[MULTI-CHAPTER FIC] LOVELY COMPLEX (8/?)
Title: Lovely Complex
Pairing: Dara/Jae-joong
Character(s): the rest of DBSK and appearances from SM and YG Family
Rating: PG
Genre: Gender-bender, Drama, Romance, Comedy, Angst, AU
Chapter eight ~ Vertigo
“Oppa?!” Jae-joong hurriedly went to Shin’s side.
He kneeled on the floor and moved closer towards him. He pulled Shin onto his shoulders and patted his cheeks. Shin, on the other hand, rubbed her forehead and was silently enduring the throbbing of her temples and the pain on her back caused by him fainting and falling on the floor.
“What’s the matter?” Jae-hwa asked as she proceeded to stroke Shin’s brow. She was surprised for she felt Shin’s temperature hotter than the normal one, implicating that he too, was suffering from fever, “Ya?! How did this happen? Oppa!”
“I’m d - drowsy… and my head’sh ‘bout to bursht! Owwww,” Shin grumbled as she continued to rub her temples; her words slurred.
Jae-joong noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from Shin.
He’s drunk? He was sick and drunk at the same time! How the hell did this happen!?
“Oppa, I’m asking you what happened!” Jae-hwa commanded for him to answer.
Shin turned her head to look at Jae-hwa and she smiled coyly, “Worried? Oppa jusht had eight shotsh of shoju -! Not to worry, there’sh nothing to worry,” she even placed her right hand over her chest as if making an oath, but it only intensified the fact that she was indeed in a drunk state.
Annoyed, Jae-joong pulled Shin’s hand, raised it around his neck and placed it over his shoulder. Then he started to wrap his other arm around Shin’s waist and pulled him closer to his body, “You’re drunk Oppa, in case you needed to be told off… and in almost four hours, you acquired a fever and you came back drunk! How the hell am I supposed to stay cool after all these?” and with all his might he pulled himself and Shin to a standing position, “and you just had eight shots of soju*, you really can’t handle alcohol too well, can you? Why drink in the first place Oppa?”
“Ahjussish… the Ahjussish in the pojangmacha I went to buy tteok - tteokbokki and gimbap won’t let me go unlessh I take a shot… and I had one shot glassh of shoju… then another one, and another one, that makesh three, and they inshishted I drink shome more and I obliged to make myself warm. It was cold outshide! I told you I hate shtaying outdoorsh -!”
Jae-joong just shook his head in disbelief while he adjusted Shin’s weight to his own body weight as he carried him forward. Shin just continued narrating what happened to him as they entered the flat.
“Then I had another shot, all in all that’sh four already… then another one, the Ahjussish were pretty pershishtent, I don’t know why. They sheemed to be particularly happy that I’m obeying them and sho I took another shot of my own accord to make them even more happy. And I wash right; they were all pleashed with my action. Hey… hash thish floor of your apartment b - been thish lopshided before?” Shin recounted in an awkward singsong voice.
“Oppa… shut up,” Jae-hwa ordered. Shin looked at her absentmindedly but nevertheless, nodded several times and even put his index finger on his lips to emphasize that he had understood her.
Meanwhile, Jae-hwa was having a hard time balancing her pace with Shin’s, because the man was really short compared to her towering height; she was dressed in a huge flimsy pajama that made all her actions rough too, and to drag him while his short arm stretched all the way from her neck to her shoulder, she needed to be in control and avoid unnecessary movements from both of them so as not to hurt Shin or lose her balance that would make them fall face flat on the floor. Afterwards they made their way to Jae-hwa’s room silently. Once they got inside, Jae-joong assisted Shin to lie down on his bed. He arranged the bed sheets and the blankets to provide him comfort. Shin then momentarily closed his eyes. Jae-joong sat on the other side of the bed and leaned his body forward to reach for Shin’s forehead. He placed his hand over Shin’s brow, unaware of the fact that it provided a soothing sensation to the latter one. After that, he concluded that Shin’s fever won’t subside too soon, so he stood up and decided to bring a basin of warm water and towels to make the fever go down. He was about to do just that when Shin stopped him.
“Don’t…”
“Oppa?”
“…leave me… Don’t leave,” Shin begged in a small voice.
“Of course I won’t… I just need to get a towel and some fever cooling pads for you Oppa,” Jae-hwa explained.
“Then… hurry back,” Shin’s face was too pale, it was starting to worry Jae-joong.
