The Nanny- Bangchan

CHAPTER 6*

Aera was antsy. The whole way back to the house, she was antsy. She couldn't sit still. She nervously tapped her foot on the floor of the car and bit at her finger nails like a heroin addict fiending for their next fix. Chan's insides squeezed tightly, feeling as if he was the biggest con-artist in the world. Did he pressure her into this? Did he persuade her unfairly by telling her his sob-story about how his wife won't fuck him? Did she just agree out of pity?

"Are you okay, Aera ?" Chan asked curiously, looking almost worried.

"What? Yeah. I'm fine," she told him. Chan's eyes fell to her bouncing knee and she steadied it before crossing the other leg over it to weigh it down.

"Are you sure?" He asked, giving her another curious look.

"Super," she said with a smile.

"We..." He started to say, but looked back at Jaehyun to see if his seven year old son was paying attention to anything they were saying. Thankfully he wasn't. He had headphones on and was watching the movie that played on the screens inside of the SUV.

"We don't have to do this. We can just—" Chan said in a hushed tone before Aera cut him off.

"No. What? Chan, I'm fine. I just... I'm still really excited that I got to see Australia today," she said, giving him a genuine smile.

"Okay, so you're not freaked out then?" He asked.

"What? No," she said, giving him an odd look. If anything, she was excited. It was what she wanted from the moment she saw him. He was all she could think about.

"Cause if we're being honest... I'm a little freaked out. I've never done something like this before," he said in his hushed tone.

"Are you... are you having second thoughts?" Aera asked uneasily.

"No. No, no. I just... I don't know. This is not something I do," he said.

"Well it's not something I do either," she told him.

"Good. So, we're okay then? You're not freaked out by the creepy old guy coming on to you?" Chan asked.

"Chan , you're neither creepy nor old," Aera said, smiling widely at him and he chuckled.

"Thanks," he said, turning his eyes back to the road, unable to keep a smile off his face.

...

The anticipation made Chan jittery, like he was on drugs or something. He couldn't still his body if he tried. It was times like these that he wished he had a vice, like smoking or something to calm his nerves. Then he remembered, in most cases, running could always centre and calm him down.

"Where are you going?" Jihye asked him as he laced up his trainers.

"I uh... I'm going for a run," he told her.

"In the evening?" She asked, looking at him like it was the most bizarre thing in the world.

"Yeah, in the evening," he scoffed as he continued tying his shoes.

"But you... you run in the morning," she stammered, looking wide-eyed, almost scared.

"Well, I want to go for a run now," he snapped.

"But... but what about dinner?" She choked out.

Chan sighed, rolling his eyes. She was only worried that she might have to cook dinner for once in her life.

"Don't worry. Minhee offered to cook tonight," Chan said, shaking his head, annoyed with his wife.

"Oh. Good. I-I just... I..." She let out a sigh.