Unexpectedly Regular | Kim Namjoon

27

Nara woke up in an empty bed. There were no signs of Namjoon in the house, so she checked her phone. There were loads of messages which bulked up after she had spent the whole day off, dealing with nothing else but being happy for a while. She wasn't planning to read them now either, but she decided to overlook them just to check if Namjoon had left her a note or something, as through the half-closed door of the bedroom she knew there was no one home. None of them were from Namjoon. She got up and found signs he had had a shower not too long ago, as the bathroom was still steamy. In the kitchen, she finally found a handwritten note he had left.

"Bom dia! I knew I would have forgotten something and it was my phone charger! Went out to buy one and explore the city. I'll bring breakfast. KNJ"

Nara giggled at the hearts he had drown all over the note, along with the hangul characters saying Saranghae on the bottom of the piece of paper. Not only he might be jet lagged but he also liked exploring the places he visited on his own so she was not so surprised. That was so typically him, and yet so lovely. She liked to have that time for herself as well. After going to the toilet and dressing up, she watered her plants and prepared some coffee. The smell was taking over the place when she heard knocks on her door.

Surprisingly, it was Angie and not Namjoon. She had a weird smile on a pale face and she just stood by the door for a while.

-Bom dia! Oh, right, I was going to give the car keys back by lunchtime, as we have arranged, but if you need them now, here they are...

Nara reached for her purse right next to Angie to get the keys and the visitor stepped in, closing the door behind her. They were intimate enough to enter each other's apartments just like that but her silence was strange. She thought she would hear a non-stopping burst of questions about Namjoon's arrival. Nara handled her the keys and Angie finally decided to speak.

-You haven't read my messages, have you? Or the news...

-Honestly, I didn't even remember I could have any other thing but Joon in my hands, but would you like coffee?

Nara felt the awkwardness of Angie's tone but she still served her friend coffee on her favorite cactus shaped mug, as she was used to do whenever she visited her.

-Where's Namjoon?

-He's out and about, you know? Exploring the big São Paulo, as he likes doing everywhere he goes.

Angie took a deep, heavy breath and Nara couldn't understand the solemnness. Angie looked down at the steamy coffee mug in front of her and she sat down, inviting Nara to do the same. It was heartbreaking to be the one to break that smile of a long awaited happiness from her face.

-Nara, you two were photographed on a car park yesterday and now the "Brazilian Kiss" as they're calling it is all over Korean news. It's been labeled as a scandal.

Nara was taken aback by the news.

-He doesn't know either. He lost his phone charger.

-People might be blowing his phone with calls and messages and he needs to handle all that.

-I know, but...

Nara had tears on her eyes. She was both angry and sad. When they finally got together again, this happens. When she had someone that made her happy enough to forget the world around her, the world broke into their paradise, sneaking through the smallest space they thought that could be left open. When he was so happy to be free, they both learn that maybe his status would never let him be free. How could happiness be such a big deal? And why it had to be that way? She feared the consequences of that simple display of love and happiness would damage all the hard work he had been having since he was a teenager. She had previously learned how much he was sensitive to criticism and how loyal he tended was to hierarchy, traditions and expectations over him. During those times they have been together, she had been by his side on all the struggles he faced to fit who he wanted to be into the image that people expected from him. This situation was the exact type of dilemma that hurt him more, but maybe that could turn out to have proportions bigger than he had ever faced and she wish she could keep the pain he was about to feel apart from them. Tears streamed down her face as she figured out there was nothing she could do to protect him.