'Till I Met You

Chanyeol had been talking almost non-stop since we sat down. Most of what he is saying are just plain nonsense. Harmless jokes meant to put me at ease. They are all very corny and lame. My lips twitched a little at how silly he sounds. I eat greater men than him for breakfast. Yet here he is completely clueless and happily sitting beside me. Most men of my acquaintance would be confessing various errors and sins by now. Chanyeol however, is laughing at his own jokes. I marveled at how happy he seems. He is sitting on the floor of an elevator that's not moving and he is smiling and laughing. I glanced at my watch and noted the time. Thirty minutes and nobody has found me yet. Tsk! Security measures in this mall need to be reviewed and replaced completely. I had enough.

I stood up and punched codes into the keypad. The elevator silently moved down and opened as we reached the basement. "Shall we?" I looked over to Chanyeol and he was smiling as he pushed his cart out into the basement hallway. He opened a door and pushed the cart inside then carefully locked the door. "Hey, Lana. I think we should get out of here. These level is really just for mall employees."

I knew that but so far nobody had come running to stop me."Well technically speaking, I do have the right to be here." I own the damn place after all! "Oh is that so? Well that's a relief. How come I never saw you around here? I've been working for the mall on and off since I was sixteen and most everyone that works here look familiar to me"

"I've never been here before. I usually work somewhere else." Like New York, L.A. Beijing and Seoul. Embarrassingly my stomach chose that moment to make a growling noise. When did I last eat? Before the flight? During the flight? No. I hate eating on flights. Coffee. My last meal was coffee. That was sixteen hours ago. All I had since then was water.

Chanyeol laughed when he heard my stomach grumbling. "You're hungry I guess. Let's go and eat! My treat since you had to endure the trauma of listening to my lame jokes!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me along quickly. I had to jog/trot to keep up with him. We emerged from the basement out into the parking lot. I frowned thinking he's probably gonna drag me into his car. I was surprised when he turned to the left and walked to a nearby bus stop. I was about to open my mouth to ask him a question when a bus pulled over and I suddenly found myself inside. Chanyeol was busy paying for our fare. "Hey! I can pay..." Chanyeol smiled as he glanced at me. "I said its my treat." He herded me a few more steps inside. The bus was slightly full and there weren't any seats left. He ended up holding onto a strap and I was holding on to seat handle. We got pushed together when another passenger jostled me as he was squeezing into the back of the bus. He instinctively put his arm around me, holding me closer to him. I can feel the warmth of his arm on my shoulder. Startled, I tilted my head up to mumble an apology. I found him staring at me with a funny half-smile tugging at his lips. My breath hitched at my throat. His scent enveloped my senses, not stinky. Rather he smelled manly and earthy. The kind of smell that makes you want to stick you nose and lips at his neck and lick him all over. Dear god! What am I thinking?

People started moving off the bus. Chanyeol grinned, clasped my hand and led me out of the bus. We stepped out to the side walk filled with throngs of people, street vendors, and various items on sale. "Come on. Follow me." He laced his fingers with mine and pulled me along. Again I have to jog/trot to keep up with him. I can't lose him. I have no idea where we are. I like holding his hand. "Where...?"

There was mass of bodies in front of him and he was trying to squeeze in. That's close to impossible! Chanyeol looks like he is about six feet tall to my 5'4" height and there's no way I can get through that! I felt him letting go of my hand and I couldn't explain why my heart feels like it's been stabbed.

Chanyeol let go of my hand so he can swing his arm out and put it around my shoulders. He pushed me slightly in front of him as he pushed through the crowd. A few minutes later we were on the other side of the crowd in a slightly open space. Food vendors line one side of the pavement. He dropped his arm from my shoulder but kept his hand on the small of my back as he guided me to a food stall. "Alright! This one is my favorite. Here have one." He popped something in my mouth and I grudgingly chewed. He took another two and paid for those. I was busy chewing mystery meat in my mouth, a little afraid to swallow. He turned back to look at me and his eyes looked kinda funny for a moment. I could have sworn it changed colors for a split second. He suddenly swiped his thumb on my bottom lip and stuck his thumb in his mouth. "Sauce shouldn't be wasted."

I can't find the words to describe how I feel right there and then. I've been on dates where men took me to expensive restaurants offering steak, lobster and caviar totally bored out of my mind. Yet here I am standing on a side walk eating mystery meat with sauce on the side, holding hands with service worker and getting so fucking aroused. I stopped chewing and just stared at him. He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the next stall. He paid for two cups of beverages and handed one to me. He was still holding on to my other hand. We looked like a couple. He led me to a nearby bench and sat down. I had no choice but to sit beside him. Flustered, I took a drink from the cup he handed me and promptly choked! "What is that?" It tasted like pure brown sugar with a dash of water.

"Gulaman. Why? Don't you like it? Sorry. I keep forgetting that it's a little sweet. I have a sweet tooth." He grinned at me. A little sweet? If it wasn't liquid I wouldn't know there was water in it.
He took the cup out of my hand and was wiping it with some paper napkins when we heard a high pitched squeal. "Oh my God!! Yeolie !!! Yieeeeeee!" I glanced behind him to see a young woman running towards us. "Is this your girlfriend? Does mom know? Oh my god she's so pretty. How come we never met her before? How long have you guys been dating? Are you gonna get married soon? Why are you looking at me like that?........mmmphhhh!" Chanyeol slapped a hand over her mouth and had her sitting. "Lana, this is my baby sister, Ellie. Ellie this is Lana. She's a friend. Don't scare her. Go scram. I will talk to you at home." Ellie squirmed out of his grasp and stuck out her tongue. "Fine, don't tell me anything. I got my ways." She winked at me, stood up and slowly walked away singing.." Yeoli - Lana sitting under a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G......." On a singsong tone.

He shook his head and sat down again. "Sorry about the brat. We don't live too far from here. She must have seen us when she was passing through to get home" Ellie made me a little dizzy when she came and went like a breeze. But she wasn't the one who made me breathless. It was him who did that while he was holding and wiping my hand. It was such a small gesture, but it was something I never had before. Tenderness.

Notes

Gulaman is a Filipino drink made of water, Brown sugar, gelatin and Tapioca pearls. It is very sweet.