“Oh. Ha-ha.”
“What? It wasn’t a joke.” Okay, maybe her ferocity was a little scary. “I would think that someone who’s been here for as long as you have—um, I assume— knows a thing or two about getting help from other people. You’re a team. You wouldn’t be the leader without them. So, talk to them about it. Confide in them, collaborate with them. If thisisyour last chance to do something, wouldn’t you want to give it your best shot?”
“You’re saying you want me to fight for it,” he said, ripping the wax paper of his bread into several little pieces.
“I’m asking if you want to,” she corrected him, taking the paper from his hands. “I think you flew my brother here because you wanted to go on this journey with him. With someone who doesn’t strictly know who the band is, but what it can be.”
How was it that someone he’d only known for two days saw him so clearly, while she was so lost? He was so used to giving parts of himself away—his words, his music, his face, the things he found funny—but she didn’t seem to want any of that. So what did he really have?
“You make it sound so easy.”
“You made yesterday easier for me,” she pointed out. “You have great instincts, Cal. I wish you trusted them more. I wish you trusted yourself more.”
“I could say the same to you,” he said. He smiled at her because he was grateful, and how was it that she made him feel better? “Thank you, Lia. I’m still going to bribe your brother, but, thank you.”
“Oh, you should.” Lia nodded in agreement. “But can I also take a strawberry yogurt?”
posted by@CoBOLT (verified)
posted five years ago
Rehearsal Hits: Pretty Boy - M2M
SIX
ECHO - INCUBUS
Not to patherself on the back or anything, but Lia took it as a good sign that she neither saw nor heard Cal for two weeks. The only signs of life she got from the other inhabitants of the house were the sound of the coffee grinder and the hiss of the milk steamer in the morning. Sometimes it was the sound of music floating from the living room when she was asleep. Other times, it was the sound of excited voices, laughing and saying “bro” a lot until one would shush the other. She was used to her brother’s nocturnal hours when they were kids, and it felt a bit nostalgic to live in an apartment with that kind of housemate again.
Which was fine! She was feeling a lot better mentally since she had her therapy session, and she’d busied herself exploring the city by herself. She got to visit places she wanted to see without thinking about anyone else, for as long as she wanted. She could wait for the bus without feeling like she was wasting someone’s time, could get lost without feeling guilty. Bliss!
It was just that, sometimes she wished there was someone she could talk to about what she saw. What did they think of the cafe in the old hanbok with the fake stream? How did theyfeel about dress perfume versus regular skin perfume? Why was Seoul’s coffee weak as shit?
Lia was a second child, she was used to having someone on either side to talk to. An older sister to complain to, a younger brother to commiserate with. She was a great friend, too. She could navigate to wherever a certain friend wanted to go—during her trip here with Megan ten years ago, she’d been the one to get them to N Seoul Tower and back in one piece! It was just a little lonely, is all.
Which was why she texted her brother if he wanted to have dinner with her at this marinated raw crab restaurant she’d seen on social media. He was always down to try weird food.
Shit, just woke up.
Sorry, Ate, I told Cal I would work on this song with him.
He seems excited, the lyrics are really good.
Probably.
They’re in Korean but Google Translate makes them sound good.
And that was good, right? It was good for him and for Cal, that they seemed to be working things out. Lia was grateful for that, above all, mostly because it was why she was here in the first place. Saling pusas aren’t meant to be minded, they just exist.
Have you said yes to Mon’s offer yet?
So it took her completely by surprise when she walked into the living room to find Cal lying on the couch, listening to music.
Lia breathed a sigh at the sight of him, relaxed at home with his eyes shut and his fingers playing dull-sounding chords on an unplugged electric guitar. She’d forgotten not to be overwhelmed that she was in his space, and seeing him again made it all rush back. Made her remember the way his face had come so close to her wrist that she was sure he’d heard her pulse beating. The way he’d listened to her and squeezed her hand. Had asked about her day.
They were such tiny, tiny things, maybe. Things that she’d only heard about happening to other people.
