Jaebum is waiting for her outside the station as she leaves. She is so blinded by her emotions she nearly misses him until he grabs her wrist and causes her to yelp.

            Immediately, he retracts his hand. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes.

            She still wants to yell at somebody, but Mark’s injustice towards Jaebum stops Suzy from screaming. She rubs her wrist that is still sore from being grabbed previously. Adjusting the strap of her canvas on her back, she continues to walk forward.

            “He’s so unfair,” she whispers.

            Jaebum catches it.

            “Nobody ever asked him to look out for me. I would have been fine,” she says.

            “He cares for you,” Jaebum says gently.

            She doesn’t want to hear the words. Still, it is not like she can ignore them once they’re heard.

            “He is worried. I am a stranger, and a man. Unfortunately, society has a stigma around single strange men who sneak up to a female to offer his phone while it is pouring rain in the middle of the night.” He tries to make a joke with her. Thankfully, it works as she lightly laughs.

            “Well, still. Mark is being stubborn. He has prejudices against you; ones that have no basis.”

            “Let me guess. He thinks I’m dangerous. He thinks I might hurt you. With my involvement in his case, he might even think that I’m a suspect.”

            Suzy does not want to answer.

            Jaebum stops her from walking. Her strides have been short but only increasing in speed. He is no longer sure if she even knows where they are walking. With one hand still on her shoulder, he says with a soft voice, “He has every right to think so, Suzy. We have only started to get to know each other We both have secrets that we have yet to reveal to each other. Perhaps I am dangerous. Perhaps I may have the intent to hurt you.”

            She looks into his eyes which steadily hold her own. “But you won’t, right?”

            He smiles at her. “Of course not.”

            “Then that’s all that matters,” she says with resolution, “That’s what a relationship is built on. The slow accumulation of trust towards the other party. I don’t care if you have secrets, Jaebum. If you ever do want to share them, I will listen. But at the end, you don’t have to. I want to know you as you.”

            He nods. Now with the rollercoaster of emotions within her coming to an end, she is able to see that the weather is beautiful that day. There is the soft melodious chirping of birds from all around her, and the streets are not busy as people have yet to be off work. A warm patch of heat is on her back as the sun greets her between the clouds.

            Jaebum is quiet beside her for a while, until he says out of the blue, “Mark really loves you.”

            She whirls to regard him. “Mark doesn’t love me. He is only tasked to look after me.”

            His eyes soften when he looks at her again. He doesn’t follow up with anything, only turning his head back forward.

            The speed of her heart’s beating rises slightly at his comment. She doesn’t understand the purpose of him saying that. She doesn’t understand what led to him to say such a thing.

            “Jaebum-ssi,” she calls out.

            “Mhmm?”

            “I still want to paint a picture for you. But I don’t think I can right now.”

            “What do you mean?”

            She stops walking beside him. He notices that and stops as well. When he finally turns to look at why she has stopped, he is greeted with the image of her standing with her wrist in the air. He sighs in concern and takes her wrist gently.

            “Alright, let’s get you home,” he says kindly.

<< >>

            The rose struggles to bud in its environment. It feels the sunlight and wants to unfurl its petals, to express to the world its bright colours amongst the browns and dark greens it has been placed in. With a last heave, the bulb expends all its energy.

            Alas, the mud swallows it up.

            They are sitting on her couch in the living room. The first aid kit has been opened up on the coffee table and a large roll of gauze has been taken out.

            “Does this feel better?” he asks her.

            She nods, gingerly rotating her sore wrist in the makeshift brace.

            “Perhaps I should have trained to be a nurse instead,” Jaebum lightly jokes.

            She grins. “Perhaps.”

            He stands up to tidy away the rest of the kit. As he puts things back to their corresponding spots, he comments, “I do have to say, you are probably one of the most delicate woman I know. I’ve never seen such bruising after such something as simple as a wrist grab.”

            Turning red, Suzy tries to come up with an excuse. She didn’t particularly like to tell others about her condition. Once people knew, they would start being extremely careful around her. So careful she often felt like a nuisance even when she knew she wasn’t one.

            He has already moved on from the comment and into the kitchen. Digging through the refrigerator, he comes up with a sack of potatoes and three day old asparagus. He holds these up.

            She gets up. “No. I should cook tonight. Mark wasn’t the nicest to you today so even though he won’t say sorry, let me make a meal in his stead.”

            “Sit down,” he gives her a stern look, “Your wrist is hurt. Rest up and you can make up for it another way.”

            “Another way?” she asks, following his instructions. She props a pillow against the arm rest of the sofa and leans back.

            “Tell me how you and Mark know each other.”

            “You’re showing an awful lot of interest in Mark and I, aren’t you?” she cheekily says.

            He laughs. He had thrown off his jacket and is washing his hands in his short sleeved shirt to prepare dinner. Again, she notes his well-toned arms.

            “Maybe I’m inadvertently showing interest in you.”

            She blushes hearing him say those words. Clearing , she answers his question to change the topic. “Mark has been my friend for a long time. He’s like the older brother I never had. He’s always there when I need him. He’s extremely smart but also very stubborn. Not that he’s unwilling to listen to the opinions of others, but once he sees things one way, it is very hard for him to see things in another.”

            “The two of you bump heads a lot then?”

            “Not really. The two of us tell each other everything. We respect each other’s decisions.”

            “Pasta or rice?” he asks.

            She takes a moment to think. “Pasta, please.”

            He nods.

            She lies on the sofa, thinking about how much her words must have hurt Mark earlier. She feels terrible for having said those things. She didn’t mean a single word, and it makes her sigh.

            “What did you mean earlier when you said that he is tasked to look after you?”

            Again, words that she had never meant to say. It was only because she had been taken so aback by Jaebum’s sudden comment.

            “He…. He made a promise to somebody,” she says carefully. She doesn’t hear anything besides the sizzling of the pan. She knows that Jaebum doesn’t want to pry any further.

            “He promised my fiancée,” she says.

            Jaebum had not been expecting her to answer. He had only kindly initiated conversation because he felt obliged to after she made the absurd suggestion. In truth, he had only held up the vegetables because he was going to suggest throwing them away and going out for dinner instead. When he hears her speak about her fiancée, his interest is piqued.

            “I didn’t know you are engaged,” he says.

            “Was,” she corrects him timidly, “I was engaged.”

            He gives her time again to elaborate.

            “My fiancée disappeared when we were on a trip. It’s been years,” she swallows the emotions that threaten to bubble up, “It’s because of that that makes me how I am right now. You mentioned how I was hurt so easily. It’s like my body couldn’t cope with the loss of him and so now it compensates by making me hurt everywhere else.”

             “I’m sorry to hear that,” he looks at her from the kitchen. She is looking down at her hands and fumbling with something. He can tell that she is in discomfort.

            “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. My body is just the way it is made to be.”

            “What is different with your body?”

            “It’s called