02

petrichor

(the smell of earth after rain.)

15th June, 2019

THERE are eyes which orate tales and are a radiant splatter of chroma that push you into a state of oblivion. However, the woman who stood infront of Ju Ho was a complete contrast to the idea. He could not make out what laid beneath the cover of her flesh.

"Hi! Uh, I presume that you're moving into the first floor today. I am Han Ju Ho, your neighbour downstairs." Ju Ho offered her a toothy grin, as he bent himself to achieve a perfect ninety degree bow for the second time in the day.

"Erm, thank you. I am Yoo Ye Bin, renting the first floor of the building." Ye Bin softly bowed and casted him a forlorn glance. Her eyes went back to his bangs again. She hesitated a bit before speaking again. This time more softly. "If I'm not wrong, you have a twig stuck in the front mass of your hair."

"Uh -" drawled Ju Ho, a little confused . He plucked out the mentioned twig after brushing his bangs with his fingers. It was too small to be noticed by a brief glance at an individual, who was standing no less than ten feet away. She was definitely eagle-eyed. His myopic self couldn't relate. Perhaps, the contact lenses he was used to wearing wouldn't be able to beat her eyesight.

"If you don't mind, I would like to go upstairs and see how the workers are handling my stuff. If you would excuse me -" Ye Bin, her lips forming a tight line as she slid through the tiny space that the truck left, infront of the gate before Ju Ho could get the signal from his head to nod.

Ju Ho found himself staring at her retreating figure, a brief state of surprise numbing his senses. He was completely blown away by her evasive demeanour. He was expecting a proper introduction from her side. All the previous tenants had been mainly senior citizens who loved conversing. Was it them who had spoilt him into becoming a loud extrovert? It was going to be tough for a chatty guy like him to co-exist with an unfriendly neighbour.

He calculated in his head about the time the workers upstairs were going to take to come down. Far too long for him to stand under the rain. There wasn't any driver inside the truck and most probably, one of the workers drove it. He squeezed his figure like Ye Bin, through the tiny and entered his residence.

Marble rushed to meet his owner with an eager face. The small bell attached to his collar chimed softly due his body being in motion. He sniffed his pants hastily, as he always did.

"I look like a clown, don't I?" Ju Ho pouted as he embraced his furry companion. The latter was quick to pull out his head from the barrier of his arms, the dampness of the clothes being the absolute reason.

The rain had left him looking like a look-alike of a soaked crow. He marched off to his room, looking for a fresh change of clothes. Why did he bother to doll up on such a day? He would have no option but to get his entire attire to the laundry for a good wash, as soon as possible. An exasperated sigh left his lips as he noticed remnants of mud hugging the fabric of his pants. Taking quick steps on the street had resulted into the splatter of the brown water from the puddles on his much cherished pants.

Ju Ho shivered as he rubbed his skin with a towel. Monsoon always has an unique variety of chilly weather. The string of pearls were moist too. He wrapped them in a handkerchief which would soak their dampness. Quickly putting on some warm set of tee and cargo pants, he wrapped his complementary apron around his waist. Now, it was a part of the paraphernalia of a baker according to him, and you wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. It was like a badge of honour from a war and Ju Ho loved to think that he was one such soldier.

A sense of alarm rang inside him when he remembered that he was supposed to get down to the day's business. Pouring himself a cup of warm coffee, he opened the entrance door and made himself comfortable on his chair at the counter.

A gloomy rainy day always called for a gloomy business day. He did not know how long he had zoned out while staring at the exterior of the room, until the two familiar faces of the workers serving the lady upstairs entered the bakery.

"Welcome to Wind Bakery!" Ju Ho tried his best to sound enthusiastic as their eyes scanned through the menu hung on the wall behind him. After some mini episodes of discussion in low and hushed voices, the lanky guy approached him and ordered for two red velvet crepe cakes.

Ju Ho pulled out two pieces of the ordered cakes from the display and warmed them up in the microwave, before placing them on two paper plates. Two wooden spoons provided, of course.

He placed the plates on their table elegantly before asking them to enjoy their meal. He walked back to the counter again to give a break to his legs.

"How did you like this woman?" the man who was of a short stature, nibbled on his cake for a while before looking at his companion.

Ju Ho's ears perked up after the workers started to mention their latest customer i.e. his neighbour upstairs. He pretended to cover his face with a newspaper and skim through it, in order to gather information.

