When He Decided to Make M (1/1)

Hey, I hope that you're enjoying the story so far. It's the first time that I have written a story with a Korean as one of the characters. I guess I didn't do well on the first chapter. Wishing my story luck, here's the second chapter.He sent me a text message that blew the great winds out of me. I was listening to Chopin's Prelude in E Minor as I was washing the dishes when my phone rang. It was just around 9, the following Saturday of our first encounter, after breakfast. I never thought that he would contact me; actually, I was so busy doing my manuscript that the thought of him flew off of my mind.The sound of my phone almost broke the chinaware. After a bit of contemplation, I decided to finish my chore before I checked out the message. I hate distractions; especially, when I'm in a bad mood. That day, I was in a bad mood; my employer just told me that if I continue to be lax in my deadlines, he would stop financing for my books. That totally pissed me off. That was one of the reasons that I don't like working for a company.When I checked the message out, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was in Korean! How the heck was I supposed to figure it out? I'm not good in reading Korean, let alone understanding most of it. Is he making fun of my lack of knowledge in his language? I was about to throw my phone in frustration and anger when I realized that I could just have it translated through the internet. Stupid me.It turned out that he wanted to see me again. He wanted to tour Manila with someone knowledgeable and local. I'm not a local though. I came from the Metro, and Manila's just a second home, but because I love the city, I decided to live here alone and away from the noise of my family. Don't get me wrong though; I love my family and I still visit them once or twice a week, or when I get a little homesick.That Saturday, I planned on visiting my family; my mind was so exhausted after finishing three manuscripts in just one week because I have put it all off for so long. Being a writer isn't actually a breeze and there are times that I end up not writing for a long periods. Writer's block isn't a myth, but it isn't incurable though. It's like when you're a student, there are times that you just don't want to go to school, but you know that you love going there.I walked over to the living room, and contemplated. My family's important, yes, but I was so curious about him that it was hard to weigh things with a clear perception. In the end, just like what happens when my curiosity gets the best of me, I chose to meet him instead. I called my sister to let her know that I'll be coming home next time."I'm so sorry, Gael," I tried to soothe her. "Something came up and I have to work on it.""Mom's waiting for you though," she informed. "She cooked your favorite."That's hitting below the belt. I love my mom's cooking, and I love almost all of her food; most of them are my favorites. I can't believe she chose food as a guilt trip for me. I can't, of course, choose right now. I gritted my teeth, and grabbed the nearest item that I could play with - the knife. I didn't cut myself or anything; I just used the handle to hit the counter. I'm getting irritated with myself because of everything; I'm so confused right now.I was about to open my mouth to give a retort when I heard beeping; there's another caller on the other line. "Sorry, Gael. Please give mom my love. I'll talk to you soon." I dropped the call and answered the next call."Hello?" It was Soo Hyun. His voice was so familiar, it was weird."Hello," I answered. "What's up?"There was silence on the other line. I guessed that he's thinking very hard on how to deliver his line. It's like he's memorizing his lines for a drama. I waited patiently. I wasn't in a hurry anyway. I had to keep calm since he might say something that would catch me off guard - not that he does it intentionally.His voice was deep as he spoke once more after the long silence. "I will go to you. Ten minutes."How can someone fix herself in ten minutes? I guess he haven't had any experience with girls that take twenty minutes just to choose clothes, and an hour to think of what to do when the boy gets there. Thankfully, I'm not like those other girls; I can get dressed in only a few minutes, and by the time he got to my apartment, I was just watching a DVD to relax me.I was so cognizant to his presence that I could vividly recall the first time we met. In that cafe, he seemed so sure of himself, but when I learned who he was, he suddenly became like a fragile china. If I had left him there alone, I was so sure that his fans would have killed each other just to have a taste of him. I became his first friend in months after he came to the Philippines.We walked in the streets of Manila oblivious to the stares of locals. I knew that they were staring, not at me but at Soo Hyun who was wearing a scarf in the middle of summer. I didn't care since he didn't. I was focused on how we could get to my apartment without the notice of his fans. We were able to slip past the girls after an hour; maybe they thought that he had left the area without them knowing.The doorbell rang, and I knew that he was already in front of my apartment door. Stood up from the couch, I went to open the door to let him in. I gestured to the couch to have him take a seat. "I'll just make sure that all the appliances are unplugged." I didn't know if he understood what I just said, but I asked him a follow up question before I went, "Would you like some juice?"He looked so handsome in his attire. He didn't wear any scarves today, showing his beautiful smile. "Sure. Thank you," he said with the heart melting smile that I often see in his dramas.He was wearing another simple black fitted shirt and a pair of jeans - a contrast of the shorts that he wore last time - and his pair of sun glasses. Apparently, whatever he wore looked good on him; making him