Chapter Text
It didn’t feel strange to wake up in Hyunjin’s arms. Even two days later, Kate liked to think about it. To feel his body warm against hers, to smell him, and to touch him. Her fingers had slowly glided over his arm, over the veins she clearly saw.
Kate took a cold shower to calm down. It was Tuesday, and she was going to the city with Hyun, Jisung, and Minho in about an hour. So why did she keep thinking about the night with Hyunjin? After they’d had breakfast together, he announced that he had to go home as they had something planned for the afternoon – clearly without her. Yesterday he was busy with work, and she was just happy enough that he asked to hang out today. Otherwise, she would have thought he was trying to avoid her. Maybe she had overstepped a line when she asked him to stay, but he could have said no if he didn’t want to.
A knock on her door came only a few minutes after she was ready. Her heart jumped when she opened it and got tugged into Hyun’s arms.
“I missed you.” She blushed.
“And I thought you avoided me,” she joked.
“Never in a million years. Our schedule is quite full this week,” he sighed. “I’m glad we were able to find some time today.”
“And you decided to spend it with me?”
Minho and Jisung stepped in. “He begged us to keep the morning free for you.” Minho bumped into Hyun while teasing him.
“That’s why we have chaperones today?”
“Maybe you are ours,” Jisung replied with a wide smile that made her chuckle. She liked the guys – or at least him. Minho was always so serious that she never knew what he was thinking.
“Can we go?” he asked without showing any emotion.
Kate nodded, took her bag and the keycard for the room, and followed the boys outside. They just walked through the streets without a target. The only thing a little odd was that they were wearing masks, and Hyunjin had pulled up the hood of his hoodie. It seemed to be a Korean habit, as there were many people with masks.
“Oh, let’s use this one!” Jisung pointed at a photo booth under the roof of a building.
“Please, no,” Minho begged, but Jisung was like a bouncing ball, grabbing his hand and tugging him towards the booth.
“Let’s take some photos, or what do you think?”
Kate smiled and nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” They followed the two guys who were already in the box, taking the first shots. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Not a single one,” Hyun chuckled. The photos came out, but Minho grabbed them before Kate could get a look.
“These are not for your eyes.”
“Nope, nope, definitely not,” Jisung agreed, hiding them between him and Minho but with a bright smile on his face. “We can do some more together,” he suggested.
“Do we all fit in this tiny box?” She doubted it. There wasn’t much space.
“Of course we do.” Hyunjin went inside. There was one single chair, and he tapped his lap again. It took a second, then Kate gave in and sat down, immediately feeling his arms around her. Minho and Jisung squeezed in, laughing as the space was really small.
“Are you ready?” Minho asked and inserted some coins. He pressed a huge red button, and a countdown of five seconds appeared on the screen.
Everyone smiled into the camera. Just a normal photo. But what followed after was something different. Minho started poking his fingers into Jisung’s cheeks. Hyun leaned in, his eyes closed with a big smile on his face. Kate just sat there with wide eyes like a deer in the headlights.
Photo three of four shocked Kate. Minho suddenly wrapped his hands around her neck. She froze for a second, just staring at him, until she copied his pose, looking very angry. They would have needed a few more moments to recover from this situation, but the countdown for the last photo already started. Jisung pointed at his finger with a surprised face, like he had just gotten engaged. Kate placed the back of her hand against her forehead, while Minho just grinned and Hyunjin looked very surprised.
“I’ll take them,” Jisung announced and left the box, Minho behind him.
“Do you want to take some more?” Hyun asked, still holding her tight.
“Yes, but without the chair.” She stood up and wished she could sit on his lap again.
Hyun used some coins and pressed the button. On the first picture, he crossed his arms and looked angry at her. Kate mimicked his pose and showed him her cold shoulder. For the second one, they made little half-hearts on their faces. On the third one, they stood closer next to each other, one hand above their heads to create a heart shape.
Hyun grabbed her from behind, arms around her waist, and hid his face in her neck so that only his eyes were visible. She laughed at the sudden change.
Kate still had a smile on her face when she left the box and took the photos. “Which ones do you want?” Minho tore the group photo strip apart so that everyone could keep one picture.
“The first one, please.” It was just a normal one, but she liked it. She noticed that he had the one that showed both of them strangling each other, Jisung the one with the engagement, and he handed the remaining photo to Hyun, who was smiling over their own pictures.
“Show me,” she asked curiously, trying to get a glance.
“They’re really good.” Kate looked at them, and he was right. The photos were so cute.
“Which ones do you want to keep?”
“The last two?”
“Fine by me.”
Of course, she would have loved to have the last one, but she saw in his eyes that it was his favourite picture, and she would never take it away from him.
“Oh, they’re so cute!” Jisung was right behind them, making Kate jump. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It was on purpose,” Minho said, grinning. “Let’s go and grab some food. I’m hungry.”
They walked to a small local spot not far away to get ramen. “I always wanted to go to that kind of restaurant.” Kate was really excited about all the options.
“You should never call it a restaurant,” Minho smirked.
Hyun took over the responsibility of explaining how everything worked. She didn’t take the extra onions, but cheese, meat, and eggs were a good idea. Hyun helped her pick everything, showed her how to fill the water in, and led her through step by step.
After a few minutes, they sat together at a table in the corner, slurping their ramen. “It tastes so good.” Even better, since she paid for Hyunjin’s. That had been her intention from the beginning.
“You mentioned that you grew up with cats?” Minho asked suddenly.
“Yes. Do you have one?”
