20

kankedort

(an awkward situation or affair)

8th August, 2019

THE rudiments that are required to make one's way to the washing machine, of a Korean laundromat were quite unknown to Ye Bin. She had almost been trampled by the mass of middle-aged women trying to get the filthy undergarments of their husbands washed for the next week.

She was almost tempted to go outside and take a deep breath but it was quite risky to do so. After a long tiring hour, she had managed to reach towards one of the washing machines. If only the two human beings infront of her got their jobs done quickly, she was definitely getting out within the next hour.

As she gazed at the window longingly, she spotted the familiar figure of Han Ju Ho getting inside the laundromat.

"What are you doing here?" he was quick to locate her.

"Doing my laundry, obviously." she didn't meet his gaze.

"I spotted you from outside." he scratched his head. "I thought that you are saving your money."

"Commissions and requests keep flowing in." she stated, a beam of happiness radiating in her eyes momentarily. "I am doing quite well."

"That's good." he paused for a few seconds before continuing. "I was hoping to talk to you."

Ye Bin could bet on a million won that her heart was about to jump out of her ribcage. It was throbbing louder than the previous night. She could not avoid the topic forever afterall.

When Ye Bin had pulled out her lips from his, she had seen the same desire in his eyes. It felt like a feverish dream to get him to look at her in that way.

However, a cursed phonecall had to ruin everything. Ju Ho had to excuse himself to go outside. Obviously, another useless blogger from Seoul had shown up. Ye Bin had waited for him but had to give up on seeing him because he didn't show up again.

It was happening at the wrong place.

"Sure. Go on." she nodded approvingly, trying to maintain a certain degree of coolness in her voice.

It was not that they were drunk when they went for a kiss. There was little chance for it to be a 'mistake'. If she remembered it correctly, both of them had confessed to each other. She knew nothing about how they were going to label themselves. There was a definite approval in his body language the day before. Ju Ho didn't look like someone who would go for a casual relationship.

"About the kiss, last night..." he drew in a sharp breath as he tried to look into her eyes.

Ye Bin curled her fingers into a fist, chewing her bottom lips anxiously. Ju Ho scanned her face, not daring to speak another word.

"What's with the tension?" Ye Bin tried to laugh, her voice sounding croaky suddenly.

"Uh, right." Ju Ho grinned furtively. "Well, I was hoping to bring up this topic sooner or later but since we are here right now, we should talk it out. I'm really sorry for ruining the moment yesterday."

A sharp tap on her shoulder blade made Ye Bin look behind, only to meet a pair of burning eyes and creased forehead of the woman standing behind her.

"If you two are going to stand there and not do your laundry, please give us the chance to do ours." the middle-aged woman pleaded.

Ye Bin realised that they were standing right infront of one of the washing machines and occupying the space without proper explanation. With a quick apology, she motioned Ju Ho to talk to her outside.

Ju Ho nodded silently, following her lead as she pushed open the door of the laundromat to stand under the roof.

"Do you want to say that it was a mistake or something?" she voiced out her concern, making sure to add a pinch of sarcasm.

"No, not at all. I really hope that it's mutual. I do like you and would like to take you out if you are willing to." Ju Ho said quickly, the words in the last sentence almost overlapping with each other.

"You scared me for a second." Ye Bin rubbed her temples. "It is mutual. I would love to go out with you."

"Really?" Ju Ho exclaimed, earning glances from the pedestrians on the road.

"Keep it down." Ye Bin urged, quite embarassed. "Are you going to let the entire world know?"

"Do you want to go home together?" he suggested and pointed towards his cycle which was parked nearby.

"What about my laundry? Don't you have yours too?"

"No. I don't bring my laundry during weekends. Have you seen the crowd? Monday mornings are the best for doing laundry. Well, thanks to me you have lost your chance there." he pointed at the window to show her the crowd.

"I can just do it tomorrow then. What's the best time?" she enquired.

"Come before seven. People are occupied with preparing themselves to go to work. You will easily get everything done." he instructed like someone with a lot of experience as he promenaded along the pavement, to reach his cycle and get it unlocked.

