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Yuri had a vision.
An elegant, breezy, get-together where everyone she loved could sit down, eat actual food, and pretend last year hadn’t been utter chaos.
So naturally, she booked out the patio of a rooftop restaurant with floor cushions, grilled skewers, a mocktail menu, and a view of the Han River. Classy. Casual. Carefully curated.
Yuri wanted things to feel normal again.
After her father’s downfall, she couldn’t feel more free.
You might think she would be broken after the fall of the “Han Hotels” empire, but the truth was that she had been praying during ages for that to happen.
Don’t get it wrong, Yuri loved her father.
But only the old version of him.
The only version who did not let herself be seen.
Luckily, she didn’t lose it all. Her parents were divorced, so her mom’s heritage remained intact.
Besides, she was a famous influencer, so she had saved some money over the years.
She was living with Alex and Professor Lee and her mom continued paying for KISS tuition.
After a few months, she felt happy and healing. She was okay.
Yuri didn’t even complain when Kitty showed up five minutes late, holding Minho’s hand and wearing his hoodie like they were in a teen drama.
Yuri felt very ashamed of how things went down the previous year, but she was willing to do anything to have her friendship with Kitty back.
They were in good terms, and she was working on herself.
“Kitty! Minho!” Yuri greeted with a knowing smile, “glad you guys could make it.”
She hugged them both as they made their way inside.
Kitty loved Korean BBQ’s, the place was huge and the vibe was chill and cozy.
She grabbed Minho’s hand.
They had been dating since summer, when they first kissed after a small discussion.
“I can’t wait so see everyone! It’s been too long.” She exclaimed.
He squeezed her hand. “Me too, Covey.” She looked at him. “Do you think Dae will be mad?” She asked.
He took a deep breath. “I don’t know. He doesn’t have a reason, remember I told him about us just when we started.”
“Yeah.” She commented.
The truth was that only Dae and Q knew about their relationship.
Minho had to tell Dae, if not, that would make him a horrible friend.
And Kitty could not keep her mouth shut, so she accidentally slipped it out to Q.
“Chaos queen!” They spotted the table where everyone was sitting. Q stood up from his seat and went running to hug them both.
Kitty hugged him tight. “How did the summer camp go?” She asked grinning.
“It was amazing, Jin even came to visit during a week.” Q mentioned as Jin made his way towards them.
“What’s up guys?” Kitty hugged him, she didn’t know Jin that well, but he was one of her friends know.
Minho went to hug him as well. Kitty and Q exchanged glances, it was impressive, they hated each other less than a year ago.
They all sat on the table, Juliana, Preveena and Dae were as well there.
Kitty and Minho sat next to each other, next to Minho sat Dae.
But next to Dae there was an empty spot.
“Eunice isn’t coming?” Kitty asked to the table.
Yuri looked up. “She should be arriving soon, she told me her schedule is pretty complicated.”
Minho noticed Dae taking a deep breath. “Dude, don’t be so nervous.” He chuckled.
“I’m not, it’s just.. I feel like I messed up with her before summer.” He confessed.
“Dae, Eunice is a too nice, she’ll forgive you with no hesitation.” He mentioned.
Kitty jumped into the conversation. “He’s right, Dae. I’m sure you two will sort it out.”
The table was loud and warm and full of laughter.
Everything felt good again, like if last year had been erased.
Eunice finally made it, she sat next to Dae. Kitty saw the look on her eyes they’ll be okay she thought.
The food was amazing. When kitty had to leave, the food would be the thing she would miss the most, and Minho of course.
But she didn’t want to think about leaving. Not yet.
Preveena fed Juliana a bite of chicken and everyone clapped ironically like it was a wedding.
They smiled kindly at each other, they were a very cute couple.
Q spilled his drink while trying to argue that Grease 2 was better than the original. Jin rolled his eyes, but still passed him a napkin.
Something caught Kitty’s eye, Dae and Eunice shared a plate like it was normal.
Maybe those two would figure things out sooner than expected.
It was messy. But it was good.
Kitty sat close beside Minho, legs brushing, hands tangled under the table.
Every so often, he’d say something in her ear—low, smug, teasing—and she’d nudge him with her shoulder, trying not to smile too obviously.
“Try this Covey.” Minho said placing food in her plate.
“What is it?” She said lifting her fork while eyeing the dish.
“It’s called dak galbi. It’s spicy chicken fried with rice cakes and other things.” He mentioned.
“You’re such a nerd when it comes to cooking.” She mentioned trying the chicken. He rolled his eyes.
“How is it?” He asked. Her eyes lighted up “Woah, okay. This is very good.” She said with her mouth full.
Minho smirked. “You know, this reminds me of last year’s Chuseok.”
“You mean when you practically begged me to save your date?” She chuckled.
“Covey, it was your fault. You owed me.” He smirked.
“How would I know that you were lactose intolerant?” She asked amused.
“We should do it again, this year.” He mentioned.
“Aren’t you spending it with your dad and Joon Ho?” She asked cautelously.
“Yes, if he doesn’t ditch me last minute.”He commented.
“Minho you know he’s trying.” She reminded him.
“We’ll see about that.” He grabbed another plate trying to change the mood.