“Understood,” Jae-hwa walked several steps more before turning around to glance at Shin again, “now don’t you dare vomit on my bed Oppa!”
Shin nodded obediently.
For a second there, he had this particular look, like a small child anxious on whether he would be allowed to go to his parents’ trip…
Along the entrance hall, Jae-joong picked the bags of tteokbokki and gimbap that they had forgotten to bring along earlier, and then he went to the kitchen to boil some water. After he had placed the kettle on the stove, he put the tteokbokki and gimbap on their respective plates. He shoved three pieces of tteokbokki inside his mouth before going to the bathroom to find a small basin and hand towels.
Ahhh. I haven’t had any of these for a long time. The tteokbokki in Segok-dong are really the best in Gangnam-gu!
Jae-joong went back to the kitchen to check if the water’s already boiling. He decided to brew some tea since Shin needed to sober up and eat some food before he could take a medicine for his fever. He carefully poured a considerable amount of hot water in the basin before filling almost half of the container with tap water. After he checked the temperature of the water, he then went to the medicine cabinet near the refrigerator and looked for cooling pads as well as a tablet of Advil. He prepared all the things that he needed to aid Shin and placed it on a tray. Once done, he walked briskly back to his room. Jae-joong tiptoed towards his bed. From the looks of it, he figured that Shin was taking a nap, so entered and walked across the room without a sound. As he placed the tray on the bedside table, he immediately pulled the long sleeves of his pajama and rolled it up to his elbow to make him comfortable, and so that he could move at ease. He dipped half of the hand towel on the basin with warm water and gently sat beside Shin.
“I’m back Oppa…” Jae-joong then proceeded to swab the wet-side of the hand towel on Shin’s face tenderly.
He really has a unique face, huh. From an up-close look, this guy’s facial features seemed so feminine but then once he opened his eyes, all the fierceness and coldness just ooze out.
Jae-joong’s gaze fell to Shin’s lips. He suddenly swallowed a lump on his throat as he remembered something that he had tried so hard to bury inside his brain. As a reflex, he abruptly pressed the towel hard on Shin’s neck that made the man jerk and cough at the same time. Shin scrunched his face, his eyes remained close as he spoke, “Ya! You’ve got an iron for a hand? Couldn’t you be gentler?” he criticized.
“Sorry Oppa… but you should be thankful at least that I’m doing all these for you Oppa! I’ve never done this to the boys -”
“Boys?” Shin murmured.
“Ah, I mean… I’ve never done something to this extent to my brothers before. Well for one, they never came back home sick and drunk at the same time, you know,” Jae-hwa said as she put a fever cooling pad on her forehead.
Shin just let Jae-hwa’s sarcastic remark passed. She couldn’t find any more strength to refute. The throbbing of her temples and the shaky feeling continued to linger despite the fact that what Jae-hwa had been doing was comforting her.
“Now Oppa, get up and drink this tea that I’ve prepared for you. It’ll help you sober up and will make you feel better,” Jae-hwa tapped Shin’s shoulders and helped him get up into a sitting position. She even arranged the pillows and placed it on Shin’s back. Shin, for the moment, took the cup of tea that she saw on the bed side table. She took a while to let the aroma of the tea seeped into her senses before deciding to drink it. And true to Jae-hwa’s words, though there was a bitter and spicy aftertaste to it, the tea brought a warm and relaxing sensation to her body, even momentarily stopping the pain on her forehead. The dizziness was starting to subside too.
“I’m… I’m hungry,” Shin blurted out of a sudden to Jae-hwa, her eyebrows crossed in confusion. The addressed woman, who was watching her attentively, gave a smile.
“Not drunk anymore? I was kind of expecting that,” she said, “that’s the normal response I get from people who drank that tea that I made… well then, Oppa, what do you want?”
“I don’t know what I want right now.”
Jae-hwa looked at her probingly, “then, I guess porridge should be alright for a patient like you.”
Shin thought for some time before nodding her head.
“Okay, wait here. Take some nap first; it’ll take me a while to prepare for something like that.”
But before Jae-hwa could go, Shin held her hand, “S - sorry. I, I was supposed to take care of you… and not the other way around,” she apologized while avoiding Jae-hwa’s stare at her.
