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─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
The quiet of the house is sharply broken by the ringing of her phone. With an excited little noise, Kitty practically rolls off of the couch, answering the video call as she goes. “Hey you!”
“Hello.” Minho drawls easily, arching an eyebrow at the way she struggles to her feet, blanket tangled around her ankles, but thankfully he doesn’t say anything.
He looks like he’s still in bed, the shock of crisp hotel white blankets tangled up near his chin. He looks sleep soft and bare faced and Kitty wants to kiss him so bad it aches.
Finally, once she’s up and free from the nest she made of the couch, Kitty can breathe a sigh of accomplishment. Fighting the urge to take a screenshot of Minho’s sleepy face, she takes off towards the kitchen.
“So, where are you right now Mr. Rockstar?”
Frowning, he rolls his eyes. “You’re so funny, you should be a comedian.”
“Thank you, I’ll be here all week.” Kitty grimaces. “All month, actually. I’ll be here until September so, don’t miss any of my shows!” She finishes with false cheer.
“When have I ever.” Minho gives her a very flat look.
“You are my favorite heckler.”
“At least I’m your favorite.”
“You didn’t answer my question, Rockstar.”
Minho hums in amusement. No matter how many times he tells her that he’s not the one performing, Kitty still loves to tease him about it. I’m just following my family around like a lost puppy trying to gain their attention, he had told her with acid in his voice earlier in the summer. He hasn’t brought it up since.
“We’re in Bangkok for a bit.” The words rumble in his chest, groaning as he stretches, the camera shifting and giving Kitty a view of the cream ceiling. “You?”
“I’m in my kitchen. Which is a huge deal, since ten minutes ago I was rotting on the couch.”
Another hum, Minho returning into frame. “I’ll make sure to alert the media.”
“No cameras, please.”
“It's dinner time for you, no?”
“Yeah, except I don’t know what to eat.” Affecting a dramatic whine, she slumps across the island. “Help me, Minho, I’m going to starve. I’ll wither away and die. I’m home alone and there’s nothing in the house.”
“Maybe you should be an actor, jeez. Dramatic much?” Yes thank you, that’s what she was going for. “What do you have in your fridge?”
“Oh, well- hold on, I can just show you!” Kitty hums a tune to herself as she bops over to the fridge, the same song that’s been stuck in her head all day. She sends a glare down at her phone when she hears Minho chuckling under his breath. “Here, gaze upon the contents of my fridge and realize that I’m going to starve.”
“You’re not going to starve, Covey. Here- I’ll tell you what to make for yourself so you can live another day.”
“I wish you were here to do it for me.” She admits, a little too honest. “I miss your cooking.” Kitty sighs wistfully, leaning against the refrigerator door to gaze up at her ceiling.
Minho scoffs, but it’s all tangled together with a laugh so she counts it as a win. “Well, I wish you were here so neither of us would have to cook and we could get room service.”
Is this flirting? Are they flirting? Kitty listens diligently as she balances her phone and grabs whatever Minho points out as he squints at his screen. It feels like they’re flirting. Like they’re both aware of whatever is sitting between them but neither of them want to acknowledge it out loud.
She also wishes she was there with him, in Bangkok or Tokyo or Singapore. Next week they’ll be in Jakarta and Kitty yearns to be by his side and experience everything Minho is experiencing.
Unfortunately touring around Asia with a solo artist and his dad/manager isn’t as easy as Kitty thought it would be, and her dad had swiftly vetoed her impulsive idea. She loves her dad, he’s a wonderful and open minded man, but she supposes that letting his teenage daughter travel the world with people he doesn’t even know is a bit of a stretch.
So Kitty is here, in Portland, with all of her complicated feelings while Minho spends his summer on planes and in concert halls. At least he calls her regularly. Not every night, because they aren’t dating and he’s busy, but frequently enough that she looks forward to it.
It’s still early for him, sun streaming into the windows of his hotel room. He has a sound check later that she remembers him mentioning through text, probably when she’s sleeping, but for now he’s laying in bed still in his matching sleep set and leading her through the instructions of putting together a halfway decent dinner.
“I like this.” Kitty finds herself saying, clicking on the stove top because apparently she’s meant to stir fry some veggies that she almost forgot were in the fridge, which sucks because she didn’t really want to employ this much effort. But Minho says it’ll be better this way, so she’ll roll her eyes and trust him.
