Click, Click

Chapter 2

Our first day in Korea and we met Vernon, Seungkwan, and Woozi from Seventeen! It feels like I'm dreaming!

You stared at the picture all three of you had taken, your face expressionless. The caption was nothing exceptional, but you decided that you were going with it either way. If you didn't do that one then you would just be quoting one of their songs, and this one was arbitrarily better for your friends who didn't know anything about kpop.

"Should I tag Vernon, Boo, and Jihoon?" You asked aloud. Caitlin glanced over at your phone screen, her expression turning contemplative.

"I guess I don't see why not," she stated.

You stared at the picture. All their smiles looked so real. Everyone's smile looked so real.

Your eyes drifted to your face in the picture. There was a smile on your face. You could tell that there was one there. Your lips were upturned and everything.

So... Why didn't your smile look real to you?

You posted the picture.

You didn't tag them in it.

"Classes don't start for another week," you stated finally. "Then we meet the other kids in the program right? No more running around Korea. We have to study."

"Don't make it sound so final. We're here for a whole two semesters! We get to spend Christmas here and everything," Julia said excitedly.

"We're really lucky," you agreed. Likes started to pop up on your phone screen, a few comments popped up as well. Some of your friends were commenting on how much fun it looked. A few were excited because they knew of Seventeen. You closed your eyes, letting the world go dark.

You didn't feel very lucky anymore.

Why didn't you feel lucky?

Your eyes dropped to your hands. Rested on your legs they looked pretty normal. You did a quick test, spreading them out, closing them into a fist, raising them into the air.

You were shaking again.

You almost laughed.

Of course you were shaking again. Had you really thought that the stillness of your hands would last?

You shoved them beneath your thighs and leaned forward a bit. Both of your friends were messing with their phones, hardly paying attention to the world around them. You leaned back against the fluffy couch.

"You know what would be cool? If we found that store that Oneus is always shopping in. I know there are like a ton of grocery stores in Korea, and at the end of the day it's just a grocery store, but it would be so cool if we found it nonetheless," you stated. Your friends barely responded to you they were so absorbed with their social media.

You considered getting back on your own phone but decided not to in favor of just standing up. You stretched out your arms and walked to a nearby window. The view wasn't great but nonetheless, it was different than the one you were used to. Back at home, the only thing you could see was the high school across the street. Here you could see so much more. So many more people and interactions.

You watched as a girl walked alone, a grocery bag in her hand, and earbud wires hanging from her ears. Not far from her a group of friends was walking. Three guys and one girl, all laughing thoughtfully. You leaned your forehead against the window.

Two girls, so close to one another physically, but so different from one another in the moment either way. The girl with the grocery bag was smiling. She was happy, maybe because of the music likely playing in her ears. Maybe just because she was having a good day. Either way, it was real. You knew it was. No one would smile when no one was looking for no reason.