The kitchen is literally flooded.  She’s not exaggerating when she came knocking at my door.  Water was overflowing from the kitchen sink and it already reached the dining room.  Her cat was standing on the middle of the dining room looking scared the same way as its owner.  I looked where the problem was coming from.  It seems the knob of the faucet was broken.  It needs immediately replacement. 

“Where’s the water main control?”  I asked her.  She was now carrying the cat on her arms.

“Main control?  What is that?”  She asked back.  She’s totally clueless.

I wade my way through the cold water on the floor.  Main controls should be at the back of the house or at the basement.  I made my way to the back door.  She followed me with the cat still on her arms.

I was right.  I closed the main valve to stop the water supply in the entire house.

“This should do it.”  I rubbed my hands together to remove the dust from the valve.

“That’s it?”  She asked incredulously.

“For now.  Until the plumber comes.  The faucet need to be replaced.”

“Ahhhh”  She finally understood.

“But you still need to clean the kitchen.  Are you alone?”  It was an obvious question.  If she’s not alone, she wouldn’t ask for my help.

“My brother just left this morning and this happened.”  Her face turned red as tomato.

“You should call the maintenance building.  I’ll help you clean the kitchen.”

“Really?  OMG! Thank you.”  She finally smiled.  Relief washed on her face.  I have this nagging thought that I met her before.  I just couldn’t remember.

“But, can you put that away?  I’m allergic to cats.”  I pointed at the animal comfortably sitting on her arms.

“Oh, I’m sorry.  I’ll let Dadong play in the garden while we clean.

Cleaning is not one of her skills.  She can hardly lift anything.  I ended up doing all the work.  It was very tiring.  I haven’t been doing hard labor like putting the heavy wet carpet to dry on her backyard.  I was  very exhausted when I finally returned everything on its place.  The plumber immediately came and replaced the broken faucet.

“I don’t know how to thank you enough.  You just saved my life.” 

She handed me a glass of cold water.  I drank the water and handed her back the empty glass.

“Just don’t knock on my door and tell me your kitchen is on fire next time.”

Her face turned scarlet red.  She was already embarrassed enough.

“I’ll try to be careful next time.  And if that happens, I will keep in mind not to knock on your door.”  She lowered her head.  She started playing with the button of her shirt. 

I was shocked.  I was just kidding.  How could she be so sensitive?  Her shoulders started moving.  Is she crying now?

“Can’t you tell I’m joking?”  I asked in disbelief.  She kept her head lower and started sobbing. 

What the ef?

“I’m sorry.  I’m such an idiot.”  She couldn’t stop crying.

“It’s alright.  It happens.”  Is she for real?  Why is she so fragile?

Her cat appeared out of nowhere.  He was looking at me with those big bright eyes.  He was baring his teeth at me.  He must be thinking I did something bad to her.

“I think I should go now.”  I told her.  I kept my eyes on the cat ready to pounce at me.  She wiped her tears with the back of her hands.  She finally looked at me with tear filled eyes.

“Okay.  I’ll see you out.”

“No need.  I’ll find my way out.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”  I started for the door.

“Wait!  I didn’t get your name.”

I stopped on my tracks and turned to face her.

“Jiyong.  My name is Jiyong.”

“Thank you, Jiyong.”