Jae-joong who understood the situation raised his free hand to touch his forehead and he even put the back of his hand to his neck as if checking for his temperature before he proceeded to say to him, “I guess my fever went down already. And I just ate tteokbokki a while ago too, while preparing for your tea. So you see Oppa, I’m okay now. Really… all I need are street foods and BAM! I’ll be fine as hell,” he persuaded him, “Well then, I’ll leave you for now…”
After an hour or so, Jae-joong walked in with another tray on his hands, this time it has a bowl of porridge and several other side dishes on it.
“Oppa… Oppa!” Jae-hwa called for Shin’s attention.
Is he in deep sleep already?
He placed the tray on the other bed side table and sat on Shin’s left side. He noticed that Shin was perspiring a lot. He touched Shin’s cheeks.
Aish. His fever hasn’t gone down yet. And he needed to change clothes too, it’s bad for him to lie in bed all covered with sweat, he may develop cough due to this. What should I do?
Jae-joong considered waking up Shin but he wanted him to rest some more. In the end, he took the matter on his own and gently pulled the blanket covering Shin, as well as Shin’s own jacket. He had carefully stripped it from Shin’s body as he was all fours on the bed now. Then he proceeded to unbutton Shin’s polo shirt. Jae-joong’s hands were shaking a bit as he tried to unbutton the third one, but then, all of a sudden Shin’s eyes jutted open and he abruptly grasped Jae-joong’s hands, which made the latter one shudder in surprise.
“Can’t,” Shin said.
“Eh?”
“What I mean is… you can’t,” Shin replied in a self-conscious manner.
“Eh? Oppa? Y - You might be misunderstanding me… I, I was just undressing you because you need to change clothes s - since you’re sweating… and, and…” Jae-hwa was stuttering, she looked down at Shin and looked sideways, only to find that they were both in an awkward position. She was basically on top of him, crouched on all fours, and any person who woke up to see someone at that particular position would surely misunderstand, worse, exaggerate.
“I didn’t know… you had it in you. I always thought that you are an innocent rose, but then again, roses have their own fair share of thorns,” Shin mocked Jae-hwa.
“I h - had it in me? Me, a rose? You don’t mean to say -!” Jae-hwa looked at Shin’s eyes; they were brightly teasing her, “Aish… seemed like you still have the strength to make fun of me despite having fever, huh, Oppa!” and she struggled to break loose from Shin’s grip. Jae-hwa backed away from her and went out of the room again.
That was close. Shin thought as she rose from Jae-hwa’s bed. If she had gone any further, then she would have seen my… And Shin hanged onto her breast.
Just a couple of minutes, Jae-hwa was back again; she was clutching pieces of clothes.
“Here, take this Oppa. Hurry and change into this.”
“This is from?” Shin asked Jae-hwa as she scrambled out of bed and reached for it.
“I took it from my dongsaeng-ie’s closet. Don’t worry, he won’t notice that’s something missing from his closet since those were already old, and I think only those would best suit your frame because your lean and quite small to be honest,” Jae-hwa replied.
“What?” Shin bawled, looking up at her. They were both standing beside the bed.
“It’s a fact, right?” Jae-hwa declared with a smile as she looked down on her, arms crossed.
“Tsss,” was all Shin could reply. Her eyebrows met and she glanced at Jae-hwa piercingly. Then she snatched the clothes from Jae-hwa’s hands and walked away.
“Oh, the bathroom is located at the right side, once you passed the living room and spotted the dining area, you’ll immediately see it.”
Shin did not bother turning around to thank Jae-hwa.
Heh. It really feels so good to tease him.
Inside the bathroom, Shin was standing near the sink and currently splashing her face with running water from the faucet.
I almost got caught… Will I… be able to continue hiding my identity from Jae-hwa or to anyone else here in Korea? But then… if I would just turn my back from all these, whatever happened to all the years that I have lived as a man? I basically trained all my life just to hide my true self and I didn’t put up with all those hardships for nothing.
Shin gazed at her reflection on the wide mirror above the sink for a long time. Then her eyes fell to the used fever cooling pad on the marble side of the self-rimming sink. It reminded her of Jae-hwa’s care and patience.
I could do this, as long as I work hard… as long as I want to.
