Tell Me That You Like It

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

 

Anna didn’t arrive at Madrid airport until after 10 p.m.

So excited about her first trip abroad, Anna felt like a balloon flying in the sky.

 

It was dark outside and cold because it was winter, but she felt so good. She was nervous and excited even to get an entry stamp on her passport for the first time.

 

She quit her previous job. It wasn’t a big severance pay, but it was enough for Anna to hold out. Anna, who worked part-time for a while and got a job at a new company, collected her salary steadily.

 

It was a small advertising company, but her life became abundant when she spent all the salary she had to give to her parents and Min-seok alone.

 

“Anna! What are you up to these days?”

 

Her friends also said that Anna’s face was brighter when they saw her.

 

She was unaware of it, but when she had financial leeway, she seemed to have naturally relaxed.

 

Unlike before, she was able to buy and use clothes and cosmetics in a more generous way. Even if she had the luxury of buying coffee and dessert outside, she had money left.

 

But Anna didn’t spend all her salary.

 

She only put off her long-cherished overseas trip for a while, but she didn’t give up. It took a year to collect expenses for a more leisurely trip.

 

She noticed that the company she worked for now was going to take two weeks off. It wasn’t until winter when people don’t go on vacation that Anna could use her vacation by collecting her annual leave.

 

Spain was the first destination she had to travel to while she was in her late 20s. The place she really wanted to go was Italy, but the problem was security.

 

Among Western Europe, Spain seemed to be cheaper. She also wanted to see historical sites that remained influenced by Rome.

 

Anna, who found her luggage at the airport, took the subway with a large suitcase . She was able to arrive at the hostel she reserved only after changing buses on the way.

 

It was a dark night for her, and all the way she was on her first trip, fearing that she might be pickpocketed, Anna could not let her guard down in everything she did.

 

It was almost midnight when she arrived in front of the hostel. She was trying to push through a glass door with a blue handle, but someone next to her opened the door.

 

A man came into Anna’s field of vision as she turned her head in surprise at the outstretched hand. He was very tall, as if he had risen from the ground.

 

Anna heard that she was not small, but the man was large enough for her to feel a sense of pressure.

 

Like a predator who only eats meat, the shoulders of the huge man were as wide as a mountain. Anna had to look up to make eye contact.

 

It was strange that she always only met people who were about her height, slightly taller or shorter, and had to look up to meet her eyes.

 

Anna’s face lifted up and stopped at the highest point. Anna’s eyes widened as she looked up at the strange man.

 

At the moment of eye contact, time seemed to have stopped. Anna’s mind went blank.

 

He was a foreigner with a surreal look, blond hair and deep blue eyes.

 

The word ‘handsome’ was like a word made only to describe this man. Even the streetlights and the lights leaking from the building seemed to exist to illuminate him.

 

Anna began to unwittingly examine the man’s appearance.

 

A moving sculpture, sharp lines extending from the forehead to a high bridge of the nose, deep double eyelids and thick eyebrows, lips of just the right thickness that are neither thin nor thick – these adjectives for him constantly came to mind and disappeared in an instant.

 

But the most mysterious of them were the blue eyes.

There was a magical power in his blue eyes that prevented the viewer from taking their eyes off them. For the moment she looked into those eyes, she forgot the coldness and the wariness of being in an unfamiliar place.

 

She didn’t realize that blue was such an alluring color.

 

All kinds of beautiful things were blue, such as clear seawater, clear autumn sky, emerald-colored lake, high-purity blue sapphire, and aquamarine, passed by in the blue eyes.

 

Anna’s mind was confused by the strong male scent that suddenly hit her. In fact, the man had a refreshing and cool scent, but perhaps because of his large body, it seemed that he was exuding thick invisible pheromones from his body.

 

In front of the huge man, Anna was strongly conscious that her gender was a woman. Shorter in stature and size.

 

For a very long time she seemed to have locked eyes with him, but in reality it was only for a split second.

 

“Hello.”

 

He greeted her, grabbed the door and gestured as if to let her go in first. The echoing voice was low and thick and sweet as if her eardrums were melting.

