Magical Tea

Conflicting Emotions

Maya closed the door to Min Ki's room with a clammy hand. She was shook to the bones by the conflicting emotions assailing her entire being. One moment she felt the immediate urge to flee from his presence, then, just a few seconds later, she felt like hugging him back to allay his fears.

Mentally shaking her head of all thoughts, Maya went looking for Mina and found her fast asleep inside her own room. Maya felt she could not stay much longer around the boy right now. She needed to pour cold water down the impure thoughts and feelings filling her body on that few unbridled moments they had together in the seclusion of the boy's room.

That situation was unthinkable and the fact that it happened was a big nightmare she had no way of acknowledging at present. She had to run away.

Maya crossed the threshold of Mina's room and leaned down to shake her awake. Mina woke up groggily.

"Mina, I stayed far too long. I have to go home now. See you again later," Maya bid her friend farewell.

"Hmm, okay, beshy!" Mina agreed. When Maya had walked a few feet towards the door on her way out, Mina called after her. "Can we meet again tomorrow? Let's do some late Christmas shopping. I also have to prepare my first New Year celebration away from Korea, so let's paint the town red over the weekend," Mina declared.

"Min Ki is coming with us?" Maya asked. She felt uncertain about her readiness to meet with the boy again a day after what had passed between them earlier.

"Of course, we needed him to carry all our shopping bags tomorrow. Don't worry, no one would think he is too young to be out in the mall," Mina pacified, sensing Maya's discomfort and completely misunderstood her worries.

"That's dangerous, Mina. Malls would surely look for his ID. He might be tall and big for his age, but his face is totally not that old enough to be out in the mall. He pointed it out himself earlier when he rebuked me of shoving him unto unfamiliar relatives, remember?" Maya argued.

"That is the greatest advantage of a face mask and face shield, my friend! With his height and bulk, people usually fail or tend not to check his identity and, thus, he often gets away with going to places where he should not be," Mina smiled wickedly.

Maya squinted at her friend. "I gather it won't be the first time, he violated protocols, and you seemed to be aware of it. Shame on you for tolerating such behavior, you know," Maya scolded Mina.

"Well, boys have their moments of curiosity, and there are times one needs to be forward when needed be. He had to board the train to come home from his dorm before we left Korea. He was supposed to stay there until the lockdown is lifted," Mina revealed.

Maya returned next to Maya and sat down on the bed heavily with worry. "That was utterly dangerous, Mina! Authorities could have caught and imprisoned him! You should not tolerate such things and should stop it from happening again. We can't take him with us tomorrow," Maya rebutted.

"Beshy, what am I supposed to do then? I can't just leave my son alone here the entire day, twiddling his thumb, can I?" Mina inquired with her eyes beseeching Maya to reconsider.

Maya had to close her eyes and took a deep breath. Now she knew where Min Ki took after his wilfulness and charm to cajole even a monkey away from his banana.

Maya released a disgruntled sigh and finally succumbed to those fluttering eyes. "Let us not go to the big city then. There are lots of shopping areas near here which might not be too strict about checking identities and all that, hopefully," she added, crossing her fingers to shoo away bad luck!

Mina then happily let Maya be on her way. Maya took one final glance at Min Ki's room before she let herself out of the house.

Maya came home feeling physically, mentally and emotionally drained. Her husband was playing a fun game of Mobile Legend with their three daughters and one of her nephews at the living room and merely grunted a reply to her greetings from the doorway when she arrived home. She directly went inside their bedroom and laid down their bed wearily. She went out like a smoke in seconds.

Maya was roughly awakened by someone snickering near her ear. "Mama, you are snoring and gnashing your teeth," Dominic whispered to her, wrapping his strong arms around her.

Maya stiffened in surprise before she gradually eased back into his embrace. Maya bit her lips in remorse, remembering what could have happened between her and Min Ki earlier.

Dominic started nibbling her ear and rained down kisses up and down her neck. She slapped his side, "the kids are still awake!"

"Hmm, I locked the door. You have been out all day. I missed you," Dominic whined.

Maya turned around to look at her husband closely. Now that she was up close to him, she was shocked to see the big resemblance between Dominic and Min Ki. Dom looked a lot like the older version of the teenager.

Dominic was amused at her reaction. "What? You just realized how very good looking your husband is? Your eyes just now were as big as saucers, you know," Dom teased.

"Ew, ego maniac!" Maya replied slapping Dom's chest.

"Me??? An ego maniac??? Let me show you instead how maniacal your husband could be," Dom declared, promptly tickling her into hilarious laughter.

They both heard banging on the door with their grownup daughters giggling outside. "Shhhh!!!" Dom shushed her before pulling her up so they could have dinner together.

Later that night, nestled in the crook of Dom's neck, listening to his not-so-quiet snoring, Maya slowly inched away to sleep on her left side, her back turned away from her sleeping husband.

Reflecting on her conversation with Mina before she left the house, Maya knew she had to brace herself on tomorrow's meeting with her best friend's teenage son. She had to be more conscious with her encounter with him. She got to behave in a manner befitting her age and status. She must not let the boy rattle her demeanor again and sway her away from proper decorum. She must not let him put at a disadvantage again and, that means, avoiding being alone with Min Ki again.

On that resolved, she finally sought solace in the familiarity of her surrounding and the comforting noise of her husband's snore which lulled her to peaceful oblivion for the night, making her thoughts stop going around and around over her conflicting emotions.