9. Be Lazy
Heaven is right here right now
So why go outside?
Stay safe under the blanket
It’s too dangerous outside

Yoon Dowoon

Sungjin-hyung and I are playing an online mobile game in the living room when Jae enters the apartment. I spare him a quick glance before going back to my game, and I comment, “How is it hyung? Did she fall in love with you and you’re gonna get married tomorrow?” This rightfully earns a throw pillow smack to my face, and I have no doubt that it’s Sungjin-hyung. Nevertheless, I complain loudly without confirming who it was. “What was that for?!”

Met with silence, I press pause on the game and see Sungjin-hyung looking worried. I follow his gaze, landing on a Park Jaehyung who has his face down, with both arms stretched across the dining table, and a beer in his left hand. Wordlessly, we stand up, and Sungjin-hyung grabs the chair to his right while I walk over to the fridge and get beers for us. I sit to Jaehyung-hyung’s left, and I clink my bottle to his. This somehow prompts Jae to finally speak.

“I hope I don’t regret this.” He pulls his upper body upright, and then melts to a hunched sitting position. Looking straight ahead, he continues, “It was a perfect day and yet she said that I’m easy to be with. I might have played the goofy, dependable friend a tad too well, for a bit longer than I should've."

Confused at Jaehyung-hyung's monologue, I sip at my beer while I wait for Sungjin-hyung to react. "Jae, what exactly happened?"

The older hyung bumps his head towards the table and starts groaning. If it's because it hurt or because of his emotional agony, I'm not sure. Probably both.

I begin to stand, intending to get some ice and a towel, when Jaehyung-hyung abruptly lifts his head and sits upright again. Pressing the beer can to his forehead, he says, "I confessed to her. It wasn't in my plans. But it felt so unfair that she refuses to see me as more than a friend. So I eloquently told her my feelings."

I am reflecting the expression that crosses  Sungjin-hyung's face: wide eyes and a silent "Oh." I recover faster from the surprise, and beat him with the first reaction. "Wow, congratulations hyung. You finally did it!"

Sungjin-hyung follows-up with the more important query. "But you're moping because of how she responded?"

Jaehyung-hyung nods. "She was so surprised, and looked like she was going to run away but decided not to at the last minute. Then she said, 'Can you give me some time to process this?'" He turns to Sungjin-hyung, and says, "What if this ruins our friendship, Sungjin? I don't know what I'm gonna do if we're not even friends after this."

The eldest just pats his back and raises his beer in sympathy. I wanted to say something to make Jaehyung-hyung feel better, and so I open my darn mouth. "Hyung, you are really good friends with her. Jaehee-noona won't throw you away just because you like her more and she can't reciprocate that."

Sungjin-hyung throws me a glare so intense, I may have cowered if not for Jae-hyung's laughing. "Dowoon-ah, those truth bombs will kill someone someday."


Kang Younghyun

I wake up on Monday to a message notification from Jaehee, asking me to check my email.  

Dear Younghyun,

Please see attached files for the customized itinerary that you can schedule for the rest of your stay here. I'm afraid I can't tour you around anymore. Enjoy Japan!

Jaehee

I'm baffled at this turn of events, but can only pinpoint one cause: her date with Jaehyung yesterday. I send Wonpil a message, and he confirms that he also received an oddly formal e-mail. She informed him that she's going off the grid for a few days, but doesn't provide a reason for it. Finally, he texts me this: "Hyung, I'll figure out what's going on and get back to you by lunch time." 

While waiting for Wonpil to figure out what's happening, I check all her social media for any clues and find nothing. I begin packing up, since I'll be moving my lodging to a more convenient location by tomorrow. I got nothing better to do anyway. 

By lunch, I'm almost finished, so I decide to walk to the nearby karaage restaurant. My phone rings upon reaching the lobby, and it's Wonpil. I take his call while leisurely walking. "Yo Piri what's up?"

"Hey hyung, you're about to have lunch? I got some time to spare so I'm giving you the Jaehee Recluse Updates now." I feel like Wonpil is having too much fun with giving titles to the unnecessary things.

"You have a title for this arc, huh? Anyway. Yeah sure I'm just walking around right now. Go ahead." 

