Our Story

Chapter 23

When Jinyoung left the hotel the next morning, it was a little after nine. He had already thought of the places to visit today. The first was Colosseum.

He knew no Italian, except how to say 'hello' and 'thank you' in it, and so he had to rely on his English as he hailed a taxi. He would be lying if he said all he felt was thrill. He was nervous, too. Maybe, even more nervous than thrilled. Now that he was going to be on his own in a foreign city.

On the way, as he stared at large buildings, he tried to picture ancient Rome. Why had he wanted to come here? It was its history, which intrigued him, and he wanted to witness the remnants of this history with his own eyes.

The taxi driver dropped him right in front of Colosseum. It was surreal to stand on the sidewalk, gazing at the huge monument. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of it.

There were a lot of tourists; some were with tour guides and others, like him, were on their own. It was a short walk to the entrance and once he was inside the monument, his heart was overwhelmed but in a good way.

How had anyone been able to build such an enormous building? Even the ruins were impressive, just as he had expected. He walked around and his camera roll was soon filled with a load of new pictures.

Roman Forum was nearby and he went straight there once he had left Colosseum. There were fewer tourists there and most of what he could see there were the ruins. He tried to recall the histroy - which he could do only vaguely - and checked it on the internet.

It was already noon when he left Roman Forum and was back in the streets. Instead of getting a taxi, he explored around the area until he found a restaurant, to have lunch there.

"Buon pomeriggio!" A waiter greeted him and gave him the menu, as Jinyoung seated himself at a table that faced the road.

There were some familiar dishes on the menu but he wanted to try the local cuisine and asked the waiter for recommendations, in English.

After the waiter had taken his order and left him, Jinyoung went over the photos he had taken and sent some of them to the chat group of him and his parents, telling them where he had gone.

Then thinking of Jackson, Jinyoung contemplated Skyping him; he did not want to destroy the quiet atmosphere of the restaurant. Yet he ended up Skyping Jackson.

"Hey, Jinyoung," Jackson said, steadying his phone. "Where're you?"

"At a restaurant near Colosseum. What're you doing? You look like you were sleeping."

"I was just about to sleep," Jackson opened his mouth wide for a sudden yawn. "I guess you're visiting Colosseum?"

"Just visited," Jinyoung corrected him. "It was great. But what's with you? Why're you sleeping early? It's still early there, right?"

"Kind of. But, hey, I hit the gym today," Jackson looked proud as he showed his toned arm muscles. "And I'm tired now. But since my friend didn't forget me and called me, I'm willing to stay up the whole night and talk to him."

Jinyoung huffed, "As if you would."

The food arrived and Jinyoung continued to talk to Jackson a bit longer, before ending the call and having his lunch.

The next place was Piazza Venezia. Altare della Patria was even more impressive as he looked at it closer. Especially the statues. He had to look up at them as he stood next to their bases.

Then he was in Largo Argentina. Much like being in Colosseum and Roman Forum, he found himself again among the ruins. He walked around the destroyed temples and savoured the touch of the stones.

The last place for today and which he could claim as his most favourite one out of all the places he had gone today, was Piazza Navona.

When he arrived there, the sun was already about to set and the place was cool, maybe cooler than it might have been in the daytime. He guessed; he had never been here before, anyway.

There was a row of paintings shown there, to his surprise. He took pleasure in going around and looking at them. There were street musicians too and pizza shops nearby.

He occupied a bench near Fiumi Fountain. He was not alone, however; beside him were a child and a woman who must be the little girl's mother. The mother was busy taking pictures of the fountain while the child was sucking her thumb, staring at Jinyoung.

"Hi," Jinyoung gave her a small wave and yet she kept staring at him, curiously. "Ciao!" He tried in Italian.

"Ciao!" The girl mimicked him and that called her mother's attention to them. She did not look annoyed and instead, gave him a brief smile.

"Hello. She's cute," he said in English.

"She is," the mother replied, with her strong British accent. "Are you a tourist too? Where're you from?"

"I'm from Seoul. South Korea."

"Oh, from Asia. It's a long way from here! Nice. Are you alone?" she said, taking her child onto her lap.

"Yes. It's my first time here. I like this place. It's nice here."

"Glad that you're enjoying it. We've been here a couple of times. I mean, my husband and I. It's first time for Laura though." She looked softly at her daughter.

"Her name's Laura? A beautiful name! She's cute too," Jinyoung pinched her cheek gingerly and she giggled.

It was darkening and quite late too. After sitting a few more minutes there, conversing with the mother, in his limited English, Jinyoung bid them goodbyes and left the place.

It was only when he was back at his room in the hotel that the thought of Mark came back to him. But he managed to push it away. Although despite it leaving him, he could still feel his heart aching. However, he was satisfied with the day and everything he had experienced was more than he could have wished for.