Let me help you!
Hotel Friendships {HIATUS}
[Henry POV]
“Where the heck is my cell phone?!” I say in frustration. I throw all the stuff off my bed to see if it’s there, I look under the bed as well, search through the whole room, but can’t seem to find it!
I sit down on the bed and think of what to do now. None of the hyungs are here, so they can’t help me either... Maybe if I can get someone to call my cellphone and I’ll look where the noise comes from? I guess that’d work! But who would do that for me?
I’m thinking the hotel where I’m staying in probably has a phone, and it’s my only solution, really! I step into the elevator and go down to the front desk of the hotel. The lobby isn’t very crowded, but there’s still a receptionist, fortunately.
“Pardon me, miss, can I use your phone? I can’t find my cell, it must be somewhere in my room, so I only need to dial the number to find it! Is that okay?” I say in Korean.
The receptionist nods and says “I’ll gladly let you use the phone, but another lady has just taken it a few moments ago. She’s right over there, you can use it when she’s done.”
After I thank the receptionist, I turn around to find the girl with the phone. I see she’s sitting on one of the leather couches in the corner, so I sit on the opposite of her until she’s done. As I sit down I notice she’s just dialling the number.
“I hope it won’t take too long...” I whisper to myself. Not that I’m in a hurry or anything, I’d just like my phone back and see if I have any missed messages. I make myself comfortable and make sure I face away from her to not look like I’m listening.
“Hey, it’s me...” I hear the girl say. Okay I don’t actually want to hear who she’s talking to, but she’s talking in English as well! I can’t help but listen with one ear.
“I know you’re not there right now, and that you won’t be back for a few days either, but I just need someone to talk to...”
She sounds so sad... As if she’s crying even...
“I really want to come home now... The people here are not nice to me, and most of them don’t even speak English either and... I’m just so lonely here, I want to come home...” Her voice breaks into a sob, making my heart break as well.
Hearing her like this makes me feel terrible, I really should do something! I want to help her, but how..? What if she doesn’t want any help, and she rejects me? I guess I should still help her, or even try to, as she says she's feeling lonely....
“Don’t... Don’t feel bad when you hear this, okay? There’s nothing you can do, I just needed to feel as if I was in contact with you... Even though it was just a little bit. I-I’m going to figure out how to take a flight home early, if that’s even possible to begin with... I miss you, sis, I really do! Bye...”
I turn my head slightly to her and see that she’s hung up the phone, and that there are tears running down her cheeks. She’s standing up to return the phone, so I follow her.
She whispers a ‘Kamsahamnida’ to the receptionist, and before the latter can even say something, the girl turns and walks away.
I catch up with her and tap her shoulder gently, making her around shyly, without saying anything she just looks at me. She has blue eyes that are watery still and curly brown hair that spirals down her cheeks. Her face is slightly red from crying, and is trembling a bit.
“Hey... C-can I help you?” I say softly. She looks like she can burst into tears again any second so I decide to talk to her in private. “Please... Come with me to my room, I’ll help you!”
She doesn’t seem too sure, but nods anyway after I encouraged her.
I enter my room and she follows swiftly, closing the door behind her. Her gaze wanders all the way through my hotel room and then back to me, still with that insecure look in them.
“Sit down,” I say friendly. She whispers another thank you and does as she was told, sitting down on the couch in the middle of my room. Even though I basically kidnapped her, she still remained polite!
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“It’s... Claire...” She doesn’t want to look at me for some reason. Is she that shy...? She probably just feels awkward, and who can blame her, really?
“I’m Henry. Can you tell me what’s wrong..? I really want to help you...” She looks up into my eyes for the first time with big, watery eyes that look like they could flood again any second. In those eyes I see hope, but hesitance, and I feel that I can’t let her leave the room until I’ve seen a smile of her.
“It’s... It’s nothing really... J-Just...” She pauses. I sit down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder for support. Her voice is soft and a bit shaky, it’s clear that she needs someone to help her.
“Just what? You can tell me, I’ll help you, Claire. I promise!”
She still seems a bit shy, looking away from me, eyes to the floor like that. “It’s just that... I came here all the way from Europe and... For the Kpop festival...”
She pauses again. Her fingers are entangling and untangling nervously, and it’s clearly hard for her to speak by now.
“So here I am and... I went there, to the festival...But people didn’t want to talk to me, or couldn’t talk to me, as my Korean is very very limited and they just... They were being so mean to me... I want to go back home...” And there is the flooding I was talking about.
The poor girl cries softly, hiding her face behind her hand and turning away from me. It’s obvious that she needs a hug, but is just too shy to ask for one, so I wrap my arms around her anyway. She turns back to me to rest her head on my shoulder.
The hot, salty tears run down her cheeks onto my shirt, cooling down quickly in their journey. After a few minutes, Claire’s sobs become more silent and eventually disappear as I still hold her to me.
