ROZIE'S POV
I don't know if he actually heard me or understood me even. Did I have something on my face? Should I repeat myself? This awkward moment seemed to go on for years as he looked straight back at me expressionlessly.
He wore a black cap slightly covering his eyes but just enough to see that he was Korean. The hair above his ears revealed that it was blonde. He had piercings on both ears, adorned with two silver earrings on both sides. He was pale, even more, highlighted by the all-black ensemble he was wearing.
But his skin, his skin was just perfection, one of the many things I envy about Koreans.
What skin treatment are they on?
I'd give anything to have that flawless glass skin they all seemed to effortlessly have. I suddenly felt my insecurities creep on me.
Judging by his appearance, I must say this guy is pretty. He reminded me of the Taiwanese boys on TV I used to go cray-cray back in high school. They were called 'Flower boys' if I'm not mistaken. This makes me wonder how he looks like with that mask off. But before I let my curiosity get the best of me, I quickly snapped myself back to reality.
"I think you got my cup by mistake..." I laid out my words clearly, hoping to elicit a response this time. My words seemed to have taken him by surprise. He took a bit to process before he glanced at his cup and saw what I meant. At least, some progress.
"The thing is, I already took a few sips so...Can I just buy you another one? It's... it's totally my fault." I can hear the lady behind the counter heavily exhaling.
I think I should get a complimentary donut for saving your ass today. I giggled to myself.
When I thought latency can only be relevant to our internet connection back home, I didn't think it could also happen to a face-to-face conversation. But I just sweetly smiled at him as I waited patiently for his reply.
After a few seconds of just blankly staring at me, he finally answered, " No, it's okay. I've also drunk from this already." He said in his cool, deep voice. His words echoed in my ears, seeming to magnify by the second. Damn, what just happened?
Hearing the rest of the customers begin to grumble behind him, I quickly thought of the best way to end this mix-up.
"Oh, I got a better idea. Why don't we just switch then?"
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SUGA'S POV
She took the straws from her cup and mine and switched our drinks - without my permission. Faster than I thought, she was already smiling at me.
She had pink lipstick on and a little bit of powder. A rare thing to see in this city I must say. Women here often put layers and layers of makeup just to feel better about themselves. I wonder how much money they spend on makeup removers to take all of those shit off.
Her hair was pulled on a messy bun at the top of her head. She sported a loose pink sweatshirt over blue ripped denim shorts and a pair of white chucks. She didn't put on much effort into dressing up yet she actually looked fine.
"So I guess we're okay now. Cheers!" She said, shaking me off my thoughts. She bumped her cup onto mine, flashed me another smile, and walked back to her seat without even looking back.
I sighed. What just happened?
I settled back to where I was seated and gazed at the window next to me. People outside were hurrying back and forth the footwalk in fear of getting drenched by the pouring rain. It has never stopped ever since I woke up this morning. The dark clouds above weren't planning to leave anytime soon.
Damn. But I seriously love moments like this though. Any chance I can get to just relax and free myself from my busy life even just for an hour or two is a blessing.
I frequent this café often since it's closest to my workplace. I would see almost the same set of faces day by day and yet this one was just unfamiliar. I glanced over to my left where she was busy typing on her laptop. I couldn't recall seeing her here even once. A tourist maybe, I thought to myself.
I turned my attention to my phone, scanning through unread messages which will remain unread. I just don't have the energy, that's all.
I slowly drank from my cup and involuntarily glimpsed at her again. I lightly scratched the side of my mouth and found my lips curving into a naughty smile.
"Why the hell not?" I snickered to myself as I called one of the café staff to my table.
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ROZIE'S POV
"Argh! Jennie is just nuts!" I exclaimed when I received a picture via messenger from her.
Jennie was seriously having the time of her life. She finally got to that street where Goblin and Eun Tak met. Yoona turned into her official photographer obviously.
It's a good thing I didn't tag along. I'd surely be no fun and would end up spoiling her day.
"Excuse me.." I got startled when the café staff suddenly appeared beside me.
"Maam, this is for you." She handed me a small plate filled with an eclair and a brownie.
"Oh, you must be mistaken. I didn't really.." I didn't get to finish my sentence when she cut me off and said,
"It's from the guy over there." pointing towards the table from the far end corner to my right.
The guy was on his phone but I caught him stealing a glance at me, and quickly went back to fidgeting with his device, pretending to be preoccupied so suddenly.
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SUGA'S POV
"Hi again. Can you tell me what's this for?" She got herself seated in front of me as she placed the plate on the table.
"Uhm. Well... That's actually for what happened a while ago... I was kind of rude so.."
"A peace offering? I think you should give this to the crew instead. She was really close to tears." She said.
She looked at me very intently that I couldn't help but avoid her gaze. She made me feel conscious about myself, leaning towards me with her arms crossed on the table.
She's too close. Do I even smell good? Why is she staring at me like this? Does she recognize me? I scratched the back of my ear to avoid the awkwardness. Things are not happening as planned.
"Well, I would rather you have it.."
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ROZIE'S POV
"Well, I would rather you have it.." A very cute smile flashed on his pretty face. He looks a little bit shy.
"The thing is I'm trying to cut some slack from sweets." I pushed the plate towards him.
"You don't seem to need to though." He said as his eyes scanned my physique."
"Ha! Really now? My friends and I have been pigging out for days! I might go home paying for extra baggage with the weight I put on." I giggled.
"So you're here on vacation?"
"Yes. We still got 5 more days though. But my friends and I don't seem to agree on doing the same itinerary."
Seeing how he's a little bit confused, I added. " Well, we've been shopping for 9 days now, jumping from one restaurant to the other for food. And that's it. That's what we did ever since we got here. I'm just thankful that today's different. Both of them went to the shooting places where Goblin was filmed. You know Goblin right?"
