“Kibummieeee…” I whined, “You’ve overdone it this time! My legs are killing me!”

“Wae? We only shopped for like, what, 5 hours straight without rest and food?” Kibum rolled his eyes, before realising what he’d said.

“Arasso, we’ll do whatever you want tomorrow okay?” He offered kindly.

Like I already know it’ll never happen. Each time I want to do something, he’ll always manage to convince and persuade me to do whatever he wants to do. Am I too nice or is he too mean?

But no matter what I say, it won’t change the fact that Kibum is my very close and precious friend. He’s always there when I need him (or even when I don’t need him) and contrary to how he seems, he offers the best advice.

Which is why he brought me to Bangkok for a shopping therapy; says I need to ‘take a break’ from all the at work.

“I can’t…I can’t…” I squat down halfway on the pavement, “I’m going for foot massage over there.”

I vaguely pointed to the string of massage parlour conveniently lined up across the hotel we were staying at.

“Aish, jinjia. I’m going back first then, you know how my skin care is at night. Call me if you need anything, like conversing in English or something, arasso?”  

Oh I do know how it is, it takes so long it keeps me up with you with the night lamp on. I nodded to him, waving him back.

Seeing his back go, I willed myself to stand up again, staggering to those shop houses scrutinizing them. Honestly, everything is cheap here anyway. Even the most expensive deals here are way cheaper than at home.

But at least I had one thing going for me: there’s a Korean parlour here. Though it’s really just some Korean words to help tourists like me, I’m not really sure if there’s really any Korean masseuse.

The jingly doorbells rang as I pushed the door inwards, head peeking in. The parlour seemed busy, I wonder if there’s any space for me.

“Hello…” I tried to speak in my barely-proficient English.

“Annyeong!”

My heart skipped a beat at the possibility of a Korean just like me, saving me from awkward situations like these.

A handsome smile came directed my way as he slid through the other sitting masseuse to get to me.

“Need a session?”

“N-neh…” I stuttered out embarrassingly, unable to hide my surprise.

He put his hand out for me to hold, leading me into the end of the shop with the last unoccupied therapy bed.

The masseuse (I presume) gestured for me to lie down on it, using a soft blanket to cover my upper thighs.

He chuckled softly at my tensed frame, “First time here? Just relax, I’ll take care of everything.”

I smiled back politely, trying to get myself to feel comfortable. Which isn’t too difficult of a task, with the soothing aromatic scent in the shop.

“My name’s Jinki, by the way. What’s yours?”

Jinki sat on his stool and begin with taking my sneakers off. I cringed and retracted my feet.

“I-I’ll do it my-myself…” I stammered.

He laughed again, gently pulling my legs straight to untie the laces and pulling the footwear off. After removing the socks, he dipped both my feet in warm water, gentle hands caressing and washing the tiredness off.

“Tae-Taemin. My name’s Taemin.” I smiled lightly again, trying to ease my clumsy move earlier.

He hummed in response. Jinki dried my feet gently, putting them to rest on the cushion on his lap. He grabbed a small bottle of what seemed like massage oil and smothered them between his hands, then dripping some on my feet before rubbing his palms on both foot.

Jinki made small talks about how he’s really Korean, but came to work here as a temporary fill-in, also to return a favour to his friend. And he asked about my stay here, trying to get me to open up. But my mind was too pre-occupied with his whole being I answered half-heartedly until he’d decided to just concentrate on his task at hand.

He worked first by spreading the oil from my feet to my calves, making swift movements to even out the massage oil. The first pit stop was my soles, and today I’ve discovered another of my weak spot.  I struggled to keep myself from struggling, and bit my right fist to stop the giggles from embarrassing me any further.

My left hand instinctively curled into the given blanket, distracting myself from the tickles.

“Taemin-ah, am I using too much strength?” He stopped momentarily, allowing me to catch my breath.

I shook my head frantically and faltered a smile at him. He seemed to have caught my hint because then he was moving up my feet to my shins.

My shoulders drooped again, relaxing to the professional touch of the masseuse and the therapeutic aroma drifting in and out of my nostrils. The calmness of it all, and the gradual decrease in noise with the leaving satisfied customers made my eyelids heavier…and heavier…

…

My eyes shot open when I felt soft hands creep up my sides. It felt cool. I was stripped to my underwear. My gaze followed to the touch, then to the owner of these skilful hands – Jinki.

He flashed me that cute smile that I can no longer resist in my hazed state, intoxicated by the sweet scent of the parlour. Jinki pressed delicately yet firmly on my acupuncture points, effectively loosening my tense muscles. His nimble fingers slowly wound up my stomach to my chest, continuing the tiny pressures.

By this time, I was more than just relaxed; I was getting heated, as if he knows my sensitive spots.

I let out a distinct moan of pleasure.

The ‘massage’ stopped immediately.

When I opened my eyes for real, a quite-startled Jinki was staring right back at me.

He let out a low chuckle, commenting, “Wow, that’s flattering.”

I wanted to use the given towel to bury myself in, then realising the blanket had fallen off to the ground due to my constant fidgeting. 

Jinki finished off the session soon after professionally and composed, with me sitting quietly in horror, refusing to return his friendly glances. I could swear he was smirking each time he looked up at me.  

“Well, we’re done. Come again tomorrow?” He asked innocently, holding the glass door open for me.

I did a small bow before bolting off back to the hotel.

*laughs*