TXT - The Fanfic: CHAPTER 15
The guys and I hung out for a couple of weeks without Katarina. It finally felt like we had picked up our friendship right where we left off. On the other hand, Kai was keeping his word about pretending that kiss never happened. My friendship with him remained exactly the same as always; in fact, we seemed closer than ever.
Additionally, I managed to get Yeonjun to convince Katarina to meet up with me the following Friday. I was a bit nervous. I wasn't sure if my plan would work, which is why we decided to meet at Taehyun's shed, just in case there was any problem.
Friday arrived. I was the first to arrive at the agreed time, waiting at the entrance of the house. After a while, Katarina arrived with Yeonjun, who waved at me from a distance before kissing his girlfriend and going inside Taehyun's house.
Katarina approached me with a serious expression, and we entered the shed without having exchanged any words. I thought she would take a seat on the couch, but instead, she sat in the chair she had used during our other meetings. I sat next to her, and we both remained silent for a few moments before starting to talk.
"Why did you want to see me?" she asked coldly, crossing her arms.
"I just wanted to clear some things up with you..." I began, a bit timidly.
"If it's about Kai, Yeonjun already told me you're just good friends," she said, looking away, clearly unwilling to engage in a conversation.
"It's not just that..." I continued. "It's more that... I tried to befriend you from the beginning, and it didn't work out. I thought that now that Roseanne and Nancy are gone, maybe you and I could try to get along."
She looked at me, puzzled. I noticed her attitude shifting slightly, but she maintained a cold and distant demeanor.
"Why would you want to be friends with me?"
"Well... You're Yeonjun's girlfriend. So, you're the only other girl in the group. Don't you think it would be nice if we were friends?" I suggested.
"I know Yeonjun would like that," she sighed. "But I don't know you much, and from what little I've seen, we don't have much in common."
"I know. I've noticed that," I shrugged. "But that doesn't mean we can't get along." I paused. "I mean, in a way, you remind me a lot of Yeonjun."
"What do you mean?" she asked, curious.
"Maybe I'm wrong, but... Both of you can seem a bit harsh at first. People who don't filter their words and have a rather cruel sense of humor... But neither of you are that bad. And if I look back and compare you to the other girls... You were never that mean with me."
Katarina looked at me seriously. Somehow, I had caught her attention, and she was processing the information I had given her. Her body language relaxed a bit, and she responded.
"Those girls were driven by jealousy. I'm not a jealous person. Although, well, it's not like your relationship with Yeonjun is that close... Compared to Kai... I really thought there was something between the two of you." She laughed, not even looking at me.
"Kai is just my friend..." I quickly defended myself. "And I suppose, Yeonjun has told you about Soobin," I anticipated.
"I know about you and Soobin," she laughed again. "I guess you have a knack for attracting unpopular guys."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, confused.
"I mean that both Soobin and Kai are pretty unpopular at school. That shouldn't be a big secret to you if you've known them for so long."
She was half-right. I knew Soobin had never been very popular at school, but I didn't know anything about Kai. He never mentioned it. Not even when we were kids.
"I know Soobin has had a lot of problems with his classmates. That's precisely what led him to become friends with the guys."
"And that's also what led Kai to befriend them too. Kai never had any friends until he came along," she explained. "And tell me, if you've never been to school, what led you to be friends with them?" she wanted to know.
"Kai has been my friend since we were very young. I almost have no memories from before I met him. Soobin, on the other hand, moved across the street from my house when we were not even eight years old, which was precisely when he started school."
"True," Katarina recalled. "I assume that the fact that they were friends before school started was your doing, wasn't it?"
"More or less," I sighed. "It was actually pure coincidence that they met before starting school."
"It was the best thing that could have happened to both of them," she said, nodding.
The girl was still speaking to me somewhat distantly, but in a way, we were both listening carefully to each other's contributions. She seemed sincere and willing to talk.
"I really appreciate you agreeing to talk with me. I think I needed this information."
"I'm more comfortable than I thought I would be," she said, leaning her elbow on the back of the chair. "But you should be careful about how much trust you place in Kai... especially if you're waiting for another guy," she warned with a hint of concern.
"Why?" I asked, confused.
"I'm not sure, but if I doubted your relationship and it's not because of you... it's very likely that he likes you..."
"Me? Kai?" I was surprised for a second, though it didn't take long to remember the kiss.
My expression grew more serious as I tried to process the possibility that Katarina might be right. I looked down at the floor and stayed silent for a few moments.
"If that's the case... I think I would understand a lot of things..." I said without lifting my head.
