This is a unique version of the first Art Lover's story. In this version, time zones play havoc with a budding online romance between Taehyung, a famous performer in Seoul, and Aria, a photography graduate student in Chicago. Their lives may be dif...
I've been sat starting at the nearly finished painting for a few hours, skipping lunch and dinner, in favor of completing it. I'm interrupted as my phone rings. It's a number I don't recognize but it's definitely foreign. Maybe he's calling me from somewhere else.
I answer, excited to hear his voice. "Hi, Taehyung?"
There's a pause on the other end. "Hello, is this Aria?" The voice asks.
"Yes, who is this?" I'm confused and a little worried.
"This is Park Jimin. I'm Taehyung's friend."
I recognize his voice now. "Yes, of course. Hello, is everything alright?"
He pauses a moment too long and I start to get more concerned.
"Yes, Taehyung asked me to call you because he was unable to." He continues. There are many reasons why Tae might ask someone else to call me, but right now I can't think of any good ones.
"He's not able to call me? Is he going to be able to call me at all today?"
"I think so yes."
"Why are you calling? I mean, it's wonderful to speak to you, but it's a little unusual." I tell him honestly.
"Tae would like to have a picture from under the bean?" He says almost as a question. It's almost as though he's reading this off a piece of paper and he doesn't understand what it means."Cloud Gate?" He continues.
I laugh. "What? He wants a picture of Cloud Gate?" I repeat.
"Yes." He says. "Now."
"What do you mean now? I have to go out right now and take the picture?" I'm confused.
"Hold on..." He is quiet and I listen hard for other voices in the room, but I don't hear anything. "Yes, it has to be within the next 10 minutes, because it's close to sunset." He explains.
How did he know this? I wonder. I look out my window and see quite a few people around the sculpture and the sun warm and still light. "Are you sure? He wants a sunset picture? It will probably look nicer a little later." I tell him.
"No it needs to be in the next ten minutes. Can you get there in time?" He asks.
"Yes, but-"
He interrupts me. "He asks you to just jump." He says and I stop and think about his words.
"Is Taehyung OK?" I ask remembering that the 24 hours will be past soon.
"Just go take the picture and send it to him. And Aria, It's nice to meet you." He says. Now, I definitely feel like this might be the ending, but I swallow hard put on my brave face.
"Thank you for calling Jimin. It was very nice to speak to you." I hang up feeling a little foolish.
I get my jacket and phone and get ready to walk over to Cloud Gate. What's to stop me from just calling Taehyung right now myself and telling him that he needs to have the guts to tell me himself if he's not going to speak to me again?! If he's had a change of heart, he should just tell me. I can take it. Last night I tried to give him a way out and he wouldn't hear it. And then today he gets his friend to call me... I shake my head as I step outside my building and cross the street toward Millennium Park. My mind just races with thoughts and questions, and most of all wondering why I would even do this for him. I sigh. Because I think I love him. That's why.
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