That second part wallops me. For a moment there, I’d forgotten we were lying our way on to the show. Probably because last night felt so perfect and real. There was genuine affection in our fucking. A surprising takeaway. Could Leo and I be something more than fake boyfriends? This experience does seem to be bringing us tremendously close together.
When I hang up, I rinse my face off with warm water and look in the mirror. In the glass, I appear well rested and happy, two things I haven’t been since that fateful night in Manhattan. Leo might be a person worth keeping around once the confetti falls and the check gets handed to us.
The check! Jesus, in my existential spiraling, I haven’t even told Leo the good news.
I burst out of the bathroom screaming his name only to run into Mrs. Min who’s just gotten in from her shift. She jumps back, hand to her upper chest, and I fear, only for a second, that I’ve caused the poor woman to have a heart attack.
“Oh, God! I’m so sorry, Mrs. Min.” It’s at that moment that I notice I’m still only in my underwear. I grab a hoodie off the nearby coatrack, which I assume is Leo’s and cover my bits.
After a deep breath, she stutters, “You scared me!”
“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t think you’d be home so early.”
She gives me a once-over. “I see that.” My exposed legs seem lurid.
“I, uh...” I begin backing toward Leo’s room.
“Why were you shouting?” she asks, creating a visor over the top of her eyes to shield them, giving me the illusion of modesty at least.
“I just got some really good news.”
“What’s the news?” I bump right into Leo who has appeared, stark naked, in the doorway. When I notice, I hand him one arm of the blue tie-dyed sweatshirt I grabbed, which he accepts gratefully. It now flimsily drapes across both of us. This could not be more mortifying.
“Oh, Leo!” Mrs. Min says.
Leo’s eyes bulge. “Umma, what are you doing home at this time?” Leo asks, panicked, both of us desperate for the fabric not to slip.
“Oh, please. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” she says with an eye roll while walking past us. We shuffle so our butts aren’t out as she goes. “I got off early. I did not know there was a sleepover happening here.”
He apologizes to her in Korean. Their dynamic is funny to me. It’s built on banter that slips between languages. Her tone is never chiding. He’s an adult. She’s an adult. There’s a mutual respect intertwined in their playfulness. It’s almost like they’re friends. I wonder if Mom and I would’ve been like this if she were still alive.
Mrs. Min is in the kitchen now, out of eyesight, but she’s still speaking to us. “What’s the good news?”
“Oh, my God!” I turn into Leo. “We got it! We got cast onMadcap Market!”
“Holy crap! I knew it! I knew we would!” Leo and I embrace, which causes the sweatshirt to drop right as Mrs. Min is coming back around the corner.
“Oh, heavens!” she shouts, racing out of the hallway once more.
“Sorry, so sorry again, Umma!” Leo shouts back, laughing it off. I’m red-faced and pushing him into the bedroom, closing the door behind us, so there is no more indecent exposure happening here today.
Through the wood, we hear: “You can make it up to me by running to the market. I’ll make pajeon since we have company and something to celebrate.”
I’m relieved she wants me to stay after nearly flashing her. Also, I’m warmed that including me came naturally.
Leo asks, “Does that sound okay to you?”
I nod, weirdly almost feeling like part of the family. “Yeah, that sounds perfect.”
“Put some clothes on first!” Mrs. Min yells.
We laugh, kiss, and then we get dressed.
“Leo!” a kindly bald man from behind the register near the entrance greets. He’s backed by multiple shelves of premade comfort foods, heat lamps hanging down over them.
Leo picks up a basket and waves. “Mr. Park!” He asks him a question in Korean.
Mr. Park, eyes landing on me, opts to answer in English. “My back’s been better, but I can’t complain too much. It’s a lovely day today.” He peers out the front windows where Los Angeles glimmers with late-morning sunlight across the parking lot. “Where’s Mrs. Min this fine morning?”