"I did some social media stalking, and found a Jae who tweeted a cryptic line: "I hope I don't regret this". I bet he finally confessed to Jaehee after six months of pining for her. Unlike some other people who takes years before taking action."

I manage to slide in a retort, "Please concentrate on the matter at hand and just diss me later, Kim Wonpil."

"Anyway, since I'm friends with Dowoon, we've been messaging this morning." He pauses, then says. "Hyung, wait a second." I hear a muffled Wonpil talking to what seems like a female voice. "I'll send you the screenshots of our conversation, Hyung. I'll have a quick lunch first okay?"

I find myself grinning, and I respond with, "Oooh does my little brother Wonpil have a lunch date?"

"Shut up, hyung." Suddenly, he whispers, "It's just... lunch." I can already imagine him blushing. 

"Okay, have a fun lunch non-date, then~" Wonpil is always transparent with his feelings, that not even a phone call can hide it.

"Ah hyungggg, you're not in the right place to be teasing me right now!" That whiny voice is always satisfying when he’s annoyed.

"I know, but you're best friends with Jaehee and you're our official matchmaker so you'll still help anyway." I try to stifle a laugh. "Talk to me later about her, okay?"

"What are you talking about--
How did you even know--
Aaaah whatever! We'll talk later! I'm hanging up!" He's half-shouting and half-whispering now.

"Yes my dear dongsaeng, enjoy the date~" I think Wonpil would've slammed the phone receiver if his iPhone had one.

Minutes after, he sends the promised screenshots, and around an hour later, we're on video call.

"So let me get this straight Piri: Park Jaehyung and Jaehee had a great elaborate date and he quote accidentally unquote confessed to her? How is such a thing supposed to be candid?" I’m back at my hotel room now, while Wonpil seems to be in sitting a staircase in the fire exit.

"Dowoon didn't go into too much the details of that one. I guess he's still loyal to his sunbae-roommate. But I bet Jaehee made him somehow snap." He nods sagely to himself, and I wonder what that means. "Anyway, that's hardly your problem hyung. Jae can and will fend for himself. But you might miss your chance because of this. She's super hard headed when it comes to avoiding people. So if I were you, I’ll let Jaehee be for now. She'll resurface in a few days, and maybe you can try again then?" He pauses, and is clearly watching me carefully through the screen. "But the look in your face tells me that you have a plan, hyung? Your forehead is all scrunched up."

“Sort of. I only got two weeks left here. And this so-called rival is making strides, too." Wonpil makes a gummy smile, and while that most likely means that he's giddy, I take that as the best friend's approval of whatever my plans are. “What time is it? I gotta go and run some errands, Piri-yah. Then I’ll pack and check-out of here tomorrow. Thanks for the information. Wish me luck. See ya.”

I spend the rest of the afternoon on an Animate run, and buy a few more things here and there. I hope all of these works.

The next day, I check-out after an early breakfast and drag my enormous suitcase and grit through lugging my backpack as I walk towards my new hostel. After settling down, I commence the plan. I grab the hotel's writing pad, put some words into paper, and after a few scratched drafts, settle for a simple note.

After walking to the nearest convenience store, I buy what resembles the most proper meal in here. Making my way through the neighborhood is easier now that I've been here a few times. Standing in front of her door, I check Wonpil's message to make sure that I have the right apartment number. I arrange the convenience store food on a breakfast-on-bed tray I bought from a Don Quixote store in Ikebukuro, slip the note under her door, knock, and step away as slowly as I could.

It takes a while before I hear the door open - I'm almost the staircase - and hear her call my name, “Younghyun-ssi?” I turn around and gesture at the food tray. “It’s just 10 AM, but that’s your lunch. Wonpil told me that you tend to skip meals when you go off grid." I watch as she looks down, see the lunch I brought, smiles appreciatively and says, "Thank you for this, Younghyun."

I smile back and we hold that moment for a few seconds, I think. She breaks the eye contact and picks-up the tray, mouths a thank you, and turns around. Before she closes the door, I call for her, "Jaehee." She turns her head towards me, and tilts her head in response. "Read the note, and text me your reply, okay?”She nods and I watch as she gets back in and close the door. I hope this works.   

