Fateful Encounter

So it turns out, Kai’s group of friends isn’t just Sehun, Chen, D.O and Luhan. There’s another 7 people. But apparently, Kai is closest to only the four, so they hang out the most. I find out this little piece of information when I rock up to Kai’s house and there are 11 guys lounging around instead of the 4 I was expecting.
“Are you TJ?” A guy with rectangular glasses asks me.
“Yes.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Kai’s cousin – Harley.” He sticks out his hand, and I shake it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Harley.”
“Well, this is all of you guys. I’m going to work, now. Don’t make too much noise!” Harley yells at the guys. He flashes me a quick smile, and then leaves.
I walk into the lounge, and I notice the pictures of Kai, Harley and different people. They are carefully arranged on the ledge of the fireplace and the two display cabinets. All the people in the pictures are smiling happily, and I remember D.O’s chat with me.
“Who’s this?!” A loud voice yelled.
“Is she lost?” A softer voice follows.
I look at the boys on the couch, and realize how handsome they all are.
“I-I’m TJ.” I mumble.
“This is TJ. Kai’s girlfriend!” Chen says. Everyone erupts into loud yelling, and a really tall guy with ears sticking out from his hat jumps up and gets a little too close to me.
“I’m Chanyeol. I did not expect Kai to actually snag such a pretty girl, but I guess you look at personality and not looks.” A shorter guy bursts out laughing.
“That’s mean, Chanyeol!” Another guy laughs. They all introduce themselves to me, but there are so many names that I can’t keep up, and just give up trying to put a name to a face.
“Ok, ok! Let’s get down to work!” D.O yells. Everyone cheers excitedly, and we start setting up.

The plan would be a series of pranks that is pulled on Kai. No one has spoken to him all day, and I had to turn off my phone and hide it to stop myself texting him. Just as we finish setting up the last prank, Sehun runs into the house from guard duty.
“HE’S HERE! PLACES!!!” We all sprint up the stairs and into Kai’s room, where we hide in various places. I open the closet and just as I close the door, it opens again and Luhan stares at me. He shrugs and squeezes himself in next to me.
“Sorry. Everywhere else is taken.” He whispers.
“It’s ok. I don’t mind.” The closet is a lot smaller than it looked on the outside, especially with all of Kai’s clothes in here. The railing at the top also makes it more difficult to stand. Luhan wriggle around, and once he’s slightly more comfortable, I realize I have my face pressed to his chest, so I swivel my head and end up with my ear pressed to his chest instead.
The whole house has fallen into silence, and all I can hear is Luhan’s racing heart. I put it down to excitement, but his heart doesn’t slow down the whole time we stand in the closet. Downstairs, we hear Kai tripping over the discrete pranks we had set up, and I hope he’s walked into the flour prank. Suddenly, I feel Luhan’s hand move to my waist, and he hold me still.
“You’re moving a lot.” He mutters.
“Sorry.” I mumble. I didn’t realize I had been fidgeting. I guess being so close to a guy that isn’t Kai or my dad makes me uncomfortable. But now that I think about it, am I really feeling so uncomfortable? I feel my face going red, and my inner voice chides me instantly.

You have a boyfriend you stupid. What do you think you’re doing, being so comfortable around another guy? And this other guy is his friend!

It’s right. I pray that Kai comes in soon, because it disgruntles me how comfortable I’m being with Luhan. His heart keeps beating quickly, and I hate myself for the fact that I find it comforting.

There’s a shuffling in the corridor, and Luhan’s heart starts going faster. Of course his heart is beating fast because he’s excited. Why else would it beat fast? I hear the door opening, and the switch is flipped. Luhan mutters under his breath
“1…2…GO!” We burst out of the closet and everyone else jumps out from their hiding place yelling
“SURPRISE!!” at Kai.
The look of complete and utter surprise on Kai’s face is an amazing feeling, and I feel so happy that I could make such a precious memory with him. Although he IS covered in flour and water and has silly string around the lower half of his body, he still laughs and noogies Chen, who is the closest one to him.
“I thought you assholes had forgotten! No one was answering my texts OR my calls!”
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” We all yell. Everyone collects their presents, and I grab the cake we had prepared.
I kiss Kai on the cheek, and he grins at me, his eyes sparkling.
I light the candles on his cake, and we take pictures as he blows them out.


After the party, my mum comes to pick me up. I wave goodbye to the guys, and Kai walks me to the door.
“Thanks so much for coming, TJ. Thank you for the watch and thank you for celebrating my birthday with me.” He says as he hugs me tightly.
“It’s ok. I’m so happy we did this.” I tell him. He releases me, and pecks me on the lips before I walk out to my mum’s car.
“How was the party, TJ?”
“Really good! We surprised him, to say the least.”
“Oh that sounds fun!”
“Did you finalize your trip?”
“Yes, I did. Your father and I are going to Hong Kong for three weeks. Our flight is this Wednesday.”
“Wednesday is in three days!”
“I know, honey. But we did get a longer period off compared to other times.”
The rest of the car ride is spent in silence.
I think back on what I did today, and it bothers me that all I can think about is Luhan’s strong, reassuring heart beat.

Notes