Freedom { Shownu Series }

Chapter 2

Shownu sat on the couch with his feet propped on a glass coffee table. His bandmate, Changkyun, came up behind him and, placing his hands on his shoulders, he leaned over his head to see Shownu's phone.

"What are you up to, buddy?"

"I'm just scrolling through fan comments."

"Oh, boy. Has it really come to this?"

"Yeah, it's really that bad," replied Shownu as he continued to scroll on his phone.

"Are you feeling bad about yourself or what, dude? Why do you need to look at fan comments?"

"I'm just having a rough go of it at the moment. I kind of got shot down by the girl I like and it's a bit of an ego-killer."

"Mm. Do tell. Who is this lovely woman of mystery you never bothered to tell me about?" said Changkyun as he flopped down on the couch beside his buddy.

"Well, you know I've been getting private English lessons, right? So, it turns out my teacher is really something, but she is so closed off. I don't know if she just doesn't like me or if she is always this closed off. It's kind of messing with my head, to tell you the truth."

"Well, try to connect with her over something you know she likes," advised Changkyun.

"That's just it. I literally know nothing about her. She is so professional and she never gives me a glimpse into her world at all."

"Oh, that is a tough one. But listen, buddy, you are the kindest, most sincere person I know. You deserve to be loved, and if she can't see that, then it's her loss."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? The 'it's her loss' bit is kind of old. But I appreciate the sentiment. I really do," said Shownu as he rose from the couch and gave his friend a playful punch in the arm. "Wish me luck. I am on my way out to see her right now."

Shownu grabbed his house keys and a jacket and headed out the door. The sky overhead was dark and threatened to rain soon. He hurried to the coffee shop, hoping to outrun the raindrops. He barely achieved his purpose. As he ducked into the shop, the first fat raindrops began to splatter onto the windows. He ordered and sat down watching the raindrops join together on the window to make little rivers that flowed down to the brick of the outside wall. He saw Leann running toward the shop with her hands over her head. She had no umbrella and the rain had soaked through her clothes causing them to stick to her like plastic wrap. He ran to the door to open it for her and she ducked in under his arm to the safety of the warm shop.

"You are soaked through! My gosh, why didn't you bring an umbrella?" Shownu scolded good-naturedly.

"When I left, it wasn't raining. Anyway, I'm not made of sugar. I won't melt."

Shownu pondered the strange phrase, "made of sugar." Occasionally, Leann would say things that didn't make sense to him in either English or Korean. He wondered about her upbringing. Where had she grown up? Did she have a large family? Had she had a privileged life like he had? Leaving his questions for a later time, he ran to the counter to ask for a towel. He led Leann to her seat and draped the towel over the back of her neck. Her hair was soaked and her expertly-crafted French Twist was hopelessly sagging, leaving the bobby pins to hang listlessly along the side of it. When Shownu began to remove the pins, her hand flew up to her hair to stop him.

"It's OK. I can go to the bathroom and re-do my hair, "she said breathlessly.

"No, I got it. I have to let it down so I can dry it. I can't have you getting sick. You are the only thing between me and a life of terrible English pronunciation," he joked.