Cityscapes (Jumin Han x OC)

Chapter 48

I woke up incredibly hungover. I looked at my watch. 3am? Jesus. I'm starving and hung over. I leaned over feeling for Jumin, but he was gone. I landed face first into cat.

"Hi Elizabeth," I mumbled into her body. She meowed contentiously and scurried further down the bed. I scoured my pocket for my phone and slowly turned on the flashlight. Looking around, I found a paper note on the nightstand.

Good morning, love,

A friend of mine called, and I needed to help right away. Sorry about this inconvenience, but I'm likely to be away for at least a day. Please call me when you wake up. I'll need to hear your voice. I hope the wine hasn't given you a headache.

I love you more than the morning sun, the night sky, and a fine merlot,

Jumin Han

We've been back together for 24 hours and he's already back to being the sweetest person alive. It's almost making my migraine worse. I sighed and checked my phone. No texts, except my mother begging to know why I betrayed her so. I opened her message so it said I read it. Yes, I know, I'm terrible.

I went to the phone app and searched for Jumin's hidden name. It had been a long time since we spoke on the phone, at least when we were at a distance. We haven't really talked over the phone while we've been together.

"Miran...how are you, love?" Jumin asked into the phone.

I heard a distinctly deep voice in the background. "Miran? Love? Is that the girl, Jumin? Ooh, la la!"

"I'm talking to my future wife, Luciel. Excuse me," Jumin answered. I heard the door close. Luciel? I recognize that name. Barely...but it sticks out because it's distinctly western. I think it's from the party. Jumin must be with one of his RFA friends...but I don't want to intrude.

"How are you, Jumin?" I asked.

"I have a small headache, love, but it's going away."

"I won't lie. Every time you call me love, my heart melts," I admitted.

"I call you that because you embody love," Jumin sighed.

What did I do to deserve him?

"Alright, alright. Anyway...you said to call."

"Yes. I desperately needed to hear your voice. This has been very stressful and knowing I have you here is very important."

"I m glad to give you my voice, but I can't really give you my mind. My head is killing me, my body aches, I might vomit, my ears ache, my lungs are on fire, and Elizabeth is starting to dislike me."

"Jjing-jjing-i. Ask someone to bring you some medication."

"Nooo. I want Quynh," I sighed. "That always gets rid of my hangovers."

"Ask the chef to make you pho if you really want some," Jumin answered very matter of factly. I stood up and looked out of Jumin's floor to ceiling window. I scanned and finally saw it: Quynh, about two blocks away.

"I could walk to Quynh."

"Miran..." Jumin sighed.

"I'm just going to walk across the street and-"

"No."

"It's so close!"

"I'll compromise. I'm dispatching a driver to the building. Take the car and a security officer. Please be safe. It's too late for you to be out alone."

I sighed. Jumin is incredibly sweet...but very controlling. I understand why, but nevertheless...

"Fine," I groaned.

"Thank you...now...tell me. What's your favorite color?"

"This is the new level of conversation between us?" I joked.

"Mmm...don't be silly. What is it?"

"Well...um..as I...um...get older-"

"You're young and beautiful. Start over."

I chuckled. "I am too old for you."

"Nonsense. If anything, I'm too old for you. I'm 27."

"I'm 23, oppa."

"Very funny. Now, what is your favorite color?"

"I have fallen in love with every color of the rainbow over the year. All of them are so gorgeous. The blues...are far more intense, with shades ranging from soft to vibrant. Red is like an experiment in allowing yourself to be vulnerable. Yellow is suddenly less superficial. It's not bright for the sake of being bright, but instead, it feels like it has a story. Purple, orange, pink, jade, denim, malachite, hazelwood. More than colors. They all feel a lot deeper...and I've...fallen in love with them," I admitted slowly.

I could hear Jumin breathing over the phone. "I feel the same way," Jumin mumbled quietly.

I looked in the mirror at my messy hair and pale skin with a deep blush covering my cheeks and neck. I pulled it back into a bun and accepted that I look like I'm a mess.

"Oh. Miran. Your car is there. I should head back now, but call me when you go back home, okay?"

"Of course."

"I love you, love."

"I love love you."

Jumin chuckled, and the phone disconnected. I smiled to myself, threw on my shoes, a jacket, sunglasses, and ran into the elevator. I need Quynh. Maybe...I'm still the slightest bit drunk?

When I entered the car, a security guard was already there.

"Hello," I said quietly.

"It's good to meet you, Mrs. Han. I'm Dan," He nodded.

I elected not to correct him.

~

Face first in a bowl of pho, with sunglasses on, my hair all over my head, and still fighting Asian glow. This is the appearance of the girl taking away Seoul's hottest bachelor. No wonder people hate me.

Even Dan was staring at me like I was about as unladylike as you could get. I couldn't exactly see through the sunglasses, but the one raised eyebrow was a dead give away.

"I'm just...really hungry...okay?" I offered.

Dan shrugged, and I continued to absolutely demolish my pho. I looked around at Itaewon. I remember this being a part of my college life. As soon as I turned 19, the two college friends I had, took me out drinking on this side of town. We all got wasted, needless to say, and they took me out for Pho the next morning, because well...hangovers don't exactly happen on a schedule.  I sort of miss that. I'm not out of my early 20s, and I'm not getting any younger.

Maybe it was the headache talking...but I want to talk to one of those old friends. There was Meg Brown. Meg was a British girl, about my age, who went to Seoul National University for architecture. It made quite a bit of sense that Meg was in Korea for school. All of her architecture had quite a bit of Asian influence.

On the other hand, there was Eun-mee. Eun-mee was studying to become a teacher, and was a good two years older than me. 

I think they're both still in Korea. Maybe we could meet up.

I took out my phone and scrolled through all the contacts. I don't expect either of them to pick up, but never the less...I want to call. I scrolled until I came across Meg's name. I hit dial and waited.

"Hello?" She answered. Her voice was clear, and not tired.

"Hey, Meg. It's me. Miran," I sighed.

"Miran? Jesus. It's been forever," She answered.

"I know."

"God, you're like famous now."

"Yeah...I guess."