Title: Unintended Soulmate
Pairing: Kim Jongin/Im Nina (OC)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Nina went to EXO concert after being forced by her friend, Min. She didn’t like EXO but she didn’t hate them. She just liked their music. Kai saw her bored face and fell for her.
“Min!” Nina shouted almost too loudly. The crowd was cheering and screaming crazily. Neon light sticks and signs were held up high in the air by thousands of fans all around the world. Nina scoffed annoyingly when someone pushed her aside harshly, and she almost fell onto the floor. But luckily, Min was there to grab her arm firmly.
“What is it, Nina?” Min asked her. Her voice was loud too, trying to fight the blaring music coming from the speakers.
“I want to go home!”
“But it’s still early, Nina,” Min glanced over her watch. “It’s freaking ten o'clock. We’ve still got more performances left. Are you sick or what?” Min asked her, but Nina knew Min wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying at all, because second after, Min turned her head back to front and screamed out loud for the names of every member in EXO.
Nina was being pushed for the second time. “Hey!” She shouted, but she didn’t know it was meant for whom. She shifted her head to look at Min. Min was still jumping crazily when the speaker played happier song. “When is this concert going to finish?” Nina asked.
“I don’t know!” Min replied. “Maybe twelve because EXO has twelve hot boys!” Min grinned.
Nina widened her eyes in disbelief. “What sort of reasoning is that?”
“Mine!” And Min grinned once again before she turned around and screamed frantically as Chanyeol from EXO came up on the stage, bringing his drumstick to do a drum performance.
“Chanyeol! Chanyeol! Chanyeol!”
The chants were too loud, almost too deafening in Nina’s ears. Nina had to say that she disliked attending concerts, any concert to be exact because she didn’t want to be biased here. After all, having crushed in between crazy fans and all was such a hassle for her. She’d prefer listening to any of Korean songs in her i-Pod in a peaceful environment if she was given a choice. But Min was too stupid to even notice her best friend’s likes and dislikes. She didn’t even give any chance for Nina to make a decision, because the last time Nina noticed, Min had already dragged her into the concert hall.
“Nina! Where are you going?” Min shouted for her name when she noticed Nina was slowly making her way out of the crowds.
“I’m going to wait for you outside!” Nina screamed back and ignored the sharp glares she received from the other fans for blocking their views to see the perfect Chanyeol on the stage. The loud music somehow hushed down as she made her way to the washroom, feeling relief because she didn’t have to go back inside again. She was already too tired.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Nina whispered under her breath when she took a sharp glance at the wall clock. The clock struck almost one, but none of the fans were getting out of the hall. Nina tapped her legs impatiently on the floor. She was getting bored to be honest. She really wanted to go home, had a pack of ramen before going to sleep. But she couldn’t leave Min alone.
It was later then when Nina turned around, she was almost too surprised to see a familiar, really familiar figure walking in a hurried pace towards her direction. A group of screaming fan girls was trailing behind and calling out for the tanned guy’s name. And fellow securities who noticed the commotion had to block the fans’ ways from getting closer to the guy.
Nina was left speechless.
It was Kai, walking straight towards her. He was wearing tight shiny clothes and a black jacket, spiky black hair, defined jaws and a smirk was formed to complete the whole set. She was a bit surprised seeing him in real life, exactly right before her eyes. Nina didn’t even know why she was staring hole into Kai’s face, but she didn’t feel the need to scream for his name, because, come on, Kai of EXO just shot a smile at her! The cat had obviously got her tongue.
“Why aren’t you going inside? Are you an EXO-L?” He asked when he stopped right in front of Nina, his voice sounded a bit groggy. Maybe Kai asked those questions because he didn’t see Nina holding a banner with EXO written all over it or even light sticks of EXO that SM staff had prepared for the fans. His eyes looked tired, and if Nina looked closely, she would have noticed the red eyes of Kai. The continuous screams from the fans dragged Nina back to reality again because she was too immersed in her own world while appreciating the beautiful face of Kai.
