“I had a wonderful evening,” Nathan remarked, walking Yuri to her door.

“Me too,” she smiled, a little more surprise in her voice than she intended.  She had expected Nathan to be a little less interesting than he had been, and she had been regretting not being so enthusiastic about dating him.

They reached the door and faced each other, their bodies less than arms-length apart.  Yuri smiled nervously, expectantly.

“Well,” she started, “I guess this is … good night?”

Nathan nodded.  “I guess so.”

Yuri knew how dates ended.  She knew what was expected of her and how she was to react.  Every date ended with a kiss, initiated by the man, and she was to be receptive.  It was the rule of dating, especially on a date where the male had paid as Nathan had.

Nathan reached his hand forward, taking hold of hers, retaining his distance.  His index and middle fingers curled under hers and he lifted her hand from her body with little effort.  He lowered his body, bending it almost into a bowing stance, lifted her hand to his lips, and gently kissed the back of her hand.

That was new.

He lowered her hand and looked at her.  “Good night,” he bade, nodding his head and smiling at her.

“G-good night,” she muttered, stunned at his conduct.  There was no lip locking, no pressure on her, no attempt for an impromptu game of tonsil tennis.  Nothing.  “Nathan?” she called as he walked away to the waiting taxi.  Her conscious mind chastised her and called to her to stop, but her subconscious mind wouldn’t listen.  She saw him stop and turn around to face her, as she felt her feet carry her towards him.  She felt her head tilt up towards his and she felt her eyes close, her face being magnetically drawn to his.  She felt his lips on hers and she felt her tongue fighting to be free.  Her conscious mind begged for this to end, but her body wouldn’t listen.  It was almost as though it had a mind of its own.  They kissed a few seconds longer, his gentle lips and demeanour ever present, but the passion she could feel, the intensity behind his kiss … had she not seen this?   This sweet, kind, gentle man … was kissing her in a way that she longed to be kissed.  Her eyebrows raised as her lips parted and he responded in kind.  His hands crawled to her hips and walked across them, holding her in the softest embrace she had known.  There was no mauling of each other, there was no force, there was no strength, no overpowering.  Just soft, gentle, delicate touches that were driving her crazy in ways that she couldn’t even describe, nor did she understand how.  She had never thought something this slow moving could be so stimulating.  And yet it was.  She felt him pull her closer to him with such minimal force and she complied, pressing her hands onto his shirt-covered chest and kissing him deeper, her tongue tracing the crevice of his lips.  Slowly he pulled away, leaving her wanting.

“Good night,” he whispered, releasing her from his tender grip.

“G-good night,” she nodded, hesitantly turning on her heel as he departed from her.  She wanted to invite him inside.  She wanted him to remain, but something held her back.  She should be strong, resolute, distant.  This part of her told her that he should be the one to chase her, she shouldn’t be leading him to her.

As she turned and walked away from him, she cursed that part of her with all of her being.