 

The soft wind-like voice was warm as if it could melt ice. Anna had the illusion that even the eardrums that the doctor attached well a year ago were becoming mushy.

 

Hello.

 

Anna greeted him as he did.

 

No. Did I say something?

 

When she came to, she was silent with her lips closed and only slightly nodding her head.

 

Was it that difficult to say a simple greeting? It’s basic English that you just have to say out loud…

 

Anna dragged her suitcase inside with the help of the man who held the door open in a daze. She couldn’t think of anything for a moment, as if she had forgotten how to speak. 

 

“Do you need help?”

 

The man spoke in English as the suitcase on the threshold staggered sideways under the weight.

 

She didn’t know which country he was from, but his English had an exotic accent.

 

It was such an attractive accent and voice that she wanted to make an outrageous request on their first meeting and ask him to speak a little more.

 

“Oh, no, it’s alright. Thank you.”

 

Anna refused, holding onto the handle of her suitcase. She said it was easy, but her lips didn’t separate as if they were glued on, so she could barely answer aloud.

 

Then he smiled and went inside and stood in front of the elevator.

 

Anna, who witnessed the smile, almost screamed. Her mind went blank once again. It was because the image of the man seemed different as if he had performed magic.

 

As his deep eyes curved round and his fine teeth were revealed between his curved lips, the man who looked like a sexy statue turned cute like an innocent and playful boy.

 

The man went up the elevator that had just arrived on the first floor.

 

Anna stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. She felt possessed. Her heart was pounding.

 

Perhaps if Pygmalion had carved a statue that looked just like that man, he would have fallen in love with that man, not Galatea. He was an unrealistically handsome man who instantly caught the attention of heterosexuals.

 

When she saw a handsome man who could only appear in the movies, she realized that she finally arrived in Spain and that she was traveling.

 

It was definitely a different foreign country from Korea.

 

She had to cut ties with her family, but coming here was the right choice. When she thought of her parents, strangely, her eardrum, which had been injured last year, felt like it was starting to hurt. But Anna tried to ignore her pain, as she had been doing for the last hour.

 

She was now at her inn in Madrid, the capital of Spain. As she recalled the place she was in and thought of her reality, her mood, which had declined, lifted and her pain gradually faded.

 

Anna went inside the hostel feeling a little excited and checked in at the reception.

 

“Give me your passport.”

 

The woman at the reception spoke English with a Spanish accent. Anna quickly took her passport out of her black crossbody bag and handed it to her woman. The brown-haired clerk chewed gum and entered the information from her passport into a computer program with an indifferent expression.

 

“Do you prefer the lower bed or the upper bed?”

 

Anna listened to her English with a little nervousness. It was not difficult to understand what it meant because she prepared a lot for this trip, such as attending a conversation academy and an English conversation study group.

 

The upper bed the staff said meant a bunk bed. The hostel Anna booked was a cheap dormitory where several people shared a room. It was a structure with several bunk beds in a large room. 

 

“Down.”

 

She had never used a bunk bed, but she thought it would be cumbersome to go up on the bunk bed by ladder.

 

“It’s the third bed in room 302. The key deposit is 5 euros and you can return it when you check out.”

 

She gave Anna a passport and an automatic key and explained in a languishing tone. 

 

It felt like she was tired, either because it was late at night or she found this task tedious.

 

Anna put her passport deep inside her crossbody bag in case she lost it. And the spring-shaped red automatic key was worn on her wrist. When she saw the red spring-shaped automatic key, she naturally thought of a Korean Sauna key.

 

“With that key, you can open the door and open the storage box. You can use the storage box three times.”

 

“Yes. Thank you.”

 

“We distribute free paella and wine every evening, so if you want to eat it, come to the lobby here.”

 

She pointed out the lobby to Anna, which was just in front of the reception. There were many plastic tables and chairs in the lobby.

 

“Oh, yes. Thank you.”

 

It was an event she hadn’t even thought of. Probably, if you walk around, there is a high probability that you will not be able to eat the paella served here, but she was curious about how it tasted.