Minho hums, shifts in bed. Her phone is propped up on the counter, so she can see the way he ticks an eyebrow at her. “What, the pitiful banchan you’re making?”
“No- well, maybe. It seems familiar.”
“You tried it at school lunch and you liked it.” He informs her, casually. In the same way he bestows upon her most slips of facts that he’s learned. As if it’s easy for him to remember. As if all he has to do is hear or see it once and it’s stored in his memory bank forever.
Kitty tilts her head, accepting that he just knows this about her. “I meant- this. Like, hanging out, with you.”
“Oh.” The admission seems to catch Minho off guard. Enough so that he’s fully sitting up, the side of his face bathed in early afternoon sun. “I like it too.”
“Good.” Kitty chirps. “I’d have to reconsider this friendship if you didn’t.” It pains her, just a little bit, to say friendship. To curb the word relationship and shape it into something else before it tumbles from her mouth. But, Kitty supposes, all good romances start with friendship.
“I wouldn’t want that.” Minho laughs. A real, full laugh, camera swinging as he gets out of bed.
He’s going to finally get ready for the day, Kitty knows because it’s a routine by now. Because this happens every time Minho calls before his afternoon. He isn’t one to laze in bed often, but she suspects he indulges himself whenever they’re on call.
Now that he’s had his fill of doing absolutely nothing, he’s going to leave his phone in the bed while he gets dressed, telling Kitty no free shows before he’s flipping it screen down.
It’s good, she thinks, plating up her cobbled together banchan and starting up the rest of her dinner. She looks forward to the stupid domesticity that they’ve managed to cultivate this summer.
Kitty is going to eat her food while he brings her into the bathroom to watch each step of his skin care routine, as he tells her about the day ahead of him, biting his tongue whenever anything about his dad comes up. It’s a routine, and she revels in it.
Maybe she’ll tell him about the movie she’s going to see tomorrow with some of her old school friends, maybe she’ll convince him that he has to watch it too so they have more to talk about on their next call.
“Please tell me you have chopsticks.” Minho says once everything is cooked and Kitty is opening up the utensil drawer. His hands pause in applying his face serum.
Kitty looks into the drawer, at all of the forks and spoons and knives. Reaching in, she grabs two chopsticks and wordlessly holds them up for Minho’s review. The silence stretches on, before he’s sighing so loud it crackles through the speaker.
“Those don’t even match, Covey.”
“They’re the only clean ones!”
“That is painful.”
She sticks her tongue out at him, and just to spite him she makes sure to set up the phone perfectly so he can watch her eat with the mismatched chopsticks. Kitty even uses them to gesticulate and point, which just makes Minho sigh even more, so it feels like a win.
According to Minho, being annoying is her most endearing quality.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
The next time they call, Minho is waiting to get on his dad’s private jet. That’s still something she has to get used to, the fact that he’s been almost exclusively traveling privately the entire summer, and he’s so comfortable with it.
Maybe the back and forth from KISS, packed away in a plane filled with other people, was a downgrade for him every time. They truly are from entirely different worlds.
From what Kitty can see on her screen, he’s slumped into himself with the hood of his jacket pulled up and framing his face. Minho looks tired and barefaced of even the most sheer makeup.
Kitty kind of loves him like this. Stripped down to his most raw form, just for her and no one else.
It’s the middle of the day for her, though it being a weekend means she’s just now getting ready for the rest of the day ahead of her. The time difference means that it’s well past midnight for Minho, which is probably why he looks as if he’s minutes away from falling asleep in his chair.
“So, how’s your summer of getting back in touch with your playboy roots?” She asks, phone propped up haphazardly on the sink counter as she does her best to curl her hair. It kills her a little bit to ask, but Kitty will always choose to be a good friend before any other feelings she may be harboring.
Minho scoffs, smile fighting to stretch across his face. “Really?”
“Hey, you were the one to say you were better off. Don’t deflect, mister.”
He hums. “Mm, it’s going alright. To be honest, I haven’t had the time to even attempt to flirt with anyone.”
“Aw,” Kitty draws the word out, pouting severely at her phone. “That’s so sad for you.”
Minho shrugs away her sarcasm, as if it truly doesn’t matter to him. “Tragic. How’s your summer going? Are you playing the field? Have you broken any hearts yet, Covey?”
The sudden line of questioning catches Kitty so off guard that she nearly burns her finger on the hot barrel of her curling iron. “Shit.” She immediately sticks the whole digit in her mouth, glaring at Minho and thankful that the heat didn’t do any real damage.
