Koon Chai Cafe

Chapter Twelve - Spilled Secrets

Kopter

It took me a few minutes to remember why I was cocooned in around twenty blankets, clutching a still sleeping Park close to my chest.

My eyes drifted up and down the peaceful Park. Unlike the last time I'd stayed the night, Park hadn't shifted away from me at all. His arms were crossed loosely across his stomach, hugging either side of his waist. I could feel the back of his knees curved around my own, fitting together like lax jigsaw pieces. He always reminded me of a bunny when he wasn't scowling, with his chubby cheeks and faint dimples. His hair was strewn across his face, wavy from his towel-drying the night before. I reached my hand over and carefully pushed back a piece of hair that was covering his eye so I could see the small freckle that I knew was behind it.

Just then, Park's eyelashes fluttered open and he turned his head to groggily stare back at me, eyes half open. For some reason, I couldn't break his stare. His eyes were so black, I could stare at them for years without ever realising any time had passed. Park looked back at me, his face a mixture of confusion and alarm. Just as his lips parted to say something, a loud CRASH came from behind me as his bedroom door swung open.

"Park, Mom says you gotta hurry or else breakfast will-" Sunny stopped dead in her tracks. I quickly turned to see Sunny, fully clothed in her school uniform, standing open-mouthed in the doorway.

Park hurriedly sat up beside me, coughing nervously and smoothing down his wild bed-head hair. His face was bright pink.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise..." Sunny turned to me, confused and bewildered, then exclaimed, "I had no idea you were gay as well!"

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "Gay too? What do you mean?" I asked, turning to a now crimson-faced Park. "Neither of us are gay..." My voice trailed off as I finally connected the dots.

Park was the gay one.

"I'm going to kill you Sunny," Park muttered under his breath, still loud enough for Sunny to hear from across the room.

"My bad!" She exclaimed nervously, hastily fumbling for the door behind her. "Breakfast's ready when you want it!"

The door slammed behind her, leaving Park and I alone again. I turned to look at him but he turned away; his face had faded from crimson to a ghostly pale white. He silently got out of bed and made his way to the closet, picking out and dusting off his school uniform. I racked my brain for something to say, anything at all, but before I could even muster up a 'Good Morning,' the door had slammed once again, leaving me alone in his bed.

---

Park hadn't uttered a word to me all morning. Breakfast had been unbearably awkward. Sunny spent the whole time staring at her cereal bowl, glancing occasionally between me and Park at opposite ends of the table, screwing up her face, and hitting herself softly on the side of her head with her fist in remorse. Mr. and Mrs. Park had been particularly chatty this morning, regaling everyone with their tales of phoning the electricity board. Luckily, neither of them noticed the tension in the room and their chatter did wonders for uplifting some of the awkwardness.

The walk down to the station was completely silent. The early morning New York air stung harsher than it did when I was laughing with Park. A few minutes later, Park was forced to sit beside me in the crowded car of the subway, but there was no sign of a crossword distraction. He looked straight ahead, eyes unblinking and transfixed on an ad for toothpaste. I discreetly scanned him up and down. His entire body was tense and rigid; his knuckles had turned white from gripping his bag strap so tightly.