Someone to Love

Twenty

Lucas
"Hello?" I said over the phone.
"Hey, how was the wedding?" Jae Kyung said
"It was great. It didn't push through." I said
"What? Ara didn't get married? You didn't stand up and contested it right?" He said
"What? No! Almost."
"What happened?"
"The groom run off with the wedding planner."
"She must be pretty then."
I frowned.
"Uh, well he was okay, I guess."
"He?"
"Yeah. It pretty much shooked the whole venue."
"Wow. Can you imagine if that happened in my wedding?" He said
"Yeah, Dad wouldn't have a Seo to hold S&C."
"He has you."
"No, he doesn't."
I laughed.
"So, how are things with you and Ji Hyun?"
He sighed.
"People are pressuring us to have kids."
"Well, it comes with the title, brother. You're not even president yet and they're pressuring you to have kids already."
"Is this why you didn't want to be president?"
"Yeah, that and the industry seems boring to me."
"Seeing brains everyday is cool?"
"Cooler than making money."
"Do you know how to do it well?" He asked me
I frowned.
"What? Cutting up brains?"
"No, uh, sex."
"Uh, what? Excuse me?" I said
"I'm not asking you if you've done it with Ji Hyun but-"
"Okay, for the record, I haven't done it with Ji Hyun. And I'm not just saying that."
"Well, thank you for saying that because it would be weird if-"
"She's your wife."
"Well, answer my question first! Do you do it well-"
"This is awkward."
"Just answer me."
"Bro-"
"I'm starting to think you're not great in bed-"
"I haven't done it in years, okay?"
"Not with Ara?"
"No, no."
"No, you don't want to or you couldn't do it?"
"As in no, I haven't got the chance to do it."
"I thought you already did it with her. You're in America for years-"
"No, I'm still old-fashioned Korean."
"You wanna marry her?"
"I don't know, maybe?"
"She seems nice actually."
"Yeah, I like her a lot."
And then the doorbell rang.
"Huh." I said
"What?" Jae Kyung said
"It's 2am and someone is ringing the doorbell."
"Maybe you forgot to pay rent."
"No, uh, I'll just check it out." I said, standing up from my bed and walking to the door.
"Are you like getting ready to sleep now?" Jae Kyung said
"Yeah, that's why it's weird that it's 2am and someone is at the door." I said
I peeped at the peep hole and it's just someone facing his back on me wearing a hoodie.
"Oh my god, it's someone wearing a hoodie." I said
"What, an intruder decides to ring the bell?"
I took a look again, and I think I'm shaking. If I am encountering an intruder right now, what the actual fuck? First off, shouldn't he just use the window, why knock?
"Lee Kyung, are you there?" Jae Kyung said
"Yeah, yeah. Right here." I said
And then the doorbell rang again.
"Intruders in the US ring the bell?" Jae Kyung said
"No, they don't." I said as I looked at the peep hole again.
"Oh my god." I said
"What?" Jae Kyung said as I fidgeted with the lock.
"It's two in the morning." I said as I opened the door.
"Yeah, I know, you said that. Who's at the door?" Jae Kyung said
And there she was, standing and looking at me as if she finally came to the place that she was looking for.
"I know." She said
"Who's there?" Jae Kyung said but I was just staring at her, I can't believe that she's here.
"You're here." I said
Jae Kyung kept on talking in Korean but I was lost for a long moment in Ara's eyes.
"Can I come in?" She said
"Oh, right!" I said as I moved away from the door.
"Lee Kyung?" Jae Kyung said
"Oh, I'll come back to you. It's Ara." I said then hung up.
"I tried calling you but then your line was busy so, I just decided to let my self in." Ara said, looking at the paper carrier she left a few weeks ago.
"I was talking to Jae Kyung."
"Yeah, I can hear you through the door, all out Korean."
I looked at my phone and yeah, there were voice messages from Ara.
"What are you doing here?"
"Technically it's tomorrow so I decided to come by." She was still standing up, like she was some visitor to this place.
"You needed to get out of that place?" I said as I motioned for her to take a seat on the dining area.
She nodded.
"Yeah, I just couldn't be there. I don't want to be there."
