Walk With Me

CHAPTER 1: That Night
[written for "Radio_Active"]

Toss, turn, toss… Ria was having trouble falling asleep. Being in another bed than her own didn’t make it any easier. The sheets felt unfamiliar and the mattress was bigger and less soft than those at home. To make matters worse, Ria had never really been the type of person to fall asleep just about anywhere.

If Ria could have avoided a stay at the Park Hotel, she wouldn’t have been here now, but she was obliged to it. She was in her trainee period to become a photographer and was given that great opportunity to accompany South-Korea’s most successful photographer on his job to photograph the models of Seoul’s Fashion Week. It would have been crazy to turn that offer down. However, fashion shows and fancy hotels weren’t really the things Ria was after…

“Think of something nice…” Ria mumbled to herself and tried to find that slow pace of breathing, that state in which you’ll fall asleep. The clock ticked 12 am and Ria felt herself drift off as she counted along with the soft ticking.

However, her sleep got disturbed not long after, because nature was calling her. Badly. Now she had two choices: to hold it in and go back to sleep (which was practically impossible) or to put on her bathrobe and walk to the (unfortunately shared) bathroom. At first, Ria challenged to try the impossible, but being fully awake once again, she decided against it and kicked the sheets off. ‘So much for some good night’s sleep!’ Ria thought as she took her bathrobe from the chair beside the bed.

The hallway had a spooky glow, coming from the small yellow lights on both the walls. Tiptoeing her way to the end of the hallway, Ria found the bathroom empty and sighed in relief. She wouldn’t have liked to encounter someone who’s also in need of a midnight’s pee. No, that would only have been awfully awkward. But luckily, no such thing, as Ria closed the door behind her and found (to her delight) that the light in the bathroom was gloriously bright.

When she opened the door to tiptoe back to her room, her soul almost left her body. If she had not been so shocked into speechlessness, she would have screamed so hard that people in China might have heard.

Before her hung a guy in pajamas. Silent, tall and both his hands gripping the windowsill above the bathroom door. His eyes were closed and his head rested against one of his (rather muscled) upper arms. What the heck was he doing?!

“Yah! Now is not the time to exercise, you know…” Ria whisper-said when she had recovered from shock.

No reaction…

All kinds of thoughts went through Ria’s head. From how handsome he actually was, quickly replaced by irritation because of his bad manners, to worry that he might be dead. She coughed a little before she poked him in the side.

Finally, reaction!

The guy released his grip on the windowsill and fell down with a thud, landing on his butt, right before Ria’s feet. He didn’t let out so much as a sigh and Ria became more and more convinced that this guy was undeniably and utterly crazy… Within the blink of an eye the guy stood up and towered above her. His eyes were something between open and closed and he was goofily smiling at her. She had to admit, he looked beyond gorgeous and his scent was a masculine intoxication (definitely on a high yummy-level). However his behavior was a total joke…

“Excuse me, can I pass?” Ria asked, after being stared at by eyes that were semi-closed.

“Do you sell… Ddukbokki?” came a sleepy reply.

“Eh, no of course not…” Ria answered.

“No, we don’t… want ketchup… with it…” came another distracted and sleepy reply.

Something about the way the guy was speaking, the way he lacked to show any emotion, told Ria this guy was just sleepwalking. Realizing it all now, she wanted to laugh out loud, send him back to his room and try to catch a few hours of sleep. If only she knew where to send him…

Looking around she realized she couldn’t just leave him behind. There was a stairway at the end of the hallway and if he walked to over there, he might just tumble down the stairs and hurt himself.

“What’s your room number?” Ria asked the guy, already knowing he probably wouldn’t give her the answer she was looking for.

“Dongwoon… that’s me…”

Not his room number, but now she knew his name. A new idea came to mind. There were always receptionists working, right? If she could bring this Dongwoon to a receptionist, they would be able to bring him back to his own hotel room, wouldn’t they?