"I've never seen anyone defend another person the way Kai did the other day," she said, searching for my gaze with a serious expression, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Only love would drive someone to do that."
"It's not the first time he's done it..." I pointed out.
"As I said, be careful... Things are fine now... But when Soobin comes back, it could get awkward."
"I'd like to keep pretending I don't know anything," I lamented.
"Good luck..." She crossed her arms again, looking away.
There was a long silence between us. I hadn't expected to have such a deep conversation with someone who was practically a stranger and with whom I hadn't gotten along just moments before.
"You're more mature than I thought," I remarked.
"So are you. The way you usually act, I took you for someone more childish," she apologized. "Anyway, even though I like you, I don't think you're the type of person I would normally hang out with."
"Neither do I," I replied with a small smile. "We're not the same kind of person."
"Still... I would meet with you again to talk like this. It feels good to have a serious conversation with someone and feel heard."
"I agree," I said, smiling broadly.
For a moment, we both considered leaving the shed, but I interrupted those plans by asking.
"How did you start dating Yeonjun?"
The girl smiled before answering and settled back into her chair.
"It's a really silly story," she laughed. "The school organized a little event, and... As is typical for me, I looked for a guy to hook up with after the meeting. Which most people do," she justified herself. "I had been eyeing Yeonjun for a while and was waiting for that day to make a move on him... What I didn't know was that he was planning the same thing," she smiled at me.
"Wow, sounds like school is a lot of fun," I laughed.
"You wouldn't like it," she immediately countered. "It's a hostile place. If you don't believe me, ask Kai or Soobin. Besides, you seem like a smart girl. You don't need it," she dissuaded me.
"I'm glad Yeonjun found someone like you: someone like him, but with whom someone can have a serious conversation," I explained, returning to the main topic.
"I'm glad to know that you're the kind of person he hangs out with outside of school."
"I wish you the best with Yeonjun... But I'd like to know somehow... that if you and he were to break up, we'd still see each other."
"I'm sure we would," she immediately replied. "I wouldn't hold a grudge or anything like that," she smiled at me.
"Good," I returned her smile.
Finally, we left the shed and found Taehyun and Yeonjun, who came out to meet us when we knocked on the door of the house.
Katarina went straight to Yeonjun, who hugged her and kept his arm around her shoulders.
"How was it?" he asked with a smile, seeing us in good spirits.
"Very good," she quickly responded.
"Eye-opening," I added, without giving too much detail.
The girl smiled at me, and then Yeonjun left with her. Taehyun asked me again what we had talked about, but I was vague with him again. I preferred to keep our conversation private.
He kindly walked me home and then said goodbye with a hug until the next day.
Next Saturday, we met again at the same place. Although the temperatures were clearly starting to feel much more like spring, the intimacy provided by Taehyun's shed was still comfortable.
Yeonjun came accompanied by Katarina, who greeted me warmly when she saw me. At that moment, I noticed Kai looking at the two of us and smiling in surprise.
"Did you end up talking to her yesterday? How did it go?" he asked in a low voice.
"It went really well," I smiled at him. "We both learned a lot from each other, and I guess you could say we get along now."
"No hard feelings?" he wanted to make sure.
"No hard feelings," I confirmed.
Soon, we were all gathered there. Even though the dynamics had changed a lot since the two girls were gone, Kai and I continued to keep our spots on the floor.
However, after a while, my shoulders started to ache, and I tried to find a better position while stretching a bit discreetly.
"Are you okay?" Kai asked, noticing my discomfort.
"Yeah, it's just my back hurts," I said, trying to act more normally.
"Do you need a massage?" Kai asked, moving a bit closer.
I leaned back at his movement. In my mind, I remembered Katarina's words. I needed to start setting some boundaries with Kai if I didn't want things to get awkward with Soobin later on.
"No, I'm fine," I said quickly.
The truth was, I could have used that massage, but I wanted to stick to my decision. Despite everything, our conversation wasn't private; the rest seemed to have heard it all.
"Do you want to switch spots?" Beomgyu offered, getting up from the couch.
"Yes, thank you," I said, standing up and taking the new seat.
I looked at Katarina, who nodded at me discreetly, letting me know I had done the right thing. Then I looked at Kai. He didn't seem to have given the situation much thought, so I relaxed and continued enjoying the evening.
The conversations flowed lively until Taehyun decided to bring out a bottle of alcohol again. He and Yeonjun took the first sips and then started passing it around to the others. I was a bit surprised to see Kai take a sip as well. Soon after, Beomgyu passed me the bottle, but I immediately handed it to Taehyun.
"You don't want any?" he asked with some surprise.
"No," I shook my head with a slight expression of disgust.
