Koon Chai Cafe

Chapter Twenty-One - A Secret Love

Park

"Where the hell have you been!?" 

I thought I could have sneaked in quietly without Mom and Dad noticing, but I was heavily mistaken. Both of them stood in the kitchen, arms crossed, and glared at me. Mom gave me a look that could've cracked the most secretive of spies in an interrogation.

I nervously fidgeted with my bag strap."I was just closing the store. Ya know, like I always do on Wednesdays."

Dad took off his glasses and exasperatedly pinched the bridge of his nose. Mom made a tutting noise and turned her back to aggressively dice a carrot. Sunny glanced up at me amused from the kitchen table where she was helping Grace and Joy with their coloring book.

"Go to your room, Park." Dad sighed, not opening his eyes. I gladly slid my shoes off, raced up to my room, and didn't glance back at the ticking-time bomb that was my mother's temper.

I chucked my bag onto my bed and carefully shut the door behind me, since the last thing I needed was a slamming door to ignite a fresh wave of anger.

I slumped back onto my bed and lay there, motionless. I closed my eyes and replayed all of the past hours' events in my head. I wanted to cement everything into my memory permanently, from the way he smelt of fresh jasmine and sandalwood, to the way his honey coloured eyes gazed into mine, to the way his warm hand felt on my cheek...

I lifted my own hand up to my cheek where his had been and smiled. The door in front of me burst open and I sat bolt upright, whipping my hand away from my face as I did so. Sunny bounded in, slammed the door loudly behind her, and fixed me with a steely look and a sly grin.

"You're hiding something," she announced.

"No I'm not," I retorted in my best mock-innocence voice. She snorted and collapsed down next to me, causing several pillows and books that were resting on my bed to scatter onto the floor.

"Don't even bother, Park. We both know you're the suckiest liar in the family and that's a fact." She narrowed her eyes as if she was trying to extract the truth with only her mind. "Has it got something to do with our little bud Kopter Sittawat?"

"No," I fibbed, but I could already feel the tell-tale red rising in my neck and cheeks.

She excitedly grabbed my arm and shook it. "Oh my God, did he make a decision?! Is that why you were late, cause you were meeting him?!"

I cursed past me for telling Sunny everything about our fight and separation, but I knew deep down she would've figured it out anyway. She's unbelievably nosey.

"Fine." I sighed and picked up a cushion from the floor. "I was meeting Kopter, and yes, it was about 'the thing we discussed'."

She squeezed my arm tighter and looked up at me expectantly. "And? What was the outcome?"

I smiled, hugged my pillow closer to my chest, and nodded. Sunny's squeal of delight was so loud that I actually cupped my hands over my ears to prevent my eardrums sustaining permanent damage.

"Sunny!" I uttered reprovingly, but she was too busy giggling to notice.

"You have a boyfriend! And here I was thinking you'd die an old spinster," she lamented. I shushed her by chucking my pillow at her head.

She gave me a scathing look, straightened her pink hair, and then tugged on my sleeve. "Is everything okay now?Are you... happy?" she asked sincerely. I smiled and nodded. Satisfied, she stood up and walked over to the door.