Park
I was really hoping a meteor would have crashed through the cafe by now, saving me from showing Kopter my home. If he could afford to attend Trinity Academy as a regular student, then he wouldn't be accustomed to homes like mine. It's not like it was dirty or that we lived in squalor, it was just...small.
We walked down to the subway station together, Kopter whistling as we walked. Kopter had clearly never been on the subway before, as he actually stopped to watch the buskers before I pulled him away before he could get mugged.
Once we got on the subway, we sat down, only for Kopter to immediately stand back up again to offer his seat to an elderly lady.
We finally emerged at my station in Brooklyn. It was a short walk from the station to my apartment and Kopter hadn't stopped whistling the entire time we walked. It irritated me at first, but now I was used to it and I even found myself humming along with him. I think it was the tune from 'Spirited Away'.
When we opened the door, the house was chaos. My two youngest sisters, Grace and Joy, were running around the living room playing cops and robbers. A delicious smell filled the entire house. In the corner, I could see Mom expertly chopping an onion into tiny pieces. She looked up and gasped, taking off her rubber gloves as she did and rushing over to where Kopter and I stood.
"Who is this Min-Hyuk ah?" She asked, looking lovingly up at Kopter who smiled down at her. Their height difference was even more extreme than ours.
"Mom, this is Kopter. He works at the cafe with me."
She reached up on her tippy toes to hold his face in both her palms.
"Such a handsome boy!" She exclaimed, examining every detail of his face.
"It's nice to meet you Mrs Park." Kopter said, through squeezed cheeks.
"Mom, you're embarrassing him!" She un-cupped his face and turned to me, hands on hips.
"And why you didn't tell me you bringing friend over?"
Kopter interjected, "Sorry for the short notice m'am, we were supposed to study at my place but I had to cancel last minute."
She turned back to Kopter, and her facial expression had completely softened.
"Oh, it okay honey, not your fault. Min-Hyuk, you show your friend your room and I will bring some snacks."
"Why don't you just adopt him already." I muttered under my breath, making sure she couldn't hear as I grabbed Kopter's wrist and led him upstairs into my room in the loft.
I'd been lucky to be born the only male in the family. My three younger sisters all had to share a room for ten years until the oldest Sunny turned fifteen, but I'd always had my own space.
I sat down on my blue mattress and Kopter followed suit, placing his bag next to mine at the foot of the bed.
He turned to face me. "How do you wanna start?"
"Hand me the textbook, we can start with that."
We set up a workstation on my bedroom floor, taking notes and highlighting vaguely useful information. Mom came in twenty minutes later, carrying a tray of cut up apples and pears.
"You stay for dinner, okay?" She posed it more as a statement than a question.
"Mom, he has to go back home before then." Mom glared at me again.
"Well I could stay a little longer if that's okay with you, I'd love to try your cooking Mrs Park." Mom beamed down at him. If he charmed her anymore then I feared that they might actually adopt him into the family.
"Of course honey, I make extra bowl for you." She walked back out the door, closing it behind her and we got back to working.
"Ah crap," I shook my dying pen but to no avail. "Have you got a spare?"
Kopter rummaged around in his bag. "Nope, only a blue one and a pencil."
"I'll go see if Sunny has one." I stood up to leave and so did Kopter. "I'll come too, I've got leg cramps from crossing my legs so long."
Ugh, tall people.
Kopter
I loved Park's house. Everything about it screamed life and family. It was warm, it smelt of home cooking and there was never a quiet moment.
We walked back down the stairs together and turned to a small door on the left.
Park knocked impatiently. "Sunny?"
A bored female voice answered. "You can come in."
We walked in and I was instantly met by what felt like a thousand eyes staring down at me. Every inch of the walls were covered in teen idol posters. I recognised a few, Stray Kids, Dream Catcher, what looked like a weird fan art of Monsta X. I spotted a few of my fellow Thai artists as well, which I was more familiar with from advertisements back home, Lisa from Blackpink, Ten from NCT, and 2PM's Nickhyun brought me some comfort.
"What's up?"
Sunny's appearance was similar to Park's. She had the same thin, dark brown eyes and pale complexion, but she was a bit chubbier and rosier, more like their mom. She had long hair tied up into two buns on either side of her head which was dyed a peachy pinkish colour. If Park was the human embodiment of black and white, then she was pastel.
"You got any spare black pens?" Park asked lazily.
Sunny reached down into her backpack,pulled out a huge collection of pens, pencils, and markers, and handed one to Park. She leaned to the side and caught my eye.
"Who's this?" She inquired, her eyes sparkling with interest at me.
"Oh this is Kopter, a friend from school." Park replied, grabbing the pen. I gave her a little wave.
"You have friends now?" Sunny teased, her voice playful and friendly.
I felt at this point I needed to state that I wasn't mute. "Oh, we work together. That's how we know each other."
She stood up and stepped closer, her eyes traveling over me in inspection. She maintained a close enough distance that I couldn't not notice that she smelt strongly of vanilla.
"So you must be one of the super wealthy kids that looks down on my brother here?" She joked, gesturing to Park while he rolled his eyes. I smiled back.
"Look down on Park? If I dared to do that, then I'd have to make sure my kneecaps were protected first."
She giggled and Park shot us both an annoyed look.
