Kcris & Jeena

Kcris and Jeena, to live together.

Pointing towards herself, Kcris further adds, "And maybe, at times you can have a free-of-cost chauffeur as your college will be on my way to the main office. We can share the groceries and utilities. Isn't it better than living all by yourself, to live with a roommate? We can steal each other's food and have fights over unnecessary stuff. It can be enjoyable as well as being pocket friendly. So, think about it properly, before you answer."
Though Kcris is quite convincing, Jeena is still a bit skeptical about living with her. Jeena knows Kcris and has also lived with her for a few days, but this is huge. Deciding to live with somebody is not always an easy decision to make. Finally, Jeena musters up the courage and says yes to Kcris, thinking about what possibly can go wrong except that she has to again look for a place to shift if there are problems while living with Kcris.
"So, when will you like to shift, Jeena?"
"Any day is fine. Most of my stuff is already packed. Max to max two hours will be enough to pack the remaining stuff."
Kcris gets a call from Tessa. The only thing Jeena can make out from Kcris' side of the conversation is that Kcris has asked Tessa to cancel her meeting and also that she will swing by the office to sign some important documents.
"Kcris, if I have to romanticize and put it as a status post or something, I would say it as '#feeling nostalgic'. It will look good."
"Huh?... What nonsense?"
"Exactly, my point. What nonsense, Kcris? How many times are you going to cancel your meetings because of me?"
Kcris is agitated now, so she asks Jeena to shut up and listen to her.
"The investor I was supposed to meet today, has got engaged in some emergency work. He won't be free till late evening and the meeting location is quite far from here. This means that if I have to go, I can only return around midnight. And that is why I asked to cancel the meeting and postpone it for tomorrow morning."
Jeena's expressions are completely changed and she immediately apologizes, acting all naive and docile.
"Enough with your cute expressions, Jeena. Tell me would you like to shift today? I can help you as you know my meeting has already been cancelled and I have nothing much to do except have free time. But before helping you I need to swing by my office as some documents need signing."
"Are you sure about it, Kcris?"
"Yes, 100%. Come on, let’s get moving."
And both leave the coffee shop together. Both reach Kcris' office building. On their way in, Tessa tells Kcris that two girls are waiting for her in her office. The moment Kcris gets inside her office, suddenly a girl comes in front of Kcris. This girl, in no time, hugs Kcris tightly and goes like, "Annyeonghaseyo unni.”
[안녕하세요 언니. (As in the original language i.e. Korean)
In English, it means, ‘Hello, sister.’ Unni or eonni is how a girl addresses an elder sister in Korean culture.]
This girl kisses Kcris multiple times on both of her cheeks before letting her go. Kcris in answer goes like, “Na-biya annyeong. Olaemanida. Jal jinaesseyo.”
[나비야 안녕. 오랜만이다. 잘 지냈어? (As in the original language i.e. Korean)
In English, it means, ‘Hello, Na Bi. Long time no see. Are you doing good?’ Na Bi is the name of one of the girls and it means butterfly in the Korean language.]
Before Na Bi can say anything Kcris turns to the other girl. Kcris joins her hand and slightly bows before saying, “Swadee kha nong. Beng ae bang.”
[สวัสดีค่ะน้องเป็นไงบ้าง. (As in the original language i.e. Thai)
In English, it means, ‘Hello, sister(Nong). How are you doing?’]
To answer, this girl goes like, “Swadee kha phi. Chan tham di.”
[สวัสดีค่ะพี่ฉันทำดี. (As in the original language i.e. Thai)
In English, it means, ‘Hello Kcris(Phi), I am doing good.’ In Thai culture ‘Phi-Nong’ is a gender-neutral term used to denote elder-younger or senior-junior.]
After answering Kcris, this girl goes to Jeena saying, “Swadee kha nong. Nong chia lai. Chan chia Fern.”
[สวัสดีค่ะน้องน้องชื่ออะไรฉันชื่อเฟิร์น. (As in the original language i.e. Thai)
In English, it means, ‘Hello, sister(nong). What’s your name, sister(nong)? My name is Fern.']
Just after saying it, this girl Fern immediately realizes her mistake and apologizes to Jeena saying, “I am sorry. I didn’t ask you first if you knew Thai or not. Anyway, hi, my name is Fern. What’s yours?”
“Hello, I am Jeena.”
Fern turns towards Kcris with an expression of ‘aren’t you gonna introduce us’ on her face.
Kcris finally takes charge and introduces everyone to everyone. “This is Jeena. She is going to be living with me from today onwards. This is Fern and that one standing near the window is Na Bi. These are my juniors from my post-grad years. And you two, what are you doing here in my country?”
Fern answers Kcris, “Phi(referring to Kcris), we are here for some office work regarding the feasibility of launching one of our products in your market. And for Na Bi, you know if it’s a new place, she just wants to tag along.”
Kcris chuckles and says, “It’s not my market. Anyway, how much do you think your product data statistics are reliable based on previous launches?”
“Umm… gao sib gao jot gao gao.”
[๙๙.๙๙% (As in the original language i.e. Thai)
In English, it means 99.99%]
“Well. In that case, you finally learned it, Fern. That’s impressive. Well, where are you staying and how long are you planning to be here?”
Na Bi who has been standing near the window, enjoying a packet of snacks and the outside view finally speaks up, “We are here till tomorrow afternoon and we are staying in the same hotel you took us to last time we were here.”
“Okay, that’s great. Tonight, we can have dinner together.”
Fern denies Kcris’ request, saying, “No, Phi (referring to Kcris). Our work is still not done. We just wanted to say ‘Hi’ to you. We can grab breakfast tomorrow before we leave. Maybe Jeena can also join us.”
