The Promise [exo]

Coffee Shop

"Read my essay for me. Tell me how good it is." Kai handed me a stack of papers as he leaned back into his chair.

I put my pen down and looked at the stack with little interest. "Are you trying to make me fall asleep? I don't want to read about Urban Agriculture when I have my own things to write."

Kai propped up his ankle on his knee and took a sip from his iced coffee. "C'mon, Yejin, just read it. My writing's exciting."

"It's a known fact that the human race has changed significantly. We've gone from monkey to cavemen to the species we now know. Blah blah blah... We have made lives easier for ourselves at the risk of everything else on Earth. This ease leads to laziness and it seems like we're slowly turning back to our primate days." I flipped through the pages and yawned. "Where's the exciting part?"

Kai gave me a glare and took the papers out of my hands while I pretended to fall asleep. "You just don't know how to recognize A+ material." He ruffled my hair despite my attempt to duck away. "Your grade is only a few points under mine, though. You'll catch up."

I leaned back on my own chair, imitating Kai, and tapped my pen against my knee. "The school year's nearly over and I can't grade grub like you do."

Putting down his drink, he wiped the condensation on my knee and mumbled a word of disgust in the process before putting his elbow on my shoulder. "I don't grade grub. I'm just good."

"Right. You should try asking what the rest of the student body thinks of you. We know you don't talk to all the teachers after class for nothing." I couldn't make eye contact with him being so close so I did the only thing I thought was normal. I stared intensely at my hands, finding great interest in my knuckles.

"My teachers and I are close. Maybe I'm asking them for their numbers, who knows? Tomorrow, I might get married to Ms. Kang and she'd have to get her name changed to Mrs. Kim," he joked.

I felt a tug on my hair and turned to find Kai pulling a piece of dust from a strand. He looked so concentrated until he was done his job and then he looked back at me. This time I couldn't hide the blush.

"Hey." He looked up and took his elbow off my shoulder. I turned towards the door and saw Kai's sister and brother walking towards our table.

"Hello, my lovely lovebirds." Jonghee kissed both our cheeks and took a seat. Kai and I both rolled our eyes. Neither of us objected since we were so used to his sister trying to set us up. She knew of my crush on Kai but she said I hid it well from him.

Kai's brother, Jongsuk, took a seat as well and waved over a young waitress. She took his order and then timidly turned to Kai, asking if he wanted a free refill. He rejected her offer politely while Jonghee looked on with distaste.

"She didn't even bother asking me if I wanted anything to order," Jonghee muttered as she fished for her notes from her bag and the waitress was out of earshot. "These girls are going to run into a wall if they keep fawning over you, Kai."

Jongsuk feigned a look of pain. "Hey, maybe she was too busy checking me out to ask for your order!" That earned a small slap from his sister and I tried not to laugh. "What was that for?"

Jonghee rolled her eyes. "Nobody would check you out. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?"

"I don't get it. How come you two kids have so much luck with the opposite gender and then there's me," Jongsuk complained. "I do all the right things like buying gifts for the girl, tutoring her, being there to comfort her and has that gotten me anywhere? Nope." Jongsuk sulked in his seat. He was the big brother and the nicest. He knew how to take care of people, especially girls, but that never got him a girlfriend. I pitied him. He was a nice guy but girls just didn't seem to go after him.