Dating an Idol

Fifteen: HOME

I took a selfie and sent it to Skye as he instructed earlier. I hope that would put his mind at ease.

As I was getting ready to sleep on the couch, Mael and Gianna started chatting on our group chat.

[Mael] Yuri, how are you?

[Gianna] Where are you right now, Yuri?

[Me] Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm at a friend's house. I'm gonna stay here for a while.

[Mael] That's a relief! I'm glad you found a place to stay for the meantime. I was so worried about you earlier.

[Gianna] Me, too. You got me so worried, girl.

[Me] I'm totally fine so you can both stop worrying about me now.

[Gianna] Who's friend, by the way?

[Me] A high school friend.

[Gianna] Name?

[Mael] Why would you ask? Do you even know her friends here in Korea?

[Gianna] I was just curious.

[Me] Stop fighting, you two. How about you? How was your first day?

[Gianna] Everything's fine except for one thing.

[Mael] What?

[Me] What is it?

[Gianna] I'm roommates with Doreen here in the dorm!

[Mael] HAHAHAHAHA!

[Me] OMG! Really?

[Gianna] Like, can you believe that? Of all people, why does it have to be that girl?!

[Me] For real? HAHAHA!

[Gianna] I have two other roommates aside from her. One Japanese and one Thai. But why does it have to be her of all people?! :(

[Mael] Maybe you two were meant to become best friends! HAHAHA!

[Gianna] Shut up, Ismael! This is all your fault. Why don't you court her so she will stop bitching everyone because of you?

[Me] HAHAHAHA!

Somebody rang the doorbell outside, startling me a bit. So I put my phone down.

Who could that be? I suddenly felt anxious. Was that Skye?

But no, it couldn't be him. I heard that he flew to Japan this afternoon to finish shooting their MV there. Their airport photos were all over the internet earlier.

I stood up from the couch, put on my slippers and hesitantly went to the door. I checked on the doorbell camera who was outside and saw someone wearing what looked like a delivery hat.

But I wasn't expecting any delivery.

Or could that be for Skye?

I pressed the mic button and asked, "Who's there?"

"Delivery for Baek Yuri," he replied.

For me? But I didn't order anything. Did Skye send me anything?

"Just leave it there. Thank you," I said.

I saw the delivery guy leave the place. I waited for five minutes before I opened the door to check what it was and was surprised to see two large bags of groceries.

I brought them inside.

I checked my phone to see if Skye left a message for me. He didn't.

But who would send me groceries aside from him?

That's when my phone started ringing. It was Gianna.

"Hey!" I said to her.

"Where did you go?" she asked.

"I'm sorry I had to get the door."

"Where are you right now?"

"At a friend's house."

"Who's your friend?"

I knew it. Gianna must be having some hunch that I am at Skye's place right now.

"I'm afraid you don't know her," I lied.

"Her?" she asked.

"Yes, it's a her."

"You're not at Skye's place?"

"Of course not! Why would I stay at his place?" I denied. "And don't mention his name just like that. Someone might hear you there."

"Don't worry, I'm in the bathroom right now," she replied. "But are you sure you're not at his place?"

"No, of course not," I kept denying.

"But why does my Spider-sense tell me that you're lying. C'mon, Yuri. You can tell me the truth."

I heaved a deep sigh.

"So I am right, ain't I?" she insisted.

I didn't reply.

"Okay," she said when I didn't say anything. "I take that as a yes. Will you be okay there?" She sounded worried.

"I'm gonna move out here as soon as I find a new place to stay," I said. "I don't want to get Skye in trouble."

"But I'm glad to know that you have a comfortable place to stay for the meantime. Just be careful, okay?"

"Yes, I will. Thank you. And don't worry, nobody lives here. The place is empty. Plus Skye said no one knows that he lives here, not even the neighbors."

"That's good. I don't want you to get in trouble," she said. "Gosh. I still can't seem to process the idea that you're that close with Skye. It's like I'm not getting used to that idea. Ever. It still overwhelms me."

I just chuckled.

"Lucky girl," she said. "So when are you going to introduce him to me?"

"I'm afraid that's not gonna happen," I joked.

"You're such a bad friend, do you know that?"

We giggled together.

We talked some more about her experiences being a trainee at CBX before we ended the call.

I was getting ready to sleep when I got a notification on i********:'s inbox. Skye was sending me messages.

I got a little excited that I opened it right away.

[Skye] Why are you sleeping on the couch?

He was referring to the selfie I took and sent to him earlier.

[Me] Because there's only one bedroom?

[Skye] So?

[Me] What do you mean so?

[Skye] That means you're meant to sleep in the bedroom, babo.

Did he just call me stupid?

[Me] Arghhh! Stop calling me that!

[Skye] Go to the bedroom right now.

[Me] I'm good here.

[Skye] I'm not asking if you're fine sleeping there on the couch. I'm telling you to go sleep in the bed. Why would you sleep on the couch when there's an empty bed? That doesn't seem to make sense.

[Me] Alright, alright. I'm moving to the bedroom now.

I lied. I'm already comfortable with my position. I didn't wanna move anymore.

[Skye] Send me a selfie when you're already in bed.

[Me] Are you some kind of a p*****t?

[Skye] What?

[Me] Why are you asking me to send you a selfie in bed?

[Skye] Are you mad? Did I ask you to send me some nudes?

I laughed out loud. I could imagine how annoyed he must be rigth now.

[Me] Didn't you?

[Skye] You're crazy!

[Me] HAHAHA! I was just kidding. By the way, did you send those groceries?

[Skye] Yup, I did.

[Me] But I thought you're in Japan right now.

[Skye] How did you know?

[Me] Duh. Your airport photos were all over the internet.

[Skye] Yup, we're going to stay for maybe a couple of days here.

[Me] So how were you able to send these groceries?

[Skye] Online, Yuri. Are you stuck in the 90s? Everything can be done online now.

[Me] Alright, alright. I was just asking. Thank you, by the way. You must be really busy right now but you still managed to get me some groceries online.

[Skye] Of course, I don't want you to starve to death. I might get in trouble if they found a corpse later in my place.

[Me] HAHAHA! You're crazy.

[Skye] What happened to your friends?

[Me] I believe they're in their respective dorms already.

[Skye] Stay there as much as you need.

[Me] Yes. I'm gonna stay here forever, you might need to transfer the ownership to my name.

He will only oppose me if I say that I'm planning to move out as soon as I can so I said that instead.

[Me] Oh, by the way, what's with the claw machine in your room?

[Skye] That's yours.

[Me] HAHAHA! You're crazy. Why would you buy that? I'm no longer that brat kid you promised to buy a claw machine to.

[Skye] Kid? No. Brat? Yes.

[Me] Jugulae?

[Skye] I'm sorry it doesn't have a pink unicorn stuffed toy but it has a lot of cool stuff. Play with it a lot. I'll collect the coins when I get home.

[Me] You're not earning anything from me, you capitalist!

He sent me a laughing emoji which also had me laughing.

And suddenly I forgot about all my recent misfortunes. For the first time since I went back here in Korea, I feel like I'm finally home.