“Okay, Fern. That can work too.”
“We will take your leave now. We can meet in the hotel tomorrow around 8 in the morning. Phi, (referring to Kcris) can I hug you?”
Kcris smiles and opens her arms as a gesture of ‘yes of course.’ When Fern hugs Kcris she says to Kcris, “Nong kitin phi.”
[น้องคิดถึงพี่. (As in the original language i.e. Thai)
In English, it means, 'Nong thinks about phi', which loosely translates to ‘I missed you.’]
Seeing Fern hug Kcris, Na Bi wants to hug Jeena again so she screams, “Nado.”
[나도. (As in the original language i.e. Korean)
In English, it means, ‘I also i.e. me too.’]
After this both Fern and Na Bi leave and Kcris starts to go through the papers that she needs to sign. Jeena is sitting on the couch, thinking to herself, “Kcris treats everyone the same. She hugs people, ruffles their hair, and always cares about them. (After thinking about this for a brief moment, Jeena stops herself) I shouldn’t think about all this. Why am I behaving like a five-year-old kid who is pissed off just because her friend wants to be friends with someone new?”
After Kcris is done with her work, both Kcris and Jeena leave the office. They are on their way when Jeena realizes that this ain't the route to her house and so, she asks, "Kcris, aren't we going to my house?"
"Yes, we are going to your house but the new one."
"That means Casey's house and more precisely your house as you own it. But, what about my stuff?"
Before Kcris can tell, Jeena's phone starts to ring. It's Jeena's sister. Once Jeena is done talking on the phone, Kcris asks Jeena, "You and your sister talk in English and not in French? And what were you two exactly talking about? Whatever you said nothing made sense."
Jeena chuckles before letting Kcris on the secret joke between her and her sister.
"Kcris, whenever my sister needs to get out of a place, she acts as if her boyfriend has sent her dozens of texts asking her to call back as she has kept her phone on silent mode. She will call me and pretend to fight and in the process, she will silently leave the place without informing the other person. As for English... so that the other person couldn't figure out what exactly is going on. And many times it's easier to gossip about some relatives without anyone understanding any of it."
"Meaning, you both sisters are like partners in crime."
"Yes, that we definitely are, Kcris."
Both have arrived. While getting out of the car, Jeena sees a truck getting unloaded and asks Kcris, "Is it your stuff?"
Kcris slightly pats Jeena's forehead, making her move a step backward, and then tells her, "No. It's yours, stupid gal."
"Huh?... How come it's my stuff?... How did they unlock? Did they break the lock?"
Kcris stands there, giving an expression of 'like seriously' to Jeena and this makes Jeena remember.
"Oh! shit. Now I remember. You asked me to give my house keys to Tessa when we were in the office."
"Come on. Let's get inside. We have lots of unpacking to do."
Three hours later, pretty much everything is unpacked except a few cartons of books. Both are lying on the couch like dead bodies, completely drained out.
"Kcris, can we order in? I don't even have the energy to get up from this couch."
"Of course, we are ordering in. You go, take a shower, and by that time, I'll order for both of us. Do you want something specific?"
"No, nothing specific." Jeena gets up to go to the washroom but turns back to say, "Kcris, don't order too much food. Right now, we may feel like we want a lot of food, but when we will eat, we won't be able to eat much as we are too tired."
"Yes, Miss Jeena. Now, go and take a bath. Let the girl order in peace."
Jeena comes out after a quick shower and orders Kcris, "Get up and go get cleaned up. I'll receive the order."
"Okay... It's already paid. (while handing her phone to Jeena, Kcris says) Here, take my phone. In case, you have to call the delivery guy, the passcode is 2102."
Kcris comes out and sees that Jeena has already placed the food on the table and is waiting for her to come. After both are done with the dinner, Jeena asks Kcris if they can leave the dishwashing for the next morning. Kcris can't agree more as she is also dead-drop tired. Before both can go to their respective rooms, Kcris reminds Jeena that they have to meet Fern and Na Bi tomorrow for breakfast.
The next day, at 7 in the morning, Kcris knocks on Jeena's door. Jeena is still half asleep when she opens the door and asks, "What happened, Kcris?"
"We were going for breakfast, right? If you want to sleep for some more time, you can sleep. Jeena, I can go all by myself."
"Huh?"
Realising Jeena still needs to sleep Kcris tells her that it's nothing and she can go back to sleep. Jeena closes the door and goes back to sleep. After 5 minutes, Jeena comes running out of the room, shouting, "Kcris, I am sorry. I totally forgot that we are supposed to meet your juniors for breakfast."
"It's okay, Jeena. You are still not fully awake, you better sleep for some more time. I can go alone."
"No, no, Kcris. I want to come with you. Who knows when we'll get to see them again? Plus, they invited me and it would be rude to just not go. Just give me half an hour, I'll be ready by then."
"But, Jeena, you still look so tired."
"It's ok. I can sleep after coming back. Anyway, it's the weekend. I'll go and get ready in a jiffy."
"Oh! God. This girl never listens to me."
Both reach the hotel around 8:30 a.m. Na Bi is all excited while taunting Kcris, "Unni... This is more like a moment of truth kinda situation for me. Because from what I am seeing you are late and that too half an hour. (while making a gesture of quotes with her hand to make it more sarcastic, Na Bi further says) The great Kcristina Pattinson is late for the first time."
Listening to this, Jeena feels bad, so she immediately tells the truth, "Kcris is late because of me. It's me who couldn't get up. (Jeena then murmurs) For months, I couldn't sleep and the one day, I was supposed to get up early, I slept in."
Seeing Jeena feel a bit uncomfortable, Fern intervenes and asks Jeena to ignore them.