Samba Noir (ii/ii)
Ten minutes before the arrival of the boy, Sehuna was watching TV when her mother entered the living room. "Why so dressed up, hmn?" asked the woman with an angry tone.
"Are you planning on escaping again? ... Sehuna?"
"I didn't escape. You left me there. Seriously mom, how could you not notice that I wasn't there?" Sehuna scoffed. "Whatever" the woman said, "Where do you think you're going and who gave you permission? Do you think you can do whatever you want just because we are in Brazil?"
"Mom"
"Mom nothing, Sehuna! Who was the boy from yesterday!?" her mother asked furious. "Just someone I met at the museum and kindly offered to give me a ride because you left without me", she said with a quiet voice.
"And then what!? Why did you take so long!? What were you doing? Did he took you somewhere else? Answer me, Sehuna! What were you doing!?"
"We didn't do anything. What are you talking about?" her voice was calm. It wasn't the first time she got scolded like this. Her mother usually misunderstands her behavior since she was a kid.
"Ha! Don't try to fool me, kid!" the lady screamed, grabbing her arm and digging her nails into it, pulling her up. "Mom!" Sehuna yelped "You're hurting me!"
"You should have thought of that before becoming a whore!"
A slap.
Silence.
Stunned. Sehuna touched her burning cheek. She couldn't think. She didn't know what to think. Never, in all her life, her mother had tried to hit her. A sudden urge to cry made her lips tremble. She heard her aunt calling her softly. When she raised her gaze she found the woman by the front door with a face full of doubt. Full of pain. Breathing harshly, Sehuna checked her phone. The screen of the device showed a big "3:06".
"I ... I have to go" she said to no one in particular. Sehuna left slamming the door.
She stopped short after closing the door. Little tears were falling from her eyes and she couldn't stop them. She was sad, but mostly she was angry. Her mother was being unfair. This has been too much. Sehuna wanted to scream and cry until her body was completely dry. She wanted to punch some one or even be childish and throw a tantrum because her life sucked and she felt so fucking alone. For a moment she considered calling Jongin, but no, the bastard wouldn't answer anyway.
Thinking about all her problems made her cry even more. Some passersby looked at her curiously, but she honestly didn't care, she couldn't even see with all those tears.
The mysterious boy was already there when Sehuna started crying. After a moment of doubt, he slowly approached the girl to take her hand.
Surprised, she opened her eyes to find the boy's. The sincere concern in his gaze touched her so much that more fat tears rolled out of her eyes. "Sehuna" he whispered, "calm down." He wiped her tears with his free hand, giving a little smile. "Ready to go?" he asked, pointing to the bike with his head. She nodded.
Already underway, she asked "where are we going?"
"Hmn ..." Sehuna felt the boy's laughter with her hands before hearing it. Though the sound was very pleasing. "It's a surprise." After a moment he said, "You should close your eyes."
"What?" she asked, a little smile playing on her lips. She liked his laugh. "It's a surprise, isn't it? Close your eyes" the boy pointed out with a teasing tone. Sehuna laughed for the first time in days. "Oh!" he said surprised. "I thought this gathina was not able to laugh." She glanced menacingly at his nape. "Shut up" she mumbled happily, resting her head over his back.
"What?" he asked amused.
"Nothing" she laughed, pinching the boy's stomach. "Ei!" he yelped. He felt how Sehuna rested her chin over his shoulder so he turned his face for a brief moment to look at her. She had her eyes closed and a pretty little smile. He thought she looked beautiful.
Sehuna opened her eyes when they came to a stop. The street where they parked was nothing special. To their right were some houses with colonial facades. A small white plaque with red letters on a door indicated it was a hotel and to their left was an adjacent street that led to the center of Rio.
The boy turned off the engine. Sehuna let go of his waist so he could get off while she took off the helmet. Still sitting on the bike she said sarcastically "nice surprise."
"Gathina" even with a straight face the boy still looked very attractive."Maybe this place is not as fancy as you, but it holds something really special for me" he said moving closer to her. He took her chin between his index finger and thumb making her look up. He then closed his eyes and pressed their foreheads together, whispering "don't make me regret this" immediately he stepped aside.
