Sleeping With A Friend

“Those glasses make you look stupid,” I said as we stepped out of the ice cream shop.

Shibuya was a place frequented by tourists and locals alike and tonight was no exception. The streets weren’t too crowded but it seemed like the night was far from over for most of the people.

“I just don’t want a repeat of earlier,” Chanyeol said cautiously, “I don’t think my weak lungs can stand another sprinting event.”

I snorted in response, “Sorry to burst your bubble, pop star, but the people who hang around Shibuya at this time are probably too stuck up or pretentious to listen to your music.”

Chanyeol simply chuckled in response before pulling off his sunglasses and tucking them into his shirt. The simple act had me observing his face again and I felt a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach when he looked to me for approval, “Better?”

Why does he have to be so handsome? “Good enough, I guess.” I teased.

Chanyeol visibly blushed and he quickly moved his hands over his mouth and cheeks as he laughed. I couldn’t help but break into a smile at his humbled actions. There was a moment of awkward silence as we walked past a few street performers performing some sad acoustic ballad. Oh God, I can’t believe I actually did this. I have no idea what to do.

“So, uhm… what did you have in mind, popstar?”

“Well, before running into you I was on my way to Takea street,” He answered, eyes wandering from one thing to another, taking everything around him in.

“Takea Street? Are you serious?” Takea Street was a heavily populated pedestrian only street. It was lined with colorful shops frequented by equally colorful people. It was crawling with cosplayers, punk musicians and tourists alike and it was pretty much the least safe place for Chanyeol to be if he wanted an undisturbed trip around Tokyo. “Going to Takea Dori, seriously? It’s like you were asking to be mobbed.”

“I wanted to try the crepes, I hear they’re really good!” He argued.

He had a fair point. Marion Crepes are astounding. And while I did enjoy that certain French desert, I’d much rather have a chocolate croissant. “Marion Crepes are definitely delicious but I don’t think I’d risk it tonight. Maybe next time,” I said. Next time.

“Well then, what do you suggest we do?” He asked.

“Okay, ever since you said crepes, I’ve only had two things on my mind. First, is God, I really want a chocolate croissant right now. And two, is that I feel pretty bad that I asked you to go adventuring with me tonight and I have absolutely no idea where to take you.”

I knew this was a bad idea. I should have never asked him to go adventuring with me. It was a Sunday night and most of the tourist attractions nearby were already closed or were about to. Why was it that I was suddenly out of creativity now that I was trying to impress somebody?

“Well, isn’t that the point of adventuring?” He answered quizzically, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Chocolate croissants?”

“No, silly. I meant having no idea on where to go. Isn’t that the point, to just go anywhere aimlessly? I mean I have no plans for tonight, did you?” He asked.

“Well, I was invited to a housewarming party?” I thought back to the messages from my roommate; Aiko had spammed me earlier, pretty much threatening me through SNS to make an appearance at her boyfriend’s housewarming party. I couldn’t take him to Aiko’s boyfriend’s housewarming party, right? He was a big shot Korean pop idol. And that may not mean much to some people, but being Korean myself, I knew that that was a pretty big deal.

Okay, there may have been a time not too long ago when I would find myself singing along to ‘Growl’ whenever it’d come on the radio. I’ve seen him on the television numerous times, I surf the Internet, and lately, his group has been the talk of the town because of their several sold out shows in the Saitama Super Arena. Now, here I am walking down the streets of Shibuya with him. Unbelievable. My sister would strangle me to be in this position.

“I mean, don’t worry, we don’t have to go or anything!” I immediately stuttered.

“Housewarming party?” He asked as we passed by a noisy karaoke bar, dodging the drunken passersby who were soulfully belting out the lyrics to Yo Hitoto’s ‘Hanamizuki’.

“Yeah, Naoki, my roommate Aiko’s boyfriend, and his roommate just recently moved into this amazingly huge flat in a really fancy building and they’re having a little get together to celebrate. I mean, there’s sushi.” I explained.

“Well, I’m up for that,” Chanyeol said excitedly, “I can never turn down a party with sushi.”

I was taken aback at his response, “Really?”

He nodded eagerly, hands immediately searching for something to hold on to as he messed around with his snapback again, taking it off and putting it back on.

“Well, it’s in Ikebukuro and that’s quite the trip by foot,” I started. I initially thought about taking the train but considering how bad the foot traffic to the stations were and much more the crowds pushing and crowding to get a ride, I thought against it. I don’t think I was evil enough to put Chanyeol through that.

Chanyeol was way ahead of me. While I was deep in thought he managed to catch sight of a cab, instantly flagging it down. When it pulled up in front of us, Chanyeol instantly opened the door and motioned for me to get in. I didn’t know why it took me by surprise; maybe it was because the guys I hung out with we immature, ungentlemanly douchebags, but it made me feel things.