She then unbuttoned her shirt and removed it. If there’s one thing that Shin always lamented in disguising herself as a man, then breast binding would be it. It’s a method she learned when she was in her adolescent stage, way back in middle school. For her, it’s the most troublesome thing she always had to do, save the fact that it became her basis as to why her breasts remained small as years passed. She was even afraid that it may cause breast cancer in the future, that’s why she really didn’t enjoy going out, because in that situation, she constantly have to prepare herself and worry if the layer of tight-fitting clothing around her sports bra would loosen. She sighed as she shook her body to check whether the wrap is securely placed around her breast. Seemingly not satisfied, she pulled the ends of the clothing once more and finally connected the hook and eye to lock it. Shin inhaled and then put on the shirt that Jae-hwa gave to her. She glanced at her reflection once again, and then decided to go out of the bathroom.
(v)(v)(v)(v)(v)
“What? You didn’t like any of the foods I cooked?” Jae-hwa said in perplexity.
“I didn’t say that.”
“But… Oppa, you only nibbled one spoon from each of the dishes I made! I thought you’re hungry?”
“I am… but… it’s been so long since I last tasted any Korean dish, maybe my taste buds are adjusting. I really don’t feel like eating them now. Please don’t misunderstand,” Shin laid her chopsticks on the tray and placed it back to the bedside table along with the other foods on it.
Last tasted? What did he mean by that?
“I guess I’ll just have to sleep for now,” Shin declared.
“But you need to eat something first before you could take your medicine,” Jae-hwa reprimanded.
Shin who was lying already on Jae-hwa’s bed hurriedly reached for the Advil and thrust it inside her mouth. Though with difficulty, she swallowed the medicine nonetheless.
“Ya! Oppa! Aish… why do you have to be so stubborn, huh?” Jae-hwa went to her side to scold her but Shin turned the other way and covered her body with the blanket.
“Fine! Let’s have it your way then!” Jae-joong took the tray containing the foods he cooked and went to the corner of the room. He placed the tray on the round end table next to his comfortable fabric chaise longue. He reclined on it with much ease and continued to munch the side dishes he prepared for Shin.
Let’s wait and see who’ll suffer later due to hunger, hmph.
As he finished eating them all, he decided to play games using his smartphone to let the time pass by. Nightfall already set in and with a heartily meal Jae-joong just had, it made him sleepy all of a sudden. The quietness in the room did not do any help to him to keep his eyes open and the fact that he couldn’t leave Shin alone in the room added to the monotony of things. In a matter of minutes, Jae-joong’s eyes became droopy and he already stifled a lot of yawns beforehand. He began to fall asleep a moment too soon.
(v)(v)(v)(v)(v)
Jae-joong woke up on the sound of the door bell ringing. He opened his eyes regrettably and stretched his body before standing up. He walked over to his bed to see how Shin was faring. He examined his face and saw that he was sleeping peacefully as he based it on Shin’s rhythmical breathing. He placed his hand on Shin’s forehead again to feel his temperature.
No change as before? He’s still too hot…. What should I do?
Jae-joong seized another fever cooling pad on the bed side table and positioned it on Shin’s forehead. After that he proceeded to leave him to see the person pushing their apartment’s doorbell. He glanced at the digital wall clock along their hallway; it indicated that the time is already past ten o’ clock.
I thought they’re going to come back tomorrow? But then they have their keys with them, there’s no use to ring the doorbell. If it’s not them, then who would visit us in such a late and critical time?
These thoughts clouded the still sleepy Jae-joong. He noticed that the person outside was growing impatient due to that person’s nonstop ringing of the bell. It intensified his curiosity so he rushed his self towards the entrance hall. He even forgot to check the LCD revealing the person outside the entrance door in all his haste.
“Boojaejoong!” an amused woman greeted him as he opened the door wide. She seemed unfazed on Jae-joong’s current disguise and her unwavering smile suggested that she was expecting that kind of get-up from him; she even raised both of her eyebrows twice in delight. Jae-joong on the other side felt like cold water was splashed on him. He became alerted at the sight of the laughing woman in front of him. He instantly closed the door in panic.
“Ya! Jae-joongie! Don’t do this to me!” the woman shouted from the other side.
Apparently, she managed to push the door in time so as not to be completely shut behind. Now she was struggling with all her might as both she and Jae-joong pushed the door.
“It’s late! Yu-cheon’s not here… come back tomorrow!” Jae-joong whispered at her. He was worried that Shin may wake up due to their bickering.
“I know... I know! I didn’t come to see him! I came to check up on you… and to see Shin Oppa again!”
“What… What did you say Bom noona?” Jae-joong lose the urge to close the door again.
He was in utter confusion.
“I’ll explain once I get to taste something that you cooked,” and Bom snickered.
