CHAPTER 14
JUNG HOSEOK

"Hey, the week is over, can I meet you at that place?"

Her voice sounded different than usual. It felt with emotion and it was more than that. I stood up from my seat as soon as I heard her crying. I was supposed to work overnight, settling pending issues that Jin had left just like that after our argument and didn't realised that it had been a week since that day passed.

Safe haven was our meeting place.

I met her and her eyes had been swollen from crying, I didn't know what it was but I knew that it should be left unspoken for the moment. I held her close, embracing tightly and she returned the hug. Keeping her calm until she said, "Please don't leave me." She was broken. And I probably knew what happened. I didn't probe further. After she had calmed down, my arms still holding her close as her head rested on my shoulder.

"Let me send you home, you need to rest," I chose to say and she obliged. Not a word even after her breakdown, but I found a sense of responsibility to ensure that she would be head home safe. Upon reaching her apartment, I helped her in and settled her down. "Will you be okay?" I asked as she nodded. The silence crept between us when she looked up.

"Thanks. Go ahead home and rest. I'll be fine," she said weakly.

I was worried. It had been long when was the last relationship, I had been this worried? Deep down in my heart was telling me to stay. I did. "No," I smiled and cupped her cheeks as it startled her. "I'm going to make a good meal. You haven't had one right? So wait for me till I come back from the store. Let's have supper together."

*

I got the necessary items for a bowl of nice kimchi rice. A simple dish and easy to make. I told her to get wash up and take a shower while waiting for the food to be done. After minutes of prepping, "What are you cooking?" I turned to look at her as she came back in her home casual t-shirt and pants, her hair bun up, my lips parted for a moment.

She looked so cozy.

"Yah, you'll cut your hand if your eyes are not on the board," She said, pushing me away gently. "Kimchi rice, I presume?" She said by looking at the ingredients. "Heat up the pan."

"No, I want to prep-"

"I'm hungry," She said, looking at me, expressionless not a single smile. "Food's done better and faster with two people," she said and continued to cut and prep the ingredients.

We prepared the supper and I noticed another side of Noeul that probably no one had never seen. It was a side of Noeul where she wasn't a career woman but just a homely person, a normal human being. I felt the same loneliness when I was alone at home too. The food began to smell great and I smiled widely. "Okay, let me do the plating, go and wait at the dining table!" I told her as she frowned. "Don't worry," I laughed. "Go. And. Seat," I said, leading her by the shoulders and sat her down.

Placing the utensils like how a restaurant should, I could feel Noeul's gaze burning on me whenever I turned my back on her. She was watching my every move and I felt nervous out of sudden.

After completing everything, I sat in front of her with a big smile as she looked at me. Noeul looked tired, exhausted from crying, her eyes seemed swollen a little but she was okay right now. A small smile crept at the corner of her lips, "Thanks for trying," she said. "But, aren't you going to at least take off the apron?"

"Oh!" I laughed and took it off. I picked up the spoon, "Let's eat." She nodded, taking a full bite when she stopped for a moment as she noticed something missing on the table. She stood up as I watched her, went towards the fridge. "AH! Drinks!"

"I don't drink alcohol," she turned to me, "Will fruit juice be good?"

"Oh?" Something new - She doesn't drink. "Me too," I said. "I mean, I drink but I can't tolerate so, I rarely drink."

She placed the cup of fruit juice in front of me and she sat down and continued eating. "How was it?" She suddenly asked, startling me. I looked at her in surprise. "Kimchi Rice."

"Oh, it's good!" I smiled. "Really good."

"I took pride in my cooking besides work too. So, I wasn't feeling okay, I was scared that the food followed my emotions," she said.

My heart skipped. My lips parted as I watched her eat. One point. I glanced to her shelves. Books. Two points. It was then her gaze caught with mine. "Are you not eating?"

I shook my head. "I am. But just a question, are you by any chance, loves to run or exercise?"

"I don't have time for that," she continued eating. "Why?"

Two out of three seemed reasonable enough right? I mean, I didn't need her to be what she should be ideally but, Noeul, even now, she made my heart raced. "Just a question," I smiled and continued eating. "Slow down," she said.

"You're sounding like a mom."

"And you're being like a kid," she said. "Go home after this. I'll be okay, I need sleep too. I don't need noise," Noeul added when her hand naturally reached out for my face as I stopped. She wiped the corner of my lips with her thumb and I froze. I stared at her as she finally realized what she was doing. She blushed. "What? S-Sorry there's rice-" I grasped her by the wrist before she could even pull back.

It was a normal thing that couples do. Even my last relationships might have done something like this too but for Noeul to do that to me, my heart overflowed with joy. It was just special.

I was here only because I received a call from her mentioning about the bet. I got distracted because it wouldn't be nice for me to ask when she was having a hard time of her own personal life. I knew what she was upset about and if Noeul didn't want to share it with me, I wouldn't mind because it was her own privacy. That first moment before now, Noeul had been constantly pushing me away.

Could it mean that she called to me because she was returning my feelings? Because I felt that was the case. I'm not stupid. I had already fallen for her. I couldn't hold these feelings anymore. "Would you let me take care of you for one night?"