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Hobi chatted with Sandra on the drive to her hotel.  Tae sat silently next to Sarah in the backseat.  But it was a companionable silence.  Sarah was even more comfortable with Tae than she had ever imagined she would be.  

She was completely fascinated by his face.  Sarah had watched him all evening.  He was a master at expressing every single emotion with his countenance.  Or none at all.  Mr. Blank Face.  When he wanted to be.  That’s when she suspected he was hiding an excess of emotion.  In the moments he felt the most, he revealed the least.  If that were true, what was he feeling now?

She still remembered the sorrow that had overtaken his features on the stage a few days after his grandmother had unexpectedly died.  His face suffused with pain, tears leaking from his eyes, Tae had shared his private sorrow with ARMY.  And Sarah’s heart had broken.  She was only too familiar with that pain of loss.  She shook her head.  There was clearly too much death in life.  She’d buried far more than her share of relatives, so her heart wholly embraced Tae’s questions and his suffering too.

She glanced at him, watching the shadows and the streetlights alternately paint his face black and white.  There were so many things she longed to say to him.  She had pondered questions she would raise should she ever get the chance to talk to him.  Now she had it, yet she found she was happy to sit in silence with him instead.  

Just then, he glanced at her.  The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile.  She answered his boxy smile with a mirroring one of her own.  He simply stared at her for a few moments, his eyes searching her own.  What was he looking for?

Tae knew he wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight.  At least not for several hours.  He stared at Sara for a few seconds before asking the question that was burning in his heart.

“Would you like to explore Chicago with me tonight?”

Taken aback, Sarah sat up a little straighter.  A moonlit stroll with Tae through the busy city?  Momentarily, she glanced past his shoulder out the window to the skyscrapers, lit up by many lights.  Then she found his eyes again, as best as she could in the semi-darkness of the backseat.

“I’d love to.”

Then he did something unexpected.  He reached across the space between them and set his hand on top of her own.  Sarah felt her face suffuse with heat.  She turned towards him and smiled into the dark.

“Hobi, can you drop us at Buckingham Fountain?”

Hobi glanced into the rearview mirror, catching Tae’s eye with his own.  “Sure.  But, Tae, don’t stay out too late.  We’ve got two concerts over the next two days.  You need your rest.”

Tae nodded.  “I know.  But I need some fresh air before I’ll be able to sleep.  Don’t worry.  We won’t stay out too long.”

Hobi wondered.  He was feeling quite distracted himself.  Sandra was a very sweet woman.  They had conversed over pizza about many topics, and he’d discovered he had several things in common with her.  A few minutes later, after he dropped Tae and Sarah off near the fountain, Hobi turned towards Sandra.  

“Would you like to grab a coffee with me?”

She pierced him with her direct gaze.  “Hobi, is that a good idea?” she asked quietly.  “Coffee?   Don’t you need to sleep soon?”

Hobi laughed.  “Clearly, I’m not thinking straight!”

“How about some herbal tea instead?  Something to relax you, so you can rest well tonight.”

“An excellent idea!”

“I brought some with me.  Come into my hotel.  There’s a private sitting area on the second floor.  I can make you a cup of tea, and we can chat for a little while.”

Why was Hobi’s heart soaring so high right now?  He felt like dancing.  He was grinning as he parked the car.  He told her to stay put while he ran around to open her door for her.  

Sandra smiled to herself.  Hobi sure knew how to make a woman feel cherished.  She stepped from the car and followed him into the hotel.  They rode the elevator to the second floor.  He stepped off while she prepared to ascend one more level so she could grab the tea bags from her room.  Then she took the stairs back down one floor and met Hobi in the little sitting area.  She filled two cups with hot water and steeped some tea while they sat down in the overstuffed chairs and settled in to chat like old friends.

One of the things that Sandra loved about Hobi was his open countenance.  Whatever he was feeling was always clearly written on his face.  When something surprised him, it was a secret to no one else.  His countenance was comical when he was shocked, his eyes growing large and his mouth dropping open.  Because he couldn’t hide anything that he was feeling from writing itself across the canvas of his countenance, there were no surprises with Hobi, and Sandra craved that kind of security.  Always knowing where she stood with a man.  When something moved his heart, Hobi’s face took on a tender cast that made her own heart melt.  And when he was interested in someone, he bent forward and trained all his attention on her.  He was doing that right now.  And he was warming her heart with the smile that he had conjured just for her.