"The woman is a bit weird if you ask me. She was so distant and rude." the lanky man complained, chugging down some water from his yellow water bottle.

"I can't blame her. I heard that she was brought up in the States. Heard she's here for a long vacation."

"Now where did you get the information from? I don't think she told you personally." chuckled the other.

"I heard that from our business owner. She personally requested him for some well-mannered people for assistance."

"Is that her way of saying that Koreans are mostly ill-mannered? Quite offensive, I must say."

"Now why would you assume that? She never mentioned that."

"I just don't like her. She was upset about me placing the biggest box in the living room. According to her, I missed her strict instruction about keeping that box in the bed room."

"C'mon. Don't hold grudges. We are old enough to do a better job. It's been a decade since we have been working. We are supposed to listen to the customer till our duty is over."

"We should get up now. I think we are both done with our eating session. We need to get back to work." the lanky guy suggested, not really interested in talking about the woman anymore. Most probably got onto his nerves really quick.

They stopped their conversation realising that they had already consumed their meal. Rising up, they payed for their snacks and exited pretty soon.

"I should pay her a visit. Right? She can't be that bad. Maybe she's having a bad day or something." Ju Ho thought to himself. He packed some fresh croissants in a bag and walked out.

The rain had stopped. The atmosphere boasted off a strong smell of moist earth. He skittered up the staircase, sticking to his belief that she just was an introvert or unaware about how to speak to native Koreans. Well, making a fool out of himself with a twig on his hair wasn't enough to convince himself.

The door-bell was out of service. A couple of knocks on the door brought out Ye Bin outside. Now that Ju Ho was able to take a closer look, he could see that her eyes were pushed back into her sockets and dark circles made a huge impact on her face.

Ju Ho's tongue darted out momentarily, making contact with his lips and coating then with his saliva in the process. He was visibly nervous.

Ye Bin studied his features for a moment before speaking. "Do you need something?"

"I -I brought a few croissants for you. I thought going for the customary red bean steamed cake would be a burden to digest since you have been a resident of America. It's a Korean tradition to welcome our neighbours. I didn't want to just drop in, empty-handed..." faltered Ju Ho, hesitating to speak further.

"That's a bit overwhelming for me," sighed Ye Bin eyeing the box, clutched in the man's hand. "How did you know about me living outside this country? I don't remember discussing this with you."

"Ah..." halted Ju Ho for a few seconds. "The workers were discussing loudly at my cafe. I couldn't help but over-hear. I apologise if you are upset about it." he bowed apologetically.

"It's alright, I'll just take the box. Please refrain from sending anything from now on. I'm not comfortable with outsiders."

"Ah, I totally understand. I should have been more conscious about this. I apolo-"

"Why do you keep apologising? It makes me feel bad about moving my lips infront of you. If you keep this up, I won't accept this." Ye Bin pursed her lips, already feeling guilty about confronting him.

"I will take my leave before I say something foolish again." added Ju Ho in a flurried tone.

"Thank you for this. The bag is beautiful." Ye Bin pulled out a silly appreciation for the doodled paper bag without thinking twice. That was the last thing on her mind actually. Totally a ludicrous quality of hers.

Ye Bin noticed how a cosmic smile spread across his face as soon as she declared her decision to take his 'welcome gift' and threw a random compliment at his face. No matter how much she tried to put on a brazen attitude, she couldn't deny that there was a spark in his smile that easily brought out his boyish charm. However, she had to remain aloof. A stranger can definitely be a possible threat to privacy.

"You really didn't have to. It's too much for a single person to consume judging from the size of the packaging." Ye Bin added in a monotonous voice, internally struggling to resist the smell of the  delicacies inside the box, wafting through her nose.

"Just enjoy it." Ju Ho shoved the box into Ye Bin's hands and flashed a thousand watt smile.

Ye Bin's eyes scrunched up in confusion as the guy hurtled down the stairs. It low-key looked like he had just confessed to his high school crush and immediately fled the scene.

It surely made her uncomfortable knowing that he was aware of her, living at the United States in the past. A seedy looking apartment and a neighbour who evidently loved long-winded sentences irked her to a great extent internally.

She surely needed to ask the landlord for some improvement in the living standards. However, when the face of the old grumpy man came to her mind, she shrugged off the thought. There was no way that man was going to help her. Probably, the year wouldn't really be a leeway for her.

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[Word Count: 1922]