"Then move back in."
"Here? I think my deposit is finished, I could-"
"No, no need for payment. Live here as my girlfriend."
She smiled.
"Girlfriend huh?"
"Well, I just need to work on that but if you're gonna come by here most of the time then might as well just be here."
"I'll think about it, but don't you want a little bit of mystery in the relationship?"
I just looked at her.
"So, I'm guessing you're going home tonight?"
She nodded.
"11 pm-ish." She said
I just looked at her and then I think I forgot for a while that I was tired.
"What?" She said
And then I just hugged her.
"Oh, I guess we're hugging." Ara said
"I'm just glad that you're here." I said
I just love the way she make me feel, I mean now that she's even here in this apartment, I feel like I am home.
"Then I should live near you then."
"Good thing there's a perfectly empty room in this apartment."
"I can't pay for it. I don't have a job."
"You don't need to pay for it. I just need you." I said, holding her tighter.
"What, you decided that you wanted more of the relationship we had started?"
"It was a fake one. But yeah."
"Can you give me time to think about it?" She said, letting go of me.
"Of course." I said, nodding.
Technically I didn't give her much time in the fake relationship one so, and yeah I really like her.
She went to the table where she left the Rolex for me.
"And it's still in the same spot." She said
"Yeah. I couldn't wear it knowing that what it meant for the two of us." I said
"It's a gift. You should wear it."
"Remember that time where I said that I'd only wear this if we are going to talk about marriage?"
"Barely."
"Okay, so if I'm going to wear this, it means that I'm planning on marrying you."
"But what if I did go through with the wedding a while ag0?"
"Then it would be a waste of a perfect time piece."
She looked at the paper carrier of it.
"Did you even open it?"
I shook my head.
"It didn't seem right."
"You got hurt that I'm marrying another guy?"
"No-"
"You should have, I mean-"
"I was the one who said no, remember?"
She sighed.
"Well, to be fair, I was asking too much of you."
"I realized that I should have said yes to you the moment that I left your hotel room."
"Then you should have turned back. I'd accept your answer again."
I brushed my hands against my neck.
"Next time, I'll be the one asking." I said
She got the paper carrier from the table and handed it to me.
"Then at least just keep it in your room?" She said
"Okay. Stay there." I said as I got the bag from her and went to my room.
Jae Kyung has been blowing up my notifications, he's freaking out that Ara came over at 2 in the morning.
"Can I get you something to drink?" I asked Ara as I went out of my room.
"Oh, no. Whatever, I'm really not-"
"Just feel at home, I guess."
I can't help but feel a little awkward air between us, I mean is t because I'm a bit tired? Or is it because she's here in my apartment?
"Oh! How did your work go today?" She asked me
"It was okay. The usual." I said
"What's it like?" She said as she sat down on the couch.
"What's what like?" I said as I sat down next to her.
"Hmm, say what's it like seeing the brain for the first time?"
"Well, the first time I actually saw a brain was in fragments, so-"
"Oh, like the ones in TV? Cross-sectional or something."
I smiled.
"Yeah, exactly."
"What about like the whole thing?"
"Oh, it smells bad. Especially the ones that came from a cadaver."
"Gross."
"Yeah, it's really one of the reasons why most of the people in my class are smokers."
"The scent of the brain?"
"The smell of death. It's gross."
"You smoke?"
"I tried to, but the day I decided to smoke a cigarette, we had to learn what cigarettes do to your lungs, like literally the professor showed us a smoker's lung-"
She frowned.
"So like, you quit smoking before you even had a cigarette or you had one and decided to quit?" She said
I sighed.
"I had one. Didn't like it at all, but it did help with the smell of death." I said
I looked at her and asked if she ever tried smoking or even had a cigarette.
"Me? No. I dated a few guys who smoked, and kissing them isn't exactly the best thing in the world. So, I decided not to date guys or even kiss guys who smoke." She said
"Good because they can kill you."
"Who, men who smoke?"
"Yes, from second hand smoking."
"Do brains gross you out?" She asked
I frowned.
