“Seong-bbang!” she exclaimed.
The audible gasp was cute and immediately made him smile. This was the most excited she had been since he first saw her at the airport. Her eyes were wide at the crescent bread rolls laid out on the counter, along with a selection of bacon, cheese, chocolate spread and other goodies to add to the bread. “How did you even get this? People line up for hours!”
“So one of our former managers is friends with the owner and they did me a favor.” Cal shrugged like it had been no big deal. And it wasn’t, but Cal did owe his hyung a meal now, and Cal wasn’t looking forward to it because they would probably talk about Bomseok. But the way Lia looked at him made him feel like he’d hung the moon for her, and he…hadn’t expected that. He missed it, he realized, the feeling that he’d made someone else happy. When did performing stop feeling like this?
“I noticed your brother doesn’t eat when he works, so I figured I could load him with food before we head out to the studio later,” he added, taking the artisanal homemade strawberry milk from Lia’s struggling hands and twisting the cap easily to pour her a glass. “Since my longganisa stash ran out before you guys arrived, I figured Siwan and Soobin’s pick-me-ups were a good idea.”
“And the strawberry milk was Soobin’s recommendation.”
“Sure you’re not a BoLT?”
Lia’s face suddenly went a little pale. Or maybe it was just his fluorescent lighting? Cal scrambled for something else to say.
“Um. Anyway. Salt bread. We also have strawberry jam, butter and bacon. I think the bread also goes with eggs, which I can make. Sort of. They might have shells in them. But it’s the one thing I can’t not make,” he’d said it quickly, and he knew it was a little too quickly, because a crease had appeared on Lia’s brow like he’d somehow reactivated her headache. Right. She had soju in her convenience store stash last night.
“That’s too many negatives in one sentence,” she complained, pressing her fingers to her temple. “Ow.”
Cal chuckled and pushed the bread toward her, making sure the jams and butter were closer. “Eat.”
That warm little “you-hung-the-moon,” feeling spread through him again as Lia picked up the roll, peeled the wax paper, then took a bite. Cal felt warm and tingly all over, all the way until she gave a little moan that made that tingly heat feel too hot. That, he didn’t have the strength to resist. He could, however, ignore it. He cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry I told Teddy about your session,” he said.
“Is that what this is?” Lia asked. “An apology?”
“It’s a lot of things, but I still am sorry.”
“It’s fine. I really should have told him. I don’t know why I didn’t,” she said, and a silence settled between them because he didn’t know what to say. But Lia beat him to the punch.
“I didn’t really get to tell you about yesterday,” Lia said, her voice suddenly softer, like she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to say it.
“Tell me.”
“I can see why you didn’t want to move here right away. Yeonnamdong was nice. I loved walking around. None of the streets made sense! I had mint ice cream at Mint Choco World?—”
“Nasty.”
“Hey. No slander in this house.”
“My house?” He chuckled. “Our house.” The expression on her face was hilarious. “Please continue.”
“I just kept finding these little shops that I wished I could afford? Oh, and I got perfume! There was a shop with a pretty plum tree outside and the seller spoke English, and I spent way too much on it, smell!” She held her wrist out for him to sniff, and he touched it with his fingertips to draw closer. He hadno idea what the scent notes were supposed to be, all his brain registered was that it was minty, but the mint didn’t burn? More floral. He pressed his nose a little closer. Closer.
Only to realize he was practically at her pulse point, and Lia had gone very still. Cal immediately let go of her hand and knew exactly how she felt like yesterday, but was way too embarrassed to bring it up.
“Smells good,” he said, suddenly remembering that he was going to make her coffee. He hurriedly hid behind the grinder and the espresso machine. “Latte, right?”
“Um, yeah.” If she was blushing, he wasn’t looking. Mostly becausehewas blushing. “So that was my day. Yeonnamdong reminded me a lot of Hongdae from ten years ago.”
“So that’s where that whole neighborhood went,” Cal joked.
“And the park was perfect. And really narrow?” She wrinkled her nose, and Cal smiled, picturing the narrow park’s singular path, the tiny canal that ran through it and the trees that lined the border. He’d spent hours in that park, jogging up and down the path, walking among the families that spent time there.
“It used to be a train track I think,” he said, picturing her sitting in one of the benches with her pie and coffee. “They turned it into a public space.”
“Hay, sana all.” She sighed, and the desolate sigh of “why the fuck is my government so shitty,” he felt to his bones. He understood it, at least.
An uncomfortable silence settled between them, and he wasn’t sure how to fix it. Was it the proper time to say something about how his lips had been two breaths away from her pulse? That he actually really liked the perfume, what was in it? Did she want the deed to his apartment? His firstborn child?