Right in front of them a long staircase stretched all the way through the block. It had big flowerpots on both sides and was all covered with thousands of tiles. At first glance the place was not breathtaking, to see its beauty one had to look into the details. There were red and brown tiles covering the wall and pots, some created a small painting, some other had drawings or flags that seemed to clash with the color range used. The steps were covered with yellow, green and blue tiles, each one of each color so when seen from afar you could appreciate the brazilian flag. Around the ninth step some black tiles said, "escadaria selaron" and around the seventh it said, "rio de janeiro."
"Welcome to the Escadaria Selaron" the boy said cheerfully after she got off the bike. Without any other word he took her hand and walked towards the staircase. After climbing the first set of steps, they sat on one of the flowerpots. Sehuna dropped his hand to rest hers over the tiles. "Now" she started, "will you tell me your name?"
He laughed. "Where is the fun if I tell you right now? You will try to run away!" Sehuna laughed too. "As if I could ..." she trailed off. He turned his head to look at the sky.
"I met this place when I was six years old. I came downtown with my parents and I got lost" he smiled "My dad told me the creator was a Chilean artist who came here in the nineties. Piece by piece, he filled the steps with tiles. When it became famous even tourists helped him. If you wanted, you could bring your own tile and he would add it ... My mom says I was born an artist, that's why I ended up here." he laughed "She says that art calls art or something like that. However, I think that day I knew what I wanted to do with my life." He lowered his gaze to set it on one of the flowerpots in front of them "I wanted to create something as inspiring as this. Something everybody wanted to see. Something that caught people like this staircase did with me"
He paused to look at Sehuna. She looked adorable, like kids who listen attentively to a fascinating story. He smiled and put his hand aside hers. "Sometimes, when I have a bad day or I feel sad, I come here. I don't know, it gives peace to my soul."
"Did you also had a bad day?" she asked.
"No" he said. "But you did."
Sehuna stayed quiet. The memory of her mother came back like a wave trying to drown her. She frowned, pressing her lips into a thin line. "Is not good, gathina" the boy said, tapping her chest with a finger "to keep that much pain inside. It kills the soul."
She heaved a sigh before asking "What if the killed one is my heart? What if I'm in a relationship that slowly kills my heart? What if my mind is filled with doubt? What if ... What if I don't love him anymore? What if I never loved him? What if I can't tell? Because I really can't tell what I'm feeling. Everything was so amazing at the beginning. It was damn beautiful ... at least for me it was beautiful. Stupid Jongin came into my life and hugged me so tight I thought all my broken pieces were back together. Stupid Jongin was always there, making me feel safe" her eyes turned tearful.
"I trusted him so much I gave him parts of me without even realizing" the knot on her throat strangled her sobs. "Now I feel like a fool. I am a fucking fool. I don't know what to do if we break up. I know I will survive, time will heal my wounds and all that dumb stuff. But how could I? I'm scared to let go of someone who knows me that well. I don't know what to do" her voice cracked when tears finally found their way out of her eyes.
The boy moved closer to Sehuna in an attempt to hug her, but she moved faster placing her head on the crook of his neck. He hugged her tight. A girl like her shouldn't be so sad.
When Sehuna finally calmed down, she moved away first, wiping her cheeks. "This is so embarrassing" she said. "I'm sorry about your shirt" she added when she saw the wet patch on his clothes. "I usually don't burst out crying in front of people I just met ... This has been a hard day."
"Kai"
"What?"
"My name. My name is Kai, nice to meet you" he said smiling. It took her a moment to understand what he said. His name was Kai. Kai as in the young and famous painter loved by the country's youth. This tan blond version of Jongin was Kai and she just stained his shirt. Sehuna nearly had a mental breakdown.
She went from shock to horror to embarrassment in less than three seconds.
"Have someone ever told you how beautiful you look when you blush?" She was about to answer when it happened.
The soft graze of plump lips against hers.
Time didn't stop. She didn't saw stars neither felt like flying or exploding. In fact, she barely felt it.