"Because you said they don't smell that great." She continued
"Oh, that was when I was still dealing with cadavers. Ara, I don't know if you know but I deal with alive people under anesthesia." I said
She smiled.
"So, do they?"
I shook my head.
"No, I think I got used to the smell already? So, I'm not bothered by it." I said
"What body system are you grossed by?"
"Easy, digestive."
She frowned again, as if I just started talking in medical jargons.
"Guts gross you out?"
"Yeah, they smell bad. The brain is generally clean, I mean the only thing that pass by there is blood, whilst in the say, stomach or the intestines-"
She made a gross face.
"I got a question." I said
"Ask ahead."
"Are you freaked out by blood?" I asked
"What?"
"Like, say I were to cut a small incision on you arm and then blood flows out-"
"What kind of twisted thoughts are that!" She said
"Just answer me."
"I'm more afraid of you cutting me." She said
"So, you're hemophobic?"
"Heavens, no."
"Good."
"God, you're not one of those weirdos right? Who's in to blood play or something." She said
"No, what the fuck! I have seen blood that much that I don't want to see it during sex." I said
"What if I'm a virgin?"
"Then tell me now so that I can prepare myself."
She smacked my head.
"Ow!" I said
"You're weird." She said as she leaned on to me.
"Sorry." I said
"Maybe you won't see blood on me but I'll make you bleed." She said
"What?" I can feel her smiling but then I can't really see her face because she wasn't facing me.
"Lucas?" She said
"What?"
"Do you have work tomorrow?" She asked me.
"Yeah, I do."
"It's almost three in the morning. I think you should be sleeping." She said
"I don't wanna sleep." I said
"I'll be here. I won't leave. I think I got here way to early." She said
I held her tight.
"I don't have to go if you don't want me to." I said
"You gotta make a living, Doctor."
I grabbed my phone and checked my schedule.
No upcoming surgeries, just rounds, I'm not teaching a class tomorrow-
"Would you like to go on a date with me?" I asked
She looked at me as if I started speaking in Korean again.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean later today, would you like to go on a date with me? We don't have to go out. Just a day, you and me." I said
"Really?"
I nodded.
"That would be great." She said
"It's a da-"
"I don't have anything to wear though."
I frowned.
"It doesn't matter, you look amazing."
"No, this is our first date and I-"
"I'm so ready to say the three words to you but we haven't dated yet so-"
"Shut up." She said
"So, just to be clear, you said yes right?"
"If it's okay for you that I just look like this."
"Look like what?"
"This!"
She looks amazing okay? I mean, I've seen her wear a lot of things, even a wedding dress and I've seen her in her underwear, I couldn't care less what she wears actually.
"Uh, love, trust me on this. You look absolutely amazing. If we had our first date already I would have taken you right here and right now."
What the hell am I saying?
Am I tired?
Oh, I think the years of dormancy have gone to an end.
"Too bad we haven't had our real date yet." She said, sitting up.
"Yeah, too bad." I said
"Go to sleep, I know you're tired. I know I am." She said as she removed her hoodie and fluffed some couch pillows.
"What are you doing?" I said
"Getting ready to sleep."
"You're sleeping on the couch?" I said
"I don't live here."
"I do. Why are you sleeping on the couch?"
"I don't live here any more. Where would I stay then?"
"With me, in my room."
She raised her eyebrows.
"Please." I said
She shooked her head.
"No, not tonight. You're tired and-" I rolled my eyes and carried her.
"What are you doing!?" She shouted as I went the door of my room with her in my arms
"Ara, I'm tired and I really want to sleep. But at the same time I miss you, so just sleep next to me. I won't bite or touch you." I said as I held on to the doorknob.
"You do realize that this would be the first time that I'd be in your room, yeah?" She said
I looked at her, and she just started patting my shoulder.
"Put me down." She said
And I did.
"I don't think I got the bed from the room that I used here, right?" She said
"You don't wanna see my room?" I said
"I just don't think it's right. Plus, I don't want you to think that I'm a type of girl who's just easy to take in the room." She said
"I don't see it that way. And you lived with me."
"Next time." She said
I frowned.
"Okay, I understand." I said as she hugged me.
"Thank you, Lucas." She said