Chapter 3: Thank you for everything.
"C'mon-lah, that guy? He hardly even socializes with the people around him. He's not in the least of his mood to even chase any girl." Samuel retorted after Se-Yi had defended Jay.
"So... what do you want me to do?" Se-Yi proceeded to stare at Samuel in an irritating way.
"What else? A beautiful girl like you definitely deserves a more caring guy." Samuel replied as he folded his arms.
"Are you... referring that guy as yourself then?" The girl felt almost disgusted by his action.
"Well, if you're the one complimenting me like that, I'd take it with a thank you." Samuel answered with a delightful tone.
Someone undecidedly tapped on his back, causing him to jump by surprise!
"I didn't know your lunch was at this point of time. Or are you just so 'dry' that you had to disturb the new staff that was about to go out for lunch?" In a sharp manner Jay hurled words directly at Samuel. His words that was so sharp, Se-Yi could almost feel the tense awkwardness between those two men.
Knowing well that Jay wasn't a person to be messed with, Samuel decided to back off, avoiding confrontation with him.
"Hold on a sec, I'm just curious. How or what is your relationship between you and her?" Samuel asked all of a sudden while Jay accompanied Se-Yi out.
"I don't know how to answer that..." Jay's sudden reply as he turned around.
"...But I'm pretty darn sure that she's not regretting her choice either."
"Oppa, gomawoyo! Thanks for helping me back there." Se-Yi thanked Jay as they both sat down at a restaurant that was just a few blocks away from the bank.
"Why? Did he disturbed you badly?" Jay asked, sounding concerned towards Se-Yi all of a sudden. "Aniya! It's nothing like that." The girl responded defensively, not wanting Jay to cause any sort of ruckus.
"He just... talks a lot..."
"Yeah, he does that often. Do you know what we call that here?" The lad proceeded to ask her. Se-Yi shook her head, adding a shrug motion as well as she didn't know how the locals around here would say such things.
"Kepo, or Kaypoh." Jay replied, almost smiling, but the confused girl just kept staring at him in a clueless way. She blinked her eyes repeatedly, while her confused expression made Jay uneasy and awkward. It barely amuses her.
"What does that mean?" Se-Yi enquire more about the meaning.
"It means, someone who practically wants to know everything. Or in short, Knowing Every Particular Object. K.E.P.O" Jay explained and spelt out the word itself. He sighed for a moment, putting the assumption that Se-Yi was going to have a hard time here since she doesn't know the slang of Malaysians. Instead, the girl burst out laughing all of a sudden!
In a high pitched laughter while finding that humorously funny, whereas Jay didn't. He only felt embarrassed because Se-Yi's laughter was so loud, that it was starting to attract attention.
He grinded his teeth in discomfort, trying to find a way to stop her from embarrassing both of them.
"Oi, diam-lah! You're trying to be famous again is it?!" Jay quickly said to her, trying to get her to control her laughter.
"But it's so funny!" Se-Yi's poor excuse, covering her mouth as she giggled this time.
Jay sighed, finding that absurd. He was on the verge of reaching out to Se-Yi's lips, wanting to shut her mouth when his meal finally arrived, along with Se-Yi's.
"Huh? Ige mwoya? What is this?" Se-Yi asked curiously as she stared at her food up close on the table.
"It's called Nasi Lemak." Jay answered as he began eating his meal. At long last, Se-Yi had finally stopped laughing.
"Nasi Lemak?" The Korean girl stared once more at the odd looking dish that had rice, some spicy sauce, a chicken drumstick, half boiled eggs, and slices of cucumber.
"The sauce is spicy though, so be careful." Jay warned her as he saw how bewildered the girl looked.
"Is it spicy like Dak Galbi?" All of a sudden, Se-Yi grew excited.
"Duck, what?" The lad couldn't understand her as his eyes just went big with exclamation.
"Gwaenchana, you don't know that dish." Se-Yi disregarded what she had said to Jay as she took a mouth full of Nasi Lemak.