“Are you ok?” Minho shifts, eyes big and worried.
“I’m fine.” The skin around her knuckle is unblemished and only faintly pink, the sting of heat taking time to fade. “I’m not- there hasn’t been anyone’s heart for me to break, if you must know.”
“Oh, I must.” He answers, but he’s still staring as if he could physically crawl through the screen to check on Kitty himself.
Kitty huffs and rolls her eyes, but she holds her finger up to the camera, showing off the little spot that touched the hot metal before she was flinching away. It’s enough to ease the tension from his shoulders, and she considers it a small win.
“Well, since you’re so nosy-”
“I’m interested in your life.” Minho says easily, as if it’s not even a question.
“Someone asked me out on a date tonight.” The words rush out of her, and Kitty makes sure to place the curling iron far away from her before the rest of this conversation proceeds. Telling Minho makes her feel nervous.
It doesn’t help that he goes silent for one beat, two, dragging this out long enough that Kitty is about to fill the silence before- “That’s exciting.” He says, jaw working and eyes flicking away for a moment. “Where are they taking you?”
Kitty tries not to let the anxious fluttering in her stomach show on her face or in the tapping of nails on the sink counter. “I haven’t said yes.” She admits.
“Why not? Are they dreadfully boring?”
“No, she's not dreadfully boring.” Kitty drops her voice, trying to copy Minho’s accent. “I just…” She trails off, not sure if she wants to put this feeling into words. There's something going on between her and Minho and she doesn't really understand the rules yet.
How much does she want to tell him? How much can she? Does he really want to hear about it, or is he just being nice?
Minho hums again, he still can’t look at her for too long before he’s glancing away. “I think you should say yes. Who knows, you might have fun.”
“You’re encouraging me to date?” That feels like it’s against the rules, that is if Kitty knew what any of them were.
He shrugs, one shoulder jerking harshly. If Kitty didn’t know any better she’d swear he’s trying his best to hide his jealousy. “I’m encouraging you to try. The only person you’ve ever dated was Dae, and I love the guy, I really do, but you have got to expand your experiences.”
I want to, Kitty stops herself from saying. I want to expand my experiences to include you and only you and maybe a little more you. Instead, she bites her tongue and nods, trying her best to agree.
With that settled, Minho changes the subject with the same ease and precision he does most everything else.
Kitty continues getting ready for the day, unplugging the curling iron completely before any more accidents can happen, seamlessly switching between topics with Minho for the next twenty minutes as he continues to wait. Minho’s eyes have begun to droop, the hood of his jacket swallowing more of his face the longer they talk.
“Aren’t you bored?” She asks at one point, cleaning up after herself. Kitty might not be Margot levels of organized, but she takes pride in the fact that she is not and never will allow herself to be Lara Jean.
“I don’t think I could ever be bored with you.” Minho mumbles, words tripping into themselves before his eyes are widening and he’s sitting up from the slump he had fallen into. Kitty is expecting him to correct himself or say something caustic enough to hide his original statement.
Instead he just breathes in and shrugs. It makes Kitty flush hot, throat clicking dry suddenly.
“My incessant yapping is just that riveting, huh?” She once again tries to imitate his accent, not sure how else to navigate this new layer to their dynamic. Where Minho says sincere things and doesn’t take it back.
“Absolutely, you talk so fast sometimes that if I close my eyes for even a moment I might miss half of your conversation.” Minho settles back into his seat, eyes sparkling with amusement.
It makes Kitty smile, rolling her eyes fondly. This is when they’re at their best, she thinks. Some perfect blend of sweet and sour with each other. Kitty doesn’t think she’d like Minho half as much if he never had a bite to his tone, and she suspects that he feels the same.
They can be vulnerable, Kitty has learned this the hard way. She remembers standing in the rain, face pressed into the wet fabric of his shirt as she cried, as Minho held her close.
But Kitty has already had the sort of relationship that felt like cotton candy dreams and chocolate kisses. Dae was all sweet, nothing but sugar and sunshine once they skipped over the road bump of his betrayal. It was so good and Kitty felt so warm, but there was nothing to cut her teeth on.
Her crush on Yuri was nothing but sour candy. The sweet sugar coating dissolving away to reveal secret feelings and a stolen kiss and the cold shoulder of hurt underneath. They can be friends again, Kitty vows on it because she doesn’t want to lose Yuri forever. But she doesn’t think she can feel that way about Yuri ever again.
