estrange ✶ huening kai

eight.

raising her fist to knock on the door of the nurse's office, sora found herself pausing before her knuckles could touch the wood.

her memory going back to the story she heard about the boy, the one who was like her, sora bit her lip in thought. i want to know more.

with a resolute nod, sora allowed her fist to knock gently, three times. "miss jung?"

"come in," she heard the nurse's warm voice announce, as she slowly pushed open the door.

"I came to return my emergency inhaler," sora smiled, though it was rather forced.

nodding in ackowledgement, miss jung offered her a sweet smile, "set it on my desk, please."

"uh.." her voice faltered a bit, as she was unsure if she could even ask the nurse to go more in detail about the boy; as, it wasn't exactly her story to tell. "do you think you could tell me more? about the- the, um, boy you told me about before?"

pressing her lips together, miss jung shook her head, "i'm sorry, sora. i can't go more in detail as that wouldn't be appropriate," she paused, watching as sora's face became crestfallen. it felt like her only hope for reassurance in herself had fallen flat. "but, i can give you someone to talk to if you truly wish to learn more."

quickly looking back up to meet her eyes, sora's wide, hopeful eyes only stared, urging the nurse to go on.

"his name is choi soobin. he's a senior of your's, and only graduated just last year," the nurse began writing on a small sheet of paper, "he should be coming back into town to visit within the next week. you should be able to find him at this library."

nodding, sora grabbed the note from her hands, "thank you, miss jung."

miss jung only smiled, though her next words were serious, "please be careful, sora."

finding her word choice a bit odd, sora only gave a timid nod, as well as a bow, before leaving the nurse's office without another word.

-

"happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! happy birthday, sora, happy birthday to you!"

the friends all cheered as she blew out the candles on her cupcake, jeongin and doyoung also reaching over to ruffle her hair.

"how does it feel to be five, sora? feels great, doesn't it?"

"you would know, wouldn't you, beomgyu," yedam chuckled, before turning back to sora, "happy birthday, friend."

she smiled, bowing slightly in the direction of her friends.

from the grill, taehyun waved, "happy birthday, sora! i grilled beef, your favorite."

"thanks, taehyun," she grinned, but it quickly fell as she turned away.

noticing her behavior, which seemed rather down despite it being her birthday, taehyun took note, then going back to cooking.

after fifteen minutes, he finally brought over the meat, setting it on the table between his friends.

"your rooftop is so nice, tae," kai complimented, four or five pieces of grilled pork in his mouth, "we should have gatherings here more often."

"hey, talk after you're done eating," taehyun chuckled, throwing a small piece of confetti at his friend.

kai sniggered, before looking over at sora. she picked at her food, only eating something every few minutes. "sora, i brought your gift."

looking up at the sound of his voice, her eyes widened, "no, no, it's okay. you didn't have to get me anything."

everyone started to bring out their own presents at the mention of gifts, sora's eyes managing to widen even more. next to her, taehyun held a small package in his hand, his excitement rising by the seconds.

"open mine first!" jeongin yelled, plopping the gift in front of her.

pretty soon, everyone's gifts to sora had been opened, besides yuna, kai and taehyun.

"here," yuna smiled, though it was quite forced, "happy birthday, sora."

"oh, it's lipstick?"

"i saw you liked my lip tint, so i thought maybe you'd want one of your own."

sora smiled in thanks, then looking at taehyun as he quickly handed her the present.

tearing a sliver of the wrapping paper off, sora's eyes immediately lit up, "no way!" she tore off the rest of the paper, her eyes shining as she stared at the new edition of her favorite manga that had been released a few weeks ago. "how'd you know i wanted this?"

"just my killer instincts," taehyun joked. but, in reality, he had remembered how sad she was when she announced that the bookstore had sold out. after school that day, he immediately went home to find it online.

looking down at the small book he held in his hand, kai disappointedly tucked it back into his bag, before letting a smile adorn his face once more.

"what about your gift, kai?" beomgyu asked, everyone then turning to him expectantly.

"oh, uh," he began pretending to look through his bag, "it looks like i forgot it. sorry, sora."

"what's that right there?" yedam pointed at the book that he could clearly see.

"uh- it's my homework," kai said, zipping up his backpack and dropping it back on the ground.

"it's okay, don't worry," sora reassured, "you didn't need to get me anything."

"i'll make it up to you," he smiled, staring into her eyes.

staring back, she could only nod as her heart beat in her ears.

"hey, what's this atmosphere?" doyoung laughed, looking between the two, who were surrounded with an aura of seriousness.

breaking eye contact, sora looked back at her food, beginning to eat at a normal pace again.

from beside her, taehyun stared as she began to act her usual self once more. though he didn't want to admit it, he knew why she seemed a bit more happy. and he hated that he wasn't the reason.

from across the table, yuna stared at kai. though she had hopes that he would like her back, she felt it all crumble while watching each and every interaction he had with sora. and she couldn't help but think that it was her fault.