Entres Nous

Never in her life had she felt as illiterate as she felt then. She had no idea what the hell was going on in the movie and she was very uncomfortable not knowing. She stared blankly at the screen, trying to formulate words out of her very small knowledge of korean, piecing them into very incoherent sentences.  Chan kept shifting in her seat, her hand digging into Yura’s lap that held the popcorn, trying to keep herself busy as she prayed the minutes would go by faster. She peeked from the corner of her eyes at G.O who was staring intently at the screen. Damn him and his Korean understanding.

He glanced down at her, meeting her gaze which quickly shifted back to the movie screen. He smiled, leaning his head close against her ear. “The girl in the blue coat is the man’s stalker. They used to date, but ever since the girl’s face was damaged, he coldly broke up with her. He is now dating that girl in the grey sweater, the girl not knowing his true past. That’s what we know so far.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

“Cheonman-eyo. (You’re welcome.)” He smiled back.

Progress.



“Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Yura huffed, angrily typing into her iPhone before slipping it back into her coat pocket. She had ran out of the movie right before it ended when she noticed her phone light up, coming back with a pissed off expression written all over his face. The movie ended ten minutes after, her face unchanging as they walked out of the theatre. “Dammit, I’m so sorry I’m gonna have to cut our outing short. Joonie and I have to rush to a radio interview, we had both completely forgotten about it.”

“Minhae. (Sorry.)” Joon apologized, giving Chan a pout. She honestly didn’t mind, that meant she could go home and sleep the day away without a care in the world.

“It’s fine, I should’ve remembered too.” G.O pulled down his mask.

Yura frowned. “Bear-hyung had been calling us both for hours, but since we put or phones in silent we never noticed until now. It’s my fault.” She sighed. “Doesn’t matter now, we gotta hurry if we wanna make it. But...” Yura looked at Chan. “We won’t if we take each of you home.”

“I’ll stay with Chanie, you guys can take the car, we can take the subway.” G.O spoke up.

“Hold it.” Chan raised up her hand. “I can get myself home, you should go back to your place. It’d be easier.”

“Aniyo, I’m not letting you get lost, I bet you don’t even know what district we’re in right now.” He retorted.

“I so do!”

He raised an eyebrow. “What district are we in right now?”

Chan stared at him blankly.

G.O broke into a smirk.

She glared. “Don’t say a word.”

“Stop it children, we’ll deal with your love/hate relationship later.” Yura spoke up, stepping in between them. “Sorry sweetie, but G.O is gonna have to take you home. I trust you with a lot of things, but not getting you home. The boys have been to my house numerous times and they can get there by themselves and believe it or not, G.O has a pretty good sense of direction. I’m gonna have to take his side on this one.”

Chan broke into a frown. “Oh my God, you’re doing it again aren’t you?! You’re trying to stick me with him. I’m not gonna fall for it this-,”

“Shut up, Chantal.” She grimaced. She had never seen Yura angry until now. “This isn’t your stupid little deal with G.O, this is business. You work for me. I treat you like my friend but I’m afraid I’m gonna have to treat you like an employee because you obviously aren’t getting it. Grow up and let him take you home before I throw your ass out of my officetel and ship you back to New York myself.”

Chan kept silent, her eyes following Yura’s and Joon’s backs as they walked towards the black BMW. She hated to admit that Yura was right. She was being a child. She was being a child because she didn’t want to admit she truly enjoyed G.O’s company. She wasn’t in love with him, but she enjoyed his company. His sense of humor and the way he made her feel warm. She just couldn’t bring herself to admit it because it was the same problem she had with Yura all along. She didn’t want to get attached to something that might just run away.

Her head jolted upward when she felt a tug from her sleeve. She couldn’t tell if G.O was smiling or not, his mask covering his nose and mouth, but she didn’t mind. In a way, not knowing what lied behind his poker eyes made her feel strangely at peace. Like nothing he said could harm her and nothing he said could warm her. Pure limbo.

“Let’s go.”



They hadn’t spoken the whole fifteen minute walk to the closest subway station, their shoulders bumping to each other as they walked. She knew it should feel awkward, but in the strangest and most curious way it did not. It felt... nice. It felt like there was someone watching over her without need to say a word. Even when they were surrounded by crowds of people who could possibly chase her around the city with torches and fork knives she felt great. She felt better than she had felt in her whole stay so far.

“I hadn’t seen Yura angry in a while.” G.O spoke up as they slid their subway card across the screen, taking out their tickets. “That surprised me.”

“You didn’t seem too surprised with that poker face of yours.”

G.O chuckled underneath his mask, letting her walk in front of him, watching her from the back. “You seemed like you were about to take off your boots and impale her.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I get a pretty nasty face on, when I get lectured.”

“It’s cute.” He smiled, stepping onto the escalator.

“Compliments won’t get you anywhere.” She shrugged, tapping her nails against the rubber. The escalator was packed with unmoving people, all stuck between two steps, all constantly checking their phones. Yura had taken her a couple of times on the subway, but since they had a car it was way more convenient to drive, even when the traffic was a piece of hell. She learned to take a book with her during rush hour, but she did not expect fort the subway to be so full at such a late time.

“Not even to a dinner for two?”

She licked her lips, tapping her finger against her upper lip. “If you can guess my favorite pastime, I’ll accept. If you really are so willing to take me out, then you should know at least that much about me.”

His eyebrows knitted together, quickly raising and finally lowering. “Deal.”

They were stuck in between crowds of people. They might as well kill some time. She gave him a victorious smile as she crossed her arms and waited for his response.

“I’m not sure.” He started. Before she could open her mouth to declare herself the winner, he kept going. “Sometimes, when you aren’t really paying attention to anything or anyone I see you doodling in the corner of papers, cute little figures with deeper meanings than what they look. When you’re eating you sometimes pour some pepper on your napkin and play around it until it becomes a figure. Other times I spy you during shows writing on some worn-down notebook, your eyes sparkling with excitement. Your favorite pastime is art, but at the same time it’s studying your surroundings, unconsciously placing them down on paper.”

Her mouth gaped, her eyes scanning his to see if he held a single doubt in his irises that said what he was saying wasn’t true. She found none though, instead the coloring echoing pure honesty as his long fingers pulled down his mask, showing her the sheepish grin he had been hiding. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from reciprocating it.

He pulled up his mask, squeezing her shoulder with his right hand. “I know a great place near your officetel.”

She didn’t dare say no.