Page 28 of When Worlds Collide
“You trust this one to dress you, Kaiya? Do you know what I had to deal with? Baggy leopard print pants! I suffered so much!”
Jihoon groaned for what must have been the hundredth time since we’d been here.
“Misun-nim,” he pretended to be scandalised, “I told you! It was for a jungle event!”
Misun only grumbled and raised her hand like she’d whack him upside the head, but it was only theatrics. The soft look on her face told me all I needed to know.
After about an hour of playing dress-up, Jihoon showed no signs of getting bored. I suspected this was more to do with the fun he was clearly having with Misun, rather than seeing me strut about in various different outfits. It was clear to me that he revered her, and it was also clear that she felt a similar way towards him. To watch them together, you really would think she was his aunt. I was having more fun watching the way they bantered with each other than I was with the clothes; but to be fair, I was only a few steps above ‘disinterest’ when it came to fashion.
Mostly they kept to English – obviously for my benefit – which I dearly appreciated. Especially as some of the shade Misun threw Jihoon’s way had me wheezing.
I suspected Misun had noticed I was beginning to flag, as she had started dropping hints to Jihoon.
“Aigoo,” Misun suddenly declared as Jihoon had put yet another item of clothing in the ever-growing pile. I didn’t even have a wardrobe outside of the hotel room, I don’t know where he expected me to put it all…
“If you buy anything else, Jihoon-ah, I might as well shut down and retire. Are you trying to put me out of business, you rascal?”
“I’m supporting your business, Misun-nim.” He winked at the older lady, but she just scoffed.
“You want to come back here and restock? Aish. You’re spending money like you don’t have a budget.”
With a barely imperceptible roll of his eyes, Jihoon replied, “I don’t.”
“Ah ha, I see how it is,” Misun declared, wagging her finger at him. “You’re trying to impress your yeo-chin?”
Oh, I knew this one! I’d started watching a lot of K-Dramas recently. I felt oddly proud of myself for recognising the words and, oddly warm for being called Jihoon’s girlfriend by someone other than our direct group of friends. That someone outside of our circle knew about us felt… normal, and that in itself was wonderful.
“Ah, you’re blushing, Jihoon-ah.” Misun reached up to pinch his cheeks, despite his protests.
I smiled to myself and moved away, pretending to look at some jackets.
“You’re happy, I can tell. It suits you.” The words were quiet enough that you would think I wasn’t supposed to hear them, but they were spoken in English.
Jihoon replied in Korean, and the only word I made out was ‘ahjumma’. I could only guess at his response.
I looked back over to where they stood to see Jihoon watching me. The look on his face made my heart swell.
Not long later, I was just sending a text to Becka when I felt Jihoon slide his arms around my waist as he leaned down to rest his chin on my head.
“Misun is kicking us out of her store,” he said, and I didn’t need to see his face to know he was smiling.
Finally, I thought, secretly relieved to not have to try on any more clothes. I kept the thought to myself, not wanting to sound ungrateful, or to spoil Jihoon’s fun.
Misun walked over to join us. She batted Jihoon away from me and, just as she had when we’d first met, she reached for my hands. I slid mine into hers, again marvelling over the softness of her palms, and feeling a twinge of embarrassment that she was no doubt feeling the calluses on mine that had formed from months of carrying heavy boxes around Pisces.
“Baek Jihoon has bought every item of clothing I sell, so you must come back another time.”
From behind me, Jihoon huffed.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Kaiya. I’ve told Jihoon-ah to treat you well, or I shall never forgive him.”
The smile on my face inched up a little higher.
“But,” she continued, “I must also say the same to you.”
Her firm words came as a surprise and her soft hands tightened on mine, ever-so-slightly, imparting her meaning as clearly as her unwavering gaze.
Message received.
