Timeless - Mark Tuan

Chapter 3

"Are you ok?" This boy, Mark, asks me as I stay quiet in the elevator, taking one corner of it, far from him. 

If it were me ... I mean, the normal me ... I would have pounced at this opportunity and I've had him pinned on the wall in no time. Looking at him with the white lights from above, I realize he's not a spitting image of Luke after all. They do have the same features though. That smile ... those teeth .... One of the factors I liked about Luke. This boy has that. It's kinda scaring me. 

"Yo!" He snaps his fingers in front of me. "Do you really not talk that much?" He stares at me longer, furrowing his brows, biting his lip, then he looks away. 

I shake off whatever was bothering me and try to put a smile on my face. "I'm fine." I look at him then ... it's a bit hard, I'm telling you ... "You really didn't have to do this, you know. I know you're a busy man." I just wish the shaking in my voice doesn't show.

"Nah." He shakes his head, "I don't do anything here, actually. My dad does all the work, and you met James."

I nod, looking in front, focusing my eyes at the buttons on the wall. I feel him looking at me again from the corner of my eye still with those creased brows, but he doesn't say anything. 

It's like I've been reborn when the doors open and the fresh air from the lobby hits me. 

"Let's take my car. We'll come back for yours later." He tells me, already walking ahead. Once inside his car, I feel claustrophobic all over again. I have to open the window to allow me to breathe better.

Fortunately, he doesn't mind that. The weather is nice enough and the traffic not that heavy. 

He clears his throat, maybe feeling the same kind of awkwardness in the air between us. "So, where are you from? You're not from around here, are you?"

"From England." I tell him, looking out the window. I feel his eyes on me for a while though then he looks back at the road. 

"Are you here alone? Why'd you choose to come here?" He continues with his questions. 

"I'm with my friend." I answer again. "You met her last night. We just want to try out new things. You know ... just the usual." I shrug my shoulders. 

He chuckles then. "You speak the language really well. I thought you've been staying here for a long time."

I just smile, not knowing how to answer that. I have learned most of the languages in different parts of the world. What with living for centuries and moving from one place to another, I had to speak what they speak. I've been here before, just for a short while though. I think that was 50, or less, years ago. 

Silence. 

He starts another conversation after some time. "What happened last night, by the way?"

I bite my lip. He didn't see what Mae saw, did he? I turn to him and see a very curious expression on his face. "It was nothing. We just had to go somewhere else." I reason out. 

"You feelin' cold or somethin'?"

"Huh?" I look at him puzzled at his random question. He points at my glove-covered hands. "Oh." I quickly put them on my lap, putting one on top of the other, as if that could help to hide it. "Just.... my hands get cold easily." 

"We're here!" He finally says, letting out a sigh of relief, maybe feeling stuffy inside the car himself. We park in front of a high rise, construction almost done. The outside looks really grand and I'm happy I've decided to invest on this. I can already see it teeming with tourists, especially that it's located at a famous tourist destination, with a view of the Han river at one side and the Namsan tower at the other.