They were currently on the way to the hospital, but traffic jam seemed to be getting the better of them that morning. 10 minutes had almost gone by since they’d been in the cab. Namjoo found it difficult to focus on anything, but the window. All the hundred cars lined down the street looked like a zillion ants on their way to hunt for food. She half wondered why she wasn’t in one of those cars instead of this one.

There was luggage in one of the cars Namjoo sighted. Where were they going? Out of town to visit relatives or to have fun? Another car was packed with grocery bags and a young child in the back on candy. A busy mother heading home, Namjoo thought.

She could have easily been one of those people. Or if she were in the car with the luggage she’d hope to head toward the airport. Returning to her home sounded like such a distant dream at the moment. Mi Yun was farther and farther away from her in her dreams. Or if she were that mother with that child, she’d wish she could take Mi Yun to her favorite playground to visit the other kids, and she talk to the other mothers.

Home…where was home now? Her apartment or the house she grew up in; the one where Mi Yun currently was? Could that small hotel room with Luhan be home too?

She turned when Luhan lightly pulled at her hand. He was fumbling with the knot of the rag he’d wrapped her hand up with. It was currently soaked with blood now and she thought they wouldn’t be able to return it to Kat after all.  

“Just leave it,” Namjoo said staring at the blood soaked rag.

Refraining from making any kind of eye contact with Luhan was one of the most important priorities to her right now. She was going to explode with all this affection he was giving her through words and actions. It hurt to feel that she’d missed it.

“I swear if he hit one of your vessels…” Luhan muttered to himself when they finally made it to the hospital.

As she sat on the bed the nurse thoroughly cleansed the wound on the side before bandaging it. Luhan stood by watching intently before plopping down beside her. Namjoo fought her best not to flinch at the sting soaring like waves through her hand as she watched.

Getting injured wasn’t new to her. Scraped knees, cuts, bruises all over her body, and sores were all she’d gotten during her job; but honestly this had to be the worst of all injuries she’d gotten. Being cautious was always a first because she feared that if she got too injured it would make her look incompetent.  

“Does it hurt?” Luhan questioned. “You can squeeze my arm if you can’t bear it.”

“It just stings,” Namjoo replied.

“Don’t use your hand for a while,” Luhan told, “if you need something, tell me and I’ll do it for you.”

Namjoo’s eyes dropped to the ground and she almost turned to him, but halted. Out of the corner of her eye she could see him looking at her and she felt immensely stupid for feeling nervous at once.

Pressing her lips together she asked, “How’s your head? You hit it earlier when we fell.”

“Ah…” he said with a broad smile and reached up to touch the back of his head, “it’s not like that’s something I can’t take.”

“We’re done here,” the nurse informed. “We’ll provide you some extra bandage up front. You’re free to go now.”

With a last smile shot at them she walked out of the ward. Namjoo slid off the bed and started for the door; however, paused when Luhan grabbed her hand to observe the bandage around her hand. Namjoo’s eyes fluttered anxiously as he turned her hand around.

“She wrapped it well,” Luhan quietly commented then looked at her, “is it tight?”

Accidentally catching his eyes Namjoo pulled her hand back and turned away. “It’s fine. Lets just go.”

The sun was still high and heavy in the sky when they walked out of the hospital. Luhan looked around before heading toward the end of the street to wave his arm out for a cab. Namjoo slowly followed a few steps behind and when she approached he turned to look at her.

“Is there something else you want to do today?” Luhan wondered.

“We should go back and see if they need help with the restaurant,” Namjoo quietly said.

There was a kind of slight disappointment on his face, but his smile covered it, “Alright.”

When they returned to the restaurant there were still broken plates and spilled food on the floor. Some of the tables had been cleared out of the way and chairs had been stacked up against the wall, but it was still as disoriented as when they left. With a turn of her head she spotted the holes in the walls the bullets had created and felt apologetic.

“Oh no! What are you two doing back?” Kat flipped the curtain toward the back open and poked her head out before hurrying toward them. When she reached them she looked at Namjoo’s hand, “What did they say? Your hand will be alright, won’t it?”

“It’ll heal up in a few days,” Namjoo answered. “How’s the cleaning going? We can help.”

“Oh no! It’s your birthday, you two should go enjoy it together,” Kat sympathized then turned to Luhan to lightly scold, “why’d you even bring her back here?”

Namjoo smiled at her and further walked in. “It’s alright. We should be sorry for always causing you trouble. It won’t take all day.”

Kat pressed her lips together, “Since you won’t give up, just some sweeping and moving the tables to the side would help.”

As Luhan set himself to stacking the rest of the chairs up, Namjoo searched for a broom and sweeper. She set herself to picking up the broken plates on the ground and into a garbage bin before she began sweeping around the room. It was barely even a minute since she started sweeping when she heard Luhan loudly shout her name.

“What are you doing!?” He hurried over before snatching the broom out of her hands.

