"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light." – Hellen Keller
"So, how was it?"
"How was what?"
Kai chuckled as his eyes met Jennie's felines, "The Halloween party last Friday."
"Oh," Jennie muttered softly as Kai studied her. "It was not what I expected."
"How so?"
"Some kid puked on me and the whole thing was awfully loud for my taste."
"Rain, loud parties, what else don't you like?" Kai teased.
"Annoying juniors who asks my help for their Korean History class," Jennie retorted with a grin across her face, to which Kai groaned. "I don't understand why you're even asking me when I'm a sophomore."
"Simple," Kai replied as he tapped his pencil. "Because you're beautiful."
Jennie shoved him playfully as she looked away, earning her a light chuckle from Kai, who appears to be enjoying it. Jennie just rolled her eyes at him and continued her work; it was a quite a warm Sunday and also the day of the dead tomorrow, which meant there were not much students around.
Most of them had gone home yesterday and would return by Tuesday due to Monday being a holiday. Jennie sighed and wondered why Kai did not return to his family; instead, he was with Jennie in the cafeteria on the first floor studying.
"What time did you get home, Friday?"
Jennie raised her lowered gaze to Kai, "Around nine, I think. I slept straight away after a shower."
Kai rested his chin on his palm, "You're such a good girl."
Jennie raised a brow, "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Kai replied as he wrote a sentence down on his paper. "Just curious as to why you don't have a boyfriend."
"Do I need to have one?" Jennie queried as she returned her gaze to her Pre-Calculus homework.
"No, but," Kai hesitated as Jennie eyed him curiously. A smile formed on his lips as he shook his head. "No never mind."
Jennie just eyed him as he did his work; the smile on his face remained as if there was something he kept from her. But what is it? Jennie didn't know or wish to know. Kai was handsome and charming, she admitted. But Jennie just has no interest in what he wanted.
The idea of having a boyfriend may be foreign to her, but she was not blind to his hints. Although she would wish that her thoughts were untrue. She would prefer to believe that Kai just wants to be friends and nothing more than that.
She just doesn't want a relationship – especially with Lisa around. She might just kill the guy Jennie would date. Would she?
"What about you?" Jennie queried as Kai shot his eyes up to her, a little surprised by her question. "Why don't you have a girlfriend?"
Kai smiled warmly as he took a deep breath, "It's complicated."
"It can't be worse than my pre-calc homework," Jennie laughed as he chuckled, but she could see it from his eyes that he had something he wanted to say, but didn't want to. "But really, what could go wrong?"
Kai shook his head, "It's not that easy, Jennie."
Jennie rested her cheek on her palm, "Do you like anyone?"
"Oh? Are we already that deep into our private lives?" Kai jested.
"Well, you started this conversation," Jennie smiled at him warmly, a little too curious to see if there was someone he admired romantically. "So, is there?"
"Well, there is one," Kai sighed and smiled weakly before he stuck his tongue out at Jennie. "But I'm not telling you who."
Jennie groaned, a little disappointed by his response. The two of them spoke no more after and continued their work; the next words they did exchange were mostly about the stuff they were doing and Jennie was content with it.
The big rectangular digital clock in the cafeteria read that it was five past seven in the evening already. Kai stretch his arms while Jennie kept her stuff in her black Jansport bag; he let out a soft yawn as his warm eyes gazed on Jennie, who had her hair neatly tied into a high ponytail that revealed much of her neck.
It was not often that Kai saw her in casual wear because he often saw her wearing her green blazer. His high school uniforms is not like Jennie's Academy styled, but he actually liked it.
Jennie sighed as she looked at Kai, who had his eyes locked on her. She titled her head to the side briefly before shoving him light and caused him to fall back. Kai stared at the ceiling as Jennie looked over the table and met his eyes.
"What was that for?" Kai groaned as he tried to get up, to which Jennie just laughed. He sighed and frowned at Jennie, who kept on laughing at him, which made him feel quite embarrassed.
"Sorry," Jennie apologized as she tried to smother the remnants of her laughter. Kai just kept frowning at Jennie as he sighed and got up; her went over to the food stalls and took food for both of them. He liked seeing Jennie laugh even if it made him feel embarrassed; he just really enjoyed her company and would like to spend more time with her these few days.
