Minsoo woke up the next morning feeling light-headed to his surprise. He quickly browsed the net before hitting the shower. As he is about to leave the house, Haruhi stopped him.

“Wait here for a while, Hyun Hae-chan asked me to wake her up before you leave”, and the old lady walked to her daughter’s room.

Wondering why, he seats himself on the sofa, waiting for her. She came in shortly after, carrying two phones in her hands; one each.

“Good morning”, he greeted.

She smiled up to him, “Good morning”, she greeted back. “Here”, she handed him the phone she was holding in her right hand.

Reluctantly, he took it, “What’s this for?” he asked as he eyes the phone, puzzled.

“That’s the phone I’m using while I’m here in Japan, your phone is dead, right?” He nods. “Then you should use mine, just push the call button, it will automatically dial mom’s phone”, she explains, holding the other phone up.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“That is for emergency purposes, call me up when you get lost or something, come on try it.”

He pushed the call button as he was instructed and as he does, the phone in her hand come ringing. Satisfied, she looks at him, “See? That easy.”

He smiled. “Komawo”, and he puts the phone inside his front left pocket.

“Cheonmane”, she smiles back. “Do you know where you wanna go today?”

“Dae, I’ll call you immediately the moment I get confused of my destination”, they laughed at his remark.

“You should go now”, she waves him off.

“Right, bye, see you later!” and he’s out of the house.

----------

Minsoo then walked to the train station and headed to Hokkaido, yes, the place he really wanted to visit. Why is that? Easy. Hot Spring! He really wanna enjoy a hot spring and he knows that Japan has the best.

It was a resort with hot springs and spas and massage parlors which he have chosen when he browed the internet earlier that day. Sure, the days he have stayed in Japan are all fun, but he must admit that they are all tiring, especially the last three days where he had gone cycling and walking around.

He first tried the massage. After that, he ate his lunch. He is already soaking in the hot spring when he decided to call her. It ringed just once. Immediately, Hyun Hae is on the other line.

“What happened? Where are you now? Look around, what can you see? What street are you in? Oh, wait, you can’t read Kanji”, she storms him with questions. Her voice is full of worry and urgency he felt like laughing but the genuine concern almost melts his heart, he smiles.

“Noona, relax!” he interjected through her blabber.

“Huh? Okay, mianhe, where are you now?” she asked in a calmer tone, though he can sense that she’s stressing out on the other line.

He chuckled, “You sound like a mother hen”, he continues to laugh.

“Oh, okay, bye!”

“Wait, what’s up with you? I’m kidding okay?” he said, still laughing. “Are you always so grumpy over the phone?”

“No, it’s just… You’re lost and you still joke around?” she snorted.

He’s about to laugh again but tried to contain it. “I’m not lost, I’m currently soaking in a hot spring”, he states, his voice full of amusement.

“Oh, then why did you call?” her breathing relaxes upon hearing that he’s okay.

“Nothing”, he answered. I just wanna hear your voice, he dared to speak out, but no.

“Nothing? So what, you just felt like it?” her voice raised again.

“There there, you’re grumpy again. I just wanna talk, people around me are all Japanese, I felt as though my mouth has already dried from not talking”, he explains, though his reason is a little… laughable.

She chuckles, “That’s it for you for not learning the language before visiting a country”, her tone is light now.

“Yeah, yeah, telling me what a man I am.”

She laughs.

“Yah, I have a story to share”, he imposes.

“Huh? What is that?” her curious tone evident.

“Earlier in the street, I saw two gay dogs”, his tone is serious but she burst out laughing.

“Right, so are they wearing heels, women’s clothes and wigs?” she laughs harder.

“No, I’m serious”, though he is laughing. Her laughter is infectious. “Ask me what made me think that they’re gay, come on, and ask me.”

She’s still laughing but managed to ask him coherently, “Okay, what made you think those dogs are gay?”

“Well, you see, I saw the two of them in a position where they are about to do… it”, he hesitated to say the word.

She’s all ears, “Okay, then?”

“The other one started to mount the other, but after a few seconds, he climbed down”, he’s having a hard time picking out the words to describe the scene to her. Why is he telling her this again? Right, because he can’t think of anything else to say but he wanted to keep her on the phone. So, here he is, trying with all his might to make this awkward story a casual one to tell.

“That made the dog gay? Maybe he just lost the appetite to do so.”

“No, not that, but the thing that happened after that”, he pauses, waiting for her to ask her question.

“What is that?”

“After the other dog climbed down, the other mounted him and started pounding on him”, his tone is that of someone who has delivered a breaking news in a news flash.

“Wah, chincha? Did you really see that? I didn’t know they already adopted that”, she said taken but amused by the story. “Hey, what have you been doing watching dogs have ?” she asked in a mock accusation.

“I feign innocence, I just happen to see them as I pass by”, he said, amused.

“.”

“Bwo? Who are you calling a ert?”

“See? You even know what that word means, telling me what other manga and anime you have been seeing, huh”, she’s hiding her smile.

“I’m not a , okay, I just saw those dogs coincidentally”, he said, not wanting for their conversation to delve on the ‘things’ he has been seeing.

They continued talking for more than an hour. “Yah, put the phone down now.”

“Waeyo?”

“My bill’s weighing high.”

“Aish, worrying about little things, I’ll pay you”, he said brushing off the issue.

“That’s not the real reason, it’s bad if you’ll stay longer soaked in the hot water, come out now.”

“Chincha? How long have we been talking on the phone now?” he asked as he tries to trace the time back.

“Hmm, let’s see, you called at around 12:30, it’s already 2, it’s time for you to come out of the hot spring”, she explains.

“It’s already two?” he exclaimed, rushing out of the water and onto the shower. “I’ll put the phone down now”, he said as he quickly run to the showers, “I still have places to visit”, he awaits her reply.

“Okay, see you later”, and he ended the call.

__________

He is now seated inside the bus bound home. He has gone to the clothing store he wanted to visit for the gifts he planned to give his and her family when he gets back. He decided on clothes since they are lighter to carry. And since he doesn’t want his hands occupied with shopping bags, he bought for himself a large enough back pack that is now sitting beside him on the bus.

He chose the seat at the far back. Thinking of the night he first rode the bus in Japan, he couldn’t help but think of her. I feel so empty, it’s like, it’s kinda, damn, I can’t explain, he thought as he look at the space beside him which has his bag to occupy it, how good it is if he’s with her here. He shook his head, smiling at the thought of her.

Walking to the direction of the house, the corner of his lips rises up to form a smile. The gate was unlocked, so he just pushed it open, there he saw her, playing with her dog while chanting Japanese words though he couldn’t comprehend, the sight of her laughing and smiling sent him smiling even more.

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waaaaaahhhh! i can't belive i haven't uploaded the part where Hyun Hae handed Minsoo the phone! demn! good thing i missed this story so i started reading this again. (you can tell i know this story so much to notice the missing part ^_^ ot's MY story for crying out loud, of course i'll notice!) anyways, it does't affect the story much so... forgive me? T_T