Second Chances!!

CHAPTER 2: A party, the precursor

"Oh hell no." He whispered to the empty walls as he stared at his phone screen in a trance. Min Ho had been ignoring Kitty's calls for two weeks now, ever since the incredibly awkward and horrifying flight home. Reluctantly, Min Ho sighed and pressed the button to answer.

Immediately he was met with, "MIN HO HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME FOR TWO WHOLE WEEKS..." She slowed down. "I thought we were friends now." She said quietly.

Min Ho let guilt wash over him for two seconds. "I didn't ignore you," Min Ho said calmly, "I commented on Instagram." He was getting over her, he told himself. Don't go falling harder.

"Doesn't count." She responded huffing. "I know it was weird with-"

"Can we just pretend it never happened?" Min Ho interrupted weary. This was the whole reason he hadn't called her back in so long. He wanted to avoid this exact conversation. "I'm not into you like that anymore, it's fine and it's behind us." He could just see Q in his head yelling at him for lying to Kitty.

"Oh. Oh yeah. That's fine." She rambled. "I'm glad it's all good and yeah okay that's perfect-"

"So. what's been going on with you?" He asked before she went on forever.

"I'm visiting Lara Jean!" She exclaimed, all smiles. "Wait actually let me show you, can you facetime?"

"Yeah I guess." Min Ho said, staring down at his disheveled appearance. "But my camera is off."

Soon, Kitty was showing him the New York skyline, and then Min Ho was talking to Lara Jean, and all of sudden Yuri, Dae, and Q were added to the call. Before he knew it, Min Ho was happy again, all of his friends' voices overlapping in his ears. Now this, he thought, was the happy Min Ho.

Min Ho fluffed the pillows again. Obviously, his father's house was sparkling clean but that didn't stop Min Ho from pacing around the house and inspecting everything while he waited for Q. 2 more hours, he told himself.

Suddenly a piercing ring cut through the house's sound system and Siri was saying, "Call from Ara Kim." How, his phone had connected to the house's bluetooth, Min Ho had no clue. Ara was Min Ho's best friend. Practically his older sister, and well, his real-life cousin. The only problem? She disappeared so often, he heard more about her than from her. Therefore, in the rare event she calls, Min Ho runs. And run he did, up the stairs to his bedroom and to the bed.

"Ara!"

"It's actually Kaia now."

"It's always Ara for me. You change your name thrice a week."

"I know!" She laughs. "It's fun."

"So where are you now?" Min Ho asked amusedly. He knew she wouldn't say the truth, and she knew that he knew. But they both loved the tales she spun.

"Oh somewhere in Cambodia, I'm not quite sure. I was entranced by this girl who had the longest hair. And when I followed her, I ended up here, a hut in the middle of nowhere."

"And the girl?"

"A ghost!"

"Oh?"

"Yup." She laughed again. "Now, though, I took a flight over to New York." Her voice took a more serious tone. "I miss you, wanna see me again?"

"You're joking." The thing about Ara Kim is that there was no thing. No one knew anything about her and she was impossible to trace. A sign of emotion was enough to tell Min Ho that something was up. "New York?" He thought about Q that was coming over. "Yeah, but I'm bringing a friend."

"Good." She sounded happy again, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "Because I'm bringing the party."

"Q!" Min Ho yelled, his heart bursting. He ran and gave Q the biggest hug while his friend laughed.

"I've never seen you this excited to see me!"

"Living in a house alone for two weeks does that to you." Min Ho tried to be sarcastic but he couldn't help but let some bitterness through.

Q just hugged him tighter. "I know." He muttered.

Before they knew it, Q was filled on the New York trip and Min Ho was cooking dinner. "I'm down." Q said moping. "I need to get over Flo."

Min Ho spun around dramatically. "Get over? But that means you-"

"Dumped him...yeah." And then there were tears streaming down Q's face, and Min Ho was digging out chocolate and tissues, and they were calling...Kitty.

As Min Ho held a sobbing Q, Kitty comforted him by regaling them with, at first, tales of how she would disembody Florian and ruin him for breaking Q's heart. But when he only sobbed harder at that, Kitty switched tactics and instead told them about all the weird things she saw in New York. Soon, Q was only merely hiccuping.

"Oh really?" Min Ho asked Kitty, surprised when she told him that she saw Zendaya walking out of an ice cream store.

"IT. WAS. WILD." She squealed, her hands flailing around and all. "Best part is that she waved back at me."

"Because you were jumping up and down screaming her name." Lara Jean said laughing from the background. A hand, that Min Ho assumed was her's, reached down and ruffled Kitty's hair.

"Lara." Kitty groaned, reaching away. "Are you feeling better Q?"

Q nodded, eating a spoon of ice cream. "Thank you." He said pouting. "You guys are the best." His eyes filled with tears again. Oh my.

"Okay!" Min Ho said, summoning his last remaining bit of energy. He jumped from the couch, taking the phone with him. "Thanks Kitty, but we should put Q to bed now."

"Yeah." She agreed, smiling. "Tell him I said goodnight."

"Goodnight!" Echoed Q from the couch.

"Q, go to my bedroom real quick, I'll be there in a minute." Min Ho told him as Q reluctantly dug himself out from a pile of blankets. When he disappeared up the stairs, Min Ho looked back at a confused Kitty. "Hey, thanks for tonight."

"Of course." She said, "I'll always be there for Q" She stopped pointedly. "And you too."

He smiled softly. "I know. But also we're flying to NYC tomorrow to see my cousin. She's throwing a party and I was wondering if you could make it...for Q of course. He's going through it right now with Florian and seeing you would make him feel a lot better." Kitty looked up at Lara Jean who must've nodded since she looked back to Min Ho beaming.

"Yes! But also, when are you coming to New York? It's a 5 hour and some flight plus the TSA and all that. Did you even book a flight?"

Min Ho just laughed in response. "Don't worry. I have a private jet."  

Please tell me the characters aren't OOC 😭 But seriously, critique is much appreciated!

Also I have no clue what my updating schedule is bound to look like but considering summer break it coming up I think I'll have more time on my hands! Also, I really do want to finish this story, so I'm going to work hard to make sure that happens. 

Thanks, Kaav