Second Chance (11 page)

“So, you’re the
short, blind one with straight teeth?”

“Indeed,” she
said laughing. “The one and only.” When she stopped laughing, she asked, “What
about you? Do you have any siblings?”

“No.”

“Cousins?”

“No.”

“Then consider
yourself lucky. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have so many cousins. It seems, no
matter where I go, I encounter someone who knows someone who knows someone who
knows my parents. They are aunties, uncles, or cousins. The chances of meeting
a cousin are quite high. One time, this guy called me. He received my number
from one of my cousins and decided to give me a call. Turns out we shared the
same last name. I told him next time he should verify last names before making
random calls to girls. Needless to say, he never called again.”

“You must receive
lots of calls.”

Sue laughed.
“You’re sweet. No. That was a fluke. I only remember it because I remember
laughing when he told me his last name. I don’t think he liked the fact that I
laughed. What about you? You must get lots of calls from girls. The way Hye Won
was clinging to you… I’ll say, she wants to be your girlfriend or perhaps
more?”

He was about to
answer when she asked another question.

“Do you have a
girlfriend?” she asked grinning mischievously. “If you ever are in need of more
saving, I’m your girl. I could use another day of your guiding service, except
this time, how about no more shopping centers and more authentic foods.”

“I’ve already
explained my relationship to Hye Won. No girlfriend.”

“Good. I won’t
have to defend my presence then.” She slightly moved and felt pain again.
Wincing, she adjusted her position. She lay on her back and rested her right
hand on her stomach. “Are you a student?”

“No.”

“Do you sing?”

“No.”

“Do you draw?”

“No.”

“You’re pretty
useless then.”

“Hey, I can
dance.”

She turned to
him, smiling. “I know. Just wanted to see if you were listening.”

Silence.

“Jae?”

“Yeh.”

“What is your
full name?”

Jae had always
introduced himself as Jun or Jae. Few knew him as Jae and he rarely gave anyone
his full name. Despite that practice, he found himself telling her. “Park Jun
Jae.”

“Park Jun Jae.
That sounds handsome. Jae?”

“Yeh.”

“Thank you.”

Jae smiled.

Jae didn’t want
her to stop talking. She asked him if he watched Korean dramas and he replied
that he had. He didn’t watch them often, but he had seen them. He laughed when
she told the story of her experience with Korean dramas and felt the strongest
urge to kiss her every time she looked at him. And that laugh of hers. She
laughed so openly, not trying to shield her mouth or her mirth. She could laugh
until her eyes were teary and she would wipe them without worrying about her
mascara or her makeup. He rather enjoyed that.

She yawned and
her eyes were heavy with sleep. He wanted her to stay. It had been a long time
since he had another person this close to him, let alone talk to him the way
this girl was doing, and he wanted her to stay.

She asked about
the dog, and he assured her the dog was okay. He was going to tell her the dog
she shielded was actually in no danger to begin with, but he decided he could
do that the next day. The owner was practicing some trick, using the whip to
cut the bandana tied around the dog’s neck. The man was so distraught from
whipping Sue, he had spoken quite rapidly and that was all the explanation Jae
was able to comprehend.

Weary with
exhaustion, Sue closed her eyes and was falling asleep when she felt Jae
covering her with a blanket. “Please stay with me,” he whispered.

“Gladly,” she
sleepily whispered back before drifting off to sleep.

Since Sue had her
eyes closed, she did not see the surprise in Jae’s expression. She didn’t feel
Jae placing a kiss on her check, wishing her sweet dreams, nor did she feel the
slight brush of his lips upon hers.

CHAPTER
12

Sue slept until
Jae shook her awake the next morning. She didn’t remember where she was until
Jae started asking her what she would like for breakfast. She immediately
jerked wide awake and sat up, her injury forgotten. She gasped as pain radiated
through her left arm and instinctively turned to look at her arm. She saw that
her left arm from her shoulder to her forearm was wrapped in white gauze.

“Thank you,” she
said turning her gaze back to him.

Jae nodded.

