Page 6 of GR8VITY

She bites her lips while she thinks before answering, “It’s your job. Not who you are as a person.”

My steps falter, and I can’t seem to get my feet working again as I watch her take a few steps before stopping and turning back to look at me over her shoulder. Her head tilts slightly in question, but she doesn’t say anything.

“It’s been a long time since anyone said something like that or thought of me in that way,” I admit on a quiet murmur shared just between us.

Taking the few steps back to me, she wears an odd expression. “What do you mean?”

I pause, trying to gather my thoughts like we’re trained to do. Always making sure that we say the right thing. “We are constantly surrounded by nothing but staff. Especially when we’ve got busy schedules. Our people really are the best, and we love them. It’s just sometimes, I feel like they don’t necessarily see us for who we are. If that makes any sense.”

“That’s sad, but it makes perfect sense,” she replies softly. “Is that why you’ve been coming out here every night?”

Letting out a long sigh that feels like weight off my shoulders, I ask, “Do you ever feel like you’ve hit a point in your life like you don’t know who you are anymore? Like maybe I’m having trouble seeing the difference between myself and the idol right now.”

“I think we all feel that way at one point or another. Just on different levels,” she tells me. “You’ve just got to find a way to separate the two and find something that makes you feel happy as a person and at your job again.”

“Mmm,” I agree, starting our walk again. “That got heavier than it should’ve. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she says. “Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger than someone we’ve known our entire lives.”

“Is that who we are?” I ask slightly teasing. “Strangers?”

“I mean, we did just call each other stalkers,” she retorts easily.

I laugh, liking how quickly the conversation goes from serious to teasing. “So, are you going to stalk me now?”

“You mean, you as a person? Or am I going to go home and spend hours falling down a rabbit hole of the idol?” Her face is straight, but her lips twitch slightly giving her away.

“Either,” I say, barely containing my chuckle.

“I guess you’ll have to wait until you see me standing outside of your apartment or whatever later for the first,” she says, the smile finally breaking through.

I can’t help but grin with her. “And the idol?”

“That depends on you,” she replies. “Do you want me to?”

Tucking my hands in the pockets of my pants, we walk in silence while I think about it before I give her an answer. “No. Not yet. I want to keep you to myself for a little while longer.”

“That’s a deal then,” she says with a cute little nod. “I won’t so much as take a peek at the idol until you tell me to. Speaking of which, would you mind holding this for me?”

I take her phone that she sticks out between us, and give it a confused look before glancing back up at her.

She huffs a short laugh, saying, “For both our peace of mind.”

Sliding it into the pocket of my hoodie, I feel it bump my stomach with every step that I take, reminding me of the amazing girl at my side. “So, you know one of my secrets now. You should tell me one of yours to make us even.”

Clasping her hands behind her back, she bites her bottom lip as she looks out toward the city. “Umm, okay. So, I have this odd habit of trying new things until I get really good at it and then drop it and move on to the next thing.”

“Like what?” I ask, insanely curious.

She huffs, biting her bottom lip while smiling. “Literally anything and everything. I learned seven different languages and still want to learn more.”

“What’s one that you know that isn’t obvious and one that you want to learn?” I ask.

“Obviously, I know English and Korean, but my most random one is Thai. One that I’d love to learn is Russian,” she answers easily. “I haven’t had as much time to work on a new language since coming here because I’m busy a lot of the time teaching English.”

This catches me by surprise. “So, you’re a teacher?”

She does this little side to side motion with her head. “Somewhat. Yes, I am a teacher, but I volunteer. It’s not my job.”