[CONTENTID1]𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲... – 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐚[/CONTENTID1][CONTENTID2]

∞♡∞

It’s been conventional for Dani to come around promptly every morning. She will always roll in her bed, smell its scent and her pillows and stretch out her arms. After that, she’ll sit up on her bed and pray to thank God for another day and ask for guidance. It has been a routine for her, a tireless routine if she may add.

However, today is unexpectedly different. She awoke past her usual wake-up time feeling a distinct throbbing sensation in her head yet still; she inhaled the scent of her bed and pillow but smelled something very different, something that smells masculine. Suspicious.

She flattered her eyes fully awake, sat up on the bed and looked around her cautiously but also suspiciously. A digital alarm clock seating on the white shade bedside table. Black medium-sized lamp on the opposite side. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Grey painted wall. An edgy designed white painted ceiling that speaks masculinity. A 52 inch flat TV is pinned on the wall. Toy collection on display glass stands. Several clothes were tossed on the floor and on the lounge and oh my God! There's art pinned on the wall and there are men’s magazines, too! This is definitely not her room!

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Gion who’s in the middle of gulping down his bottled water choke upon hearing a loud shrilling scream of someone he could easily identify who. Soothing his coughing, Gion cast a glare to the direction of his room as though sending daggers of the culprit who had him choking and coughing. He just came from his morning jog and he’s damn feeling tired, he's still in the process of recuperating his full energy and here she is almost giving him a heart attack!

Riled, Gion stomped his way to his room and was hit with another wave of shock upon coming across Dani in his living room.

“Oh My God! Aahhhhhhh!”

Dani protectively covers her body as she screams as if she’s being threatened by such harassment.

“Damn it! Will you pipe the heck down?!” At this early hour of the day, Gion could already feel the headache crawling its way to his head. What a way to start his day! Ugh!

“What are you doing here?! Why are you here?!” She’s still in her defensive mode against any possible harassment.

“This is my house!” Gion pointed to his portrait that hangs on the wall. 

After having a sight of the wall portrait Dani has finally calmed down – just a little bit though. “Y-your house?” She’s close to panicking again. His house. His house... His house?!

“Exactly.” He crossed his arms.

With her eyes moving uneasily, she nodded. “T-then, w-why am I here? What am I–” she looked around attempting to rack up her brain of the events yesterday, “doing here?” She really can’t hark back anything in mind. What happened?! She blinked totally clueless.

An aloud patronizing inhalation went off Gion’s lips. “That’s what people get when they get drunk; they recall almost nothing of their drunken stupidity.” He has witnessed a lot of that. He can only shake his head. 

Shutting him a glare, “You’re not quite judgmental are you?”

“Nah. You’re a good example of that statement and not a judgment.”

As Gion’s words processed fully in her head, “Drunk? You mean… me? When?! Ha!” She scoffed. Wait. She was drunk again? Again?! Oh my God! Her eyes widened in disbelief to herself. Worst of all, she ends up in a guy’s house this time! And a womanizer’s house to be exact! Ugh! Daniella Mean!

“Last night!” Gion could not help but exclaim; that is what he dislikes about taking care of a drunken woman. His eyes then began judgingly staring at Dani who is now seemingly like already having her greatest regrets with her stupid actions last night. Her head is now even lowered and her fingers are moving uneasily together.

“You even throw up on me and in my car and I bet you don’t even remember that!” He whisperingly yelled at her once again and she actually nodded at him in agreement.

Oh for the love of God!

“Thanks to you I won’t be able to use my car today because I have to take it to the car wash to strip off the rancid smell of your vomit!” My. The hassle he has to go through because of Daniella Mean, the Grandma/old fashioned/old maid woman is surely making him riled.

“Then you should have just sent me home.” Dani humbly mumbled, barely, feeling sorry for throwing up on him and in his car.

Sighing, “Well, you beg me not to, because you said, your Dad will surely kill you once he sees you drunk hence, you luckily end up in my place. You’re welcome by the way.” Cliché it may be, but Dani is the very first woman to enter his personal space.

