Meet & Latte
Living With VIXX: Making An Album [Hiatus]“Ah.” Nadia sighed as both girls let themselves fall onto their bed, exhausted. “Finally some rest for my feet. Stair-town killed me.”
The corner from the other’s mouth curled a little upwards. “Well, at least we got our cardio for the rest of the week.”
“Like, seriously. The venue’s called ‘Yoyo’. We were yo-yoing all around the place.”
It was the first time Morena had to laugh since the concert. Taking her mobile, she plugged the charger in. It had died on their way to the hotel; Jeonghwan had asked if they arrived several times during the trip, which took the last bit of the battery Morena had saved for the navigation. Nadia her phone still had some life in it left and she switched on the Wi-Fi. Immediately, she received a lot of notifications. There was a double-digit number showing at the KakaoTalk icon, which got the girl’s attention. Opening the app, she saw that it came from one chat.
“Huh, a group chat?” She commented and Morena looked up.
“What?”
“Jeonghwan really was desperate for an answer.” They both giggled. “Look.” Nadia showed Morena her screen. There was indeed a new chat, opened by him. He had left messages, asking the girls if they had returned at the hotel and if he could call them.
Morena had just taken a fry out of the bag of the fresh take-out they got from a snack bar that was still open at midnight. “He wants to call us?”
“Shall we call him instead?” Nadia looked at the time he sent that message. “It was twenty minutes ago.”
“Maybe he’s already asleep?” Morena gave the other her half of the food before continuing eating. “Send him a message first instead.”
And Nadia did, saying what she was typing. “We just came back, Morena’s phone died.” Nadia paused to eat. “Are you still awake?” The girls did not even have to say that they would be open for a call; he already did so since they were answering his messages.
Nadia answered and put it on speakers. “Yeoboseyo?”
“Hola!” The other quickly added her greeting as she fully turned towards Nadia, lying face down on her bed.
The man’s laughter was soft. “Hey girls.”
“Why did you want to call us?” In total contrast, Nadia took the lead during the talk. “Do you miss us already?”
Again, Jeonghwan laughed in a low volume. “Well, maybe I do.” He took a second to speak again. “I’m wondering if your offer for tomorrow still stands.”
The girls looked at each other, surprised. “What offer?” Morena asked, switching her stare to Nadia’s mobile.
“The offer of you two showing me around the Eiffel Tower.”
“You still remember that one.” The latter girl snorted and buried her face in her blanket. She did not expect him to take her joke seriously, as she exaggerated her knowledge about the area.
“Well, we’ve only seen the palace in front of the Eiffel, to be totally honest.” Nadia confessed. “We had plans to go to the tower tomorrow though.”
Lifting her head again, Morena remembered the name of the area. “We were only around the Trocadéro.”
“Trocadéro…” Jeonghwan’s Korean accent was heavy. “Oh, with the fountains in front?”
“Yes.” Nadia answered.
“We’ve been there already for a photo shoot.”
“Oh.” Morena frowned. Her hope for a chance to still show him around in a way got crushed.
Nadia swallowed her food after taking a quick bite. “Then we’ve got nothing to show you.”
“Well…” A soft but heavy puffing sound could be heard while the man was trying to find his words. The girls were looking at the mobile with confused faces, as they could not figure out what the sound was. Jeonghwan’s voice broke their thoughts. “We could still go to the Eiffel Tower together?” His soft voice got even softer at that point.
“Why are you whispering?” Nadia asked in a whisper to copy him.
“Because there’s someone sleeping next to me.”
Again, the girls looked at each other. Morena raised an eyebrow. “Was that… A snore just a minute ago?”
“You’ve heard it right.” Jeonghwan took his mobile and pointed it towards that person, who snored again right at that moment.
Nadia giggled. “And who’s that then?” Morena slapped the other’s thigh as she opened from disbelieve, not wanting her to sound rude. “You’re sleeping together with other staff?” Now both were laughing.