Reluctantly Ria stood watching the guy as he continued to stare at her through his eye lashes, made a sudden turn and started walking in the direction of the elevators, opposite the side of the stairway. Again the question, whether or not she should take care of him getting back inside his hotel room, troubled her. Sure, it wasn’t her responsibility at all, let alone that she should bring him back to his bed, but it wouldn’t be right to let him walk on, would it? So she made a decision. Quickly she ran to Dongwoon, grabbed one of his wrists and punched the button of the elevator. Ria was going to take him to a receptionist.

Dongwoon hadn’t struggled at all when she took his wrist, but as soon as the elevator beeped, the doors opened and Ria wanted to pull him inside, he stood rigid as stone and wouldn’t step inside. Sighing, Ria gave up and let the elevator doors close again without getting in. What was she even thinking? Walking around with hotel guests like she’s an umma that brings her children to bed. Spending time on a sleepwalker who’d probably go out of his room again, while she actually needed these hours to sleep…

Over thinking all those reasons why she could better go to sleep, she resolutely left Dongwoon for what he was and marched back to her own hotel room. She didn’t notice Dongwoon was following her like a shadow, until he stepped through her opened door just before she did.

“What the…?” before Ria could finish her sentence, Dongwoon had snuggled between the sheets on her king sized bed and let out soft, content snores.

Ria stood for a moment, as she saw the happy sleeping face of Dongwoon and wondered what she should do. She scratched the back of her head. Although the bed was king sized, Dongwoon had taken the liberty to lay in the middle of the bed. Although it was probably the best idea to wake him up and tell him to leave, she just couldn’t. Instead, she took another blanket from the cabinet and went to lay down on the couch herself.

CHAPTER 2: That Day

When Ria opened her eyes, the first thing she thought was that she was still dreaming. The sleepwalker from her dreams had both of his arms around her, hugging her from behind. His forehead rested between her shoulder blades and his warm breath was blown down her back every time he breathed out. It all felt so real…

It wasn’t until she wanted to sit up, that Ria realized everything was real. For a brief second she panicked. Why was she on the bed? Didn’t she went to sleep on the couch?! She didn’t remember… Another question, possibly the most pressing question, was: Did anything happen between them? To Ria’s relief they both wore their pajamas and nothing seemed particularly odd. Except for the obvious fact of the guy’s presence, of course.

Today was going to be Ria’s first day as a trainee, therefore she needed to wake up early. She looked at her alarm clock. 7:30 am, time to wake up… Carefully she lifted up Dongwoon’s arm that was on her waist. If she went to the bathroom to get washed and dressed first, he could sleep for a little longer. After that, Ria would have to wake him up and tell him to leave.

When Ria came back from the bathroom, he was still there, sleeping on his back with his mouth slightly opened. He looked like a little kid and Ria felt a weird need to take care of him. However, she couldn’t let him sleep, she had to be his rude wake-up call due to her own schedule.

“Wake up~…” Ria nudged his shoulder lightly. It wouldn’t be too nice if she ripped away the sheets, would it?

A protesting groan escaped Dongwoon’s throat as he closed his mouth, turned on his side and pulled the sheets higher up. A stronger determination was needed and Ria decided to just jump on the bed for a moment. Why on earth should she wake him up with total politeness, when he had invaded her goodnight’s sleep, her room and even her bed?!

Within a second she stood jumping next to him, until he sat up straight and started yawning and rubbing his eyes. In the moments that followed Ria could see the magical transformation from the cute boy Dongwoon seemed to be, to the handsome guy he really was. Now this perfect being had turned into a charismatic persona with just the addition of a certain look in his eyes. Ria stood enchanted as she, for the first time in his presence, held her breath and felt her heart skip a beat.

Dongwoon looked around with a frown, before looking at Ria. His eyes grew wide and he stood up from the bed, bowed politely and then grinned sheepishly.

“I’m sorry for being here… I must have gone into the wrong hotel room…” Dongwoon apologized.

Ria was still a little baffled by the whole revelation of Dongwoon’s charismatic side. She stepped off the bed and smiled politely.