They stared at
each other for a long minute. Lord, he was handsome, she thought.
Why hadn’t
I noticed his high cheek bones, his full lips or the slight bump on his nose
before
, she wondered.

“Noodles?” Jae
asked.

Forgetting how to
speak, Sue gave him a nod. The kettle whistled, and she startled, bumping into
Jae as he got up and they both toppled over with Jae on top of her. She
grimaced in pain as Jae’s arm accidently pinned her arm to the mat. The pain
was so excruciating, tears welled in her eyes. She gave a little whimper as he
immediately rolled off her, taking her with him as he sat up.

“I’m sorry,” he
said, seeing her teary brown eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks. He drew her to
him and she rested her cheek on his chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, resting
his chin on her head.

“It’s not your
fault,” she murmured. “We better get that,” she said after several minutes,
slightly pulling out of his embrace and quickly wiping the tears from her
cheeks with the back of her hand. The kettle was still whistling.

Jae reluctantly
released her.

She apologized
seeing the tear stains on his shirt.

“It’s fine,” he
replied, looking at his shirt as he got up to tend the kettle.

As Jae performed
the task, Sue took the opportunity to look around her and realized her glasses
were off. She found them placed neatly next to the pillow she used. She put
them on and continued to look around.

She was sitting
on a padded black and white checkered mat in the middle of his small studio
apartment. It wasn’t very large, but enough for two people to use, which
reminded her about something.
Where did he sleep last night
?

The floor beneath
was hardwood, stained in a yellowish color that made the floor look cheap and
artificial. A beautiful cream colored blanket covered with tiny, pink cherry
blossoms, blooming on dark, brown branches was scrunched up next to her,
partially covering her right leg. She noticed her shoes were off but she didn’t
remember taking them off. Barefoot, sitting there on that floor made her feel
almost exposed. Silly, really, to be feeling like that. After all, she was
fully dressed.

The apartment had
a tiny kitchen containing a white, dorm-sized fridge and a single sink. She
noticed there was no stove. Sue watched Jae replace the kettle on the double
burner hotplate on the counter by the sink and assumed that was what he used to
cook. A small rice cooker was on the counter, next to the hotplate. From where
she was sitting, she could see the flower prints on the rice cooker. It looked
similar to the one she had in her dorm and she smiled. There were no chairs or
a table besides the low portable table by the wall.

A small foyer
next to the kitchen acted as a makeshift closet where Jae had hung her jacket
and placed her shoes. There, he also stored the stereo he used for his
performances in the park along with a bag of rice and a small vacuum cleaner.

A plain wooden
armoire and a three-drawer dresser, both stained in mahogany, were on her left.
His Gibson was perched next to the armoire. The dark mahogany furniture stood
out like sore thumbs against a back drop of white walls. A small lamp with a
blue shade was placed on top of the dresser and a digital alarm clock with red
illuminated numbers indicating it was 6:41 a.m. was next to it. No artwork or
pictures adorned the walls except for a calendar pinned on the wall by the
armoire. Even the calendar was plain. There was an advertisement printed on the
calendar and several telephone numbers were listed on the side of the numbered
days but nothing more.

She guessed the
door on her right must be the bathroom.

“May I use your
bathroom?” she asked. Jae gave her permission and she slowly got up, careful
not to put pressure on her left side.

When Sue saw
herself in the mirror, she gasped in horror. She looked as if she had been in a
knife fight. The left sleeve of her T-shirt was torn and bloodied. The fabric
lay limply around her shoulder, exposing the bandages that covered most of her
left arm. Her hair was tousled. Several loose strands of hair fell around her
face and her single ponytail was lopsided, hanging loosely from her head. She
blushed with embarrassment.

Sue pulled out
her hair tie with her good hand, then attempted several times to put her hair
back into a ponytail, wincing in pain when she raised her injured arm. Biting
her lower lip, she debated whether it was worth the pain of retying her hair.
Pain won over vanity. She wet her hand and combed it through her hair. “This
will have to do,” she said to herself.

