn the behind the scenes, you’re really dedicated, I respect that. I think the fact that you want to learn the different parts of music and everything behind it so you have all that knowledge, that’s really great.”

Kyu Jong nodded, smiling.

“You’ll have to sing for me some time,” she said suddenly.

He stilled, looking at her.

“I bet you’re really good.”

He took his glass of water, taking a deep drink, finishing it before setting it down, “I’m…ok. I don’t know many songs in English though.”

“I don’t mind, I’d love to hear you sing in your own language some time, I bet it’s beautiful. Will you…for me?” Kayla asked softly.

Kyu Jong swallowed hard, he’d performed in front of thousands of fans and famous people, but that didn’t make him half as nervous as he was at the thought of singing in front of her. She was American; he didn’t know how she’d take to hearing music in a different language. He wanted to start his album first, learn the culture so he’d have something to present to her.

“You don’t have to K, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Kayla said, giving him a sympathetic smile.

“Ani, it’s ok, I will sing for you sometime.”

She smiled, “Yeah? In your own language, you’ll do that for me?”

Kyu Jong looked at her for a moment before nodding, “Ne, I will.”

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a/n: Hello all! Another chapter, not too much going on here, not really. There's a lot of set up so I ask that you please bare with me for a bit. We get to delve a bit more into Kayla's life, meet some new people and Terrance finally makes his first appearance and it doesn't shine him in a very positive light sadly. Nice to see the friendship starting to grow with Kayla and Kyu Jong as well, they're both cautious of each other in a sense, but you can tell the desire to reach out to each other is there. It'll be nice to see them slowly develope that. Welcome to my new subscribers!! I'd love to hear from readers, makes my day. I'll see you all on the next chapter!