New World | SOOKAI

Chapter 8

We walked next to each other in the still darkness of the early evening. I could occasionally feel his eyes on me, once actually catching him as he almost tripped over a piece of pavement that didn't sit quite flat. He coughed lightly to give the impression that nothing happened and I couldn't help but laugh at him. It was so.. cute to see him momentarily lose his otherwise composed manner for a moment. I was glad that he was looking at me though, as slyly as he was trying to play it off. Maybe he did feel the same way. That, ideally, was my goal for the evening. Getting to know more about him was capital, of course, but the idea of finding out if he harboured the same feelings as I did was almost equally as important. The detective work seemed intriguing and he had already given me the first clue by the way his eyes gravitated towards me.

We had turned a corner already off a main street and I wondered for a moment if he lived in the same area as me.

"Where do you live, anyway?"

"Surprisingly close, Kai. I own a house on Choi Avenue."

Choi Avenue? That was only another 2 blocks away.

"That is close.. You kinda struck me as the kind who would live in the wealthier suburbs."

He smiled and straightened his coat out, looking down at his feet as we walked.

"I do know someone who lives on that side of town. It's.. not quite my taste, though. I prefer the quieter, humble side of the city."

"Yeah.. this side has more parks and trees too. Way nicer to walk about in."

He looked at me curiously, a dark eyebrow arching up underneath the thick parted black hair that graced his forehead.

"Is that something that you enjoy, Kai? The outdoors?"

"Yeah.. I like being around nature. Walking through parks in the middle of spring and summer is always nice when it's that time of year."

I saw him nod thoughtfully and the smile lessened on his face just ever so slightly. Did he not have the same opinion?

"Do you not like warm weather?"

"I don't find myself with the.. opportunities to enjoy it like I once did. Autumn and Winter seem to suit my way of living a bit better."

His reply brought a flurry of questions into my mind. As much as it didn't overly matter what he did with his time, I was still curious about it nonetheless.

"So what is it that you do, anyway?"

The speed in which he walked seemed to slow somewhat as he pondered my question, and I lessened my own pace to match his.

"I.. took an early retirement. I was once a musician, like yourself, but... well, I'm afraid that was never meant to be. I mostly just appreciate music now."

An.. early retirement? He barely looked a day older than me.

"You must have been one hell of a musician. Were you a child prodigy or something?"

He smiled and shook his head.

"Not anything even remotely close, I'm afraid. I hail from a lineage of high status, though my relatives passed many years ago, I was left with their abundant wealth."

As much as that certainly made a lot more sense to me, it still didn't explain why he couldn't get out to enjoy the warmer months of the year. But I didn't want to press the matter.

"So, you're a man of leisure then?" I grinned at him.

He smiled further as he gazed at me, looking over my face in a curious manner that made my heart flutter.