21st Century's Cupid • Soolia

f o u r

"No! You can't do that!" Jisu shouted, jabbing her finger at Soobin's phone. 

Soobin sighed for the hundredth time that day. Apparently, Jisu liked to talk to his phone while watching her drama. Whenever the protagonist would do something unlikable, she would scold his innocent phone. When the protagonist would do something that pleases her, she would pat his phone. 

They had slipped down to sit on the floor, not caring about their professional attire. 

"Stop it!" She scrunched her nose and frowned deeply. 

'My poor phone'

Jisu kept on talking to the phone, completely oblivious that someone was watching her, who kept on shaking their head repeatedly. 

"Ah, don't be a bitch!" She screamed at his phone this time and Soobin leaned back, knitting his eyebrows together.

"Don't curse!" 

Jisu ignored him. 

"How can you ignore someone as cute as me—"

"Ah," Jisu fanned herself, brushing off Soobin's claims. "It's getting hot in here." 

"It's me," Soobin stated proudly. 

Jisu reached out for her leather purse and fished in for something. "Hold this for me," She commanded Soobin, handing him a mini-fan. 

"What— You are a crazy lady. Who carries a fan with them at all times?" 

Jisu interrupted him again with a glare. "What did you say?" 

"N-nothing." He stammered, protecting himself from the mini fury's wrath. 

"Don't be scared of me," Jisu said, now looking at him and putting his phone away. 

"O-okay," Soobin stuttered. 

"I said, don't be scared of me!" Jisu screamed at him, which made Soobin shrink into a small ball. 

Soobin gathered up all his confidence which had seeped in him, inhaled deeply and replied, "Okay!" 

Jisu leaned back and spoke, "Don't shout at me." 

"Okay?" At this point Soobin was just confused. 

"Now hold the mini-fan for me," Jisu eyed her fan in Soobin's grasp.

"Okay." 

"Oh gosh, stop replying me with a mere okay!" Jisu furrowed her brows, irritated out of her mind.

"Okay," Soobin grinned and replied, his smile so contagious that Jisu couldn't help but beam back.

Jisu let out a laugh and then went back to watching her drama - along with scolding his phone. 

Soobin made a wry face internally. 

His poor phone.

***

Soobin was way too exhausted at this point, he had so much things to worry about—his little phone, his health, Jisu—and his brain was just going haywire. He assumed that he will last about an hour or so before his brain decides to shut down, his eyes roll back in his head and he loses consciousness. Honestly, he felt like he was babysitting a two-year-old child that had weird habits and beliefs (talking to his phone, believing that cucumbers were charged with electricity, etc.) and had to be kept in check every moment. There was a construction site being built up in his head, the drill being set up, the workers marching around here and there and objects being passed over. In short, he was having a splitting headache and the kid before his eyes wasn't definitely going to stop with her mischief anytime soon. 

"Jisu," He called her. "Leave my phone now, I don't have any electrical socket to charge it." 

"Uh!" She whined and dropped the phone on his palm.

"Good." 

"Now talk to me," She requested, resting her hands on her kneecaps, tilting her head, devoting all her attention to him, so that she could listen to the stories he was about to tell her. 

Well, I have to tell her a bedtime story now. I'm pretty sure she'll sleep after this. Why god, why? I thought I was destined to have a wonderful job, where I could work whatever I wanted, I never expected that I was to take care of a 2-year-old! He thought, exhaling loudly, blinking a few times. 

Jisu eagerly waited, her eyes boring deep into his's. 

Soobin took a deep breath, asking his inner self to be more patient. 

"Once upon a time," He began. "There was this guy named Bin. He was getting ready to work in the fields, but unfortunately, the carriage he had boarded got stuck in the mud. There was no one, except for the driver - who was sitting in the front, him and a young, beautiful lady. The driver got off and told them to stay inside—for if they go out, they will get a sunburn. The lady was his only company, her name was Lia. He made the mistake of asking her about the head farmer. She was a chatterbox—she never stopped talking. On top of that, the girl kept on insisting him to talk to her. To finally stop her chittering, he gave her a book to read—his most prized possession. It was as if the book was a living thing, she scolded it when the protagonist would do something that was unpleasant. And she would pat the book when the protagonist managed to win her praise. She would occasionally utter a sentence that would start from, "Oh" and would end with "sake", with words in between that he never heard being spoken in public—certainly not by a nun." 

Jisu looked so immersed in the story that she kept on nodding to his every word unconsciously, and nodded even when he paused to catch a breath. 

"The woman was so annoying, so when the people were finally able to get rid of the carriage that got stuck in the mud, he quickly stood upon his feet and ran away, wishing to god that he never hears from her again," He completed his story that was made on-the-spot, the story-line being fuelled by his real-life experiences.   

"Hmm," Jisu scrunched her nose—and Soobin couldn't help but notice how cute she looked. "The woman was really annoying! She shouldn't have done that, she's so ill-mannered!" 

"Although," Jisu continued, "I expected something else."

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