 

“Breakfast time is from 7 to 10. You can come to the lobby here.”

 

She explained, handing Anna a breakfast coupon.

 

After checking in, Anna took the elevator to the third floor.

 

She arrived at the third floor, and when the elevator doors opened, a spacious lounge appeared. Anna’s eyes suddenly widened as she was dragging her suitcase to get out of the elevator.

 

It was because the handsome man whom she encountered in front of the door was on a red sofa at the opposite end of the lounge, talking to two other men.

 

They seemed to be talking in Italian, not Spanish. She was very interested in Italian songs, so she could distinguish Italian as soon as she heard it.

 

The three men naturally turned to Anna at the sound of the elevator opening. Suddenly they stopped talking and began to stare at her.

 

Anna was bewildered by the eyes of the three men, especially the deep gaze of the handsome blonde, but she pulled her suitcase away from the elevator, pretending nothing happened.

 

Only the blonde man nailed into Anna’s sight. Under the bright light, the blonde man’s beauty seemed to shine even more.

 

It was strange. She felt like she could see a halo on him. He’s not Jesus, he’s not Buddha. Can humans shine?

 

The blonde man smiled at Anna, whom he met again. The corners of his mouth that were slightly raised seemed to be playful, but the eyes that folded gently were so sexy that her heart almost stopped.

 

It seemed strange to ignore him and pass by pretending not to know him because they just met. So Anna also gave a light nod.

 

She wanted to treat him naturally, but she felt her face harden. She turned her head quickly, pretending to find her room.

 

She wasn’t even hot, but her gloved hands were sweaty. She hadn’t even looked in the mirror, but her expression seemed to show her awkwardness.

 

Trying to pull herself together, Anna looked indoors for room 302.

 

It was a pretty big hostel.

 

A different structure from Korea was seen at a glance.

 

The center of the building was empty for people to pass by, and countless rooms were located along the hall.

 

The conversation was cut off in the direction of the men’s sitting, and only the sound of Anna pulling her suitcase and footsteps rang out in her ears.

 

Strangely, it seemed that they kept looking at her.

 

Whenever Anna moved her body, she felt like she had a problem with her joints. She felt like she was a rusty robot moving with a creaking sound.

 

Still, she kept looking around for room 302.

 

As she turned to her right, she saw blue numbers writing ‘302’ on a large white door. Anna dragged her suitcase  as she approached the front of room 302.

 

When she made a reservation, she saw all the pictures of how the hostel looked, so her heart beat with anticipation even though she knew what it was like inside the door.

 

Actually, the excitement that started after seeing that handsome man didn’t seem to stop.

 

Anna put the key on her wrist on the black lock and took it off.

 

Beep beep.

 

Light came into something convex round, above the square lock, with a mechanical sound.

 

The light quickly went from green to red. Anna grabbed the handle and pushed it, but the door didn’t open.

 

“What?”

 

Is there something wrong?

Anna was a little flustered, so she flicked her head up and checked the room number.

 

‘302’

 

It was exactly the same as she was told at the reception.

 

She didn’t say ‘three hundred’, she said ‘Three, Zero, Two’. 

 

She seemed to have made it easy, fearing that Anna might get confused.

 

There was also a round plastic plaque with 302 written on it at the top of the door. With the suitcase aside, Anna put the round key back on the lock and took it off.

 

Beep beep.

 

There was a mechanical sound again and light came from green to red.

 

Hmm, it will open now, right?

 

Anna grabbed the handle again and pushed it. But the door was still locked.

 

Panicked, Anna put the key on the lock again and took it off. But the tightly locked door showed no sign of opening.

 

Confusion swept over Anna like a tidal wave.

 

Does she have to go back to the reception?

 

Anna pulled her suitcase and turned around. And she almost screamed out loud.

 

“Omg!”

 

The handsome blonde man who was sitting on the sofa silently approached right behind Anna. When he stood under the fluorescent light and looked at her, he appeared so good-looking that it seemed like one’s eyes would go blind.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you surprised by me?”