Black Soda Drink [exo]

IX

“You’re still working?”

I looked up and nodded. Kris came to sit down beside me with a new drink that I had made for him. I moved my feet out of the way so he would have more space. “I didn’t get a call back from my interview. I need to finish this and then go find somewhere else that will take me.”

“Well, can you take a break for a few hours so we can celebrate your birthday? It’s not healthy to keep working like that.”

I hesitated but after seeing Kris’s pleading stare, I caved in. “Okay,” I said finally.

He drove to a bar across town, saying that it was a lot nicer than the ones near his home.

“Why are you so sulky these days?” he asked when I ordered a drink that the bartender recommended. Kris only had a can of Cola.

“I’m not,” I said and took a sip. The drink was fizzy and fruity, the sweet bubbles tickling my tongue. I liked it. “I’ve just been a little tired these days.”

“Loosen up tonight. Go dance or something.”

“Are you going to dance, too?” I asked, sneaking a glance at the colourful dance floor.

He cocked his head to the side and grinned. “If you want me to.”

I downed my drink and asked for another. “I didn’t know you could.”

“You don’t know a lot of things about me.”

I scoffed. “I know that you sit on the couch a lot. You sleep like a bear hibernating in the middle of winter. You also eat like a bear right before hibernation. Can you dance like a bear, too?”

“I’m actually really good at dancing,” he said with a cocky air. “I don’t do it often because I don’t want to scare away the competition.”

I drank quickly, wincing as the bubbles rushed down my throat. “Then c’mon. Dance with me.” I pulled him by the hand to the middle of the dance floor. It was crowded but not uncomfortable since it was only a Thursday night.

The moment Kris began “feeling” the music, I began giggling. He didn’t look anything at all like the guy I thought he was when my brother was still around. He wasn’t cold or distant like a guarded statue at a museum.

Kris was kind and full of jokes. He was a little dumb at times and he didn’t always look like an angel sent from heaven. He was a guy who woke up everyday with puffy eyes and puffy lips, just like me.

I threw my head back in laughter when he tried to Dougie.

Everybody else was grinding with each other while the two of us were making a fool of ourselves. No, I take that back. Kris was making a fool of himself while I tried not to cry from laughing so hard.

It was so funny that I completely forgot about the people around me. All of a sudden, a hand grabbed my elbow and I was jerked back into a hard body.

“Hey, sweet thing.” A slurred voice whispered in my ear.

I shivered and cringed. “Hi,” I replied back as I felt the man behind me moving his hips.

“What’s a tiny thing like you doing here all alone?”

“I’m not alone.”

He chuckled and I could smell the alcohol reeking off of him. “Not anymore. How about we—“

“Hey man, you can’t just steal a girl away.” Kris appeared out of the crowd, shooting a hard glare at the man holding me.

I held my breath as the man spoke. “She deserves a real man, kid, not some scrawny boy like you.” Suddenly, I was pushed forward into Kris. “But keep her. I could hear her laughing from miles away and she sounds like a cow.”

“Hey!” I glared at the man but Kris was moving like a flash of lightning. He seized the man by the collar and I heard everybody around us gasping.

“Take that back,” Kris growled.

I almost rolled my eyes. Did boys really need to start fights all the time? I grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him away. “Stop it, Kris. It’s not worth it.”

The man spat. “Ha! You little pussy, being controlled by your own woman. How pathetic.” Apparently this guy was asking for a death sentence, and I was willing to give him one, but fighting fire with fire would solve nothing. I continued to move away from the crowd.

Kris tried to stop me but I kept walking, tugging him along. He grumbled, “Didn’t you hear what he said to you?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Then let me beat him up!”

“Think about that for a second, Kris!” I stopped at the entrance to hallway where the washrooms were located. “If you get injured, you’re not going to be able to go to work. You’re going to be stuck at home, complaining about how everything hurts.”

He crossed his arms and glared at the dance floor, using the moment of silence to catch his breath. “You’ve never had a boyfriend before, have you?” he mumbled.

“What?”

“I’m a man, Yuan. You have to let me do these protective things for you sometimes.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You’re joking, right?”

“I’m not.” He stuck out his bottom lip like a child. “Men have sensitive egos, you know.”

I covered my mouth to hold back my laugh. But then Kris smiled and pulled my hand away. I pressed my lips together.

“Laugh with me, Yuan.”

I shook my head. “But I sound like a cow.”

“No, you don’t.” He took my hands. “You sound…you sound good. And your dimples are cute. Are you going to believe me or that drunken son of a bitch over there?”

I bit my lip and looked down at our hands. “Thank you,” I said simply. He was being kind again and my heart couldn’t take it. It felt like it was going to burst.

“Go get another one of those drinks that you like and I’ll take you on a drive around the city.”