 

~~~

 

“Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.  Turn over that card,” Sunny asked Hyoyeon.

Hyoyeon obliged, revealing the Ten of Clubs.

“How on earth does that work?” she shouted.

“It’s great, huh?” Sunny beamed.  “This is my new favourite trick.”

“What, more than that card trick that pissed Penn off?”

Sunny laughed, remembering the video she had seen online of American magician Penn Jillette almost storming off the stage on TV with a card trick.  “Actually, it’s even better than that,” she admitted, picking up the cards.  “Although I loved that one just for how he reacted.  He’s always so cocky, thinking he knows everything!”

Tiffany laughed and watched how bright her waitress was this morning.  Yuri was with her, keeping quiet about the secret.  Or perhaps there wasn’t actually a secret to keep.  Perhaps it was just all in the rules.  Mathematical algorithms working together to form some sort of “magical” equation.  Whatever it was, she could see how it consumed Sunny in a way that she had never seen before.  Even Yuri was mildly impressed, but Sunny was almost devoted to dissecting it and solving the inner workings.  It was a beast she had not seen before, and one she couldn’t explain the existence of.  Still, it pleased her no end to see Sunny brighter today.

“Ok,” she called regrettably.  “We’ve seen it enough now, Sunny.”

“Wait, one more time,” she beamed.

“Girl, you’ve done this now eight times,” Taeyeon jibed playfully.  “We get it, it’s awesome and none of us know how it’s done.”

Sooyoung walked out from the staff room.  “Is she still showing that?” she asked.  “I had to drive her to the toy store on my day off, no less, for a deck of cards just so she could show me that trick!”

“It’s exciting to her,” Tiffany smiled.  “Anyway, we have customers coming, so you really should pack it away.”

Sunny packed the cards away for the final time, blushing in embarrassment at how excited such a trick had made her.  It was a simple mechanism and it fascinated her.  All night long she had practiced and every time was rewarded with the same outcome.  She tried different combinations, she passed over higher numbers in favour of smaller ones and passed over smaller numbers in favour of higher ones.  She even shuffled the cards after each pile was dealt.  Each time the outcome was the same.  She placed the deck of cards in her apron pocket and fastened her polka dot bow in her hair.

“Sunny?” Tiffany called, walking over to her.  “Look, I like that you’ve got a new toy.  And I’m glad you had fun.  Just …” she looked up at the tall, ebony-haired waitress walking to unlock the doors.

“Just … what?” Sunny asked.

Tiffany looked and shook her head.  “Nothing.  Just … you know.”

Sunny turned to Sooyoung, allowing the first of the customers into the diner.  She sighed wistfully, her smile still sitting firmly on her face.  “Don’t gush over him because Sooyoung gets cranky?”

Tiffany paused before nodding.  “Uh … yeah.  Exactly.”

Sunny turned and bowed respectfully to her manager, heading into the kitchen.

 

The morning was rather mundane compared to most.  The usual crowd of truck drivers came in for their early morning breakfast before their next jaunt across the country.  Business people came in for their morning coffee before heading to the daily grind at the office.  The day functioned as every other day had.  As the lunchtime rush came around, Tiffany noticed Sunny checking between the door and the clock a little more.  It was something Sunny would do on occasion, but today it seemed to be more often than Tiffany remembered.  It didn’t take a genius, however, to work out why.

Through the door, almost on schedule, walked Ryan and Nathan, talking together as they often did.  The pair sat at the table in Sunny’s section, where she bounded up to them with seemingly endless energy.  She gave Ryan a small peck on his cheek before pulling out her notepad.

“You know, I’ve been doing that trick for everyone all morning,” Sunny admitted to her boyfriend’s colleague.

“Really?”

She nodded and blushed.  “I might have annoyed a few people with it …”

Nathan laughed.  “That’s why I don’t do them that often.”

She smiled.  “Two usuals then?”

The pair nodded and the waitress bounced off to the kitchen.

“She seems happier than usual today,” Nathan commented as she left.

“Huh?”  Ryan turned around.  “Yeah … I guess so.”

“You guess so?”

“Well … I mean, yeah, she’s happy.”

Nathan shrugged and turned around, looking towards the bar, catching the eye of his date.  “Excuse me a moment,” he announced, standing from the table.  He walked towards the bar, smiling to Yuri.

“Hey,” she greeted him.  “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing well.  You look beautiful.”

The compliment astounded her.  Not because she had never heard it before; it was as common to hear compliments about her looks as it was to hear drink orders for the bartender.  What astounded her was that she didn’t look as beautiful as she had on their date, a time he had seen her at her most pristine, and yet even now he was complimenting her.

“Uh … thank you … but I’m really not feeling beautiful today.”

“You’re not?  How are you feeling?” he asked, concerned.

“Oh, I couldn’t be better,” she elaborated, “but I just never feel beautiful when I’m dressed like something out of the 1950s.”

Nathan smiled.  “Well, I think you look beautiful.”  She blushed in response.  “Listen, Yuri … I don’t know if this is of interest to you, but there’s an exhibition this Saturday at a new art gallery near the school.  It’s the opening day, and I was hoping you’d like to join me.”

“An exhibition?”

He nodded.  “It’s showing the change in the street art movement.”

Yuri smiled.  “Sounds ... interesting …”

“Well, it’s something I’ve been interested in for a while.  I thought we could go to the exhibition, get some lunch.  I know a great café restaurant we could go to.”

She smiled wider.  “That sounds great.”

“Ok,” he smiled back.  “So I’ll … pick you up?  Say at 10am?”

“It’s a date.”

“Great.  I’ll see you then.”  He was about to return to his seat before he returned to her attention.  “Oh, before I forget, next Saturday afternoon, if you’re free as well ... one of my colleagues is throwing a party.  He was here from China, getting some teaching experience and now he’s going back home, so he’s throwing a big farewell party and he’s invited all of the staff along.  He said we could bring someone and ... if I was honest, I’d rather be there with you than with anyone else.”

She giggled coyly and blushed.  “Is there anyone else you would go with if I said no?”

He feigned thought before he gave his abrupt and expected answer: “No, absolutely not.  If I don’t get to go with you, I’m staying at home.”

Her laughter grew slightly.  “Well, I’ll have to ask Tiffany, but if she’s ok with it then ... I’d love to.”

“Great.”

“Is it ... formal?” she asked nervously.

“No, not at all.  But I’ll dress up a little.  You know, nice shirt, pressed jeans, nice shoes.”

“You’ve already picked out what you’re going to wear?” she asked mockingly.

“No,” he laughed.  “I just know what I would usually wear to something like this.  Especially if I have someone as beautiful as you to be there with.  I can’t let you down by going in sweatpants and a stained t-shirt now, can I?”

She laughed harder than she had since she had last seen him.  “Ok,” she smiled, “I’ll make sure I dress to impress too.”

“You always do,” he smiled.

She shook her head, her cheeks turning crimson again.  “Stop it,” she slapped his arm playfully, resting her hand on his limb.  “I’m at work.  I shouldn’t be flirting with my boyfriend here.”

He laughed and covers her hand with his.  “Well, I should leave you to your job then, before I get you into trouble.”

She nodded and gingerly removed her hand, not really wanting to bring such a tender moment to an end.

“So ... I’ll see you this Saturday, won’t I?”

Yuri nodded.  “And I’ll let you know what Tiffany says about the party,” she agreed.

He smiled at her and his heel, leaving her behind as another customer and hopeful suitor approached her.  In the thirty seconds since he left, she had already rebuffed his advances and looked at him in pity as he walked away with his tail between his legs.  Although that guilt was swiftly mitigated when she reminded herself of his opening line of “Was your father an alien?  Because there’s nothing else on this planet like you”.

If there was one thing she liked about Nathan, it was his class.

 

