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1.
“No.”
Kitty folded her arms. “Why not?” she said in a posh, ridiculous, most British accent she can muster.
Minho snorted. “First of all, I don’t sound like that.”
“I dOn’t sOUnd—”
“Second, the Starfield Library is gonna be a huge disappointment. I understand that Instagram makes it all glamorous and special, but you’re going to spend 5 minutes taking pictures and that will be it.”
“Who cares? I promised Lara Jean, I have to go.”
Minho rolled his eyes. As of late, she found this endearing; right now, not the case. “Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Fine.”
That was the conversation Kitty Song Covey now regretted. Because Minho was right, and he knew he was right judging by the smirk he kept shooting at her.
Ever since coming back to KISS, Minho seemed determined to complete her “Seoul Tour Dojangggaegi” as he called it, which he explained that it roughly meant doing all the must-do stuff in Seoul. Kitty thought she did almost everything she could experience in Seoul for the past year, combined with the summer trip she took years ago with her family. It turned out there was much more to do, especially with the seasonal changes.
But there was one place he didn’t bring her to, and she was determined to show that the trip was worth it. Except, well, she was losing.
She took pictures from the Starfield Library (which was hell to find in the first place in the Coex building) in every angle she can think of, face-timed Lara Jean, took pictures for the visitors coming by, and only 30 minutes have passed.
Minho’s glowing face when she returned after taking a photo for a tourist didn’t help her mood.
“And this,” he announced, “is why you should let me plan the dates.”
“I’m good with ideas. Great, even!” Sometimes, Kitty wished her boyfriend wasn’t so taller than her. It made it harder to prove a point, looking up. She couldn’t wear boots every day. She dabbed an accusatory finger in his chest. “You merely have an unfair advantage of homeground. Back in Portland, I am fully capable of planning a perfectly, well timed date.”
Minho smoothly grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together. With his other hand, he lit up his phone screen. “Luckily for us, I used the unfair advantage.”
Kitty squinted at the screen. “Aquarium? You got tickets to the aquarium?”
“Been a while since I've been there, but it’s here, in the building.”
She made a face. “Fine. You win this time.”
Minho laughed, lifted her hand to his lips and pressed it. “This isn’t a game, Covey. It’s a date.”
“Well, you made it sound like a challenge.”
“I was just messing with you. I’m sorry. Let’s go have fun?”
“I’m still mad at you.”
Minho gently lifted her chin so she could glare into his eyes. “Okay, confession: I was going to bring you here because I know how much you wanted to come.”
Kitty felt her eyes widen. “Oh, you traitor.”
“Come on, Covey” he said, grinning, “I was your photographer for the past 30 minutes. I was a good one. I cheered you on.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that you tricked me!”
“Won’t be the last time.” He leaned forward, breath tickling her lips. “Now pretty please, would you forgive your boyfriend and have fun with him?”
Minho somehow always seemed to know the effect he had on her, and it delighted him, and he used it. Kitty, however, knew two could play the game. She grinned, let go of his hand and stepped back.
“I’ll kiss you,” she said, “ only after I have the absolutely best time at the aquarium.”
Minho groaned. “You menace.”
“Next time, think before you even try to mess with me.”
He shook his head, arms crossed; he was feigning annoyance. She knew because the corners of his lips were turned upward.
“진짜 내가 너 때문에 미치겠다.”
Kitty blinked.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He laced their fingers together again. “Let me go get the kiss I will deserve.”
Kitty did kiss him, at the end; after all, the affection clearly went both ways.
2.
“Two parts in your Korean lessons,” Minho announced. “First, the alphabet—Hangul. It’s actually one of the easiest letters to exist, so you’ll be stumbling through the words with no problem in a few weeks.”
“I already know a lot of them. I’m guessing the second part’s the hard one.” Kitty brandished her pen like a sword and almost knocked over her mug of coffee. “Bring it on.”
“Not too hard—but it will be, eventually. I’ll be teaching you the language, mostly words and phrases as a start.”
“I have the basics. Annyeong hasaeyo, Kamsa hapnida—”
“And that,” he interrupted, “is why you need lessons.”
“The lady at the counter clearly didn’t mind my Korean when she took my order.”
“Yes. Because she’s nice. Doesn’t mean you were correct. You pronounce them as though they’re two separate words. It’s not. Make it smooth and go at once.”
Kitty slowly let out a breath.
“Kamsahapnida.”
“Much better. The intonation, however...”
Minho, when teaching Korean, turned into a serious teacher rather than a sweet, charming boyfriend he turned out to be. Kitty was glad; she wanted to learn Korean, and she wanted to be fluent in it, fast, so she would be able to communicate with her Korean side of the family. And Minho was a good teacher.
Except for a few unwitting distractions.
Kitty stared at the hair strand fallen across his eyes. It added an elegant detail to his face. The sunlight through the window of the coffee shop sharpened his angles. She wondered if he purposefully let the strand stay that way every morning; considering the amount of time he spent in the bathroom, he probably did.
