I know, I love you

Chapter 10

I grab the backpack designated for the ladies and head towards the charm wall. I began looking for a cat charm and bingo there it was. A cute cat charm holding a strawberry with pink bow on the ears. "purrfect" I say as I grab the charm off the wall while chuckling at my lame joke. I hand the backpack and cat charm to the cashier as I look around making sure Sanjai was still in the fitting room so, she wont see me buying the cat charm for her bag. I want it to be a surprise even though I know she'll probably yell at me about it later. "Is she your girlfriend?" The cashier asks while ringing up the items. "No, she's my classmate" I hover my phone over the pay pad using Samsung pay. Just as she hands me the bag Sanjai appears at my side. "Did you buy something too? She asks. "No, this is for you" I grab the other bags out of her hands as we walk out the door. "What is it" Sanjai asks while climbing into the passengers seat. I put the bags in the trunk before answering. "It's a backpack for school" I say while putting on my seat belt. "I already have a backpack somewhere packed away.." Sanjai replies. I crank up the car and head towards the main road. "You must have a specific backpack for this school, it's part of your uniform. Your dad must have forgotten about it so, I went a head and bought you one"

Sanjai begins to pull out her wallet. "Thank you... how much was it? I'll pay you back" "Don't worry about it, take it as a welcome present. Please keep your money...trust me I have enough not to brag" if only she knew how much money my mother sends me per month, just to pretend she cares about my well being. Work has been the most important thing to my mother since I was a child. She would rather throw money at me than to spend time away from work. Yeah it was cool to have $1,500 a month as a elementary school kid and Preteen to spend on games, toys and whatever else. She can no longer buy me now that I'm making my own money. I wouldn't dare tell Sanjai that my mother sends me $15,000 a month. She'll probably think I'm a stuck up rich kid like everyone else at school. My mother thinks raising the price of her monthly "allowance" will make me forget that she missed more than half of my life because work is more important to her. I can't even tell her how I feel because then I'm ungrateful and I have more than I need what else could I want... I am grateful for my dad he's more like superman to me ever since I was a child. He's always there to pick up the pieces no matter how busy he is.

We park on the street in front of a building with a cartoon chicken wearing a chef hat. Mr. Chicken is the best fried chicken restaurant in Seoul. By this time everyone was leaving school and heading to cram school so, the different color uniforms filled the side walks. "the uniforms look different but the same if that makes sense" Sanjai says while people watching. We exited the car trying not to get swept away by the crowds of students passing by. Of course I see groups of girls starring and pointing in my direction trying to get my attention. I agree I am pretty damn hot but most girls only want to be with me for status. " You sure are popular with the ladies" Sanjai says as I lead her through the restaurant door. "It's not what you think" we take a seat near the window since Sanjai loves being a people watching creeper.

The sever appears with menus and a pitcher of water. Sanjai takes one look at the menu and instantly puts it back down on the table. "I have no idea what any of this says" I chuckle. "I'll order for you. can you handle spicy food?" "yes but not extremely spicy" I nod my head as the sever comes back around to take our order. "We'll have an order of Bulgogi fried chicken, Carbonara spicy fried chicken and 2 chilsung ciders" I hand the server the menus while checking my Kakao Talk notifications. Of course it's Ha-Joon sending me pics of him kicking ass in some café game he is playing. Another text rolled in from my mom asking if I'm eating well. I ignore the text and place my phone back into my uniform pants pocket. I am not about to let her put me in a bad mood. "Are you the only child?" Sanjai asks while taking a sip of water. "Yes, it's just me and my dad. My mom is somewhere around the world being an architect. Her job requires her to travel a lot so we barely see her, maybe twice a year... her job is more important than family anyway, but I wish I had a siblings" "I feel you" I hear Sanjai say in a low tone. I could tell her mind was somewhere else by the look on her face. "It's just me and my dad too, my mom left when I was a baby" I can tell this was something she would rather not discuss.. at least right now. "We don't have to talk about it right now, I can tell it's killing the mood" We both laugh to try to hide our pain. I guess we have more in common than I thought.