"What was that?" the question was pretty obvious, yeah, but she wasn't thinking straight.
"A ... kiss" Kai whispered, worried about her reaction. When it dawned on her she got up. "We should go back. It's getting late" she said, making her way to the street. "Sehuna!" he said taking her by the wrist, "wait!"
Vexed, she turned back. "Look, Kai, I appreciate what you've done so far for me, but if your plan was making me cry and then take advantage of it, let me tell you it won't work." she tried to walk again, but he pulled her back. "I'm not trying to take advantage of anything!" he said exasperated.
"Sehuna, I ... I don't believe in love at first sight. Honestly, I don't even know why I'm doing this. I just know I have to do it. Is like when you are sure about doing something stupid even when you know it is stupid. Something inside is telling you to do it. Or when you're painting and you know which color to use. You don't think about possibilities, you just use that color because you know it is the right one. It is like an instinct."
"I have no idea of what you're talking about" Sehuna said puzzled. "I know you don't!" he whined.
At the lack of better words to explain , he pulled the girl to kiss her again and this time Sehuna sure felt it.
Kai pressed his lips eagerly against hers. Desperate to explain what words couldn't. When Sehuna parted her lips in surprise, he took the kiss to a whole new level. He was biting, he was tasting, he was speaking through the kiss. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her body closer. His lungs were burning, but not even that would stop him from kissing the hell out of this girl.
Sehuna felt drunk. No one had kissed her like that. It was so passionate she could just explode right there, yet it was so delicate as if she would break. Her heart was beating way too fast and her lungs were about to fail because of the lack of oxygen, but it didn't matter. She needed more of Kai.
This was the beginning.
A breathless beginning, Sehuna must say.
The sky above turned orange announcing the sunset was there and thus their return home. The ride to Sehuna's house was silently and so their farewell. Kai only pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to the girl before leaving. It has his number and a little "call me maybe ;)" in neat handwriting.
If looks could kill, Sehuna would be six feet underground. Her mother was mad, she could tell, but she didn't care. Kai was her new drug and she was still very high. She locked herself in her room, changed to her pajamas and threw herself to bed. She stared at the paper for a while. When she sent a text (becasue making a call was too formal) the warm feeling in her chest was painfully familiar.
"What took you so long!? I thought you were angry!"
"omg so whiny. I shouldn't have sent anything"
":( mean"
"I'm kidding, you silly~"
"I know. I scared you, right? ;)"
"omg you idiot. I'm gonna sleep, bye ♥"
"ok! Sleep well, beautiful ( ˘ ³˘)♥"
A shiver ran down her body while flashbacks of Jongin sending the very same text crossed her mind. But this was not Jongin. This was Kai. Jongin had made his choice long ago, Sehuna thought, and tonight she was making hers.
She didn't break up with Jongin immediately, their relationship deserved to be finished face-to-face, just now she wouldn't feel guilty about Kai. On the other hand, Kai knew he couldn't start something official with Sehuna until she fixed her problems, but he was determined to replace her tears with many cute smiles.
Besides, with Kai showing her Rio in the following weeks, it wasn't really hard to fall for him.
If Sehuna had to explain how she felt in love with Kai, she would talk about the time he took her to Santa Teresa to ride the electric tram across the Lapa arches while he whispered nonsense in her ear to make her laugh. She would talk about all the photos he took her while they took a walk at the Botanical Garden, giving her compliments with each picture, stealing kisses on her cheeks every time. She would have to talk about the couple rings Kai insisted on buying. "It's a symbolical way to state we're together until we can make it official" he had said.
If Sehuna had to explain the effect Kai had on her, she would say she felt like a high school girl again, all excited about her new love. She would say she felt really special knowing she was the only person who had been inside his studio because not even his parents were allowed to. Although after fooling around with the oils, their only results were Sehuna's favorite shorts marked with Kai' hands everywhere. He said his best painting was the blush on her face.
If Sehuna could repeat something from those weeks, it would be the time he woke her up at dawn to help her sneak out of her room and took her all the way to the Ipanema beach. "Sunrise is best seen from the beach" he said.