Nina looked again at his eyes. She was too confused. Did Kai just ask questions to her? Was it really okay for Kai to stop walking so that they could have a few words before he went back to perform? Those questions were playing in Nina’s mind millionth times.
Nina was fidgeting with her skirt. “I-Im not going inside again. It’s kinda boring,” Nina replied, her face looked extremely bored and tired and because she had been waiting for the concert to end for hours already. And it hadn’t ended yet. But one thing she had forgotten was that it was Kai who asked her the question. Nina totally forgot about that when she noticed the change of expression in Kai’s tanned face.
“What makes you to say that?” He asked remarkably. A smile was formed on his lips when Nina looked at him intently.
“Uh, I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“Interesting,” Kai smiled.
“Excuse me?” Nina asked confusingly. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears, not noticing the way Kai looked at her in awe when she did that.
“Kai!”
Both Kai and Nina turned around and their gazes shifted towards EXO’s manager, who asked Kai to come back into the backstage room.
“You are indeed interesting,” Kai flashed a toothy smile when their gazes met again. “Meet me near Han River at two if you don’t mind. And uh-“ Kai halted. “-don’t forget to bring your sweater too. It’s cold outside,” he continued before walking away and bowing apologetically at his manager. Moment after, Kai and the manager had already entered the door leading to the backstage, leaving Nina in confusion.
Did Kai just say he wanted to meet me?
Nina sighed heavily because that was she was sure of. Kai wanted to meet her for real, personally. She didn’t hear any of the screams coming from the fans, because she was too busy counting her loud heartbeats the moment Kai left.
The concert had finally ended, thankfully. Min was smiling ear to ear, and she couldn’t stop talking about every member in EXO, her ultimate favorite group. She kept talking about the way Sehun moved his hip and body sexily while dancing to Thunder, of how Chanyeol played the drums and dropped the stick on the floor while he was in the middle of performing, and of how Kyungsoo sang his heart out to Moonlight. Min told Nina about everything. Everything. And Min also told Nina that she had obviously missed a great chance of seeing all of the performances.
“And you know what?” Min chirped happily. “I’ve never seen Kai dancing like that on the stage. He seemed so happy. And oh my god, his hair! I love the way his hair was pushed back messily when he had finished giving his speech,” she squealed again.
Nina stopped walking at the mention of Kai’s name.
“Uh, Min,” Nina called.
“Yes?”
“Why don’t you just go home first? I have something to buy for supper,” Nina said awkwardly, because she had never told lies to anyone, including her best friend, Min. And Kai had made her to break the record.
“Are you going to be okay? We can go together,” Min said.
“No, no,” Nina hastily replied. “I’m going by myself. Do you want anything?” She asked, guilty washed over her like gushing of waterfall.
Min contemplated for a while. “Are you sure? Well, okay then. I want chicken! Seasoned chicken, please,” she smiled. “And what time are you going to arrive home?”
“I-I don’t know yet,” Nina took a glance over her watch. It read 1.50. Nina was restless, because maybe Kai was waiting for her already. But maybe Kai was just pulling a prank. Nina didn’t want to put too much hopes on that.
“It’s okay, but don’t be late,” Min gave a quick peck on Nina’s cheek.
“Alright,” Nina nodded her head in return, giving her best friend a hug before they took different ways. Min was going back to their house while Nina, she had to go to meet him.
Indeed, no one was waiting for her. Nina saw no one but a couple sitting close next to each other on a wooden bench. Nina looked around, searching for him, but of course, he wasn’t there. The streets were empty and quiet too. The night was getting colder and colder as seconds passed. Nina cursed under her breaths as she suddenly remembered that she forgot to bring together her sweater. She brought her palm together, and rubbed them quickly since she was already trembling due to the coldness.
