I stood in front of a huge building that was one of the most famous hotels in Seoul. That's exactly what it looked like.
,,Move with yourself before you bend under the weight of that soaked clothes of yours." Su-Jin, wearing his black face mask, took his car keys from my outstretched hand, but then immediately joined his palm to mine as he dragged me under the roof to a massive staircase.
I even felt that touch in my stomach, that's how the insignificant deed he just did affected me.
I wanted to keep my hand in his grip, but I did the exact opposite. Only because of the boundaries I set myself and it slowly but surely began to lose all meaning. It made me think about the possibility of retreating.
And that feeling went from my toes to the roots of my hair.
,,You're not going anywhere, Millie." He pulled me out of my head.
I glanced at my shoes. They didn't move a inch from where they had stood, so I didn't back down. And I was also sure that I didn't say anything out loud. So ...
,,I am not." I looked up at his pale face again.
He watched me with an unreadable look, then nodded and moved away from me.
Maybe just out of defiance, I wanted to prove that he doesn't read me as well as he thinks he does, I followed him inside the hotel.
However I didn't know if I wanted to prove it to him or myself.
I saw how hard he tried not to cough as much as his body needed. Even his steps, which were slow and fluctuating.
I took my step with him so that I could be a potential support, but still kept the appropriate distance.
As we marched down the hall on the top floor, from his walk, I expected his firm, tall body to slide to the carpet and fall asleep right there.
We were both soaked in the rain, which also affected him. He made an effort to cover his shaking with various limb movements.
When he tried to unlock the door, the keys fell out of his fingers and as soon as he bent over them, he touched his head with both hands and remained in that position for a few long seconds.
I was aware of he needed to breathe that sudden rush of pain, so I came to him just at a slow pace.
,,I need you to stand up, Su-Jin. Leave everything else to me, alright?" I crouched beside him. Without touching, I gave him space and time to decide when it would be easiest for him.
For now, I took his keys from the floor myself and waited for him to decide to get up.
Thanks to his face mask, I didn't have as much access to his facial language as I would have liked and so I had to be satisfied just by looking at his narrowed eyes, which made me feel like someone was kicking me in the stomach.
I would have said he was on the verge of sleep.
I was really sorry for him.
When he lifted himself off the floor, I immediately inserted the key into the lock and opened the door for him.
The first thing I noticed when we were in a fully furnished spacious hotel room was the glass wall along almost the entire apartment. A perfect view was visible through it.
On the left was another door that probably led to the bedroom.
But before I could react, Su-Jin went in that direction. He seemed to fall apart if I touched him.
I saw him start undressing from his wet clothes and I reflexively turned my face elsewhere.
A kitchen appeared in my field of vision, and a bathroom a few feet away. I headed right there, I found there a smaller white towel, which I planned to use as a compress.
I wondered where he might have stored the medicine and pain killers.
When I entered his room carefully, he was already lying in bed, only in his underwear and still wet t-shirt.
I walked over to him so I could put a compress on his forehead, and when I did, I pulled away. During that time he did not move in the slightest.
But then I reached out to his face so that I could put the mask away, just so I could notice his painful expression and clenched jaw.
However, a dark stain on his t-shirt caught my eye. It still had to go off his body so I cautiously grabbed it between my fingers and started pulling it upwards.
When his bare stomach was exposed to me, I slightly stumbled backwards.
My gaze was trapped at the ugly cut that stretched across his right hip.
,,I had to tell him first."
His voice was unexpectedly strong, which surprised me a little.
I looked at his face again and found that his eyes were slightly parted.
He'd known about it all along, and even so, instead of going to have it treated, he was in that greenhouse.
Like all men, without care in the world. Even when it concerned himself.
It was driving me up the wall.
I really didn't notice his words. I preferred to turn around and return rapidly to the bathroom. I search almost all the cabinets there until I found a first aid kit.
In a few seconds I was already pulling out disinfection and cleaning swabs, sitting on the edge of the bed.
But before I was able to apply one of it to that wound, his fingers caught the bottom of my dress and softly pulled on it.
,,Take it off."
I heard his deep voice and I felt as if my insides had turned upside down.
However, as soon as I glanced at his hand, I notice a wet spot under the place where I was sitting. I stood up immediately.
,,I'm so sorry, I didn't realize..." I went silent when I found that even the smooth black boots on the platform were still on my feet. In that hundredth of a second I bent down and took them off.
This time I knelt on the ground and started cleaning his cut again. He never jerked off. Only heavy breathing and a few coughs could be heard in the room.
,,You'll catch a cold, Millie. Take it off." He spoke again after a short while. His tone was serious. It could have made me stand up and take off those clothes at that moment.
All this ....
Simply, if it could be described, it would be something like avoiding contact with those big-headed, callous and patronizing persons, hoping that they would not be able to slander you.
That these persons will not be able to tell any lies because you have not even given them the opportunity to create one.
But that's exactly what will captivate these people.
Instead of making lies of personality, they'll make it out of nothing.
And that's even worse.
You can't avoid it; they won't let you.
It is a trap into which one falls whether one wants to or not. But now I've found that the barriers of this trap don't just have to be disagreeable.
,,I don't have spare clothes with me." I let him know.
A slightly hoarse laugh escaped his lips.
,,You may be wondering, but I also own clothes." He glanced at the closet opposite us.
,,But if it was just something like a warning before you only show up here in your underwear, I'll calmly pretend my wardrobe is perfectly empty."
,,The fever must be terribly intense." there was a frown on my face while started taking off my jacket along with a scarf.
I chose gray sweatpants and an ordinary long-sleeved t-shirt from his closet.
In fact, it was probably the first thing I saw there.
With his clothes in my hands, I left his room and changed behind the closed door.
I twitched as another thunder sounded and the rain seen behind the glass grew louder.
I returned to Su-Jin with my hair tangled in a braid, and later a frown on my face added when I saw him sitting.
,,You need something?"
,,I need you to come here to me." He replied, and only then did I notice the disinfectant I had previously used in his hands.
Without thinking, I walked over to him and sat on the edge of the bed again.
,,You know, this is a very unique disinfection here. When you apply it to a wound, in addition to cleaning, it also erases the trace of everything that caused that wound." He poured a little of that on his fingers and palms.
,,I'll show you..."
At that moment, his palms appeared on both sides of my neck.