xo, minho | xo, kitty ff

n i n e :

soundtrack;
stay young by ab6ix

Getting teokbokki with Q was an experience to say the least. Adelaide and him had barely made it to the subway in time for their train. During the entire train ride and short walk to the restaurant, they distracted themselves by sharing every new development in their lives.

"Girl. That entire spiel was just so romantic!" Q gasped as she recounted the details of last night.

"He's totally into you."

Adelaide's jelly arms waved around in confusion, "Ugh, why does everyone keep saying that? Even Kitty and Yuri keep shipping me with him."

He grimaced instantly. "Yikes, isn't that kinda awkward though? What with Kitty's complicated love life..."

"My point exactly! Kitty seems fine lately, like she's moving on? But I don't know how she does it? Does Yuri even know about her feelings?" Her mind hurt even thinking about that love triangle- or love square?

"Hey, I have no right to judge. My love life status is currently a mess right now." Q raised his arms in surrender.

"Is it that bad with you and Florian?"

"Worse. Ever since that whole..." He paused, as if checking in anyone was spying on them. "... cheating scandal... things have been so awkward with us. He finally stopped studying long enough to go on a date but it was like he was totally checked out the whole time."

Dae casually entered the restaurant he'd recommended them and plopped down on a free chair on their table.

"Florian?" Dae mouthed to Adelaide, in which she nodded sympathetically.

"As I was saying... it's almost like he's upset at me for his choices last semester."

"Mhm. You know my opinion, I don't like that guy." Dae muttered sassily, clearly still holding a grudge on Florian.

"Okay, invalid. What about you, Adelaide?" He turned to her for advice.

"I think... I'm not qualified to say anything about what he did cause I wasn't there last semester..." His groaned was cut off by Adelaide's firm and careful words. "But. As cliche as it sounds, isn't it better to talk to him about this and rip off the bandaid sooner? At least then, y'all won't be stuck in this weird limbo."

Q seemed to be in much thought before Adelaide back-tracked. "However, I am not a love expert or anything of the sort. So take my advice with a grain of salt and don't hold me liable for any other actions in the future, please." She hung her head low and made a large X with her hands.

"Anyways. I'm starving, what should we order?" She turned to Dae, their trustworthy guide of all things local. After ordering the a plethora of spicy food on the menu, the trio continued discussing their confusing love lives. As the semester rolled on, Adelaide had found that she enjoyed the company Q and Dae provided, their conversations fun and easygoing.

"What about you? No new potential prospects in line yet?" Adelaide turned to Dae. "Ew, prospects? What are we in the victorian era?" He cringed, before proudly boasting. "I'm staying single as a pringle."

Q narrowed his eyes critically, "I don't think that's really any better," Dae's distaste could be sensed from a mile away. He appeared as stricken and heartbroken as if his whole heart had been plucked out from his chest and shattered into a million pieces.

"It's... it's hard for me to think about getting back together with anyone when Kitty was my whole life- my escape for the past four years." Dae confessed in a surprisingly steady voice, despite his conflicted emotions.

With a timely interruption, their discussion was put on hold as an ahjumma kindly served them heaping dishes of Korean food; from spicy red hot teobokki to bubbling dwaenjanjiggae soup, jjampong and fried fritters of crispy golden vegetables.

"Enjoy your food!" The ahjumma told them enthusiastically in Korean. Upon witnessing the feast before them the trio glances to each other with bated breath.

"Okay, our relationship drama can hit a pause button. For now, let's dig in!" Adelaide salivated with anticipation.

. . .

"We're this far into the semester and I gotta ask. Does the workload get better?" Adelaide asked, her mind still occupied with thoughts of the stacks of exam practice papers she'd need to complete.

"Tell me about it. I'm barely keeping up with Advanced calculus and internship applications." Dae answered, immediately causing Adelaide to shirk back and plop her utensils down on her bowl in defeat.

"Ugh, I hate all this academic stress so much. Professor Lee is amazing and decided that our English lit assignment is gonna be sixty percent of our grade!"

When Adelaide first arrived at KISS, she had no expectations, no list of goals to complete or some sort of grandeur conclusion to arrive to. Presently, this dilemma she was facing, slowly surfaced in every crevice and crack.

School life continued on as usual; grab a quick breakfast before classes, listen to Professor Lee drone on and one about the importance of literary knowledge, tutoring sessions with Minho on Monday's and Thursdays. Here in KISS, academic excellence held an emphasis of the utmost importance, everybody who attended seemed to know what they were destined for.

Chaebol heirs like Yuri will eventually inherit their parent's legacy and company or those artistic and pretty would end up as famous models or singers in the entertainment industry. As a student neither rich nor famous, Adelaide fell in between the spectrum; she was neither here nor there.

"Professor Lee likes you- or at least your work, y'know." Dae slurped up a huge mouthful of jjampong, careful not to let the dark sauce smudge all over his lips. "He doesn't compliment anyone's essays unless it's actually worth something."

"How is he expecting us to write a two thousand word essay with no topic in particular?"

"That's grumpy old Mr. Lee for you," Q chuckled, concealing a smile through bites of his crackly sweet potato fritter.

Dae shook off other invading thoughts, "On the bright side... I'll be enjoying our Jeju vacay to the last minute. No work, just play!"

"Here's to a weekend-long holiday without any thoughts of our troubles!"
Q raised his canned drink. Adelaide nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you Mrs. Dami for the wedding invite! I'll cheers to that,"

. . .

Author's note 💌

I'm living for this trio 🥹 Also, who's ready for some spicy Jeju fun? 🙋🏻‍♀️