HIRAETH | Minho XO, Kitty

CHAPTER SIX

Today, officially marks two weeks since Kitty and I are back in the boy's dorm. I never imagined I'd be living with all four of my best friends, but here we are. Things haven't been so bad. I couldn't be more grateful to live with people who respect my boundaries. And sharing a room with both Kitty and Quincy has been a dream.

Kitty and I meet with Quincy to talk about everything going on. No surprise, Kitty wants to talk about living with Dae. Watching them interact is painful. I'm always getting second-hand embarrassment.

"Don't worry, okay?" says Quincy, as the three of us walk side-by-side. "I'm sure you and Dae will figure out how to be cohabitating exes."

"Or not. But let's stop talking about Dae," Kitty remarks.

Although she brings him up in the first place; it's the first thing she told us this morning.

Quincy raises his coffee cup, "Okay. You're the one who brought him up."

"Yeah, I think we have bigger things to talk about, right?" I ask, smiling at Kitty who is pulling something up on her phone.

Kitty holds her phone out in front of us, revealing an email. It appears to be a response to an email Kitty previously sent to them, the same hospital she found the records at just a few weeks ago.

The three of us stop walking and Quincy says, "I can't even pretend to read Hangul until I finish this coffee," and continues walking.

"It looks like the hospital isn't allowed to give you adoption records," I remark, still looking at the screen. "Their policy doesn't permit it, so no luck there," I say, continuing to walk toward Quincy.

"Right! And at this point, it's the only thing I know how to read in Korean," Kitty admits.

"Ugh. Can we please drop this Alex thing? Let's go back to talking about you and Dae," Quincy says, messing with his backpack strap.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Quincy on this one," I respond, turning my head to look at Kitty.

Kitty is the best girl friend I wish I had earlier. Every day, we talk about Alex and the possibility of him being her brother, but there's just not enough information. Especially with the hospital denying her request for adoption records.

"Wonnie, Q, it's not an Alex thing. I know in my gut that Alex is my brother," Kitty says as we stop walking.

Quincy and I stand in front of Kitty, looking at her sincerely. "Okay," we both say.

"Or... I'm pretty sure."

"That is the thing though, we can't say for sure that Alex is your brother," I say to Kitty and she nods in response.

"Yeah and maybe you should talk to your for-sure siblings about this," Quincy suggests, looking between us.

"Yes, I want to, but I can't," confesses Kitty. "Not yet. Alex needs to know first. Also, there is that minuscule chance that I am not right," she continues with an expression of uncertainty.

"Just ask him. Rip off the Band-Aid. Most of the school will be gone for Chuseok anyway, so this will be the perfect weekend to corner him."

"Sure. And say what exactly?"

"I know you'll figure it out!" I chime, clashing our plastic coffee cups together. "Just don't stress about it and everything will work out."

Kitty smiles at Quincy and I, but he's busy looking at his watch. "And we're late."

"We are? Like super late?!" Kitty and I exclaim, turning into a full on sprint.

"Very late!"

"Professor Lee is going to kill me!"