“It’s okay, I guess, you were sleepwalking before you, ehm, slept here…” She said and felt her cheeks turn a little rosy.

“Well, this is pretty awkward, isn’t it? I’m Son Dongwoon, by the way. Well, I’ll be going now.” Dongwoon said and bowed once again before turning and walking out of the room.

Ria felt sad that she didn’t even told him her name, he had just walked out and she had been too dazed to do anything more than watch him leave… With a sigh Ria sat down on the bed and thought about the whole episode for awhile. Of course it would have been awkward for him to stay longer, or to have any sort of normal conversation with her, but she wouldn’t have disliked it, Ria realized.

The ticking from the clock reminded her to get going. She didn’t need to use the Park Hotel’s food facilities, since the photographer was going to treat her to breakfast to get to know her a little better and to talk about the when and how of her traineeship.

A delightful breakfast and an interesting conversation with South Korea’s #1 photographer later, Ria was on her way to the real job. She drove in a limo with the photographer, whose name was Baek Joon Gu, to the location of the shooting, which was a large empty sports hall, set up as a huge glamour stage in a colorful spring theme.

“You see the lights there? These are for the general lighting. Now these babies here…” Baek Joon Gu said, while pointing at the huge white umbrellas, “they do the real lighting. They are the ones responsible for that healthy glimmer, that radiating glow on the model’s skin.”

Ria followed him to the umbrellas and took a closer look at the things as Baek Joon Gu explained how they influenced the photo made, when using them.

When it was time for the models to take their places, Ria was settled right next to Baek Joon Gu, so she could see what he was seeing, but also what he was doing. When the first model went to stand on the set, Ria noticed they were going to shoot photos of male models and the theme was rather exposing. The first model was wearing an open shirt with short sleeves and blue denim shorts. The model didn’t need many directions as Baek Joon Gu was clicking away with the camera. Within 10 minutes, the model was done and another took his place. Then another and yet another. It all went very quickly and by the time it was the last few models’ turn for the camera, they were ahead of schedule.

“Thank you, next!” Baek Joon Gu said and smiled while waving his arm in a theatrical movement. “Ria, since we have plenty of time, I suggest you take the photos and I’ll give our next model the directions.”

Smiling broadly, Ria took place behind the camera and waited for the next model to show up on the set. When he did, she thought she needed an eye check. Right before her, bare-chested and in white shorts, stood the guy she caught hanging on the bathroom’s window sill, the guy that crawled into her bed just a mere 12 hours ago… With eyes huge as black pebbles in a stream, Ria stared at him, until he looked back, recognized her and smiled in return. It really was him, after all.

“Ria? Are you going to take photos? Or should I show you another time first?” Baek Joon Gu’s words brought her back to the present and without much hesitation she started the photo-taking.

“That’s right~! Lift your right hand a little higher… Great~!” Baek Joon Gu began actively shouting his directions at Dongwoon, who was enjoying the enthusiastic attention he was receiving.

Ria was once again completely enchanted as she was looking through the lens of the camera, while Dongwoon was throwing all kinds of attractive looks directly towards the camera and thus to her. He even winked and smirked seductively. Ria had to keep reminding herself to keep taking photos, for it became too easy to just stare at him. Suddenly a thought struck her mind… Why was he winking? It wasn’t like a photo could capture it, unless he kept his eye closed for a little longer… Did it mean… he was winking at her?

…And now he was blowing kisses? Ria blinked her eyes to make sure she wasn’t imagining it all. If she hadn’t stopped listening to Baek Joon Gu, she would have known Joon Gu gave him those directions, but that was merely because Dongwoon had created such an atmosphere in the first place.

Blinking didn’t change anything. Dongwoon kept stirring her heart with his playful flirting. It seemed totally out of character, knowing how charismatic he looked before, but he was perfectly capable of being desirable in a playful manner as well.

“Okay, that was fantastic!” Baek Joon Gu wrapped up the shoot and thereby ended Ria’s few minutes of pure enjoyment.

Instead of going right back to the dressing room, Dongwoon stepped off the set, grabbed a bottle of multivitamin juice and walked straight up to Ria.