*Soju is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter due to the sugars added in the manufacturing process, and more commonly consumed neat (from Wiki)
Pairing: Dara/Jae-joong
Character(s): the rest of DBSK and appearances from SM and YG Family
Rating: PG
Genre: Gender-bender, Drama, Romance, Comedy, Angst, AU
Chapter eight ~ Vertigo
“Oppa?!” Jae-joong hurriedly went to Shin’s side.
He kneeled on the floor and moved closer towards him. He pulled Shin onto his shoulders and patted his cheeks. Shin, on the other hand, rubbed her forehead and was silently enduring the throbbing of her temples and the pain on her back caused by him fainting and falling on the floor.
“What’s the matter?” Jae-hwa asked as she proceeded to stroke Shin’s brow. She was surprised for she felt Shin’s temperature hotter than the normal one, implicating that he too, was suffering from fever, “Ya?! How did this happen? Oppa!”
“I’m d - drowsy… and my head’sh ‘bout to bursht! Owwww,” Shin grumbled as she continued to rub her temples; her words slurred.
Jae-joong noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from Shin.
He’s drunk? He was sick and drunk at the same time! How the hell did this happen!?
“Oppa, I’m asking you what happened!” Jae-hwa commanded for him to answer.
Shin turned her head to look at Jae-hwa and she smiled coyly, “Worried? Oppa jusht had eight shotsh of shoju -! Not to worry, there’sh nothing to worry,” she even placed her right hand over her chest as if making an oath, but it only intensified the fact that she was indeed in a drunk state.
Annoyed, Jae-joong pulled Shin’s hand, raised it around his neck and placed it over his shoulder. Then he started to wrap his other arm around Shin’s waist and pulled him closer to his body, “You’re drunk Oppa, in case you needed to be told off… and in almost four hours, you acquired a fever and you came back drunk! How the hell am I supposed to stay cool after all these?” and with all his might he pulled himself and Shin to a standing position, “and you just had eight shots of soju*, you really can’t handle alcohol too well, can you? Why drink in the first place Oppa?”
“Ahjussish… the Ahjussish in the pojangmacha I went to buy tteok - tteokbokki and gimbap won’t let me go unlessh I take a shot… and I had one shot glassh of shoju… then another one, and another one, that makesh three, and they inshishted I drink shome more and I obliged to make myself warm. It was cold outshide! I told you I hate shtaying outdoorsh -!”
Jae-joong just shook his head in disbelief while he adjusted Shin’s weight to his own body weight as he carried him forward. Shin just continued narrating what happened to him as they entered the flat.
“Then I had another shot, all in all that’sh four already… then another one, the Ahjussish were pretty pershishtent, I don’t know why. They sheemed to be particularly happy that I’m obeying them and sho I took another shot of my own accord to make them even more happy. And I wash right; they were all pleashed with my action. Hey… hash thish floor of your apartment b - been thish lopshided before?” Shin recounted in an awkward singsong voice.
“Oppa… shut up,” Jae-hwa ordered. Shin looked at her absentmindedly but nevertheless, nodded several times and even put his index finger on his lips to emphasize that he had understood her.
Meanwhile, Jae-hwa was having a hard time balancing her pace with Shin’s, because the man was really short compared to her towering height; she was dressed in a huge flimsy pajama that made all her actions rough too, and to drag him while his short arm stretched all the way from her neck to her shoulder, she needed to be in control and avoid unnecessary movements from both of them so as not to hurt Shin or lose her balance that would make them fall face flat on the floor. Afterwards they made their way to Jae-hwa’s room silently. Once they got inside, Jae-joong assisted Shin to lie down on his bed. He arranged the bed sheets and the blankets to provide him comfort. Shin then momentarily closed his eyes. Jae-joong sat on the other side of the bed and leaned his body forward to reach for Shin’s forehead. He placed his hand over Shin’s brow, unaware of the fact that it provided a soothing sensation to the latter one. After that, he concluded that Shin’s fever won’t subside too soon, so he stood up and decided to bring a basin of warm water and towels to make the fever go down. He was about to do just that when Shin stopped him.
“Don’t…”
“Oppa?”
“…leave me… Don’t leave,” Shin begged in a small voice.
“Of course I won’t… I just need to get a towel and some fever cooling pads for you Oppa,” Jae-hwa explained.
“Then… hurry back,” Shin’s face was too pale, it was starting to worry Jae-joong.
