HERMES - CHAPTER 4 (1/1)

Giselle spent the next few days following her arrival moving in to her new one-bedroom apartment. It took her a good 15 minutes of fumbling to figure out how to work the digital lock on the front door. Why can’t they just use regular door knobs? Ones with keys that made sense! The furnishings consisted of a bed frame, a four-seater dining table, a leather couch (that did not look comfortable at all) and a low coffee table. There was a built-in closet and vanity in the bedroom which was adjacent to the well-sized bathroom. The kitchen was also equipped with a reasonably sized refrigerator, a stove, and a front loading washing machine.  It was far smaller and a lot less fancier than what she had back in New York but then she knew she can’t complain since the company was paying for most of the rent. After checking out her new place and making a long list of things she will be needing, Giselle set out to her mission. Hye Mi was kind enough to give her a list of shops, complete with addresses, where she could find the stuff she needed. She had bought a queen-size mattress, pillows and several sets of beddings for her bed, and shelves for the bedroom and the living room and a standing working table. She also bought kitchen utensils, pots and pans, cutlery and a coffee maker.  She was doing great with the shopping until she found herself in the electronics section. Giselle knew what a vacuum machine looked like but the ones the sales representatives showed her were nothing similar to what she was familiar with. She ended up buying what the sales representative explained to be the “best selling” and “most efficient” robotic vacuum cleaner in the market. Whatever that means. She dropped off her purchase at the apartment using her rental car before heading back to the hotel. The following morning, Giselle checked out of her hotel and drove to her new apartment. She worked in the bedroom first, arranging her clothing first in the closet, and then making her bed as soon as it was delivered, along with the shelves, shortly before noon. By lunch time she had her made her new bedroom livable, albeit spartan. She decided to head out for lunch since she needed a break from all the mess in her new place and she wanted to acquaint herself with her new neighborhood. After bundling up in her winter coat, a beanie, scarf, and a pair of boots, Giselle headed out to the elevators. When the doors to the lift opened, she was surprised to see a group of familiar faces. “Oh, noona!” a doe-eyed boy said. Giselle racked her brain to remember the boys’ names as she stepped onto the lift. “Oh, Jin Woo shii,” she greeted the rest of the Winner with a polite bow and they did the same. “What are you doing here, noona?” Jin Woo asked looking surprised. “Uh, I actually just moved in today. How about you? You guys live here, too?” she asked as they waited for the lift to take them to the ground floor. “Cool! We’re neighbors! YG rents several units here for staff and trainees so you’ll be seeing many familiar faces,” Seung Hoon explained. Giselle merely nodded. “Where are you going, noona?” Kang Seung Yoon asked politely. “Uh, I’m heading out to lunch actually,” she answered. “So are we! Wan’t to join us?” the well-mannered boy said. “Sure! I need to figure out the neighborhood anyway,” Giselle said as they stepped out of the lift. Lunch with the boys was fun, it reminded Giselle of the times she and her cousins would hang out back in LA. They took her to a hole-in-the-wall bulgogi restaurant several blocks away from their apartment complex. Giselle loved bulgogi and she would sneak to Koreatown in LA back when she was in middle school just to eat this. The memory of her childhood made her smile. The boys were genuinely interested in her life in the States and the artists she had worked with before coming to YG. They were thoroughly impressed when she told them that she had worked with Justin Timberlake several times and that she regularly hung out with the popstar’s wife, actress Jessica Biel.  They had asked about where she grew up, the cities she’s been to (they seem to believe that Los Angeles and New York were the only cities in the 52 states of America. They genuinely thought Florida was in Canada and Alaska was a country on its own) and their eyes grew wide when she described the desserts of Nevada and the Grand Canyon. When their order arrived, the restaurant’s door opened and three men who were heavily bundled up entered the nondescript restaurant. The group was being ushered to a booth at the far end of the restaurant when they passed by Giselle and Winners’ table. “Oh, you guys are here!” a guy wearing a black face mask, beanie and sunglasses, exclaimed upon seeing their group as he was passing by. The boys of Winner suddenly stood up and gave curt but polite bows to the three men. Giselle remained seated, not knowing what to do. “Oh, hyung! Come join us,” Seung Hoon replied, obviously, he was familiar with this weird stranger. Who wears a face mask and sunglasses inside a restaurant? The boys started making room for the new comers who had begun taking off their caps, sunglasses and hoods. Giselle was surprised when she realized that the men were not entirely strangers to her as well. Youngbae, Seungri, and no other than Jerkface/G-Dragon, were standing before their table. “Giselle-shi, you’re also here!” Youngbae said as he took the empty seat beside Giselle. Seungri had grabbed an empty chair from another table and sat at the end, leaving G-Dragon the only vacant seat on the table which unfortunately was right across from Giselle. “Ne, annyong hasseyo, sunbaenim,” Giselle said politely and with a curt bow. “Noona, why are you with the boys?” Seungri asked.  “Well, I just moved in to the apartment that the company rented for me