“I-I’m sorry... It’s just... I was looking forward to this trip so much and.. I’m jet lagged and tired and...”
I interrupt her. “Shh... It’s okay, hear me? Everything will be fine, I’ll help you, okay? I promise..”
She nods slowly and wipes the tears off her face. I her curls gently and see whether she feels better. After crying for a bit, she now looks like she has herself under control again, even though my face is being avoided.
“Claire~” I call her name. She looks up. “It’s going to be fine, okay?” She nods.
“Thank you oppa.” She smiles. It wasn’t very wide, but she smiled! Mission accomplished, I guess, but I want her to be even happier.
“You don’t have to cry, okay? You look prettier when you smile.” When she hears this, her face turns bright red! I feel like poking her cheek, but I won’t as I don’t want her to get upset again.
I let go of her, and she sits back up straight. “Thank you... Henry... You’re so kind.” She says. She doesn’t look shy anymore, not as much as she was anyway. She looks happier, relieved as well, and she couldn’t have done anything else to make me feel better, too!
“You said you need someone to talk to... I’m here now, right? You don’t have to go home early!” I tell her.
Claire nods again and says: “I have no idea how planes and stuff work so... I don’t think I would’ve managed to go home early unless someone would’ve helped me. But I guess.... I can stay in Korea for a while longer.” She decides.
“When are you due to fly home?” I ask. As I’m only part of Super Junior M I don’t have much to do in Korea at the moment. The normal Super Junior is performing every day on this festival Claire talked about, so me and Zhou Mi are off for at least a week. Therefore, I’d like a friend!
Plus, she’s nice. The kind of down-to-earth girl that you can have lots of fun with, even though she’s been crying for the past half an hour.
“After the festival... In two weeks, on Wednesday.” She reports.
I nod and explain her that I don’t have much to do here. I tell her that I’m here because a friend of mine wanted to go to the festival, but was afraid to fly alone, so I had to come with. I don’t really want her to know I’m SJM’s Henry... Assuming she doesn’t already know. I’m not sure whether she does, I mean she said she wanted to go to the Kpop festival, and Super Junior performs there every day for the first week! So maybe she does know?
She seems to buy my... Lie. Okay I really don’t want to lie to her, but after the Tai Wan Mei promotion I’m kinda done with all the fangirls for a while.
“So if you like... We could go to the festival together? Or hang around in the city?” I ask her.
She smiles and nods happily. “Thank you so much Henry! You really are so kind to me!” Her eyes start to get watery again. “I’m sorry! I’ll stop crying now keke~” She laughs. It seems like I really cheered her up! Makes me feel all good inside, and happy because now I’m not bored either!
“Hey... Is this yours?” She suddenly changes the subject.
“My cellphone!? I was looking for that... Thanks!” I smile at her. At least I don’t need that phone from the desk anymore!
“Yeah, I was sitting on it, sorry!” She smiles awkwardly.
“It’s okay! You don’t seem fat or anything, so it probably still works.”
“Thanks I guess! XD” She laughs again.
She’s actually pretty cute, now I look at her properly. Her curls are the kind that wrap around your finger when you through her hair, and her eyes are piercing, as if she looks right through you.
“So...” She interrupts my thoughts. She looks a bit awkward... I hope I wasn’t staring at her!
“U-um.. Are you hungry?” I quickly say. She rocks her head a bit as she thinks and eventually says “No... not really, to be honest.”
“Okay then, Claire~” She giggles again.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t eat though!” She quickly adds.
“Ah, no, I’m not that hungry either, I just wondered whether you were! Also, you know you can leave whenever you want right? I mean, not that I want you gone, but you’re not my hostage either!”
She laughs some more at me, and I can’t help but notice my own silliness, too. “You’re a special one, Henry, you really are!” She mocks me, while laughing. She teases me so much, all of a sudden!
“I don’t wanna leave though...” She says, in all seriousness this time. “My own room is the same as yours, but without a nice Henry. I’d be alone in there, why would I wanna leave?”
I don’t want her to get sad again, and why would I send her away? She could sleep in the other bed and I wouldn’t mind!
“I... You don’t have to leave! I like having you here anyway...” Now it’s my turn to blush, so embarrassing! Well, she’s blushing too, fortunately, but still! Real men don’t blush, right?
“Thanks again Henry..” She says, and hugs me again. I wrap my arms around her like I did before and hold her to me. Her hair even smells good, she’s so close I can smell the rosy scent of her shampoo. I feel like--
BZZZZZZ.
My phone’s ringing! I pull my arms back in an instant to find my cell in my pocket and pick it up. I see the caller ID is... Zhou Mi!
. Should I pick up or...? I mean what if he starts talking about Super Junior?!
“Is... is everything okay Henry?” She looks unsure, so I’ll comfort her by just picking up. We’ll see what happens!
