Matchmaker: BOOK I [Y/N X KAI]

✨ Chapter 45 ✨

"Believe it or not, but I actually don't hate you. And I feel like a walk.." he whispers.

Nini gives me what I'd classify as a smoldering smile, his eyes dancing with a..challenge?

"What do you say? We could stop for some ice-cream in Central Park?" he smiles, but the nervousness still hasn't fed.

"Sure, as long as you're paying," I grin.

"Says the woman who just got her job back," he laughs, genuinely laughs, a laugh that mesmerizes me every single time. What's wrong with me?

"Hey, I've been through an ordeal! You said that yourself!" I playfully hit his shoulder. Was that a wrong move? He freezes.

Whoops. Did I make him angry by being too friendly? I can't help it when his laugh seems so genuine and comforting.

But instead, he smiles even brighter "Let's go?" he scoots closer to me, his hands behind me, unsure if it's okay to touch my back.

Why so shy, Kim Jongin?

I steady his nervous hands on my back, giving him permission. He begins to shake terribly.

"Relax, okay?" I whisper as we make our way out of the venue.

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I'm not gonna lie, this is a little awkward. It's kind of like neither of us knows what to say or how to say it. But well, at least the scenery's very nice. It distracts me from the insufferable silence between us.

Mercifully, Nini finally clears his throat, "Um..you did a..good job today. All things considered."

I cock my head, laughing, "Nini, are you trying to compliment me?"

"I..suppose I was," he immediately looks away. Aw, embarrassed Jongin's so cute.

"Well, at least you tried," I laugh again. It's fun to embarrass him even more when he's already embarrassed. "That's what matters. Bravo for trying."

Well, I've to give him that, at least.

"It must be hard for you to hand the reins over to someone else and turn the wedding planner thing off," I say.

He nods, "Yeah, very true. I do tend to have a bad habit of that."

"Okay," I stop walking, "Let's play a game then. For the rest of the walk, try to turn it off."

He sighs, "It's not that simple."

"Sure it is! Just be yourself. Or..your other self. Tell me, a story about you and Aria," I know for a fact that if there's something he'd never be tired to talk about, it's his sister.

"Well, when we were kids, there was this one time when we went on a vacation and right before we were about to head home, Aria found a cat. She really wanted to take it home as she wanted it to live with us. I, of course, adamantly disapproved.." he smiles as he remembers. See? It's working.

"The voice of pragmatism," I joke.

He continues, "But she loved it so much so I decided to keep her secret."

"Did you get away with it?" I ask.

"Well, you can say almost. We all piled into the car and it looked like we were going to make it..until the frog jumped out of Aria's hand and into my mother's lap," he laughs aloud. Soon, I join him too.

Wow, I can't believe that I actually got him to talk about something other than work, or how much of a better job he thinks he could do. This is such a big accomplishment. I'd say one of the biggest achievements of my entire life.

"See? Was that so hard to do?" I grin.

"You've no idea.." he replies.

"Let's throw a harder one, what was your most embarrassing tattoo?" I wiggle my eyebrows.

"What makes you think that I've got tattoos?" his eyes widen.

"It's always the ones you’d less suspect. The one's in suits who look like they'd never even consider it," I shrug. Pretty sure that this is just straight-off a scientific fact.

"I'm so sorry to disappoint you but no tattoos," he chuckles, "Well, except the few fake ones based on my father's drawings which have nothing embarrassing. But real ones? Nope."

"Any ideas for future real ones?" I ask.

"Again, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I belong to the never-even-considering-it club," he laughs.

"Fine.." I pout, "Then tell me something about you that not many people know about."

Please tell me he's going to spill some real big and juicy secret..

"I'm actually really into live performances," he says.

Huh? Maybe that's as juicy as it gets for Mr. Moneybags.

"I don't go out as much as I'd like to anymore because of work. But there was a time when I'd try to go see a show every weekend," he adds in.

"What's your favourite kind of Art?" I ask.

"For the most part, I don't really care. As long as it's live, I'm into it. Be it music, dance, acting..there's just something very special about experiencing it in real time that just doesn’t compare to anything else," he taps his chin, "But if I've to pick, then I'd say dance comes first to me. Specially jazz dance."

"Wow. My idea really worked. You're already nicer to be around!" I smile.

It occurs to me that I'm actually having a really good time. What's this, the twilight zone?

"I..feel as though I owe you an apology," his eyes sad, "I still stand by my decisions granted, but I'm so sorry that I came down so hard on you."

The urge to sass him is still pretty strong. But I hold my tongue. He's really trying!

"It's just that..the wedding's very special to Aria. I just want to see her happy. And I thought I was the best suited for the job" he sighs.

"Nini, it's cute how much you care about her," I giggle.

"Oh?" his cheeks flashes a red. Oh Nini, if you're trying to not be cute, let me say this isn't helping at all!

✨ To Be Continued ✨