Her eyes went wide before she looked at him surprised. What…what did she do wrong?

Luhan muttered a few indistinguishable noises and finally questioned, “Why are you sweeping? You’re going to hurt your hand!”

A look of disbelief crossed her face at how he was overreacting. What work didn’t require the use of hands? Namjoo just barely opened to argue back, but Kat rushed out from the back.

“Namjoo, why don’t you go help Tina in the back? She’s just drying dishes. I’ll call someone else to come work out here,” Kat assured patting her back.

Lightly gritting her teeth she turned to walk toward the back. Tina was standing by one of the silver counters with a dry rag in hand and a pile of washed plates to her side. The stoves and ovens had been turned off for the day leaving the kitchen almost bare and empty of any presence. Sweets and delicacies still set on the heated shelves by the wall as Namjoo headed toward her.

Tina only glanced at her out of the corner of her eye before resuming to drying the plates.

“Thanks for wrecking my mom’s restaurant,” Tina mumbled underneath her breath, but loud enough for Namjoo to hear.

Namjoo gave a small smile in hopes of comforting the angered girl even when she wasn’t looking at her.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “We’ll make it up to you two, I promise. Where can I get a dry rag to help?”

Tina tossed hers to the side and it landed on the counter in front of Namjoo. When Namjoo picked it up she found that it was damp; somewhat wet.  

“What do you plan to do to make it up to my mom and I?” Tina asked turning away and walked toward a drawer to pull out a new dry one. Walking back to her spot she continued, “Well aren’t you going to answer me?”

“Oh…” Namjoo turned to look at her before grabbing a plate and started drying it. “We can pitch in some money to help repair the walls…”

“It’s not like we’re not financially in need of help,” Tina shot her off.

Namjoo glanced at the girl wondering what her problem was. It wasn’t like she was doing this with bad intentions nor had she seen such a mess coming.

“Did you want to get on my nerves by coming here to celebrate your birthday this morning?” Tina went on. “Seeing you with Luhan makes me really angry. Why do you hang around him so much?”

Tina abruptly turned just as Namjoo was setting the now dried plate away with her left hand. An eerie silence erupted in the room and Namjoo felt tension from Tina’s side swarm over her. A moment later she realized the girl was staring at the ring on her finger. Quick to react Namjoo pulled her hand back and wiped her palm against her leg.

Tina snorted then muttered, “You’re really wearing it.”

“You two need help?” Luhan’s voice filtered through the room as he poked his head in.

Tina turned to glance at him with an unhappy frown then turned to look at her before stomping out of the kitchen. Luhan watched her go after rudely bumping into him before he walked over. Today, for some reason, there was always this short smile of happiness on his face wherever and whenever. It eluded him with a kind of light hard to explain.

“Did you two talk about something?” Luhan wondered.

“No.”

“Kat said she already called repair services,” Luhan explained. “They’re coming over tomorrow to estimate the cost of damage.”

“Is that so?” She asked. “If she needs help, we should pitch in.”

“She says not to worry,” he smiled at her. “She’s been saving up for a renovation. ‘Perfect timing,’ is what she calls today. She’s always so positive, I could use some of that energy too.”

Namjoo turned up to glance at him then looked away.

“Namjoo,” he started, “if there’s something you want or anything you want to do, tell me. I’d like it if we were able to do something together today.”

Namjoo let his words sink in as the silence zoomed into the room. Of course it’d be nice, but she had no idea what they could do. If they did something together, would it end up bringing them closer? Namjoo was afraid of closeness.

“Hmm?” He nudged her with his elbow.

Namjoo felt her mind race and rush through the many possibilities in her head. Even without looking she could tell he was watching; waiting for her to say something. The mere fact made her almost shake.

“Bi…biking.”

“What was that?”

Namjoo slightly turned her face away from him, “I said biking.”

She heard Luhan laugh before he smiled and felt her heart flutter. At that moment she felt herself laugh inside too, but she was afraid to show it on her face.

After they left Kat’s restaurant they found a bicycle rental shop and with quite a debate they ended up opting for one bike where he’d pedal and she’d sit at the back. It wasn’t what she’d wanted. Her hand was cut, not disabled, but Luhan was having none of that. They cycled around the city taking their time at every junction.

Namjoo was super cautious of holding onto his shirt and not wrapping her arms around him. During moments when they made no comment about the sceneries she’d glance at his neck and peer over his shoulder. With the gust blowing their way she’d catch his scent drifting from his shirt into her nose. She would then think about how it was all so familiar…and nice.

“Are you asleep back there?” Luhan questioned when they stopped at a red light, twisting his neck back to look at her.

“Who’s able to fall asleep like this?” Namjoo asked.

She listened to him laugh at her notorious comment.

“Are you tired?” She finally asked. “Should we stop? Should I take over? Or are you thirsty?”

Grabbing her hand he further wrapped her hands around his waist, “Now I’m not tired.”     

