Geomancy couple

Chapter 37: Chapter 37

There was a bad sign in bad things. One should sense it sharply. But most people didn’t take it seriously.

‘It probably won’t happen to me.’

What an irresponsible remark!

It’s like saying, ‘This can’t be rain!’ when, in fact, it was raining.

Half of those who get divorced once toyed with the thought, ‘This can’t happen to me.’

Too negative?

Life was a chain of pain from the very beginning.

Hojoon remembered his father’s constant preaching about how the family lessened its members’ pain, lovers lessened each other’s pain, and children lessened their parents’ pain. His father also said that the moment of pleasure and joy was fleeting.

“From now on…” said Hojoon, stopping the wheelchair.

“Why don’t you stop meeting him?” he said, losing patience with her.

She didn’t reply to his suggestion.

Both of them didn’t say anything until she took an X-ray and came back to the bed in a wheelchair pushed by him.

Fortunately, she had no bone injuries.

After the doctor said that she could be discharged, both went out of the hospital.

It was 2 A.M.

Arum put on some slippers, which Hojoon hastily bought at a nearby supermarket.

The taxi arrived in front of Arum’s villa.

Though the doctor said that she had no bone injuries, she had to be assisted by Hojoon when she got off.

She stood before the stairs, the biggest obstacle. These days any five-story apartment building runs an elevator, but her villa didn’t have one. She freaked out at the thought of walking up the stairs.

She thought she could get to her unit by the next morning if she clambered up the stairs.

She felt it uncomfortable to be with Hojoon. She felt all the more so because of Konsu.

So, she expressed appreciation of his help to let him go.

“Thanks so much for your help today. How can I repay it?”

“If you feel so sorry, pay me by the hour, including overtime pay,” said Hojoon curtly.

Arum had nothing to talk back.

Based on his logic, she used his working hours, so she had an obligation to pay for his service.

Frankly speaking, Hojoon was a stranger to her. He had no reason to do her a favor.

At that moment he held her arm to push her to the stairs.

“Oops!”

She held his waist with hands quickly because of pain in her legs.

“Sorry,” she said, blaming her two hands.

She blushed. It was her instinct. She didn’t want to fall, so leaned on him instinctively.

But he didn’t care at all.

At that moment he wrapped her waist with his arm.

“Though your bones were not injured, you will feel hurt because you stretched ligaments.”

“I’m alright.”

“Are you going to crawl up there?”

“Yeah, after you leave. So, go now.”

“Don’t you want my help because I am not your ex-boyfriend?”

His question was pretty provocative. She stared at him.

“I can walk up the stairs alone.”

“I’m not trying to help you because I like you. I’m just showing you a service spirit. Won’t you help me if I’m injured like you?”

She had nothing to say.

“Men with military experience see this kind of accidents often. It’s nothing. Just lean on me. I’m not interested in you.”

“I’m not either!”

“Then, why do you refuse my favor? Are you sure you’re not interested in me?”

At his provocative question, she just decided to swallow her shame and humiliation. Like he said, both were not interested in each other. So, she didn’t have to feel shameful.

‘Yeah, let me think of this man as a male nurse or a care worker.’

Thinking like that, she felt much more comfortable now. Rather she held his arms tightly.

“Let’s go, then. My villa is on the 3rd floor. Don’t blame me. I’m pretty heavy.”

“I know because I have already lifted you up. You’re not just heavy. Very heavy,” quipped Hojoon.

As if they were in a three-legged race, both walked up the stairs.

Arum was already short of breath when she got to the first floor. She had beads of sweat on her forehead.

“Let’s take a short break,” she said.

“If you take a break, it will be harder to move again. Let’s go!”

“No, I’m a patient!”

“That’s why you need a rest at home.”

“I can’t, I can’t.”

“Are you really going to crawl up there?” he asked, staring at her sternly.

She felt stuffy, too.

‘I’m going to crawl after you leave!’

She wanted to scream like that, but she was scared of the CCTV installed in the corner of the stairs. In the footage she would be seen crawling up slowly like a caterpillar. How ugly she would look!

‘Yeah, I’m a human being. Let me keep my dignity.’

In the end, she raised herself at his repeated prodding.

The moment the front door of her house was opened, she lay down on the floor, throwing off her self-respect she kept so far.

“Good heavens! You really like the front door.”

“I can’t move any more. I’m so tired.”

Hojoon was as much exhausted. He noticed a rug on the living room.

“Wait a minute.”

He took it and came back to her.

“What are you going to do with the rug?”

“Are you going to sleep here on the front door?”

“No, no. But you shouldn’t use that rug.”

Hojoon rolled and pushed her on the rug, who was trying to hug it with both arms.

“I paid one million won for that in Turkey!” she said.

“You can buy it at 100,000 won at the Namdaemoon Market.”

He then put her on the rug and pulled it to the living room.

When he almost pulled it near the sofa, the rug was torn apart.

“Oh noooooooo!” she screamed.

“You can buy it again. You’re the priority now,” he said, telling her off.

If Konsu had said so, she would have taken it pretty romantically.

But she took Hojoon’s remarks sarcastically.

Nonetheless, she was happy she arrived home safely.

Though she was mentally stressed out, she felt it fortunate to have him beside her at the moment.

“Thanks. If you give me the account number of your bank, let me wire the money.”

“Do you really think I’m doing this crazy thing for money at this early in the morning?”

“Well, didn’t you say you wanted an hourly pay for your service, did you?”

One of the ways for modern men to express their gratitude is money.

Money gifts for happy or sad occasions are such an expression.

Its purpose is not to buy one’s relationship with money.

“Well, it’s just a joke.”

“Please accept the money. I’ll feel comfortable if you accept my money,” said Arum.

She felt like she couldn’t continue to work with him if she felt uncomfortable.

Obviously she would spend more money on treating him to meals if she didn’t send him the money.

“Again, that was a joke. Don’t care about it at all,” he said, taking out a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator.

“Isn’t it good for us to be on good terms as colleagues?” he said.

“Thanks.”

“If you agree, do you have ramen?”

“Yeah. They are in the cupboard.”

Hojoon opened the cupboard that she was pointing at.

There were various types of ramen.

“Do you like ramen?” he asked.

“Is there anyone who doesn’t like ramen? If you live alone, you come to enjoy it.”

“You bet. Are you going to have it early in the morning like now?”

He held a couple of ramen bags and shook them before her. There was nothing to eat except for ramen.

“By the way, I can’t cook ramen for you now,” she said.

“I’ve never asked you to cook for me. I just asked you if you would eat, too.”

In the end, he boiled ramen.

He took out a small folding table and put a ramen bowl on it.

Both sat face to face at the table and enjoyed ramen.

The moment she smelled ramen, she suddenly got hungry. As she didn’t enjoy curry at all at the Indian curry house, she felt much more hungrier now.

Though she thought she used chopsticks several times, the bowl was already empty.

Obviously she had more than Hojoon.

“Wow, this ramen tasted so good. You cook ramen very well.”

She tried to avoid the embarrassing moment by praising him on purpose.

“I guess you had too little. I wish you boiled three ramen instead of two.”

“Well, I did boil three.”

“Oh, I see. The bowl was full.”

“Take this medicine now. The doctor say it will hurt a lot.”

He put away the ramen bowel and brought medicine and water.

“Let me take if after you leave.”

“Take it now.”

He opened the medicine packet and gave it to her. As she had ramen and medicine, she really felt drowsy.

“Have a rest!”

“Wait a minute!”

When Hojoon stood up to leave, she suddenly got scared.

“Are you going to leave now?” asked Arum.

It was 4AM.