Ye Bin followed him closely, holding onto her bag of unwashed clothes. The basket infront of his cycle held some of the most beautiful daffodils she had ever seen.

"Hop on." Ju Ho beckoned her to sit behind him. "Give that bag to me."

Ye Bin nodded as she settled on the backseat carefully and let Ju Ho adjust her bag infront of his cycle.

"Are those for your shop?" she asked as her hands reached for his shoulder blades for support.

Ju Ho felt his heart and stomach jump together as her hand made contact with his body. His voice wavered as he let her know of a positive response to her question.

The ride back to their house seemed too be quite a short trip. If Ye Bin remembered correctly, their house was pretty far from the laundromat.

"Thank you for the ride, Ju Ho." she gave him a light tap on the back to show her gratitude.

"Ye Bin." he called as soon as she started ascending the staircase.

Ye Bin had to turn around to answer his call with a little hum and a raised eyebrow.

"This is for you." he displayed a daffodil stick infront of her eyes.

"I appreciate it." she smiled. "Thank you."

"When did you start liking me?" he asked, twisting his toes nervously inside his shoes.

"What's with the question?" Ye Bin laughed, catching onto the details of how shy he was acting suddenly.

"Just answer the question." he requested politely, with a tone of urgency.

"Maybe the day you showed up at my house, dressed like a clown." she drawled. "Or, maybe the day we went to buy art supplies. It could also be the day when we were lying on the grass of the canola field."

Ju Ho snickered, putting his hand over his mouth to hide how giddy he was looking.

"Why are you laughing?" Ye Bin scoffed.

"I'm just happy. Am I not allowed to?" he made a face, sticking out his tongue.

"Goodness." she sighed, not quite hiding the big curve formed by her lips.

She proceeded to plod her way upstairs, the smile on her lips not showing the signs to disappear anytime soon. It took her quite the effort to sit infront of her canvas. She found herself dwelling in the replays of her recent memories surfacing in her brain and occassionally looking at the daffodil resting in a plain pink vase.

A loud rapping on her door after a couple of hours got Ye Bin to reach for the door again.

"What is it?" she enquired as she met the familiar smily eyes of Ju Ho. 

"Open your mouth." he demanded and stuffed a mini croissant as soon as she did after a moment of hesitation.

"Did you come all the way upstairs just to put this in my mouth?" she managed to say as her teeth worked on mincing the croissant into smaller pieces. 

"I just wanted an excuse to see you. This is the first croissant of my first batch for today." he removed some of the tiny flakes of the croissant, from the corner of her lips.

"It's really good. We just saw each other. Wasn't that enough?" she quipped, not really meaning what she said .

"Not really. Actually, I'm here to invite you for dinner." Ju Ho added shyly.

"Right now?" Ye Bin peeked outside to look at the colour of the sky, which told her that it was barely noon.

"No, around ten. I'll be closing the bakery by then. I'll pick you up. Do you have any specific place that you want to visit?" Ju Ho asked, expectantly.

"I don't think so. How about we eat at our residence? Like we can eat the food at my place. Or maybe use the backyard. I can do with some leftovers too. You seem quite busy today."

"We can definitely do that. I had no idea that you would like to dine indoors. I will order something then."

"Well, I run out of my social battery pretty quick. I like it quiet and intimate. I hope that you wouldn't mind. It will save us money, time and also give us privacy."

"That's true." he mused thinking about the prospect positively. "What would you like to have for dinner?"

"It's completely upto you. You are pretty much familiar with my taste buds, I believe."

"You can trust me with that, madam." Ju Ho bowed dramatically. "I'll set up a table for you at the backyard. Would you like it that way?'

"Sure." she laughed.

"Be ready by ten. I'll personally escort you." he winked.

"Go, handle your bakery." she pushed him lightly. "Your fans might dump me somewhere unknown if they see you acting so chummy here."

"It's highly unlikely. I'm physically stronger. I'll rescue you easily." he rolled one of the short sleeves of his shirt to show her his muscles.

"Get out." she laughed as she closed the door right on his face.

