Second Arrangement

CHAPTER 6 - HER FIRST STORY

ELLIE

Jackson texted me all the dates that he was available before he had to go back to China to take care of his other group, the Panthepack one. I checked it with my schedule and I was free almost to all the dates he suggested. He kept sending me food even though I told him that I could eat on my own. I rejected his offer several times, but some days, I accepted his delivery. So far he was content with our arrangement. I texted or video called him whenever I had spare time, and so did he. Sometimes we even ate while video calling whenever I didn't have night duty.

Even though I started to feel comfortable with him, somehow I felt nervous today. Later this night he would come here for the very first time. Yeah sure, I've been inside the same apartment with him during my stay in Singapore, but that was before we realized our feelings toward each other. This time around, we already confessed our feelings right from the start. Even though he had promised that he would behave, but even I couldn't trust myself for being in the same room with him. Last time we caved in to our desire, it resulted in a heartbreak and a tremendous loss for both of us, so I didn't want to repeat the history.

I tried to make myself busy to occupy my mind instead of dreading things that haven't happened yet. But I couldn't stop the time. Before I knew it, it was time for my lesson and like a clock, my doorbell rang right on time. When I opened the door, I found Jackson pouting.

"Why didn't you use my birthday as your passcode anymore?" he complained immediately once he was inside and I couldn't help but laugh at his pouty face.

"Well, we're in Korea now. Everyone knows you and your birthday. It'd be stupid to use your birthday as my passcode," I answered and he still pouted like a little kid. "I thought you want me to be safe?"

After thinking about it for awhile, he agreed with my reason and let me go. But apparently he didn't stop there. "Then, why don't you tell me your passcode? Maybe you'll need me to get something from your house. Or if there's some kind of emergency. We'll never know...," he trailed off, studying my face to gauge my reaction.

I exhaled, "Okay fine," I folded and told him my passcode for just in case and he grinned from ear to ear.

"Okay," he rubbed his palms in satisfaction. "Let's start our lesson." I led him to my living room and glanced up to see his reaction, but he didn't say anything, so I guessed he was okay with the arrangement. I had to say that I was quite surprised that he really did tutor me. No funny business. Yeah sure, he teased me several times during our lesson, but they were all harmless. Just common teasing that I could handle. He concluded that my Korean was okay for ordering food and getting direction, but apart from standard reply, I still had several difficulties. Since I needed to question the patients, we then moved on to the harder part, role playing as doctor and patient. It was hard to remember some medical jargons like high blood pressure, glucose level, and other medical terms. He didn't know for sure himself, so he took notes and told me that he would ask around for our next lesson.

JACKSON

"Okay, what's with that look?" I just stood up for stretching myself after sitting for a long time and she looked at me as if I grew a second head. Even though I've been in Korea almost half of my life, I realized that I didn't know that much when it came to medical jargons. It's been ages since I had a language lesson, so my brain fried for teaching her for an hour now.

"Nothing," she quickly dismissed me.

"Come on," I nudged her elbow. "Didn't we promise not to keep secret from each other?"

"It's really nothing," her face grew red and I couldn't help but tease her until she said her mind out loud. "Okay fine!" she half-yelled. "I'm just amazed that you really kept your word this time. You really tutor me without any funny business," she admitted.

I patted my chest in satisfaction, "Of course! I'm a man of my word. And I want you to know that you can hold on to my promise," I turned on my serious face. She seemed lost at words when she heard me and I gave her a small smile to lighten the mood. I wanted her to know that I was serious about us and I would prove it to her.

It was dinner time already and she offered me to stay for dinner. I obviously accepted the invitation gladly. It felt like ages since we sat in the same room and ate together like this.

"Anyway, there's a change of plan in my schedule. I have to go to China in 5 days, so we might have to postpone our lesson until I get back from China," I informed her.

"Okay," I studied her face and she showed no expression. I was hoping that she would at least ask me anything about it. How long it would be, when I would be back, and so on. But she didn't.

"Do you remember your promise?" I reminded her of our deal.

"Which one?"

"The one that you'd try to update your instagram stories every day while I'm gone? Since it would be harder to text or talk on the phone while I'm gone?"

She gulped and nodded at last, "Yeah, I remember."

I made sure that she still remembered how to do it and reminded her gently of the penalty if she ever skipped a day without updating me.

We continued eating in silence and I helped her with the dishes. Again, she gave me a weird look, but she didn't need to know that I did it on purpose. After we finished the dishes, I noticed that it was late already. Even though I wanted to talk to her for some more, she needed her rest. I dragged my feet until we were standing in front of her door with me still hesitant to say goodbye. I needed to prepare for my trip, so this might be the last time I could see her before I left. As I stood there with my hands inside my pocket, I had this thought of hugging and kissing her ever since I saw her again, but I tried so hard to restraint myself. I was sure that if I did that, I would send her running again, that was why I tried hard to keep it to myself, even now when she was within my arm reach.

But the thought of not being able to see her for two weeks made my resolve crumble. As her hand reached out to grab the doorknob, I held her wrist and stopped her. She looked up with questioning look in her eyes and at that time, I decided to hell with self restraint. I pulled her into my hug and I could feel her body tensed at the sudden contact.

"Just stay still, please?" I whispered and started to rub my hand up and down her back. I could feel her starting to relax in my embrace even though she said nothing. I closed my eyes and inhaled her scent, trying to take everything in. Imprinted it in my mind since I wouldn't be able to see her or hold her in the next two weeks.

"Jackson...," she whispered, breaking my reverie. "It's long enough."

"No," I complained, tightened my arms around her body even more. "I won't see you for two weeks. Can I pack you with me?" I pulled back so I could see her face and she chuckled.

"No, you can't. I have surgeries. Plus, it's not like we can't talk or video call?"

I groaned, "5 more minutes, I promise. And I don't mind if you hug me back," I pulled her into my embrace once again and I smiled when this time, I felt her hand circle my waist loosely. As much as I wanted the time to stop, I couldn't, so after what it felt like five minutes, I let her go with a big sigh. I wanted her to know that it was hard for me to not see her for the next two weeks.

"Just go home," she firmly pushed me past the doorway, "you also need to rest."

"Okay. Don't forget to update your instagram daily when I'm in China," I warned her and she dismissed me with a wave.

Time passed in a blink of eye. One day we still talked to each other and today, I was already in China. Once I landed, work swamped me. My schedule was pretty tight considering I had to record for Panthepack, oversee the Team Wang Design which I had been neglected for a few months and let Henry take care of it, and not forgetting other jobs that I had. I texted Ellie, telling her that I might not be able to text or call her since today, so I wanted to see her updates. Even though I saw her through video call just before I departed, I've missed her already. I was in the studio when I felt like checking my Instagram. I didn't bother to put on the notification because it was useless. Fans kept tagging me on various posts, so there were so many notifications every time I opened my apps, thus I decided not to check it anymore. I opened Ellie's account and smiled when I saw that she had uploaded a story. The surgery schedule board.