But maybe, from all the things Sehuna could talk about, her favorite was when Kai's parents cooked Leão Veloso soup (a broth of fish, seafood, fresh lobster and prawns) especially for her. While they ate Kai's dad told her about how he had left Korea with a broken heart, but fortunately found a brazilian woman willing to fix it. It was nice to see how much his parents loved each other. Sehuna wondered if she could ever be that happy.
A few days before the wedding, Sehuna was at home eating grapes in the kitchen when her aunt called her from the living room.
"Yeah?" she said sitting down with the woman on the couch.
"Are you going out with Kai today?" unlike her mother, Sehuna's aunt knew about her relationship with the boy. "Yes, he should be here in a few minutes" she said happily "Why?"
"I was thinking ... you should take him to the wedding. He seems nice and I know you'd love to have him there." Sure, Sehuna had thought about inviting him. But then she thought about her mother and it wasn't an appealing idea anymore.
"I don't know auntie. My mom-"
"Oh, please. Your mother won't be a problem. Don't worry about her. Tell Kai I'm personally inviting him. It is my wedding after all, I decide who is invited." the woman said with a big grin.
Later, when Sehuna and Kai were roaming the Saara fair (more than thirty blocks full of shops) buying supplies his mother needed for work, she asked. "Kai, would you like to go to my aunt's wedding?" Said boy stopped walking to look at her surprised. A cheeky smile slowly spreading across his face. "I'd love to, linda" he said kissing lightly her forehead.
They were in the checkout line when Sehuna's phone buzzed with an incoming message.
While Kai paid for the items Sehuna read the message. "Princess, I'm able to go to the wedding. I arrive tomorrow." Her blood ran cold. She wasn't ready to meet Jongin again. Kai noticed her mood was suddenly different and asked if anything was wrong. "Is nothing" she said, "Just my mom asking where I am" she hooked their arms and pulled him towards another store.
That night Sehuna's aunt told her about the invitation to the unveiling of a new painting Kai was adding to his collection. Apparently the boy had mailed it to her house. When she texted him asking about it he said her aunt ruined the surprise.
The unveiling was in the afternoon of the next day. Her mother made sure to ruin her day by barging into her room early in the morning to say she called Jongin and he was also going to the event. "Perfect" she thought. Not even she'd have to deal with Jongin, but also with her mother. Sehuna sighed, hopefully they wouldn't ruin Kai's day.
Since it was a special occasion for the painter, Sehuna put extra effort on looking good. With her wavy long her falling over her bare shoulders, a short black dress and nice heels, she smiled to her reflection in the mirror. She felt gorgeous.
She arrived a few minutes before the rest of guests because Kai insisted the surprise was only for her, the rest could wait.
When she entered Kai was the only one inside. As Sehuna approached him, he couldn't take his eyes off her body. "Thanks" she said with a teasing smirk. Looking into her eyes, Kai smiled and answered as well "You look even more beautiful today."
The hungry kiss took Sehuna completely off guard.
When Kai started biting she felt a spark burning her body. If the room was on fire or it was just the heat, they couldn't tell. Her dress interfered with his need, and so does his suit.
Kai broke the kiss. Breathing harshly he took her hand and practically ran to the storage closet at the back of the place. After a few seconds, the lock finally gave up and he got in first so Sehuna would be trapped between him and the door.
Kai' kisses were desperate, desperate for her all. His hands could find the right place. They were at her hips, running down her back, playing with her hair, leaving marks on her thighs or squeezing her breasts. Sehuna had on hand gripping tightly his shoulder, the other one tangled in Kai's hair pulling softly when he started kissing her neck.
Sehuna was more than willing to play between Kai' legs when they heard a noise followed by a voice calling his name. They froze before Kai whined and Sehuna laughed hard. Then, she gave him a little kiss on the cheek, her eyes promising to finish this later. They fixed their hair and clothes before going back to the main hall.
Sehuna's family was already there, with Jongin included. He was looking for the girl among the crowd when he saw his father.