At the very second itself, Se-Yi's eyes became watery!
Her face turning red, and her facial expression looked like she was about to pass out. Se-Yi knew what she was dealing with. A real, hot spicy sensation that was burning her tongue!
She quickly grabbed her drink and in one go, finished all of it!
"Dios mio! That is spicy!" She exclaimed, trying to fan her tongue that was still stinging hot. It practically made Jay chuckled as he watched her panting tirelessly.
"Didn't know you could speak a bit of Spanish. It actually makes you multicultural now." Jay admired her way of saying things in a different language.
"Yah! My friend is the one who could speak Spanish, not me. He taught me some words." Se-Yi answered back, not wanting to play around.
"Okay..." Jay suddenly discontinued the conversation, chewing his food instead.
"That's it?" Se-Yi suddenly realized that Jay couldn't care much about her. The lad stared at her in an odd manner, quite tired.
"Then, what do you want me to say? Oh Se-Yi, you should be extra careful next time you eat something spicy." He couldn't help but to throw in his usual sarcasm towards her. Se-Yi stuck out her tongue in retaliation. Blowing a raspberry that got on Jay's nerve slightly.
"Real childish, Se-Yi. You could win an award for that, you know." He added as he continued eating his meal.
It actually irritated Se-Yi as she glowered towards Jay, wanting to smack him!
While learning through the process of what car loans were all about from her senior, Se-Yi's smartphone began to ring.
"Adik, your phone..." Yasotha's finger pointed directly at the phone that was brightly lit.
"Huh?" Se-Yi stared down at the phone that had her manager's name plastered on the screen. The lass quickly took her phone to answer the call.
"Excuse me..."
Not wanting the other staff to find out anything about her 'other side' of her life, Se-Yi tried speaking discreetly, to which she failed to do so.
"<What do you want?>" The Korean girl answered rudely on the phone.
As she had spoken in Korean, everyone within her group began to stare and eavesdrop towards her conversation with someone on the phone.
"<Have you finally changed your mind? It's been 2 days without money and the loneliness is starting to get to you, right?>" Her agent teased her, trying to get into her head about returning towards her former lifestyle.
"<Maybe a little bit. But it still doesn't stop me from enjoying my stay here.>" Se-Yi answered back confidently.
"<Why do you say so?>" Mr. Lee asked, rather curious to know the girl's sudden answer that didn't seem right.
"<Because I have finally found someone who's not crazy about me. He cares, but he's also really neutral about it. Like, he's really, really quite chill that I'm standing right beside him! I've never seen a person quite like him!>" Se-Yi answered, turning towards Jay's direction. Seeing him busy with his work, the lad barely notices the girl's stare towards him.
"<Well... Who could stop you? Since you wanted the life of a normal girl, the agency did not hesitate in taking away your privileges.>" Mr. Lee's cold words that instantly had Se-Yi all fired up.
"<You better not be freezing my account! I will sucker punch you if I ever see you again! Understand?!>" Se-Yi suddenly yelled in what appears to be a childish manner, attracting everyone within the room, while they stared at her unbelievably.
As she quickly realized that she had made a huge mistake, she turned towards the people in front of her, cheeks blushing red from embarrassment!
"Joesonghamnida! Sorry!" Se-Yi bowed her head repeatedly, feeling all embarrassed as some of the staff began to chuckle in amusement, while others shook their heads with wonder.
Jay watched her apologized, while he covered a part of his face to pretend that he didn't really know who Se-Yi was.
"Aiyo... That comedian..." He mumbled, shutting his eyes for a moment to forget what he had just witnessed from Se-Yi.
"Aish... Jinjja..." Se-Yi grew visibly frustrated after awhile upon seeing her account frozen from her smartphone. All of her hard earned money, now unreachable and useless in some way. This will have a lot of impact of which could affect in the coming days.
