All My Words for You | TXT Huening Kai

Chapter 15

The next two weeks, I burst inwardly with joy whenever the boys visit Starlit Games. They're always causing a ruckus and a few eye-rolls from my mother—but always in good humor. A few times, she scolds them for making too much noise, which they immediately apologize for. They sit while trying to subdue their chuckles, as if it's possible to subdue a bushfire with a single bucket.

I shrug my shoulders, casting my mom an expression I hope says, What can we do? They're our best customers.

Sometimes, especially as the two weeks draw to a close, my parents turn a blind eye when Huening Kai would ask me to join the team. Each time, the player sitting out would marvel at how I control the characters as if I was actually within the game.

This is easy! I want to call out. It's the things that you guys do as trainees, dancing for hours and being actually talented, which is what's truly impressive.

But each time, the members clap me on the back and treat me like one of their own. In fact, they see me as valuable in my own way. Like I'm the stupid one for even daring to compare myself with anyone else.

Huening Kai winks whenever "I" win the game. "You're absolutely amazing, Nova. If I could play like you, I think I'd be making it as a professional e-sports player."

I laugh, knowing that it's the words my mother likes to hear. After all, she often claims I'm the son of a retired prodigy.

Outside of the gaming cafe, I often meet Huening Kai at his apartment. I watch as he shows me the seaweed soup his members cooked for his birthday, the various plushies he won from local claw machines, and a sizable dent in the wall a half foot in diameter. "This one is from when Taehyun got up from bed too quickly and fell against our aluminum suitcase."

I tell myself that instant love only happens in rom-coms, novels, and the occasional high school drama. But each time, the thinking part of my brain gives way to a force within that expands every time this daylight boy is near. Slowly, I'm enveloped by something other than wishful thinking. And I begin to think, that even if our time is short, I'll look at the world forever with warmer lenses.

A/N: All My Words for You will finish within this week! What has been your favorite scene(s) so far? Let me know! Thank you for reading.