It wasn't until the clock struck ten that she heard a soft knock on the door. Taking a deep breath, she ventured towards the door, making sure to check herself out for the last time in the mirror.

"You look lovely." Ju Ho drew in a sharp breath as his eyes rivetted on her from head to toe.

"Why are you in a suit -" Ye Bin could barely think anything.

Han Ju Ho was totally decked up in black. He even got a matching blazer which was neatly hugging his physique. It was probably the first time she was seeing a section of his hair tied loosely with a hair tie.

It was a disaster. She was dressed in just an upgraded version of her usual casual attires and he was adorning a complete formal look. She had spent the last few hours infront of her mirror and cupboard, trying on different types of fabrics and layers. However, all her time and efforts went in vain.

She had instinctively pulled out one of her hoarded ancient dresses, a lovely black midi made of tweed. However, she had pushed it back to the far end of the cupboard again because it did not seem suitable for just a casual dinner.

When Ye Bin had finally decided on settling for a plain yellow chiffon blouse with a pair of white trousers, her entire room had been transformed into something less than a pigpen. Every single piece of clothing she owned was either lying on the floor or kept messily inside her cupboard.

"I wanted to look dashing so I got this suit ironed." he lifted his hands dramatically as he put on a smug smile. He looked least bothered about how they were not fitting in a particular dress code.

"I should have bothered to ask you beforehand. I thought that it would be too much of I put on something fancy. We are staying inside, afterall."

"Who cares?" he clicked his tongue. "If you dress up, you would look beautiful. If you don't, you would still look beautiful. Now, mademoiselle if you would like me to escort you to your table, please hold my hand."

Ju Ho held out his right hand, before grinning at her. As her hand slipped onto his, the entire fiasco about their dresses left her mind instantly. He made sure to descend slowly, occassionally turning around to make sure that she was comfortable.

Ju Ho did not let go of her hand and proceeded to walk briskly with her towards the backyard. A cool zephyr kissed Ye Bin's skin and she felt jittery. She couldn't help but wonder whether it was because of the air or it was just the physical contact.

"Wow." she gasped as soon as she spotted the table he had arranged for her.

A wooden table was resting on the mat of grasses, set up aptly with a white table cloth with symmetrical designs. The branches of the nearby trees looked like hosts who were holding strings of fairy lights to guide them.

"When did you find the time to set these up?" she was not expecting Ju Ho to be so efficient when arranging for a dinner table.

"Don't worry about that. Have a seat." he pushed back a chair lightly and let her occupy it.

There were a few packets of sealed food resting at the corner and two ceramic plates and glasses placed infront of the chairs.

"I have something to tell you which I couldn't yesterday." he shifted uncomfortably in his chair, drawing Ye Bin's attention.

"What is it now?"

"Ye Bin," he said softly. "I hope that you know that I don't mind whatever you have going on in your life. We all have our own problems to look after and it is completely fine to be vocal about it. However, don't think that you're not worth it. I couldn't say much yesterday because I was too caught up by my anxiety. Your ring really had a great effect on me."

"That's comforting to hear. I appreciate your efforts to always reach out to me." she pressed her lips together, her head bobbing in the process.

"I am glad that you are not married. I mean it." he held her hand gently again. "I promise that I'll make up for everything that went wrong with you. I really do like you."

"It's alright. I don't resent anyone. Circumstances are to be blamed. Also, the good thing is I shifted here and meet you. Everything is linked."

"True." he nodded.

"Thank you." she gently rubbed the surface of his hand, not quite looking at him directly.

"Why?"

"For arranging all these. You must have been really busy today. I added onto that. We should have just gone outside to eat."

"Don't apologise." he tightened his grip on her wrist which made her look at him. "It took me less than an hour to set up everything. The food is quite simple too. I can definitely do better."

"You did enough. I'll be the one ordering next time." she assured as she lent her hands to unpack everything.

Ye Bin's eyes rested on Ju Ho as he put the accurate portion of rice cakes on her plate. He was definitely a wild card in her life. Someone who was completely moulding her into the person she wished to be.

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