“Yeah, thanks.” Humbly she replied. “And Mom and Dad are still not around. They are traveling and they still don't have an idea about what happened.”

“Why? You’re afraid to tell them?”

Dani shakes her head no. “I don’t want to worry them about me and ruin their vacation.”

Gion can only let out a sigh. She’s really unbelievable. “Take a shower. You still smell puke and reeking of alcohol.”

“Maybe because I drank and threw up.” She countered and Gion just pulled out a sarcastic, annoyed smirk with her response before walking back to his kitchen.

While Dani clears herself out of the rancid odor of her vomit and scrubs down any trace of liquor in her body, Gion brewed something for her hangover and prepared a breakfast for them.

Walking to the kitchen bar, “Do you actually buy women’s clothes?” Dani asked, looking at the clothes she’s now wearing for her garments are still in the laundry. She’s wearing Gion’s jeans and shirt which thankfully fits her body—she's pretty meaty but fit.

Gion stared at her with a pan in his hand and a plate on the other one. He stared at her longer than he should. He bit his inner cheek, not because of some romantic feeling that she’s wearing his clothes but because of all the shirts she could pick, she chose the one that he likes the most.

“What? Do I look like a joke with this?”

“Why did you choose that shirt?”

“It’s cute. I like the doodles written on it. Where did you buy it?”

“I doodled that.” He crankily replied and placed the cooked food on the plate, tearing his gaze off of her. “Make sure to wash them, use fabric conditioner and give them back to me, especially the shirt.”

“Ok. It’s not like I’d like to keep them.”

“Good.”

Dani sat on the bar stool with her attention now fully fixed to the food. “Is this edible to eat?” She doubts just by looking at its appearance.

Gion leaned his palm against the tiled counter and eyed the woman who’s subtly judging his cooking skills. “Aren’t you being judgmental, Gran?”

“Goodness. I’m only asking.”

“It may not look edible but it is very edible to eat.” He rolled his eyes away from her and reached for the drink he made for her, putting it in front of her. “That’s for your hangover. You’re welcome.” He crankily said, appearing arrogant at the same time.

“Right. I now remember my head hurts.” She then drinks the hangover tea until the last drop not even minding the way Gion acted towards her. “Thank you.” She smiled at him but in return, he only shot her a boring look. She ignores him and starts digging in. “Oooh! This tastes really good!” She gave her thumbs up to him as she chewed the food.

And a proud smirk passed by Gion’s lips, joining Dani digging in the food.

∞♡∞

Both full and fresh, Dani accompanied Gion to the car wash station and now they are taking a walk around the Han River while waiting for the car to be completely cleaned.

“How is he?” Dani could not hold her interest hence the question automatically rolled out from her tongue.

“What?” Gion is not paying attention that much but he did hear her, so a small sneer played through his lips. “Well, we occasionally see each other but he’s doing well from what I know.” He glanced at her. “Why are you still asking how he’s doing after what he has done to you?” He finds her really stupid with that. “You’re supposed to hate him while trying to move on.” Because that’s the actual break-up process he discerned and because that’s what she was supposed to do in his opinion. His brother broke her heart and even cheated on her.

Dani smiled with a hint of amusement. “Yeah, you’re right. I should hate him right now. I should move on, cut my hair, buy new cosmetic products and makeover myself to make him regret that he left me while being bitter at the same time but…” She hangs her words as she breathes deep. “I have so many good memories to remember than the bad ones. The break-up was not enough to cover the happy memories we had. Those 7 years of memories, bad or good, are not that easy to forget but it was that easy for him to do that…” She looked down, feeling the wave of blues hit her once again.

“This is why I told you to do some updates to yourself, Gran. You were too confident that my brother won’t seek for something as a man. The generation we have in the present is way too like chalk and cheese in comparison to the past. Men’s needs are more concentrated nowadays. Let me ask you this, no offense included, ok? Did my brother even just once not ask you for it?”