~~~

 

She looked at the building in front of her, a confused look on her face.  “I thought you were taking me to an art gallery …”

“I am,” Nathan answered, amused.  “We’re here.”

“But …” she looked through the full wall height glass windows.  “This is graffiti.”

Nathan laughed.  “It’s ‘street art’.  Come on.”  He pulled the door open and smiled at his date.  Automatically and still perplexed, she followed and entered the building.  On the walls were a mixture of canvases, photographs and prints of graffiti style artwork, the photos on actual buildings or walls or bridges.  Most were set outside, but some were taken inside.  Underneath some of the canvases were photographs showing the process the artists took to create the masterpieces.  Yuri lowered herself to look at some of them.

“Wow,” she muttered, impressed.  “They look really … different.”

Nathan looked around and nodded.  “I think I am more impressed with street art than any other art form.”

She stood up and turned to face him.  “Why?”

“Well, if you think of normal art in galleries, you think of your statues, your paintings, they’re all usually done for private collectors.  Most of them tend to be your Mona Lisas, your Last Suppers, your Statues of David, and other similar stuff.  And they tend to be really pretty, really attractive pieces.  Yes?”  Yuri nodded.  “Well, street art does two things differently.  First, it makes the art available to everyone.  Normal artwork is for private collectors, but the street is for everyone.  So putting art in the street is a way of opening it up for people.  Secondly, a lot of street art came with a message about society or politics, and it often made to be a talking point for people that was more than ‘Is this graffiti or art?’  Like …” the pair walked a little further until a piece of art caught Nathan’s eye.  He laughed to himself.  “What are the odds?  The very piece I was thinking of.”  In front of them was a set of photographs of a phone box, and along the outside were spray painted people, “listening in” to the phone box.

