the truth untold

coffee

The next day, I woke up too early. Katie was still deep in her slumber when I freshened up. Wearing my glasses and my hoodie on top of my pajamas, I went out to find coffee.

The nearest Starbucks was just a block away from the hotel. From there, I went inside to order my usual - Caramel Macchiato - and bought some hot chocolate for Katie and another coffee for Jinyoung.

"What's your name?"

"V," I replied.

I've always used V as my name when I order at Starbucks since Veronica is too long for them to write or say, and I'm not used to using my Korean name whenever I'm not with my family or friends.

I decided to sit near the counter to hear my name clearly. As I was waiting for my order, two boys wearing face masks walked in and immediately proceeded to the counter.

"Coffee for Miss V," the lady from the counter shouted.

One of the masked boys reacted and pointed at his companion while laughing. The latter said, "I thought that was for me even if I haven't ordered yet."

I stood up and slowly walked toward the two boys. "Hi. I'm V," I said and smiled at the lady holding a paper bag with my orders.

"One iced caramel macchiato, one mocha coffee, and one hot chocolate. Thank you."

I smiled, saying thanks as I took the paper bag from her.

I was about to head outside when I heard the boy say, "I think we found your counterpart."

Back in the hotel, I found Jinyoung and Katie immersed in their own phones.

"I figured you bought coffee for us so I ordered food already," Jinyoung said, sitting cross-legged on the couch as he scrolled through his Twitter timeline like it was his morning newspaper.

"What time are we going to the event, big sis?"

"I don't know. After lunch?"

"Good. I have plenty of time to fix myself." Katie excitedly took her hot chocolate from me.

In the afternoon, we all decided to go to the venue to explore, and maybe even see random artists that we know.

"Always stay close to me or Jinyoung," I told Katie, who was evidently thrilled, seeing her smiling ever since we got here.

We found different artists, who any of the three of us know. Jinyoung and Katie enjoyed their time taking pictures with celebrities or other influencers. I, on the other hand, took pictures of the view.

"Sis, I'll take a picture of you," Katie suggested.

Though Katie randomly calls me "sis", "V", or "Jisoo", it still surprises me since I'm not used to using my Korean name anymore ever since my mom and I moved out of Daegu when I was 10 years old.

I smiled at the camera as my sister took a lot of photos of me. She told me that it's a once in a lifetime moment that I immediately agreed to be taken a photo.

After a while, artists began to perform. We danced and sang songs we knew until it was already 8 in the evening yet Bazzi still hasn't performed.  I felt that my voice would be more hoarse even before he begins to perform. Afraid that it might happen, I excused myself from the two and tried to find a drink.

The venue was packed so I bumped into a lot of people on my way. It didn't really bother me until someone bumped into me harder than the ones before who were immersed in the show.

I was about to shout at the person who was being too careless but he was walking really fast, resulting in him bumping into another person. Though this time, it was another man.

"Watch where you're going, kid!" the man said, eyeing the boy in front of him.

"Mianhae - I mean, I - I'm sorry."

"Oh, a Korean."

The boy looked up, the lower half of his face covered by a mask while his head's covered with a black beanie.

"Are Koreans even allowed here? We can't even understand their songs," the man said and laughed together with his friends.

I saw the Korean boy clench his jaw but remained silent.

"Oh... Can... You... Understand... Me?" one of the bullies said, pointing at his chest to emphasize the "me" part before they laughed.

How is that even funny? Absent-mindedly, I approached the party and stopped in front of the laughing men.

"Is that all you got?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What's your name, miss?" the annoying one said, now standing beside me.

"Are you this boy's girlfriend?" one of them said and looked behind me,."You sure are a lucky one, huh?"

I stepped forward, trying to look him in the eye, and smiled innocently.

"You sure aren't a lucky one, huh?" I mocked then kicked him right where the sun doesn't shine.

Seeing how he crouched and with his friends gathering around him, I quickly pulled the Korean boy and ran away from them.

We stopped running when I saw a food stall that wasn't that obvious to the public. As soon as I saw the cold drinks, I let go of the boy's hand and ordered four. When the seller gave me a plastic bag with the four bottles, I gave one to the boy standing quietly next to me, like he was a lost puppy.

"You ok?" I asked him. "Do you want to sit down and take a rest?" He nodded and sat down on the grass where there were only a few people. "I'm Veronica. V for short, by the way. You can also call me Jisoo, that's my Korean name. You are?"

For someone he just met, I think he thinks that I'm too talkative and annoying. Nonetheless, he still replied. "Taehyung."

My mouth almost fell when I heard his voice. It was really deep, I didn't expect it from his boyish build.

He looked like someone I've seen already, I just don't know if I saw him in a photo or in person. I tried to imagine his face behind the mask but I couldn't specify. With me looking at him, Taehyung cleared his throat. "Thank you.. for saving me."

"You're welcome. He needed to feel that kind of pain for being rude, anyway." I smiled, proud of myself for doing that to a person who clearly deserved it.

"Sorry.. for... bumping into you too"

"It's ok. Were you in a hurry? Did you have to go somewhere else before they cornered you?"

Taehyung's eyebrows knitted which signaled me that he was confused with my language.

"Uhm.. Did you have to go somewhere?"

"Ah!" he said, "No. I just wanted to.. take a break."

"Oh, if that's the case, then I'll be going then. Sorry for bothering you," I said, embarrassed that I dragged him here only to find out that he wanted to take a break alone.

As soon as I stood up though, Taehyung held my hand.

"Can you.. Stay?" he said and raised his head to look at me.

(*Italicized words are spoken in Korean)