“Covey, are you listening?”
Kitty blinked. “Yup. Of course.”
Minho’s smirk told her he didn’t buy a single word. “Don’t blame you when you’re dating the hottest guy at school.”
If it was in the past, she’d have rolled her eyes. If it was when she started to fall for him, she’d have gotten flustered. Now she knew better. She drew herself even closer and looked directly in his eyes.
“The hottest guy in school is willingly dating me, so what does that make me then, hmm?”
The faintest blush crept along his cheeks. Kitty felt victory dance in her heart.
“You’re deflecting. This is supposed to be your Korean lesson.”
“And I’ve progressed splendidly, thank you very much.”
“Okay, then.” Minho wrote something in Korean and pushed it toward her. “Try reading this.”
Kitty narrowed her eyes. It was short, a simple word, it couldn’t be too hard. “K…is it Kitty?”
“Don’t jump into conclusions.”
“It’s a reasonable inference.”
“It’s not. Go on.”
“K…ah…bee…E. Kabee.” She frowned. “Covey?”
“Is that a question or an answer?”
“Covey. But it doesn’t exactly sound like Covey. It’s like, kaa-bee.”
“True. I don’t think the exact spelling for the sound of it exists in Korean, so I just wrote the closest approximation.”
“How do you write yours?”
“You mean my name?”
“Yeah.”
Minho’s smile was slow but wicked. “Ah, that sounds like good practice, doesn’t it?”
“You’re enjoying this,” Kitty muttered. But she furrowed her brows as she concentrated. Korean surnames came first, so Moon first…
It took several minutes and a bit of googling of the Korean alphabet and newly bitten lower lips for her to complete and consistent refusal for help, but she did it. “There!” She looked up, beaming, to find Minho’s gaze meet her, unexpectedly soft.
“사람이 이렇게 귀여워도 되나?”
Kitty glared at him. “It was some off-hand, rude comment about how my Korean sucks, wasn’t it?”
“Nope.”
“Then what was it?”
He gave her a mock pat on her head.
“Ah, but that would be telling, Covey. Better study to understand what I’m saying.”
“I hate you.”
“No,” Minho seemed a bit too happy in her opinion. “You don’t.”
3.
Their first big fight, Kitty cried in her dorms for two hours.
For an additional one hour, she curled up in her bed, feeling dreadfully sorry for herself.
It was kinda, sorta, her fault too, she guessed, but she was only looking out for him. She knew something was bothering Minho, though he tried to hide it. Kitty became too good at reading beyond his mask.
They were studying in the library together for finals, and he left to get some coffee for them. He also left his phone behind, and Kitty didn’t mean to snoop, she really didn’t. His phone was on the desk in her peripheral, his notification chimed, and her eyes were just drawn to the lights, and read the angry message his father had sent.
When confronted, Minho seemed pissed.
“It’s none of your business, Covey.”
“I care about you!”
“This doesn’t make it your business! I can handle myself.”
“I know you can, but I want to help.”
“I don’t want your help, Covey!”
He must’ve noticed her stricken expression. “You had no right to go through my texts without my permission, whether you’re my girlfriend or not.”
“I didn’t go through them, it was an accident! Also, how was I supposed to know what’s bothering you when you won’t tell me?”
“Maybe learn to mind your own business for once!” He snapped. With that, he shouldered his bag and stormed out of the library, leaving two steaming coffee cups behind.
Kitty refused to answer Q’s calls and texts asking her why Minho returned to his dorms when he was supposed to be studying with her. She’d never seen him this angry since her confrontation about Stella.
“Go away,” she muttered on her bed when she heard the door open.
“Just came by to bring you this.” Kitty raised her head to see Q with a mug in his hands.
“Thanks” she muttered. “Though I don’t feel like drinking anything.”
“It’ll calm you down.” He placed the cup beside her bed.
The steaming tea only reminded her of the coffee Minho got her, now abandoned, and brought fresh tears to her eyes.
“Hey,” Q patted her on the shoulders. “You guys argue all the time. It’s no big deal.”
They fought all the time, sure. Playful jabs and arguments, words meant to annoy one another, but never to hurt.
“I feel terrible,” she said.
“I know. You look terrible.”
“Oh, shut up,” she muttered. She reached out to take a sip of the tea. “Thank you.”
“Want company?”
She shook her head.
“Thanks, but… I think I want to be alone.”
Q left, leaving Kitty alone with her thoughts, as per request. She turned her phone around and around in her hand, half wanting to call him, half wishing he would call her, another entirely different self wanting to throw the phone across the room.
It sucked that she lied to Q; she didn’t want to be alone. But the only company she wanted was the one who probably didn’t want to see her at the moment.
The thought hurt. The thought of Minho not wanting to see her... Not wanting her. It hurt her more than it should’ve.
Kitty needed—no, she wanted to apologize. She hurt him in a way she swore she wouldn’t, she swore to be there for him and to help him in ways he helped her, and she did the exact opposite. She wanted to tell him she was sorry.
