The Chapter In Which The (1/1)

Chapter 4     Is S.M. joking with us? Setting us up with such disorganized people. I would've had more luck renting a hotel room for the night instead; at least I would've gotten more sleep. All that Marisa can do is apologize; apologizing for the fact that her sister, who knows Korean, had to make an emergency trip to the hospital; apologizing for the fact that she has no idea which rooms we had to stay in; the only thing she hasn't apologized for is being the calamity that just entered our lives.     How freakin' big can the house be? Where's the stupid kitchen? We were all so busy unpacking that we all forgot about eating, but not my stomach. I walked down the flight of stairs. I was tempted to turn on the lights, if only I could find the lightswitch. At the end of the hall, I could hear sounds from inside one of the rooms. The door was ajar. I peered in, it didn't seem like anyone was in there, but the lights were on. And there was table, and THERE WAS FOOD ON THE TABLE. I ran in. Another scream.     “Shut up will you?! It's only me.”     “Why are you still up? Aren't you tired from your flight?” Her voice was still trembling. What is she afraid of? She presents herself as being pathetically fragile.     “I would be sleeping right now, if I wasn't so hungry. Got anything to eat?” I grabbed a box of cookies from the table.     “I'm sorry. I completely forgot about dinner...” I hate it when she mumbles. What the hell did she just say? I reached into the box for a cookie, when she turned around.     "Er... if you don't mind, I'll share some food with you.” I rolled my eyes. What was she saying?     “You mind speaking up, 'cause I can never hear you.” I saw her cringe and her body turning away from me.     “I'm sorry.” She's apologizing again, and she's mumbling, again!     I walked up to her and grabbed her shoulder to turn her around. She jolted and hid her face from me. I spoke in exaggerated slowness. “READ MY LIPS. SPEAK UP! And you can do without all the apologies either.”     She squirmed away to the right. I looked down at what she was cooking. Bibimbap? I took a sniff.      “You made this?” I just couldn't hide the surprise in my voice; it smelt really good. Instead of giving me a verbal response though, she just nodded. She walked over, holding a rice bowl. “Where'd you learn to make it?” She didn't respond. She instead, walked pass me to the counter on the left; she returned to the stove with a spoon. “Hey, maybe one day, you can share your secret with Key.” I expected at least a smile of some sort, but still nothing. Was she ignoring me now? “Yo, talk!” Marisa said nothing, she just scooped up the bibimbap onto the rice bowl. She was really frustrating. “Oh so now, you've decided not to be quiet, but instead be voiceless.” She turned the stove off, and moved the iron pot over to the burner beside me; she picked up her rice bowl and started walked away. “Hey, where do you think you're going. I was talking to you! How rude~” I saw her hand trembling and she was looking to the left, completely ignoring me. “What's wrong with you?” I knocked the bowl out of her hand. She didn't bother to even glare at me. She hurriedly cleaned up, running around me. Her head was constantly down, it was as though she didn't even want to look at my face. Gosh, was I so bad? I knelt and tried to help her, but she kept on scooching away. Marisa was now quietly picking up the pieces of the bowl. “Are you stupid, you'll hurt yourself like that.” I snatched the piece from her palm, accidentally scratching her with the sharp end, leaving a gash that was oozing out blood. She finally stood up and murmered something again.I couldn't hear her. “What did you say?” I saw her lips moving again, but I heard nothing. “Honestly, speak up.” Her head was still hung low; I moved in closer to hear her better. “Oh My God! You know what...”     “I said, leave.” This time she was loud enough for me to hear her, but I couldn't understand.     “What do you mean?”     “What else could it mean? Just leave.”     To say I'm slightly offended is a complete understatement. “Leave? I was trying to help you.”     Although her head was down, I could hear the anger bubbling in her voice. “If you want to help me, just get out of here! Go back to sleep.”     “Why are you being so loud all of a sudden?” Was there a reason why she was getting so angry all of a sudden? I was just helping her. “You could at least say thanks.”     She lifted her head, and we made eye contact. I was a little shocked to see so much anger and sadness in her eyes. Did I do this?     “Say thanks for what? All you've done was yell at me. You yelled at me for being too quiet, you yelled at me for being too loud, and you've yelled at me for saying nothing at all. You're an asshole you know that!” The bitterness if her voice caused my guilt to act up. “I was being nothing but nice with you. You said you were hungry, so I left you the rest of the bibimbap. You're not the only hungry one; I've been so busy trying to work all of this without my sister, that I haven't eaten either. I thought that it'd be nice to learn making something korean for you guys... you know what? Forget it. There's no point explaining. Whatever, Minho. Good night!” She started walking away again.     “Wait.” My mouth felt really dry. She continued to walk.     “I said wait.” Was I really that much of an asshole; I guess in retrospect, I was really harsh. What washed over me today?     “JUST STOP WALKING!” She twitched and stopped in her tracks. “I'll share with you.”     She was going to turn, but stopped. 'I'll share with you.' What kind of apology was that? What's with me and this girl? What's with this jerk-routine? “What I was meaning is 'I'm sorry'.” She looked at me with a pout and tears in her eyes. Why is she crying? What the Hell?     “I'm sorry, Minho-san... I mean...”     I interrupted her. I was confused. “Nevermind that. Why are you sorry?”     She was sniffling and holding back her tears, but her voice gave away her vulnerability. “I've never yelled at a person like that before. You must think I'm terrible.”     I didn't know what to say. I hate her. She made me feel so bad about myself. My heart felt like it was shrinking. Tears started streaming down her face, and I felt even worse. How am I suppose to comfort a complete stranger, and one who possibly hates me. I gave her a pat on the shoulder. It was obvious that it didn't really make her any happier. It was nearly five minutes of me just standing there staring at her cry. I cleared my throat several times. I was at a complete lost for an action. At the moment, I saw a box of tissues on the table and decided to walk over; brushing past Marisa, I heard her stomach growl. A natural chortle escaped from my mouth.     “I'll share the bibimbap with you... I mean, if you like.”     She was moving her hair away from her face, but she still avoided eye contact with me.     “What I really mean to say is that you are our tour guide, and no matter how shitty you are, we'll still be lost without you.” I walked over to the counter on the left and took a soup bowl. Walking back to the stove, I scooped the pleasant smelling food onto it. Standing before her, I lifted the spoon to her mouth. She looked up with a gentle grin on her face. My heart expanded. It was the first smile she gave me. She held onto the spoon, but instead, she placed on my lip. Without any control, I just felt my mouth opening, and she gently feeding me. Her smile got even bigger when I began chewing. It really was Heaven in my mouth. There was something to it that tasted better than what Key had made before. “It's really good.” The fact that the food was so delicious, I completely forgot to chew, and when I opened my mouth to speak, pieces of rice came flying out. Marisa giggled, while I covered my mouth, realizing what I've just done. Slightly embarrassed, I gave Marisa a glare, and she looked down. But I softened to a smile again. She scooped another spoonful and held it up towards me.