Page 118 of Hamartia
We’re at the door when he pulls on a leather jacket from the closet there. This time I’m the one who questions the jacket’s ability to keephimwarm.
He only smiles and says, “We do not have to go far.”
He’s carrying a small gift bag and a bottle of wine as we head out and take the lift down to the tenth floor. The apartment complex is connected to the other blocks by covered glass walkways on intersecting floors. We cross the neon lit bridge to another building and then take the lift back up, this time to the 20thfloor.
“Do you all live in the same building?” I ask him, as I watch the city grow smaller below us.
“No,” Jae says typing something on his phone. “Only Ji-hoon and I are here. Ji-u, and Taejin are still together in the dorm and Xan and Boohyin are in Itaewon.”
I try not to think too hard about the fact that he lives in the same building as his ex and the guy I suspect broke his heart. Then we’re exiting the lift and coming up to a walnut door which Jae knocks on with three sharp knocks. It faces the opposite side of the building to Jae’s apartment and so when it’s pulled open I see a different view of Seoul spill out behind Kai.
This one has high-rises spread out across an indigo sky, lights of all colors picking out the shapes of buildings. Kai throws an arm around Jae first, a hug where his nose brushes his hair as he says something in Korean. He gives me a long look—not unfriendly but not entirely friendly either—before stretching out a hand.
“Welcome,” he says.
“Thanks for having me, man.” I shake his hand and Kai nods, stepping back to let me inside.
Following Jae’s lead, I slip out of my boots at the door and shove my feet into a pair of the Korean house slippers I’m definitely going to order a batch of when I get back home. They’re just more comfortable than walking around hardwood floors in your socks. I feel a little like a dick in them but since everyone is wearing them, I don’t feel too self-conscious.
The apartment is a similar design to Jae’s except it’s flipped, the hallway open to the lounge and kitchen, already filled with a group of people, wine glasses in hand and foreign voices animated in conversation. There’s music floating gently out from above us—sounds like modern jazz—and the scent of food causes my mouth to water.
When the group spots Jae there are loud exclamations and then he’s being pulled into a chatter of excited Korean leaving me hovering on the periphery of the kitchen.
“Drink?” Kai asks from my right.
“Yeah, thanks. That’d be great.”
“You drink whisky, yeah?”
There’s a drinks cabinet pressed against the wall between the kitchen and lounge, bottles arranged on top and on a glass shelf above.
“Whisky is good, whatever you have is fine.”
I cast a look over my shoulder. Jae’s head is thrown back as he laughs at what the guy next to him says. The two women are laughing too. The other guy is checking his phone.
“You guys have a good Christmas?” Kai asks as he hands me the tumbler.
It’s about three fingers full with one large ice cube in it almost the same circumference as the tumbler itself. He hadn’t asked how I drink it. Which is normally neat. I lift it to my mouth anyway.
“Jae took you to the house in Gyeonggi?”
I nod as the whiskey slides sweet and cool down my throat. “Yeah, it was beautiful. Really peaceful up there, isn’t it?”
Kai nods, watching me carefully. “How do you like Seoul?”
“It’s a cool city, though I haven’t seen much of it. I’d definitely like to explore a bit more before I fly back.”
“Which is when?” It’s asked so nonchalantly that I almost miss the flicker of hostility in his eyes.
I give him my most charming smile. “I have a flight out on the night of the second, but who knows what’ll happen.” I look over Jae. He’s pouring himself a glass of wine from the open bottle on the counter, listening and nodding intently to what one of the women is telling him. “Maybe I’ll just stay here.”
“Our schedule is insane the next few months,” Kai says. “I think it’d be better for him if you weren’t around to distract him.”
I stiffen at that. “Yeah, well, we already know that what you think doesn’t really matter, does it?” I give him another smile and cut across the room towards Jae.
He introduces me to the rest of Kai’s friends by my name and nothing else which makes a pit open up in my stomach, but a moment later he slides a hand around my waist and pulls me in to kiss me on the lips. The move gets a squeal from the women and low murmur of approval from one of the guys, the other just watching impassively. Almost coldly. It’s only when he moves away to talk with Kai who’s behind the stove that I recognize him by the neck tattoo. He’s cut his hair and dyed it a shocking orange color, but it’s the rapper from his band. The one who looks constantly angry. Xan. Except I’m certain that’s not how Jae introduced him. Though I’m still repeating their names over in my head so as not to come off as the ignorant fucking American.
Jae’s explaining how the two girls are in another band, one who are about to tour the US and who’s name I may have heard (I haven’t) and how the other guy, Su-jin, is a producer at YJK, who has worked on every single K:OS album. He speaks English fluently, as does one of the girls—Ada—and they all seem to have heard of The DPs which makes me feel less of an outsider. I’m normally more than fine in these kinds of situations, but being the only person here who doesn’t speak Korean, and having two of Jae’s bandmates glaring daggers into my back, sets me kind of on edge.