“In the UK, there is a spy agency called GCHQ.  There was some news about how they and the US and some other countries were listening into other country’s phone calls and intercepting their email and internet communications.”

Yuri nodded.  “Yeah, that was the whole Edward Snowden thing, wasn’t it?”

Nathan nodded.  “Well, there was an artist called Banksy, and he is this mysterious artist and nobody seems to know who he is or what he looks like.  Anyway, this piece was one of his that came out in …” he looked for the card underneath.  “April 2014.  Months after the whole Snowden revelations.  It was done just meters from the GCHQ offices as well.”

Yuri looked at the photograph.  “Wow,” she laughed.  “What happened to it?”

“Some people defaced it with the bad side of graffiti a few months later.  But it got a lot of people talking and people were seeing this as a political statement.  People were talking about whether governments were right to listen to personal conversations of innocent people and to collect information of innocent civilians.  And this piece helped to remind people that it was happening, and it helped to keep the issue at the forefront of conversations.”

Yuri smiled.  “What happened since?”

Nathan shook his head.  “Apparently, the government said ‘Oh, we do it to protect you from acts of terrorism,’ and the people said ‘Oh, ok’ and now the British government is looking to push through laws that legalise the collection of the information from everyone.”

“So it didn’t work?”

“Kind of,” her companion conceded, “people talked and people are now more outraged, but it didn’t stop the government.  And more people are campaigning for changes to the laws so that there are either very strict controls or that parts of the new law can be taken out.  So in a way it has done some good.”

She smiled softly.  “So much power from one picture.”

He nodded.  “That’s what I love most about it.  Any art form that holds so much power is something worth celebrating.”

The pair continued to walk around the gallery, Yuri mesmerised at the pieces on display.  She was enchanted by the stories from her date, telling her of the movements that came from or inspired such pieces.  She was infatuated with the resident artist that was creating a piece of artwork in front of them, watching his every spray, the lines he created, watching as this masterpiece unfurled before her very eyes.  As Nathan watched her, she started to sparkle, losing herself in the environment.  It was amazing to see her transform.

“Wow,” she shook her head.  The pair had walked around the room, twice on some occasions, and Yuri had taken scores of photographs with the resident artist.  She had even convinced him to teach her his craft and had contributed to the production of the artwork.  They sat in the nearby café, browsing through the photos she had taken on her phone.  “I am so glad I gave it a chance,” she mused, resting her phone on the table and looking at her companion, a satisfied smile on her face.

“I’m glad you did too,” he smiled back as the waiter returned with their lattes.  “Not a lot of people like street art until they see it like that.  They just think of graffiti as writing ‘Yuri was here 2016’ on walls or writing gang names.”

Yuri nodded.  “I was exactly the same before today.  You might have converted me,” she smirked.

He smiled wider.  “Well, we’re spending today together, right?  So, let’s order something nice for lunch and then we can go for a stroll and … talk.  See what else I can convert in you.”

Yuri grinned.  “You don’t have much planned, do you.”

Nathan laughed.  “I probably could have planned more,” he admitted.  “But … I figured there would be plenty of time for us to talk and get to know each other.  Besides, there are a lot of things going on in the park today.”

She turned and looked in the direction of the park.  It was true that there were a lot of people heading there.  She had seen posters up to advertise it for the past two months, but she couldn’t remember what exactly was going on.  “It’d be fun to see what’s there,” she mused aloud.  “Ok,” she agreed, turning her attention back to her date.  “Sounds like fun.”

The pair ordered lunch and ate outside the café, enjoying the atmosphere and space.  There was a very European feel to the atmosphere, so much so that Yuri almost believed she was in some Parisian bistro or rather some London tea shop, given her companion’s homeland.  The conversation ranged from generic topics to the mildly obscure and philosophical.  Yuri was astounded at how easy it was to keep up and have an opinion on topics that would ordinarily have rendered her speechless.  Or, rather, she would have been, if she not been so incredibly immersed in these topics.  She even ventured into the realm of politics, an area that she had never paid much heed, and yet she was amazed at how things dear to her heart were affected by political decisions and policies.  They talked of Nathan’s short time as a volunteer for Greenpeace and Yuri’s love for animals, they shared their love of sweet food and their differences in movies.  They continued talking through another latte, sharing jokes and making passing small talk.

