East Korean

Chapter 11 ~ Starvation

I was asleep and still within Yae Jun’s accidental embrace when an old-looking man knocked the door to the room and entering to see us like that.

“Ya, Yae Jun!” the old man roared waking both him and me up. I opened my eyes and saw a man with one of those big, professional cameras slung across his back.

When Yae Jun saw who the old man was and noticed that his hands were on my hips, he screamed, and pushed me away from him with his legs. I was still paralyzed so I couldn’t stop myself from falling off of the bed, but the old man was able to catch me before I fell. He carried me towards the other bed placed me there gently. “Forgive the insensitivity of my son,” the old man said. “Ya, Yae Jun!” he yelled again with his thunderous voice, “apologize, you almost killed your girlfriend…”

“Ha, ha,” Yae Jun laughed nervously. “My girlfriend…”

“This is Ya Ri, right?” the old man questioned suspiciously. “Why else would you be sleeping with a girl other than the beloved girlfriend who employed you…”

“Yes, dad, this is Ya Ri,” Yae Jun exclaimed.

Here I go again, posing as his girlfriend. The man turned to me and smiled and then bowed, “nice to meet you Ya Ri-shi. I would like to thank you for giving my son this opportunity at your father’s company despite the mess he made at the last company…”

“Dad!” Yae Jun screamed.

“Are you embarrassed, son?” the old man said to Yae Jun almost angrily. “Why are you in this friggin hospital anyway?”

“Can’t you see my bloody…”

“Do you think I’m blind!” he yelled, “what the fuck happened to your head is what I’m asking!”

“I saved her life, that’s what I did,” Yae Jun yelled back, pointing at me.

His dad’s eyed me, and then he suddenly smiled. “Well, if that’s the case, then that’s permissible…”

“Why did you come so early?” Yae Jun whined.

“Stop whining! I just wanted to make sure I never run into that mom of yours. Plus the lighting in the morning gives good pictures.”

“Dad!” Yae Jun yelled, “Your photography stinks, give it up and find a real job!” That was a very rude way to address a dad. Stupid South Koreans. How can the children rise up against their elders like that?

“You have no right to lecture me about jobs…” the dad said eying his son coldly. “Anyways, now that I’ve met Ya Ri, and I’ve seen you, I should leave.” He walked up towards me. “Ya Ri-shi,” he said to me smiling, “I’m sorry I interrupted what you two were doing.” He then carried me and placed me back on Yae Jun’s bed…

“Ya, aboji! That’s not necessary,” Yae Jun said as his dad placed me on top of him.

“Goodbye,” the dad said and left the room. Yae Jun pushed me off from on top of him.

“Ya Cha Sal, get off!” I wanted to, but I couldn’t.

“Aishh,” Yae Jun said frustrated. “If Ya Ri were to come in, how would I explain this to her. You, Cha Sal-shi, are a very problematic girl. Nurse!” he then called.

A nurse entered and carried me back to my own bed. There was an awkward silence.

“Cha Sal, why don’t you talk?” he finally asked. “What’s your name again? At least tell me that. I feel rude calling you Cha Sal… Aishh, chincha, why are you being like this? It’s frustrating talking to a girl who’s so reserved. Are you disabled, or mentally deranged or something? You probably are, given that you want to suicide…”

He is so rude. But I wasn’t offended.

A day passed in that hospital. Yae Jun didn’t talk to me. I was so hungry, but the nurses would not let me eat until the poison in the drug I took completely passes out of my system. They told Yae Jun that they cannot let me consume anything because  then what I consume would mix with the drug, which means that it will take longer to excrete the drug, and apparently, if the drug remains in my body for more than a day, I die.

The lack of food made me lifeless. Yae Jun didn’t converse with me at all, and even I was talking, I didn't have the physical capability or the mental tolerance to talk on such an empty stomach.

The nurses brought Yae Jun food though. I stared at the food and didn’t notice him eying me.

“I’m just trying to think when the last time was,” Yae Jun said which caused to shyly avert my gaze from his food. “You haven’t eaten in more than two days, right? No wonder you look so weak and pale.”

Just then, Ya Ri came in with Yae Jun’s mother, much to my distress. Ya Ri ran in and kissed Yae Jun, and his mother just coldly sat down on a chair next to his bed. She eyed me coldly.

“Oppa…” Ya Ri said, “The doctor says you can be discharged tomorrow. You can finally leave the hospital and stop having to take responsibility for her!”

“Cha Sal-shi,” Yae Jun’s mother called out to me. I looked to her from my bed. “How shameful is it for a girl to leech from a man she’s only known for two days? You’re in this hospital in this bed on his bill… He’s saved your life many times, and yet you still…”

“Mother!” Yae Jun screamed, “she was trying kill herself, not leech from me.”

“Just let her kill herself. Why are you wasting money on something that doesn’t want to live?!”

Yae Jun didn’t say anything after that. I was glad he defended me, but I still felt offended by what his mother had said. I really just want to die, and I don't want Yae Jun to save me again. I wanted to turn my neck, but failed at the attempt as I was still paralyzed. So I began to cry and everyone saw me.

“Ya Ri,” Yae Jun said to his girlfriend.

“Yes oppa?”

He gave her a bowl of soup, “please feed this to Cha Sal.”

“But oppa, this food is for you!”

“No, I’m not hungry.”

“And how will I feed her. I’m not her servant…”

“Ya Ri,” Yae Jun said, “please just do it.”

“No, oppa. I refuse.”

Much to my surprise, and his mother’s and his girlfriend’s, he got up from his bed and began removing all of the wires that were attached to his body.

“Oppa, no, it’s dangerous to get up now!”

He ignored her and stood up. “Oppa! If this is for her then…”

It took him a while to find his balance on the ground then stretched and then walked towards my bed. He sat on my bedside and held up my upper body until it was against his chest. He then grabbed the bowl and began feeding me the soup. I did not refuse it.

“Oppa…” Ya Ri said with tears in her eyes.

“Yae Jun!” his mother yelled. “What are you doing to that leech?”

The soup was amazing. When someone is very hungry and begins to eat, nothing in the world mattered anymore. I didn’t pay attention to his mother’s insults, or his girlfriend’s tears, or to Yae Jun’s warmth. I didn’t even pay attention to the fact that by giving me something to eat, Yae Jun was killing me.

Sorry for the late update guys. Please comment, okay? :)