Note: I moved my lodging in this neighborhood, so I can be your personal delivery guy. Your wish is my command. ;)

I am back at the convenience store and stuffing myself with the same food I brought her when she replies an hour later. 

JaeheeLee: Thank you for lunch, Younghyun. ^_^
JaeheeLee: Btw, you’re a genie now?
younghyunK: I only do deliveries, ma’am. ;)
JaeheeLee: Deliver some distraction, would you?
younghyunK: This is a request for when exactly?
JaeheeLee: Whenever you’re free. :)
younghyunK: One dashing distraction coming right up! ;)

I excitedly walk back to my accommodation and take a bath. Hurriedly sifting through my Animate haul, I try to remember the common things that we liked, and packed almost every bluray I bought. I appear at her doorstep at 1 PM, greeting her with a, “I brought my ramyeon stash with me, and anime blurays to watch. Please tell me you have a DVD player?”

"Good afternoon, Mr. Dashing Distraction." She laughs a bit and I smile in response, raising the bags in my hands up to my waist. She takes the one in my right hand and our hands briefly touch. "Come on in." I walk behind her as she replies to my first query. "My laptop has one, and then we'll just use my mini-projector."

Sitting in her small couch which can accommodate two, I watch as she peruse through the loot I brought. She’s on the floor, with her back facing the empty space of the couch she could be sitting on. Leaning close, I whisper to her ear in a low voice, “Jaehee-yah.” She instinctively turns toward my voice and our faces are inches apart but then she also instantly moves away. I slowly return to leaning back on the couch and watch as she takes a deep breath, look at me (as if making sure that I’m not too close), and resume her sitting position. “Do you need anything?” she inquires.

I have a pursed amused smile plastered on my face as I shake my head. She squints her eyes at me, which makes me remember why I called for her in the first place. “Ah, I remember now. Sit here?” I nod my head towards the seat beside me. “It must be uncomfortable down there.”

Jaehee blinks her eyes several times again, and then looks from me to the blank space I was referring to. She finally turns back to sifting through the bags, and says, “I’m fine down here, thank you Younghyun.”

After a while, she raises a bunch of DVD cases in triumph. “You bought Makoto Shinkai films! I haven’t seen them in ages! Can we start with Kimi no Nawa?” Jaehee’s smiling so brightly, it’s infectious.

“You have great taste, Jaehee. I’ve seen these films before too, but I bought it because I wanted to rewatch them. Today’s a perfect day for it. Besides, your wish is my command, remember?” I wink at her and watch as she stares back at me, blinking fast in between. I think that instead of blushing, blinking too much is her sign of being flustered, which is cute as hell.

The movie begins and the opening sequence plays when she suddenly presses pause, and turns to me. Jaehee meets my eyes who's already staring at her, and she looks taken aback for a second before making a soft, pursed smile that reaches her eyes and says, "Thank you again for this, Younghyun."

She watches as I lean forward a bit, which makes her abruptly turn around and press play. I smirk to myself as I lean low onto my thighs to match her head's height, and then stretch out my left hand to pat her head. This makes her turn again, our faces inches apart again, though a bit farther than a few minutes ago. She's surprised at the proximity but seems to be searching my eyes for something. "You're always welcome, Jaehee-yah." And then I lean back on the couch, watching as she makes a combination of a smirk, a shake of the head, and a raised eyebrow before turning towards the movie again.

From where I'm seated, I can see the side of her face if I lean forward a bit. I'm a fan of Shinkai's films as much as she is, but I think I prefer watching her this time. Jaehee is all sorts of amusing, as she always is. She reacts a lot when she watches, and mutters comments under her breath. Hits the floor, her thighs, or my legs when too excited. Clutches at her clothes, sometimes the hem of my jeans, claps at the amazing details, and swoons at the great animation and the gorgeous music.

Halfway through the movie, she begins to put some of the snacks I brought to the empty seat beside me. I then purposely-noisily remove them from the couch and put them to the small table to my right. This catches her attention, which makes her pause the film and look back at me with this cute, annoyed expression. "You know that this seat is made for people, not for junk food, to sit on, right?" She ignores me with an eyeroll and returns to watching.

