(the first unedited chapter, don't hurt me pls)

✧･ﾟ: * eight *:･ﾟ✧

Madeline wakes up on the couch, curled into a tight ball with a blanket she doesn't remember ever getting the night before. She yawns, slowly sitting up. She runs her hand across the cushions, but she can't feel Tae next to her. She frowns in confusion, wondering where he could have gone when—

Something crashes to the floor, sounding from the kitchen area.

Then a meek, "Ow," as if he's trying to be quiet.

She smiles, quite naturally at this point, and turns towards the direction she heard the noise. "Are you okay there?"

"Oh! Good, uh, morning, Maddie."

"Good morning, Tae. What are you doing?"

"Making, err..." There's a long pause, and right when she's about to guess he snaps his fingers and says, "Breakfast!"

"With what?"

"I went to the store," he says a bit slowly, like he's thinking hard about his words. "And I got... pan-pancakes?"

She gets off the couch, carefully making her way to the kitchen counter. "Do you know how to make pancakes?"

"Yes, uh, no. But I'm trying, okay?"

"I can help," she says. "If you get stuck, I can tell you what to do."

Madeline isn't sure making breakfast was the wisest idea. Since neither of them can read the instructions, and Tae is trying to focus on Madeline's help while simultaneously attempting to figure it out for himself, the pancakes don't make it out the pan alive. Madeline doesn't need to see them to smell how burnt they are.

"Ya..." Tae mutters. "I was nervous."

https://youtu.be/o71E4soLSKk

Madeline bursts into laughter, trying to cover her mouth to stifle it but she fails.

"I tried really hard," Tae replies, his fingers suddenly jabbing into her sides.

"Hey, hey, no tickling!" she shouts, grabbing him by his wrists to pull his hands away. "I don't like tickling."

"You laughed at me," he says like an upset five year old.

"Yes," she admits. "Yes, I did. It was cute."

"You always... call me cute," he replies, sounding confused. "Why?"

She shrugs, her cheeks suddenly flushing. She hadn't meant to call him cute out loud any of the times she has. "I don't know. You just are, I guess."

"But... you can't see, uh, me."

"I don't need to see you. I like your personality."

"My...?"

She lets go of his wrists, not even realizing she'd been holding them the entire time, then points to her chest. "Your personality. Your heart. Who you are."

"Person... Personality," he whispers after her. Then, he confuses her when he mumbles, "Grocery store."

"Huh?"

"What?"

Madeline frowns. "What about a grocery store?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry. I'm listening," he tells her. "English."

"You're trying to learn English? Right now?"

"Yeah. So I can talk to you."

She laughs. "See. That's why you're cute."

Oops, she did it again.

"Oh!" Tae shouts abruptly, clapping his hands which makes Madeline jump, eyes wide. "You must, uh, get ready. Yes, go get ready."

"Ready for what?"

"We are... Traveling. Okay?"

"Wait, what? Where are we going?"

"Venice."

If she were drinking water, she would've choked on it. "Venice as in Italy?"

"There is other Venice?" Before she can try to protest, which she isn't sure she would, he gently nudges her. "Go, go! We leave soon."

We as if he's naturally already accommodated her into his plans. She really doesn't know how this happened to her, but she doesn't know of what else she could do. She doesn't have money to get a flight home, not that she wants to go home anyways, and if Tae is going to pay for her, the least she can do is let him spend his money on where he wants to go.

She supposes the two are a traveling duo now.

Interesting.

It had never once crossed her mind to find someone to travel with, but it seems life had it planned out for her.

She sighs after weighing her nonexistent options, then finds her way to the room where her new clothes sit. She still feels god-awful about that. She wants to get a job simply to pay Tae back for everything he's bought her—which is practically everything she's had since showing up. The thought makes her scrunch her nose in annoyance as she feels for a shirt and jeans. She let Tae pick out the shirts, but she told him only jeans so she could be certain she was matching and looking semi-decent.

After she dresses and brushes her teeth, she pulls on her only pair of shoes which happen to be her favorite sandals. Not the best walking shoes, but she'll tough it out if only so Tae doesn't feel the need to buy her anything else.

"Are you hungry?" he asks when she reenters the main room, holding the shopping bag with her new clothes, her passport, house keys and phone. She's never felt more useless in her life.