Her body moved before she finished her thoughts. She all but ran out of her room, wrenching the door open only to find Minho’s hand frozen in a position of knock.
“Oh. Hi.”
Minho’s hand slowly dropped. “Hi.”
For a moment, they stared at each other. Kitty didn’t know what to do with her hands, so her mouth spilled first.
“Listen, Minho, I, I just wanted—I couldn’t bear to think—I—” She was astonished to find her throat close up. Minho’s arms immediately opened, and he pulled, or she went, she didn’t know; it was both of them. She cried as he hugged her, pressed against his chest, his arms guiding her to the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
“Kitty—”
“No, I really am. I shouldn’t have done that, I just wanted to help, and somehow I just end up hurting everyone”
“Hey, hey, hey. Look at me.” Kitty sniffed and let his hand lift her face. “You wouldn’t be Kitty Song Covey if you didn’t wreak havoc in every path you go. I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that.” He stroked her hair. “I just didn’t want you to get worried or worked up about this, with finals coming up and everything. I knew you’d want to help, and I didn’t want to bother you.”
“You could never bother me. I want to help you.”
“I know. I acted stupid.”
“Still. I’m sorry.”
“Kitty.”
“Hmm?”
He sighed. “내가 또 진짜 무슨 멍청한 짓을 해도, 떠나지 말아줘.”
Kitty sniffed. “What was that?”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I am sorry, though.”
“It’s okay.” He pressed his lips to her head. “So, we’re good?”
“Yeah.” She nodded against his chest, his heartbeat against her cheek. ”We’re good.”
+1
“I must say Covey,” Minho said as he chewed. “I’m quite impressed.”
Kitty grinned.
Planning the Han River date was easier said than done. Determined to plan things down to every minute detail, she ran the simulation inside her head at least a dozen times and ran through with Q at least 6 times. Picnic blanket? Check. Food Delivery? Check. Was the food good enough? Check. Was it available on their date? Check. Dessert? Check. Perfect spot with the river view and the eventual sunset? Check. The weather? Double, triple check.
She ordered their main food (Korean Chicken) but made and packed the desserts herself; with the help of her friends and Lara Jean’s facetime, she managed to bake cookies that even her sister would be impressed with. Minho now nibbled on the said cookie, expression thoughtful.
“How did you do this? The crisp at the corners and the softness in the insides.”
“Lara Jean.” She bit the cookie herself, enjoying the view. The sunset painted Minho’s face in shades of orange and red, complementing the orange shirt he wore.
“Yes, I remember you said she loved to bake. Didn’t realize she was this good.”
“Oh yeah, she’s obsessed with making the ‘perfect cookies’ or whatever she used to call it, she was on a mission one particular period of her life and managed to find the golden recipe. Mine’s probably nothing compared to hers.”
“Trust me, Covey.” Kitty was not getting used to Minho’s burning gaze directed toward her, unshielded and unguarded, any time soon. Not even after months. Perhaps never. “I adore your chocolate chip cookies.”
She scoffed. “You’re only saying that because you never tried my sister’s. You really should come by ours during the vacation and try them.”
She froze as she saw Minho’s hands still on the cookies and realization of what she just said hit her. Their gazes met and held.
“Really?” he said quietly.
“Yeah, I mean, I would love it if you do come and visit, to meet my sisters and my dad and Trina, but like, if you’re feeling too… I don’t know, pressured or anything, I don’t want to force you—”
“Relax, Covey.” Minho’s smile was small but teasing. “You went around the world with my dad and my brother last summer; visiting your home in Portland seems to pale in comparison.”
Kitty couldn’t stop her face from breaking into a smile. “Is that a yes?”
In response, Minho reached over, cupping her face in his hand and kissed her. Cool winds on their flushed cheeks, sweetness on their tongues, air brimming with nervous, yet excited prospective for their future.
“That is a yes,” he murmured against her cheek. “사랑해.”
She sighed. “I love you, too.”
Minho’s breath hitches. “What?”
Kitty’s eyes found Minho’s, wide and alarmed and filled with disbelief. “That was I love you, wasn’t it?”
“I…,” he cleared his throat. “Yes. It was. Since when did you become good at Korean?”
“Since I had a really good teacher.”
“Hmm. Guess from now on, if I want to say something that I don’t want you to understand, I should employ more difficult words and speak faster.”
“Hey, that’s not fair.”
“It’s blatantly an effective motivator for you.”
“It’s still not fair.” She bit her lip. “Say it again.”
He gave her the smirk she had once found annoying.
“사랑해,” he whispered. “I fell in love with you, Kitty, a lot, and I love you. I’ll say it to you as long as you want me to, in either language. I don’t care. Just say it back.”
Kitty’s heart was racing, her control was slipping, she didn’t think she could say anything even in English. But Minho’s hand clutching hers grounded her, more than enough for her to shape the words for the first time in her life.
“사랑해.”