“Hello?”
“Where the heck is my cell phone?!” I say in frustration. I throw all the stuff off my bed to see if it’s there, I look under the bed as well, search through the whole room, but can’t seem to find it!
I sit down on the bed and think of what to do now. None of the hyungs are here, so they can’t help me either... Maybe if I can get someone to call my cellphone and I’ll look where the noise comes from? I guess that’d work! But who would do that for me?
I’m thinking the hotel where I’m staying in probably has a phone, and it’s my only solution, really! I step into the elevator and go down to the front desk of the hotel. The lobby isn’t very crowded, but there’s still a receptionist, fortunately.
“Pardon me, miss, can I use your phone? I can’t find my cell, it must be somewhere in my room, so I only need to dial the number to find it! Is that okay?” I say in Korean.
The receptionist nods and says “I’ll gladly let you use the phone, but another lady has just taken it a few moments ago. She’s right over there, you can use it when she’s done.”
After I thank the receptionist, I turn around to find the girl with the phone. I see she’s sitting on one of the leather couches in the corner, so I sit on the opposite of her until she’s done. As I sit down I notice she’s just dialling the number.
“I hope it won’t take too long...” I whisper to myself. Not that I’m in a hurry or anything, I’d just like my phone back and see if I have any missed messages. I make myself comfortable and make sure I face away from her to not look like I’m listening.
“Hey, it’s me...” I hear the girl say. Okay I don’t actually want to hear who she’s talking to, but she’s talking in English as well! I can’t help but listen with one ear.
“I know you’re not there right now, and that you won’t be back for a few days either, but I just need someone to talk to...”
She sounds so sad... As if she’s crying even...
“I really want to come home now... The people here are not nice to me, and most of them don’t even speak English either and... I’m just so lonely here, I want to come home...” Her voice breaks into a sob, making my heart break as well.
Hearing her like this makes me feel terrible, I really should do something! I want to help her, but how..? What if she doesn’t want any help, and she rejects me? I guess I should still help her, or even try to, as she says she's feeling lonely....
“Don’t... Don’t feel bad when you hear this, okay? There’s nothing you can do, I just needed to feel as if I was in contact with you... Even though it was just a little bit. I-I’m going to figure out how to take a flight home early, if that’s even possible to begin with... I miss you, sis, I really do! Bye...”
I turn my head slightly to her and see that she’s hung up the phone, and that there are tears running down her cheeks. She’s standing up to return the phone, so I follow her.
She whispers a ‘Kamsahamnida’ to the receptionist, and before the latter can even say something, the girl turns and walks away.
I catch up with her and tap her shoulder gently, making her around shyly, without saying anything she just looks at me. She has blue eyes that are watery still and curly brown hair that spirals down her cheeks. Her face is slightly red from crying, and is trembling a bit.
“Hey... C-can I help you?” I say softly. She looks like she can burst into tears again any second so I decide to talk to her in private. “Please... Come with me to my room, I’ll help you!”
She doesn’t seem too sure, but nods anyway after I encouraged her.
I enter my room and she follows swiftly, closing the door behind her. Her gaze wanders all the way through my hotel room and then back to me, still with that insecure look in them.
“Sit down,” I say friendly. She whispers another thank you and does as she was told, sitting down on the couch in the middle of my room. Even though I basically kidnapped her, she still remained polite!
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“It’s... Claire...” She doesn’t want to look at me for some reason. Is she that shy...? She probably just feels awkward, and who can blame her, really?
“I’m Henry. Can you tell me what’s wrong..? I really want to help you...” She looks up into my eyes for the first time with big, watery eyes that look like they could flood again any second. In those eyes I see hope, but hesitance, and I feel that I can’t let her leave the room until I’ve seen a smile of her.
“It’s... It’s nothing really... J-Just...” She pauses. I sit down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder for support. Her voice is soft and a bit shaky, it’s clear that she needs someone to help her.
“Just what? You can tell me, I’ll help you, Claire. I promise!”
She still seems a bit shy, looking away from me, eyes to the floor like that. “It’s just that... I came here all the way from Europe and... For the Kpop festival...”
She pauses again. Her fingers are entangling and untangling nervously, and it’s clearly hard for her to speak by now.
“So here I am and... I went there, to the festival...But people didn’t want to talk to me, or couldn’t talk to me, as my Korean is very very limited and they just... They were being so mean to me... I want to go back home...” And there is the flooding I was talking about.
The poor girl cries softly, hiding her face behind her hand and turning away from me. It’s obvious that she needs a hug, but is just too shy to ask for one, so I wrap my arms around her anyway. She turns back to me to rest her head on my shoulder.
The hot, salty tears run down her cheeks onto my shirt, cooling down quickly in their journey. After a few minutes, Claire’s sobs become more silent and eventually disappear as I still hold her to me.