“I didn’t know you were going to be my photographer!” he said amazed and smiled one of his charismatic smiles, one that suited him best and made Ria swoon on the inside.

“I didn’t know you were going to be my model!” Ria laughed, realizing this was the time to introduce herself. “I’m Ria by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Ria. Was I a good enough model for you?” Dongwoon asked, sincerely, but still in a light-hearted manner.

“You’re the best!” It was out of her before she could over-think it. “I- I mean, you were pretty good…”

Dongwoon smiled broadly, he had totally gotten her true feeling on the model-photographer relationship. He did well, very well and she was definitely impressed.

“Thank you!” he said and kissed her on the cheek before turning and entering the dressing room.

Ria stood there, frozen, did he just kiss her? On the inside she danced a victory dance and on the outside she had trouble suppressing a huge smile. While on the other side of the dressing room door, Dongwoon was doing exactly the same thing…

~~~

Coffee Encounters

Pressed in between the crowd Heeyoung fought her way to the entry of the train. It was another Monday and the mass of people was on its way to either office or college. Heeyoung however wasn’t heading to any such place. She had a day off and wanted to visit her halmeoni. Unlike the instant picture anyone would have with the mentioning of an older woman in an elderly home, Heeyoung’s halmeoni was far from what you’d expect. In an odd way, Heeyoung’s halmeoni was fun.

With a little force Heeyoung managed to board the train and secured a little space against the wall. Luckily she wouldn’t have to grab the pole to keep her balance. Heeyoung had a vivid aversion to touching public property. It was hardly a difficulty to imagine all types of bacteria from all types of places to stick together and form that greasy, recognizable yucky feeling.

“Excuse me?” Heeyoung heard a woman’s voice say, but she couldn’t see anyone over the heads around her. Then the doors closed. She wondered if the person had managed to board or not. One way or another, the train was leaving the station and it was completely packed with people. ‘Only three stops left, only three…’ Heeyoung reassured herself to keep from pushing the sweaty man in front of her away.

When they arrived at the first stop, Heeyoung saw to her surprise that lots of people exited, including Mister ‘I’ll-deprive-anyone-in-the-entire-cabin-of-not-even-so-fresh-air’. It was still full in the train, but at least Heeyoung had some breathing space now.

At the last moment, a guy with a cup of coffee in his hand was boarding. A look of displeasure was on his face as he looked around for an empty seat but failed to find one. ‘Another one of those lads with coffee.’ Heeyoung thought as the guy grabbed the pole with the sleeve of his jacket and tried to keep his coffee from leaking out of the cup. The train continued its journey.

He was now standing in front of her, giving her a quick glance and something which may have been an approving nod, but one could never be sure with all that train movement. Heeyoung took the time and the freedom to take in his features. He was pretty handsome, tall and broad shouldered, a little innocent maybe? His name was Dongwoon, or he had called himself that when he went to get some coffee at Starbucks… Either way, it said Dongwoon on his Starbucks cup.
“Studying anatomy?” the guy who went by the name Dongwoon asked with a grin.
“Eh, no, not at all!” Heeyoung answered honestly, before realizing he was making a remark on her little (what she thought unnoticeable) investigation and started blushing, something she wasn’t used to doing. The guy just flashed a crooked smile at her and that kind of made it worse.

Just when Heeyoung wanted to apologize (something which wasn’t exactly necessary) and tell him what she was doing for educational purposes (which wasn’t necessary at all), someone had pulled the emergency stop and the train was rapidly losing speed. The results meant a crushed Heeyoung against the train’s wall, a Dongwoon pressed against her and a leaking cup of coffee between them.
When the train had stopped moving altogether, Heeyoung felt how she could breathe freely again, because Dongwoon had stepped backwards, discarded the cup and started apologizing profusely.