“What do you mean?” Dani is smart but she’s not that smooth when it comes to those kinds of conversation codes.

Gion rolled his eyes up and inhaled out a defeated air. “Gosh. You’re so slow with this.” He stared at her. “.” He hissed the word.

Initially, Dani was startled. She always finds it sensitive talking about that matter even though she’s already matured enough for it and to think that she even studied about it being a professional nurse. Seeing the surprised look on her face, Gion let out a relieved inhalation this time as though conveying that finally, she gets the picture.

“So you’re saying that was his reason why he broke up with me? Just because of that thing?” She finds it ridiculous.

“That’s his need as a man and you, as his woman you should have…” Gion paused from his words seeing the frown forming across her face. “You know what I mean.” He gives up pointing out his opinion. “You should have been open-minded about it.”

“I am open-minded about premarital but that doesn’t mean I have to do it, too and your brother is mindful of that.” She heaves out an exasperated sigh. “He knows from the very start, I don’t believe in ual outside marriage and I still stand my ground because I know how sacred that matter is and there is a right time for it. If he really loved me, he would respect my decision, he would wait for me. I thought he could wait.” And it completely saddens Dani and pains her more if that was really the true reason why he left her like that. She looks at Gion with a look that seeks.

“Tell me, has he already found someone else? I asked Kelly but she said she doesn’t know. You are his brother, you probably know something. I just really can’t understand why we have to break up. Why suddenly he doesn’t love me? Have I wronged him so badly?” Her voice was quiet and her eyes were ready to produce droplets of salty liquids that are made of pain and confusion but with all her might she bottled it all up.

Gion stared at her, quite surprised at what she said. She doesn’t know about her friend and her ex-boyfriend? His brother didn’t tell her the truth? Wait. Does that mean he just simply walked out of their relationship and left her in the dark? Wow! He scoffed.

He does wonder now if he just doesn’t discern his brother that much or he just merely changed.

“You know what? Just forget about my brother. He already hurt you so stop wasting your time on him or even just thinking about him.” It’s the best thing she could do for her sake and for the sake of his conscience that’s being triggered because of her. Of course, who won’t feel guilty about the situation? He’s aware of the true motive to why she was left brokenhearted by his brother yet he wouldn’t tell her because he’s not in the position to do so. Moreover, he never wished to be involved.

“That’s easy for you to tell but that’s the hardest thing for me to do. You have no idea of what I feel so please, don’t order me that way. My situation is not the same as your one-night stand where you can go separate ways once you get what you want.” Despite Gion's pretty insensitive words, Dani still offered him her warm smile. “I’ll head off first. Thank you for taking care of me last night. About the mess I caused in your car, just send me the bill, I will pay for the general cleaning fee of your car.” She bowed to him and left.

Gion watches her leave albeit that he really doesn’t want to but it seems like his gaze was glued on her back that he couldn’t tear his gaze from her. He feels sympathy, guilt and also annoyance for her. He’s sympathizing with her because she’s too kind for the pain his brother has brought to her.

He feels guilty because he couldn’t tell her the truth that she deserves to know and he’s annoyed at her because she’s too kind that he could not help but feel sympathy and guilt. She should have just cursed his brother or just talked trash about his brother but despite what his brother has done to her she can still manage to be humble and reasonable.

“Damn you, Shun. What have you done brother?” He can only shake his head.

∞♡∞

A few days passed and nothing much has happened. Shun and Kelly are busy preparing for their coming wedding, Dani is trying to live her life and move on but is still in so much pain and even confusion while Gion just went back home from their out-of-the-country soccer match.

Feeling dead beat from their match and due to the long flight, Gion slumped himself on his bed and straightly fell asleep. Upon waking up from his 7 hours of sleep, he took his shower and had his dinner in front of the television. At 11 p.m., his friends sent him an invitation message telling him to come to a party.

Sender ID: Spencer Lee

Hey, man, you know the rising model-actress, Julien Hao? It’s her birthday. The chick really wants to see you. C’mon! We’ll wait for you at the usual club we always go to.

