Bulletproof ain't my type

All the kinds of quiet

Travel, even for couch potatoes can be enjoyable when undergone with a companion who keeps your spirits up and the noises low. Lots of noise gives me headaches. I like quiet. When I say quiet, I mean it in the sense of 'peace and quiet'. What was happening here was 'dead quiet'. And stuffed in this car with a stuffed mantis for a long period of time, I was starting to feel claustrophobic. As a safety measure, I turned on the radio. Her eyes darted to stare at it. I reflected in that moment that it was not my car and I shouldn't be taking such liberties. But it didn't look like she cared, frankly. All she did was stare at it unblinkingly like she was trying to figure out what sort of alien contraption it might be.

"Bum-Ruh-Ta-TaTa, Ruh-TaTa-Ta-Ta!"

I turned it off. She resumed to look out the window, unperturbed by my antics. I suddenly regretted having turned it off. The silence was screeching in my ears. My palms began to get sweaty and I realised I had been gripping the wheel too tight. Pursing my lips, I flexed my fingers. My role in the current situation was that of a character in a horror movie, tip-toeing around a graveyard. My bones made a popping sound not unlike the snapping of a twig under said character's shoes. My eyes immediately jumped to gauge her reaction. To my instant relief, she was not staring at me with an oddly twisted neck and a trail of blood running down her mouth. She kept looking out the window as if she hadn't heard.

The pale yellow of the passing streetlights cast sharp shadows over her features. Illuminating her face then plunging it in darkness then illuminating it again. The shadows of her bangs darkening her eyes with every passing lamp while the rest of her face glowed in the light. Gloomy and luminescent in timed flashes...the sharpness of her jaw, the glint of the spikes, the ridges of her collarbones, the exposed shoulder..

But at dinner she had heard Jin from five seats away. That must mean she was ignoring my rolling-around-in-a-tin-can noises to save me from my own embarrassment. I could tell the tips of my ears were slowly starting to burn red. My eyes moved to study her profile again.

The contrast of black and gold.

Hell to the fucking no!

I cleared my throat.

"What'syourfavouritesong?", really, genius? Really?

Her eyes moved from the window to the dash.

"Why do you ask?"

Holy hell, do I need a fucking reason?

"Just...y'know, making small talk"

She tilted up her head slightly, moving from the dash to the windshield. "..small talk?"

"Y'know, when people ask each other random things to pass the time when they have nothing better to do?"

Her brows pushed together ever so slightly."Ask?"

She does speak Korean, right?

"Well", I shrugged for emphasis, "not necessarily ask. Sometimes someone comments on something and that can kick up a conversation", cure insanity, clear hallucinations, prevent schizophrenia, etc.

She seemed to consider it. I waited with bated breath for her to say something, else I would start rambling again.

"I never pegged you for a virgin"

And she goes and says that.

A reference to the game of never-have-I-ever. Just because I didn't take a swig doesn't mean I'm a stupid virgin. I am not the most honest of people and I'm not going to correct her either. When the universe throws you a line, you latch on to it like your life depends on it.