“Understood,” Jae-hwa walked several steps more before turning around to glance at Shin again, “now don’t you dare vomit on my bed Oppa!”
Shin nodded obediently.
For a second there, he had this particular look, like a small child anxious on whether he would be allowed to go to his parents’ trip…
Along the entrance hall, Jae-joong picked the bags of tteokbokki and gimbap that they had forgotten to bring along earlier, and then he went to the kitchen to boil some water. After he had placed the kettle on the stove, he put the tteokbokki and gimbap on their respective plates. He shoved three pieces of tteokbokki inside his mouth before going to the bathroom to find a small basin and hand towels.
Ahhh. I haven’t had any of these for a long time. The tteokbokki in Segok-dong are really the best in Gangnam-gu!
Jae-joong went back to the kitchen to check if the water’s already boiling. He decided to brew some tea since Shin needed to sober up and eat some food before he could take a medicine for his fever. He carefully poured a considerable amount of hot water in the basin before filling almost half of the container with tap water. After he checked the temperature of the water, he then went to the medicine cabinet near the refrigerator and looked for cooling pads as well as a tablet of Advil. He prepared all the things that he needed to aid Shin and placed it on a tray. Once done, he walked briskly back to his room. Jae-joong tiptoed towards his bed. From the looks of it, he figured that Shin was taking a nap, so entered and walked across the room without a sound. As he placed the tray on the bedside table, he immediately pulled the long sleeves of his pajama and rolled it up to his elbow to make him comfortable, and so that he could move at ease. He dipped half of the hand towel on the basin with warm water and gently sat beside Shin.
“I’m back Oppa…” Jae-joong then proceeded to swab the wet-side of the hand towel on Shin’s face tenderly.
He really has a unique face, huh. From an up-close look, this guy’s facial features seemed so feminine but then once he opened his eyes, all the fierceness and coldness just ooze out.
Jae-joong’s gaze fell to Shin’s lips. He suddenly swallowed a lump on his throat as he remembered something that he had tried so hard to bury inside his brain. As a reflex, he abruptly pressed the towel hard on Shin’s neck that made the man jerk and cough at the same time. Shin scrunched his face, his eyes remained close as he spoke, “Ya! You’ve got an iron for a hand? Couldn’t you be gentler?” he criticized.
“Sorry Oppa… but you should be thankful at least that I’m doing all these for you Oppa! I’ve never done this to the boys -”
“Boys?” Shin murmured.
“Ah, I mean… I’ve never done something to this extent to my brothers before. Well for one, they never came back home sick and drunk at the same time, you know,” Jae-hwa said as she put a fever cooling pad on her forehead.
Shin just let Jae-hwa’s sarcastic remark passed. She couldn’t find any more strength to refute. The throbbing of her temples and the shaky feeling continued to linger despite the fact that what Jae-hwa had been doing was comforting her.
“Now Oppa, get up and drink this tea that I’ve prepared for you. It’ll help you sober up and will make you feel better,” Jae-hwa tapped Shin’s shoulders and helped him get up into a sitting position. She even arranged the pillows and placed it on Shin’s back. Shin, for the moment, took the cup of tea that she saw on the bed side table. She took a while to let the aroma of the tea seeped into her senses before deciding to drink it. And true to Jae-hwa’s words, though there was a bitter and spicy aftertaste to it, the tea brought a warm and relaxing sensation to her body, even momentarily stopping the pain on her forehead. The dizziness was starting to subside too.
“I’m… I’m hungry,” Shin blurted out of a sudden to Jae-hwa, her eyebrows crossed in confusion. The addressed woman, who was watching her attentively, gave a smile.
“Not drunk anymore? I was kind of expecting that,” she said, “that’s the normal response I get from people who drank that tea that I made… well then, Oppa, what do you want?”
“I don’t know what I want right now.”
Jae-hwa looked at her probingly, “then, I guess porridge should be alright for a patient like you.”
Shin thought for some time before nodding her head.
“Okay, wait here. Take some nap first; it’ll take me a while to prepare for something like that.”
But before Jae-hwa could go, Shin held her hand, “S - sorry. I, I was supposed to take care of you… and not the other way around,” she apologized while avoiding Jae-hwa’s stare at her.
