Lady Spring

Oh, of course. She was an idiot for thinking he fought for something important. Saeun hid her sigh and turned around to open the fridge door. 

“Do you want something to drink? Would you like some warm milk?”

“Milk? Are you kidding? Give me a cup of green tea if you have it.”

“I was being thoughtful since you’re a singer and milk is good for your neck. Why are you being so difficult?”

When she narrowed her eyes, Wooyoung layed down on the floor and giggled as he looked at her.

“How is it that you haven’t changed at all, Class Pres? But then, your face changed so much. You looked much better now, huh? But even the way you talk hasn’t changed. I heard you got into the top university, right? What do you do now?”

Saein took out a green tea bag and put the kettle on the stove. She kept herself busy and didn’t say anything. Top university… Indeed, when she got accepted, she thought she had the whole world at her feet. But when she graduated, reality hit her hard. Saeun learned that she was a naive idiot.

The world was filled with average people and she was just one of them. Then, there was this big beloved star who got beaten in a bar because of a woman. And he was in her living room smirking.

Anger engulfed Saeun. She knew her life wasn’t Wooyoung’s fault, but she still couldn’t help feeling this way. Trying to hide it, Saeun changed the subject.

“What about you? I heard you got so busy you had to take a leave of absence from school for a year. I didn’t get to see you in my third year of high school either, so I assumed you decided to take even more time off. Did you end up graduating?”

“Are you serious? Of course I graduated. I just switched to a school closer to my agency. I even went to university.”

Saeun frowned and looked at Wooyoung, who gave her the V sign proudly. She asked, 

“Which university?”

“Where else? The one that accepts someone like me as a ‘special’ case. But I still haven’t graduated yet. In fact, I got accepted again last year, but I ended up taking a leave of absence again.”

It was so easy to get accepted to universities nowadays. There were plenty of schools who accepted those with the worst grades by labeling them as “special” cases. After thinking some sarcastic thoughts, Saeun sighed deeply. This was why she used to be called the unlikable nerd. She now knew people like Wooyoung were better than her. If she disappeared suddenly, no one would miss her. But if Wooyoung disappeared one day, countless people would be shocked. Could he be replaced? Not completely. But her? Anyone could replace her easily. Any office girls or even delivery men. 

“Compared to you, my academic achievement is embarrassing, right? I get it, so there is no need for you to sigh like that.”

Wooyoung’s voice got her attention again. She turned towards him and replied,

“No, I wasn’t thinking that. I was thinking about something else. Anyway, shouldn’t you call someone? They must be worried about you by now.”

“It’s fine. I’ll do it later.”

He waved her concern away and laid down on the living room floor with his eyes closed. When the kettle began to whistle, Saeun turned towards it to check on it. The white steam slowly began to increase creating a thick fog, and the condiment bottles behind it looked blurry.

Just like her own life.

She was depressed. She felt like she became a useless and worthless person. This thought has been engulfing her like cancer for a while now.

Stop it. Just go make some green tea. 

Saeun bit her lips and grabbed the kettle. She began to pour the steaming water carelessly and the hot water splashed onto her hand.

“Ack!”

With a scream, she dropped the kettle, which fell to the floor with a loud bang. Boiling water from it flowed to her quickly, soaking her socks. Her eyes blurred at the burning pain as if her feet were being cooked. 

“What the…”

Someone lifted her up suddenly. Before she realized what was going on, her feet were placed in the kitchen sink that was filled with cold water. Saeun panted and looked at Wooyoung.

“Does it hurt a lot? Was it just your feet that got burnt? How about your hands?”

He yelled roughly as he yanked her hands towards the faucet. She felt the cold water streaming immediately. Because only a small amount of hot water got to her hand, the cold water made it feel better quickly, but she couldn’t tell if her feet were okay. They just felt wet.

“Why are you so clumsy? You weren’t like this before.”

Wooyoung said to her in a sharp voice and began to take her socks off gently. When Saeun finally came to her senses and realized she was sitting on her kitchen counter, she gasped. The counter couldn’t be strong enough to support her!

“I’m fine! I want to get down from here. I’ll just go to the bathroom to wash and put some vaseline on…”

“Shut up and stay still before I hit you!”

Saeun blinked at Wooyoung’s angry words. His bruised face looked especially violent as he stared right into her eyes. He continued, 

“I don’t get it. How could you be so careless with a kettle filled with boiling water? Don’t you know you need to be careful when you deal with hot things? I should’ve poured it myself. I didn’t even really want green tea, so what the heck!”

But it was you who wanted the green tea. I offered to get you warm milk! 

Saeun wanted to protest, but Wooyoung looked so enraged that she couldn’t say a word. He put down her socks on the side and began to rub her feet gently. When his long fingers massaged each of her toes, they felt strange even in the cold water. She shuddered.

“Does it hurt?”

He looked at her worriedly and Saeun shook her head. She couldn’t tell if her feet hurt. His fingers continued to rub her toes before holding her foot.

“I don’t think you burnt your feet, Thank god.”

All Saeun could do was blink. Because she was sitting on the counter, it felt like his face was too close to hers. In fact, his face was right in front of her. Has he always been this tall? This big? She remembered him to be much smaller in high school. She never felt him to be this dominating before either.

Perhaps she felt this way now because he was too close. Maybe it will feel more normal if she stepped away from him. Then, she will be able to breathe better. Saeun was about to tell him this, but Wooyoung was much faster.

Before she could make a sound, his firm rough lips possessed hers without warning.