Badboy (Exo Kai)

CHAPTER 26

You smile back at him and let him lead you out of the hospital. The tight aura that had misted your heads has lifted, and Kai seems to be in a better mood. He grabs your hand, and you look at him in surprise. He doesn't even seem to notice what he's doing, which gives you the hint that his hand had reached out unconsciously. You let him pull you down the street and across the road. You can feel the contentment tingling his fingers, sparking the touch that connects you both, but you don't say a word about it. For now, you're okay with quietly accompanying him like this.

"Are you free?" Kai asks you.

"Uh ... I think so. Why?"

"I wanted to celebrate," he says, his eyes brightening. He squeezes your hand and nods at a tiny gelato shop inserted between two larger dessert shops. "Do you like gelato?"

"I like sweets," you reply, and he laughs.

"Come on," he says, tugging on your hand like a little boy. "We haven't really gone on an official date yet."

"No?" you perk up as your heart starts to rapidly palpitate. "All those other times didn't count?"

"I didn't really ask you to go out with me."

"You're not asking now."

A slow smile spreads across his face before he looks at you with an entertained light dancing in his eyes. "Well." He opens his mouth as if to reciprocate your suggestion, but then a vivid pink tones his cheeks. "Uh ... " He stutters over his syllables before clearing his throat and saying, "Uh, you want to ... go on a date with me?"

You have to chuckle at the fact that Kai has the nerve to say the rudest things but becomes diffident when it comes to declaring his thoughts. "No."

"No?" He questions in surprise, his voice breaking at the end. He clears his throat again and, in a lower, more normal voice, he says, "No, what?"

"No, I'm not going on a date with you." You glance at him and almost burst out laughing when you see the entirely too saddened expression on his face. His bottom lip sticks out, and as soon as you see that, your mind flashes to the kiss. You blush as red as Kai had moments ago and look away. "I was joking."

"Joking?" He repeats, as if he doesn't know what that is.

"Yeah, you know, when you say something but really mean something else." You stare at him. "I would think you'd know something like that."

A pause, and then he just grins and lets go of your hand. He throws his free arm around you and pulls you inside the crook of his arm, cradling you against his side, his palm resting on your shoulder. "That wasn't a joke, was it?"

"I don't know," you say, trying to shrug.

"I don't want to go to the gelato store anymore," Kai says, steering you away from the shop when you're literally two feet away from it. You raise your head to look up at him in confusion, but the sudden proximity you find yourself in startles you, and you immediately turn away. Kai notices this and smugly smiles to himself. "I want to go to the school."

"The school?" You ask him as you find yourself back in the parking lot. He breaks away from you and takes out his keys before he opens the door and steps inside. After turning the car on, he throws an arm around the passenger seat's headrest and starts backing out. You don't know why, but you're so fascinated by how he looks as he drives out of the lot. It could be the way his shirt stretches across his chest, or that undone collar that reveals a sleek neck. His necklace disappears below his shirt, and you gulp and try to refocus your mind on something less suggestive.

"I want to show you the dance I practiced for," Kai tells you as he pulls onto the road. The tires squeak against the pavement, and he grimaces at the sharp sound. "Sorry," he mutters as he gently steps on the brakes. "But, you wouldn't mind, would you?"