As she watched him, trying to be discreet, Lia was suddenly struck by a vision—Cal, in the same position, in a different place. Somewhere there were only two seasons, where he would probably be wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt, where theroom would be filled with furniture they both picked out, art prints she’d fallen in love with, and records from his collection. She had visions of a little apartment filled with love and companionship, the kind of softness she never allowed herself to dream of.
She saw a home with him. One where they could have as much coffee as they wanted, and all the strawberry milk she needed.
Snap out of it.She told herself. Delusions were dangerous things to indulge in. Delulu rule number two. Never cross the line. Or at least, tread very,verycarefully.
Lia walked across the room to sit behind him on the couch. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his warm shoulder. Cal continued to play a little more before chuckling.
“Aw Teddy, you’re so sweet.”
“Hay naku!” Lia pressed her nose against his shoulder. “How do you feel about biting?”
“Feel free.”
Lia lightly pressed her teeth on the meat of his shoulder, making Cal jerk to face her in surprise, releasing her hold on him as the guitar squished between them both.
“Oh my god, that was a gigil bite, not a sexy one.”
“It could be both.” She smiled, reaching for the guitar with grabby hands. It had been a while since she held the instrument, but she still knew a few things. Just the basics—the plucking, for example toMore than Words.The two chords that made up the stanzas of Parokya ni Edgar’sHarana.The four that made up Moonstar88’sTorete.She’d never been a great guitarist, but she knew enough to know her way around a song hits. “Did Teddy leave with Soobin?”
“Yup.” He popped the ‘p’ sound. “Something about needing to sit him down and ask if he really knew what ‘caress you until you purr’ meant.”
“What?”
“Just…they’re handling a thing.” Cal was smiling, but he seemed transfixed at her basic ass playing.
“Is your family really into music?” he asked as Lia shrugged and started to playBolt of Blue,because of course she’d looked up the chords. Thank you, Ultimate Guitar. “Teddy’s obviously good at making it. And you’re a fan.”
“When my Dad courted my mom, he bought her a stereo set,” Lia explained, feeling a familiar rush of fondness at her parents’ early days. “She was a big fan of Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell. Ate grew up taking singing lessons for summer class, and well, you know Teddy’s always been a genius.” Lia continued to play idly. Cal was staring at her hands, not at the ones gripping the guitar neck for dear life—she did not have the finger strength for this anymore—but at the ones plucking the strings. “I was a choir girl from first grade to senior year of high school.”
“Soprano 1?”
“Soprano 2,” she corrected him. “Boring old melody.”
Cal shook his head. “The voice holding it all together.”
It was so unexpectedly insightful that Lia had to remind herself what they were talking about. “So, music. It’s just always been there, for us. We didn’t really feel the need to make anything of it, except Teddy.”
“Sounds like a fun childhood,” Cal commented. “Teddy told me his full name was Teodoro. Your Ate’s is Francis.”
“Francis Mae, yes.” Lia nodded.
“And your full name is?—?”
“Secret.” She grinned. “What about you?”
“Ahn Yongjin.”
“No.” Lia laughed. “I meant your family. Were you guys musical?”
“My parents have corny tastes in music.” He wrinkled his nose. “I grew up on what I heard on the radio—Air Supply, Chicago, those kinds of songs. But I grew up in local schools so I learned about Oasis, and John Mayer, The Killers. I loved Bon Jovi. At some point, I wondered what was popular in Korea so I asked my cousins to send CDs and tapes over with my Mom’s food requests. My cousins sent me a Seo Taiji and the Boys CD once, then g.o.d, Leessang. I might have become a rapper if one of my high school classmates didn’t playGravityon his guitar and I wanted to be him.”
“Oof, that’s enough to make anyone want to learn,” Lia said, nodding.
“It was pretty sexy.” Cal chuckled, taking the guitar back from Lia after she was done, playingGravity. “There was just something about his playing that got my attention.”
She understood that impulse completely. “Was that a new song, you were writing earlier?”
“Not yet,” he admitted, and she didn’t miss that he looked a little shy, moving the paper just a bit farther from Lia, putting the guitar away. “It’s a good start, though. I kind of can’t believe it.”
