“Oo na, oo na, I get lost all the time.” Lia rolled her eyes as Cal laughed. “Sorry the session ran a little long. I told you, you didn’t have to wait for me. I’m sure you have a lot to do, and?—”
“—and I wanted to be here,” Cal reminded her, reaching over to squeeze her hand quickly before letting it go. “Plus, I drove you here.”
“You did.”
“And I got to do a little writing.”
“You did.”
“Which I won’t show you because?—”
“No spoilers!”
“Exactly.” He looked smug and confident, and it was a good look on him, Lia decided.
“You still owe me, though,” Lia said, because she liked to tease him. And hey, if it gave them a reason to keep hanging out (did they need reasons?), she was all for it. “My knees are still hurting from yesterday.”
“It is not that bad.”
“And my throat is always a little parched now,” she said dramatically, rubbing over her throat like she could coax it back to life. “My hydration levels will never be the same again.”
“People walk around Itaewon all the time.”
“Yes, but not me!” Lia pouted, showing him a photo he’d definitely already seen (and saved to his phone, but she didn’t know that yet)—a selfie of her, sweaty and miserable, cheeks flushed from heat after being made to climb up several steep hills that led to the Leeum Museum. And Liahatedhiking.
“Did you enjoy the museum, at least?” Cal asked.
“Yes! I want to put rainbow film on my windows now, like that spiral staircase.” She frowned and swiped through her photos. “I wish you were there. Even if just to drive me up to the door. If we ever end up moving together, we canneverlive in Itaewon.”
“I’ll take that into consideration.” Cal’s laughter was loud and was probably floating down to the patrons on the first floor. Lia continued to playfully berate him as he busily put away his crumpled-up notebook pages and headphones when a waitress approached them with a gorgeous-looking flattened croissant filled with dollops of whipped cream and a bright red strawberry.
Lia’s eyes widened at the confection as the waitress said something cheerfully in Korean and placed the tray between them. Cal gave her a polite nod and a “kamsahamnida.” Then from the pocket of his jeans, he pulled out a little candle and wedged it into the cream, using a lighter to light it.
“Happy one month in Seoul,” he said with a grin. “There was a huge debate among us if you and Teddy had already been here a month or two, since you arrived late August, and it’s nearly the end of September.”
“I’m going to guess whatever Siwan said won the argument.”
“Yes, but I also thought one month felt right,” Cal explained, his eyes oddly focused on the flickering light, his palms cupped around the little flame. “Long enough that you and I are a little closer, but not long enough for this to be over anytime soon.”
Lia decided she liked being able to feel joy. Cal looked up from his hands and into her face, all shy smiles and slight embarrassment at his sweet gesture.
“Make a wish, Lia-yah.”
So Lia closed her eyes and made one.
She talked to him about her new part-time job, how secretly excited she was about it all. She was working on a proposal to get the band’sDawnalbum pressed into vinyl, both for the nostalgia factor and to get new fans interested. Plus, the girls were always talking about expanding the universe of that album, and a vinyl release could be the perfect way to let it out.
“I think it’s a great idea.” Cal nodded in approval. “I’ve always been partial to the physical. Tactile things.”
And sometimes her heart would flip, with little things like that, because it almost felt like flirting. But she was enjoying this dynamic so much that it was easy to set it aside and chalk it up to residual feelings from being around him. Like shuddering after getting warm really fast.
“And maybe I’m just a basic millennial, but the idea of physical copies feels precious. Like the fact that it exists physically is a gift.”
“Lucky for us, the SixJays have a mostly millennial following. It’ll be pricey though.” Lia sighed. “But maybe we can do a really limited run, and pre-sell, so we cover the costs. We can tease the vinyl, get people to sign up for updates, use that to gauge how many we need for a print run.”
“And you’ve never thought about working for Triptych full time?” he asked her, sipping his pourover. Lia had recently discovered she wasnota pourover person. Luckily, Cal wasmore than happy to have a latte ready and waiting for her every morning. Which, how did he even have the energy for all of this? “Even BINJ would be lucky if their marketing staff talked like you.”
“Oh come on,” he said, rolling his eyes at the sour look on Lia’s face. “You know, in Korea, it’s perfectly normal to use a connection to get to where you want to be. If it gets you what you want, it doesn’t hurt anyone, right?”