"Sooo... when is your birthday Sanjai" "September 4th" Oh she's a know it all Virgo. "ohhh that's coming up soon, any plans for your Birthday?" she shakes her head no. "We'll figure out something" The legal age to drive is 18 but if you have money the world is yours.. especially in Korea. To be honest since I look older than 15 no one even bats an eye. except the kids at school of course" Sanjai nods her head. "Here you are" the server says while placing the food and 2 drinks on the table. I take off my uniform jacket and place a napkin into my white uniform shirt. I hand Sanjai a pair of plastic gloves as she looks confused. "Put these gloves on so your hands don't get dirty. licking your fingers is poor etiquette and it's less of a mess when you're finished" I was shocked she put them on without a fuss. "I would say dig in but since I am older than you by 3 months, I get to take the first bite" I stick out my tongue playfully as I take a bite of the Bulgogi chicken. It was steaming hot and extremely crunchy. "Either that chicken is super crunchy or you just lost a tooth" Sanjai teased as she picked up a piece of the Carbonara spicy chicken. "Sanjai, let me warn you before you take a bite. American mild spice and Korean Mild spice are 2 different things" She took a bite anyway and before I knew it she was fanning her mouth in a panic. I couldn't help but laugh. "I said I could do a little spice.. what the hell is that made of ghost peppers?"

I slide the plate of Carbonara spicy chicken in my direction. "Oh stop being a baby. this is on the lower level of spice in Korea. whatever you do don't drink the Chilsung cider.. it will make it worst" I slid the cucumber slices in front of her. "here eat these" She finally felt some relief after eating more than half of the cucumber slices. she finally stop panting like a dog. we both burst into laugher as we finished our meal. I rip off the gloves and untuck the napkin from my shirt. "I am stuffed" I say while laying my head onto the table. "Do you want to drive back?" "Do you want to keep your dads car in one piece?" Sanjai asks mockingly. "You got a point, you can barley walk in a straight line" I pay and we head back to her apartment. I type in the code for the gate while Sanjai watched from the passengers seat. "here you will need this whenever you start driving" I give the paper to Sanjai as I back into a parking space. I turn the car off and let out the loudest yawn while stretching. "Alright, Kaja ( let's go).I grab the bags and suitcase from the trunk and we head to the 22nd floor.

I touch the key pad on the door as it illuminates with numbers. "This is how you get into your apartment. You only get 3 tries before it locks you out for an hour so, please try to remember your passcode" We walk into the hallway which revealed tall ceilings with white and grey walls ,white marble flooring, and chandeliers. We take off our shoes at the door and head down the hallway. The dinning room has a table that sits 8 with a nice chandelier above. The kitchen has nice marble counter tops with grey cabinets and the living room has a grey couch, 60 inch tv and big floor to ceiling windows looking over Seoul. I can tell my dad helped decorate this place. It kind of looks like our house. "Ah right, let me show you this Sanjai" We both walk over to the screen displayed on the wall. "from here you can control the air temperature, the floor temperature, close or open the blinds and see whose at the front door" "So it's like a ring camera?" "yeah.. sure I say as I walk down the hallway towards the bedrooms. There were 2 bedrooms and a office.

"This must be your room" Sanjai stops me at the door. "I've got it from here... go get some rest" she says as she drags me by my arm back to the front door. "now I'm curious as to what's in that room that you don't want me to see... you haven't even unpacked yet" "I just don't want you in my room" Sanjai says while sticking out her tongue. "Oh yeah there is a gift that reminded me of you in there with your backpack" Sanjai rolls her eyes "do I even want to know" "Oh and I guess I'll pick you up tomorrow around 7:30am. Please don't be late or I will leave you and I'm not joking, You can ask Ha-Joon how many times I left him if you think I'm joking" "Okaaaay" Sanjai whines while pushing me out the door. "Wait I need your number Sanjai says while tugging on my arm brining me back into the door way. "You'll need to download Kako Talk but here is my ID name" I begin walking down the hallway. "Remember don't be late kitten" I look back to see Sanjai giving me the middle finger before disappearing from sight.