He froze when they stopped in front of a grey wooden door. Discreetly he rolled his eyes from left to right so she couldn’t see him. He waited without a word for her to turn the key inside the lock and then he simply followed her inside. It was a nice room, not too big, not too small, just a regular hotel room.  He looked around a little until she stopped somewhere in the middle of the room, so he stopped too.

She took 3 more steps to the left and opened up the doors of the big brown closet. She practically got lost inside it muttering something.

“Aha! There it is!” her victorious giggle froze him again just when he was about to say something.

She came back out from the closed holding a big, black shirt.

“Is that for me?” he laughed thinking it was just a joke his mind made up, but swallowed it up when her quick, sincere answer came:

“Mhm!”

“Aniyo…” he took a little step back.

“It’s brand-new!” she joked ripping the cardboard label with her teeth.

Seunghyun’s eyes widen up following her.

“Really… I can’t…” he tried it in English this time also using gestures to help understand that he couldn’t use his left hand.

“Oh… you’re right…” she said lowering her eyes.

He thought he was off the hook but she didn’t lower her eyes, she was actually ing the shirt’s buttons.  Everything lasted less than 5 awkwardly silent seconds.

“OK!” she said all of a sudden startling him. “Oh, I’m sorry…” she giggled leaving him once again open-mouthed, not because he would’ve wanted to say something but because he needed to get some fresh air since his nostrils could inhale now only her fresh perfume. He lowered his eyes just to find her thin fingers hanging on his neck button which it cracked loose.

“Aniyo… Aniyo…” he could barely mumble when the cold air hit his chest.

“It ok” she ignored him completely.

Even more she made him startle once again when she pulled the shirt out of his pants.

‘What the hell is she doing?? Is she undressing me?? By force???’ he thought for himself but still he didn’t got the courage to do anything about it. He wanted to stop her but any action he could think of right now seemed inappropriate so he quickly locked his eyes somewhere up on the ceiling. His jaw twitched visibly but he needed to mask it under the illusion of a natural breathing so he tried to calm it down by counting to 3… 3 to inhale, 3 to exhale… Well he never thought of this when dreaming about a woman undressing him… he almost laughed but he suddenly remembered that of all days he had to pick today to not wear his undershirt! Little sweat drops started forming underneath his carefully combed hair closing in to his temples. He opened up his mouth to speak but failed again because he had to focus on the shirt leaving his wounded shoulder.

“Oh my…! You’re still bleeding…” she said when his stained bandage became visible.

“Yes…” Seunghyun mostly whispered acknowledging his defeat.

‘This just became a D-rated movie scene’ he thought smiling.

“That’s why your friend insisted to go back to the hospital!...”

“Yes…” he answered a little louder this time.

His smile never left his face.

“But I’ve tricked him. I’m not going back there!”

“But for sure you can’t stay like this!” she almost shouted. “It has to be cleaned and changed…” she talked more to herself leaving him alone, disappearing behind a white door that seemed to be the bathroom after she threw his dirty shirt on a little chair on her way.

 ‘Wha… what does she wants now?!’ he thought for himself again, quickly trying to conceive an escape plan. Where to run?? He was shirtless, tensed and alone in the middle of a woman’s room!

The white door opened revealing the girl fully loaded with an entire cotton pad bag, stitching gauze roller and medicinal alcohol.

‘What the hell are THOSE  for?!!’ he wondered again. He used his healthy hand to cover up while his eyebrows climbed up on his forehead.

“Don’t worry!” she couldn’t abstain her giggle. “I’m qualified.”

An involuntary groan left his lips.

‘You might be… but what the Hell is this???’ he fought inside his head.

“Please, don’t be afraid. I know what I’m doing” she smiled sympathetic even though he couldn’t see her and gently precede to undone the stained bandages.  “I really did this for a long time, so trust me…” she had to use her motherly voice and reassure him when she barely touched just the knot of the bandage but he twitched so obviously.

“How come?” he asked doing the impossible to sound as natural as possible, happy that he didn’t have to face her.

“Before I decided I wanted to be a teacher, I used to be a nurse in a kids hospital, so I really know how to bind this without pain, ok? Will you let me do it?” she waited for his approval before she could actually get to work.

Seunghyun nodded without any other word. His mind giggled thinking at how fast she moved, talked and acted.

‘This is definitely how westerns behave’ he had one last quick talk with his mind before he felt her fingers on his skin.  

She cut off the knot of the bandage and unwrapped it with a really steady hand. After she uncoiled the binding fourth times, she reached the blooded patch. She gently grabbed one corner, but doing so her fingers also touched his skin and he flinched again.

“Did it hurt?” she quickly withdrew her hand.

This time he didn’t use any words to answer, he just shook his head… even more so he was actually clenching his lips one to the other to make sure he won’t say anything uncalled for.

She carefully took off the patch revealing his 7 stitches fresh wound. She ran her fingers around it but soon enough she had to stop because of his body slight shivers. She wasn’t so naïve to not perceive and understand them.

‘What is this?? What is she doing?...’ he asked himself before her voice cut him off.

“Ok…” she used again her motherly voice “I am going to clean here and it might sting a little. Please stop me if it gets too painful… I will now start to…” she started explaining everything she was about to do, summing up to strictly hospital-like movements.

Seunghyun felt the change in her voice and before realizing it, his mouth already shot the question:

“Why do you act like an ‘ajumma’ now?” he caught his tongue in between his teeth praying that she didn’t understand.

“Ajumma?” she asked thinking while mumbling something. “That means old lady?” she giggled wadding gently his wound.

“Ani! Aniyo! I didn’t meant to…” he hurried to explain but he ended up saying “I had no idea you could speak Korean…”

“I can’t really” she laughed sending new shivers on poor Seunghyun’s body. “I just understand a few words but I can’t make sentences or anything…”

“I’m really sorry… I really didn’t wanted to say you’re…” he suddenly froze.

He could feel her hands on his back, but still needed to check it, so he pulled back his eyes as much as he could without moving his head not even an inch. He indeed got a glimpse of her red hair. He rolled his eyes around and sweat drops started forming again on his temples. He discreetly exhaled and slowly gathered his both hands in front of his pants, fighting the knot in his throat.

‘Count, Seunghyun… count! 1, 2, 3…’ he started counting in his mind when her voice startled him again.

“But I truly am an ajumma” she laughed. “I’m 34… well 35 in here…” she got to say but she had to stop her hand hanging in the air when he suddenly turned to look at her.

“What??...” he probably would’ve had something else to say but he instantly forgot it when the most charming pink smile hit his eyes. He returned to his initial position, and after placing the hands back in the front of his pants, he mostly whispered: “You… you really don’t look…”

“Thanks!” she smiled putting away the cotton piece and placing a new, clean patch. “Your hand!” she said stepping in front of him after she gathered up the cloth bandage roller.

“N…N…Ne? What?...” he babbled blinking really fast three or four times, trying to understand how did she figured out what was he hiding with his hands.