look more like the handsome actor that he is. Adorned his wrists were silver and black bracelets that complemented his outfit.After making sure that I unplugged all of my electronic devices, I took my purse and led him out of the apartment. He brought his rental car along, a Black Mercedes Benz which he parked in front; not too flashy enough to attract peoples' attention. I assumed that he thought that walking around under the heat of Manila's summer sun was exhausting, so he decided to use his rental.Seeing him beyond the confines of the television set, I realized that he's a better person than I thought he was. Much, much better than what I have imagined. As he waited for me to get in the passenger's seat - a little gentleman he is for doing that - I saw him flash his smile once again, making me almost faint. After I got in, he walked around to get inside as well."Where to go?" I asked simply. My voice almost cracked, but it didn't.It was 10AM, and the sun have barely shone his heat today. I looked at the sky as I asked him. The clouds were a bit dark, and I knew that that meant rain. Our country's weather is unpredictable despite the weather reports saying that it would be hot for the entire week.He fumbled on his dashboard compartment and fished out an electronic dictionary - a dictionary that looked like a VTECH intelligent computer for children in the size of a scientific calculator. He typed on it then said, "Anywhere." Then he stopped again to type once more before continuing into a more coherent sentence, "Where do you want me to go?"That should have been my line, but the Philippines' big enough to go to different places. We could go to the provinces and tour the historical places, or maybe go to a beach resort and swim. There are tons of things to do in the country, actually. Limited in what I know, I told him my thoughts about the tour or vacation, if he preferred that kind of getaway.He stared into space for a second or two, "Swimming is good. I like swimming."I laughed at him. Not really laughed, but snickered. "How are we going to swim though?" I asked him. "We don't have bathing suits!" Followed by my laughter was a smack to his shoulder. Realizing that I shouldn't have done it. I immediately apologized. "I'm sorry."Fortunately, he didn't mind at all. It seemed that he liked that I'm already feeling relaxed around him. I'm more of the boyish type of a girl that I barely even feel awkward. "Gwaenchanha," he said quietly."Let's go to Corregidor* today instead," I suggested. "It's just a few hours from here, and we can go sight-seeing there. We could go swimming next time."He accepted my suggestion, not knowing where we were going. Just to be fair to him, since I knew my way around Manila to the province of Cavite, I asked him if he was comfortable with him driving instead of me. He shrugged. I decided to just become his GPS for the time being, and if he got tired, I could just be his driver if he wanted to.The trip to Cavite* was a little bit faster; there were a few cars on the streets. People were in the confines of their homes keeping themselves cool. That was an advantage for us. Getting to Cavite seemed like a breeze that when we got to the center of the province, I saw his eyes bulge out of their sockets when he saw how heavy the traffic there was."It's like this here almost everyday," I explained. "If the traffic isn't heavy, that would mean that the streets got bigger, or maybe the people with cars got less." He grunted in understanding. It was a simple explanation that foreigners just have to understand.I turned on the radio to make the silence between us less suffocating. I found myself singing to Taylor Swift's song as Soo Hyun eased his way away from the traffic. I pointed here and there - where he would turn or where he should go - until we reached our final destination.I asked him to park the car in a curb. There weren't any parking lots in the area since I guided him away from the tourist spots. He wasn't exactly a normal tourist that I had to help him get away from the eyes of all the people that might know him. I didn't know that being a tour guide for an actor was this taxing.We got off the car with him escorting me once again. It seemed like I was cheating; he didn't know how much I adored him as a fan, and I definitely didn't want him to know that. I wouldn't want him to think that I was a liar; I wasn't though. There's a very thin line between a liar and someone who didn't tell that she was a fan."Let's walk around so you can take pictures, if you want.""Okay," he said with enthusiasm.Corregidor was a battlefield station once during the World War II, and now that it's a memorial for those who died serving for the country it's one of the historical places in the Philippines. The ruins, I assumed, were different from what they have in Korea; in the first place, everything is different from every area, right?My knowledge in history was a little rusty, still I did my best to tell him what I remember about the place. The artifacts that were around us were still captivating for me, and he even thought that it was 'beautiful' as he put it. He was hard with words, and I was a bit speechless with his hand in mine. I could tell that he wasn't uncomfortable with our situation, but I was nonetheless dumbfounded with his idea.We walked hand in hand on the red bricked passageway, a ruse that he thought of, as if we were a couple. He said that we had to pretend that we were in a relationship. I believed that he imagined himself like a normal Korean tourist. I thought that he was crazy, but I just had to go along with his plan; it wasn't me who was almost mugged by thousands of fans. It was the least that I could do for him, I decided.NOTES:Corregidor* = pronounced as koh-reh-hee-dohr; an island fortress in the Philippines about 48 kilometers west of ManilaCavite* = pronounced as kah-vee-teh; a province in the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay