Choi Ji-Hoon was cardioplegic when he saw the suffering, his face was haggard as his car was driving into the neighbourhood Lee Hayan was living in.
“What is happening.”
An invitation to a woman’s home was welcomed, but if the opponent was Lee Hayan, the circumstances would be different.
Conversation and intimacy with their lives at stake, invited to the house at night I must do whatever it takes....
“Life or death. There was no room for excuses.”
Choi Ji Hoon was obsessed with a myriad of delusions and was forced to back off.
The location was not hard to find thanks to the simple directions given by Hayan.
A bit of a distance from the roads and stores was a small house located in a secluded area.
The yard was full of flowers in bloom and in the corner were jars.
“Really.”
Choi Ji Hoon smiled.
“Theres a pleasant atmosphere about the house as if she was raised well.”
But he had not the slightest idea.
Lee Hayan was in the kitchen, working hard to make it clean.
“Kitchen maid and even later, married. Cooking kimchi and side dishes will be continued to be carried with you even as you prepare to die.”
Be that as it may, the dishes and the laundry were not forced completely, but most of it were the tasks in Lee Hyun’s life.
The house was saved.
Years of newspaper delivery had trained a sense of geography. For a long time, the sun was good they found a house in a quiet secluded area and bought it.
Ding dong.
Choi Ji Hoon rang the doorbell and the front door opened.
“Excuse me.”
Seeing as it was the first time visiting a woman’s house, secretly his heart trembled a trifle. His two arms were holding flowers and a fruits basket as a present for whatever was to come.
*Bark!*
Soon after, the barking dog ran into the yard.
“Heog!”
Choi Ji Hoon faltered and stepped back.
“What is this veal dog.”
The big dog came running up while wagging its tail, licking and desperately rubbing on his body.
An excessive display of intimacy.
He realised its behaviour was because it knew he was a guest.
“Come in.”
Lee Hayan, wearing a white t-shirt came out on the porch modestly dressed. Even then, Choi Ji Hoon was trying to pretend to be friendly.
“Boshin, go ahead and relax.”
As soon as Hayan said this, the tail stopped wagging at once and the dog quickly retreated to its kennel.
Choi Ji Hoon’s spirit was in turmoil, he held out the flowers and fruit basket.
“It was awkward to come empty-handed so I brought something."
“Yes, thank you.”
Hayan received the fruit basket and led Choi Ji Hoon into the house.
“The flowers?”
“What about the umbrella stands....”
“.....”
Lee Hayan served the meal with side dishes that were food boiled down in soy sauce or other seasonings.
“Bon appetit.”
Impetuously showing up,taking dinner at the table that was already set,Choi Ji Hoon raised the spoon.
“Although it’s not much, have your fill.”
Eating at home was different. Side dishes were carefully pick so they would not put a strain on the stomach.
The immaculate Choi Ji Hoon was struck with the taste of the food.
“Delicious. I enjoyed it.”
His words were not empty, even the rice was great. The dishes were more delicious than eating a full course in a restaurant.
As soon as you ate the rice, you’d feel as if you were on air.
“You prepared the food for me, so I’ll clean up.”
“No thank you. You’re the guest. I’ll clear the dishes so stay in the room. I’ll be back.”
“I-In the room?”
“Yeah. Why don't you go there.”
“......”
Choi Ji Hoon was intrigued as Hayan pointed to an open door and entered.
Stepping foot into a 20 year old girl’s room.
Pink wallpaper, posters of celebrities, photos, was what he expected. Rather it was filled with shelves of books mostly related to science and medicine and in the midst of these, mystery novels.
«The world will be destroyed with 10 technological advances»
«Human Anatomy»
«A serial killer's invitation»
“She’s reading really good books.”
Even the written language of the titles, Choi Ji Hoon could not carelessly pass by to read.
“She’ll be here soon... What am I doing?”
Hayan’s room, it bore a haunting and amazing atmosphere that overflowed, causing him to be afraid.
‘But...I can’t settle with this girl. At least other women who come will be similar, in one’s eyes.
There was a refreshing fragrance in Hayan’s room.
Just a while ago she was studying, there were books and notes spread all over the desk.
After a while, she came carrying tools including a screwdriver and hammer.
“Have you rested? The television isn’t working well so please fix it.”
“Yes?”
“You said you were part of Sung’s Electronics. Please fix it.”
“Sung...Electronics, but I’m not sure if if I can repair the television. Just because South Korea has cars, does it mean we can make cars?”
Choi Ji Hoon, although puzzled, disassembled the TV with tools and luckily was able to find the parts of the circuit that required fixing.
“Ah! Here comes the screen.”
The nervous Choi Ji Hoon wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.
It was an old vintage television but he hadn’t taken one apart before.
‘This experience will be helpful.’
Choi Ji Hoon had a smile plastered on his face.
‘Now all I need to do is to wait for a lovely conversation to happen.’
In that moment, he felt himself reliable as Lee Hayan smiled a bright,innocent and perfectly natural smile.
“Really it’s fixed. I’m amazed.”
A little dramatically, Choi Ji Hoon gestured to his pounding heart.
“In the future, if you need any help, please call on me.”
“Can I really do that?”
“Sure.”
“In fact there might be other things broken.”
“....”
“Even imported things? Oh but I don’t think you know how to fix those...”
“No. Bring it.”
Hayan actually brought it.
Gas stove, oven, air purifiers, humidifiers, vacuum cleaners, cell phones, laptops, printers, computers, monitors, cassettes, telephone, fan, rice cooker, a bidet!
“This, is this all?”
“No. There’s more. The refrigerator in the kitchen too."
“......”
“You can’t fix it? Do you have to bring it to the depot?”
Choi Ji Hoon vigorously shook his head.
“No. I’ll give it a try.”
He started with the easiest one, the telephone.
Old parts wear out and end up unusable, but generally parts tend to just break.
After the repair period, it looked newly bought because even a small failure could not be detected.
“Where did you get all this stuff?”
“I got it from our original house, some of the things were brought by brother. He found it during his newspaper routes.
“I see.”
Repairing was difficult, but Choi Ji Hoon was comfortable because he was having a conversation with Hayan who was sitting right next to him.
To Be Continued...