Name?
Four. Five. Six.
pic credit to http://cleamour.tumblr.com
When Laina got back to her suite she was still as awake as she had been earlier. There was no sign of her neighbor and that boy, so she put any thoughts of them aside as she played with her iphone. She cancelled her service on it to just use it as a source of games, since Kai and her had their own matching phones.
She looked up and saw that the sun was finally coming up. Seeing the way it lit up the city, she just had to take pictures. She changed into a pair of pants, knowing she would be outside, and grabbed her camera before exiting her room and heading down the hall. As she got to the lobby she noticed that she was pretty much the only one awake. She saw some cleaning women walking around as well as room service carts being carried to their soon to be devourers.
Laina walked out of the hotel slowly, planning to take her time and take in everything one at a time instead of all at once. Deciding it would be best to stay near the hotel so that she didn’t get lost, she walked around it to find a miniature park behind it. There were picnic benches and at least 50 trees packed into the place.
She walked over to one of the benches to look over all of her vantage points, and decided she would have a better chance of getting good pictures while standing on the table part of the bench. Climbing onto it, she noticed that it creaked. She didn’t really pay attention to it, more focused on photographing her adventure. She took at least twenty of the same one, wanting to get it absolutely perfect. She then turned around and took shots of the clouds and nature, once again not noticing a creak come from the top of the wood bench.
She turned to step off of the bench, one leg getting ready to step off as a crunch and a scream simultaneously echoed through the park. She closed her eyes and let out a scream, ready to fall to the concrete foundation under the tall bench. She waited for a few seconds and realized that she hadn’t fallen on anything. Through her closed eyes she focused and felt that another pair of arms were wrapped around her. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked at the arms that held her. Assuming he was a man, she looked up his arms and noticed how his muscles protruded his skin. Not in an extreme way, but he was definitely more than toned. His light, pale skin seemed to glow off what little light came through the tree leaves. She trailed her eyes up to his chest, noticing how it was slightly tense to support the weight he was carrying. Her eyes followed his collarbone up to his neck, to his jaw line, and then to his big, soft eyes.
She gulped, mouth going dry.
“We should really stop meeting like this.” He smiled at her, but didn’t let go of her as he didn’t think she would be able to stand up yet. She stared wide eyed at him, curiosity slowly taking over.
Why were they meeting so often?
“You should be more careful around here. The benches are rotting and the trees are a hair away from dying. Don’t let those leaves fool you; they’re suffering.” he let out another light laugh. “Are you okay?” he eyed her carefully, not wanting to scare her off but she looked exactly like a deer caught in headlights.
She gulped again. She nodded her head and smiled at the familiar young man. “Sorry… I kinda dazed off… You can let go of me now.” She let out a small laugh and blushed as she realized the position they were in. She had fallen backwards off of the bench, so the man’s arms had caught her bridal style, left arm around her shoulders while the right under her knees. She had unknowingly placed a hand on his chest to steady herself, which was how she was able to feel his chest muscles flex as he caught her. He raised his left arm and lowered his right, helping her stand.
She quickly dusted herself off and bowed. “Kamsahmnida!” She chirped and flung right back up only to find the man had a look of confusion on his face.
Her face turned two shades darker as she realized what she had done.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” He smiled at her, his eyes smiling as well. “Your accent is cute.”
Turning one shade darker, if that was even possible, she scratched the back of her head sheepishly. Out of habit, she had bowed and spoke in Korean, which she certainly didn’t need to do here in London. She could’ve just said thank you and been on her way.
“Your welcome though.” His pearly white smile appeared again and she looked at him in shock.
“You understood me?” She asked.
“Yeah, I’m Korean.”
“Really?! What’s your name?” She asked, warming up to him. He seemed really friendly.
“Why don’t you come to breakfast with me and I’ll tell you?” He replied with a smirk.
Her smile fell; that wouldn’t feel right. “Ahh, I’m sorry. I have a boyfriend.” She looked down.
