The Reluctant Manny

Episode Sixteen

Minji trudged her way downstairs after a two hour nap. Her hair was messy, her eyes bloodshot, and her mouth dry. She made her way to the kitchen, hoping to find something to quench her thirst.

"Ah, you're awake! Can I get you anything?" said Jin, smiling, wearing an apron and cutting vegetables for the soup he was preparing for dinner. He wiped his hands on a gray towel thrown casually over his shoulder.

Minji felt like she was still asleep.

Jin was looking fresh and chipper. The complete opposite of what Minji felt she was at this very moment. She felt frumpy, exhausted, and perhaps a bit delirious.

"Uh...I'm just...I just need a drink...dry mouth," she mumbled, stumbling over to the fridge, but losing her balance in the process.

Jin swooped over and caught her in his arms, going with the momentum and leaning her back. He stood looking down at her, his eyes searching hers.

She looked up at him in shock, her eyes wide, her breath frozen. After a few seconds of getting lost in the chocolate pools, otherwise known as Jin's irises, Minji began scrambling, trying to get to her feet. Her movements resembled that of a baby giraffe having just dropped from its mother onto the hot and dry savannah grass.

Jin grinned and tightened his grip slowly to calm her movements, then leaning her back up onto her feet. Her face was red and he could feel her heart was racing through her back.

Finally, Minji stood upright in the middle of the floor, quite unsure of how to proceed.

Jin brushed past her, opening the refrigerator and grabbing out a cold bottled water. He twisted the top until the safety ring snapped, and then he removed the cap completely, holding the bottle out to a still discombobulated Minji.

When she hesitated to take it, he reached forward and down to her hand, bringing it up slowly, wrapping her fingers around the bottle.

"You should hydrate yourself," he said softly.

He gave her a full eye smile and walked back to the cutting board. He clandestinely kept his eye on her as she stood, staring down blankly at the bottle of water in her hand.

Jin struggled to keep the grin off his face. He wondered if this scene would also end up in Minji's comic. It made him feel good to know she had noticed him, but he couldn't help but wonder if it was just for research, or if she truly saw him in the same way she portrayed him in the comic.

Regardless, he was going to see just how far Minji would go until she admitted he had effectively become her model, or better yet, her muse.

"Uh, Jin," Minji mumbled, "how did I get up to my bed?"

Jin kept quietly cutting the carrots into slices, keeping his eyes lowered as he answered her question. "I carried you."

Minji's head jerked around, so far that it almost rivaled the worst horror movie scene on demon possession ever to be filmed. "You...what?"

"Well, to be honest," he replied, pulling over some celery to begin cutting, "Namjoon would have carried you, but he didn't know where your bedroom was. So, naturally, he asked me to take you."

Jin laid the knife down, then scooped up the carrot slices to drop into the pan of water on the stove. "You don't need to worry. I laid you down, covered you with a blanket, and left you to rest."

"You..carried me?!" Minji's empty hand flew to her face, covering her eyes, but still leaving her pink cheeks visible to all. With a soft groan she rushed into her work room, quickly shutting the door behind her.