“I-I’m sorry... It’s just... I was looking forward to this trip so much and.. I’m jet lagged and tired and...”
I interrupt her. “Shh... It’s okay, hear me? Everything will be fine, I’ll help you, okay? I promise..”
She nods slowly and wipes the tears off her face. I her curls gently and see whether she feels better. After crying for a bit, she now looks like she has herself under control again, even though my face is being avoided.
“Claire~” I call her name. She looks up. “It’s going to be fine, okay?” She nods.
“Thank you oppa.” She smiles. It wasn’t very wide, but she smiled! Mission accomplished, I guess, but I want her to be even happier.
“You don’t have to cry, okay? You look prettier when you smile.” When she hears this, her face turns bright red! I feel like poking her cheek, but I won’t as I don’t want her to get upset again.
I let go of her, and she sits back up straight. “Thank you... Henry... You’re so kind.” She says. She doesn’t look shy anymore, not as much as she was anyway. She looks happier, relieved as well, and she couldn’t have done anything else to make me feel better, too!
“You said you need someone to talk to... I’m here now, right? You don’t have to go home early!” I tell her.
Claire nods again and says: “I have no idea how planes and stuff work so... I don’t think I would’ve managed to go home early unless someone would’ve helped me. But I guess.... I can stay in Korea for a while longer.” She decides.
“When are you due to fly home?” I ask. As I’m only part of Super Junior M I don’t have much to do in Korea at the moment. The normal Super Junior is performing every day on this festival Claire talked about, so me and Zhou Mi are off for at least a week. Therefore, I’d like a friend!
Plus, she’s nice. The kind of down-to-earth girl that you can have lots of fun with, even though she’s been crying for the past half an hour.
“After the festival... In two weeks, on Wednesday.” She reports.
I nod and explain her that I don’t have much to do here. I tell her that I’m here because a friend of mine wanted to go to the festival, but was afraid to fly alone, so I had to come with. I don’t really want her to know I’m SJM’s Henry... Assuming she doesn’t already know. I’m not sure whether she does, I mean she said she wanted to go to the Kpop festival, and Super Junior performs there every day for the first week! So maybe she does know?
She seems to buy my... Lie. Okay I really don’t want to lie to her, but after the Tai Wan Mei promotion I’m kinda done with all the fangirls for a while.
“So if you like... We could go to the festival together? Or hang around in the city?” I ask her.
She smiles and nods happily. “Thank you so much Henry! You really are so kind to me!” Her eyes start to get watery again. “I’m sorry! I’ll stop crying now keke~” She laughs. It seems like I really cheered her up! Makes me feel all good inside, and happy because now I’m not bored either!
“Hey... Is this yours?” She suddenly changes the subject.
“My cellphone!? I was looking for that... Thanks!” I smile at her. At least I don’t need that phone from the desk anymore!
“Yeah, I was sitting on it, sorry!” She smiles awkwardly.
“It’s okay! You don’t seem fat or anything, so it probably still works.”
“Thanks I guess! XD” She laughs again.
She’s actually pretty cute, now I look at her properly. Her curls are the kind that wrap around your finger when you through her hair, and her eyes are piercing, as if she looks right through you.
“So...” She interrupts my thoughts. She looks a bit awkward... I hope I wasn’t staring at her!
“U-um.. Are you hungry?” I quickly say. She rocks her head a bit as she thinks and eventually says “No... not really, to be honest.”
“Okay then, Claire~” She giggles again.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t eat though!” She quickly adds.
“Ah, no, I’m not that hungry either, I just wondered whether you were! Also, you know you can leave whenever you want right? I mean, not that I want you gone, but you’re not my hostage either!”
She laughs some more at me, and I can’t help but notice my own silliness, too. “You’re a special one, Henry, you really are!” She mocks me, while laughing. She teases me so much, all of a sudden!
“I don’t wanna leave though...” She says, in all seriousness this time. “My own room is the same as yours, but without a nice Henry. I’d be alone in there, why would I wanna leave?”
I don’t want her to get sad again, and why would I send her away? She could sleep in the other bed and I wouldn’t mind!
“I... You don’t have to leave! I like having you here anyway...” Now it’s my turn to blush, so embarrassing! Well, she’s blushing too, fortunately, but still! Real men don’t blush, right?
“Thanks again Henry..” She says, and hugs me again. I wrap my arms around her like I did before and hold her to me. Her hair even smells good, she’s so close I can smell the rosy scent of her shampoo. I feel like--
BZZZZZZ.
My phone’s ringing! I pull my arms back in an instant to find my cell in my pocket and pick it up. I see the caller ID is... Zhou Mi!
. Should I pick up or...? I mean what if he starts talking about Super Junior?!
“Is... is everything okay Henry?” She looks unsure, so I’ll comfort her by just picking up. We’ll see what happens!
“Hello?”
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