The thing about white noise is that it can truly come from anything in your surroundings. White noise can be people in the room who keep the conversation going. White noise could be the humming sound of the fluorescent lights in your office when it’s a slow work day. In this case, it’s the radio playing in the car as I drive, playing Korean top hits.
…
Skylar looked upset seeing Shawn as wasted as he was tonight. She nearly dropped everything she was doing and walked over to Shawn, who was being held up by my own arms.
“What the fuck happened?” Skylar yelled out, trying to pick up Shawn’s face. Shawn sees Skylar and smiles wide. His face is more red than pink at this point; it usually means he’s drunk beyond repair. He’s going to feel it tomorrow.
“Babyyyy,” Shawn finally said, looking up at Skylar. “You look so pretty tonight! Gosh, I have the prettiest girlfriend in the world!” Skylar doesn’t say anything back to him, she simply takes Shawn from me and puts in on the sofa in front of us.
“What did you do to Shawn?” Skylar asked as she put him down to sit.
“I didn’t do anything to him,” I answered, feeling defensive. “He’s a grown man.”
“You couldn’t stop him?” Skylar complained, brushing the hair from Shawn’s face with her hands.
“And do what? Take the man’s wallet?” I questioned, growing annoyed that Skylar would put this on me. Both of us look at Shawn, who’s now waving his hand to speak.
“Baby, it’s my fault,” Shawn slurred. “Hyung tried stopping me, but I was in my head and kept drinking until I was out of it.” Skylar turned back around and took a sigh of relief; at least he was coherent enough to have my back. He looked back up to Skylar and smiled. “I just want to be the perfect boyfriend for you, baby.”
“You already are,” Skylar reassured him, holding his red face in the palm of her hands. “But please don’t drink like this ever again.”
I looked over at Grace, sitting at the end chair in the living room watching all of this unfold. I couldn’t help but stare but every now and then I would force myself to look away.
“I’m sorry that the night ended like this,” I said to Skylar. She shook her head before responding back to me.
“Me too,” she finally said, looking over at Grace. “I’m sorry about tonight, I think it would be best if I went ahead and took care of him tonight.”
“Of course,” Grace said as she stood up, gathering her stuff from the closet nearest to me. She never looked at me or said anything to me when she did. “I’ll just take a cab back to my place…”
“I can drive you,” I burst out, not really thinking of the situation properly. I didn’t want Grace to have to take a shady cab in the middle of the night, in a foreign country might I add, without offering. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s fine,” Grace quickly said to me, dismissing the thought.
“It’s late,” I emphasized.
“This isn’t the first time I took a cab late at night,” Grace snapped back, saying it more to Skylar than to me.
“In Korea?” I asked, crossing my arms across my chest.
“Grace, let the man drive you home for fuck’s sake,” Skylar finally said, annoyed at the situation. Grace rolled her eyes and finally turned around to face me. Aigoo.
“Whatever,” Grace said, walking toward the front door. “Have a good night babying Shawn.” She walked past me and out the front door. I looked at Skylar, who simply shook her head.
“I’ll make sure she gets home,” I said.
…
“So,” I finally said out loud to the air as I drove. “How are you liking Ulsan so far?” Grace didn’t answer right away; instead, she sighed loudly, as if talking to me was more of a tedious chore than casual. I can’t keep listening to the music on the radio.
“It’s nice,” Grace said, looking out of the passenger window. I looked at her before looking back at the road.
“Yeah,” I continued the conversation. “Winter in Korea can be both beautiful and brutal. The snow’s always nice to look at, but after the first 5 times of getting snow, it can get tiring.”
“Oh,” Grace simply said. I was growing frustrated that she wasn’t even trying to have a conversation with me. Her cousin and my best friend are on a one-way ticket to a wedding chapel, and at this point, it’s important that we get along for the sake of them.
“Yeah,” I simply said. What else can I bring up to have some sort of communication happening in this already long drive?
“How’s the production going?” I asked, thinking that was a safe option to discuss. Apparently not.
“You know, I don’t really feel like talking,” Grace finally said. “It’s been a long night and I just want to get home.” Grace begins to press different buttons on the dashboard, changing the radio stations one by one. All of them are in Korean, and she grows frustrated. She leaves on one station; a K-pop station. A song from a boy group is playing on the radio.
“The group singing is named Victon,” I started to say. “My niece loves their music. Lia is always comparing me to the main vocalist; she thinks I look like him.” Grace looks over and I think I could see her smirk at my comment. She looks back at the window.
“I remember you said you wanted to be a singer when you were little, ” Grace said. I was surprised that she remembered such a pointless conversation; I even forgot that I told her that.
“Yeah,” I said. “I didn’t know that you needed to know how to sing to actually be a singer.” I chuckled, glad the air wasn’t so dense anymore.
“I mean, it’s common sense, but I get it,” Grace said. I looked at her before looking at the road once more. She doesn’t look that tense in the passenger’s seat anymore. “Both my parents know how to sing and went to the top performing arts high school, yet I sound like a dying cat when I sing.”
“But you’re an amazing dancer,” I said out loud, not really thinking about how it could come off but knew it was the truth.
“So was my mom, and she knew how to sing,” Grace finally turned over to me. I couldn’t help but take a glance at her when she did.
“Yeah, but you were a lawyer,” I mentioned. I didn’t know if I said the right thing, but Grace goes silent when I say it. Aigoo, you just had her talking and you went and messed it up. “I think that beats out any other talent you could possibly have.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Grace said, looking back out the window as we drove in silence. I didn’t know what else to say to Grace, and maybe this is all she is willing to do for the night. It’s better than any song laying on the radio.
Letters From Liz. 