CHAPTER IV:

“Has she eaten anything for dinner yet?” she worriedly asked the butler.

Mr. Lim shook his head sadly, head facing the floor. “She refuses to open the door to her room, miss. We couldn’t take her meals to her since she’s consistently rejecting any sort of communication.”

Rahyun rubbed her throbbing head, “It’s the Jewish Guilt* I tell ya. She’s pulling it on me.”

“But Miss, she is aware of the fact that she’s not Je- ”

“Yeah but guilt is guilt. No matter what race or religion you are.” She narrowed her eyes, “Bubby’s playing her cards well.”

“Please, Miss, talk her out of it,” the butler pleaded, “She needs to take her medicine and vitamins.”

Rahyun turned her face to the locked door, panicking inside. “She… she didn’t take her medicine?”

“Not one pill.” Mr. Lim said gravely.

“Is she out of her mind?!” The woman pulled at her own hair, “Is she planning to kill herself only because I’m bloody single?!”

The man nodded, “It appears so. Her doctor had completely lost his mind once we told him about her condition.”

“So what the hell does she want me to do?” Rahyun cried.

“Earlier, when we were all waiting for her to open the door, she slipped a note under it instead.” He handed her the said note.

Blinking, she reached for the letter and unfolded it.

Her eyes almost fell out of her sockets.

“This is what she’s risking her life for?!” Rahyun screamed madly, “Blind dates?! Are you joking with me right now, bubby? Please tell me you’re not serious!”

Mr. Lim hastily tried to calm her down, “Please refrain from screaming, Miss. It might upset Madam.”

She bit her bottom lips down hard, tasting the tiny bits of blood coming out of it.

“Give me a bobby pin.” She ordered calmly, holding up her hands to receive it. One of the maids standing in the back quickly pulled out a pin from her hair bun and handed it to Rahyun.

The staff were all alarmed at what their stubborn Miss was about to do.

Rahyun slipped Bubby’s note under the gap between the door and the floor, leaving the edge of the paper still seen on her side of the door. Then she bent down to level her gaze to the key hole and stuck the bobby pin into it, twisting and poking the insides for a few minutes before a gentle ‘thud’ sound was heard from the other side of Bubby’s door.

Carefully, Rahyun pulled the edge of the note paper to show the full version of it. Only this time, a key was lying on top of it.

Rahyun picked up the key and turned around to meet the eyes of Mr. Lim and the rest of the staff. They were all astonished by her actions.

“Bubby always leaves the key in the keyhole when she locks doors.” She explained simply.

It was a trick she’d learnt back from Summer Camp with Luhan. He had watched a YouTube video on how to escape locked rooms so they tried locking themselves within the fishing hut by the camp lake and practiced the method. Although the technique could only be effective if the key is left in the keyhole. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to push it out and let it fall down on the paper and they wouldn’t be able to slide the key to their side of the room.

 It was one of the rare moments where she was actually thankful for Luhan’s troublemaking habits.

After Rahyun slipped the key into the keyhole, the door unlocked and she wasted no time in barging in, ready to knock some sense into her grandmother.

“You are being completely reckless!” she cried out when she saw the old woman sitting still on her bed. “Do you really think doing such a mindless thing would bring you results? Is this how far you are going to drag this issue?”

Bubby was still staring at her, completely unblinking.

“Did you realise how stupid you were being?! You could actually be admitted to the hospital, bubby. You can’t risk your health like this- you’re not young anymore!” Rahyun’s ears were red and her hands were trembling slightly. She felt as if she could throw up that instant.

“Are you done?” Bubby asked calmly.

She stopped her rant. “What?”

“I asked if you were done, you schmuck.” Her grandmother repeated icily, “I’m sorry I had to interrupt your passionate speech of anger but please do continue if you’re not done.”

Rahyun was speechless. Her bubby never talked down to her like this. She’s been scolded plenty of times, but this time it felt serious.

“Nothing? Good.” Bubby got up from her bed and stood in front of her, staring into her eyes. “Now let me get this across to your head clearly. Did you actually think I just did all of that for my own good? It was all for you, whether you noticed or not. It wasn’t my plan to turn into such a yutz* but you gave me no choice!”

“Look, Rahyun. This doesn’t mean that I want you to get married within the week. I’m just saying that you should probably give it a chance,