Page 6 of Solo Stan
“Well, I couldn’t deal with both you and Winter being mad at me in one day.” Bobby went silent for a moment. “You’re not saying anything. What were you going to ask me to do on Friday?”
Kai shuffled around in his blankets before rolling onto his stomach. “How long is the internship?” he asked, avoiding the question.
“All summer—then I’ll immediately start at Berkeley in the fall.”
Anxious, Kai twirled his barbell earring between his fingertips. He tried to change the subject again by asking, “Have you apologized to Winter yet? I hate when you guys fight.”
“I sent her a bushel of apples.”
Kai took a moment to process. “You did what?”
“In Korean,appleandapologyare the same word. I don’t know—I thought it’d be cute!” Bobby’s tone grew more defensive with each word.
“Boy, if you don’t apologize the right way,” Kai said, clicking his tongue against his teeth. “Y’all always fight over the stupidest stuff. Last time, it was because you put butter in the refrigerator. The time before that, it was because Winter watches movies with the subtitles on. The time before that, it was because you bought her mint chocolate chip ice cream. This is a real issue you’re having, so stop with the apples, check your pride, and beg for forgiveness.”
“You took her side last time too,” Bobby huffed.
“Because you told her you don’t like Meryl Streep!” Kai said, exasperated.
Bobby let out an airy laugh. “All right, all right! I’ll apologize.”
“She and Emmy are probably free on Friday, though, right? I’m sure they’ll just complain about you the entire time.”
“Well…” Bobby began.
“Now what?”
“Winter was just so mad, I asked her to come with me. And—”
“There’s anand?!”
“Well, now that Winter won’t be here this summer, Emmy isn’t coming back to the States after all.”
Kai’s body completely deflated. “You guys are really leaving me all alone this summer?”
“I know, but this internship could really help me get a leg up,” Bobby said with a deep sigh. “And I was mad at you first. Don’t UNO-reverse me.”
“What are you mad atmefor?” Kai asked with an incredulous snort.
“You’rethe one who’s leavingmeall alone. We were supposed to go to Berkeley together, remember? We were going to get an apartment. I already bought us a friendship ficus.”
Kai’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s a friendship ficus?”
“A ficus between friends. Now it’s just a regular ficus.”
“Well, you were going to let me move to California! You know I’m not ready for something like that!”
“It wasyouridea!” The frustration was evident in Bobby’s voice.
It had been Kai’s idea, in fact. But then he pictured himself on the West Coast, away from his family, pursuing a career in tech and UX design when he didn’t even own a smartphone. The entire idea was half-baked, so he elected to stay home instead, even at the risk of being a townie.
“Sorry,” Kai responded, his tone devoid of any genuine remorse.
“Wow, you could do better than that.”
“I’ll send you an apple. I gotta go,” Kai said, feeling suddenly panicky. “Love you, Bae!”
“The only apple you need is an iPhone!” Bobby managed to say before Kai snapped his phone shut.
