iRobot 2: The 21st Century Adventure

It’s been so long since Gary held a manual nail cutter. It’s approximately been a couple of hundred years. Gary thinks whoever invented that serum to defy the laws of nature so that his nails wouldn’t need to be cut is the best person ever, especially now that he is bleeding due to his inability to use the nail cutter.

Clip, and Gary was bleeding profusely.

Alarmed, he ran to the bathroom and –to his horror- could not find the dissolver. He recalls in an instant that he has in the past and the dissolver hasn’t been invented yet. He reach for the white paper thing near the toilet and wrapped his pinky finger with it.

The blood seeps through the material. Gary takes more of the white material but before he could do anything else, he hears a chuckle from outside the bathroom. He looks over his shoulder and can’t help but grin when he sees Jihyo in her pajamas, a slight glow coming from the living room, or from her, he wouldn’t be surprise.

“Did you have a little accident?” Her hands resting on her hips.

Gary swallows. Jihyo looks sinful in the morning.

“Yeah,” he admits, “I have a PhD but I don’t know how to use that little devil,” he gestures at the nail cutter.

Jihyo laughs and walk to him with a brown sticker in her hand. She must have seen the frown across his face. “It’s called a band aid, stops the bleeding, doctor,” she takes his hand and remove the white material around his fingers, smile lingering on her face as she plaster the brown band aid.

Gary wants to reach out and touch her. He wants to take her by the waist, drag her against the wall and kiss her senseless. Instead, he mutters a ‘thank you’ and slips away into his bedroom.

It’s been four months since he arrived from the future. And he hasn’t ones kiss Jihyo after arriving in the metal suit. Frustration doesn’t even describe how he’s feeling, not even close.

Whenever Jihyo gets too close, Gary would find an excuse to be out of arm’s length. Gary doesn’t trust himself. Especially when Gary’s groin is involved. He hates himself for not having any self-control when it comes to Jihyo, and so he marches on.

It’s Friday, and it’s ‘Netflix’ night. This has become a daily routine that Gary looks forward to because it’s the only time he finds an excuse to be within Jihyo’s bubble without the issue of scaring her. Jihyo takes most of the sofa, leaving enough space for Gary to sit comfortably by her feet. She hands him a bowl of popcorn sprinkled with cheddar powder, just the way he likes it.

“Genre?” She ask, eyes at the television, which, Gary notes, is lacking with futuristic technology.

Gary grunts. He hates deciding. “What do you feel like watching?” He retorts.

Jihyo shrug.

He doesn’t know what made him say it, but he claims, “You like action, I’m guessing 300 is the most appropriate?”

They were silent. Gary had made it his duty to not ever talk about the future, especially when it’s about his dead wife. It made this Jihyo uncomfortable and Gary didn’t like that. The last thing he wants is to hurt Jihyo and if not talking about their future, or, in any case, about him landing in the past so be it. He takes a peek at Jihyo’s face and his heart starts to hammer painfully when he sees her staring back at him.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, his head drops. He coaxes his heart rate to slow down but no vail.

Jihyo nudge the side of his thigh making him look up. “No, don’t be sorry.”

Gary shy away from the touch. His body seems to burn from where Jihyo’s toes had touched him. He clears his throat and look away. “There’s also Troy, which I would like to see, Brad Pitt had refused to take the anti-aging pill so you can only imagine how he looks like.”

Jihyo’s toes pokes at him, this time at his hips. His head whips around so fast he sees stars. Jihyo is wearing an innocent smile however her eyes is the total opposite, just the way Gary remembers it. “Quite it,” he starts to scooch closer to the arm of the sofa, but Jihyo lands another, this time at his rib cage. Before Jihyo can poke him again, he grabs her by the ankle and pulls down.

Jihyo squeals and tries to get away, but Gary crawls on top of her, hands roughly holding her down by the waist. Without a thought, his fingers digs into Jihyo’s side and eventually turns into a tickle fest. “I give, I give!” Jihyo raise her both her hands in surrender. Gary took this chance to pin her arms above Jihyo’s head.

The air around them suddenly becomes heavy and Gary can barely breathe. There goes his heart again.

“Quite it,” Gary repeats near her ears.

It might be his imagination but he thinks Jihyo shudders.

“Okay, okay,” Jihyo turns her head before Gary can move out of the way. The touch of Jihyo’s lips against his cheek nearly sends him over the edge. He bites his tongue before he can make any embarrassing sounds. “Sorry,” Jihyo mutters and Gary detaches himself.

Gary lets out a laugh, but it sounds unsteady like his heart. He runs his fingers through his hair while taking his seat at the other end of the sofa. Gary stares at the TV unable to look at Jihyo fearing that he might do something he will regret later.

His chest aches.

“So, genre?” He hears Jihyo ask but he couldn’t reply.

“You can add filters,” Jihyo reach over and shows him the button.

Gary, perplexed, click at the button on the so-called-phone, and the picture becomes black and white. The technology in the past is useless he decides, Gary is almost glad that he had forgotten everything about the 21st century.

“It’s called a canoe,” Jihyo points at the elongated wood floating atop the water.  

Gary nearly had a heart attack when Jihyo suggested they rent one.

“Don’t touch that! T-That’s um, those are