He doubted his eyes for a moment. It couldn't be true. His father was here. From all the places he thought the man would be, he was here, in Brazil. He had found him, after years of hiding old pictures under his pillow so he would forget the man's face. He looked different from the pictures of course. Relaxed. Older. Wiser. The man also recognized Jongin so he approached his shocked son.
"Jongin?" the man asked, just to make sure his son remembered him.
Many questions ran wild across Jongin's mind. He had pictured this encounter so many times in his mind, he had prepared a speech for every different scenario. But not for this one. "Dad? What are you doing here?" he asked quietly.
"I came to see my son" the man said calmly. Surprised Jongin said, "How did you know I was coming?"
"No" the man had a sad smile "Not you. I came to see my other son. Your brother."
"Brother" Jongin said the word slowly, tasting it in his mouth. It was sour. "So my mother was right" he said, "everything she said was true. You left because you didn't love us. Ypu had another family and you got sick of us."
"No, Jongin" his father said, "I never got sick of you. Your mom said those things because she was angry. I made I mistake and I had to take the responsibility of it. I don't regret it though ... When your brother was born I wanted you to know. I even asked your mother to let me bring you here for a couple of days, but she said no. She said I would be a bad influence."
Sehuna's mother tapped Jongin's shoulder to tell him her daughter arrived. The young man turned his back to his father and left without a word.
It had been months since Jongin saw Sehuna so dressed up. Se was beautiful, but there was something odd in her. She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek like he was a friend. No crushing hugs, no questions about the flight, no excited tales about the caribbean country. Formal greetings and an indifferent silence from his girlfriend was another unexpected thing he found in Brazil.
He watched her for a while. Even when she had stayed in the tropical country for two months, Sehuna barely got tanned. Her skin was still white. Her hair was a little bit longer, but still the same lilac. She wasn't wearing that much make up, but it still accentuated beautifully her eyes. Then, he noticed the marks on her thighs.
Fingerprints. One had a ring.
"Sehuna" Jongin called. She moved closer and he asked "What's that?" pointing to her ring. He could swear he saw panic across her face, but before she could answer the museum's host started the unveiling.
Jongin saw his father again. Standing next to him was a tan blond boy who looked pretty much like himself.
The new painting was once again a white canvas with the silhouette of a girl (strangely familiar to Jongin). She was sitting showing her back, a white sheet changing from her hips. It looked like someone wrote "kai" across her back with blue painting. One of her hand was holding her lilac hair up. Lilac. Like Sehuna's hair.
When he looked back at his father he saw the boy hugging him with one arm. He had a ring. It sounded like nonsense in his head, Sehuna was not the type of girl who sleeps with random dudes. Still, something was telling Jongin to check again.
Looking at Sehuna's legs. It was the same ring. Something inside Jongin broke.
He took Sehuna by the arm and pulled her outside the building towards the street while typing something on his phone. Confused and angry by the way he was pulling Sehuna said, "Jongin! It hurts! What's wrong?" He turned his face to look at her. The anger flaming in his eyes left her speechless.
Seconds later a black car parked in front of them. Jongin shoved Sehuna at the back seat and slammed the door shut. He went to the passenger seat and they left. She was afraid to ask where they were going. She had never seen Jongin so angry.
As the car parked on a lonely street with dim lights, Sehuna recognized the place. They were downtown in Rio. Kai had told her it was very dangerous to be there at night.
"Call him" Jongin said giving his phone to the girl. His voice dangerously quiet
"Call ... who?" she asked hesitant.
"Don't fucking play with me, Sehuna" he said looking at her legs. She had noticed too late the red marks on her thighs.
Shaking, she dialed Kai's number, who answered at the first tone. Jongin took the phone to set it on speaker mode.
"Kai" she said with a weak voice.
"Sehuna? Where are you? Why did you leave? What's wrong?" Jongin gave her instructions. "I'm ... I'm downtown. At Imprensa Street. Could you come to pick me up? Please"
Jongin ended the call before Kai could ask anything more.
Sehuna had never felt so scared.
The tension inside the car grew as the minutes passed. Suddenly they could hear a bike engine approaching the street. Jongin saw the vehicle from the rear and waited until it stopped so he and the driver could get out the car. They took the keys and locked the door from outside, leaving Sehuna trapped inside.
