-Current Time-

“Knock knock”

She looked up from the laptop, too engrossed in her work. Her boyfriend’s eyesmile greeted her, his lower face covered in mask.

“Sorry, got too immersed-“

“On work. Yup. Been there”

She put her laptop to sleep, following the man to the table in the middle of the studio. The aroma of Thai food he got was so fine. She craved pad thai after a month of mainly sausages and sauerkraut. Oh don’t forget the mandatory care food she got for the two week quarantine when she arrived in Seoul.

What she wanted for welcome food was the spicy crab soup from her usual place. She got canned food and a jar of kimchi instead. Well, at least she can eat rice again.

The pandemic has wrecked everything.

She unknowingly sighed at the thought of her work place.

“The research not going well?”

She looked at him, his face now sans the mask. God, she missed seeing that face and the calmness it brings on her mind.

“Yeah, we need to get the additional fund to keep operating but I really have to finish the proposal before midnight tomorrow to send it before the deadline.”

“There’s still plenty of time.”

“Yeah, thank God I’m in Seoul so I can get a headstart while they’re asleep.”

“Oh right. I forgot you work for European time.”

“Says someone who works exactly along their timeline.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him, her hands busy opening the take out box.

“No making fun of my lifestyle.”

“Yes, yes. You should have seen the time you spent working, Prince-nim. You’re-“

Her words were caught in as he kissed her.

“Let’s eat.”

“How-how-could you-“ her food forgotten at the table while she stared flabbergasted at him.

Oh how she hate (love) that smirk on his face as he unwrapped the packaging of his beef noodle soup.

--

She spent almost her entire life alternating between three places. Munich, Seoul and airplanes. Yup, airplanes. With a German mother and Korean father, going back and forth is a necessity, especially if one’s mother is actively involved in research in her hometown. Her father doesn’t mind both of his close families away from time to time, as both of them agree their child had to experience both countries in all aspects before choosing permanent residency.

Despite seeing the proof that long distance relationship could work, she was ingrained with skepticism so hard that unless she experienced it herself, she would not take it at face value. Blame the German in her.

Her first two relationships didn’t end well. What one could expect from a high school student and intern doctor? Both volatile and irregular, combined with her being halfway prepared to study in Munich and her classes schedule at college, both didn’t last long.

Until she met him.

-High school reunion (two years ago)-

“Lana, how are you?”, said a girl in red coat so bright she was visible from a meter away.

“Hi!! I’m good! How do you do?”

“Well, as good as one could get.”

“What a period, right?”

“Yeah, I knew finding job would be hard but I have no idea it would be this hard to even get my foot on the door.”

“What major did you take?”

A simple question took them to a second round where both of them downed a bottle of soju and two portions of gobchang bokkeum (stir fried intestines). She didn’t remember taking a picture with her, but apparently her high school friend did.

--

She didn’t think much of the encounter, simply happy at finding another friend in the city as most of her colleagues were a continent away and as most Germans did, that was the extent of her social life. Until one day said friend called her and asked if she would be interested in meeting her friends.

Knowing that she would be in Seoul that day, she said yes.

“Sujeong-ah, hi!”

“Hi, Miss Busy-nim”

“Eeei, who’s talking about whom. I reckon the interview went well?”

“Of course!! You’re now looking at junior sound assistant in XX Music!”

“Congrats!! The coffees on me today.”

“Yup, we should get coffee first. Had to prepare my stomach before the alcohol hits in.”

“Another pojangmacha today?”

“Eeei, no way.”

“Don’t tell me we’re going to bar?”

“Even better. We’re going to club!!”

“What..?”

“Live a little, come on~~~. You are a European girl, act like one. One would think you came from Kangwon-do.”

Little did she know she would be bored out of her mind watching her friend flirted and danced the night away with everything that stood on the dance floor.

“The club in Gangnam is surely flashy.”

“It is.”

She looked to her right side, surprised in finding someone that looked equally as bored as her. She sympathized with him almost immediately.

“Got dragged into this, too?”

He nodded.

“Who’s the perpetrator?”