Minho is sugar and spice. Sarcastic, cutting banter where the sharp edges have been filed away. Just enough for Kitty to feel but not enough to hurt. Not anymore. She can dig her fingers into Minho and bare her teeth and Minho bares his teeth right back, seconds before they’re both collapsing into bright smiles and muffled laughter at each other.
“I really like you, Minho.” Kitty confesses quietly. She more than likes him, but she’s not brave enough to admit it.
He smiles, a soft sweet closed mouth type that thuds right into Kitty's heart. “Do you want to know something, Covey?”
“What?” Kitty feels a little breathless as she asks.
“I think you might be my favorite person on the planet. Not quite sure how it happened, but here we are.”
Kitty will be going on a date in just a few hours with someone who is not Minho, and suddenly it feels like the wrong choice. She fights the urge to grab her phone and tell him that he needs to cut his playboy summer short, she needs to see him now, maybe even kiss him silly.
He’s one of her favorite people too, can’t he see that?
She snorts. “Do you have a crush on me, Minho?”
“Maybe.”
The admission makes her blood fizzle.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
“Hi, my little Rockstar!” Kitty greets, slipping away from the excitable noises of her dad and Peter.
“Hello, Covey.” Minho replies, subdued, and Kitty’s smile immediately wavers at his tone. He doesn’t even argue about the rockstar thing, which in itself means something isn’t quite right.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just tired, it was a long day.” He deflects, and Kitty knows he’s deflecting because she knows him better than she ever wants to admit.
“You do sound tired, but you also sound like you’re upset about something and-”
“Kitty.” Hearing her name snaps her mouth closed. Minho has stopped walking, wherever he is, closing his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it, not right now. I just-” A sigh, rattling down the speaker. “I just want to hear about your day, yeah?”
“Yeah, yeah ok. I can do that.” If there’s one thing Kitty is very good at, beyond matching people together that are destined, it’s yapping. She wants to talk about why Minho looks so drained, why he’s outside and not in his hotel room.
But Minho had said he doesn’t want to talk about it, he just wants to hear her talk, and it makes her chest flutter, so she’ll respect the request and box away all of her pressing thoughts for later.
“Uhm- Peter and LJ are here and Peter thought it’d be a super awesome idea- his words, to drive out and hit the boardwalk, which I guess he was right about, since there’s a little carnival that popped up over the weekend. With games and rides farther away from the ocean and so much food. I think I’ve eaten my weight in fried dough, it’s so good. Lara Jean has been carrying around a huge stuffed alligator since Peter won it; I think he might be one of the only people I’ve ever seen win at ring toss. Now he and my dad are screwing around at that strength game with the big rubber mallet, and Trina said that it’d be best to leave them be so we were just going to get drinks. Oh! I got myself a teeny tiny little Badtz-Maru keychain! Isn’t it cute? It kinda reminds me of you, look at its little grumpy eyes! I was trying to get a Hello Kitty but then I saw this little guy and I had to get him for you.”
Minho makes a noise of some sort, something she doesn't have the time to decode before he's speaking. “For me?”
“Well, yeah! I have enough Hello Kitty merch, most of which has been gifted to me by the way, but then! I saw him and I knew you needed him. Look at him. You can clip him onto your backpack. I’ll bring my Hello Kitty keychain and we can match.”
That earns her a ghost of a smile. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, of course.” It’s not hard to think of Minho or to want to get things for Minho. She’s kind of always thinking about him, wondering what he’s doing or if he’d like some little trinket that caught her eye. “Hey, can you at least tell me if you’re ok? You don’t have to talk about it but-” She stops herself, chews on her bottom lip to keep herself from frowning or pouting.
Minho sighs, wipes a hand down his face. “I’m going to be alright. I’m just really angry right now and the only thing keeping me from ending up on international news, honestly, is hearing your voice, so. Yeah, yeah it’ll be ok.”
“Ok,” Kitty nods. “I don’t want to hang up on you in the middle of this, but Trina is looking for me and-”
“It’s ok, I can call you back later-”
“No no no, we’re not doing that. I’m going to put you in my pocket for now and you can listen to me talk about nonsense until you’re sick of it, and then you can hang up whenever you want. I won't be upset at all if you don't say goodbye, but I’m not going to hang up first.”