After a few heartbeats, I open a snack and slide down to the floor. We both have our legs crossed, our knees touching. Jaehee makes no reaction, except that she seems to have gotten stiff. I offer her the chips, and say, "I'm not sitting up there if you aren't." I feel her relax and soon, she's engrossed with the film again, as I am with her.

When the credits finally rolled, I excuse myself to go the restroom. When I come out, she's replaying the final sequence. I secretly take a snap of this moment, of her doing something she clearly has immense interest it. I'll keep this one for myself.

Lee Jaehee

The rain sequence during the Kimi no Nawa’s end made her want to watch Garden of Words next. Our seats are now somewhat reset, I’m sitting on the couch’s left side while he remained sitting on the floor. His shoulders and arms and my legs are touching, and I let these little intimacies be, for some reason I’ll just figure out later. I also belatedly realize how distracting this new arrangement is, because of two things. First, his side profile is hella good looking. Second, he keeps on looking back at me and pretending not to notice it is proving to be very difficult. We’re watching a beautiful animated film and yet this man keeps on snatching my concentration. Finally, I decide to do something about this.

“Hey Younghyun. Sit here beside me, it’s more comfortable up here.” He turns to me and makes a confused face, then smiles. “I’m pretty sure it’s comfy sitting beside you, but are you sure?” I nod, and he stands up. We were a snug fit on my little couch, and after a few awkward seconds, I slide down to the floor, look back up at him and shrug my shoulders. He scrunches his nose at me and then smiles. I return to watching the film, and was interrupted when I hear him shuffling and a heartbeat later, is seated beside me on the floor. I squint my eyes at him and he shrugs in response.

“So this is the annoying Younghyun that I’ve been hearing so much about, huh?” He further exaggeratedly shrugs, his face in a very annoying smug smile.

I stand to sit back on the couch, and he follows suit. “Jaehee-yah, no backsies on that yes, I’m sitting beside you, okay?” I look at him incredulously for a good five seconds, and when he responds with his eyebrows bobbing up and down, I just laugh in defeat. I once again drop myself to sit on the floor, and he flops beside me, again.

I roll me eyes and look at him, trying to make an angry face even though I’m stifling a laugh.

“Jaehee-yah,” he calls, and then lifts his two fists playfully, “I can do this all day.”

I widen my eyes at him. “Yah! You don’t spring a Captain America line on me like that!”

“Did you say ‘Yah’?!”

“Yes, I did!” I return to sitting on the couch, wait for him to follow, and then I slide down to the floor again. Before he gets up, I shout at him, “Stay seated, Younghyun!”

He’s grinning when he sits to my right, and then faces his whole body to me. “No.”

“Ugh.”

We do this a few more times and finally settle on me sitting beside him on the sofa, me glaring at Younghyun and him smiling smugly at me. “Sometimes I just wanna punch you in your perfect teeth,” I tell him. But then I break character and we both burst into laughter.

Kang Younghyun

After the seating arrangement fiasco, Jaehee and I are comfortably seated on the couch. We’re leaning away from each other, but it does little to ease the proximity. We restart watching the Garden of Words, and soon, she’s once again absorbed by the film. This time, I try to watch the film more and her less, without much success.

After the movie was done, she stands up to stretch out her arms. Then, she looks at me. “Younghyun, you want to walk outside? Spring’s almost here. But the plum blossoms in the small Setagaya Park nearby are still in bloom, I guess. Have you seen them before?” I shake my head in response. She asks me again, “Let’s go?” And I nod.

It was a short walk to the park, and all throughout I was contemplating on whether it’s too early to hold Jaehee’s hand. She fetches her phone from her coat pocket, and I see that it’s from Jae before looking away. I watch her expression instead, and she just briefly smiles. She then brings the phone to her ears, “Hey Sungjin, let’s do a hanami one of these days, let me know when you guys are free, okay? Thank you.”

She turns to me and says, “you’re invited too, okay?”

I an eyebrow, “a hanami?”

“It’s a sort of picnic under the sakura trees.”

“Oh okay, count me in, then, whenever it is.”