"Jeez, thanks for the pen." Park said sarcastically. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the room.
"Bye bye!" Sunny called out from behind us, I gave her a little wave over my shoulder and smiled again.
How had the Parks managed to produce such polar opposite kids?
Park
They were flirting! Right in front of me, the horn-dogs. At least I think they were flirting, if I'm completely honest I'm not really sure what flirting is.
Kopter was so completely Sunny's type too, I should've seen it coming. I mean, Kopter is most likely everyone's type if I'm honest. God, did he have to be so inhumanly likeable?
I felt irritated and a little hurt. I wasn't really sure why, but I guess Sunny is my sister and big brothers are supposed to be overly protective. At least that's what tv and my mom's Korean drama's have taught me.
Once we reached my room, I realised that I was still holding Kopter's wrist. He looked down at my hand, then back up at me with a confused expression. I let go as quickly as if I were holding fire.
"Come on lover boy, back to work." I sat down on the floor and began writing.
"Lover boy?" Kopter uttered, bemused.
"Once you're finished charming everyone in my family, will you please sit down and work? Or do you need to go through my extended family too?"
He smiled and sighed, sitting down next to me and picking up a pink marker.
---
Of course Kopter had impeccable table manners.
He engaged my dad in a conversation on the management of small businesses, he complimented mom on her cooking until she blushed bright pink, Sunny hung on his every word, and he even had Grace and Joy rolling on the floor in fits of giggles.
Dinner was practically over, mom had handed out tea to all the adults left at the table and had sent Grace and Joy to bed. Her and dad were leaning back in their chairs, lazily content while watching Sunny busily explain her future plans to be an artist to Kopter.
"I'm thinking aesthetic driven visual arts, but like in film form. Like a photographer or a cinematographer."
I swear she changes her mind about what she wants to be every five minutes. Last week she announced to everyone that she was going to Korea to start auditioning for Kpop companies. Pity she has both the voice and dance skills of a lethargic walrus.
Kopter was nodding his head, attentively listening to her nonsense. I looked down at my watch to see it was already nine.
"Crap! Kopter, you gotta go." His eyes darted down at his own watch and he hastily shot up from the table.
"Don't be silly," dad chimed in. "He can't possibly go back now, he can just stay here the night and I'll send him back tomorrow morning. You can sleep in Min-Hyuk's room."
Kopter shot me a nervous look.
"Dad, I know you adore him more than your own son but he has his own family to get back to."
"Nonsense!" He chuckled, "It's only one night, why don't you try calling your uncle?"
Kopter excused himself to the next room and called. A few minutes later he returned.
"Well, if it's alright with all of you, I can stay." He said, giving one of his sheepish smiles.
Everyone nodded enthusiastically in agreement. Mom clapped her hands together excitedly, "I go get you some pyjamas, okay?" She rushed off into another room, humming a tune to herself.
Kopter shot me another nervous glance, as if to say 'Are you okay with this?'. I shrugged, it's not like there was anything I could do about it now.
Mom came back in, holding up a pair of my baggiest sweatpants and an oversized hoodie of Sunny's.
"Are you serious mom?" I asked. She held out the sweatpant-hoodie combo in front of Kopter like she was his personal stylist.
"No other clothes fit Min-Hyuk-ah, you too small."
Sunny giggled and I shot her a death stare. She stuck out her tongue and then stood up and left.
---
Mom was right about the clothes, they didn't fit.
From where Kopter stood in my bedroom doorway I could see that the hoodie was stretched tightly over his shoulders and the sweatpants that normally drowned me barely reached his calf. I was surprised he had any mobility at all.
He pulled his hoodie back, ruffled his hair and then looked at me, awkwardly.
"Where should I sleep?" He asked, looking down at the floor that was still covered in our notes from earlier.
I sighed and rolled over on the bed, leaving enough space for Kopter to squeeze in.
He clambered in next to me and pulled the blankets tightly over his chest. His feet stuck out from the foot of the bed, so he pulled his knees up slightly to cover them up, pressing his legs against my side.
He lifted his head up to look at me. He had these innocent, glowing golden brown eyes that made you instantly want to take care of him, even if it was against your better nature.
"Sorry about everything." He whispered. I felt his breath on the side of my face, warm and minty.
I sighed and turned over to face him, "It's not your fault, my family practically talked your ears off anyway."
He chuckled softly. When he laughed, it was like his smile completely took over his entire face. I watched as his cheeks completely covered his eyes so that they were reduced to tiny slits. Mine did the same sometimes.
"I like them," He finally whispered. He seemed genuine.
He lifted one of his hands from under the covers and reached out towards my face. His hand was warm and I could feel the steady beating of his pulse as he pulled a piece of fluff from out of my hair. I felt my entire face flush red as he drew his hand back and blew the fluff off the other side of the bed.
He turned back to face me, smiling. "Night then!"
I stared as he turned back round, facing the stretched BTS logo on the other side of his hoodie. I watched silently as his breathing went from regular, to the slow rhythmic rise and fall of sleep.
I was still awake long after Kopter had drifted off. At this point I could probably sketch his profile from the back blindfolded. His hair naturally curled into soft brown waves at the edges and he had three small moles, one behind each ear and one at the base of his neck.
I tried turning round several times, but found myself unable to stop staring at the back of his head.
Was this what it felt like to finally have a friend?