"Alright…" he replied, taking another sip.
"Lía's not going to drink?" I heard Yeonjun say.
"You saw that it doesn't make he feel well. She's free not to drink if she doesn't want to," Kai immediately defended me.
"I can speak for myself," I said, aware that Kai always went out of his way to defend me.
When I said this, Kai's expression became a bit more serious. I didn't know if I had made him uncomfortable, but it was about time I started standing up for myself when it came to expressing what I think or feel.
The guys kept drinking until the bottle was empty. The atmosphere was lively, especially with the buzz from the alcohol. I laughed along with them despite being sober, appreciating the freedom of feeling that way. I didn't want to feel like I did that one time again.
When it got late, we cleaned up and went outside. Even though the days were starting to get warmer, the nights were still very cold.
I approached Kai cheerfully. I had noticed that he hadn't spoken to me directly all afternoon, and I wanted to check if he was feeling uncomfortable.
"Hey, Kai. Are you going to be able to walk me home in this state?"
Kai turned to me with a serious expression. It had been a while since he'd looked at me like that.
"Can't you walk home alone too?" he said, sounding a bit annoyed.
I noticed the other guys turning towards us when they heard Kai's slightly raised voice.
"Hey! What's going on over there?" Taehyun approached, a little worried.
"Nothing. It's nothing," Kai replied.
"Walk her home, Kai. It's not safe for her to go alone at this hour," Katarina interrupted, probably feeling responsible for the advice she had given me.
Kai didn't say anything else. We said goodbye to the rest of the group, and he began to walk me home.
"Sorry for acting weird today," I apologized once we were a bit farther away from the group.
"When you turned down the massage, it seemed odd, but then you were really short with me for no reason. What the hell is going on? What did I do?" he complained, clearly upset.
"Nothing! You didn't do anything," I excused him, lowering my head. "Someone gave me advice, and I didn't know how to interpret the instructions."
"Someone told you to be short with me?" he got even more upset.
"No! Of course not!"
"Then what?" he waited for an explanation.
"Someone told me that I shouldn't have such a close relationship with you because it was strange," I finally said.
He looked at me with a confused expression, and then it seemed like everything clicked in his head.
"Katarina told you that, didn't she?" he got defensive. "I knew she was trouble..."
"She's right," I interrupted. "Maybe I shouldn't be so close to you. I should treat you more like I treat everyone else..."
"I'm your best friend, Lía. I don't think anyone would mind if you're closer to me than to others, right?"
"Maybe not now. But what would Soobin think if, when he comes back from Korea, he saw me sleeping on top of you?" I justified myself. "Katarina said that you and I often look like a couple, and I wouldn't like that to continue when Soobin comes back."
Kai rubbed his face and turned away, putting some distance between us.
"I'm thinking long-term, Kai. I'd rather start now than cut everything off abruptly later."
He paced in circles for a few more moments, then approached me again.
"Soobin isn't the type of guy who would get jealous, Lía. He knows you and I are friends and has always respected that. What makes you think that would change now?"
"The fact that you and I have taken too many liberties and gotten too comfortable in his absence," I finally said, referring to the night he spent at my house and the kiss we shared.
When I said this, he seemed to understand my point of view a bit more, though his first concern was how much Katarina knew about what had happened.
"Did you tell her about...?"
"No," I answered immediately. "Of course, I didn't say anything. No one knows. Literally no one," I promised.
"Alright," he sighed. "I think you're right... We should set some boundaries. I accept that. But please, the solution isn't to push me away."
"I know. I already told you I didn't handle it well," I apologized.
"We already agreed that I wouldn't sleep over at your place again. We haven't even talked about the kiss. What else do you want to change?"
"I don't know..." I admitted. "Honestly, I would have liked that massage... But I should start standing up for myself more." I moved a little closer to him and took his hand to get his attention. "I know it's hard for you to control yourself when someone bothers me... But trust me. I have a temper too. I know I could defend myself if someone bothers me. I've gotten too comfortable hiding behind you every time I've had a conflict."
"I understand... Yeah, you're right, it's hard for me to control myself," he sighed, still holding my hand.
"For now, let's just change that, okay?" I smiled at him.
"Alright," he agreed, smiling back. "How's your back? Does it still hurt?"
"Not so much. Just a little in the neck and maybe the shoulders... It helped when Beomgyu switched spots with me," I said, rubbing the areas that felt tense.
"Come here," he said, moving behind me and giving me a quick but focused massage on the spots I had mentioned. "Better?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Kai walked me the rest of the way home. Despite having drunk, he wasn't too affected, so after saying goodbye to me, he didn't have much trouble getting back.