"No, I'm okay."

"We can eat later, okay?"

She nods, allowing him to lead her out of the hotel after he's doubled checked that he gathered all of his things. She waits patiently while he checks out of the hotel and hails a taxi for the airport. When the two are sitting in the cab, she breaks the silence.

"Hey, Tae. Can you teach me how to curse in Korean?"

"Eh?"

"Curse words. You know, bad words."

Tae hums in thought, then makes a tiny gasp of realization. "Ahhh, Maddie, no!"

"Why not? No one except you will no," she defends. She's always had a weird fascination of learning how to curse in other languages, partially because she's uncomfortable swearing in English around people, but in other languages no one knows what she's saying. She knows she's odd, but it doesn't make it any less fun.

For instance, she loves using Swedish on her mom. Madeline once told her mother that fan ta dig means she's tired. So when her mom nags at her or asks why she's in a bad mood, that's what she says. Little does her mother know...

"It's educational," she says. "I'm learning, right?"

Tae clicks his tongue. "That is not learning."

"Sure it is. I just want one," she says with a pout, turning her head towards him.

He lets out a dramatic sigh and goes quiet. She thinks he's dropped the conversation when he suddenly mutters, quite reluctantly, "Shibal."

Before she can ask what it means, the taxi driver looks in the rearview mirror at them with a strange look. Then he says, "You don't speak English either?" in a broken accent.

Tae shakes his head, which makes the driver smile. He pulls to a red light, makes eye contact with Madeline in the mirror and says, "Putain."

Madeline blinks at him before laughing. Steadily, her list of curse words in other languages is growing. Maybe she should make that her mission during this journey.

Once they reach the airport, Madeline and Tae both thank the driver and Tae pays him. He leads her through the airport, though, he sounds like a lost toddler looking for their mother. He keeps taking her one way before deciding he was supposed to go the other. She tells him to ask someone, but he assures her that he can handle it.

When he finally checks in successfully and finds the location they're supposed to be in, he nudges her with his elbow. "Told you. I, uh, ispenit."

She frowns. "You're what?"

Tae goes silent. "I said it wrong, yeah?"

"Yeah," she says with a laugh. "I think you mean independent."

"Ahh, yeah, yeah. Independent."

The two board the plane with little trouble. Madeline can admit that it's a lot easier having someone as your navigator. She doesn't have to deal with rude people, she doesn't have to struggle finding anything, she doesn't have to worry that she's out of place. It's a comfort and a relief to have a traveling buddy, if she's completely honest with herself. Though she's still not sure she's the wisest person for traveling with a stranger, however, she can't find any other solution for herself just yet.

She feels one of Tae's earphones hit her arm, so she picks it up and puts it in her own ear, only to stifle a giggle of amusement.

He's listening to an English lesson.

"Tae," she says quietly, not wanting to disturb the mostly silent flight. "You don't have to listen to this all day."

"Yes I do."

She sighs, shaking her head. She admires him for all the effort.

She starts grinning when she hears him muttering under his breath along with the sound of a pen scribbling. "Chwimi is hobby... looking, uh, movie watching is hobby..."

https://youtu.be/h_s53lDtXQQ

After about ten minutes of mumbling to himself, he taps Madeline's shoulder. "Hi, Maddie. How are you?"

She figures he's using her for practice, so she smiles and says, "I'm fine, Tae, and you?"

"I'm good, thank you. Uh..." She hears a paper flips. "What is you... your hobby?"

"My hobby is sleeping. What's yours?"

"Oohhh, sleeping. My hobby is movie look—watching."

"What's your favorite movie?"

"7beonbangui Seonmul," he says, then clears his throat. "I, uh, don't know the English name."

She chuckles, closing her eyes as she rests her head back. "That's okay. Can you tell me what it's about?"

So for the next two hours, Madeline listens to Tae doing his best to describe the movie to her in English, though his Korean slips through multiple times. She tries to help him depict the words he's trying to say, but mostly, she's simply enjoying listening to him. He really does have a soothing voice, despite the fact that half of what he's saying doesn't make a lick of sense.

She doesn't mind that. Especially when, after they land, Tae thanks her for giving him the practice he needs—and he makes certain to reiterate that he's feeling motivated to learn because of her.