La Belle.
I entered the building and saw the same words imprinted on the wall.
"La Belle Dame sans Merci"
Nostalgia hit me hard. This place means so much to me. Besides my old home, which is not even mine, La Belle has been my other home; always welcoming. I smiled at the receptionist and headed for the elevator. I stopped right at that place where I bumped into Jungkook. Well, technically, our bodies touched each other's, so I have felt his weight on mine, other than his face. I stood at the exact place and chuckled. As I took a step, I stopped again.
My foot was over his wallet right here. That picture - strangely familiar.
It was like I had seen that lady somewhere. My memory doesn't remember a bit of that picture now, so no point in wondering.
I went to the 9th floor, meeting Dan-oh at the counter.
"Damn girl! Are you so busy that you cannot come to meet me anytime now?" complained Dan-oh.
"I am right here, now."
We talked a bit, telling each other about our routines.
"Is this Hana?" said Miss Ombre's voice from behind.
I turned and her face suddenly turned from questioning to smiling. She widened her hands as if to hug me. I was shaking at first, but then I calmly hugged her, fitting into her warm arms.
"I miss seeing you here, Hana. Your presence was a blessing. See now, no one is jumping around, giggling in the corridors, or even crying in the bathroom," said Miss Ombre's exciting voice.
"Life has been busy, Miss Ombre."
"Come to my office," says Miss Ombre, still holding me with her arm around my back.
She's too kind. She's too nice. She makes me remember my mother.
We sat on the couch opposite each other. Miss Ombre asked me about my routine and schedule, along with Jungkook. I assured her that he was absolutely okay with me, knowing he wasn't.
"It's not always about Jungkook, okay? Tell me if you need anything or even if you want to visit me anytime, come here or even drop by my house," said Miss Ombre's calm voice. I nodded.
We discussed a lot more things. I told her about my father shifting to Korea, probably next month. She doesn't just talk nicely, she is a really good listener too. I can speak anything I want to and she always listens to me with a smile on her face. I have kept so many things hidden inside me, unable to rant them out to someone, but I know, Miss Ombre is always there for me.
The time went by when I suddenly looked at the wall clock.
11AM?????
I suddenly got up and greeted Miss Ombre. I ran along the corridor, waving Dan-oh as I chose not to wait for the elevator and go through the stairs.
"Don't run, Hana!" I heard Miss Ombre's distant voice.
I am climbing down and down, the stairs are not ending anytime soon. I had to be there at Jungkook's till 10:30 am. I didn't realize about the time with Miss Ombre.
I finally reached the building, ten minutes later. Thanks to the taxi driver for co-operating and driving fast. I ran to the building, finding the same young lady standing at the counter I saw yesterday. Yoongi is not there.
I take the elevator and run to Jungkook's apartment. I am almost choking now. My lungs are tired of me running. I rang the bell, panting heavily as if my lungs would burst anytime now. My mind is whirling around now. Nothing is stable. The door opened, and I just figured out a man standing there. Before my eyes could meet his eyes, I fainted.
The world around me all blackened.
************
I woke up in Jungkook's lounge, lying on the sofa.
What the hell happened?
I couldn't remember why I was here? And why am I lying?
I looked around. No one.
I sat down on the sofa, bringing the world to a vertical frame.
As soon as I got up, I saw a young man sitting next to me on the sofa. He was sitting exactly next to the cushion my head was laying on. As my lens shifted and my vision became clear, I saw him again rubbing my eyes.
Who is he?
He was looking at me now, with baffled expressions. His face and hair are long. His eyes are big and his lips seem swollen; so pink and thick. He is wearing a blue oversized sweatshirt and his hands are holding some kind of magazine. I kept looking at him, waiting for my slow-ass brain to recognize him, but it didn't.
You haven't seen him before.
I am now looking down at my clothes. Suddenly, my mind is full of questions; his identity, home alone, you lying on the sofa, All alone with him? I look back at him. He is looking at me too.
"Oh, I know you haven't seen such a handsome face before," he said.
"Who the hell are you?" Where is everyone?" I asked, looking around, making sure it was Jungkook's apartment, and it was.
"Don't worry." He said, placing his magazine on the table now.
I stood up, immediately, reaching for the wireless phone on the table.
"Should I call the police, or you'll tell me about yourself,"
He is almost smiling now. It's mischievous. Before I dialed the number on the phone, my phone buzzed in my pocket. The young man is still sitting, almost chill. I take my phone out and blindly pick up the call, without reading the caller's name.
"Who is it?" my breath is almost panicking.
"Hana, are you okay?" said Namjoon's voice.
"Namjoon?"
The man motioned and picked the magazine, opened it, and started to read again, relaxing his back against the sofa.
"Yes, it is me. Are you okay?"
"Where the hell are you all? There is this man sitting in the lounge and he won't tell me who he is."
"Oh god!" Namjoon then mumbles something, as if he is explaining my situation to the people with him, I don't understand.
"Turn the speaker on, Hana."
I did.
"Jin, are you freaking kidding me right now? Stop frightening her, you dumb."
Jin suddenly burst into laughter. His odd expressions are gone, and now he just looks like a little, laughing child.
"Hana, don't worry. He is our friend and our cook."
My body suddenly relaxed. My hands were cold and my legs were trembling with fear. I instantly took a deep breath and sat on the end of the sofa. "You didn't come on time, so we had to leave anyway. Jungkook didn't want to wait, so we accompanied Jimin with us. You can have the day off. I'll text you the timings for tomorrow."
I said 'okay' and he hung up the phone.
"Hi, my name is Jin," he said, still laughing a bit.
The only thing I wanted to do was to slap him.
"Mi-Hana," I responded, ignoring his hand in the air.
"Well, extremely sorry for the prank. You suddenly fainted at the gate, and I thought it would be fun to.."
"So very stupid of you," I interrupted. Suddenly, I remembered fainting at the door. But wait, who got me inside? My eyes suddenly went to Jin, burning with questions and anger. Jin understood. He stood up and walked to the telephone beside me.
"You see, this is a phone. You take it and dial 2, and you are connected to the building's staff."
What is he saying?
"Then, you ask for a female worker. She arrives within a second, while someone fainted lies at the door. She comes running and helps the fainted person inside the house. I just gave her a hand, I swear," said Jin, pushing his open hands upward, as if he was at gunpoint.
"You can ask..."
"I trust you," I spit out.
He instantly put his hands down.
"Anyways, don't make me feel this bad now. I already apologized."
I sighed and stood up.
"Hi, it's me Mi-Hana. You?" I said, extending my arm.
"ohhh, hi. It's me Seokjin, Jin for short, handsome for always." He winked and we shook our hands.
"Well, they could have waited for me for some time. I was almost here," I complained.
"Actually, they went out an hour ago, already," said Jin.
"An hour ago?"
"Yes. Namjoon almost called you, but Jungkook said they will go without you."
First, Namjoon mentioned that Jungkook didn't want to wait, and now Jin is confirming that he really didn't want me to get along.
My presence really makes him uncomfortable.
What's wrong with him?