“That’s Wonshik.” Immediately, the girls were silent. Their face glowed, reddening from embarrassment and both their heart fluttered. He noticed that they had stopped laughing and thought it was hilarious, trying not to burst out laughing right at that spot. “Hello? Is anyone still there?” He joked.
“Yes, we are.” Nadia was searching for words. “So… about tomorrow…” Switching the topic. “We’d like to go with you to the tower.”
“Good.” The girls could hear that he was smiling. “So where would you like to meet?”
“Maybe we can start at the Trocadéro?” Morena wondered out loud. “I think that it’ll be too crowded at the towers’ square to find each other easily, plus we’ve been there before, so we’ll know where to go.”
“How late shall I be there?” Looking at each other for the last time in this conversation, they could not come up with a certain time right away.
“Ehm…” Nadia began to make a noise to let him know that they were thinking. “Eleven?”
“That’s good, see you two tomorrow.”
“Jalja-yong.” Mispronouncing the word ‘Jaljayo” to wish him a good sleep, Morena made the man laugh.
“Jalja.” He ended the call and both girls smiled from ear to ear.
Nadia put multiple fries in and jokingly started talking as she chewed. “I’m already excited for tomorrow.”
“Don’t speak with your mouth full.” Morena nagged, punching the girl against her shoulder and pushed her last words as she did so, receiving a laugh from the other.
Finishing their food, they packed their suitcases and got everything done so they would not have to do much in the morning. Having a decent amount of sleep, the girls got ready and checked out at their hotel. To drop off their luggage they took the metro to Gare Du Nord station and put them in a locker.
“Aren’t we close to the Eiffel Tower?” Jaehwan asked – still enthusiastic about the tower even though he had seen it multiple times – and broke the silence that had been haunting the group the entire morning.
“Keep looking at your right.” Jeonghwan gave a simple answer and Jaehwan did what he was told to do. He looked to his right and saw the building that they were passing. As they passed it, he could see the iron construction. While they were in the taxi, they barely could see any gap between all the buildings, so spotting the tower from there was hard. He had forgotten how big it was and how close they were, so he was surprised.
“Wow, the Eiffel tower is so tall. I want to go there now!” Jaehwan sounded like a little kid, looking at it in awe. He kept looking while he proceeded to follow the rest of the group, but sometimes another member had to pull the boy with him as he was walking to a different direction. “Can we please go?”
“We have to wait for the girls first.” Jeonghwan said and Jaehwan stopped with walking as he started to pout. “Pouting doesn’t help Jaehwan. You wanted to meet them as well. Now let’s go.” The manager pulled Jaehwan with him towards the rest of the group, who were standing a bit further from them. The playful boy had been trying to soften the situation with his unlimited energy all along.
“Do we need to speak English all the time?” Wonshik sounded worried, as his English was not that good.
“Well, at least try. I’m sure that the girls will understand if you have trouble speaking.” Jeonghwan looked around and saw all the worried faces. “Besides, I can translate for you.”
“Your English isn’t that good.” Sanghyuk scoffed with a smile and received an angry look from the manager.
“Well, my English is so good that I’ve had long and easy conversations with them so far.”
“How long do we have to walk by the way?” Hakyeon looked around at the old buildings before being pulled back to the ground. Since no stone was aligned, it compelled them to look down and be careful on where to walk.
“Well, since we are so early, Taekwoon had requested to go to a coffee shop first.” Jeonghwan noticed that every member looked at the main vocal. The emotions were mixed, but not too negative.
“I want coffee.” Taekwoon simply added. There was a short silence, as they had to cross the street. “Not even five minutes from here.” He had received the manager’s mobile, as he was the only one with Internet access. Using a navigation app, they walked straight to the nearest Starbucks.
Jeonghwan looked over the street in front of him. “He told me that it would be a fifteen minute walk to the Trocadéro, so if we leave a quarter to eleven we’ll be on time.”
