Invisible (Namjoonff)

Chapter 2 - It's (not) a date.

Ki woke up in the morning feeling great. She shared a one bedroom apartment with her mother and she could smell breakfast already waiting for her in the kitchen. She popped out of the big bed and headed down the hall.

Her mother immediately noticed something was different.

"Why are you smiling? You are never this happy in the mornings."

Ki feigned shock. "What do you mean? I am a morning star! I am always happy." She plopped down in a chair and began grabbing things to eat.

Her mom scowled. "I know your boss said you had to take a week off, but all you did yesterday was read and laundry. No one can be that happy about that."

"Yesterday was a perfect day. I got to read my book and I met a Knight in Shining Armor."

Her mother froze with her chopsticks midair.

"You met someone?"

"Yes. He was perfect. He didn't say a single word. He just sat there."

Her mother rolled her eyes. "You are hopeless. We're going to be living together until I die."

"Omma, we are going to live together whether I meet someone or not. It will always be you and me."

Ki's parents had divorced when she was very young. The benefit is that you don't really know what you are missing. It had always been two houses, two birthdays, two of everything, for as long as she could remember. Her dad was a decent guy. Her mom was her amazing. And apparently, they both got along great as long as they weren't married to each other. Her dad travelled a lot for work and she saw him a few times a year. She was 24 after all, it's not like she needed her daddy all the time anymore.

"So, was this man real or in your book?"

"Oh, he's real this time. Who knows, maybe I will see him again today!"

Ki didn't know why, but when she said those last words, a rush of butterflies surged through her chest. It was foolish to think she'd ever see him again. And if he showed up without a mask on, she wouldn't even know who he was. She didn't know what he looked like, or even his name. For all intents and purposes, she shouldn't want to see him again. They'd spent nearly 3 hours sitting at the same picnic table and he'd never muttered a single word. Who goes to the park looking like a criminal, but a criminal? He was probably some sort of pervert that felt lucky she sat at his table and gave him a free show for the entire morning. And yet... Ki was still hoping he'd be there again.

A short time later, Ki was on the bus again. She was trying to manage her expectations, reminding herself that the probability she would see him again was very slim. There were millions of people in Seoul. It was a fluke once, to hope for it twice was crazy. When she reached the park, she immediately looked towards their table. It was empty. She looked down at her phone to check the time. She wasn't early. He just wasn't there. She walked to the table anyway. It was a good spot. Closer to the trees and little wooded trail, farther away from the kiddie playground and noise. But still perfectly situated to be a part of both worlds, the quiet of nature and the buzz of humanity. She sat down and began laying out her assortment of goods. Her mother had packed left overs from breakfast. Ki was going to sit and read until her body ached. She couldn't imagine a better way to spend her forced holiday.

Ki was lost in her book, when she felt the table shift and her pens began rolling off the table. She immediately reach out to grab them at the same time another hand reached. Her hand landed squarely on top of another hand, that was on top of her pens. The sudden warmth of human touch surprised her and she pulled her hand away. The surprise was mutual, as the hand she touched immediately pulled back at the same time, sending her pens rolling to the ground. She looked up to meet the eyes of her silent Knight from the day before. He was wearing his cap low over his eyes, and a black mask, but he wasn't wearing glasses. She looked into his dark eyes. She felt her cheeks flush and she immediately dropped to the ground to gather her pens and highlighters.

"Sorry."

She froze. He had a voice! What a thrilling development. She worked hard to contain herself before coming back up to the table. She carefully placed her pens back in their positions.

"No problem. I needed a stretch anyway."

She looked up, hopefully to start a conversation, but he was already tucked into his book. She glanced at the title. "Almond." She was going to google it later.

It was obvious he wasn't open to more conversation, so she followed suit and opened her own book. The hours passed away. Occasionally Ki would get to a good passage in her book and she would excitedly tell him all about it. Each time he would put his book down and listen politely. Often times he would nod in approval, lean in to show keen interest, sometimes even chuckle under his breath. He never spoke, but honestly she didn't mind too much. There was a thrill to having an audience that seemed captivated, yet unwilling to interrupt. A balance of power and connection. An audience, but maybe even a friend. 

The sun moved across the sky as the day waxed on. It was now high over head and Ki could feel the heat on the back of her neck. She reached for her sunscreen and rubbed it into her neck and shoulders. Absentmindedly, she placed it in the center of the table to offer it to him, the same way she would have done for her mother. It was just habit. She stopped and looked up. Should she pull it back, should she leave it there....her hand hovered, trying to decide what to do, when he reached for the small tube, removed the cap and rubbed a small bit of sunscreen on the tips of his ears and back of his neck. He then put it back on the table. She smiled shyly and put it back in her bag.

Another hour passed and she got up to stretch.

"My mom packed lunch for ARMY," she said. His head shot up. "for an entire army, I mean. I've got plenty if you want some." She pulled out all the containers that had been weighing down her bag.

"It's more like charity. If you don't eat it, then I have to carry it all home. It would be doing me a favor."

He seemed to be deep in thought, when he abruptly stood up.

"Tomorrow?"

She started at him blankly and then caught on.

"Yes. I'll be here tomorrow. I've got 5 more days before I go back to work. I want to be here every day and do nothing, but this."

He gave a slight nod and walked away.

"Does that mean you will be here tomorrow too?" she called to him. He turned around and gave a thumbs up.

She watched him go.

Had offering the food scared him away? Sharing food wasn't that weird. Not after two days of spending so much time together. Sure, they didn't actually talk and she didn't actually know what he looked like, but still. Was it because he would have had to take off his mask to eat? Maybe he was the Phantom of the Opera. Maybe he had really bad acne. Ki realized she was still staring when he was just a little ant far up the street. He turned the corner and disappeared.

She suddenly felt quite lonely.

Her only condolence was when she remembered the last and second word he had ever said to her.

Tomorrow.