Pressing a palm over his eyes, breathing in through his nose, Minho nods. He's not smiling, not exactly, but the tiny angry lines around his mouth have smoothed out. Kitty considers it a win. “Yeah- yeah, thank you, Kitty.” He sounds relieved, and it almost breaks Kitty’s heart.
"Of course." There's really nothing for him to thank. She starts off towards Trina and Laura Jean, waving when her sister catches sight of her. "Where are you, anyway?"
“Hong Kong. We’re doing Macau after this, and then next week we’ll be somewhere in Taiwan.”
With a quick tap of her fingers, Kitty is frowning at her screen, and in turn Minho. “It’s like, five in the morning for you. Why are you awake, and why the hell are you wandering around outside?”
“Relax, I just-” A deep breath. “I needed some air. I’m at some green space close to the hotel, don’t worry, I can literally see it from where I’m sitting.”
Kitty does indeed worry, because it feels almost impossible not to. But she tries to swallow it back for his benefit, tucking her phone into her pocket. The day goes by quickly after that, filled with lunch and more games and even a go at the colorful tea cup ride. She checks her phone while standing in line and notices Minho had hung up at some point.
Before stepping into the little tea cup, Peter's hands already gripping the wheel in the middle, Kitty makes sure to text an unobtrusive heart to Minho. He sends one back, and finally Kitty's worry ebbs away.
Later, once her family outing is over and done with and she can crawl into her bed in her favorite pajamas, Kitty calls him back. It’s the afternoon for him, and he looks more rested than he had earlier.
Smushing her face into her pillow, she greets him with a smile. “Did I wake you up from a nap?”
Minho seems to consider it for a moment, biting into whatever it is he's having for lunch. “Is it considered a nap if I slept a full seven hours?”
“Mm, not really. You did a big sleep.”
“I needed a big sleep. How was your day?”
This is Kitty's favorite time of day. Realistically, she should consider spending time with her family as her most favorite time. Kitty loves them all so much and she doesn't know what she'd do without them, it's true, but this? Getting all comfy in bed with Minho on the phone?
She looks forward to it, even on the nights he doesn't call.
So yeah, her day was great, but she couldn't wait for this.
“Fun! We even went out for dinner, which was nice.” Kitty explains, and Minho hums along. “So.”
“So.” He repeats, sending her a look even as he focuses on his food.
Pursing her lips, Kitty rolls over, tugs the blankets further up her body. It would be a lot easier if she ripped the band aid off, especially since he won't. It would be so easy, and yet. "What are you eating?"
"A very mid BLT, I should have ordered something different. What was your real question?" It's too easy sometimes for him to see right through her. Minho says it so casually, as he pushes away from his food and relocates to the edge of his hotel bed.
Well fine, alright. She was trying to be kind, but Kitty supposes Minho knows her better by now and was expecting her line of questioning. “Do you want to tell me why you were so angry that you had to take a walk around the streets of Hong Kong before sunrise?”
For a moment she thinks he isn't going to tell her. Minho breathes deeply, glancing off to the side where the sun is shining in.
“It’s just- my dad. He’s being my dad.” With a groan, Minho is throwing himself back into his bed, face first into a pillow. Grace and dignity have been thrown out the window, which is how Kitty knows he’s reaching the end of his proverbial rope.
“How so?”
Shifting so his voice isn’t muffled by the incredibly soft looking hotel pillow, Minho looks into the camera. Like this, Kitty wants to reach out and push the hair from his eyes. Maybe press a kiss to his forehead.
She wants, more than anything, to poke at his cheek until he’s huffing and smiling and calling her a nuisance.
Yearning has never hurt so much.
He shrugs, movements hindered by his prone position. “He can apologize all he wants, but at the end of the day he’s still- Moon Young.”
“I thought he was trying…”
“He was, I suppose. Until he got bored of it. I couldn’t even be in the same building as him, and he didn’t notice I had stormed off. Can you believe that? All his talk about his favorite sons, plural, and he didn’t even check where I ran off to.”
“I’m sorry Minho.”
“It’s no one’s fault. Maybe mine, for believing that he could change in such a short amount of time. A few weeks of a bleeding heart do not make up for literal years of being himself.”
Kitty's heart breaks for him. Screw pushing the hair from his face or kissing him, she wants to fly to Hong Kong and take him home. Pack up all of his things and tell him that he doesn't need to chase after approval he'll likely never get. It's harsh, but right now she's not feeling very warm and fuzzy towards Minho's dad.