“The one your friend is dancing with.”

“I guess the one my friend is grinding with would be more correct.”

“Crass, but that works too.”

“Why don’t you join the festivities?”

“Not really my scene.”

“What is your scene?”

“Not here, for sure.”

“Yeah, I could use a reprieve from this banging sound. After two hours, it gets boring.”

“I love the music, I just hate going out.”

“Have you hit your designated time yet?”

He smiled, and looked at the imaginary watch on his wrist.

“Meh, I stopped being Cinderella a minute ago.”

She laughed as it was one minute past midnight. He did have a point.

It was weird to say that both of them found convenient silence amidst the roaring music, but it was what it was.

“Want to get out of here?”

“Are you sure you want to leave your friend like that?”

“He was going out with your friend. I’m fairly sure that none of us would want to know what they’re about to do.”

“What?!”

She looked up to see Sujeong screaming at her to find her own ride home, as the former would love to spend the night sinning away.

“Ew. Don’t forget to call me tomorrow, okay!!”

She took the half assed wave as an answer and prepared to leave too, only to get stopped by a soft tug on her bag strap.

“My offer still stands.”

She looked at him, truly looking at his eyes for the first time since they spoke pleasantries some hours ago.

Almost hidden beneath the hat, his eyes shone with something that makes her pondering that spending time with him would be better than to spend the night alone in her flat, downing a glass of Malbec.

“Surprise me.”

**

Jihoon knew he spent an unhealthy amount of time in the studio. With his responsibilities and his own schedule, safe to say he only went to the dorm to sleep. He was not complaining, it was the life he chose and it fits well with his tendency to stay inside.

Only this time, he hit a bottle neck. Not with the music, no. It always came naturally to him, albeit hard at times. It was his life that he is frustrated with.

He missed that feeling of having someone watching. Blame it on him blurting out his first love story in a broadcast last year, but it did happened. He wanted to know someone new. He wanted to move on.

He was on a visit to one of his acquaintance’s studio, spending his time seeing other’s creative process in his own break time, when a sound assistant suddenly sit beside him on the couch.

“Jihoon-ah, you came!”

“Noona, hello.”, he replied out of courtesy.

“On your break time?”

“Yes, we just finished our promotion schedule.”

“Good! Have you go around somewhere to have fun?”

“Um, no.”

“Come on, you should have fun too.”

“Probably later.”

“You’re no fun.”

Not that it is any of your business, he spoke inwardly.

“You’re just like her. Such a homebody”

She said while pointing at a picture in her phone.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t blink twice.

Both of them were clearly drunk, if the redness in their faces is any indication. The situation, however, didn’t stop him from seeing the obvious.

She was so pretty, the girl on the right side of the picture taker.

“Who is she, noona?”

“A high school friend. Pretty, right?”

He nodded, containing his interest inside.

“She was just like you, it makes me frustrated sometimes. She wouldn’t even go out if I didn’t ask her to, saying she needs her rest. She could rest in the airplane, why would she need rest so much? Such a grandma.”

If she didn’t say it with fondness, he would have his opinion of her going south rapidly.

“Airplane?”

“Eo, she went back and forth, Germany and here. Busy girl, I know. Probably why she has no boyfriend now.”

He tried so hard not to let his excitement out.

Yes, she is single!

He would have been able to get more info on her had the studio owner not calling him for a second opinion.

Dank it.

He went into a period of silence after that, thinking of excuses to know more about the pretty picture noona. He kinda wished he was nosier, like Wonwoo, or slicker, like Jeonghan hyung, instead of overthinking everything with no solution.

The answer sort of materialized itself into his life sometimes after that, in a form of invitation from that studio owner hyung.

He didn’t favor club, he prefer the quietness of his studio, but something told him to take this chance. That it was okay to hope that he’d get to meet the pretty noona, however miniscule it was. He felt like saying thank you out loud to the sky when he spotted the familiar figure looking bored sitting inside a club while her friend went wild in the dance floor.

He was super rusty on flirting, but seeing as she didn’t run away after two hours chatting with him on the sundae-guk (meat-or-tofu-filled intestines soup) restaurant after her friend abandoned her, it worked.

