Mandy really was asleep when Ji Hoo parked in front of her apartment building. She was still very much asleep when he rummaged through her bag for her house keys and was still asleep when he opened the car door. But when Ji Hoo was removing her seatbelt, it was necessary for him to go above her to unlock it and his body pressed against hers. This had waken her up and the self defense training she had, kicked in and she tackled the person above her to the ground, thinking it was some ert trying to take advantage of her. When she realized that she had just decked her friend, well let’s just say that feeling proud for defending herself was the last thing on her mind.

“I’m so sorry; I didn’t know it was you. It’s just a defense technique. Oh my god I’m really sorry; I seriously didn’t know it was you. Are you okay? You don’t look okay, I think I should call an ambulance …” and she kept blabbing on and on, pacing in front of Ji Hoo, who was now sitting in the car seat with his legs hanging out.

“I think I’ll live, so calm down okay. I’m totally fine” said Ji Hoo coolly

“What were you doing anyway?” asked Mandy

“You fell asleep on the ride home and I didn’t want to wake you up, so I was going to carry you to your house, but I didn’t know I would have to sacrifice my back for that; that was one strong knock over you executed.” He said in a light way.

“What were you thinking? You could’ve just woken me. And you would’ve sacrificed your back in the other case too. Carrying me is not an easy task. My camouflage dressing may fool you, but just let me tell you that I’m no size zero, therefore, the need for before mentioned camouflage dressing.”

“I don’t think you need camouflage dressing. And I also may look like a weak geek in my glasses and all but I think I could’ve handled you.”

“Fine then, to prove your point, carry all the grocery bags to my apartment” and with that she sauntered towards the building.

Ji Hoo shook his head and kept smiling when he took out all the bags from the trunk and followed her frame.

“Where should I put these?” Ji Hoo asked as he entered her apartment.

“Just put them on the kitchen counter.”

“I did prove myself” Ji Hoo smugly added

“Yes you did. And as your prize you get to have Indian for dinner, prepared by yours truly.” She said as she bowed a little

“You’re going to cook me dinner?”

“Why not? I have to cook myself dinner anyways. And I always cook for two, so that when I’m in a hurry in the morning, I can eat last night’s leftovers. But just give me five minutes to freshen up and then I’ll get to it. Make yourself comfortable; sorry that you can’t watch TV because I’ve only one and it’s in my room. But here’s my ipad if you want to listen to some music or something” she said as she handed him her ipad and vanished into her room.

Ji Hoo settled down on the couch with the tablet in his hand and started looking at the apartment. Her apartment was decorated in a minimalist chic way. As he was appreciating the look of her house, her ipad started vibrating in his hand. When he saw the screen it showed that there was a request from Harleen Kaur for video chat.

“Ummn, Mandy?” he called out

“Yeah?” came her muffled response

“There’s someone trying to connect with you on video chat.”

“Who is it?”

“Someone whose name starts with ‘H’, I can’t pronounce it.”

“Is it h-a-r-l-e-e-n?” she asked peeking from behind her bedroom door

“Yes”

“That’s my sister, accept the call and stall her. She calls me once a day, but she has already called so she must need something important. Please do this for me; I’ll be out in a minute.”

Ji Hoo accepted the call and was surprised to see a little girl of about 5-6 years of age staring back at him intently.

Then she called “Papa, there’s a man in maasi’s (mother’s sister, in Hindi) house”.

A man dressed in a polo shirt and trousers came running towards the little girl to check what she was talking about. He also wore a turban and had a full beard and mustache.

“Miraya, what joke is this now? How do you know what’s going on with maasi?”

“I was missing her, so I called her for video chat, but there’s a man there.”

“You are again playing with your mumma’s ipad. How many times has she told you not to touch her things, huh? What if you called one of mum’s clients?” Then the guy turned the screen towards him and started apologizing “I apologize for the disturbance. I’m Harleen’s husband Sarabjeet. My daughter was trying to call her aunt but I’m afraid she has dialed the wrong number. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience …” but stopped mid sentence when he realized that behind Ji Hoo, on the wall there was a picture of Mandy. He quickly realized that Miraya had dialed the right number indeed. There really was a man in her aunt’s apartment. Sarabjeet’s expression turned into one of rage.

“Where is she? Who are you? Why are you here? What have you done to her? Is it money? Tell me, how much do you want? But don’t you even dare hurt a hair on her head or I would personally hunt you down and make your life hell.”

