"And there." He leans back to marvel at his accomplishment, after placing the bright purple hydrangeas that I brought for him last night in the vase. Jokingly, he adds, "Now my mum cannot complain about not having any sort of decoration on the table."
I merely shake my head at him with pursed lips, humoured by his logic. Before leaving the kitchen, his mum ordered him to go and set up the table for breakfast. I, of course, followed after him like a lost puppy. Staying in the kitchen was out of the question. I would have felt way too awkward sitting in there alone with her. What would I have even spoken to her about? Would she have prodded me about why I spent the night in her house without permission and what it is exactly I was doing with her son in his bedroom?
His grin widens when he looks over at me and before he can say anything, I ask, "Does your mother know that Pure/Honey is about all types of sex?"
His eyes turn into saucers. "What is that?"
"The song she was singing this morning."
"Is it?" His mouth hangs low in shock as he tries to ponder my words. "I have never really paid attention to the lyrics?"
"I put this sweet, sweet on your tongue. Don't it taste yummy?" I restate some of the lyrics to him.
He grimaces in disgust, all the colour draining from his face at the realisation that his mum is singing about sex. "Okay, yeah. It might be about sex."
I laugh at his blanched-out face as a shudder runs through his body. He looks like he could have lived a better life without knowing that and I just about ruined it.
"I mean, it could just be a song about feeding someone honey. You know, up for interpretation and all that. Maybe your mum is just singing about feeding a partner honey… or she's singing about oral sex, and she knows it."
"Can we… not talk about this?"
I snort in amusement at how uncomfortable he looks. For a moment, as I lean on one of the chairs around the table, he remains deathly quiet as his eyes skim up and down my figure.
When those very eyes travel back up to connect with mine, I'm held in place by the fervency in them. After glancing around cautiously as if to make sure that nobody is around, he slowly closes the distance between us, resting his hand on the chair behind me. I nervously lick my bottom lip which catches his gaze, eyes quickly flicking down to stare at them. The smaller the space between us gets, the louder my breathing gets and the more visibly my chest rises and falls. He tilts his head, his warmth fanning my neck to produce goosebumps all over my skin.
"I like seeing you in my clothes," he whispers in my ear intimately.
Looking down at his clothes on me, I straighten and tuck the end of the grey t-shirt into the jeans that he lent to me. The shirt is a bit loose on my lean physique, but the jeans just about fit me.
"My mum was just telling me that my brother will probably have a fit when he sees you wearing my clothes, but I'm pretty sure he won't even have a clue that you are. Fleance only noticed because he often does the laundry when my mum is picking up a shift on the weekends."
"Why would your brother have a fit?" I muse curiously, bringing my hand up to move the strand of hair that stood out of place on his head. "Is it because of what you told me the other day at the skatepark?"
"Mm-hmm. I mean, he may say that he loves me, but it doesn't mean he fully accepts me for who I am, you know. In his mind, I am purposefully sinning against Allah's rules."
"I thought you were Jewish?"
"I am. The rest of my family isn't though."
"Well, to play devil's advocate for your brother, my parents fully accept me for who I am, but they would also have a fit if they saw you in our house early in the morning wearing my clothes."
He remains quiet for a bit until his eyes connect with mine and he says, "You have a point. I'm gonna risk it though. You look really cute."
Ignoring the slight skip inside my chest, I force myself to wrinkle my nose in distaste. "You are so cheesy."
His lips twitch into a cheeky grin. "Am I?"
"Ew. Can you guys not do this in a public area?"
I spring out of my skin in surprise and when I glance over his shoulder, I spot Fleance who is watching us in repulse. Awkwardly, I clear my throat and wait for Kai to move back so he can allow me to squeeze past him but he doesn't. He merely stares at his brother indifferently.
"So what?" Fleance crosses his arms over his chest and looks at us in piqued interest. "Are you guys like a thing now?"
"Mind your own business," Kai says to dismiss his question immediately before shuffling away from me to take a seat in one of the chairs.
Fleance frowns irritably before setting his curious gaze on me, waiting for me to either deny or confirm his claims.
"You heard the man," I answer, my eyes glowing with hilarity.
He kisses his teeth and rolls his eyes. "Fuck you both."
Just in time, I turn to witness their mother descending the stairs with regal poise. Despite the absence of a smile, her eyes radiate warmth and welcome. She strides with upright grace, her black dress cascading elegantly over her slender form and brushing the top of her red heels. Her hair, straightened, drapes gently over her shoulder. Observing the elaborate effort that she has put into her appearance, I muse that breakfast must be a grand affair in this household.
"Did you set the table yet?" she calls, taking hard strides to the table and after looking at the bouquet of hydrangeas perched in the vase, a soft smile breaks out on her face and she takes a seat. "Where did you get hydrangeas?"
He grins at her innocently. "Someone might have picked them from their father's garden as a peace offering."
His vague response is not the least bit subtle because her gaze immediately flickers over to rest on my face which is on the verge of flushing with a blush. Fortunately, she does not comment on it.
Once the food has been brought to the table, Fleance and his older brother have joined us. His brother is wearing a traditional long coat-like garment which is the same length as his knee in a shade of royal blue. His hair is a dark brown colour that is nearly black and matches Kai's except his is slicked back to highlight his night-time brown eyes. As predicted, his brother does not notice that I am dressed in his clothes. All he does when he sees me is ask me who I am and then he introduces himself when I do. We formally shake hands. It is a relief.
