On a seemingly ordinary summer day, timid Alice Gardner crosses paths with Kai Anderson, a notorious figure in their small town. As serendipitous encounters bring them together, they find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other, driven by a mutu...
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Kai couldn't believe it. He finally got a pretty decent job.
After all the work he put into sounding professional at interviews by talking to himself at a mirror almost everyday, reading wikiHow articles, and taking Alice's advise seriously, he got a job at a test preparation center.
It was also thanks to his uncle's referral that he got in so easily. Also, they couldn't care less about him only being a dropout since his actual job was to be an errand boy.
How did it become much more decent than his past employments? Simple. It was because of the long sleeves and slacks. He looked sleek, and he was feeling it.
Wanting to brag to Alice about 'leaving his 'delinquency' behind', he went to her university and looked for her.
It sounded impossible for a person who hasn't even once entered the university to look for someone in such a huge place, but it really seems like the world was attracting the two together like how both the magnetic north and south are constantly trying to pull each other; because the moment Kai entered the main gates, Alice and Keith were about to exit.
"Yo peanut!"
Alice wouldn't mistake that familiar voice anywhere.
She looked for the direction of the voice and waved back at Kai who was already running towards her.
"I got good news! Guess what?" He was grinning so eagerly. But before Alice could answer back, Kai pointed at Keith with furrowed brows.
"I feel like I've seen you before." It took a few seconds for him to remember, "Aren't you the dude with the Chihuahua?!"
"Keith Pineda." He took Kai's pointing finger with a smile and shook it as a greeting. "Thanks again for last time."
"Friend?" Kai asked Alice who nodded.
"Great! Come join us then, my treat."
The two friends looked at each other, "Where?"
"Just come!"
"Why are we here exactly?"
Alice and Keith found themselves at a Korean restaurant near the west entrance of the university. It was the part of the school were most of the students hang out during vacant periods, either smoking or eating with friends after a three-hour long lecture.
The restaurant was packed and the place was filled with smoke and the smell of grilled meat.
Kai was already placing pieces of bacon slices on the grill, "To celebrate!"
"Celebrate what?" Alice asked as she received the chopsticks Keith was handing out to them.
"It's thanks to you that I—Kai Anderson—am now 'jobful'! Geddit? Cause I'm not jobless anymore."
Keith smiled to himself at how ridiculous Kai sounded.
"Really?" Alice's eyes widened, "What kind of work is it?"
"Found a job at a test prep center just a couple blocks away from your university." He handed the two some meat and Keith eagerly digged in, placing some side dishes near his plate.
"That explains the outfit." Alice nodded and took a bite out of the rice cake. It was steaming hot and spicy and easily melts in the mouth. "You teach there?"
"I'm an errand boy."
Alice was in a fit of giggles.
"Don't look down on me! Now that I look professional as fuck, even though all I probably have to do is photocopy some mock tests and shit, you won't consider me a thug anymore, ha!" He pointed the tong at her, smiling from ear to ear.
"Sure. Nice hair. Slick."
Although it sounded pretty sarcastic, Kai was proud of waxing his hair today because Alice noticed it and even 'complimented' him, as he considered it.
"So," Keith blurted out, "care to tell me how you two met? Cause I feel so left out in here."
"Long story short,"—Kai gulped his lettuce wrap—"your friend spawns everywhere! Can't help but approach her because of that, could you?"
Keith shook his head, "You know, is it really all right for you to pay our meals? I'm not complaining, free food tastes great, but you're already celebrating like you received your first paycheck when in fact you haven't. Is that okay?"
Alice glanced at Kai with a 'He has a point' kind of look.
He fell silent.
"I mean, if you feel burdened, just tell me, y'know . . . It's whatever . . . Not a big deal . . . "
Kai was acting so bashful and Alice couldn't help smiling.
