Poco a poco - /pō-kō-(ˌ)ä-ˈpō-(ˌ)kō/, little by little

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Before she gave him a response, the doors snapped closed. 

She blinked. 

As the elevator travelled upward, she released a breath that she has been holding. Her heart still thumping loudly against her chest with burning cheeks.

Inside her flat, she held her phone tightly and stared at the chain of unfamiliar numbers. After calming her fluttering heart, she took a deep breath, then sent her message.

— “Taemin-ssi, hope you’ll have a safe flight tomorrow. I’ll look forward to your music.” 

When the elevator zoomed past his floor the next morning, there was a split second when she thought the doors would open. Instead, she arrived at the ground floor alone. Feeling her heart sank, she scolded herself inwardly and shook him off her mind.

As she climbed onto her bed that night, she glanced at her phone and remembered his recordings. As the sweet melody flowed through her ears, she found her lips curled up gently and her eyes closing willingly. Before she drifted off to unconsciousness, his face appeared in her mind and she wondered if he’s still keeping his passengers safe and sound. 

……..

Taemin arrived his hotel with a heavy sigh and drowsy eyes. After 12 hours of flight plus hours of preparation and extra work, he arrived almost a day after leaving Korea. Despite the fatigue, he glanced at his phone and wondered if she was sleeping well with his music. Should I text her? He thought to himself. Mindful of the time difference, instead, he clicked on his browser. 

「Gypsophila Gallery Korea」

When he first heard the name, he repeated to himself a million times. Scrolling to her name on the gallery website, he read carefully. 

...one of my most inspiring artists is Marisa Merz. I first saw her work in the Kohn Gallery, which was established in 1985 in Los Angeles...

He widened his eyes and scanned through her section again. 

He found his lips widen into a smile as he made a decision to himself. 

The next morning, when he woke up after a full night of rest, he left his hotel with simple blouse, jeans and a small backpack on. With his phone on google maps, he took and interchanged a few trains, then arrived at his destination two hours later. 

The Kohn Gallery.

He entered with a smile. 

……..

The next evening, when she sat with her canvas and paintbrushes out, she found him lingering in her mind again, as she imagined him commanding the plane. 

As if reading her thoughts, a notification popped on her phone.

— “Naeun-ssi, how was your day? I’ve arrived LA and enjoying my rest day today.” 

She found her lips curled as she picked up her phone. 

— “Mine was great. How will you spend your free day?”

— “I’m actually at a gallery!”

Lifting her eyebrows in interest, she typed. “Wow! Which gallery?”

— “Naeun-ssi, do you want to play a game?”

— “What game?”

— “I’ll send you a picture of the corner of an artwork, and you can try to guess which gallery I’m at now?”

She smiled in amusement. She went to LA before and found many of her favourite galleries. She wasn’t confident but wanted to try. “Sure!” 

He sent her a photo. 

She squinted at the snippet of the artwork, a few seconds later her eyes widened and sparked with delight. 

— “Isn’t that… The Sky is a Great Space by Marisa Merz? It’s the Kohn Gallery!”

— “Correct. You’re good at this!” 

opened agape as she typed rapidly with an excited squeal. How did he end up in a gallery with her favorite artist? “Do you have more photos of her artwork?” She couldn’t bear to miss her favorite artist’s latest exhibition. “Do you mind sending them to me?”

— “Haha, sure. Every artwork of hers?”

— “Yes! Every single one of those!” She bit her lip, then typed rapidly. “I’m sorry for being overly excited… thank you so much!”

Taemin chuckled as he snapped photos of the artwork around the gallery. When he came to the last artwork, his eyes twinkled in mischief. 

She received almost 20 photos of the art pieces and she brightened in delight. She saved every single picture until she scrolled down the page and bursted out into laughter. 

The last photo was a selfie of Taemin with her favorite artwork in the background. 

Before she reacted, her fingers acted first and saved his photo. She flinched, then chuckled again as she typed. 

— “Thanks for the photos! How was the exhibition?”

— “Her style is interesting! I don’t know much about art but she is talented.”

— “Yes! She is…” She couldn’t help but to ramble on as she showered her favourite artist with compliments. 

After sending a paragraph to him, she bit her lip again. Oops… I’ve rambled on too much… She thought and cursed herself inwardly. Son Naeun you babo.

— “Taemin-ssi…I-I’m sorry… for rambling on too much.”

He chuckled at her text message and found his cheekbones rise.