Jae-joong who understood the situation raised his free hand to touch his forehead and he even put the back of his hand to his neck as if checking for his temperature before he proceeded to say to him, “I guess my fever went down already. And I just ate tteokbokki a while ago too, while preparing for your tea. So you see Oppa, I’m okay now. Really… all I need are street foods and BAM! I’ll be fine as hell,” he persuaded him, “Well then, I’ll leave you for now…”
After an hour or so, Jae-joong walked in with another tray on his hands, this time it has a bowl of porridge and several other side dishes on it.
“Oppa… Oppa!” Jae-hwa called for Shin’s attention.
Is he in deep sleep already?
He placed the tray on the other bed side table and sat on Shin’s left side. He noticed that Shin was perspiring a lot. He touched Shin’s cheeks.
Aish. His fever hasn’t gone down yet. And he needed to change clothes too, it’s bad for him to lie in bed all covered with sweat, he may develop cough due to this. What should I do?
Jae-joong considered waking up Shin but he wanted him to rest some more. In the end, he took the matter on his own and gently pulled the blanket covering Shin, as well as Shin’s own jacket. He had carefully stripped it from Shin’s body as he was all fours on the bed now. Then he proceeded to unbutton Shin’s polo shirt. Jae-joong’s hands were shaking a bit as he tried to unbutton the third one, but then, all of a sudden Shin’s eyes jutted open and he abruptly grasped Jae-joong’s hands, which made the latter one shudder in surprise.
“Can’t,” Shin said.
“Eh?”
“What I mean is… you can’t,” Shin replied in a self-conscious manner.
“Eh? Oppa? Y - You might be misunderstanding me… I, I was just undressing you because you need to change clothes s - since you’re sweating… and, and…” Jae-hwa was stuttering, she looked down at Shin and looked sideways, only to find that they were both in an awkward position. She was basically on top of him, crouched on all fours, and any person who woke up to see someone at that particular position would surely misunderstand, worse, exaggerate.
“I didn’t know… you had it in you. I always thought that you are an innocent rose, but then again, roses have their own fair share of thorns,” Shin mocked Jae-hwa.
“I h - had it in me? Me, a rose? You don’t mean to say -!” Jae-hwa looked at Shin’s eyes; they were brightly teasing her, “Aish… seemed like you still have the strength to make fun of me despite having fever, huh, Oppa!” and she struggled to break loose from Shin’s grip. Jae-hwa backed away from her and went out of the room again.
That was close. Shin thought as she rose from Jae-hwa’s bed. If she had gone any further, then she would have seen my… And Shin hanged onto her breast.
Just a couple of minutes, Jae-hwa was back again; she was clutching pieces of clothes.
“Here, take this Oppa. Hurry and change into this.”
“This is from?” Shin asked Jae-hwa as she scrambled out of bed and reached for it.
“I took it from my dongsaeng-ie’s closet. Don’t worry, he won’t notice that’s something missing from his closet since those were already old, and I think only those would best suit your frame because your lean and quite small to be honest,” Jae-hwa replied.
“What?” Shin bawled, looking up at her. They were both standing beside the bed.
“It’s a fact, right?” Jae-hwa declared with a smile as she looked down on her, arms crossed.
“Tsss,” was all Shin could reply. Her eyebrows met and she glanced at Jae-hwa piercingly. Then she snatched the clothes from Jae-hwa’s hands and walked away.
“Oh, the bathroom is located at the right side, once you passed the living room and spotted the dining area, you’ll immediately see it.”
Shin did not bother turning around to thank Jae-hwa.
Heh. It really feels so good to tease him.
Inside the bathroom, Shin was standing near the sink and currently splashing her face with running water from the faucet.
I almost got caught… Will I… be able to continue hiding my identity from Jae-hwa or to anyone else here in Korea? But then… if I would just turn my back from all these, whatever happened to all the years that I have lived as a man? I basically trained all my life just to hide my true self and I didn’t put up with all those hardships for nothing.
Shin gazed at her reflection on the wide mirror above the sink for a long time. Then her eyes fell to the used fever cooling pad on the marble side of the self-rimming sink. It reminded her of Jae-hwa’s care and patience.
I could do this, as long as I work hard… as long as I want to.
She then unbuttoned her shirt and removed it. If there’s one thing that Shin always lamented in disguising herself as a man, then breast binding would be it. It’s a method she learned when she was in her adolescent stage, way back in middle school. For her, it’s the most troublesome thing she always had to do, save the fact that it became her basis as to why her breasts remained small as years passed. She was even afraid that it may cause breast cancer in the future, that’s why she really didn’t enjoy going out, because in that situation, she constantly have to prepare herself and worry if the layer of tight-fitting clothing around her sports bra would loosen. She sighed as she shook her body to check whether the wrap is securely placed around her breast. Seemingly not satisfied, she pulled the ends of the clothing once more and finally connected the hook and eye to lock it. Shin inhaled and then put on the shirt that Jae-hwa gave to her. She glanced at her reflection once again, and then decided to go out of the bathroom.
