Finding Joy

CHAPTER 3: CAN I TRUST YOU?

"When was the last time I felt so warm?" Kai thought to himself as he rinsed the foamy shampoo out of his hair.

The steam was floral, but not overpowering. It was mellow and new, but so familiar. 

He finished up and turned off the shower. Outside in the living room, Joy patted the seat on the couch next to her. He sat down and faced Joy as she disinfected his wounds. It stung and Kai winced, but Joy was too focused to slow down. After she finished, she brushed her bangs to the side with her forearm, and at the same time, she finally noticed Kai's muscular body. His muscles were now even more prominent after being uncovered by the grime it was once hidden in. No matter how much she instinctively wanted to make eye contact with Kai, she was too embarrassed to do so.

She thought to herself, "Don't look up, don't look up, don't look up."

Her hands shook nervously as she went to grab the tube of ointment next to her. She accidentally knocked it over the couch and both reached down to grab it. As they reached down, their hands brushed up against each other and, as if by reflex, they both looked up and made eye contact. Joy flinched and quickly withdrew her hands, while Kai continued down and picked up the ointment.

"Thanks." Joy said nervously as her voice nearly broke. "Oh, I never asked you for your name. My name's Joy."

Kai looked away and stretched out his arm, signaling to her to treat his arm next.

Joy continued, "So what happened? How did you end up like this?"

Kai remained silent.

"Ah, it's ok. I won't ask anymore."

She wrapped him in bandages and circled the roll around his torso. Her arms alternated from reaching towards his back and his front. She finished wrapping him and stood up to leave.

"I'm going to get you a shirt. I'll be right back! Just wait here and don't move, ok?"

She went to her room and looked into the large box she pulled out earlier: the one where she took the pants from. She reached in to grab a shirt, but, when she picked it up, a picture of her and Brandon was uncovered. It was a picture from their first date at an amusement park. They both wore matching Mikey Mousey ears and made a heart shape together with their hands. Their smiles made them seem like the happiest couple in the world. What went so wrong that the two, who seemed destined for each other, were ripped apart?

"I'm such an idiot. Why am I still keeping these things around?" Her eyes began to water. But, she took in a deep breath and held in her tears. "No!" she said as she averts her eyes upwards and stared at the blank wall in front of her. "Don't you dare cry for him again."

She finally calmed down, but took s one last longing look at the picture before she put the box away. She closed the door to her closet, and just as she stood up and turned around, Kai slammed his hand on the wall, putting Joy in a *Kabe-don.

* Kabe-don: A situation where Party A slams their hand against a wall, pinning Party B against it. The distance between the two is small. Typically, Party A does this out of intense emotions, such as anger, jealousy, or to be flirtatious.

"You shouldn't have let me in."

-

It's the next day and Joy was back at work. Her coat was completely ruined so she went to the back of the hospital to borrow one before heading out to lunch.

Lily stopped eating, and in shock, yells, "What? You just let some random guy into your apartment? Are you nuts? Erkghker-"

Nick pat Lily's back as she choked on her french fries. She turned her head to the side and covered her mouth with her arm, but little bits and pieces of soggy potato managed to escape and land all over Nick.

"Ew!" whined Nick as he quickly retracted his arm and started scooting away. When he felt like he has created a safe distance between himself and Lily, he turned back to Joy. "Yeah, why didn't you bring him to our hospital?"

Joy grabbed a napkin and handed it to Nick. As he wiped himself down, Joy answered, "He didn't want to. Maybe he doesn't have insurance?"

"Still, coming from a man, the guy could have easily- you know."

Lily breathed in heavily as she finally recovered from her choking fit. She looked up and reached towards Nick and grabbed his nose. She shook it left and right- as if she was teasing a child.

"You'd be fine with Nick though. He's more of a little boy."

"Joy! Lily's being mean to me again!"

Joy sighed, "Geez, you kids. Anyways, I couldn't just let him die. What would you have done if you didn't have a phone and you saw someone dying? Besides, it's not like anything bad happened."

-

"You shouldn't have let me in. Do you know what it means to let a man into your home?"

Joy froze. "Maybe he's right." thought Joy, "Maybe I should stop doing this. I keep making the same mistake over and over again, thinking that maybe, just maybe one-day things will work out if I had just tried a little harder. But in the end I'm just dragging everyone down with me." She looks down and both her eyebrows and her eyes sink.

Kai saw her miserable expression and thought to himself, "Did I go to far?" He backed up, turned around, and walked away. "Piece of advice, don't let strangers into your home. The world isn't as kind as you think. You never know what they'll do to you."

Joy, still in shock, finally unfroze and breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he reached the doorway, he collapsed and his stomach let out a loud growl. Her expression turns soft and a small giggle managed to escape her mouth. She walked over to him and managed to lift him up just enough to sit him down on a chair at her dinner table. She looked over and the table was covered with trash, so she ran her arm across the whole of the table, knocking everything off.

"I'll deal with it later." Joy thought to herself. She opened up her cabinet and took out bag of bread. "Coffee?" asked Joy, as she slid him a plate with two slices of toast.

Kai opens his mouth to speak, but he was cut off when Joy saw the clock behind him- It's 11:00 am.

"I'm so dead!"

Joy frantically collected her things and yelled at Kai. "Don't move or your wounds will open! I have bread and cereal in the cupboard if you get hungry!"

She a slice of toast, holding it with her teeth, and runs to the door. And Kai, with his brows furrowed, watched her disappear. 

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