More Short Stories!- Kai Ships Only

🎈Sookai- The Invitation

Kai's day was awful. His professor gave them an extra assignment right before finals and customers in particular were extra rude. Neither parts of his day went well. He was just thankful that it was over.

When he got back to his apartment, he tossed his bag on his couch then headed straight towards the shower. His face was scrubbed first. Next, a fat squeeze of shampoo went into the palm of his hand. That got lathered into his oily, ash brown, hair. Feeling the suds run down his back already made him feel better. Conditioner was then rubbed into his strands. Next, the water was shut off so he could save on his water bill. While his conditioner penetrated his scalp, he began to clean his body with his favorite peach sugar scrub.

A thud was heard outside. Kai didn't pay attention to it. His neighbors were probably just coming home. He continued to exfoliate his body like nothing happened.

The water got turned back on. His face was washed one last time and then everything was rinsed off. "Ah. That feels so much better." Kai felt like a million bucks stepping out of the shower.

After brushing his teeth, he tossed on some loose pajama pants and started to microwave leftover pasta. The timer was set to three minutes. Exactly enough time for him to run down to the mailroom and run back up. He pushed "start" and then tossed on the closest clean shirt. Fuzzy blue slippers went on his feet as he grabbed his keys. When he opened the door, he saw a black invitation card on the floor.

The card felt oddly sturdy in his hands. The ink had gold lettering which read "Meet me at Westgate Airport on Saturday at 8pm." Kai flipped the card over. There was no return address. He figured someone must've dropped it on the way up so he ran down to place it on the table in the mailroom. Next to the card, he attached a post it note that read "this was in front of apartment 8C on the 3rd floor. Figured you'd want it back."

Kai looked at his watch. His food would be ready in 30 seconds. He quickly grabbed his mail then ran up the stairs. While he ate, he flipped through his stack of letters. Most of it was junk like credit card offers. The only one he bothered to look at was the one from his mom. It was a postcard from their vacation in Brazil. One day he would go there. He just had to finish school and get a higher paying job first.

The next morning, Kai walked into class to see the professor waving him down. His headphones slipped off as he asked "yes sir?"

"This was left for you."

Kai was handed the same black invitation card left outside of his door. Same sturdy paper. Same gold lettering. Same message. "Do you know who gave it to you?"

"Some old guy in a suit. Looked like a bodyguard or some security detail. Said it was top priority for you to be given it before Saturday."

"Oh. Um. Sorry?"

"Take your seat. We're having a guest lecturer today."

"Yes sir." Kai quickly sat down.

The professor loudly clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. He informed them that they had a special guest. "Soobin Choi, heir to the Chikarian throne is here with us this morning. We've been having lectures about royalty and their roles in the modern world so I figured, who best to learn from than one himself?"

The classroom gasped when the heir walked in. He was tall and thin with an air of elegance around him. His large slanted eyes made him handsome in a deeply mysterious way. His jaw threatened to cut glass. His jet black hair was swept to the side, exposing his forehead. It made his facial features appear more defined.

Kai thought he was handsome but he didn't care beyond that. He just kept twirling the second black card between his fingers. He twisted it so the classroom light could catch it at different angles. His theory was maybe there was invisible writing or a secret address stamped into it. There wasn't. Someone had to be sending these cards to him. "Meet me at Westgate Airport on Saturday at 8pm." Was he about to be kidnapped if he showed up? Whoever sent this was not normal. They could've talked to him or written anything other than what could easily be perceived as a threat. The whole thing felt off.