(v)(v)(v)(v)(v)
“What? You didn’t like any of the foods I cooked?” Jae-hwa said in perplexity.
“I didn’t say that.”
“But… Oppa, you only nibbled one spoon from each of the dishes I made! I thought you’re hungry?”
“I am… but… it’s been so long since I last tasted any Korean dish, maybe my taste buds are adjusting. I really don’t feel like eating them now. Please don’t misunderstand,” Shin laid her chopsticks on the tray and placed it back to the bedside table along with the other foods on it.
Last tasted? What did he mean by that?
“I guess I’ll just have to sleep for now,” Shin declared.
“But you need to eat something first before you could take your medicine,” Jae-hwa reprimanded.
Shin who was lying already on Jae-hwa’s bed hurriedly reached for the Advil and thrust it inside her mouth. Though with difficulty, she swallowed the medicine nonetheless.
“Ya! Oppa! Aish… why do you have to be so stubborn, huh?” Jae-hwa went to her side to scold her but Shin turned the other way and covered her body with the blanket.
“Fine! Let’s have it your way then!” Jae-joong took the tray containing the foods he cooked and went to the corner of the room. He placed the tray on the round end table next to his comfortable fabric chaise longue. He reclined on it with much ease and continued to munch the side dishes he prepared for Shin.
Let’s wait and see who’ll suffer later due to hunger, hmph.
As he finished eating them all, he decided to play games using his smartphone to let the time pass by. Nightfall already set in and with a heartily meal Jae-joong just had, it made him sleepy all of a sudden. The quietness in the room did not do any help to him to keep his eyes open and the fact that he couldn’t leave Shin alone in the room added to the monotony of things. In a matter of minutes, Jae-joong’s eyes became droopy and he already stifled a lot of yawns beforehand. He began to fall asleep a moment too soon.
(v)(v)(v)(v)(v)
Jae-joong woke up on the sound of the door bell ringing. He opened his eyes regrettably and stretched his body before standing up. He walked over to his bed to see how Shin was faring. He examined his face and saw that he was sleeping peacefully as he based it on Shin’s rhythmical breathing. He placed his hand on Shin’s forehead again to feel his temperature.
No change as before? He’s still too hot…. What should I do?
Jae-joong seized another fever cooling pad on the bed side table and positioned it on Shin’s forehead. After that he proceeded to leave him to see the person pushing their apartment’s doorbell. He glanced at the digital wall clock along their hallway; it indicated that the time is already past ten o’ clock.
I thought they’re going to come back tomorrow? But then they have their keys with them, there’s no use to ring the doorbell. If it’s not them, then who would visit us in such a late and critical time?
These thoughts clouded the still sleepy Jae-joong. He noticed that the person outside was growing impatient due to that person’s nonstop ringing of the bell. It intensified his curiosity so he rushed his self towards the entrance hall. He even forgot to check the LCD revealing the person outside the entrance door in all his haste.
“Boojaejoong!” an amused woman greeted him as he opened the door wide. She seemed unfazed on Jae-joong’s current disguise and her unwavering smile suggested that she was expecting that kind of get-up from him; she even raised both of her eyebrows twice in delight. Jae-joong on the other side felt like cold water was splashed on him. He became alerted at the sight of the laughing woman in front of him. He instantly closed the door in panic.
“Ya! Jae-joongie! Don’t do this to me!” the woman shouted from the other side.
Apparently, she managed to push the door in time so as not to be completely shut behind. Now she was struggling with all her might as both she and Jae-joong pushed the door.
“It’s late! Yu-cheon’s not here… come back tomorrow!” Jae-joong whispered at her. He was worried that Shin may wake up due to their bickering.
“I know... I know! I didn’t come to see him! I came to check up on you… and to see Shin Oppa again!”
“What… What did you say Bom noona?” Jae-joong lose the urge to close the door again.
He was in utter confusion.
“I’ll explain once I get to taste something that you cooked,” and Bom snickered.
*Soju is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter due to the sugars added in the manufacturing process, and more commonly consumed neat (from Wiki)