Mandy had come out of her room now and quickly recognized her brother-in-law’s voice. She ran to the couch, took the ipad from Ji Hoo and tried to neutralize the situation. “Papa, calm down; he’s just a friend. I only told him to pick up the call because I was in my room. No need to worry; he’s not a kidnapper.”

“Who is he?”

“He is a friend and a classmate. Ji Hoo” she said turning the screen towards him “this is my brother-in-law Sarabjeet Singh and papa, this is my friend and classmate Yoon Ji Hoo” she said, introducing the two men.

Ji Hoo just gave a polite nod.

“Why is he in your apartment?”

“Papa …” she said in a warning tone

“You know I have never doubted your choices, just stay safe okay. And next time please pick your call on your own; don’t give me such shocking surprises”

“Why did you call, that too from didi’s ipad; where’s the one I gave you?” asked Mandy

“I didn’t call you actually, Miraya did.”

“So where is she now?”

“She went to tell her mom that there’s a man in your apartment”

Mandy winced; she knew that now she was going to get a one hour lecture on the-consequences-of-having-a-guy-in-your-house-late-at-night.

“Ookaay, I think I’m going to hang up now. Bye papa, please handle didi for me. And I assure you he is just a friend, so don’t worry.”

“Ok, I think I hear them coming. Bye bye bye!” and the screen went blank.

Mandy huffed out a sigh and sat on the couch next to Ji Hoo.

“Do I look like a kidnapper?” asked Ji Hoo

“Don’t take it personally; my family is just a bit overprotective, that’s all. Like I told you before, I’m the youngest in my family and also I actually did get kidnapped when I was a little kid, so they are always worried.”

“What happened?”

“It was my fifth birthday party; one of the performances was a magic show. The magician invited me to step in the box and claimed that I would disappear and then reappear after ten minutes. Only I didn’t reappear after ten minutes; there was a back opening in the box and another man grabbed me from behind and took me away. I was gone for a week. The place where they kept me wasn’t the nicest area but many people lived in that building. A lady noticed that there was something suspicious and called the police. When I got back, my dad hired a bodyguard to be with me 24/7. One day he lost his leg protecting me from potential kidnappers. After that I refused to get another one; I couldn’t see anyone else getting hurt because of me. But that person was ex-military and trained me in basic life skills and self defense. I was able to knock you over today because he taught me well.”

“I’m sorry”

“It happens; in my world it’s quite common. Actually it’s your world too I guess; you know how too much fame and money can affect your life, right.” She observed. “But I’m actually lucky that I have such a loving family. At least that didn’t affected by the whole chaos.”

“You do seem close to your family” said Ji Hoo. Mandy just smiled and nodded her head lightly.

“I think I should get started on that dinner” said Mandy, starting towards the kitchen

“How about we go out for dinner or order takeout? It’s too late to cook dinner from scratch and you look tired.” Suggested Ji Hoo

“It’s not late at all. It will take me maximum half an hour to serve you dinner. Even if it would be simple, let me tell you this; there is nothing better than a simple home-cooked meal after a tiring day. And what I’m going to make is my ultimate comfort food.”

“So what are you cooking?” asked Ji Hoo

“Dal chaawal”

“What’s that?”

“Spicy pulses’ soup and rice”

“Can I help with something?”

“Do you know how to chop vegetables?” Ji Hoo simply nodded. “Okay then, cut these onions and tomatoes in to small pieces, but don’t make a mash out of them” she said handing him a chopping board with a knife and two small onions and tomatoes.

He went to a corner in the kitchen and started peeling the onions. His eyes soon started watering because of the onions, but he wiped his eyes and kept working. As his back was towards her, he didn’t know what Mandy was actually doing. He could just hear sounds of a lot of things at once.

He was halfway through his second onion when Mandy inquired if he was done. When she saw his slow progress because of his tear-stained vision, she took the knife from him and told him to go into the restroom and wash his eyes with cold water. He went there and started washing his eyes out. When his vision cleared, he dried his face and came out into her room; he was quite surprised to see the difference between her room and the rest of her house.

While the rest of her house was decorated in a minimalist manner and with basic colors, her room was just the opposite. The walls were painted in bright pinks and purples; there was a desk which was filled with books and loose sheets. The wall above the head of her double bed was filled with pictures of her family and friends with also a lot of scenic pictures. The room also had a LED TV with a whole shelf worth of DVD’s on the console. It all had a very homely and warm feeling to it.

When he went back to the kitchen, he realized that she had already set the table and was transferring the soup and rice in serving dishes. Everything was already cooked and ready to be served.