She lays in her bed and stares into Minho's eyes as he does the same, thousands of miles and an ocean away.
"I miss you," she says, because it's the truth. Because it's always true, no matter what.
Minho smiles, features going soft. Like she's just gifted him something precious. "I'm always missing you, Covey."
He gifts her something in return, something just as precious. Those words getting wrapped up in fragile tissue paper as she tucks them away somewhere safe, slotting them into a chamber of her heart.
Kitty wants to say something else, some other combination of three words, but it feels too soon. It took her four years to say anything to Dae, and even if it feels easier with Minho, she doesn't want to be impulsive with this. Not with him.
Suddenly Minho rolls onto his back. “Alright, enough of this wallowing. I’m taking you around the city until you fall asleep.”
“Ooh, that sounds fun. Show me the sights! Wait, are you walking or taking a car?”
“If it were any other time, I would not turn down the option to be driven around at my leisure, but since I’m meant to be showing you the sights, I suppose I’ll have to go around by foot. Like some common tourist.”
Just like that the tense, soupy atmosphere is broken. Kitty laughs into her pillow, cradling her phone closer. “It’s true though, the best way to see things is by walking.”
Minho just hums in acknowledgment, rising from bed to change into something more appropriate for sightseeing.
She does indeed fall asleep to Minho walking through the streets of Hong Kong, talking quietly about everything he sees, showing off places that he’d love to visit again. With her, preferably.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
“Oh my god,” Kitty says the moment Minho answers her call. “Is your hair getting longer?”
Minho raises an unimpressed eyebrow at her. “I've been growing it out all summer, how are you just now noticing?”
It looks freshly washed, soft and curling at the ends. Kitty does not remember his hair being that long the last time she saw him, is she really that oblivious? Has it been this long the entire time and she was just blind to it until now?
“I haven't seen you for three whole days!”
“Do not even start, it was one weekend.”
It was a long weekend where he was so busy with traveling and tour dates that all he could do was send her sporadic text messages. Maybe it’s the fact that this is the first time she’s really seeing him since Thursday night that she’s finally noticing his hair.
Something about not recognizing the subtle changes in your life because you see it every single day. Still, Kitty feels like she should have clocked it much earlier than this.
“It's ok to admit you're getting bored of me.” Kitty says dramatically, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead before immediately changing her tone. “Long haired Minho is a game changer.”
His eyebrow stays arched. “How so?”
“Uh, because the girls will be all over you? Hello? Hot playboy summer is back on.”
Minho rolls his eyes, and she can just see the way his mouth is fighting against a smile. “Yeah, no. You’re forgetting the fact that when I’m not busy with my dad and brother, or on the phone with you, I’m so exhausted I pass out in bed. I haven’t experienced any sort of night life in weeks, Covey. I’m getting scared for myself.”
“Well, you don’t have to be on the phone with me.” At his quizzical look, Kitty rushes to explain. “Like- instead of calling to talk about nothing, you could be out at a club! Meeting people! Experiencing the night life!”
“Covey,” and oh, he’s using that tone of voice that he only dips into when he feels the need to explain something slowly to someone that’s being particularly dense. His words. “I would rather sit on the phone with you for hours in silence then go out and meet strangers.”
“Oh.”
Kitty doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to his earnest little sentences that are so truthful they knock the wind from her. It makes her feel special in a way that she hasn’t experienced in a very long time.
“In a perfect world,” Minho continues, oblivious to her thoughts. “I would be taking you out to these supposed clubs. Best of both options, hm?”
“I don’t know if I’m built for club dates.” Kitty says before her brain can catch up with her mouth. The club experience has always started out fun for her, but each time it’s crashed somewhere in the middle. Not horrendously but enough for her to suspect that maybe the club scene just isn’t for her.
Thankfully Minho doesn’t seem to notice her choice of words, scoffing as if nothing is different. “Because you haven’t been going to the right clubs with the right people.”
“And you’re the right kind of people?”
“Obviously.”
Kitty smiles big, pulling her phone closer to her face to squint dramatically at Minho. Well, if they’re going to play into this fantasy where they go out on dates together, Kitty will do her part. “Alright, then paint me a word picture Mr. Right. What does a club date with you look like?”
“Oh, Kitty. I’m so glad you asked.” He smiles right back, entire face brightening at her playful tone.