Nina’s mind started to wonder. Why would someone as famous as Kai want to meet her, who was just a mere fan? On top of that, she wasn’t a true fan since she didn’t really like EXO. It wasn’t that she hated them either, but Nina’d prefer listening to their songs rather than screaming and fangirling over somebody who didn’t even know her existence.
But in this case, Kai had already known her existence. Nina totally had no answer for that.
Sighing, Nina turned around, intending to go back home after realizing that she was fooled by Kai’s words but much to her surprise, a tall figure was standing right before her. He was wearing a baggy high-necked sweater, a pair of grey shorts, and a black cap to hid his eyes.
Nina couldn’t believe of what she was seeing. She blinked her eyes for the nth times because Kai was really standing there. He made a few steps forward before hovering over Nina and a usual smirk Nina had always seen in photos and websites was shown.
“I think I’ve already told you to bring the sweater,” Kai said, before pulling Nina closer to him, grabbing her hands like it was his. Later then, he put an arm around Nina’s shoulder.
“W-what are you-”
Nina was taken aback by Kai’s sudden action.
“Let’s go get some coffee. You’ll feel warmer in no times.”
“What?” Nina seemed so surprised. “Wait, wait, wait a minute,” Nina backed off. “I mean-seriously? You and me, going for a drink together? What do you think you are doing? What if your fanatic fans see us together? What would the presses say if they see us walking together in the middle of this morning?” Nina asked confusingly. Her brows were shot up to her bangs. Her curiosity hit her mind, she couldn’t help but to ask those questions.
“What’s wrong with that?” Kai struggled in putting up a smile, but he failed. He somehow didn’t like the way Nina glaring furiously at him.
“I know you’re just pulling a prank on me. Because why would a famous idol like you be here with someone he doesn’t even know?” Nina laughed dismissively.
“Because you’re the very first person who said my concert was boring and all,” Kai said. “Sure, they are haters out there, but I don’t think you’re one of them.”
“So?” Nina couldn’t decipher Kai’s words.
“I’d like to know you,” Kai whispered, he leaned in closer, but was pushed back by Nina.
Nina contemplated. “Kai-I’m so sorry Kai. I didn’t mean to say that, but please, if this is just another prank, I’m going to-”
“Shush,” Kai put his index finger on Nina’s lips, causing the latter to gasp in surprise. “This is not a prank. I know this is crazy, but I fell for you the moment you said our concert was boring. I know this is cliché and you might think that I was just tricking you, but really, I just fell in love with you.”
There was a silence for a while.
“You just what?” Nina’s eyes grew wide. She laughed so hard that Kai shot a glare at her just to make Nina to shut her mouth.
“I’m not kidding.”
“Who says you’re kidding?” Nina giggled. “It is just ridiculously funny. You’re really good at capturing women’s heart, aren’t you?”
“Yah,” Kai called. Nina was too busy laughing when Kai suddenly had an idea. When he heard no response, he eventually knocked Nina’s head slightly, earning a sharp scream from her.
“Yah! How dare you?” Nina looked at him angrily and she rubbed her head as if a heavy rock had just hit her. Kai’s knock on her head was slightly painful. And she wasn’t even joking about it.
“I’m sorry but I couldn’t help but to knock on it when I noticed you are way too shorter than me,” Kai grinned playfully.
“That is not funny Kai-”
“Jongin,” he cut her off.
Nina was astounded for a moment.
“What-”
“Call me Jongin starting from this moment,” Kai leaned in closer. “And you know what? I’m tired of listening to your babbles so let me just get to the real point. Can you please-no I mean-let me be your soul mate.”
His voice was soft, in a way that Nina really liked.
“Jongin.” Somehow, the syllable sounded perfect in her ears. “I-I’m Nina.”
Kai smiled and Nina responded with a smile too, because she then silently thought that destiny could be somewhat strange and surprising. She didn’t expect that her destiny was entwined with his. Perhaps, it was destined that she was his unintended soul mate.