Short Stories-Kai Ships Only! Volume 3

🔸️Yeonkai- Little Things

Wake up. Go to work. Debate on quitting. Don't quit. Go home. Watch TV. Go to sleep. Do it all over again. A boring life. One Kai hated as he woke up to his 7am alarm.

Like clock work, Kai went back to sleep only to be rudely woken up again by his 2nd alarm. He pulled himself to his feet. Each groggy step towards the bathroom made him dread his upcoming day a little bit more. He felt lifeless as he brushed his teeth. After spitting out his mouthwash, he took a hard look at himself in the mirror. His eyebags were dark. His eyelids struggled to stay open. A quick face wash did wonders on brightening his skin. That small thing made his confidence go up.

The weather was cloudy outside. He took a moment to appreciate it. The moment was over when several people passed him on the street. Headphones went in and he followed them. He instantly became one of many in the millions on their way to the subway station. Each had a life. Each with a story to tell. He could've passed an heir to a major credit card company and wouldn't have known nor would he have cared.

Kai was sure his story was the dullest when he grabbed onto his usual handle in the train car. For no reason, his eyes darted towards the strangers around him to imagine what their backstory would be like.

There was an older, heavy set woman talking loudly on the phone next to him. He noticed her purse was designer but her shoes were cheap looking. He wondered if the purse was a gift or a poor purchase decision. Maybe the shoes were from her childhood and held sentimental value rather than economic. Her graying brown hair was neatly in a bun. She seemed to be yelling at a man. Based off of what little he heard, he guessed a boyfriend or an ex.

Amused by his little game, he decided to move onto someone else. Sitting down diagonally across from him was a guy smiling at his phone. He had a large pair of headphones wrapped around his neck. His large eyes were a deep shade of chestnut, hidden behind a dorky pair of black glasses. The stranger's hair was an auburn fire that made his eyes spark to life. He looked a few years older.

Kai wondered if he was in college. There wasn't a backpack near him so perhaps he wasn't. Knowing nothing else about him, he guessed this guy was rich. His clothes looked like the type you found walking down a runway in New York City. Maybe it wasn't his clothes. Maybe it was just him who looked expensive. He amused himself by thinking the stranger was a C-list actor who modeled on the side. Imagining him as a waiter in a drama made him smile. His smile quickly disappeared when the guy noticed him staring like a creep. Feeling horribly awkward about it, Kai glued himself to his phone for the rest of the ride.

The routine fell back into place the moment he stepped onto the platform. There was always one of three people behind the counter at his usual coffee shop. Today, it was some guy named "Taehyun". The employee greeted him with a smile and a "hey! Nice to see you again! The usual?" To which Kai would reply "yes" while making a stupid joke. His coffee was always perfect. They knew him well enough by now to know exactly how he liked it. One perfect beverage was all he needed to start the short walk to his job as a receptionist to a luxury hotel.

Answering phones and having rich people treat him like dirt killed him inside. He couldn't stop staring at the clock. It was all for a paycheck that wouldn't even cover the bill for an emerald hairpin a woman accused the staff of stealing. Like usual when customers accused the staff of stealing, she left it in her room. Was there an apology to anyone from her making a scene? No. Not even a half-assed "I'm sorry" for threatening to get everyone fired for her mistake. The saddest part was he didn't expect there to be one. On the rare occasion he did get an apology, it became another tiny thing that made his day.

The best part of his day was coming up. Watching TV with some good food. He just had to wait the subway ride out first. Kai was so invested in his phone that he didn't notice the redhead repeatedly glancing in his direction.

Yeonjun kept looking to see if that was the guy who smiled at him this morning.

Yesterday was awful. He moved to a new city. No one would help him find anything and no one, besides a Russian man with very broken english, bothered to explain the train system. Because of that, he missed his first job interview when he accidentally took the train heading in the opposite direction.

This morning, seeing a cute blonde smiling at him, made him feel good inside. That minor thing brought his confidence up to nail his second job interview. After the interview, he went on four more. Three out of five gave him offers on the spot. He said he would get back to all of them by Monday.

His mood was so elated, he decided to get a treat on the way home. There was a little coffee shop that smelled heavenly. Some guy named "Taehyun" was behind the counter. He took a moment to browse the menu. After a minute, he figured out what he wanted. "Can I get an iced americano with light dark chocolate and light cream? Can I also get a blueberry lemon muffin? Those look good."

"They're pretty good or at least that's what people have told us. I've never tried one myself. This one customer orders one every morning with a vanilla latte. He swears they make his day."

Another employee at the end of the counter joked "yeah, you wish you were that muffin don't you?"

Yeonjun politely grinned when Taehyun gave that guy a death stare. To avoid the tension, he took a bite and walked to the end of the counter. He determined it was pretty good. The muffin was gone by the time his coffee arrived.

Seeing the train platform again made him nervous. He just wanted to go home and take a bath. Getting on the wrong train could delay that by hours. After much debate on which train was correct, he finally chose. When he saw the blonde, he knew he took the right one. He wasn't sure if that was the same guy from this morning but he had also never seen another face like his.

Deciding to use the "helpless" card, he made his way over. His hand grabbed onto nearest handle as he stood closely to his little blonde boost of confidence. "Hey um. Can you help me out? I just moved here and I want to know if I'm going in the direction towards my house."

Kai removed his headphones. He instantly recognized the auburn beauty from this morning. "Sure. Where were you trying to go?"

"East to Faribault Ave."

"You're going the right way. Your stop is one after mine." Kai looked down to see the brand of coffee in that guy's hand. He pointed to it and said "I love that place. I go there every morning."

"It's pretty good. It's not as good as the stuff in Seattle but it'll do. What do you order?"

"A vanilla latte and a blueberry lemon muffin."

"Ah. You're who they were talking about."

"What?"

Yeonjun quietly laughed when he saw the blonde's eyebrow raise. "I think the cashier has a crush on you."

Kai didn't believe that for a second. He always assumed Taehyun and Soobin were dating. "Why do you say that?"

"One of the other ones made a joke about him wanting to be your muffin."

"Was he taller than you or shorter?"

"Shorter I think."

"That's Beomgyu. He plays around a lot. There's no way he was serious!"

"I don't blame him if he is. You are attractive."

Kai smiled at the ground and then looked up to meet the stranger's eyes. "Thanks. I'm Kai by the way."

"Yeonjun."

The train screeched as it came to a stop. "This is me. See you around?"

"I hope so."

It's the little things that get us through every mundane hour. Kai and Yeonjun just happened to be theirs. Maybe one morning, they'd run into each other again.