Calling her Covey is something that she’s grown used to, something that’s so quintessentially Minho that it feels wrong whenever someone else tries to do it. The name Covey only belongs on two boys’ tongues and one of them is going to eventually be her brother in law so she actually doesn’t want to think anymore about Peter’s tongue, thank you. But even the way Peter says it to Lara Jean is different, it’s specific.
When Minho calls her Covey, with his accent and his tone and the special way he stresses the syllables, it’s something that belongs to Minho and no one else. Though, when he uses her first name, it’s even better. A rare little treat that she absolutely eats up. When he calls her Kitty it means something, and it makes her incredibly giddy.
Minho does indeed paint her a word picture, detailing a ridiculous night out where they dress in matching outfits to show up at a club and he buys her all of the fruity drinks she wants. Eventually they’d tire of the music, after enough dancing that Kitty’s feet would hurt, and he’d take them both out to eat after working up an appetite.
“Somewhere that has hot and greasy food.” Kitty makes sure to suggests, simply because she knows it will make him scoff and roll his eyes.
“You’re so American.” Minho does indeed scoff and roll his eyes, but he’s smiling all the while.
Finally the night would end with them rolling back into the respective beds before the sun has a chance to rise, and Kitty has to admit it sounds like a pretty good time when Minho lays it out so perfectly.
Any night with Minho feels like it could be perfect, simply because it would have Minho, if Kitty is being honest. Some of the more crazy and messy nights of her life recently have been made more tolerable by Minho’s presence, so she thinks one night out at a club with her hand in Minho’s could very easily change her opinion on the whole experience.
The conversation naturally fades off into comfortable silence, the both of them continuing on with their respective days. Kitty has begun getting ready for bed, hair pushed back in a bright lemon yellow headband and glasses placed next to her phone. She had asked very seriously if Minho would please watch them for her, and he had just as seriously promised that he would.
She can very faintly hear the sound of a car driving by as Minho sits out on a hotel balcony, sunglasses perched on his nose as he sips at a coffee. Kitty hums to herself as she splashes her face with water, some song that she heard earlier in the day but can’t remember the name of.
Moments like this are some of Kitty’s favorite. They’re existing in the same space happily, enjoying nothing but the simple presence of each other. It's as close to perfect as they can get.
Kitty is drying her face when Minho speaks up, cutting into their soft silence. “Do you know why I haven’t utilized hot Minho summer?” He asks, waiting until Kitty has dropped her towel and grabbed her glasses before continuing. “Why I haven’t been flirting at all this entire tour?”
"You're busy, and always on the move." She answers, wondering where he’s going with this.
"Well, yes. But Kitty, I'm never too busy for you." Minho says it like it’s an immutable fact of the universe, and maybe it is. Maybe it’s every answer to every question Kitty has been worrying about for months.
When he puts it like that, suddenly Kitty’s brain is spinning out and she wants to reach across the thousands of miles between them and kiss him until he’s blue in the face.
Kitty Song-Covey has experienced her fair share of drama and romance, and when it comes to what she has with Minho she wants to be so careful with it. This isn’t some fling or a crush, she can’t let it burn hot and bright only to fizzle out just as quickly. Kitty wants to to be real, for it to last.
But if there’s one thing she has learned over the last few years, it’s that if she waits too long then she’ll lose control of the narrative and things will play out without her input.
She wants to be gentle with her heart but she can’t keep it on a shelf forever. This is her story, and she’s going to decide what comes next. Not fear, not worry, because she knows that Minho will always catch her if she jumps feet first, no hesitation.
“I have feelings for you.” The words trip out of her, Minho snapping his mouth shut on the other end of the phone at her voice. In for a penny, or however her dad says it. “Big, complicated feelings that are always threatening to spill out everywhere. I know you're swearing off of relationships right now so you don't have to say anything back, but-”
“Kitty, I swore off of relationships because I didn't think I had a chance with you.” He interrupts, and now it’s her turn to close her mouth. “Why would I look for anyone else when I couldn’t be with you?”
Well, holy shit. Suddenly Kitty feels out of breath, her whole body buzzing and her vision threatening to blur. This doesn't feel real, not completely. “You want to be with me?”
“Of course I do.” Minho promises, staring into the camera like he could stare through Kitty’s soul. This is real, this is happening. “I have so many feelings for you, Covey.” The breeze ruffles the ends of Minho’s hair and he pushes the sunglasses on top of his head so he can really see Kitty.