When Chanyeol got in after me, I had to remind myself that I had no relationship with Chanyeol at any level. I was pretty much an informal tourist guide because I just so happened to be at the right place at the right time. Platonic, Hyemi. Completely and totally platonic.

As he shut the door of the cab, I quickly muttered the address of our destination to the driver, quickly changing my dialect from Korean to Japanese. It felt strange on my tongue after not having used my mother tongue for a while.

I had just settled into my seat when Chanyeol spoke up, “How can you speak Japanese so well?”

“Well, I’ve been living in Japan for about... eleven years now, so I pretty much had to learn the language.” Moving to Japan when I was nine was a great big adventure. I got to go to a big fancy international school where I learned to speak Japanese and English before I eventually transferred to a Japanese high school. 

“Wow, eleven years? That’s a really long time. How old are you now then?” He asked with amazement.

“I turned twenty in October,” I smiled. Although I was considered an adult just about anywhere, I found it strange that my age no longer ended with a ‘teen’. Not that being twenty made me any wiser or smarter. It felt just about the same to me.

“So you’re in university then?” He asked, twisting his body in his seat to face me, looking completely absorbed in our conversation.

“Uhm, not really?” I answered unsurely, “I go to culinary school, actually.”

“Culinary? Wow, so you’re studying to become a cook?”

I shrugged, “A gourmet chef is the main goal. Like, learning how to make different food, the flavors of the different dishes from different countries and cultures and ultimately making my own dishes but yeah, in a nutshell I want to be a cook. I really want to travel and cook in different countries and maybe own a restaurant or something.”

“That’s awesome.” Chanyeol clapped, “Learning about food and making food all day, yeah? My parents both own restaurants back home so I kind of grew up with the idea that I was probably going to run one the restaurants. Which kind of worried me actually, I mean, I’m probably a decent cook but I can’t make half of the things my mom makes on a daily basis. I really look up to her for that.”

“Mhmm, your mom must be an incredible cook then, your cheeks are so big.” I teased, “But really, I’ve wanted to be a chef for as long as I can remember. It started out as a hobby but then it became something more and I fell in love with food, I guess.”

“I wanted to be an actor when I was a kid. Went into acting school and everything!” Chanyeol admitted. “And I’ve always been into music and then, I guess… here we are.” He said, shrugging his shoulders with a bashful smile on his face.

Platonic. Platonic. Platonic.

“Mission accomplished then, huh?” I said letting out a little chuckle.

“I’d like to think so, yeah.” Chanyeol laughed, a giant smile taking over more than half of his face and I felt the corners of my mouth twitching into a smile that matched his.

“So, whose party are we crashing again?” He asked, looking out at the bright lights from inside the cab.

“Well his name is Naoki and technically we aren’t crashing the party.” I mentioned.

He nodded in understanding, “And this Naoki guy is your roommate’s boyfriend, right?”

“Yup. I’m sure Aiko won’t mind me bringing a plus one.” Aiko was more than just my roommate. She’s more like my wife. The two of us have been best friends since I moved to her high school. She and I were wearing the same headband and instead of making a big deal out if it she came up to me and said that she loved my headband and that was pretty much it. Now we were living together like an old married couple.

“You sure?” He asked quite shyly, quickly covering his cheeks.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Lie. I had no idea how everyone would react. I’ve hung out with Aiko and Naoki’s friends a couple of times now and they were pretty cool. A bit eccentric, but cool. They were those artsy types, who liked to listen to old school Pink Floyd and smoked black cigarettes. So really, I didn’t know how much I was going to be getting by dragging along a Korean pop star that had his name printed on his jacket. “We’re shaking it up tonight, I guess.”

“Shaking it up, I like the sound of that.” Chanyeol muttered, clapping his hands. “Now, next question in our getting to know you segment!”

“Getting to know you segment? When did that become a thing?” I laughed.

“About five seconds ago, now quit interrupting me. If you were an animal, what would you be?” He asked, jokingly his chin.

“What kind of question is that?” I laughed, loudly.

“A very valid one! Now answer it, Hyemi!” He said adamantly, “Personally, I think you’re more of a cat person.”

“Wrong!” I answered, “Cats are adorable, but I think I’m more of a dog person.”

“Ohh, now that you mentioned it, you do seem like a dog person. You look like the type of dog that bite people for chocolate croissants. Probably like a chocolate croissant obsessed Rottweiler.” He teased.

“Yah! I am not a Rottweiler!” I argued, playfully punching his arm.

“Right, right. You’re too short to be a Rottweiler. You’re more of a Dachshund.” He countered, laughing loudly. The sound of his laughter reverberated throughout the cab and I was sure the driver was eying us badly. A cou