But he knew he can't, at least not tomorrow; he had to go to the next town way south of the one he was currently in to meet his family. The town southward was only a two-hour drive and Kai did not mind spending the day with Jennie. In fact, he preferred to stay with her than anything.
He returned to their table with a smile on his face along with two trays of dinner; Jennie had her eyes out into the open sky, staring blankly as if reminiscing about something. Kai felt a little compulsion to ask what ran in her mind to make such a face; beautiful as it may be, but there was a lonesome glow in her cat-liked eyes that made him worry.
"Stare long enough and maybe money would fall out the sky," He jested to lighten the mood as he placed the tray in front of them.
Jennie smiled, "If there ever happens, I'd buy myself a pair of frames."
"Why's that?" Kai prodded as he took a bite out of his pizza.
"So you won't ever know if I'm staring out into the open," Jennie giggled as she eyed the food before her. "Thanks by the way."
"No problem, let's chow."
For the next few minutes the two of them ate in silence as if they were both tired in more ways than one; Jennie had her mind elsewhere as she thought about what to do tomorrow because she had nothing to do in particular.
Mr. Kwon went away to visit his own relatives to remember their dead members and left her with no reminders for the Academy. Her schedule tomorrow was a blank and she did not know what to fill it with. Should she go out of the town to? But where should she go? Should she visit Mr. Lee?
Jennie sighed as she thought of what to do tomorrow, but her mind came out blank. Kai noticed the uncertainty in her from the manner of her sighs; he knew that there was something in her head just from her sighing and he knew that it bothered her a lot, but did not wish to voice it out. There was a lot of thing he did not know about her, but sometimes he did not wish to pry.
"What's up?" Kai queried as he took a sip of his water.
Jennie met his gaze and frowned, "Oh, nothing much."
Kai smiled, "It can't be nothing when you're sighing that much."
Jennie locked eyes with him for a moment before letting out a sigh, which proved Kai's point. She did not want to bother him with her petty problems and thought that she needed to figure it out on her own.
I wonder what Lisa was doing.
"Well?" Kai prodded further.
Jennie sighed once more before resting her cheek on her palm, "Nothing, just don't have plans for tomorrow."
Kai puckered his lips for a moment before he turned it into a smile, "Want to come with me?"
Jennie raised a brow, "What?"
He chucked, "Come with me and meet my folks."
"But that's in the next town," Jennie replied with a hint of confusion in her voice.
"So? You've nothing better to do tomorrow," He added as they stared at each other for a moment as if to allow Jennie to process his words. "I'll show you around my little town after we visit our family's graves. Come on, it'll be fun."
"I don't know, Kai," Jennie replied a little hesitant. "I mean, I still have to tell Tablo,"
"Then I'll tell him," Kai assured her with a smile across his face as he took out his phone and dialled Mr. Lee's number. He stood up and walked over to the glass wall that separated the outside from the in; Jennie could not hear what they talked about, but from the smile across Kai's face, she knew that it was going well. "Yeah, agreed."
"Are you for real?"
"Yeah, for real." Kai smiled wide as Jennie smiled back; she felt as if there was a great burden lifted off of her shoulders even though it was not. She just felt happy that she did not have to spend the day alone tomorrow and would spend it with a friend.
"Wait!" Jennie exclaimed as she snapped out of her happiness, to which Kai waited for her response with an arched brow. "Does that mean I have to meet your parents?"
Kai smiled and let out a low chuckle, "Probably, but don't worry about it."
Jennie frowned and collected her stuff while Kai watched her shuffled onto her feet; her flustered face caught his stare and he knew that Jennie was overthinking everything, but even so, he found her absolutely adorable even with a frown on her face.
"Ring my room ten minutes before we leave?" Jennie asked as she put her bag behind her.
"Alright, I will," Kai smiled as Jennie went ahead and whispered, "See you tomorrow, beautiful."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Don't be nervous, it's going to be fine." Kai assured Jennie as he knocked on the white door thrice before she heard the lock click. Slowly, the door swung open and a beautiful lady in her late forties stood behind it, wearing a beautiful cream dress that complimented her slightly tan skin and warm dark eyes.
