Chapter Text
It was warm, the color of lights from restaurants, boutique shops and stores under the dims of the night sky. A sea of locals and tourists walking towards opposite directions and some having the time of their lives drinking wine, eating steak and chatting with their friends. The city screams fancy, sophisticated and all the adjectives that you could possibly think about rich and neat and also historic. But unlike the warm tone of all the lights, it was cold, like the usual nights in Europe when it's winter thus people are wearing thick clothes
such as coats.
I've been staying here for one week already and it still amazes me to see this view every time I walk out of my hotel. The busyness of the city, the lights that felt warm and bright and the white noise coming from vehicles are very therapeutic for me, well, because I'm not a local here and we don't have any of these in my country.
And oh have I mentioned the old architectural buildings? Yes that too, one of my favorites and also one of the reasons why I wanted to go.
Europe has always been the country that I wanted to visit and now that I'm here I savor every moment being here. It also helps me in healing myself from all the not-so-good moments that have happened to me back where I live. Okay, I will admit it, it's bad and also the reason why I'm here. I wanted a vacation. I wanted to heal myself.
Going back to the real reason why I got out of my hotel is that I wanted to go to this tunnel, saw a lot of pictures of it from Instagram and thought well since I'm here I'm going to check it out.
The tunnel was quite huge, inside – the walls were painted in different colors but yellow and blue was the one that stands out the most and also the color that occupies a huge part of the tunnel. You can also see that some people go here to vandalize or write something on the walls like "I was here" or "I love Europe" but despite this, the tunnel is still very neat looking. I don't know if it's okay to do that but there's also graffiti on some of the walls.
Halfway through the tunnel, I heard someone singing. It was the most beautiful voice ever. You may find that somewhat exaggerated. But it is, I'm telling the truth. His voice feels like a warm hug.
I stopped to look where the voice was coming from and I saw a man wearing a fawn overcoat over a black turtleneck long sleeve looking so lovely singing Over The Rainbow. With him was also a man playing the guitar for him. And also there's another man filming them both.
I strode towards their direction to see a closer look of the man singing. I'll admit that he's good looking, his nose is sharp and his eyes look feline and also he has this golden brown skin color.
I stopped striding when I was 2 meters away from them both. I watch him sing, the man wearing an overcoat closes his eyes while he sings and while both of his hands clasped together, swaying one hand from time to time. He was so beautiful singing the song. The words that came out from his mouth flowed smoothly while he was singing his lines. And you can find me staring at them both, admiring the sight of them and the music.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dream that you dare to
Oh why, oh why can't I?
Some people were also stopping by to see the singer but they didn't last long. When the singer finished he slowly opened his eyes and I shamelessly clapped because of course I was healed by the song so it deserves an applause. He then noticed it and saw me, gave me a huge and bright smile that I couldn't imagine from a stranger.
"Thank You!Have a great night!"
I didn't expect to have a response from him but I did and so I smiled back as a response. I continued to walk towards the end of the tunnel. I didn't even get to take a picture of it but I enjoyed my experience very much. Thanks to that man.
I got in my hotel, changed my clothes while I debated to myself if I should get coffee downstairs or not. In the end I found myself pressing the down button in the elevator to go to the 1st floor to buy some coffee. It's past 8pm already and here I am wanting to buy coffee.
As I walked towards the dining or the guest area of the hotel where a small shop is located that displays cakes and beverages, I saw the man in a coat with two other men. They're discussing something through the hotel counter. To my surprise they're the ones I saw earlier in the tunnel, the singer and musician and the one who's filming. I assume they're also checking in, in this hotel.
After I made a quick glance from their spot I headed to the counter of the small shop and asked for a hot choco, instead of hot coffee because I don't know, it's much better to drink hot choco at this hour. That's how quickly my mind changes. As I was saying my order to the girl behind the counter. A man beside me appears from nowhere. From my peripheral vision I saw the man looking very familiar, it was the man in a coat, the singer in the tunnel. He's very much handsome up close and also very tall.
"1 cup of iced coffee please and 2 cups of hot coffee"
I heard him say his order. Who the heck orders iced coffee on this cold day?
I handed in my pay over the counter to pay for what I bought. He glanced at me for a second and I glanced at him too. As we saw each other's faces I uttered a word for us to not get awkward.
"Oh hey, you're the one in the tunnel right?, the one who sung Over the Rainbow earlier?"
His eyes widen and smiled at me
"Oh right!, and you're the one…" he's trying to remember where he met me
"yes, I'm the one who clapped" filling up his unfinished sentence while nodding.
I finished the conversation because the girl behind the counter handed me my order so I had no choice but to face her and get my hot choco. As I got my order the guy also got his order and so we're both standing in front of the counter, carrying a tray for our orders while I search for a vacant seat.
When I finally saw a vacant seat I asked him if he would like to join, he nodded and followed me to our seats.
I don't know if it's normal to ask someone to join you while you both drink your hot choco and coffee but nonetheless it was a new experience to me.
I strike a conversation first because I feel like he's the type who's shy at first but will also carry a good conversation if you're the one who started it.
"Your voice was so good earlier! How'd you do that?" I ask jokingly because obviously why would you ask a singer how they're good at singing, it's common sense, I sip my hot choco.
He then chuckles and replied
"Thank you very much, I think it's natural"
We both chuckled as we exchanged our lines.
"Oh and someone was filming you earlier, do you post it on social media perhaps?" I tried to strike a conversation again because I want this to not get awkward. Afterall, I asked him to join me.
"Yes we do, you can follow me on my ig account, you can just check that out" he then sips his iced coffee.
I then looked for my phone in my pocket realizing that I've left it upstairs. Stupid. I then glanced at him and saw him smile behind the cup of his iced coffee while he sipped it for the last time and while eyeing me who's struggling and remembering where I put my phone. Embarrassing.
"Unfortunately, I only brought my wallet with me, you can write it down on this piece of paper so I can search it up later". It's funny how I have a piece of paper and a ballpen with me but not my phone.
He then wrote it down and handed it to me. We talked for a while about how long we've both been here and what places we got to visit already, like those questions asked when you meet someone for the first time.
Minutes have passed and one of the men he's with tapped him on the shoulders saying that they've got the room already thus it means that the conversation is over and he needs to go. He stood up from where he's sitting. He took the other two hot coffee that he ordered earlier, and most probably the coffee wasn't hot anymore because of minutes of conversation and waiting.
He wasn't able to say goodbye but the moment he stood up I gave him a smile and raised my eyebrows, while I took a sip of my hot choco signaling that I know, I know he needs to go. He then gave me a not so genuine smile as a response.
After both of them got out of my space It was the moment I looked at the paper where he gave his instagram handle. It reads
@from_youngk
What a weird name he has, I thought. What parents would give their child a name of YoungK. How do you even pronounce that?
While I was being judgmental I realized that maybe they have their reasons why he named him that and so I felt guilty about it and finished my cup of hot choco as a response to myself.