Page 102 of A World Apart
Jihoon reached the tub first, which was bubbling merrily away, wisps of steam coiling up into the cooling air from the warm water. He carefully stepped down into the writhing water and set his bottle down in the holder on the ledge before holding his hand out to me. I slid my palm against his as I gingerly stepped in. Water almost too-warm slid up my calf and then my thighs as I stepped onto the seat in the tub. Holding onto Jihoon, I stepped down again so I was submerged up to my navel. We sat down and I instantly groaned at the feel of the water, so warm and bubbly swirling around my chest and shoulders. I leaned my head back against the side and closed my eyes, letting any tension left in my body just evaporate.
“I need to get me one of these,” I mumbled.
Jihoon huffed next to me. “Me too.”
Without moving the rest of my body, I opened my eyes and turned to face him. Like me, he was leaning back against the padded edge of the tub, eyes closed and looking so serene it made me smile.
“Do you still live in a dorm, or do you have your own place?” I couldn’t seem to stem my curiosity about his life today.
His lips curled up; some joke I wasn’t privy to. “We all moved out of the dorm in 2016. Minjae and Woojin each have an apartment, but I live with Seokmin and Sungmin.”
“Do you live close to them?”
He laughed. “You could say that. We all live in Hannam-Dong.”
The name sounded familiar. “Is it nice there?”
He shrugged. “It’s where a lot of idols and actors live because there’s a lot of security there.”
He made it sound like an enclave.
“But do you like it?” I pressed, turning more fully to him now. Jihoon opened his eyes and turned to face me.
“So many questions today,” he murmured, reaching for his bottle and taking a pull.
“Am I being too nosy?” I cringed, absurdly still self-conscious, despite everything.
“No, not nosy. It’s just…” He looked thoughtful, like he was trying to think of the words.
“Normally people just know certain things about us. We get asked the same questions in interviews and have to answer in different ways every time, but when it comes to our lives, the small details, people usually already know.
“It’s strange to be asked about my life by someone who doesn’t already know.” He smiled at me and it was a smile that pulled out my own. It seemed like a relief, but I didn’t know why it would be, just that I was glad I wasn’t annoying him. I hastily pushed that thought aside, choosing not to dwell on the imbalance in… whatever this relationship was.
“To answer your question, yes, I do like it there. It’s close to the city so we don’t have to spend so much time in the car, but it’s safe enough if we want to ride our bikes or go for a run, we can.
“A lot of our friends live there too, it’s like a full-page spread of Dispatch,” he rolled his eyes and I giggled.
“There’s lots of cool places to go too, lots of trendy clothes shops and art shops, coffee places, good food to eat. It’s a different planet from the dorms.” He scrunched his nose.
“Wow, it sounds kinda awesome. I’d love to see it someday.” The comment was a bit of a throw away one, but his eyes laser focused on me like I’d said something important. He said nothing though, which made me think I’d said something wrong. I chewed on my lip, trying to think of a segue, but he beat me to it.
“What was it like where you grew up?”
“The Lakes?” I said in surprise. He nodded.
I blew out a puff of air as I considered the question.
“In some ways it was everything you could wish for as a kid. It’s such a wild place, there’s always somewhere to explore and get muddy. Freezing cold rivers, forests that go on for miles, hills to run around on all day.
“But then, as I got older, I found it too slow. I wanted to see the cities. I didn’t want to run around in the wild anymore.”
“You miss it now?”
I guess he must have read something in my expression. I smiled, wistfully.
“I think you always miss the place you call home.
“But then, when I was 18, I moved to London for university and I lived there for four years until I moved to LA this year. The rest is history.” I shrugged.