He nodded.
"Good. And I, on the other hand, preferred to sit all afternoon and chill."
"So what would you wanna do then besides shopping and eating?"
"Hmmm.. I've been googling about the famous places here. I like history so I wanted to go to the palaces and wear that thing. What's it called..??"
"Hanbok."
"Exactly. That's it. Maybe go to Namsan or Han river and the like. My friends find them boring though. So I guess I have to go to them by myself. But it's hard for me to go from one place to the other without getting lost." I chuckled.
"No offense but people here don't know how to speak English. A very few could though. I'm amazed how you can speak it fluently."
"Not really. I still make some mistakes from time to time but I like listening to people speak the language. I get to copy what they say when the time calls for it. My friend speaks very good English so I learn a lot from him too." He speaks in a very sheepish manner.
"I see."
"So do you like Korea so far?"
"The food here is great! I tried the rice balls with the red bean paste and they're so so good! I ate 10 in just one sitting." He laughed exposing a gummy smile of pearly whites.
Damn. This guy is beautiful!
Our conversation paused when his phone suddenly rang.
"Yoboseyo? Café. Anii. Aniii.Aniyo! Aish!!"
I think the caller hung up on him.
"Are you expecting someone?"
"Anyways..." Ignoring my question. "If you don't have anywhere to go to tomorrow, I could take you to the places you said."
"You'd go with me??" My eyes widened. I wasn't expecting this kind of offer especially from a good-looking guy like him but what better way than to travel with a local.
"Ne. I mean yes. It would be much easier if you were with someone from here." As if he could read my thoughts.
"OMG! That sounds terrific!. Sure. Sure. Sure. What time?"
"Maybe around 9? Stores would often open during those hours. I could take you to other places tourists and locals don't know about." I don't know if it's just me but that sounds a little bit naughty. 😉
"Aww. Happiness!" I jiggled in my seat. I can't believe it. Going to this café is indeed the right decision. "So, do we just meet up?"
"Give me your number." Something about what he just said sent chills down my spine. He handed me his phone and saw that it was the latest iPhone version. My jaw dropped. This guy must be big time! The phone costs like what?
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing." I smiled to myself thinking how idiotic I may have looked. "Here you go." Handing the phone back.
"Rozie." The way he said my name was just heavenly. Snap out of it Rozie! I could feel my cheeks blushing while he was looking at me so I immediately went for a diversion.
"Suga right? That doesn't sound Korean."
"Well. It's not my real name."
"Oh. A nickname then?"
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SUGA'S POV
She doesn't recognize me. This is a first. My group has been in the biz for almost 5 years now and everybody seemed to know us. We couldn't even go to the convenience store across the street from our dorm knowing that we could be seen.
Going to this café is very risky but this is why I love rainy days. People are just too worried about not getting themselves wet. On other days, I would usually wear a cap, a mask, and a hoodie to make sure I don't get known. This life I have isn't all glitz and glamour I'm telling you.
She's looking at me now with very curious eyes. I love the way she talks to me. It seems like she doesn't see anyone else but me.
Being stared at has been one of the things I deal with daily. But this one's different. She's not the type who fangirls about me going all crazy and teary-eyed, shouting my name just to get a glance or even just to touch the sleeve of my shirt.
Don't get me wrong. I love how all these women react towards us but it gets to a point when I just want to take a break from all of that.
"It's a name chosen for me by my boss. It's because my skin is pale and I smile sweetly like sugar."
She giggled. "That sounds cheesy. Hmm. A name was chosen for you. What are you exactly?"
"I belong to a group. You can see us on TV, ads, posters like that." I pointed to a poster displayed across the street, pasted on one of the walls. She squinted her eyes to see what I was referring to.
"Oooh. BTS." Not exactly the reaction I was anticipating. I was expecting to hear her say, 'Oh my God. BTS! I love you guys! Can I take a picture?' But no. All she ever did was look at the poster and me back and forth and say, "You look different without make-up on."
I laughed.
A very familiar voice suddenly came out of nowhere. "Suga Hyung!"
I looked up and saw Jhope approaching our table. "Aish!" I told him not to go. Kids these days don't know how to follow their seniors. By the time he got to our table, his eyes were immediately glued to the girl I was talking to.
"Ahh.. yeppeo.. yeppeo.." He was flashing his flirty smile. Rozie in return smiled back at him.
"Hajima!" I glared at him. "His name is Jhope." She was looking at the poster again trying to match the new face that just came up.
"Oh, English speaking. Hi! I'm your hope.. you're my..." I cut him off knowing how silly it sounds when he introduces himself. He was already extending his hand for a handshake and Rozie earnestly took it.
"I'm Rozie."
"Why are you here? Can't it wait till I'm done with my coffee??" I sounded pissed. I am pissed. I've been living with the rest of the gang for 5 years now. All I ever see is their faces from morning till dusk. Can't I just have 2 hours away from these shitheads??
"Bang PD is calling for a meeting about our new endorsement." He was talking to me but his eyes were still glued on her.
Seriously, this guy. I rolled my eyes in exasperation.
I looked at her and was about to say goodbye when she asked, "You're going?" I nodded. I'm displaying the word REGRET in bold caps on my face right now. I didn't wanna go. I just got started.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"Right." She smiled and extended her hand to me. I took it with both hands. And oh my, her hands were warm and very soft. I didn't wanna let go. Feeling how Jhope is gawking behind my back, I let go, took his arm, and dragged him towards the door.
"Annyeong!" He still managed to blurt out to Rozie.
I tried to look back but a crowd of teenagers went through the door.
Tomorrow it is then.
To be continued...