PLAYLIST: “Rainbow,” Rothy

DOHEE

I never would have thought that someone, in addition to myself, would ever be sleeping on my bed. This is my safest place, my sanctuary. And here lays my fine-looking boyfriend beside me, the softest snore dancing out of his parted lips. What a cutie.

You see, I love to sleep. I really do. However, since I started sleeping with this dude, I’ve been waking up much earlier than I usually would. It could be his effect, knowing that he’s beside me or it could also be that my body naturally awakes so it gives me this chance to simply admire him. Wow, that was creepy of me to even admit myself. But I mean … just look at him, who wouldn’t want to do that? Last night was freaking amazing. Just wow. He never gets tired of surprising the bejesus out of me, he always has something new in his sleeves. I guess that’s normal, he’s much more skilled in that department after all. I’m so not. Although, I hope I’m not doing too bad, am I?

I tip my head closer until I am pressing my lips against his forehead. His snores soften up a bit as he moves lightly in his sleep.

I brace myself to cuddle closer. He is so warm, so firm and hard—wait, hard? Oh my god, he’s so hard down there. Why is he always this hard in the morning? It reminds me of all two mornings I’ve spent with him in Gapyeong. I’m not even doing anything. Is that really normal for men? I gently lift the comforter to peek like a ert. Yikes, he’s up alright. I scrape my teeth on my bottom lip to defeat the urge of staring at it longer than I should. I have gone mad because of this man. He is still fully while I’m already wearing my top—just my top, though. I woke up to pee in the middle of the night and I just had to put something on cause I felt weird being fully . Yeah, I know, it’s my own place but I’ve never done that before.

My thoughts get interrupted when I hear an eerily familiar clicking sound from outside. I turn my head to peer at the opened door of my room and I realize that someone is trying to open the front door with keys, I can hear it chiming from outside. “Oh god.” I stir off the bed, run to the bedroom door to shut it close to earn me more time. I rush back to bed and I start shaking the life out of Baekhyun. “Yah yah yah.” I whisper frantically.

“Dohee?” I hear my mother’s voice outside calling my name. Oh my god. I feel Baekhyun faintly moving awake. I run out of ideas so I push my dear boyfriend as hard as I can until he falls off the bed, making a hard thud sound when he drops. Yikes, I’m so sorry. I hear him groan hard while murmuring words that I could barely hear. I have no time for this. I gather my comforter in a big ball before throwing it over him on the floor, spreading it all over him. I then get off the bed before picking up my pajama to put it on. “Just stay there, my mom just came. I don't know why she's here, I told her we're gunna pick her up later.” I sharply whisper as I stride around to pick up his pants and his boxers. I throw it on him too and it drops to the comforter all wrinkled up. “Just stay there—oh my god, don’t you dare move on your spot, Byun Baekhyun.” I warn him before rushing fast towards my door. He replies with something I can’t hear it anymore, it’s too muffled for me to understand.

I step out of my room and I spot my mom in my bathroom right away, inspecting like the usual. “Did you just wake up?” She asks me as I close the door behind me. My eyes travel to the entry way and I sigh in relief. Thank God, Baekhyun put his shoes neatly in my shoe rack. Otherwise, I’m busted. “Ye—yeah, I kind of slept late, what are you doing here?” I ask.

My mother narrows her eyes at me as she steps out of the bathroom with the bag from my trash bin. “I wa—I was going to throw that, I promise.” I defend myself right away before she could say anything. “What do you mean, it’s ten in the morning. Didn’t you get my text? I said I’m coming over because I didn’t have time to wrap my gift last night, so I want to ask you to do it for me while I go to a salon to get my hair set for the baby shower.” She walks into the living and I follow. My eyes quickly land at Baekhyun’s black button-down shirt lying on the floor beside my dining table.

I run past her and I pick it up myself. “Sorry, I got very tired last night—I was just—I was out of it, I just stripped my clothes off and then—and then I went straight to bed and I never woke up until now. I forgot to clean up.” I quickly roll the shirt in a ball until it is unrecognizable to be a man’s shirt. My mother ignores my explanation as she starts picking up the mess on the dining table. Yikes, Baekhyun and I forgot to clean up after our dinner.

I watch my mother shake her head in disappointment. “What happened to you being clean now huh? And what did I say about fast food? I told you, you’re at the age where you should be cooking more than buying take-out. It’s such a waste of money. What is all these?” She throws the trash into the paper bag that our food came with. It’s a lot food, obviously, it was for two people. “You need to lose some weight; you’re not getting any younger. It’s easier to get sick at your age, don’t be careless or you’ll never get married.” She continues nag me as she walks into the kitchen.

At the moment, I can barely care about her rude words. I am too focused on keeping my secret—my hot mess boyfriend in my bedroom. “Anyway, do you know any salon that is open on Sundays? The one near our house where I usually go to is closed.” She asks me and she begins doing her daily inspection of my dishes. I flop down the chair as I hug Baekhyun’s shirt close to my chest. “Well … you could try … Baekhyun’s salon?” I hesitantly suggest.

She doesn’t say anything and to my surprise, she turns away from the sink without throwing anything back to be washed. Hm, I guess I did it right this time. “Anywhere else? I want my hair set the old-fashioned way and I don’t know if these young trendy salons around here can do what I want for my hair.”