After she was
done with her hair, she looked around the small bathroom. One lonely toothbrush
was placed in a small ceramic cup with a half-used tube of toothpaste. The cup
sat on the small counter of the small bathroom sink. Everything seemed so
small, but clean and neat. She looked at the small mirror covering the medicine
cabinet. She bit her lower lip. She had the strongest urge to open that
medicine cabinet and peek inside.

No, that would
be nosy
.

She did her best
to brush her teeth using her finger and some of his toothpaste. She meant to
ask permission first, but after battling her hair, she forgot. When she did
remember, she was already done. Sue took one more look at herself in the
mirror, then sighed. “This will have to do,” she told herself again.

Jae had their
noodles ready on the small portable table placed in the middle of the room. The
mat and the blanket she used earlier were neatly folded and placed on top of
the dresser. He had turned off the floor lamp placed between the living area
and the kitchen. The curtains to the two small windows by the kitchen sink were
drawn, and Sue could see the dim morning light entering the apartment but
barely enough to light the kitchen. Jae had turned on the small lamp on the
dresser for their use. The dim light created a cozy, almost intimate setting
and for the first time since meeting Jae, she felt nervous. Or was it
embarrassment? She shook the feeling off, whatever it was. He was a nice guy
and easy to talk to.

Jae sat on the
floor, his legs crossed and tucked underneath him as he patiently waited for
her. She approached him and sat across from him.

“I hope you don’t
mind, I used some of your toothpaste,” she said, trying to hide her
embarrassment. “I’ll replace it if you’d like.”

“That won’t be
necessary,” he said taking his chopsticks into his left hand. “You didn’t
borrow my toothbrush did you?” he asked, his eyes narrowed.

“Rest assured, I
only borrowed some toothpaste.” She clasped her hands together to say a quick
prayer of thanks before she picked up her chopsticks and ate some noodles.
“This is really good. Thank you,” she said, gathering more noodles with her
chopsticks. “Do you live alone?”

“Yeh.”

“How old are
you?”

“Old enough.”

“Old enough for
what? Could you possibly elaborate?” she asked.

“How’s your arm?”

“Better, thank
you. So how old are you?”

“Are you planning
on finishing your food?” he asked.

She answered him
by taking a bite of her noodles, then another. He was scowling at her. She
wasn’t quite sure if he was scowling at her because he was annoyed or if it was
indeed his natural disposition. She decided it was the former. “Quit your
scowling. I’ll save the questions for after breakfast then,” she said.

She gave him a
sweet smile before returning to her food. She left him alone while she thought
about last night.

Last night, he
seemed so open. This morning, he was back to being so guarded. Sue wondered
why. My, he was quite cute. Before she could restrain herself, she chuckled.

“Want to share?”
Jae asked.

“Huh?” She looked
up from her bowl of noodles.

“What’s so
funny?”

“I’ll tell you if
you answer my question.”

Jae hesitated
before he said, “I’m old enough to live on my own.”

She finished
chewing the bite she had in her mouth before she said, “Okay. I just realized
something.”

“And?” he asked
when she said no more.

“And I can be
just as vague as you,” she smiled at him.

After a couple
more bites, Jae asked, “Does it matter how old I am?”

“No, not really,
but it would be nice to get an answer.”

“I’m twenty-one,”
he answered after some silence.

She gasped in
surprise and reached over to poke him in the arm. He flinched, almost dropping
his chopsticks. “Well, look at that. You’re still alive,” she said. “Was it
that hard?”

“No. But it’s
painful,” he said rubbing his arm. “Now answer my question.”

“Oh…I was just
thinking that you’re quite cute.”

It was eight in
the morning when they left Jae’s apartment. The morning was chilly and Jae gave
her one of his sweatshirts. She glanced at her jacket, frowned at the damage
then threw it away. Jae offered to accompany her back to campus and she
accepted.

“Why did you
shield the dog last night?” Jae asked as they waited for the bus.

“I thought it was
in danger. Was it?”

“No.” Jae
explained what the owner told him.