Letters On Our Skin || BangChan

3

Half an hour later, I turn the music off.
I say my goodbyes to the crowd and dancers and pack my stuff together. By now, the sky has turned a beautiful rosy pink, as the sun is about to set. It's almost dinner time.
I am bending down to retighten my shoelaces when someone steps in front of me.
Chan stands with his hands in his pockets.

"Hi," I say and stand up straight, "Did you guys have fun?"
"Yes," he says and points at the guys standing behind him with his thumb, "We haven't had this much fun in a long time. Thank you!"
I smile at him and shoulder my bag.
"You're very welcome," I brush my hair back, "You could come back next week."
"Maybe we will," he answers. Then he clears his throat and gestures to my bag. "Do you have any plans tonight?"
"I'm having dinner with my dad around seven, but until then I'm free." I shoulder my bag. "Why? Do you guys want to do something?"
Chan looks at his friends, standing just a few feet away, huddled together, looking around bored.
Then he looks back at me. "Well, we were actually-... I mean, if you want to-..."
He clears his throat again, but before he can finish his sentence, Jisung interrupts him from afar.
"Do you want to go get ice cream at the shop over there with us?"
Jisung points with his arm into a general direction, where I assume the ice cream shop is he means. There are a few around here.
I chuckle and say, "I'd love to. I'll just go bring this to my car and then we can go."

Chan and his friends insisted on seeing my car. Now that they stand around it, parked at the side of the road, I wonder what they think of it. The paint is very obviously splintering away around the edges, there's a bump at the back that shouldn't be there. A plush sunflower hangs from the rear view mirror.
I put my stuff into the trunk and a can of soda rolls out and falls onto the street. I ignore it, but Changbin grins at it.
"It's old," I say as way to excuse for my car's appearance, "But it does its job quite well."
"I love it," Jeongin says and drives his hand over the top, "It's so cute. So tiny. Just like you."
He grins at me and a few of the boys chuckle. Funny guy.

We make our way to the ice cream shop and I read over the sign with the flavors.
"Hyung, I want strawberry," Felix says and pokes Chan's shoulder.
"Is that all?" Chan pulls out his wallet.
"Chocolate, please."
"Cherry and Banana for me!"
"I'll take kiwi."
"Me too!"
Each of the boys names their wish, until their eyes land on me.
I look at them, raising my eyebrows. "What?"
Felix motions towards Chan, "What do you want?"
"I'm thinking about getting either dark chocolate or strawberry."
"Why not both?"
I shrug. "I only have enough change for one."
I chuckle, but it sounds fake. I don't like talking about money. Or the fact that I don't have any.
"Ah, don't worry about it," Chan steps to the window.
He says, "We'd like one cone of strawberry and dark chocolate. One just strawberry, one chocolate, one cherry and banana, two kiwis, two raspberry, and one funfetti, please."
He hands me the ice cream cone. I stare at it and all its lush colors.
"Chan, that's not actually what I meant."
He looks at me and shrugs. "We're inviting you."
"No," I answer, "Thats not right. You're literally paying for everyone all by yourself."
"No, it's all our money. He just holds onto it." Seungmin says, but Minho shoots him a sharp look. I furrow my eyebrows.
"You literally go to college and none of you can be trusted with holding onto your own money?"
For a moment, they just look at each other, before Hyunjin announced, "Yes. That's right."
Felix takes my hand and pulls me away.
"Anyway," he says, "What are you doing when you're not giving free dance classes at the park?"

I hesitate. There isn't much that I am embarrassed of in my life. But my job? That's nothing I would talk about, let alone reveal in front of eight complete strangers.
"I am a waitress," I say finally, which is not a complete lie. Before they can ask me where I wait tables, I turn towards the group and say, "So do you take dance classes in your free time?"
"Yeah," Minho answers and takes a lick from his ice cream cone, "Do you take real classes?"
"I used to." We halt at a fountain in the park and sit down in a close circle. "I've been dancing since I was a kid. I stopped taking classes a couple years ago, though."
"Why did you stop?"
"After I graduated school, I moved into my own apartment and I just didn't have the money to pay for a good class. I didn't want to ask my dad for money because he's got enough to worry about, so something had to give."
I shrug. I avoid looking at them, but I can feel their eyes on me. Finally Jisung asks gently, "What about your mom?"
I swallow dryly.
"She died about six years ago. Back when we lived in America."

"I am so sorry," Felix takes my hand and intertwines our fingers. "That must have been hard for you and your dad."
I look into his face. The sincerity in it drives tears to my eyes. I don't want pity, but it feels good to be understood.
"It was rough," I sigh and smile, though I know it's a sad excuse of one, "My dad was devastated. He didn't cope with it very well. Packed us up and moved us here. I think it helped him to be close to his roots and the culture he grew up with."
For a moment, everyone was quiet, eating their ice cream.
Then Chan says to my right, "How is he doing now?"
I chuckle. "I have no clue. He's working like crazy. He's barely home, because he's so busy. He's a detective in the police force here in Seoul. So lot of stuff going on all the time."

Changbin raises his voice.
"Is he also a foreigner like you?"
Immediately, Minho reaches over to slap his arm, but I grin. The question is a standard in my life.
"No," I say, "My dad is Korean. He's not my biological dad, he met my mom when I was a baby. He raised me as his own though, adopted me and everything. My biological father was never in the picture, but I don't know if I'd want him to be, you know? My dad is my dad, and he's amazing."
"So when did you learn to speak Korean?" Hyunjin asks.
I think for a second. "I can't really remember it. I guess, I was a toddler when dad started teaching me. He wanted me to be able to speak to his parents, because they weren't the biggest on English."
"Lucky you," Felix says, "I was already a teenager when I started really learning it."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah," he points at Minho, "Minho-hyung taught me."
Minho pats Felix shoulders and grins.

From the corner of my eye, I see a few girls standing a few feet away. They're pointing their phones and cameras at us, giggling and whispering.
Hyunjin sees it too, and gently pats Chan's knees, before pointing at the group.
Chan wets his lips and gets off the ground.
"It's getting pretty late," he says, "Don't you have a dinner date wit your dad?"
I look at my phone. It's 6.38 pm.
"Oh," I am confused, "I didn't even notice it was dinner time already. Thank you!"

We walk back to my car, all of them huddling around me. Chan and Felix walk to both sides of me, three boys in front of us, the rest behind us. This is what it must feel like to be famous. To have your own body guards.
At my car, I pull out my phone and hand it to Chan.
"I liked hanging out with you today." I say and smile at him, while my cheeks turn pink. "Maybe you have time under the week and we could hang out again. I could text you."
He grabs my phone and types in his number.
When I take it back, I see he saved his contact as "Channie" and I grin.

Felix wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a tight hug.
"Bye, Olli! It was so nice to meet you today."
I laugh, pat his back and then wave at the others before I get into my car and drive off.
I see them staring after me in the rear view mirror.