To both girls their surprise, they were about one whole hour too early when they arrived at Trocadéro station. Walking out and taking a few steps, they looked all over the square and towards the Eiffel Tower. There were not a lot of people and it was overcast, but in a peaceful way, making everything look soft and calm. Together with the beautiful view, the cold wind overwhelmed them.
“Ah, it’s too cold.” Nadia whined loudly and held on tight to her own coat.
“Do you think that Jeonghwan will be here this early as well?”
“Eh… No? And especially not with this cold!” Grabbing Morena by her poncho, Nadia took her back behind the building, away from the wind. “Can’t we warm up with a warm drink or something?”
“I’ll message him to ask if he’s already on his way.”
Morena took out her mobile and started messaging him. He was online and responded quickly. Receiving the messages that the girls wanted to get warm and drink something, he then responded that he was on his way to a Starbucks. Before she could react, he had already shared its location. They changed their plans to meet at that café and the girls were on their way.
Walking into the building, the boys noticed that it was quite busy. Luckily, most people were waiting for their take-out at the front of the store and there were enough places for people to sit if you could get yourself through the mass.
“Wonshik?” Taekwoon tapped the boy on his shoulder, pointing at the menu board.
“Mocha.” Was the only thing the boy answered.
Looking at the others, only Hakyeon answered that he wanted a cup of tea and Jeonghwan wanted an Espresso. Taekwoon went to join the line while the others were looking for a place to sit. After roughly seven minutes, it was finally time for him to order the beverages. He had been indecisive the entire time whether he should choose his basic Latte or try out another drink for once. As the cashier asked for his order he automatically answered a Latte and added the others’ beverages. He heard the word “nom” for “name” and used his stage name. She kept talking, but he did not feel the need to ask if she could speak English and just let it be. Giving him a box with different kinds of tea, he choose one that Hakyeon would like. He gave her the box back and then gave her a twenty-euro note. He received the change and a good day from her. He thanked the cashier and merged himself with the group that was waiting for their orders.
As the girls took their first step into the café they were taken aback from the busy place. Scanning over the people, Morena could not find Jeonghwan and shook her head towards Nadia for her confirmation. Knowing that they were at the correct location, they went to stand in line together. The tall girl texted him to ask where he was sitting. While waiting, she looked at the menu board and checked out what they had to offer. Thinking of something else unlike her regular chocolate milk or mango smoothie, she kept looking at the other options. They were soon to order and Nadia went with a Latte. She turned her head towards Morena, wanting to know what she wanted. The girl sighed and choose the chocolate milk. It was chilly outside; the mango drink would cool her down too much. Nadia paid and the girls continued walking to join the others who were waiting. They did not want to bother anyone, so they were standing in front of the group.
Morena was the first one of the two to receive her drink. While waiting, Jeonghwan had texted her that he was sitting somewhere in the back, so both knew which direction to go to. It was still too crowded for the duo, so they knew from each other that they would walk away the moment they could do so. She scanned every person on every seat to check if it was Jeonghwan. She walked further into the café and suddenly felt her stomach drop. Instantly coming to a hold, she replayed the thought that went through her head. That laughter sounded very familiar. It really resembled Wonshik’s. She shook her head – thinking that it was just her wild imagination – and continued walking until once again she felt punched in her stomach. That person over there really looks like Hakyeon. She blinked a few times, thinking that it was her eyes fooling her and her imagination taking over. But no, that boy at the end of the café really looked like him. She almost was too afraid to look at the people sitting around that person and when she finally did, she almost lost her drink from the sudden numbness throughout her body. She recognized the rest: Hongbin, Sanghyuk, Wonshik, Jeonghwan, Jaehwan. Only Taekwoon was absent. With barely any strength in her legs left, she struggled to take a couple of steps. The manager had noticed her and started greeting her. She could not take her stare from the members; she was petrified.
How should I react… How can I even react in a normal way…
She really needed a moment to recover from her shock and snapped out of it by focusing on the only person she knew. “Hey, Jeonghwan, good morning.” She produced a genuine smile as she raised her hand a bit, waving.
“Good morning.”