They, surprisingly, had a lot in common.

“You tell me, it was so hard uprooting everything from Seoul when my mother casually threw an offer to go to Munich.”

“It’s understandable. I kind of threw my social life away when I signed up for trainee life.”

“It’s hard to be acquainted, let alone be in a relationship, when all you do is flitting here and there with no reassurance on how long you’ll be away or how long you’ll stay.”

“It is, hard. When all we do is slaving away on something that many people don’t get. It takes commitment, and I know it is too much to ask for ordinary people”

“Yes. Now you know why I’m single, and safe to say there was no way I’d tell you this if I was sober.”

“We’re much or less the same, and I wouldn’t normally go out and state my opinion to random girl I met in a club.”

He got flicked in the head after that.

“I might be drunk, but I’m still a noona. You better call me one.”

He knew there was no point arguing with a drunk person.

“So, does this noona ready to go home?”

“Lead the way, young pal.”

He snickered at her old way of talking. They were only two years apart, for God sake.

--

Jihoon is a clever man. He knew both of them were busy, and that there was no reassurance that they’d meet accidentally again. Without her knowing, he already acquired her phone numbers from the taxi driver he got to take her to her home. He also knew the location to her flat, thanks to the same reason. He knew it was an move, but he wanted what he wants.

Apparently, he needed no excuse to meet her again.

“Hi.”

“Hello.”

He was debating whether to directly call her name or pretend he didn’t know her at first, or he probably should have consulted first with the more suave guys in the dorm.

He probably should have, shouldn’t he?

“I am sorry if this sounds so out of the blue, but can we meet again?”

“Huh?”

Real eloquent, Lee Jihoon. Real eloquent.

“Right, , I probably should have said my name first. I’m Lee Lana, the one you ate sundae-guk with. The one you so kindly took to one’s home. The one who was lame enough to doze at the club instead of dancing. What I’m saying is, excuse the word vomit, can I meet you again? And I’m sorry I curse on a first call. Or probably not.”

He laughed at that.

He told her he would love to meet her again, but he didn’t have time to spare so they would have to meet somewhere near his studio.

“Anywhere is fine, really. Text me the address, will you?”

“Alright.”

“Thanks! Love you.”

It took him a full minute after the phone call ended to emit a reaction of any kind. When it finally dawned on him, he couldn’t contain his smile for the rest of his time at the studio.

He just shook his head when Hoshi asked him what’s gotten into his head this time. He would like to keep this feeling to himself first.

He liked her. He knew (hoped) she liked him, too.

--

Oh his way back to the studio, he was in a trance thinking of what had just aspired.

“I’m sorry you had to go out of your way to go here.”

“I’m sorry I had to pull you out in the middle of busy schedule. I have to board a plane tonight and if I didn’t do this, I’d feel sorry for myself.”

“Huh?”

“A thank you for the sundae, and for the taxi fare.”

“Here, I know from Sujeong that you usually work infinitely in the studio whenever the season comes, don’t know what she means, and that you prefer ordering in instead of eating out.”

He looked at the bunch of take out vouchers from restaurants in his neighborhood, three of which were his favorite places. He looked at her in a mixture of awe and trepidation.

Does she like him? Does she only come out of her way to repay him?

“I have no idea where your studio is and Sujeong is too busy right now for me to bother her more than a phone call so I have to call you directly. Once again, I’m so sorry.”

He looked at her more closely, trying to gauge her.

“It is either this or waiting for the next 3 months. I don’t think I can bear to wait another 3 months before seeing your face again.”

“Seeing my face again?”

“Oh , here I go with my word vomit again.”

He knew she knew that she wasn’t supposed to say it out loud but as what he would later be thankful for, he welcomed the word vomit.

“It’s okay. I want to see you again, too.”

Her answering smile would be his highlight for the next three months, when all he had was deadline and less sleeping time. He welcomed the deadline even, because the closer it gets, the closer he would be to the day she returned to Seoul.  