As they left the café and headed to the park, Nathan gingerly reached out with his right hand and took hold of Yuri’s left.  She looked down as their fingers locked together and smiled, lifting her head to meet his gaze.  Her face flushed slightly as they carried on their journey, not once breaking physical contact.  His hand felt … strangely comfortable, she found.  Not too large to bury her hands, but not too small like she was holding her friend’s.  The couple toured through the park before noticing a group of people gathering in one of the fields.  Signs nearby told of an impending performance from an amateur dramatics society, performing a rendition of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” where the people were gathering.

“That looks interesting,” Nathan mused.

That was the entirety of the conversation, before Yuri smiled and walked ahead, hand in hand with Nathan, and secured a prime viewing spot for the pair.

“Are you sure?” Nathan asked.

She nodded assuredly.  “I was sceptical about the museum, but you proved me wrong.  Right now, I’m feeling at one with culture.  Besides, isn’t Shakespeare like a huge part of British culture?”

“I don’t know about British culture as a whole but he’s a huge part of English literature classes,” he smirked.  “It’s government policy that every 15-year-old reads one of his plays for their exams, and it was Shakespeare’s policy to make his plays so freaking hard for your average 15-year-old to understand.”

She nudged his side in retaliation, before snuggling close to him.  They watched with delight as the actors gave a modern twist to the play, updating the language and setting to reflect society as they saw it today.  They were amazed at the versatility of the actors, and how professional an open-air amateur dramatics production was.  The day drew on, the actors created make-believe, the audience cheered, and the couple watched, close together, hand in hand.

As the symbolic curtain closed and the performers took their final bow, the pair left for a stroll through the quieting park.  They walked slowly along meandering paths and watched the attractions that had been laid out at the small amusement park, finding laughter in the children tumbling on the “Fun House”.  They rode the Wurlitzers and the Bumper Cars, enjoyed the Ferris Wheel and Yuri was even treated to cotton candy, which she kept wrapped in the plastic bag for an evening’s snacking.  A coconut shy stand caught Nathan’s eye and he headed towards it, with his efforts at the shy being rewarded by a one-foot tall white and brown teddy bear, which he naturally gave to his date.  As the evening drew on, they stopped at a mobile food van to eat, opting for the apt cheeseburgers for their choice of dining delight.  By now, the sun was beginning to lower in the sky, and Yuri was beginning to feel the effects of a long day well spent.

“I don’t know how to feel,” she declared more to herself than for her conversational partner.

“How do you mean?”

“Well, today was so amazing.  The art gallery, the play, lunch … everything was so nice.  Usually, for a second date, it’s another restaurant.”  She looked around.  “Never something this memorable.”

Nathan blushed slightly.  “I guess now I have to up my game, huh?” he jested.

Yuri laughed and reached out her hand to his.  “No, but don’t worry.  I’ll make sure you don’t slip behind,” she smirked at him.

 

Within those few hours, Yuri felt like she had known Nathan for many years, but something about him felt odd.  She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.  He seemed perfect.  Intelligent, well spoken, respectful, well presented, well dressed, versatile in conversation, and they shared many interests and traits.  During this one date, she had grown closer to him than she had ever grown with any other man during the same period.  And yet something plagued her, a lone voice in the forefront of her mind, telling her that something was amiss.

Just as he had on their first date, Nathan walked her to her door and kissed her farewell, leaving her to curse herself for not inviting him in.  She was sure that whatever this thing was that bothered her could be worked out.  Perhaps it was their lack of physical intimacy.  Maybe it wasn’t.  She felt attracted to him, that was for sure, and he was a very good kisser.  But without the chance to find out, she wouldn’t know.  She entered the empty apartment and made her way to the kitchen.  She was glad that Yoona was out.  She needed time to think.