"Kai, glad you made it here safe," The lady spoke gently as she opened her arms wide for Kai to hug her. She pulled back after a few moments and smiled at him before she turned her gaze to Jennie. "And who is this beautiful lady?"
"I'm Jennie," Jennie squeaked as she tried not to seem nervous, but utterly failed.
"Jennie? Tablo's little girl?" The lady queried as she held Jennie by the waist as they walked into the house.
"Yeah, he's my legal guardian," Jennie replied as they walked into the living room, where a man in probably his early fifties stood up and smiled at her; he wore a dark blue checker polo with maroon khaki pants, he had soft brown eyes with the same tan skin and a light grey receding hairline that Jennie assumed him as Kai's dad.
"And who's this fine lady, son?" the man spoke as he smiled at Jennie.
"She's Jennie, honey. Tablo's little girl," the lady in the cream dress added whilst she gestured Jennie to sit down on the white chesterfield sofa.
"Oh, quite a beauty," the man commented as Kai cleared his throat.
"Mom, dad. Jennie is just here to look around the town," Kai began his explanation as Jennie examined his parents carefully, hoping not to displease them. "She did not have any plans today and Mr. Lee agreed for me to show our little town to her."
Mr. Kim chuckled and nodded, "Alright, I suppose you want to take the car then?"
"Just be sure to be back by noon, so we can go to the graveyard together," Mrs. Kim added as Kai nodded. As they sat there, the door swung open with a loud old man running his mouth like an open faucet. "Dad, we have a guest."
"Oh," the old man halted his steps as he entered the living room; a short, stubby man with a head full of white hair and a pair of old frames approached the sofa as Jennie stood up in respect. "And who might you be?"
"Grandpa, this is Jennie Kim. She's my friend," Kai spoke for Jennie, who could not find the words to speak as she felt a little nervous around Kai's family. "She's just here to look at the town."
"Well aren't you beautiful!" Grandfather Kim exclaimed as he rounded to the front of the sofa and examined Jennie from head to toe; Jennie felt a little overwhelmed by his stare, unsure if her attire had offended him or something. She only wore a nice V cut blue shirt over a plain white long sleeves and a pair of skinny jeans that matched her semi-dirty chucks. "You dating my grandson?"
"Grandpa!" Kai exclaimed whilst his father just laughed and his mother shook her head with a frown.
"What?" Grandfather Kim replied as he eyed Kai with a confused look. "Someone this beautiful better be my granddaughter. You never once took a woman home!"
"Dad, don't embarrass your grandson in front of his friend. " Mrs. Kim spoke sternly as Jennie just smiled at him, unsure how to respond to everything, but she felt that they were good people.
"Dad, I think we'll go around town now," Kai excused himself as he held Jennie by the hand to the front door. He took the keys off the hook and proceeded out the door with Jennie in tow. "Sorry about that."
"I'm not," Jennie giggled as Kai led her to the garage, where a minivan stood silent. "They seem quite good people to me."
"Yeah, well," Kai sighed as he opened the door for Jennie before he went around the other side into the driver's seat. "Grandpa can be something."
"I kind of like his straight forward question," Jennie giggled as Kai reversed the car out of the driveway. Kai just nodded as he entered the road and began to cruise forward. "Is that all your folks, or you expecting more today?"
"Hmm, well there's more, but we'll all meet up at the graveyard," Kai replied as he took a left at the first junction. "So, where to, Ms. Tourist?"
Jennie just giggled as she spoke sarcastically, "Ha ha, very funny. What do you recommend Mr. Guide?"
Kai chuckled, "You must first visit the beautiful park of my little town, where almost all the beautiful flowers are grown."
"Really?" Jennie queried enthusiastically.
"Yeah, it's beautiful," Kai replied whilst he smiled at Jennie.
Kai drove her around town and pointed out a few places of interest; some of them were a few memories from Kai's childhood – the ones that were not too embarrassing for him to share with Jennie. And Jennie paid attention whilst laughing at his childhood memories.
Jennie appreciated the invite from him yesterday and frankly she was nervous around his family, but everything went well. Hopefully the same could be said when she meet the rest of his family, although the thought of it already made her nervous.
Not a moment later, they arrived at the central park; it was quite an enormous park and Jennie could smell the scent of the flowers even from afar. Kai led her through the tall bushes of the entrance before he showed her the flowerbeds.
