euphoria | knj √

7: awake.

"I'm just walking and walking, among this darkness. My happy times asked me this question. You, are you really okay, it asked me. Oh no, I replied, no, I'm so afraid. Still, I hold the 6 flowers tightly in my hands."

0:00  |───────── 3:46

|◁ II ▷|

The skies swirled above her head, a mix of lilac and flamingo pink. It would later turn a light orange color as the sun set lower into the mountains, under the skyscrapers and sleepy horizon. She sometimes wished she could be up there with the sun, the sun that kept her company in her old home. It had been a long time since she had been there.

It's been a long time since I've talked to my mom, too, she thought, almost guiltily. 

The last time they had talked was right after she landed in Korea, which was almost three weeks ago. She was supposed to do the concert, then go back to Los Angeles to write and record some more songs, as she had just ended her US and UK tour at that time. 

Perhaps the reason Rein couldn't bring herself to call her mother was due to the fact that she couldn't face the disappointment in her voice when she had to tell her, the sigh at the end of Rein's string of excuses. Undoubtedly, Ms. Cho had already told her about closing a new contract, so there wasn't a lack of communication. It felt like something had broken between her and her mom, and she was going to pay for it later.

Rein shook her head. She didn't want to think about her mom right now. There were more important things to think about, anyway, like her very real social anxiety.

She gave herself a mental pep talk before getting into the car, back turned to the blue building she stacked her future on.

The restaurant smelled of meat and spices, a concoction to end the day with. The boys picked a table in the corner of the room facing the wall, four seats on each side. They took off their masks, taking their respective seats. Rein picked a seat around the middle. Namjoon sat across from her, and beside her were Jin and Hoseok. A waitress came over to their table and brought out her notepad without a second thought; she seemed to have served them before.

"You've brought someone new today, hm?" she said, looking over Rein with curiosity. "I swear I've seen her face somewhere." Namjoon glanced at Rein, the corner of his mouth raising the slightest bit.

"She's an American singer," he said. The waitress' eyebrows raised, an expression Rein couldn't decide to be either negative or positive. Then, something seemed to click in her head.

"Oh! I recognize her now. My son listens to her songs all the time. The songs are... Mm... Let's just say they're not my style." Rein arched her eyebrow.

Elaborate on that, she wanted to say. But she held her tongue. How surprising would it be if she knew Korean all of a sudden?

She found out all too soon.

After the waitress took their orders, ("The usual, please.") Taehyung slowly spoke up.

"Uh... What city you from?" he asked. She smiled, and after pausing a few seconds, she replied, "I'm from Austin, but I currently live in Los Angeles," in Korean. 

It took a few seconds for it to sink in, but once it did, they were in an uproar. hnbJimin was even clapping.

"Does she know Korean?" Jin asked Namjoon. Namjoon shrugged with a grin.