Heeyoung didn’t notice the coffee stain on both their shirts at first, she was too shocked with the realization that she wouldn’t mind it at all if gravity would shift and she’d be pressed against Dongwoon’s chest once more. Wait, did she really just thought that?

“I’m so sorry, can I buy you a new shirt?” Dongwoon asked almost pleading, as he had interpreted her silence as anger.
“Sorry, what?” Heeyoung asked, wondering if he had really said what she just heard.
That was the moment she noticed her shirt, and his too, was stained with coffee and possibly ruined forever.
“You can’t really walk around like that, can you? Please let me buy you a new shirt.” Dongwoon offered again.
Now that was a tempting offer… Heeyoung could see herself marching around the shopping mall with him, trying on different shirts and Dongwoon would have to check her out in everyone of them.
“No, it’s not necessary, I’m OK.” Heeyoung answered out of reflex, but she tried to cover the stain by holding her arms crossed over her chest.
Dongwoon sighed. “No, you’re not… I don’t often do this, but I insist.”
Heeyoung looked up to see his face and his grin greeted her. He wasn’t very innocent, how come she ever thought that?
“I can’t, I’m about to visit my halmeoni…” Heeyoung brought in as an excuse, even though she really would like to spend some more time with Dongwoon.
“All the more reason to look clean!” Dongwoon reasoned, without doubt also picturing her halmeoni to be the usual old lady…
“Oh, then you don’t know my halmeoni!” Heeyoung said amused.
“No halmeoni wants their granddaughter walking around with a smear on their clothes!” Dongwoon stated. Of course he had a point…
“No halmeoni would want their granddaughter to go shopping with strangers.” Heeyoung challenged.
To that Dongwoon immediately extended his hand.
“I’m Son Dongwoon, born in 1991, a good eater and an overall nice guy. There, now I’m not a stranger anymore!”
Heeyoung laughed, this Dongwoon was a nice guy. “I’m Heeyoung.” she said and shook his hand.
“Great, let’s go shopping!” Dongwoon said and took her arm, just to release it again as he realized they were still waiting on the train to start driving again.

Suddenly Heeyoung became very conscious of the stares she was receiving from one of the men on the train. He was staring with big round eyes (not the cute type, but the creepy type) at a particular spot on her chest. Heeyoung felt exposed, she had no idea how to make the man stop looking at her. Glaring didn’t work, since the man made no eye-contact with her. She coughed and turned away a little, hoping that would send the message. It didn’t change the man’s staring behavior, but now Dongwoon had noticed the man as well. Disgusted by the way the man had started to lick his lips, Dongwoon turned towards Heeyoung and hugged her. He was shielding Heeyoung from the man and at the same time making her unable to see the disturbing look on the man’s face.

Realizing with shock that Dongwoon wasn’t going to stop hugging her like that until they were going to depart the train, Heeyoung blushed and couldn’t utter a word. She just hoped her blushing wasn’t noticeable by warmth, since their cheeks were a mere inch apart.
“Sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, I just can’t stand the look on that man’s face.” Dongwoon whispered in her ear.
This really had Heeyoung startled, what did he mean? Why should he be bothered by it?

When the train finally stopped at a station, Heeyoung felt a wave of disappointment as Dongwoon moved away. However, that feeling was quickly replaced with more warm wonderment when he grabbed her hand instead and led her out of the train. It was difficult not to like Dongwoon, he had that confident, but still modest thing going on, a really attractive charm.

“What kind of shirt do you like?” Dongwoon asked, still holding Heeyoung’s hand, like they were lovers on a summer’s walk. Except that they weren’t.
“Hmm…” Heeyoung made a stretched thinking sound. She wasn’t sure what the best answer was.
Something cheap…? He might get offended if she insisted she just wanted a plain white T-shirt. However, if she chose anything that costs above average, it might look like she was using the opportunity…
“You know what, I have an idea.” Dongwoon stated and started walking, while taking Heeyoung with him by the hand.
“Where are we going?” Heeyoung asked, wondering whatever idea had popped up in his mind.
“To my aunt.” His short answer came, but his excitement rung through those few words.