Feeling the boredom and being the party enthusiast that he is and of course, the celebrant sure has his wanton interest; Gion shot up to his feet and headed straight to his walk-in closet to change. He donned something simple yet still chic that will surely have the women swooning over him.

Ready to go, Gion suddenly caught sight of something on the floor, peeking below his bed. He grabbed it and saw a woman’s wallet. “Dani? Jeez. It’s been almost a week yet she still hasn’t noticed her wallet is missing? Is she that out of herself?” He quickly dialed his phone but halted quickly. “Right. I don’t have her phone number.” He sighs. “Goodness, that woman sure knows how to bother me!” He muttered annoyingly and stomped his way out. 

Gion dropped by the hospital where Dani works to hand her wallet because all of her IDs and even bank cards are there. He’s considerate enough to think how important they are to her so here he is now standing in front of the information desk of the emergency room.

“Hi, is Dani on duty right now?”

“Dani?” The nurse at the information desk asked back.

“I mean, Nurse Daniella Mean.”

“Ah, nurse Mean.”

“Yes. Is she on duty right now?”

The nurse was about to utter her reply but someone suddenly jumped on cue. “Gion Cross?”

Gion turned to the origin of the voice and saw a familiar face. He smiled. “Hey, Hennie!” He pulled her in a hug. “Long time no see.” He patted her back gently and so did the latter.

“Yeah.” She nodded and pulled out from the hug looking at Gion. “Long time no see and it’s an older sister for you, you punk!” She slapped him on his chest like a gangster. “I am not Dani for you to talk down to.” She reminds him as he tends to forget that she’s his older cousin. His Dad and her Mom are first cousins.

“Ahm, excuse me, Dr. Rey, he’s looking for Nurse Mean.”

“Dani?” Hennie cast Gion a probing look. “Why?”

Gion showed her the wallet. “She left this in my place.”

“Your place?!” Her voice went a bit pitchy, feeling taken aback by what she had heard. “How did Daniella end up in your place?” She looked at him suspiciously.

“Seriously? It’s not what you think, silly, I mean, cousin. I’ll tell you when you’re not that busy.” He scanned his eyes from her head to her toe. She’s wearing a surgery gown. Obviously, she just came out of the operating room.

“Look who’s talking. By the way, congratulations to you and your team for winning the game.” She gave him a proud pat on his shoulder.

“Thanks. I didn’t know you still had time to watch.” His proud gummy smile emerged from his face and she pointed to the 62-inches flat-screen TV in the lobby. “Right. Anyway, I’m leaving her wallet to you.” He offered Dani’s wallet to her. “I can’t stay long, I'm running late to my appointment.” He really looks like in a hurry.

Hennie scoffed. “Appointment at this unearthly hour? Yeah, right, Gion Cross.” She knows it better. Gion just smiled. “Just give the wallet to Dani. I don’t know when I can meet her.”

“Is she not on duty?”

“She’s suspended.”

“Suspended? Why?”

“Well,” Hennie crossed her arms, “since your brother broke up with her, she’s always spacing out. She’s always distracted and sometimes she just cries. Worse, she even had the guts to drink and get drunk now.” Gion can only nod to her and sigh. “One time, she went on duty while under the influence of liquor. The Head Nurse learned about it which leads to her suspension to also avoid a possible accident that she might cause.”

Gion bit his lip. “She’s stupid for letting her brokenness overshadow her rationality.” He shakes his head in disappointment and soon feels a strong slap on his arm. “Aw! What?”

“Do not judge her with that one mistake she has made. She did not intend to do it plus, you have no idea how in pain she is while your awesome brother is certainly just doing fine.” She breathes out exasperatingly. “How could he even do that to Dani? I never expected Shun to be like this. He just what? Fell out of love? Just like that? I can’t believe him!” She shakes her head, utterly disappointed. 

Gion just stared at her. Here goes his conscience pinching him again.

∞♡∞

After learn