As he stated, there were a lot of flowers there, so much so that Jennie could not identify most of it. She only knew a few types of flowers and has never actually seen the rest; the only ones in the Academy's garden were roses and daisies – most of them already wilted.
"Wow, this place is amazing," Jennie whispered as she bent down to one flowerbed of blue roses. It was a marvellous sight and she wanted to savour the moment. She always wanted what a blue rose would look like, given that their colour meant a mystery in their family of roses. "Thanks for bringing me here, Kai."
Kai smiled as he captured the moment with his camera in secret, "My pleasure."
"Look, marigolds!" Jennie exclaimed as she went over to it like a kid going to a candy shop for the first time. She bent down again and examined their beauty; Jennie was enjoying the flowers as much as Kai enjoyed watching her smile.
Time flew by and it was nearly noon, which meant that they had to return to Kai's house. Jennie let out a deep sigh of relief as smiled at Kai for bringing her there; it was a great visit and the change of scene really made her happy. She would like to return here one more time, probably with Lisa.
"We'll come back again," Kai spoke as he led Jennie by the hand back to car; he has been holding her hand for a few times now and wondered if Jennie was bothered by it, but it appears to him that Jennie was not – which was partially true. "Say bye to the park."
"I'll be back my lovely flowers," Jennie said dramatically and earned herself a chuckle from Kai. "What?"
He just smiled at her while opening the car door, "Nothing."
Jennie hopped in as she watched him go round the front to the other side and slid into the driver's seat. Kai reversed the car from the parking lot and as he did Jennie had her eyes out of the window; the town was beautiful and she would like to come again, maybe next time to actually see everything.
As they drove home, Jennie noticed a familiar long gray hair out in the street and her eyes glued to that person. Her mind thought of Lisa and wondered where she was on this holiday, but felt more peeved at her for not showing herself at the Halloween party.
The car soon passed the gray-haired girl and as Jennie looked at her face from the side-view mirror, she felt as if her eyes were deceiving her; a wave of emotion fell over her as she saw the familiar piercing doe eyes walk down the street with her signature headphones covering her ears.
It can't be.
"Kai, can you park the car to the side?"
Kai arched a brow whilst his eyes remained on the road, "Huh? What for?"
"Just do it, Kai." Jennie spoke in a much more commanding tone as Kai agreed to her sudden request and parked car to the left. Jennie got out and walked over to where she saw Lisa; the beautiful long gray hair she knew kept on walking and was unaware of her presence, but as she approached and touched her shoulder, she was wrong.
"What?" The gray-haired girl yelped slightly as she met Jennie's gaze.
"S-sorry," Jennie apologized as she retracted her arm. "I thought you were someone I know."
The girl just tilted her head and dismissed herself, ignoring her as Jennie watched her walk away. I can't be imagining this, I knew that face, but where is she? Jennie wondered as she walked back to Kai's car; he sat there and saw the whole thing, but he knew something was amiss.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jennie replied as she kept her eyes away from Kai as if reminiscing about something. But what? Was there something missing that she did not know? All she knew was Lisa never showed up Friday night and she was fairly disappointed that she broke her promise. She wanted to spend time with Lisa as her friend, but she never came.
Jennie felt a pang in her heart as she thought about it, but she does not know what was causing it. She was hurt about the promise, but was that all there was to it? She just sighed and ignored the pain, hoping to ask Lisa about Friday when the day is over.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So, that's all of them," Kai spoke as Jennie tried to breathe in; she just met all of Kai's relatives and she did not anticipate them to be half an army. She had to meet people one by one and her feet just felt like collapsing under her chucks as the two of them walked over to the nearby lake. "I'm sorry about that."
"Its fine, Kai," Jennie smiled at him genuinely.
"You sure?" Kai prodded as his lips curved down, a little embarrassed and worried over her.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Jennie replied as he led her by the hand towards the nearby lake; it was quite a bit of a trek to, given the amount of trees around. The two of them walked side by side in comfortable silence; the afternoon autumn breeze blew past them as small, stray leaves surfed the wind.
Jennie enjoyed the walk, but her feet were tired and had hoped that the lake was near; lucky for her, they were almost there and she could not wait to sit somewhere near it, then just take in the view. She would like the peace and quiet.