She hesitated. “I did not know that you would bring the boys with you?” This time, she made sure that she made eye contact with them in a normal way, smiling. “Annyeonghaseyo, jeoneun Morena-ibnida. Mannaseo bangabseubnida.” She introduced herself in Korean and bowed a few times, making the boys look at her with a mix of awe and dumbfound. Did she just speak perfect Korean?
“Hangugeoreul hal su isseoyo?” Wonshik blurted out to her, asking if she could speak Korean.
“Oh, no no.” Morena waved her hand awkwardly while she chuckled shortly. “No, I can’t.” She felt awkward to speak in their native language, so she switched back to English.
The manager made the others get up and make way for her. Quickly, she waved her hands again to make them stop and sat herself on an empty chair at the next table in front of them. This way, no one had to get up and move, plus they would still sit together – creating a nice distance from each other. Morena knew from Nadia and herself that they would get more awkward if they would be to sit even closer.
While still waiting, Taekwoon looked around. Since he had multiple beverages, it took him longer to receive his order. At one point, he noticed a girl in the mass who he remembered from the day before. Jeonghwan had showed the group a video that he took of her when she was dancing just a few hours before they left their hotel, so the way she looks was fresh in his mind. For a slight second he was thinking of saying hello to her and take her to the group after they got their drinks, but he also remembered how scared she was at the Hi-Touch. Instead, he kept staring at her and tried to figure out her body language. Her ash blond hair partially covered her face. She was again a bit nervous and impatient. Even the way she stood was closed. Every time a customer would get their drink, she would make sure that they would not touch or that she would not be standing in their way. Almost everyone around her was taller than her, creating a wall of people around her. Taekwoon looked around for the other girl, the one who helped the then terrified girl, but could not recognize her in anyone surrounding the first one. Whenever the dancing girl would look around and towards his direction, he wondered if he should keep on staring or look away to not freak her out if she noticed what he was doing. From time to time he would look at the bar where the beverages were placed upon, watching as the baristas assembled his order.
Nadia became a bit restless, as she wanted to go back to Morena. She looked at the baristas and tried to see which drinks they were preparing. At the far left side she saw a drink that she thought resembled a Latte, so she concentrated on that person. The barista was just given the cup to finish it and tried to dance in between her colleagues to get to the other side of the bar. Nadia felt delighted as the barista, who seemed new from the way she tried to read the writing on the cup, read out loud the word “Latte” and looked around. As she took a step forward to call the customer, the barista recognized the name on other cups on the bar. Nadia saw how she placed the cup onto a tray and her hope scattered. Sighing, she looked over to the other baristas again.
“Un latte pour Leo.” The barista called out. Nadia braced herself for the person to come forward, wondering if she had to take a step aside for them. Someone started to move from her left and had to walk past her. Luckily, they had enough room to walk in front of her. Her breathing hitched when the person walked past her. He looks so familiar… The young man took the tray from the barista and as he thanked her in French, he bowed. Nadia noticed his body frame and his soft voice and right when he turned around, all of the pieces were falling into place. Her stomach dropped and her eyes widened when Jung Taekwoon walked past her. She did not look him in the face after she realized who he was, but she could feel his stare burn on her.
“Oh my god, oh my god.” She tried to mutter, but her lips were shut – she could not make any sound. The moment she thought that he was gone, she realized that she had not blinked very much and had to blink a few times to make her eyes feel normal again. She looked around, wishing that he was not standing close to her. She had to catch her breath; it felt like she had run a mile. It did not take long for her to be called and she went to collect it. When she extended her hands to retrieve the cup, her hands were trembling heavily, something she did not realize until she cupped her drink with her hands. Stuttering, she thanked the barista and turned around. With small steps, she walked into the mass of people, trying to get through as quick as she possibly could.
