LOVE:ZERO

That summer, when I visited my maternal grandfather, who had returned to Korea permanently a few years ago. I was able to communicate with my relatives without difficulty.

My maternal grandfather was so impressed by this that he gave me an apartment with a view of the Han River, telling me to stay there whenever I came to Korea. So in the end, my hard work paid off anyway.

The sight of those two sticking close together and whispering as if they were plotting a conspiracy was strangely disgusting.

‘What, do you two like each other? Are you going on a date? Why is it so hot here?’

The wind was unpleasantly hot.

Hunter slightly pulled down the knot of his tie that was choking him. He was so nervous from the commotion next to him that he couldn’t hear the old man with  gray  hair on the stage chattering boringly.

I wanted to throw off my stuffy tie and blazer and run out of here, but this damn class had tickets to the US Open finals, courtside.

Hunter took a deep breath.

Don’t worry about it

Either way.

Whaam~

” Ha, Sir…”

The sound of those two whispering was more annoying than the mosquitoes buzzing around my ears in the middle of the night.

Hunter, who had been glaring at them finally couldn’t stand it anymore and opened his mouth to say something, but then all the children got up from their seats at once with a loud noise.

It was the signal to start the dance class. While he was distracted, the etiquette class seemed to have already ended.

Walter and Megan demonstrated basic waltz steps in the middle of the floor while a grand piano and string quartet played classical music live

While each person had time to practice their steps, Walter walked around the hall, pairing the children up one by one. Finally, he stood in front of the three and drew an oval-shaped rope over their heads.

“A team is made up of three people, one lady and two gentlemen.”

Then he placed Jiyu and Rex face to face, and made Hunter stand behind Rex.

“Mr. Lafayette, extend your right hand and lightly support the lady’s back with your left. Yes, good. Now, the lady extends her left hand and lightly places it on Mr. Lafayette’s hand, and places her right hand on the shoulder. Keep your elbow raised gracefully!”

Walter, who had taken that pose himself, turned to Hunter and placed both hands on Rex’s shoulders.

“Mr. Hamilton will step behind Mr. Lafayette in the same manner. When the song ends, the two will switch positions.”

Hunter gritted his teeth and brushed back his flowing hair. He was talking about hanging comically like a dog’s tail behind Rex as he danced with Jiyu.

What the hell cotillion class.

My patience was slowly reaching its limit.

He thought of courtside tickets to the US Open finals. Courtside seats, where you could hear the players mumbling curses and see beads of sweat beading on their foreheads, were rare and sold for up to $20,000 per person on the black market.

If I ran away from here, I would have to give up.

“Hook”

Hunter took a short, deep breath.

Let’s bear with it. Let’s bear with it.

The music that had stopped then started again.

He waltzed with a blank expression, his hands on Rex’s shoulder

Who will advance to the US Open final?

The ranking of the players and the seeds they will be assigned to are all jumbled in my head. I hope Federer and Nadal make it to the finals.

As he was trying hard to think of something else, Rex suddenly lowered his head and whispered something in Jiyu’s ear. Then, Jiyu’s entire face, which was barely visible due to Rex’s back of the head, became visible. She had her mouth wide open and a surprised expression on her face.

‘What did that Rex guy say to make that stupid face?’

Suddenly, my stomach churned. My stomach acid boiled like lava.

Did you eat dinner too quickly?

Then Jiyu looked up at Rex and asked.

“That’s ridiculous. Really?”

Hunter rolled his eyes and anorted.

‘Most of the absurd stories that came out of Alexander de Lafayette’s mouth are lies. Don’t you know that yet?’

I couldn’t figure out why she kept falling for Rex. What an idiot.

“That’s right, I heard from my 7th grader that the last song is always a line dance to country music. He said he still had his old stereo and CD’s, so I looked them up and there really were country music CD’s in his stereo. So I replaced them with the gangsta hip-hop CD’s I bought.”

Rex lowered his head to the side, trying to hold back laughter. Jiyu’s gaze seemed to land on Rex, who was gritting his teeth and shaking his shoulders, and then burst into laughter. His eyes closed narrowly as if he was squinting, and something new appeared on his pale cheeks

Hunter stops dead in his tracks.

Again, again that damn assistant.

Seriously, I swear to God, I didn’t pay even a speck of attention to Jiyu Parker’s face. I never looked at it closely before. But when something that wasn’t there suddenly disappeared, my eyes kept getting glued to it.

He felt strange. He felt a strange sense of impatience and an irrational sense of anxiety. He didn’t know why he was feeling this way, which made it even worse. He felt sick inside and wanted to tell Jiyu not to laugh like that anymore.

Suddenly, Rex stopped. And then the music stopped. Then Walter spoke into the microphone and told the person next to him to switch partners. Hunter shoved Rex’s shoulder without mercy, who was still giggling.

“Get out, Lafayette.”

“Shit. Shut up, Hunter.”

Ignoring Rex, who was staggering and grumbling, he quickly approached Jiyu. As soon as her eyes met Hunter’s, her  smile on her face disappeared like a bubble bursting. Then, eventually, she broke eye contact and looked down coldly.

Hunter felt worse than before.

‘Why do you make that face when you see me? What did I do?’

He put his hand on her back and pulled her closer.

Oops. Failure to control strength.

Jiyu, who was dragged in as if falling down, raised her head with a bewildered expression.

She looked up at him with her lips tightly shut and her eyes full of accusation.

‘Why are you looking at me like that? It’s okay for you to waltz with that kid, but not okay for me?’

A childish question rose to the tip of my tongue, but I held it back and pushed it down.

“Hand.”

Hunter raised his right hand and demanded bluntly.

Then Jiyu let out a small  sigh and slowly raised her left hand with a timid movement. It was a strangely thrilling movement. Then, she hesitated and curled her fingers at a distance that was just barely touching his hand.

Hunter couldn’t bear it any longer and grabbed her hand. It felt like his temples were on fire, throbbing hotly.

‘It’s annoying hot. But was her hand always this small? Or did my hands get bigger?’

He looked down at her with a puzzled look. Jiyu Parker, whom he saw everyday, seemed unfamiliar, like a girl he was seeing for the first time. She took a deep breath and placed her right hand on his shoulder.

‘Jiyu Parker, are you sick? Why are your hands so hot?’

My left shoulder felt hot, as if I placed an iron on it instead of my hand. I looked down at my round crown, my ash-brown hair loosely braided to the sides of my face, and sweat dripped down my neck. The damn air conditioner was definitely broken.

“Move now.”

His voice cracked a little.

“Huh.”

The two began to move to the waltz music. Jiyu’s steps were twisted and she stepped on his shoes a couple of times.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Shit. Focus.”

Hunter strode aggressively  to Johann Strauss’ elegant waltz, “The Beautiful Blue Dance.” He was good at anything he did with his body. These simple, repetitive steps could be learned after just a couple of times. Once he got the hang of it, there was no getting around the steps.

On the other hand, Jiyu kept missing her steps as if she had only two left feet. He frowned.

‘Why on earth is this happening? It wasn’t like this when I was with Rex?’

Jiyu, who had stepped on his foot for the third time, bit her lip and slightly opened her eyes. Then, when their eyes met, she immediately looked down. Anyone who saw her looked scared.

‘Why are you like that? Are you going to eat me just because I stepped on your foot?’

“…I’m sorry, Hunter.”

Hunter just snorted and didn’t respond. He already knew that Jiyu’s physical abilities were poor. It wasn’t like it would hurt if she stepped on him with those thin new legs.

He was deep in thought. There was something he had been wondering about for a while.