Badboy (Exo Kai)

CHAPTER 18

"Are you cold?" Kai asks you. It's not really that chilly outside, but you're not about to tell him that. You watch as he takes off his jacket, the collar of his shirt stretching open to reveal his silver chain. He lays the jacket around your shoulders, even helping you get the sleeves on. You suppose Kai really does want to pretend to be like someone else this time. He's acting like a gentleman.

Afterwards, he rolls up the sleeves of his button-down and untucks his shirt. It's crazy how Kai can go from looking professionally mature to down right ... well. To put it mildly: extremely, extremely attractive.

The luminous glow of the moon stretches over the grass, casting the landscape in a world of blue. Kai starts to walk, to where, you don't know, but you follow him anyway. You listen to the sound of the grass softly crackling underneath your feet and feel the wind as it whispers through the air. Kai is a hand's breadth away from you. You can sense the current of air when his hand moves, feel the way it tickles your skin. It's luxurious. It's amazing. You just feel so freaking alive, and while the walk itself seems pointless, the feelings it gives you aren't.

"Do you normally take walks around the campus at midnight?" You ask him, attempting to crack a joke.

"Yes," he says, surprising you with his frank response. "I don't see why other people don't. It's nice out here, don't you think? Nobody around. Nothing to bother you. It's just the moon. And the ground." He smiles a little at this, as if he can't quite believe his poetic side is getting ahead of himself. "You ever get that feeling? When you stay up late at night, and you're tired, and you want to sleep, but you can't? So you just sit there, and wait for that feeling to pass. People fall asleep eventually. But I like ... " he cocks his head to stare up at the moon. " ... I like walking underneath the stars."

You raise your head to stare at what he's gazing at, at the blanket of black that covers the sky. Little lights shaped like stars peek through the surface, lighting a path a million years old. "I can't say I've done that before," you comment, turning back to watch the ground in case you manage to trip - because you're just that kind of a klutz.

"No? Well, you can start now," Kai decides. His gait is long and lazy, perfectly matching the apathetic look in his eyes. "Oh. You should come to the pond. It's nice at this time." He turns toward the direction of the pond, and you trail behind him, the route only slightly brightened by the moon. You stare at his back as he walks forward, his shirt stretching and crinkling with each move he makes. Is it weird that you think his back is attractive?

You and Kai arrive at the pool, but instead of sitting on the bench, Kai closely approaches the border of the pond and positions himself on the ground, leaning back on the palm of his hands with his legs stretched out in front of him. You sit down, as well, and you both quietly watch the water as the reflection of the sky glimmers on its surface, twisting and turning with the breeze's prompting. It's breath taking, in a completely different way from how it looks in daylight. It's enchanting. It feels magical, you suppose, like if the moon were to shine a certain way, or if the pond were to gleam a certain way, anything could happen. Anything.

At that moment, you realize exactly why this is Kai's favorite place.

"You see that?" Kai asks, pointing to a star in the sky. "It looks like you."

You squint up at the constellations, not really understanding. "What?"

"Nothing," he brusquely responds. He lies down on the floor, relaxing his head against the cool grass. You do as he does and tilt your head back to get a better view of the stars. This is just like that time when he had invited you to the dance room to look up at his glow-in-the-dark stickers ... only, better. And much, much more real.