Kai stepped closer to the car and got the shock of his life when he saw Jongin. They were like twins.
"Who are you? Where is Sehuna?" Kai asked firmly. Jongin closed the distance between them. When it seemed like he was going to answer he punched Kai square in the face. Sehuna watched in horror from the car.
"Who are you? Where is Sehuna?" Kai asked firmly. Jongin closed the distance between them. When it seemed like he was going to answer he punched Kai square in the face. Sehuna watched in horror from the car.
The blow had been so hard that Kai lost his balance for an instant. When he looked up again Jongin was about to hit him again, but this time he was able to dodge it. "What the hell, man? What is wrong with you?" he shouted. Jongin took a few steps back and fixed his tie.
"Well, you see" Jongin started. "Today, for the first time in years, I saw my father again. With a woman who is not my mom and a son who is not me." His hands turned into fists. "And it happens that said son, who my father left me for, slept with my girlfriend. I don't know man, what do you think is wrong?"
Jongin walked towards the car, giving Sehuna a kind and dangerous smile. Kai looked at the girl and understood. This man was talking about him and Sehuna. This man was talking about his father. This man was a brother he didn't know about. He found Sehuna staring at him. Both were scared.
"You know?" Jongin asked looking at Kai, "some time you have to get rid of the ones who hurt you."
A shooting sound.
They say that when you get shot all you feel is the heat of impact. A sweltering sensation in the place where the bullet hits.
They say that when you get shot all you feel is the heat of impact. A sweltering sensation in the place where the bullet hits. Kai felt something like that. His stomach was on fire. When he looked down, he found a blood stain in his shirt. The sounds around him seemed far way. Looking up again he saw how Jongin opened Sehuna's door, shoved her out the car, got into the passenger seat and left with a driver he hadn't seen.
Sehuna ran to him. He felt to the floor when she tried to stop the bleeding. Suddenly he felt really cold.
"Gathina" he took her face between his bloody hands. "Don't cry" he said, trying to wipe her tears, but only managed to mix them with his blood. "No, Kai" she kept pressing his stomach in an attempt to stop the blood. "Don't do this. Kai, please" she cried harder "Don't do this."
"Sehuna" his voice was quite "I think I love you."
"I love you too. Kai, please don't leave me. Kai. Kai" she was choking on her sobs "Kai ... I just found you. We still have so many things to do. Please. You can't leave. Kai"
"Do you like the stars?" He asked looking at the dark sky. The light pollution of the city didn't let them see the stars, but he knew they were there. "Yes" she sniffed lamely, "I like them" she looked at Kai instead. "If I go to heaven when I die-"
"No, Kai" Sehuna hugged him tight. "If I go to heaven" he said again, "I will paint stars for you. Will you look at them, Sehuna?" she cried harder, his voice was just a whisper. "Yes, I will" she answered. "Then, no more tears gathina. They won't let you see the stars" he caressed her cheek with his thumb.
He kissed her forehead softly.
He stopped breathing.
After months of going in and out the court, ignoring the judgment from the international media and her mother saying everything was her fault, Sehuna was back in Korea and Jongin was in jail. She quit her job at her dad's agency to protect its good reputation. Now he was working at a new small agency. She also moved to a modest apartment in a normal middle-class neighborhood. She was starting a new life.
It was a nice Sunday morning when she got up to drink some milk. She was walking back to the main room when her eyes got caught once again by the painting hanging from the living room's wall. Different hues of blue simulated the vast outer space with tiny drops of white here and there pretending to be stars. A whole constellation trapped in a man's back. But now two feminine hands were hugging the silhouette.
"Gathina, the bed is cold without you" Sehuna smiled when she felt strong arms hugging her by the waist.
"You are so cheesy, I don't even know why I love you" she teased.
"But I'm glad you do because I love you too" Kai whispered, kissing her cheek.
-I scared you, right? ;)
-This is the painting. It's real and you could buy it for me lol
-I checked this many times but probably it still has typos. Sorry.
-Comments are welcomed♥