“Yah, what took you so long?” Hakyeon yelled at Taekwoon when he saw the boy walking towards the group with their drinks. “You always choose for a Latte, so it shouldn’t have taken that long.” Taekwoon ignored Hakyeon his existence and placed the drinks onto the table, distributing them to the right person. “Even Morena was earlier with her drink and you ordered a while ago.” Taekwoon took a sip from his drink, looked at the dark brown haired girl and walked away from the group. Morena felt so weird out by the casual manner he spoke out her name.
“W-well.” She started off her sentence but stopped for a split second, noticing that the rest looked at her again. “It’s very busy… Besides, he’d ordered multiple drinks – and very different ones by the looks of it, so that always takes longer.”
“Hm.” Hakyeon looked at the mass of people and leaned against the back of his seat. “Strange. Normally they would prepare the drinks for each order first.”
“I saw that a barista was busy making the same drink that I ordered, so I think that he simply prepared two for his convenience. That’s why I got mine so fast.”
Morena was not even finished with her last sentence and one by one, the members and the manager started looking up. She followed their lead and saw how Taekwoon was showing Nadia the way to the group. The girl was terrified once again, in total panic until she saw her friend. She sped up a bit and it was until the girl stood next to Morena that Taekwoon let her and rejoined the group. With a lot of effort, the girl thanked him to show a bit of humanity.
“You guys remember my friend, Nadia?” Knowing that Nadia would not start speaking, Morena started introducing her. The girl managed to bow and even showed a smile on her face. It was still an awkward smile, but it was more than both girls expected. Morena tried to calm Nadia down by letting her sit and hold her hand, encouraging her by telling her how well she did. She calmed down quite quickly from the outside, but inside she was still freaking out.
“I thought that it would be nice to surprise you girls with bringing the boys with me.” Jeonghwan explained the purpose of all of this, smiling brightly. “They wanted to meet you two as well. Besides, they also haven’t been to the Eiffel Tower, so why not go together in a group?” He chuckled.
“Would you like that?” Sanghyuk finally spoke.
“Of course we would like that!” Morena looked at Nadia and back towards the group, smiling. “We are really surprised.” Eyeing at the manager. “You did a great job, Jeonghwan.” She had to laugh, making him laugh with her as well.
The members were smiling along and looked at each other, wondering what they should do now. Their smiles slowly turned into awkward ones or even slightly worried faces. Creating English sentences in their head, they tried to find the one to start off a conversation.
Morena was very aware of the silence and began to feel very uneasy; she hates these kind of instant silences. She did not want to come off too shy or too hyper or even rude for doing anything. Still wanting to start a conversation, she tried to come up with a subject to talk about.
“Has anyone slept well last night?” She just began to ask some simple questions. Even if it would be small talk, it would be an actual talk. Everyone nodded and answered positively. “Great! I knew you guys would rest well after such a good performance.” She felt her face heat up a little from mentioning the showcase. “And did you have a good breakfast?” That was the moment she realized how much she was actually blushing.
“No, we haven’t eaten yet.” Taekwoon decided to answer. “We woke up, got ready and directly went out to meet you.” The girls smiled shyly. Jeonghwan was looking around him, not engaging to push the others to speak.
“And you two?” It was Hongbin who joined.
“We haven’t eaten yet either.” Morena entwined her fingers, looking down for a second. “We were too busy with everything else to eat something.”
The leader was concerned. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“Not really.” She answered and looked at Nadia, signing that she should answer as well.
“A.” constricted, feeling an acute dryness. She cleared it by taking a sip and continued. “A little bit.”
“So that means a big yes.” The other girl tried to joke. Everyone laughed, including Nadia.
Hakyeon looked at the manager, wondering if he could speak out his idea. Not receiving a look back from him, he shook his head. Without consulting with the others, he turned back to the girls. “Maybe we can look for a restaurant and eat lunch together?”
Both girls again felt the jitters inside their stomach. Were they really going to eat together with the VIXX members?
I hate apologizing for being slow but got to do it again. Days been going quickly - like they merge, shortening my weeks. I just realized that I uploaded Tour Eiffel in January! My (mental) health & block prevent me from writing. I read the words I got over & over but nothing comes out. I'm so sorry
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