Alexandria
She looked at herself in the mirror in disbelief once again. This is a common pastime for her. She couldn't believe that she was still this big, despite the major weight she lost before moving to Seoul.
At 159 pounds, and a size 8 in jeans, Alexandria felt like she belonged to a different planet, even though she looks fine to the rest of the world.
Letting out another sigh, she lifts the floral skirt over her tummy and reaches for her bag, slightly stumbling over the shoes on her floor.
Grabbing everything she needs for her outing, she exits her baby blue colored room and makes her way out of the door, slightly nudging Valeria on the way out. She was on the kitchen counter, rapidly copying down notes from her online lecture.
Alexandria was met by the cool weather upon stepping outside and commencing her walk, crossing her arms over her fluffy knit tan sweater.
It was towards the end of September, and Alexandria wasn't used to the chilly weather, being from Southern California, she was used warm nights and gentle breezes. Anything under 70 degrees felt like ice.
The bookstore was only a few blocks away, she had memorized the neon signs and buildings, plus her phone always helped when she was in need. She hadn't exactly mastered Hangul yet.
This bookstore was the only one Alexandria had found that sold books in English. She absolutely loved it. The day that she arrived, fresh out of the taxi cab, her and Valerie walked in. It was your average "hole-in-the-wall" bookstore, barely any visitors and the sweet lady who ran it.
"Hello, my dear," The lady smiles at Alexandria, she was very fond of her. Her name full name was unknown, only being called 'Mrs. Kim' by everyone. She has a short white bob for hair, and always wore color coordinated outfits. Alexandria loved her.
She was well past her fifty's but was the liveliest person that Alexandria had ever met. Moving to China from Korea when we was only ten years old, and then studying at Harvard University for ten years while she got her doctorates in English Literature. After, she returned to Korea, got married, but no one knows where husband is, except her, of course.
"Hi Mrs. Kim! How have you been?", she asks the old lady behind the counter, reading a fiction novel as always.
"I haven't been too good, Establishment ran away..." and Mrs. Kim explained her tragic tale while Alexandria searched through shelves of books, trying to find the colorful spines that belonged to the titles on her list.
Establishment was Mrs. Kim's 12 year old birman cat. He runs away every month, leaving his owner a sulking nervous mess. He always came back after a few days with something new to show. Since Alexandria had arrived, he brought back a string of Christmas lights in June, a bag of shrimp chips in July, and a busted silver rolex knock-off in August. Like clockwork, he was gone again. Alexandria imagined what things he could possibly bring this time.
"I'm sure he'll be back in no time!" Alexandria yells across the store, but receives no answer as Mrs. Kim was preoccupied with a customer who had just walked in.
Alexandria walked a bit closer to the front to be able to see who had walked in, not very many people did. She watched as Mrs. Kim read a list and a guy dressed in all black stood in front of her. At this point, Alexandria had grabbed all the books she needed, and was just making time to avoid waiting in back of the darkly dressed man to pay for her stack.
"Mmm...yup! I have all of these, look around!" She says handing him back the list. Alexandria takes one look at him while they cross paths, him on the journey to find his novels and her to pay for hers.
He wore a cap, and a black face mask, but something about his eyes told Alexandria that they had met before, or at least seen. She let it go out of embarrassment that his eyes had met hers and looked down, continuing the short walk to Mrs. Kim.
"All done, dear?" She says grabbing the books out of Alexandrias hands, immediately beginning to ring them up. Alexandria nods, turning away from the increasing number on the cash register screen, focusing on the new succulent plants placed along the counter, that is until Mrs. Kim gasps.
"Alex, dear, you just bought that boys entire list!" She says and dramatically places her hand over her mouth. "That's so weird", she whispers.
Alexandria's eyes widen in confusion, but also in embarrassment over the way that Mrs. Kim had basically yelled. She looks back and (just as she thought) the guy was staring at her. She blushed and looked away, turning back to the old lady in the navy blue tracksuit.
"We must be in the same class," she tells Mrs. Kim softly who was already putting the books in Alexandria's velvet vintage tote bag. Handing Mrs. Kim her debit card, Alexandria resisted the urge to look again as she heard him pulling books out in the shelves behind her.
So we're in the same class, Alexandria thinks as she replays the events from her literature class of three days ago. Finally remembering who he was, Alexandria slightly gasps.
He had been the one who had also sat in the back. Wearing a grey sweatshirt and sweatpants, also flaunting a black face mask. Alexandria takes her debit card back from Mrs. Kim, who had been handing it to her for a few seconds already, and plops it in her bag. Mumbling a small 'goodbye' to Mrs. Kim, she takes her bag in a hurry and exits the small store.
She stops to breathe in some fresh air, shaking off the experience, before continuing to make her way down the neon light covered streets.
Namjoon
He looked at her as she quickly exited to the left the book shop, brown hair flowing while the door shut. He had recognized her immediately, as soon as he walked in. She was the girl from Hobi's dads class, the one he had looked at for most of the class.
The way that she had looked at him made him think that she too had recognized him, hopefully not for the reason he was thinking of. Her tan skin and light brown hair made him know instantly that she was not from here. She had southern features he couldn't exactly pinpoint from where. Namjoon knew that most of the girls her age studied abroad in Korea for one main reason, even though he felt like an asshole to admit it.
And if she was studying in Korea for that reason, then she had to have recognized him.
Rolling his eyes and rubbing his face, he couldn't believe that he had been discovered. The only trip he had taken by himself in weeks, and he had been recognized. He continued to look for his books frustratingly.
