Postcards From Africa

*9*

Choi was dozing off in the middle of work and Tae kept yawning. They were mentally and physically exhausted and as Tae looked at the time on her phone, she got up with a start.

"It's almost 00:00!" she hissed, scrambling up and gathering the papers that lay strewn around the lounge area.

A groggy Choi sat up on the carpeted floor he had been laying on, rubbing his tired red eyes. He watched as Tae cleaned up the mess they had made and sleep threatened to overtake him.

"Mr. Hyun, you've got to go. You have work tomorrow," she said, as she ran to the hallway, grabbed his coat and brought it back, helping the tired man put it on.

Choi shook his head, trying to rid himself of the sleep that fogged his mind. Tae had made him work hard today and they had almost crossed the night. He knew that he wasn't going to survive work tomorrow so he was going to use one of the sick days he rarely used.

"Thank you for your help," he said before walking towards the door in the hall, Tae beside him.

The moment they opened the door, the coldest of winds blew right through, crashing the door against the wall. Tae quickly rushed to lock the door, her eyes watering from the cold gust of wind.

"Well, at least my bosses picked a double bedroom. It's ready and waiting for you. The bathroom is right down here."

He gladly followed her, wishing to just have a shower and go to bed. She showed him the door to the bathroom then walked back to the lounge area to finish up cleaning the mess.

As soon as she finished cleaning, the door to the bathroom opened and Choi walked out, a towel around his waist and another, which he was using to dry his hair in his hands.

"Can I please have something to moisturise and wear?"

Tae glanced up at him. Then she stood upright, blatantly staring at his torso. She had seen way better. He was rather skinny, compared to what she was used to. She was used to big rugged dark skinned men with pecs for days and muscles that could crush a man's neck. Choi was just lean.

"I'll get them for you." She went to her room and brought back some of her products which she handed to him. "You can wake early to go to your house so that you don't smell like a woman at your job."

He chuckled, folding the towel in his hands, noticing that Tae's eyes kept glancing at his torso. "You should take a picture. It lasts longer."

She laughed. "That is so childish. You look nice," she said. "I can tell that you really try at the gym."

He scowled. "Try? I look good."

"I've seen better. Men built like war trucks with skin so chocolatey you just want to lick them from top to bottom. Like you, I have my preference of body types. Men that actually live in the gym."

Choi got upset and he didn't understand why when he did not even care what Tae thought of him. His expression changed from playful to slightly hard and Tae noticed.

"Did I hurt your feelings?" she asked.

He just looked at her. "About that body cream-"

"You're upset," she teased him. "You're really upset. I thought you didn't care about me or my thoughts. The thoughts of a black woman."

He brushed his wet hair back, trying to seem unperturbed. But his silence spoke volumes.

"You're alright," Tae tried to assure him as she walked up to him. "I was just teasing you. Many Korean women want you, don't they? That's what counts to you, isn't it?"