“It’s okay, I have you.” He said. She smiled kindly and, when no one was watching, she gave him a quick peck.
The night went on, and after the food, Preveena suggested drinks on the rooftop.
Everyone thought it was a great idea.
It was breezy up there, and the view was perfect.
There were some seats with cushions and blankets, and there were even bonfires.
“I’ll start a fire!” Dae exclaimed and everyone cheered.
He left towards some bonfire, Eunice followed him.
Everyone sat around the bonfire Dae was trying to light up.
Kitty and Minho, hand in hand, sat towards the nearest couch. Minho placed his arm around her.
Everyone continued doing their thing, chatting, laughing…
“Do you want something to drink, love?” Minho asked.
“Sure.” He let go of her and went in the bar’s direction.
The night was shaping up perfectly.
Until he showed up.
“Hey,” said a voice behind her, casual and just a bit too confident.
Kitty turned. A guy—tall, broad-shouldered, great smile—stood there in a white button-down and loose jeans.
He looked familiar in that KISS-adjacent way: definitely a senior, probably graduated, probably had a SoundCloud.
“You’re Kitty, right?” he asked. “Kitty Song Covey?”
“Yeah,” she said, surprised. “Have we met?”
“I’m Taejin. I graduated last year. I think I saw you around. Anyway… not to be weird, but you’ve got a really nice smile.”
Kitty blinked. “Oh. Thanks?”
Taejin smiled, just a bit more cocky now. He took a seat next to her.
“Thanks.” Minho said grabbing the drinks.
He instinctively turned to see Kitty talking with another guy.
Yuri, who was a few steps away from him saw the whole thing.
She knew what was coming, she could only tell one thing from Minho’s expression:
Murder in his eyes.
She marched right up to him. “Gosh, at least make it look like you don't want to kill the guy.”
Minho looked at her for a second, and then again back to his girlfriend.
“Are you going to glare him into leaving or actually say something?” She chuckled.
“I’m not glaring.” He took a deep breath.
“You’re doing that eye twitch thing.” She pointed out.
Minho didn’t respond.
Yuri squinted at him. “Wait. Are you jealous?”
Minho scoffed. “What? No.”
“Oh my god. You are.” She exclaimed.
“He was flirting.” He defended himself.
“Flirting is not a crime.” She said, trying to piss him off.
Yuri chuckled, she had been suspecting something was going on between Kitty and Minho.
And now she could confirm it.
Minho muttered, “She always misses it when people flirt with her. Which is… kind of endearing. And also terrifying.”
Yuri smirked. “Wow. Never thought I’d see the day. Minho Moon, head of the Ego Department, threatened by a guy in a linen shirt and discount cologne.”
Minho rolled his eyes. “His dimples aren’t that deep.”
Yuri laughed, patted his back once, and walked off with a smug little shake of her head. “You’re so far gone, it’s embarrassing.”
Minho didn’t argue.
He was.
Back at the railing, Taejin was still going.
“I was gonna hit a few spots later. Hongdae, maybe Itaewon. You should come. If you’re free.” He smirked.
Kitty wasn’t getting the signal.
Kitty blinked. “That’s… um”
“She’s not,” Minho said, appearing suddenly, voice smooth and very sharp. “She’s busy. With me.”
Taejin raised his brows. “Ah. Got it.”
Minho handed Kitty her drink. “Boyfriend.” He added, flatly. “In case that wasn’t clear.”
Kitty eyed Minho. He looked like he was about to set the place on fire.
She should hate him for behaving this way, but she found it hilarious.
Taejin laughed, backing off. “Crystal. Nice meeting you.”
He got up from his seat and disappeared into the crowd.
Kitty grabbed Minho’s hand and took him somewhere more private.
Kitty turned, lifting a brow. “Minho.”
“What?” he said, completely unapologetic.
“You looked like you were about to bite him.” She hissed.
Minho scoffed. “I wasn’t going to bite him.”
“You glared so hard he nearly evaporated.” She said with a more serious tone.
“He was asking you out!” Minho replied defensively.
“He asked if I liked Hongdae!” Kitty chuckled.
“Which is guy code for let me slide into your DMs and ruin your life.”
She found this side of Minho very cute. She knew he wasn’t possessive, but he had to work a bit on his jealousy issues.
Kitty burst out laughing. “Oh my god. You were threatened by his dimples.”
Minho groaned. “Not the dimples again.”
“You were! You did that weird stretch like ‘oh let me casually show I work out and also might punch you’ thing.”
“I did not.” He rolled his eyes.
“You totally did.” She took a sip of her drink.
“…Okay, maybe I was a little jealous,” he admitted, tugging her closer.
“I mean, did you see his cheekbones? I was fighting for my life over here.”
She smiled at him, soft and bright. “You’re ridiculous.”
“But still charming, right?” He asked.
She reached up and grabbed his cheeks. “A little bit.”
She kissed him, his hands met her waist instantly. It was low and unbothered.
“Or a lot?” He said in the middle of the kiss while smiling.
She didn’t answer, just tugged him closer, as his hands ran sweetly through her hair.
Everything felt normal again.
Just like everyone had hoped.