Her chin lightly collided into his back, her breath got cut off, and her heart gushed.

“Don’t fall off now,” he cautioned before starting off and the rest of the way back Namjoo felt her fingers digging into his shirt.

They were close…so close.

#####

He wanted her to feel his heart anxiously beating, but he wasn’t sure Namjoo was able to feel it. Throughout the day as he looked at her she seemed to be in her own world. Her eyes were lost sometimes and he wasn’t able to catch sight of the expression there.

It was…it had to be the first time out of the days they’d spent together that he didn’t hold back. Well, maybe he did hold himself back from holding her hand, but it was only because he didn’t think she felt comfortable enough to do so. Plus, he didn’t want to penetrate her personal space in such a rushed manner.

Luhan would approach her; he’d freely keep his eyes on her, look at her when he wanted, and he would talk what he wanted with her. Slowly, he’d do it all one by one because he was definite that Namjoo would respond to him.

Luhan took her to eat before they finally returned to the hotel to rest. At first Namjoo hovered around in front of the bathroom and paced about a little. While sitting on the bed Luhan watched her walk to and fro continuously without making a move to do anything.

“Is something wrong?”

Did she need something she wasn’t saying?

Namjoo stopped short in her steps. She was quiet for a long time and said without looking at him, “Nothing.”

Luhan kept his eyes trained on her; instincts telling him that there was more than ‘nothing’.

“Just…I want to take a shower,” Namjoo said, keeping her face hidden from his view, “but I can’t wash my hair…”

A smile burst onto his lips.

A few minutes later they found themselves cramped into the bathroom with Namjoo awkwardly standing by the tub looking around.

“Sit here,” Luhan instructed.

Namjoo sat with her back to the tub when he stepped in.

“Oh, hold on,” he told and stepped out disappearing around the door to return with a towel. Stepping into the tub again he draped the towel around her shoulders, “Just in case I spray water on you.”

Namjoo shifted her head quietly and he couldn’t help, but smile at how nervous she was being around him. He’d never known her to be a timid person in front of him. Luhan wanted to enjoy every next moment they would have together, whether she wanted to look away from him or not. The mere thought that he was doing this for her made him so blissful he wanted to with names.

Grabbing the shower handle and pulling the shampoo bottle closer he squatted down first running his eyes through her hair. What he’d never done for her before was comb her hair and he hoped maybe later he could do it for her. Luhan wanted to do everything she did for herself for her.

“Tilt your head back a little,” he told turning the water on and turned to adjust the temperature of the water.

When he turned back he saw that Namjoo had slightly leaned her head farther back. Luhan sprayed the water against her hair; the dry patch becoming thick molting together under the hose. Very slowly he moved the hose up her head to get the rest of her hair and realized he wouldn’t be able to get her bangs. Thus reaching a hand out he brushed his fingers very swiftly across her forehead bringing her bangs back.

The water drizzling out of the shower handle and splattering against the tub was the only noise echoing throughout the bathroom. Luhan was so concentrated on washing her hair thoroughly that he’d forgotten to talk. During those minutes his head only filled with what he wanted to do with her and what he hoped the two of them could do the rest of their stay there.

After brushing her bangs back he only returned to the real moment when he noticed Namjoo’s lids move. Immediately glancing at her he realized she’d taken the chance to steal a glimpse of him. Luhan caught her eyes almost at once and held them for as long as he daringly could. Namjoo broke it off and Luhan found himself softly smiling before he saw her slowly looking at him then away again. Each time he saw her do so, his heart fluctuated and he really wanted to stop so he could kiss her.

Luhan ended up taking as much time as he desired washing her hair and he’d do it all over again if he could. While he turned the water off Namjoo got to her feet and began drying her hair with the towel looking a bit clumsy since only her left hand was of full use. Luhan watched her struggle for a few seconds before stepping out of the tub.

“Here,” he said grabbing the towel from her hand and gently rubbed it against her hair and her head.

The contentment over knowing that Namjoo had frozen in spot made him feel young again as if they were fresh lovers meeting for the first time. As he raised his arms over and around her he thought he wanted this to be forever. How long had it been since he’d helped her dry her hair? Luhan couldn’t remember.

Slightly pausing he glanced at her to see that her eyes were trained on the floor, arms flat by her sides. He really had never seen Namjoo become so small in front of him. She was always tough, smart, and headstrong with him. Luhan thought he didn’t dislike this side of her either, it was fresh and it offered him the chance to be different as well.

Seeing her like this made him want to hug and squeeze her. Then he thought, why not?

Grasping onto the towel with both hands he slightly pulled it against her head and felt her forehead hit his shoulder gently. And there he had it; a discreet hug.

Another smile filtered throughout his face as they stilled for a moment. Luhan finally pulled the towel away a few seconds later and Namjoo looked up at him with those big eyes of hers. He could only smile at her again and rubbing his thumb against her earlobe leaned forward for the kiss he wanted.