She resists the urge to jump and cheer as if her favorite hockey team just won a game, go Ducks! Her dad is a Capitals fan but Kitty thinks that’s stupid. She also resists the urge to burst into relieved tears, her entire nervous system shuddering in reassurance that Minho means it.
Kitty took a leap and it was worth it.
“I wish you were here so bad.” She admits, curling closer to her phone, closer to Minho.
“I wish I was there too, trust me.”
“When are you coming home?” Not to Portland or Seoul, but to Kitty.
Minho smiles. “Soon, I promise.”
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
It’s embarrassing really, and if this moment is ever reminisced and someone points it out she will deny it to her last dying breath, but the moment she sees Minho in person, for the first time since summer began, she down right squeals in excitement.
Immediately after, she practically throws herself at him. The sort of running and jumping that should only belong in embarrassing dramas. Kitty doesn’t even excuse herself from Q, instead taking off at a speed previously unknown to herself.
Thankfully Minho doesn’t drop her or push her away. His arms lock around her waist, following her momentum and swinging her around in a hug, her feet leaving the ground.
“You’re here.” Kitty breathes, awe and excitement vibrating through her.
“I am.” Minho agrees, tucking his face into her hair before they’re both pulling away to really look at each other.
"Your hair is so long."
"Do you like it?"
"I love it!" Kitty should really have better control over herself, but there's just something about Minho that makes her want to act first, think later. Before the words have fully left her mouth, her hands are in his hair. Pushing it from his face, feeling how soft it is between her fingers.
He’s so pretty. There’s something about his looks that gets lost over video, the pixels never fully doing him justice. But now he’s here, in the flesh, smile wide and eyes so damn bright, and he’s down right gorgeous.
She missed him so much it began to feel like a physical ache. She never wants to be so far away from him again.
Kitty wonders if this is the sort of thing that Margot would warn her against. Voice steady and patient as she explains that Kitty is still so young and impulsive, and making big decisions about wanting to see the same face every single day for however long they can stand each other is definitely something she should take more time to think about.
She’s Kitty Song-Freakin’-Covey for crying out loud. She knows love when she sees it, when she feels it in the deepest parts of her stomach.
“Kitty.” Minho says, quiet. Gently tugging her out of her own swirling, heart shaped thoughts.
“Mm?” Kitty blinks, still in his arms.
He’s beautiful. Like, it’s just a fact. He was beautiful the first time she ever saw him and he was beautiful every day after, even when he pissed her off so badly that she wished he would suddenly lose the ability to speak. But now that she’s spoken to him nearly every day for three months and she knows his favorite ice cream flavor and what side of the bed he prefers to sleep on, now that they’ve sat in near silence on the phone while she watched television just loud enough for him to fall asleep to, it feels a little different.
Now he’s the sort of beautiful that leaves her feeling fuzzy and warm, like she could stay in his arms for as long as he’d put up with it.
"I'm going to kiss you now." Minho announces, and Kitty immediately shakes her head.
"No, absolutely not." She counters.
"Wait, what? I’m sorry if I- why? I thought that this summer-"
"Because, I'm going to kiss you." Kitty can’t help but smile as she says it, tightening her arms around his shoulders to draw herself closer.
"Are you fu- this isn't a competition!"
Yes it is, and she’s most definitely winning.
Kitty kisses him, as he takes a breath to continue complaining about her. Minho melts into it, and Kitty never wants to spend so much time with a phone between them ever again.
The kiss lasts forever and it’s over far too soon, Minho chasing after her to kiss her once, twice, three more times in quick succession. It makes Kitty giggle, cheeks flushing hot.
“The next time you go on some soul searching adventure, you’re legally obligated to take me with you.”
“Legally?” Minho questions, eyes squinted and mouth slanting into a little smile. It’s the same way he’s always looked at her when she sounds a little ridiculous, and it’s so much better to witness in person like this.
“Oh yeah, the police will come and arrest you and hold you in contempt of abandoning your girlfriend. Leaving her alone and sad. It’s the worst offense, like, ever.”
If at all possible, Minho’s smile grows bigger, flashing his teeth with the force of it. “Well then, I’ll be sure to pack you into my suitcase the next time I have to fly anywhere.”
Kitty laughs, filled to the brim with bubbling happiness, and she can’t wait to annoy him for the rest of their foreseeable future.