|| Twenty Six ||
When Two Different Fates EntwineThough Hana was going to write the song we were going to use as the general background music for our music video, it didn't hurt to research about songwriting and just songs in general, and maybe then I could actually help Hana if she gets stuck. A little after breakfast, I headed to the library for ideas. I was expecting it to be empty but there were already a few students inside and even more were coming. To my surprise, one of them was Kai.
If it was a week ago, I would have gone in without saying hello. But Kai and his friends had been really nice to me since my pair’s audition with Sehun that I no longer felt that I was an outsider to them.
It felt natural to wait for him just outside the door and say, “Good morning.”
“Oh.” His face brightened upon recognition and he gave a little salute. “Hi, good morning. After you.” He gestured for the door.
“I didn't think there'd be this many students here already. This place used to be empty on early Sundays.”
“That's what pressure does to people.” He winked at me. “Isn't that why we're here, too?”
I chuckled, suddenly being reminded of Lu Han. Kai was a little bit like him. They were the kind of people who had no trouble putting you at ease.
“Is Hana making headway on the song we're going to use? I figured I could help by browsing songs and maybe help find inspiration,” I said, pointing to the separate audio section in the library.
Kai nodded. “I think Hana’s almost finished. She finished the lyrics last night and is currently working on the melody now.”
“Wow, that's amazing. Can't wait to hear it.” That was incredibly fast. We had only decided on Friday that she was going to write the song.
“I'm meeting her later for lunch. Wanna come? Though I’d understand if you have prior commitments,” he adds good-naturedly, using my words of excuse whenever they invited me for a meal last week.
“I'm sorry,” I said but I couldn't help laughing, then bit my lips, remembering we were in a library after all. “I always did have prior commitments. Right now though, I’m total-” I checked my phone for messages since I had it on silent and surprisingly found one message from Lu Han. “Just a moment,” I told Kai.
From: Lu Deer Han
Heading over early. Where we eating lunch? I heard there's a new crêperie around the block.
I raised an eyebrow at his amazing timing. I started typing a reply when I heard Kai’s chuckle.
“What?”
Kai smirked as he pulled out a chair from the nearest table. “That's your prior commitment, right?”
Right. But I couldn't blow them off again. I looked at my phone. But I couldn't tell Lu Han no either. “To be honest,” I said, erasing my initial text as I sat across Kai. “Rather than a prior commitment, it's more of like a regular thing I can’t miss.”
He scratched his head. “What happens if you miss it?”
Endless sulking, I wanted to say but didn't. Not that Lu Han would actually sulk. He would actually encourage it if possible to meet other people and make more friends and memories. But for some reason, he didn't like Kai’s group that much, specifically Sehun. Not only Lu Han but Kris, too, now that I thought about it. They were always going on about me to not be too friendly with Sehun. I wonder what Sehun and Kai did to them that rubbed them the wrong way. I should fix their misunderstanding.
“Nothing,” I answered Kai and sent Lu Han a reply of Sounds delish. See you later. “How about we all have lunch together? There's this new creperie just outside of campus and we can all meet there later.”
“Are you sure that’s fine?” Kai asked warily. “I mean Jieun is awesome but I get the feeling that Kris doesn't really like us. Even Lu Han who's normally friendly to everyone looks at us weirdly sometimes.”
“So you've noticed, too,” I said, amused. “It'll be fine. It'd be nice to clear whatever misunderstanding you guys have.”
He shrugged. “Whatever you say.”
“Alright. Since Hana’s practically done, I should work on some other stuff. See you later, okay? You tell others.”
“Ciao,” Kai said as I waved goodbye.
KAI
The creperie Eunae had mentioned was a nice little shop right beside the burger joint Sehun and I frequented. Eunae and her company were already inside so I waited for Hana outside so we could go in together. A few moments lat
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