“Wrong topic. Wrong topic.” Jisung shook his head and laughed.
There was a small smile on Minho’s face. “I have three cats. Soonie, Doongie, and Dori.”
Kate’s eyes sparkled. “Show me a picture. I want to see them.”
“There we are. Right on our way to hell,” Hyun said while eating, making Jisung chuckle.
Minho looked at his phone and finally turned it so she was able to see them. “That’s Soonie, he has a white nose. That’s Doongie with the orange nose. And Dori.” They were unbelievably cute.
“I need to visit you one day, just to cuddle with them.”
“We’ve had such a tight schedule the last weeks that they’re at my parents’ home. I didn’t want them to be alone the whole time.”
“I like that you take responsibility for them and decided to do what’s best for them.”
“Will they keep ignoring us and continue talking about cats?” Hyun mumbled to Jisung. He spoke English, clearly intending to get her attention.
But Jisung was in his own world. After he finished eating, he used his chopsticks to play on the table like drums. The rhythm was actually really good.
“Do you want something to drink?” Minho abruptly stood up and gathered their trays together.
“Just a cola for me, please,” Kate replied while the others said something in Korean. Minho nodded and brought their rubbish away before coming back with drinks.
“Who wants to see some memes?” Jisung took out his phone, and with that, everything was just normal again. He made sure to find some English ones so Kate could understand them too. Hyun translated the others for her. Just a group of friends hanging out and sharing jokes.
Kate felt welcome and like she had finally arrived. A shoulder bumped into her, and she smiled at Minho, who tried to lead her attention to the next meme – Snowball from The Secret Life of Pets.
“He said that’s me.” His look was so sad that she burst into laughter. She felt sorry but couldn’t stop.
“That’s not really nice,” he said.
“I’m sorry. But it’s just too funny.”
“Hyun, tell her to stop.”
“Do you really think she listens to me?”
“Good point.”
Kate burrowed her face in her palms and really tried to calm down. After a few minutes, and one tear later, she was finally able to stop.
“Are you okay?” Jisung asked.
“Not sure. Am I?” She chuckled and looked to Hyunjin. Their eyes met and a soft smile was on his face.
“What?”, she asked and noticed that Minho and Jisung had already started to discuss another meme – or was it still the one with the white rabbit?
“Nothing. I just like that you’re here.”
A warm feeling rushed through her veins. “Me too. Thanks for having me.”
“Always.”
Minho cleared his throat. “I don’t want to interrupt you, but we have to go. It’s already later than expected and we shouldn’t be late.”
Hyun frowned and grabbed his phone to check the time. It was after two. He sighed. “They’re right. I’m really sorry to leave you alone again.”
“I knew that you have a tight schedule. It was great to see you again.”
They stood up and Hyun hugged her for a moment.
“Can you give me your phone for a second?”
“Are you sure?” It was Jisung who asked the question. Kate gave it to him.
“I am.” He smiled when he handed it back. “I entered my number. We don’t have to write on Instagram the whole time.”
“Thank you. Have fun.”
A few hours later Kate was back in her hotel room, sitting cross-legged on the bed and staring at her phone. Hyunjin had already entered his name so she didn’t have to bother spelling it correctly. She hadn’t written him yet, but she really wanted to. The photos of the four of them, as well as the two with Hyun and her, laid next to her. The one where it seemed like they were hating each other looked so familiar. He looked like that when they first met. He was just hungry and didn’t want to talk to anyone. Luckily, he had changed his mind.
Kate:
Hyunnn it’s me :)
Hyun:
Kateee I waited for your message. Why did it take so long?
She blushed and double-checked her profile picture. It was a nice one she took back at home, by the sea. Kate bit her lip and checked his picture, which she was now able to see after he saved her number. His hair was shorter and he looked like a model. He wore just a top, so she was able to see more of his arms, and damn – he worked out a lot.
Hyun:
I am really sorry that I had to leave again. How long will you stay?
Kate:
I will fly back next week on Saturday :( I would love to stay longer
She wished she could extend her stay. But the hotel was quite expensive and a new job was waiting for her. It was not an option to stay longer. Maybe Hyun still had some days off and could visit her? Well, probably not. Can you even take days off as a background dancer? She had no idea.
That was the moment she noticed that he hadn’t replied to her message. There were blue ticks, but nothing else. The screen went black. Maybe he was just busy? It was probably nothing.
Kate brushed her teeth and changed into her nightclothes, but even when she finally lay down in bed, he still hadn’t responded. She took a deep breath and noticed that his smell was still there.
Hyun:
We just received the updated schedule and I hate it
No more information. No response to her fly-back. Nothing. Or maybe he just decided not to think about it. He often changed the subject in the past, but this time she had hoped for more words. Something to calm her down or to cheer her up.
Kate:
Why?
Hyun:
I have only time on Thursday and Sunday. The other days are full and there is no option to move things around :( Can you save the days for me?
Ouch. It hurt. She was able to do things alone. That was her intention when she flew to Korea by herself. At the same time, she had hoped to do more with Hyun, to enjoy the remaining days with him. She sighed. Guess today was not her lucky day. She took another deep breath and inhaled his scent. For sure, he still had some time in the mornings and evenings, but she also knew that at some point you’re just exhausted and need time for yourself.
Kate:
Of course. Do you already have an idea what to do?
Hyun:
Would you like to watch us dance on Thursday? No one will be there to send you away. The guys already agreed
Kate:
I would love to see you :)
Kate left it open whether she would love to see him and his friends dancing or if she just wanted to see him. Because she didn’t know.