On one of their many video calls, he found the time difference convenient. Whenev her he clock out at early morning, she would be at the start of her bedtime. He found that her green eyes reflect the screen light, and in a way, his face too. He found that her word vomit was worse when she was away. He ing loved it.

On a day when all he wanted was to listen, her word vomit was so welcomed after a whole day talking orders to those inside the recording room. He could listen to it all night long. More often than not, he was the one who fall asleep first. She didn’t mind when he talked about it the day after, saying that that was the first time someone took her word vomit as lullaby instead of endless nag.

“Hoon-ah, it’s 5 am in Seoul. What are you doing not sleeping?”

“I miss you.”

“We’ve talked for what…the last 3 hours. Are you not sleepy?”

“It’s not enough. Talk more.”

“You’re sleepy when you start demanding.”

“Please”

“Alright.” She sighed “Where was I? Right, you should have seen the dolphin’s face when it jumps out of the water. So free, not a trace of injury from the week before. I think I have a recording of it somewhere in my phone, but it’ll take time to find it. Should have back it all up to my laptop instead of crowding my phone. Then~~”

He couldn’t hear anything again as he finally lost the battle against the sleepiness. He fell asleep as the sun rose.

--

If anyone noticed anything, they’re good at holding it in. He had the day she returned to Korea circled in bold, blue pen in his desk. He kept smiling by himself when finishing the recording. He looked well rested more than ever amidst the zombies that was his friends in the middle of new album preparation. Though, apparently his friends are not that good at holding it in afterall.

“We promised last year.”

“I’m sorry. But I really can’t this week.”

“What happened?”

“Something good, hopefully.”

“Do you find yourself a girlfriend?”

“I can’t say anything now. I’ll tell you next week.”

“Who is she?”

“Hyung, later. I promise. I’ll eventually get to that next week. Spare me this week, and if everything goes well, I’ll tell you on Monday next week. We can go together on Tuesday with the others.”

Seung Cheol looked at the younger man in exasperation. He should have not been surprised. This is Jihoon afterall, once he is set on something, he will work on it and not telling everyone until he reaches his standard.

“Alright I trust you. But no later than Monday.”

“You have my words.”

Seung Cheol was about to turn around when he heard the younger man whisper, “Sure as hell hoping I’ll talk in smiles not in tears.”

--

“Hey”

He opened his eyes, and realizing where he was, he smiled into the cover and scooted over to her sitting self, burrowing his head into her lap beneath the cover.

“Good morning.”

“Morning to you too.”

“Not good for you?”

“I can’t feel my legs so probably not.”

He was pretty sure she could feel his smile on her thigh.

“Let’s sleep some more.”

“It’s 11 am, Lee Ji Hoon.”

He opened an eye at hearing his full name from her lips.

“You promised your hyung you’ll meet him at the studio in 2 hours.”

“He can wait.”

“Judging from the blinking light on your phone, he really can’t”

Drat Seung Cheol.

“Go. If you’re caught in the lunch rush hour, you will be late.”

His mind was whirring in a wild minute.

“You have an impending work right?”

“Eo? Right. I’ll get to it and you get to your work.”

“You’ll work on it here right?”

“What do you mean?”

“You tend to forget time when you’re deep inside your reports. I’d be bummed if you are somewhere in a café where I can’t get you immediately.”

He went “Ouch” at the head flick and smiled when he felt a kiss at the top of his head.

“With nonexistent legs, I doubt I can go anywhere.”

“Your legs are fine. I inspected them last night.”

“You cheeky brat.” She said while pinching his waist, a sure way to make him get out of her bed.

He laughed while stumbling out of the cover into the floor. He looked back at her to find a scene so good it made his chest constricted. Her hair was a bit plussed, her cheeks red from laughing, and her eyes, , her eyes shone with adoration.

Suddenly he was conflicted between a desire to make a song immediately or to get to the bed again to her. The latter win and he went back to her, took her head to his and kissed her deeply. After a few moments, she spoke.

“Hoon-ah, you know you will be late.”

He smiled, all that straight teeth on display, that she said it breathlessly.

“See you tonight.”

“See you.”

--