Motorcycle Nights ✓

05 | redolent

____

05

redolent

( having a strong distinctive fragrance)

18th October, 2020

SEO WOO brought his knuckles onto the surface of the wooden door of the house and knocked lightly. Even though the house had a doorbell, it didn't work. If he was nosy enough, he would have just told the owner to get it replaced. The doorbell looked as old as the Han river.

The noodle shop lady had called him earlier to get her switch boards fixed. For the time being, he had been working as a part time electrician too. He prayed that her daughter won't be at home. The last time he saw her, she seemed to be much eager to start a conversation with him and clearly he wasn't interested.

Seeing no response, he called out the name of the girl since it was rude to scream the owner's name who was almost twice his age. Who knew whether a bowl of sizzling soup would end up on his head if he actually tried to?

The door opened with a creak, a familiar pair of doe eyes peeked outside to meet his own. When Seo Woo realised that it was none other than Si Woo who was currently looking at him, he cleared his throat as he mentally cursed at his ill luck. He was hoping for her mother to come and his luck wasn't that good for that day.

"Oh, look it's you! I have been looking for you." she exclaimed. "You didn't let me repay you. How could you vanish like that? How did you find me?"

"Aren't you going to open the door? I am here because your mother called. I'm the electrician." he said, avoiding her question.

"Wow! I didn't know that my mother knows you. What a small world! It makes sense though. Pyeonghwa is a small region. They say if you meet a person thrice coincidentally, you are fated to be." she smiled warmly as she opened the door completely.

"Do you believe in those meaningless things?" Seo Woo snickered, slightly amused. Was she just naive or was she actually a total nutjob? They barely knew each and she was already talking about fate and destiny.

"I do. There's no need to call them meaningless. You must be the electrician she was talking about."

"I'm a mechanic actually. You are blocking my way and wasting time. Please move so that I can fix the switch boards as soon as possible."he rubbed his left hand on his temples, impatience evident in his tone. The blistering sun was hot enough to burn him inside out. He could feel the sweat form along the backbone and trickle down.

"Oh, I am sorry about that." Si Woo said, taken aback by the choice of words. She moved, making way for the latter to enter.

Seo Woo pulled off his mask as he stepped inside. It was a wet, sticky mess that had soaked a considerable amount of his sweat. He sighed at how his face was sweaty from head to toe. He had been outside for more than fifteen minutes, trying to ring the doorbell continuously. He should have just assumed that it wouldn't work.

"Would you like a glass of water? I think you are quite tired." she offered nervously, noticing the sweat patch on the back of his red T-shirt.

"Suits me fine." he said, voice low and calm. She turned away to bring a glass of water as he took a sit on the sofa upon her request.

It took a couple of seconds for Seo Woo to empty the glass when Si Woo came back. The unpredictable autumn weather had been quite hot lately with chilly evenings and dawns. He had been suffering from cold since a few days and he just consumed a glass full of ice water without much thought. A sore throat always managed to leave with a rusty mood.