After a few more meters, Jennie could see the lake in the distance as Kai led her down the stone steps towards it. Jennie could smell the fresh breeze the water gave out and felt at peace just being near it; the view was nothing less than breath taking as the sun reflected on the water and the shadows blended beautiful as the trees covered a portion of light – it was magnificent.
"Beautiful," Jennie mumbled as she sat at the last step of the stairs.
"Yeah," Kai agreed, but his eyes were on Jennie rather than the lake.
"I can look at this view the whole day," Jennie whispered as Kai sat beside her, their knees almost touched.
"I know the feeling," Kai exhaled as her inhaled the air around him. They sat there in silence and just enjoyed both breeze and view without saying anything; the serenity of the place was calming and Jennie took all of that peace in her as she let her tired feet rest. "Want to take a picture together?"
Jennie chuckled lightly, "Where'd that come from?"
"I don't know," Kai shrugged as he smiled at her and they gazes met. "I thought it would be a good memory to keep."
"You are so corny," Jennie rolled her eyes as Kai just chuckled and took out his phone, then readied the camera. He put it in front of them and they both smiled into the camera whilst Kai snapped away. "I looked horrible."
"Nah, you certainly don't," Kai brushed off her sentiment as he showed her the photo. "See?"
Jennie moved a little closer as he took the phone from Kai, "No, I look horrible."
Kai smiled as he inched closer, "No, you're beautiful."
Jennie turned to meet his gaze, but she did not realize that their faces were just inches apart. Jennie did not know what to do, but she felt awkward; Kai's eyes dropped to her lips briefly before meeting her eyes, but soon dropped to her lips. Jennie's eyes also found its way to his lips and involuntarily her eyes slowly slid down, even though she did not want to.
What's this feeling?
Kai took it as a sign for him to proceed; he held Jennie by her nape and closed his eyes as he slowly moved in. Jennie could hear her heart against her ears as a cold chill grazed her spine, which made her feel something wrong. Before their lips could even brush, Kai felt a pair of eyes on him and pulled back, which made Jennie's eyes dart open.
"What do we have here?"
Kai shuffled onto his feet as he stood his ground and locked eyes with a pair of brown eyes. Jennie got up and examined the woman who looked rather familiar to her; she had long wavy dark brown hair with brown eyes wearing a pair of tight skinny jeans and a black frilly blouse with a white tube inside.
"What do you want?" Kai hissed lowly.
The woman chuckled, "I don't want anything, I was just admiring both of you."
Kai extended his arm as if to shield Jennie, "I don't want trouble."
The woman smiled warmly as her eyes shifted to Jennie, "I don't either, just wanted to say hi to my classmate."
Kai looked over at Jennie with an arched brow, "You know her?"
"Y-yeah," Jennie mumbled as Kai retracted his arm, but remained on guard. "We have the same classes. Well, just five."
"Jennie, it's good to see you," she greeted her as she took a step closer, but Kai growled involuntarily which surprised Jennie a little. "My, my. I only wanted to hug her."
"Kai? What's wrong with you?" Jennie queried Kai for his behaviour and felt a little scared by it as she stepped away from him.
"I'm just trying to protect you," Kai replied with worry in his voice as he eyed her over his shoulder.
"Protect me? From what?" Jennie retorted as she took a few more steps back, somewhat unsure about everything.
"He should protect you from himself, if you ask me." The woman spoke as she stepped away from Kai.
"What do you mean, Jisoo?" Jennie asked as she recalled her name.
"You should ask him, Jennie," Jisoo replied as the frown on her lips disappeared while she shook her head. "It's not my place to say."
"What are you talking about?" Jennie prodded as Kai clenched his jaw with furrowed brows.
"Ignore everything that came out from her mouth." Kai hissed.
What's going on here?
Jennie wondered as she felt a cold wisp graze her nape and felt a cold chill run her spine; she could feel the tension between both of them as if they were about to rumble any time now, although Jisoo looked utterly calm about it. Jennie genuinely believed that Jisoo doesn't want to do anything with them.
