Closer than Ever

Chapter 26 - Ddaeng Paparazzi

BTS is busy with an advertising shoot for Japanese beer or Indonesian instant noodles or something - I tend to get them all mixed up at this point. Maybe they're doing both of those today? In any case, I have Taehyung's studio all to myself again, unfortunately.

I polish up the verses for Someday and then start roughing in lyrics for Starscape. "Together we'll swim/In that river so cold/High overhead in the night sky. We'll float on our backs/Look down at the Earth/Swimming in stars, you and I..." I nod to myself, and hum the melody to the chorus. "Let's just escape/Slip away into the starscape/And float out to sea/My one love and me." I type it out furiously, not wanting to forget. "What is this pull/That draws me in close?/Has to be your gravity. I bask in your glow/Wrapped in dust and smoke/Your shining lets me see you clearly..." I say out loud to the empty room, "Dang, I really like this! I hope Tae does, too."

'OK, hmm... a bridge, a bridge... 'Has anybody seen the bridge?'' "We drift away holding hands/But does this love stand a chance? How can we live at this height?/You say it'll all be alright/But the air...up here... is too thin to breathe. (Just believe)... We will escape/Slip away into the starscape/And float out to sea/My one love and me. Let's just escape/Slip away into the starscape/And float out to sea/My one love and me...My one love and me." I type up the rest of the words, and then record a rough demo for Taehyung on my phone and send it to him. He sends back five smiley faces with hearts for eyes, so I assume he's still on set and doesn't have time to respond in detail. I send him a kissy face emoji and yawn, then realize that I'm both hungry and sleepy. I decide that one good song is enough productivity for one day, and I'm going to head home for lunch and a nap. It seems like Tae will be too busy to spend any time together at the building, anyway.

Tae seems to genuinely enjoy my cooking, so I decide to make some fettuccine alfredo with chicken and a side salad for dinner. 

Hey babe, I text him. I'm going home now. I'll get some groceries and make dinner, OK? Pasta and salad? 

😁💕💕💕

What time do you think you'll be home?

8? 8:30?

See you then! 😘

😘😘

After a make-shift lunch of yogurt and blueberries, I take a lazy hour for a nap. A long bubble bath follows, and I paint my finger and toe nails. "So bored. I'm sooooo booooored," I sing to Luthien. She yawns and curls up with her back to me on the bed. "I miss Taehyung," I say to her disinterested back.

Even though it's hours yet before Tae is due home, I decide to go shopping just for something to do. The Yeoksam Emart even has fresh parmesan cheese, to my delight. I toss all of the ingredients into my cart, humming to myself.

As I walk through the kimchi section, I notice a weird guy ducking out of sight. He had a phone pointed at me. I glance around, looking for an Emart security officer or any other employee, but I don't see anyone. 'Well, eff you,' I think, and quickly start wheeling my cart in the direction of the aisle he disappeared into. As I round the end display, he glances up from his phone and a look of panic spreads across his face.

"HEY! Get back here!" I shout as he turns to run. I abandon the cart to give chase, and a burly young man grabs the photographer just as he reaches the end of the aisle.

"Get off me! Let me go!" he yells, looking over his shoulder at me. The passerby, who is built like a ssireum wrestler, has the guy in a headlock as security shows up, alerted by the noise.

"What is the trouble?" the officer asks the wrestler.

All of them look at me. "He was sneaking around, taking pictures of me," I respond.