King Kim :: 왕김

장 9 홉

RAENA

Before I can grab at the handle of the cafeteria door, Kai's hand glides over mine, pulling. I quickly look up at him as he gave a grin and a slight bow. I paused and awkwardly gave a small bow back.

"Uh, thanks." I mumble. He nods his head.

I walk towards the end of the lunch line and am about to grab a tray that was stacked a bit too high. Challenged by my height, I am on my toes when Kai effortlessly takes and hands me a tray. I sheepishly look down.

When we reach the serving line, an older lunch lady stands with a pout, "Next," She says, tiresome.

I hand my tray, and she slaps on a mixture of mush that looks slightly unappetizing. I sighed.

Kai then gives his tray up as he scrunches his nose with slight disgust.

"What is that?" He asks.

The lunch lady plops the same mush onto his tray. He grabs for it.

"Casserole surprise." I smirked.

"What's in it?" He looks at the serving closely.

"It's a surprise." I laugh.

I grab a carton of milk and make my way to the cashier. I hand the man a five-dollar bill, which is enough for the both of us, and finally made it into the dining hall.

I walk towards my table, which is generally always empty. Kai follows and takes a seat across from me. He sits and stares at his tray.

"Need a fork?" I ask.

"Uh," He searches for his utensil.

I hand him a spare fork. I giggle to myself.

He grabs for the fork and holds it a bit oddly. He seems unsure of how to use it.

I stare at him for a moment, trying to figure out what was wrong. He looks up, blushing.

"You guys don't have chopsticks by any chance?" He nervously laughs.

I shake my head, "No." I laugh.

I lean over the table, helping him position his hand correctly with the fork.

"You hold it like this." I grab my fork and showed him.

He nods as he begins to poke at the mysterious meat in front of him.

I scoop up a mouth full as I wait for him to eat. He slightly picks the tiniest piece off his tray and nibbles at it. His face turns into disgust, then he regretfully swallows his small bite.

"Ew, this is what you guys eat?" His voice is filled with surprise.

"Sure is!" I smile as I eat another bite.

He pushes his tray away, "This is definitely not what I was served back home."

"Well, food is different here." I simply shrug.

For a moment, I look away, and something catches my eye. A short mini skirt walking my way. I roll my eyes; it's Brooklyn.

With her peppiness filling in her uniform, she reaches our table smiling and leaning over the table.

"Oh, Kai! What are you doing sitting over here?" Her high-pitched voice giggles.

Kai looks up and seems confused.

"You should sit with us." Brooklyn looks back over her shoulder at her table filled with other cheerleaders and jocks. She looks back and scans me up and down, "You don't want to be sitting at the losers' table, do you?"

Kai looks back at me in a daze. I quickly look down.

"Come on. It'll be fun. You'll make a lot more friends." Brooklyn pulls Kai by the arm, and as if it was almost demanded, Kai is taken away.

I slowly look back up, another one gone. Just like that. The power of popularity.

I was alone.. again.

NAM-JOON

She pulls me by the arm, dragging me to her side of the cafeteria.

She wraps her hand around my upper arm and caresses them as we walk, "Oh, you have some really nice biceps, Kai.." She winks at me. "Do you work out?"

"Uh," is the only word that fell out of my mouth, not knowing how to respond.

"Ugh, and you have really nice shoulders too." She says, flipping her hair back, followed by a slight giggle as her other hand traces up my back. "You must be really strong."

We reach her table she aggressively shoves me down in a seat.

"Hey guys," She smiles at her friends, "This is Kai, our new foreign exchange student!"

Everyone gives different looks. The girls greet me with a smile, but the guys almost gave no attention. One even rolled their eyes.

"Kai is from.." She stops and whispers to me, "Where are you from again?"

"Uh," I stuttered, "China."

"China!" She shouts, "Everyone say, Kon'nichiwa!"

Almost on demand, everyone repeats with different tones, "Kon'nichiwa!"

Impressed with herself, she confidently says, "That means "Welcome" in Chinese." She looks up at me, "I took two years of Chinese, so I know."

My eyes widen. Appalled, I try to fake a smile.

Brooklyn takes a seat next to me and begins introducing her friends, "These are my besties, Lauren and Hannah." She points out. They both giggle and wave, sitting in their cheer uniforms. "These are the guys, Tyler, James, and Dylan." They don't even acknowledge me. Dylan seems to give a slight glare.

She turns to look at me, "And you clearly know me, Brooklyn. Ruler of this somewhat of a kingdom."

I look back at her with confusion, "So, you're like a queen here?"

She laughs, "Isn't he just the sweetest?" She grabs onto my arm once again and faces her friends. "Not yet, anyway. Not until prom, you know." She snickers.

"Prom?" I ask.

She rubs my shoulder once again, "Oh, just stick with me. You'll fit in just fine here." She moves a piece of my hair to the side, playing with it.

She looks back at me, "Just as long as you stay away from the peasants," She points over to Raena's table, "Like her. You don't want to end up like that, now do you?"

I look over to see Raena with her glasses taken off, looking down at her tray. With a red nose, she wipes the tears from her cheeks. Raena looks around, hoping no one notices her. She stands up from the table, leaving her uneaten tray behind, keeping her face hidden in her hands. My heart sinks.

"What's wrong with Raena?" I ask, concerned.

"Ugh, God only knows." Brooklyn scoffs, then laughs. She looks down at my bag and sees my schedule sticking out, and snatches it.

"Who do you have next?" She scans the paper with her long and manicured nails, "Gym with Coach Peterson." She looks up, "Oh, the boys have him next as well! We can all walk you down there together!" She smiles and hands me back my paper.

Dylan grits his teeth and keeps his glare directed at me. 

This is going to be fun.