Unexpectedly Regular | Kim Namjoon

5

Nara woke up before her alarm clock because her neck had complaints on the uncomfortable position she had fallen asleep. Her glasses were still on her face, a little crooked, so she checked her phone. It was 6 o'clock and she still had a couple of hours to sleep, but something else caught her attention: a message sent in the middle of the night that said:

"I've been working the whole night and only now I could answer. I'd love to have tea but I don't even live in Suncheon."

While her brain processed the information, she straightened her glasses and blinked sometimes at the opened window next to her desk. The morning sun was rising and only now she realized her laptop was on the floor, next to a notepad where she took some notes for the plot professor Moon wanted to see in some hours. Nara had fallen asleep over her drafts after a long night of research on the topics she wanted to write about. Strangely, Angie hadn't returned till that late, so although it was a productive night as she didn't need to divide her attention between the text and her roommate, she also missed the interactions and even creative interventions on Nara's work they had on the nights they had been sharing the room. She looked around and found no sign of her presence on the last night. Angie's bed was untouched and Nara didn't know whether it was a habit or something to worry about, but the girl hadn't mentioned she would sleep somewhere else.

Noticing she had some privacy, Nara took the opportunity to make a video call to her mother, something Margarida had been demanding via texts ever since Nara had arrived. Nara did miss her mother, but she was still not completely comfortable with her mother's expectations. They were having a rough time before Nara left, and as this whole tripe was a not so unconscious escape route, many things were left in suspense, yet in need to be solved. Nara was having such a good time apart from the things that troubled her mind that she didn't want to bring back any of those thoughts, and talking face to face for a long time with her mother would definitely cause the uproar of some unwanted questions. Although she feared that, she also knew it was hard to keep saying no to her mother who, sometimes painfully but always indubitably, loved her daughter. At least, she would be all alone to do that now.

Margarida answered her daughter with a smile on her face. Nara's fears dissolved as she saw the caring smile of a loving mother who was happy her daughter was enjoying her life and this opportunity but was also worried about her little one's well-being. She would do her best to avoid their conflicts, as she had learned she was missing her mother. After updating each other on the days they had spent apart and touring her mom around her room and the parts of the campus that could be seen through the windows, the mother asked whether Nara was anxious for the concert she would go on the upcoming weeks. In fact, she didn't have time to look forward to that yet. She had been too busy being well-received by friendly colleagues, meeting helpful guys at cafés, getting to know the university and her classmates at bars, learning Korean, and lately, writing. Since before coming here, she suspected her mother had encouraged the extra expenses with the concert and kept focusing on that because she wanted her daughter to have fun there. It was such an unconceivable idea to have her daughter achieving such an expensive aim of travelling around the world, she wanted to make sure Nara was really enjoying this trip. There was a little bit of pity in her tone as well. Once she knew her daughter wanted to use that trip to escape the turmoil that recently had turned their lives upside down and outside out, she had been checking whether Nara was really doing it. Nara explained that she still had some weeks before the concert and that until there, she would be focused on writing. Margarida complained about that choice, replying that she could write anywhere in the world, but she could only enjoy other opportunities there. Her mother was not wrong, so Nara promised to give herself more free time than time writing. She thought about the tea she would have with the guy from the café but she would never mention that to her mother as that was a weight she didn't want to bring to this light conversation. She had promised to avoid controversial topics in this talk, so even as her mother said her last words, she swallowed her irritation to say goodbye kindly to the old woman. "Vê se sai com seus amigos, tá bom? Se puder, arruma um genro coreano pra mim também". Nara was uncomfortable, but she smiled. "Tá bem, mãe... Tô com saudade! Te amo!"