We walk through the pathways that encircle the park. Jaehee pauses every now and then to take macro photos of the flowers, and I try to take as many photos of her. She even smiles for the camera. “You’re lousy at this,” she teases, and then tries to teach me better angles, some basic framing, rule of thirds.

After a while, she checks another batch of photos that I take, and after commenting on why it’s mostly just her when the scenery is infinitely prettier, she muses, “You’re a fast learner, aren’t you?” I shrug, and then add, “My subject makes me want to be better at this, so I deliver.”

Jaehee informs me that she’ll cook me dinner to repay for the dashing distraction. We walk back to her apartment, and I once again muster the courage to ask her out.

“Hey Jaehee?”

“Hm?”

“The garden in the Garden of Words is in Tokyo, right?”

Her face lights up, and she nods excitedly. “Yes! You want to go there?”

I inevitably smile as well, and finally ask, “Will you come with me?”

“Sure!” She’s agreeing to this too easily, but it’s probably just the effect of watching the film.

“Tomorrow?”

“I’m free, so sure!”

I can’t help but make a tiny gesture of pumping my fist, which catches her attention. Jaehee’s facial expression transitions from confusion to understanding, audibly saying, “oh” at the end. She adds, “A date?”

“Is it okay if it’s a date?” I carefully check her expression, because I don’t want to just pressure her. But then she smiles to herself, inhales and exhales deeply, and says, “Okay.”

Upon arriving back at her apartment, she walks to refrigerator to inspect her stock. “You said you have ramen, right? I can make kimchi fried rice real quick, I still have a few side dishes….”

“I can totally just go out, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Sit down, mister, I’m not letting you go home on an empty stomach.”

“Ohhh, you don’t want me to go home?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“That’s what I’m hearing~” She rolls her eyes. “I’m kidding, I’ll wait for dinner, Jaehee.”

I’m observing her from the sofa, and decide to ask her, “So, was the distraction effective?”

“Younghyun-ssi, if you bring it up like that, the effect wears off, you know. But if you must know, it was. Thank you, really.”

I stand up and start stepping towards the kitchen and ask her, “Do you need help?”

“Nah, just sit pretty there.” She points at the sofa, and I raise my hands in surrender. “If you insist. I’ll just work a bit here.”

“I thought you’re on vacation?”

“I’ll just take a peak at my emails, I won’t answer anything that’s not urgent.”

The sound of her cooking and the music playing from the tv (a mix of j-rock and k-rock) was quite comforting. I don’t actually get any work done, because I kept on raising my head from phone to watch her.
I walk towards the dining area. “At least let me set the table?”
“There isn’t much to set, though. I’m almost done, take a seat.”

I watch her set the table, and every time she looks at me, I smile at her and she just furrow her brows in reply.

“Are you sure spending your day watching animated films is something you should be doing in Japan, of all places?”
“Well, I’m spending time with you, so it’s fine.” I see her pause in the middle of stir-frying the kimchi rice. She clears , and changes topic. “Didn’t you get the email I sent you? I attached the customized itinerary there.”
“Yeah, I got it, that’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t understand what you mean, but thank you, really.”

We eat dinner and comfortably converse the whole time, and after strongly insisting that I wash the dishes, Jaehee relents. She cleans up the living room while I do the dishes. I sneak a peek at her and can’t help but feel that this is too domestic for a second date, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

I one last time after saying goodbye. “Jaehee-yah, see you tomorrow, it’s a date, okay?” I wink at her and walk backwards, watching as she nods at waves me off. I hear her door close as I step down the stairs.

I am back at my lodging just a few minutes later. As if he knew I was home and can be disturbed now, Wonpil’s caller id appears on my phone screen. I click on the video call and he bursts into an inaudible whine, and then says, “Hyuuuuung, Jaehee still hasn’t talked to me, I’m getting worried.” Wonpil’s making an exaggerated crying face, without the tears.

“She’s fine, Piri-yah,” I reply as casually as I could.

“Yah! How do you know that???” He scrutinizes my face, then shouts, “WAIT. YOU.” He claps and grins like an idiot and I end the call.

Like I’m any different, I’ve been smiling like an idiot for a while now.