“Woah? Why am I meeting your family?” Heeyoung let out, but then became embarrassed by the suggestion that he was going to introduce her to his family.
Dongwoon grinned. So, he did caught that small hint. “My aunt is the owner of Seoul’s newest fashion brand. I think you’ll like her fashion. Georgio Armani called it ‘my new favorite Asian fashion brand’ when he met her during the Fashion Week in Paris.”
Heeyoung’s mouth hung slightly open upon hearing that, how was she ever going to refuse politely at this new offer? He was going to buy her one of his aunt’s shirts? That was crazy!

At a store, which was prettily decorated, not to mention classy, Dongwoon halted and opened the door to let Heeyoung in. For a moment, Heeyoung was convinced she just entered heaven. The atmosphere was really light and clean, soft music was playing in the background and even the smell was inviting. Dongwoon walked straight towards the shirt department, which made Heeyoung remember what they were here for.
“Hmm, do you like this one?” Dongwoon picked a soft blue colored shirt with ¾ long sleeves and a wide neck out of one of the clothing racks.
It looked absolutely stunning, but so did the rest of the stuff…
“Dongwoon-ah!” An excited female voice sounded behind them.
“Auntie!” Dongwoon replied. “How have you been?”
“Oh, the usual stuff. I’ve been a little hectic, but lately things are a little more balanced in life.”
Heeyoung used the time Dongwoon and his aunt talked to each other to take a look at the latter. The woman was probably in her mid-forties, but she looked as gorgeous as someone in the end of her twenties.
“Auntie, this is Heeyoung, I kind of ruined her shirt, so I was hoping to buy her a new one from your store.” Dongwoon said, bringing Heeyoung back to the present.
A smile broke out on his aunt’s face.
“Oh, that’s so thoughtful, is she your girlfriend?”
A silence followed in which the both of them looked at each other and started blushing a little, Heeyoung more than Dongwoon though.
“G-g-girlfriend?” Heeyoung uttered.
“No, no, no~” Dongwoon announced, a little too assuring, while his voice gave away that he wasn’t at all sure about that. “We just met.”
“Oh~” his aunt replied knowingly and nodded. “Well, if you want a shirt, you can pick whichever you like! I’ll give them to you for free, but don’t tell your friends, okay?” She directed it to Heeyoung and winked.
“You don’t have t…-” Heeyoung started, but Dongwoon’s aunt shook her head.
“I know I don’t have to, but I want to.” She smiled politely.

An hour and a half later, Heeyoung felt like she had tried on about every shirt available and was well on her way trying all the pants and dresses and skirts. While she had just come to buy a shirt, Dongwoon’s aunt had gradually begun to give her a complete new wardrobe.
It was a blast. Heeyoung tried on something, Dongwoon gave his opinion (usually praise) and his aunt had come with something more to try.

When they were done, Heeyoung had received a total of three complete outfits and did not even had to pay a single cent. She felt a little guilty and wondered what she should tell her parents, but overall she was happy and grateful.

“I’ll walk you to the station.” Dongwoon offered when they had said goodbye to his aunt and left the store.
“Thanks.” Heeyoung smiled and let Dongwoon take one of her bags to carry.
During their walk to the station they talked endlessly and exchanged phone numbers. Heeyoung noticed they were walking slower with every step. Neither of them wanted to say goodbye so soon.
“Have fun at your halmeoni’s!” Dongwoon said, when they arrived at the platform where the train was about to come.
“Thanks, I will.” Heeyoung answered.
A silence stretched between them as no further words were required to be said, but a lingering feeling kept them together. While the train arrived at the platform, Heeyoung and Dongwoon kept staring into each other’s eyes. Dongwoon broke the magic slightly by coughing once, but then he did the complete unexpected as he moved forwards and kissed Heeyoung, pulling her close to him.
When the kiss ended he sprinted away, turned, smiled and waved.
“I’ll miss you, call me this evening!” he yelled and skipped out of sight.
Her heart was pounding as she boarded the train with her three shopping bags. Never again would she judge coffee stains as a bad thing. And lads with coffee on the train were handsome.

~~~