There is literally … a master stylist hiding in my bedroom right now and I’m sure he will know what she wants. This is a weird conversation to share with my mother. “Uhm, well.” I rub my nape as I glance at my bedroom door. So far, Baekhyun seems to be doing good and he hasn’t made any sound to make my mother suspect of anything. “Like I said, Baekhyun’s salon. It’s close and … they have stylists of all ages. Someone in there would know what you want. Baekhyun probably would know too.” For the first time, I see a interested sneer from her.

She leans by dining table and folds her arms across her chest. “Do I get a discount then? Their stylist is dating my daughter after all.” She bargains cleverly.

Err, I don’t think it works like that. “Uh … Baekhyun doesn’t work today. Maybe if he does your hair, they could … legally do that in their system? It’s in his own discretion since he’s the one we’re kind of—uhm—related to. He would probably even do it for free for you. Or I don’t know, it’s not up to me, really.” I try to explain as thoroughly as possible. “Okay, then ask him if he can go there and do my hair before we have to go.” She proposes bluntly.

I blink rapidly at her. Is she actually … agreeing for Baekhyun to do her hair? Oh my god, this is a breakthrough. Or is she just really after the discount and I shouldn’t be too happy about that? “Th—there? Uh, but … I don’t think—he’s probably … still sleeping?” My eyes fall to my bedroom door again and I swallow hard. I don’t know what to say at this point. “You don’t know? Isn’t he in there?” My mom suddenly says while casually pointing towards my room. I freeze on my spot as I stare at her in terror.

Her expression stays the same, indifferent and ever frowning. “Wh—what do you mean?” I laugh in panic. Okay, I might have laughed too much that a snorted like a pig. I quickly control myself and I lower my eyes away from her gaze. “Wasn’t it his shoes that I put in the shoe rack when I came in? Unless your feet had gotten that big all of a sudden.” She sneers at me.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. She knew this whole time?!  Her eyes stare at the shirt I am hugging. “Tch, stripped huh.” She turns away and walks back into the kitchen. Uhm, she doesn’t seem … upset? Should I be happy about that? “We—we didn’t—Eomma, we didn’t do anything. He just fell as—asleep … accidentally.” I finally fall apart and confess. “I don’t care what you do with that guy, you don’t have to hide it from me. You’re already old enough. If anything, I should probably celebrate you’re finally doing something with your body. You’re running out of time.” She aloofly replies as she looks through my fridge.

I get off the chair and stare while I continue to scan her expression, nothing changes. She’s really not mad about this at all. What the heck? What was I panicking about then? My shoulders loosen up and a smile slowly forms on my lips.

Well … despite how consistently rude her words are, I feel my heart flutter with joy. She’s really not mad about me possibly having intimate affairs with another person in my bedroom, oh my god? I’m shocked. I really thought she was going to be so upset about it and make us break up or something or … worse, force Baekhyun to marry me and take responsibilities for what we did? Gosh, my mind is filled with unrealistic Kdrama-worthy scenarios.

I forgot that I’m literally turning thirty-three and it has been loooong overdue for me. It makes sense, why would my sixty-year-old mother punish me for having with a man at this age?

My mother grabs my attention again when she walks past me and towards the couch. “By the way, I forgot to tell something that happened a while ago. Do you remember the guy that always bothers me in the store and never pays on time? Yoon Seok.” She asks and I get quiet for a good ten seconds before realization hit me. Oh my god, Mr. Yoon. He’s the guy who had an altercation with me and Baekhyun. Oh my god, please tell me we’re not getting in trouble now. Did the guy tell her that Baekhyun argued with him and make him go? I don’t say anything as I look at her in fear. “He went to the store a while ago and paid everything that’s on his tab. He also sincerely apologized to me which was unexpected. He suddenly turned very respectful and scared. I don’t know what’s gotten in to that ’s head but he said that my male part-timer, which I don’t have, settled things with him physically so he’s never going to bother me in the store again whenever he’s drunk.” She sits on the couch and looks at me. “Did Baekhyun do that? He was the only male that ever helped us there that I know of.”

I wander my eyes around as I try to come up with an excuse. I don’t want her to think that Baekhyun is rude to elderly, I’m sure she wouldn’t like that. Baekhyun was just trying to protect me. “What do you mean physically? He was just … explaining to the guy that he should discuss the tab when you’re there? He just … didn’t let him not pay and asked him to leave because … he was causing a scene. I’m sorry, eomma. Baekhyun wasn’t trying to be rude, I promise. He was ju—”

“Well, the scumbag confessed that he called you a and that’s how things got physical, according to him. So, he wanted to apologize to you too. He couldn’t be lying because there’s a healed-up cut on his left eyebrow, he must have busted his eye open from whatever your boyfriend did.” She sneers coldly.

My eyes turn bigger from the information. What? Byun Baekhyun has no violent bone in his body. Is my mother trying to make him look bad now? I don’t understand. This is so unfair, now she’s even making up stories just to hate on him? Tears immediately fill up my eyes as I shake my head in disagreement. “I don’t think … no, Baekhyun would never hurt anybody. He was very polite even when he was asking Mr. Yoon to leave. I promise, eomma. He’s not a violent person. Don’t believe him, he was drunk at that time. Baekhyun wouldn’t punch him. You can ask him yourself if you want. He doesn’t lie.” I defend my boyfriend from her judgment.

My mother leans on the couch casually as she turns the TV on