A knock on my door interrupted me from the book I was reading. I called for the person to come in and was surprised to see CAP in my doorway. He stood as far away as possible and avoided my gaze. I guess he was embarrassed about what happened the last time we saw each other.

“Hello CAP. How are you today?” I asked, putting my book aside.

“Fine.”

“I hope you’re not still on that one-syllable answer kick,” I teased.

“No, I’m talking.”

“That’s good. Come over here. Why are you so far away?”

He shuffled over and sat next to me on the bed but he still wouldn’t meet my eyes. I laid down on his lap and made him face me.

“What’s up with you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to apologize; I want you to tell me what’s going on with you.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I know I was really weird last time we hung out. I wanted to apologize about that.”

“Oh…what was that about anyway?”

“I guess I just felt guilty,” he explained. “I mean, here I was on the floor with you when my mom was in a hospital bed. I kind of freaked out.”

I reached up and cupped his cheek. “Oh honey that’s okay,” I told him. “You don’t have to feel guilty. Hormones are normal.”

“Oh, I brought you something,” he said. He started fumbling around the inside pockets and produced a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and showed it to me. I had to sit up to see it better.

“Wow…” I couldn’t even formulate the words to describe what CAP had drawn. It was me, drawn in full-color anime style with an abstract background. My eyes were supersized and seemed to jump off the page. It wasn’t until I took a second look that I realized that he’d drawn me in a black and purple zebra print bra. Hmm…that was interesting.

“I think that’s the most color I’ve ever used in a drawing.”

I nodded absently. “How long did this take? It’s amazing.”

“It’s not that good. Some of the shading is off and-”

I kissed him to shut him up. “What did I tell you about that? Just take the damn compliment.” I got up and placed the picture on my desk, making sure it would be safe until I found a good place to put it. “What are you doing next Thursday?” I asked him when I got back to the bed.

“Thursday…I should be free. Why?”

“Well, it’s my birthday and I want to spend it with you. I mean, if you don’t mind.”

“Okay.”

I fake glared at him. He looked back in confusion until he recognized what the problem was. “Sorry, I meant, sure, I would love to spend your birthday with you.”

“Good.”

“If I can’t use one word answers, then you can’t either,” he protested.

A knock on my door interrupted us. I walked over and opened it, letting Jin Ae in. Why she always had to come up here when CAP was here was beyond me but it was starting to get a bit annoying.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but CAP’s manager called. He needs to leave right away.”

“What is it?” CAP asked. His tone said that he was on edge.

Jin Ae glanced at me as though unsure if she should say the next part. “He said it’s something about your mother.” He shot up like he’d been electrocuted.

“Wait,” I told him. I gave him my number. “Let me know how she is, okay?”

He kissed my cheek softly. “I will. Thank you for caring.”

He left in a hurry and Jin Ae stayed staring at me in the doorway. “What is it daemo?” I asked.

“I’m just noticing how fond that boy is of you.”

“It’s not anything,” I said quickly.

“No, he really likes you. We’ll have to keep an eye on that one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s never good when a client gets too attached to a girl, even if she is my goddaughter,” she said with a small smile.

“CAP is not attached to me. I’m just helping him through a hard time. We’re friends.”

“Friends enough for him to draw you in your underwear?” she asked, pointing at the picture on the desk.

“Technically that is not my underwear. I own no such garments.”

“Don’t get smart. You know what I mean.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

“Uh huh. Sure. I have work to do. Why don’t you go do something since your appointment got cut short?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something. Get out of the house.”

“Yes ma’am!” I joked as she left the room.

That was how I ended up wondering around COEX with Mari. The girl was so happy to be out somewhere that she resembled an over excited puppy. In all honesty, it was tiring putting up with her endless energy, but she was so dang cute that I just went with it. I spent entirely too much money buying clothes I would probably never wear. Afterwards we went to dinner.

“How did you find this place?” Mari asked.

“Minho brought me here, before I started working at Chan Hee’s. I haven’t been here since, but they have really good chicken.”

“That’s freaky,” she said after the waitress walked off. “How do you deal with that? Knowing a client before he becomes a client, I mean.”

I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal really. He didn’t even know it was me for sure the first time I had an appointment with him, and he never brings it up.”

“I don’t think I could handle that. I get paranoid when I go out in public. I always think I’m going to run into a client and it’s going to be all awkward and stuff.”

“That happened once before. Actually, a friend of a friend saw me while I was on an appointment and started calling me by my real name. I kinda froze up, but Minho handled it like it was nothing.”

“Did the guy tell on you?”

I nodded. “I was able to get out of it though.”

The food came and I was glad to have an excuse not to talk. Thinking about that day had brought Baro to mind and now I was starting to miss him. It had only been four days and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to get through twenty one more. I missed him so much and even when he called me every night it wasn’t enough.

“You’re thinking about him aren’t you?” Mari asked and I just nodded. “It isn’t healthy for you to be obsessive.”

“I’m not being obsessive,” I argued.

“Whatever. How close are you to leaving the house?”

I shrugged. I hadn’t given it any thought actually. “I don’t know. Why?”

“I’ve been talking to my guy and he’s going overseas to school for a few years. He wants me to go with him.”

I sat back in shock. What? “Seriously?”

She nodded. “Well, we talked about the option. I told him about what you said and he thought I should talk it over with you. You know, just to give you a heads up. I mean, of course I want to go with him but we did make a promise for you to take me with you.”

“When’s he leaving?”

“Around the end of the month. He wants to get settled before the holidays start.”

Why was my heart pounding so fast? Mari, cute little Mari, was actually leaving? I’d meant it when I said I would take her with me, but I wasn’t ready to go yet. “What did Chan Hee say about all this?” I asked while my thoughts continued to race.

“He doesn’t know. I don’t plan to tell him either.”

“Why not?”

“It’s kind of stupid for me to just go ‘ you, I’m leaving’ and have this guy renege on me. Besides, he’ll try to talk me out of it or something but I’m determined to leave.”

“You shouldn’t do that to him,” I said out of some hidden fount of loyalty.

“Maybe not, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” She gave me a look that said she wouldn’t hesitate to kill me if I told on her.

I held up my hands in defense. “Do what you have to do. Don’t let me hold you back.”

“Chincha? I can go with him?”

“I’m not your mother Mari. You don’t have to ask me for permission.”

“You’re the best Yaya.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re just saying that because I’ve spoiled you today. Now come on, we should be getting back.”

We gathered our things, hopped on my scooter and headed back to the mansion. Mari went to wash like she did every other day. I was straightening up my room when I got a text from CAP.

Good news. It’s not cancer. She’s still really sick, but my mom’s going to be okay.-CAP
That’s great! See, I told you things would be alright.-Yaya
Thank you for being there for me. –CAP
Oh honey, it’s okay. That’s my job.-Yaya
You’ve done more than your job. You’ve become my friend…maybe more. Anyway, I’m going to be staying with my mom at the hospital for a little while, but I’ll see you on your birthday.-CAP
Okay. Take care of yourself and I’ll see you soon.-Yaya