As the containers are being passed around, I quietly dish up for myself by taking two slices of toast as well as two fried eggs. The sunny side looking comestible looks so much better than the salty plasticity I had to endure at my aunt's house. Kai, who is now sitting next to me, asks me if that is all I want and I softly tell him that I don't like tomatoes. When he reaches for the fried, onion rings, I quickly whisper that I do not like onions either. He gives me a weird look but dismisses it with a head shake and a humoured smirk.
"Is Akira going to come down for breakfast?" he muses, taking a huge bite out of his toast, as well as stuffing a piece of his tomato in his mouth.
His mother gives him a disturbed, watching him in astonishment for gulping his food down so quickly.
He stares at her blamelessly. "What, I'm hungry. I have not eaten in God knows how long."
"I think she might be having her breakfast up in her room," his mother answers. "You know how she rarely leaves her room. Oh, and that phone I regret buying for her. She is constantly on it."
I smile in amusement at her annoyance. I can already imagine how his younger sister, Akira, is. I can just see her tweeting this and tweeting that; Kardashian did this and said that.
Just as I see Kai opening his mouth to respond, Ismael glances over at him and asks, "When are you going back to school?"
"This afternoon," he responds while covering his mouth. "Why do you ask?"
"The family is coming over today so I was hoping you could stay another day to help out with the preparations."
"That is not necessary," his mother inserts, shaking her head. "We pay too much money at that university for him to miss a day just because of a ceremony. I doubt they will notice that he is missing."
Glancing at Kai, Ismael asks, "Speaking of, how is it being in one of the most prestigious universities in the world? I hope you aren't there to play around. With the way you was messing about in your room with astrological screams that call upon the stars, I have my doubts."
Fleance snorts, pressing his hand over his mouth to prevent the liquid in his mouth from spilling out. He coughs loudly after swallowing. When his mother glowers at him warningly, he quickly reaches for the serviette on his plate and dabs at his lips.
"Keiji!" The dark-haired girl who just squealed rushes over to Kai and throws herself into his arms, causing him to rear back in bafflement.
"Akira!" he exclaims, wrapping her into a huge hug. "Did you miss me?"
She scoffs and pulls away, trying to play off the fact that she actually missed her brother. She rolls her eyes and takes a seat beside him. "Who said anything about missing anyone?"
"Liar!" Kai releases a mirthful chuckle which seems to bring warmth to the table. "Don't worry, little sister, I missed you too."
She rolls her eyes again, but I do not miss the small smile that tugs onto her lips. She then takes her phone out which is the newest model of the iPhone. Not even I have the newest model. But you know what, I am completely okay with a kid who is admittedly younger than me having a phone that is better than mine. Maybe. No, I'm not.
She laughs at something and starts typing on the screen vigorously.
"Akira, please put that device away. We are at the table and I taught you better than that," her mother scolds, her eyes focused on her meal.
"Just a second," she says, taking a quick picture of the food on her plate. After taking a long, hard look at the picture and nods. "And," she murmurs and she carries on typing, "posted. Why have I been given beans? You guys know I hate beans."
"If you want to pick and choose what you want to eat, then you should come down and dish up for yourself," Ismael reprimands and once she stares up in his direction, inevitably her gaze lands on me. Her brows furrow down in perplex.
"Who is he?" she questions, looking around the table.
Awkwardly, I stop midway eating when everyone's eyes stray onto me.
"Manners," her mother scolds, smacking her in the arm with her serviette.
"This is my friend, Seong Jin. Seong Jin, that is my younger sister, Akira," Kai tells me what I have already figured out for myself.
I nod over at her with a polite smile. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," she says shyly.
Fleance then trains his eyes onto his brother and muses with an arched eyebrow, "Friend?"
"Yes, friend." When he opens his mouth to speak, Kai deadpans seriously, "Drop it."
Fleance's hands rise in surrender and he leans back into his chair with a smug smirk tugging onto his lips when his gaze meets mine again. To avoid being seen blushing at all the implications that are obviously being made about Kai and I to the entire table, I gaze down at my food and continue to eat.
"So… when is the family going to get here?" Ismael asks, filling in the sound of clinking cutlery on plates.
"They just caught a flight this morning. I expect them to be here in the afternoon," Mrs Singh answers.
"I do not understand why a big party is being thrown just because of Eid al-Fitr. Like… yeah, we are all breaking our fast but it does not need to turn into some big celebration," Akira comments and it's hard not to miss her sarcasm.
"You wouldn't understand. You're just a kid." Fleance tells her.
"I'm fourteen," she rebuts with an irked expression. "Not a kid."
"You're still thirteen. You haven't turned fourteen."
"And even if you were fourteen," Ismael inputs, "you'd still be a kid."
"Exactly."
"Look at my sons," Mrs Singh starts with an adorning look, "coming to my rescue and all."
"Maan, nahin. This is not about you." Ismael states in mock irritably. "This is about teaching Akira a lesson."
"Yeah, we couldn't care less about you and your feelings," Fleance playfully adds to his older brother statement.
Their mother's mouth drops in offence.
Kai bellows out a deep laugh and I press my lips together tightly in order to keep my chuckle within. I have no idea if I am allowed to laugh at that. Mrs Singh glares at him harshly, but he does not stop laughing. Then she directs her glower onto both Fleance and Ismael who smirk into their chests. Akira merely scowls at Fleance's words.