On the other hand, Jisoo listened to Jennie's heartbeat while her eyes remained constant on Kai's own brown eyes; she could feel his anger seethe through his eyes and knew that his irises would soon change, but she did not want to fight. She only wanted to know who gave out such a scent nearby, but she didn't expect it to be him or Jennie.
"Stop your glaring," Jisoo sighed as she turned her back and began walking away. "I never came to fight anyway."
Jennie watched as Jisoo went her way while Kai tried to restrain himself; he almost lost his cool and could have shown Jennie his true colors, which he did not want. He didn't intend her to get involved in such a problem – especially a familial problem.
"I'm sorry about that," He apologized as he let out a soft sigh before turning his gaze at her. "We have a feud with their family is all."
"It looked more than a mere feud to me, Kai." Jennie retorted as he eyed him carefully before she ascended the steps. She didn't try and ask questions about what just happened in fear of knowing something that she cannot undo.
The two of them walked back to the graveyard in silence with Kai a few steps behind Jennie, who doesn't wish to talk about what just happened. Kai could not find the words to explain as well, he had hoped to have a peaceful trek to the lake, but had forgotten that they shared the ground with them.
He did not want to reveal anything to Jennie or get her involved in his problems because she meant a lot to him; he just sighed as he trailed behind and thought about what happened before they were so rudely interrupted by Jisoo; they almost kissed, lips almost touching each other.
He just sighed as Jennie kept on walking; her head swirled without yet another batch of questions that she wish didn't always involved her in it. She just mentally sighed and dismissed it for now – too tired to even bother.
Meanwhile, somewhere near the lake, Lisa leaned against the bark of the tree with her head hung low as she waited for Jisoo to return. She had her ears plugged with closed eyes, aware that a certain presence is nearby as much as what her father called was their rival.
"Well," Jisoo spoke as she walked towards Lisa. "I never expected to see Jennie there."
"Neither do I," Lisa replied as she removed her headphones and started walking back to their camp. Lisa didn't ask any questions nor wish to know about who she was with because she knew that stench with Jennie.
"I thought you two were friends?" Jisoo queried as she fell into strides with her.
"We are."
"Then why is she with our rival pack?"
Lisa sighed and shook her head, "I don't know, Jisoo."
"They sure seemed pretty close though," Jisoo commented as she tried to determine Lisa's mood and hopefully know their relationship. "They were kissing, if I'm not mistaken."
"And you enjoyed the show, I assume?" Lisa replied as if trying to hate her discontent with Jisoo's attempt to pry an emotion out of her; she has only known her for a day and she was already trying to be all friendly with her, and Lisa didn't like it.
"Hmm, no," Jisoo replied with a little disappointment. "I only like certain... types of people."
Lisa briefly eyed her from the side, "I don't want to know."
Jisoo just giggled as the two of them returned to their pack; the whole of it was remembering the fallen and most of them died in the fight with the rival pack that tried to rebel against the hegemony of their kind.
Lisa doesn't know the whole history of it, but only knew one thing – she had to kill them. And the first one on her hit list is that boy who was with Jennie not too long ago. A part of her wanted to kill him where he stood with just her bare fist, but she restrained herself. It was not the time.
She wanted to get her fangs back first before she go on a killing spree; she would enjoy snapping their necks and gutting them with her blades without even breaking a sweat. Training for the day have significantly increased her strength and made her itch even more to kill.
"Can't wait to get this war over with," Jisoo sighed as they neared their pack's graveyard. "At least we don't have to keep training."
"You don't want me around already?" Lisa teased monotonously.
Jisoo just smiled at her, "I can always stick with you in school."
"Don't count on it," Lisa scoffed.
"Oh? Why?" Jisoo prodded as she tried to understand her. "Don't want me hogging Jennie's attention from you?"
Lisa halted her steps as she met Jisoo's eyes and tried to examine her; a part of her wanted to know the answer to her question and felt a string of emotion wrap itself around her heart, which felt like a knife inside her. Lisa just stared at Jisoo indifferently before shrugging and proceeded to the graveyard.
Jisoo watched Lisa carefully and noted her sudden halt; she took it as a sign that there was more to Lisa than her actions. Her aloofness did not faze her even on the first time she laid eyes on her. But she just smiled at the gradual changed in Lisa and felt a little proud to have made little impact on her.
"More than meets the eye: Lalisa Manoban."