“Then how about just as friends?” He flashed his five star smile and she pondered the thought for a few seconds. If they just got to know each other better, it wouldn’t hurt to make a new friend, right?
“Umm, okay.” She was weary about this, carefully remembering Kai’s words, but was ready for a new adventure. “Let me go back and put my camera away, arras- I mean okay?” She blushed again at her slip up. It seemed it would take a few more days for her speaking habits to fade.
“Arrasso~” he cooed, mocking her slip up. They walked side by side back to the hotel but didn’t say much. Walking back up to their rooms, Laina opened her door and allowed him to lean on it, holding it open. All she needed to do was pack up her camera gear.
She wondered if it was a dumb decision to let him into her room, but she figured that they’d met enough that if he was going to harm her, he would’ve done it already. He gave off a friendly vibe that was actually pretty inviting when it wasn’t 2 AM near the vending machine. She combed her hair and swept it to the side, ruffling the back a bit to make sure it covered up the scar on the back of her head.
He eyed her, noticing her every move as if it was important. He was really interested in her for some reason, a sort of different reason than he had been with the other girls. Something about her made him wonder and want to know more about her. It gave him chills just thinking about it. Why was he starting to care?
He watched her comb her hair, and saw a quick flash of white before she swept her hair to the side. He looked away, not wanting to get caught staring at her, but wondered what that was. Was it a hair clip? A scar?
Five minutes later they were out the door and on the way to the nearest café. It was only a little after nine, so they decided it would be easier to just talk at a small place like that instead of a busy one right during breakfast time. They had an incredible variety of coffee and sweets there, so she just picked out what was cheapest. And she insisted that she pay for her part, yet the man would have no part of it. Paying for both their drinks and treats, he walked her to a small table in the corner that was more secluded than the rest of the eating area.
“So, L, you gonna tell me the rest of your name?” He asked curiously.
“After you tell me yours.” She offered.
He outstretched his hand in a motion to shake hers.
“Kyungsoo.”
She held out her hand to meet his.
“Laina Demetrie.” She shook his hand with a smile and took a sip of her drink.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Kyungsoo finally spoke up. “So what’s your story? And where are you from? You speak Korean but… you don’t really look Korean. No offense…” he mumbled the last part. No harm, no foul. He was truly interested in her past and what had happened in her life. He knew that she would only reveal the basics, name, family history, status, etc., because it was the first time they had officially met, but he was going to make sure this wouldn’t be the last time.
“Oh, you’re right. I’m not Korean. I’m half Japanese and half Caucasian. My mom was the Japanese one, so that’s why my last name is an American one instead of a Japanese one. I came to Korea a year ago after my dad died to start new. And, that’s exactly what I did. After that, I met this really strange boy that would later become my boyfriend. We’ve been dating for a year now.” She ended her sentence with a wholehearted smile, truly proud of her long term relationship.
“You seem to like him a lot. What’s his name?” Now, this, he couldn’t care less about, but he knew that simple conversation would be an easy way to get close to her.
She pondered whether or not she should tell him Kai’s real name. His words echoed through her mind, telling her to be cautious, but she truly couldn’t decide if she should follow his advice or try her own thing.
“Kai.” She replied simply, deciding to not give out too much information. Not wanting the man to ask any more about him, she remembered that boy that was with him the other night. “Who was that boy that you were with last night?”
“You mean the one that met us at the vending machine?” She nodded. “His name is JoonMyeon. He’s Korean too.”
“So… he’s your brother or…?”
He decided to just tell her his story. Well, the edited version anyway. “Well… let me tell you a story before I explain that.” She smiled and said okay. “My first year of college I used to take walks around the city to ease away some of the stress of school. I did that a few times a week, and one week, my feet led me to the back of a club. It was pretty dark, so I couldn’t see well and tripped over something. I looked back and saw it was a boy who was either unconscious or dead. But, even in the darkness, I could see that he was homeless. So, you might think what I tell you next is probably the stupidest thing a person could do, but I’m glad I did it. I picked him up and took him home with me. He was malnourished and weak, so he didn’t wake up until a few days after I had taken him in. I told him that he could either clean up and leave, or stay here and live with me. So he decided to stay with me. At first he was so helpless I had to feed him and dress him, and it wasn’t until later that I realized I had gotten him when he was a hair away from death.” He paused and looked down. That part was actually true and it hurt him to remember. Yes, the boy had been tasting the blood, but it was simply because he couldn’t find food. He was more than stick thin, bones protruding out of every possible place, and couldn’t even digest food when Kyungsoo first tried to feed him. “So after he got well again he turned out to be a really fun person. Turns out he’s a year older than I am, but he acts as if he is still a teenager. He always has energy and this goofy smile on his face but it makes my day everyday to be around him. So, to answer your question, I say so. We’re just not blood related.” He looked up to see Laina’s head resting in her hands, completely immersed in his story. Her eyes were wide with amusement and interest as she absorbed every word.
“Wow. That’s a really interesting story.” She imagined it as he was telling it.
The rest of the hour they made small talk and finished their food. They walked back to the hotel together as they both had nothing else to do that day. Bidding farewell, they each went back into their room to finish up the rest of the day.
In room 456 10:30 PM the same day-
“Hyung, where were you? I was getting worried.” JoonMyeon asked worriedly as he sat on the bed watching his brother devour a sandwitch he had just made.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you. I ran into that girl again and we had breakfast together.” He answered truthfully.
“Awww and you didn’t bring me? I wanted to meet her too.” he pouted and crossed his arms.
Kyungsoo laughed. “I’m sorry. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. She was taking pictures in back and that stupid bench broke. Before she knew it she was falling but I caught her before she did. Since that was the third time we met in two days I figured I should get to know her. Name’s Laina. Pretty isn’t it?” He looked to his brother with a proud smile.
“Laina? What is she? She looked Asian but that’s a really American name.” He laughed at his own joke and fell back on the bed to stare at the ceiling.
“She’s half Japanese and half Caucasian. She’s from America but she’s staying in Korea. You want to hear what happened when I saved her?” He went over and sat next to his brother after finishing his food.
“Yeah!” JoonMyeon replied cheerily.
“When I stood her up, she bowed and said ‘kamsahmnida’. And then she realized that she was in London and spoke the completely wrong language.” Kyungsoo’s heart skipped a beat as he remembered how her cheeks blushed so cutely. He swallowed hard, telling his heart to calm down as he knew what fast beating hearts and blush led to.
“Really?! That’s so cute!” The brother imagined the scene in his head.
A long silence enveloped the room as both lay on the bed thinking about various things. Minutes or hours passed as they stayed in the same position, thinking. It was actually a pretty often thing that happened. It wasn’t awkward nor did any of them come out of their daze for a while until a few hours later.
“…hyung?” JoonMyeon quietly spoke up and broke the silence.
“Mmm?” The other turned with curious eyes to look at his brother.
“Is she your next one?”
The younger turned his head back to the ceiling. He wanted to answer his brother, he truly did, but for some reason…
He couldn’t bring himself to speak the words necessary to answer him.
He let out a sigh.
“Go to bed, Joo. It’s getting late.”
The elder pursed his lips at the lack of response, but did as his brother said. Kyungsoo tucked him in and walked into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him and leaned over the sink. He quickly the water to its fullest and splashed his face with it.
“Get it together. She’s not cute. She’s not sweet. She has a ing boyfriend. She’s your next one and that’s all she is!” He mumbled to himself, slamming his hand down on the granite as the last few syllables fell from his lips.
“That's all she is…” He told himself once more,
with much less assurance.
and there you have it, the boys' identities revealed. Keep in mind that Kyungsoo is D.O. and JoonMyeon is Suho. You all guessed Kris, but keep in mind both names of each member. Also, when I refer to the 'elder' it will be Suho because he is one year older than D.O. even though D.O. acts much more mature and older. I tried to make things as clear as possible, so if something doesn't make sense just ask and i'll address it in my next chapters. :)
Comments