"<You really want me to die, do you?>" The Korean girl further mumbled as she kept her phone away. Her thoughts were clouded with negative emotions after that last phone call.
"Oi, budak! Continue your work-leh." Lai Kuan sternly told Se-Yi, catching the girl caught off guard.
"Ne, joesonghamnida." Se-Yi apologized to her as she quickly continued her unfinished work. She bit her lip, starting to feel that her day was about to get a lot more hectic than it already was.
By the time evening came, Jay waited for Se-Yi near the exit while the latter was finishing her work. He began to fiddle with his phone, going through the social media to get the latest update on news. It was not good news however.
News circulated about Se-Yi's disappearance in Malaysia. It has been a few days now, and fans were raging in anger over who kidnapped her. Worse, who killed her? Rumours that spread like that.
He scrolled through the comments section, wondering if anyone had a lead on Se-Yi's whereabouts.
Instead, it was all threats and cusses in regards to the 'kidnapper'. The lad read one by one, seeing how aggressive and spiteful each comments were. Flabbergasted, yet intriguing. Was Se-Yi that big of a star, that probably made everyone adore her like a Goddess of some kind?
Se-Yi came out from the office shortly after, stretching herself like a cat that had woken up from its sleep.
"Aigoo..." She felt rather painful behind her back.
"<Anymore of this pain, I think I would need the hospital.>" Se-Yi simply stated to herself moments before she saw Jay from a distance, who seem troubled for a reason.
Out of sheer excitement, she waved at him with both her hands up in the most enthusiastic way she could, but Jay had his back turned from her.
"Oppa! Waeyo?" Se-Yi grew concerned, seeing him startled by her sudden presence.
"Why is your face like that?" She immediately asked him as she went closer to him.
Jay could only respond by showing her the post that was on the internet. And other news related to that as well. The girl simply frowned upon seeing that. That was the last thing that she had expected to see.
"I... didn't expect that." She stated solemnly.
"Then what were you expecting?" Jay's sudden question that sounded like a sharp knife pointing at her.
"I, uh..." Se-Yi couldn't answer him, turning her head elsewhere while feeling rather awkward about the whole situation.
"To be honest with you-lah, you shouldn't even be here. Working here, I mean. Your life, the life of this Ha Se-Yi is where you should get back to. Not Park Shu-Yi, or God-knows the kind of name you're making up." Jay gave out his thoughts while Se-Yi listened attentively.
"But Oppa..." Se-Yi wanted to explain herself, but was cut short by Jay.
"No but's. It would only be a matter of time before they will find you. And when they do, it's not going to be pretty. I've seen the stories, and it usually ends up bad."
A gloomy look formed around Se-Yi's face. She wasn't thrilled about Jay's statement, but he had a solid point.
As an international celebrity, she was well-known to a lot of people. And by working as an office girl, it's not something that she can easily adapt to. It would be a hell of a lot worse if the media found out that she was working as one. Her whole life career would crumble right before her very eyes.
"Oppa, I'm hungry." Se-Yi suddenly said to Jay as they headed towards the bus stop.
"Don't change subjects. We're not even done with this conversation." Jay said to her, but the girl pretended not to hear it. Instead, she started whistling to a song that came across her thoughts.
"Where shall we eat, hmm?" The Korean girl grew excited as they sat at the bus stop. Jay sighed from her stubbornness to even have a serious conversation.
"I don't know. What do you have in mind?" He asked back, knowing that Se-Yi wouldn't want to continue the previous topic.
"Hmm... Bibimbap, Bulgogi, Japchae, Hoeddeok, Tteokbokki, Seolleongtang, Soondubu Jiggae and Dak Galbi." Se-Yi mentioned out the very food that she was craving for.
"Err..." Jay's speechless reaction as he took out his wallet to see if he had any money.
"Gwaenchana, I was just kidding." Se-Yi finally grinned as she watched how confused the lad went.
"Well, if you're kidding about it, I think it's best if I make the decision then." Jay quickly made up his mind as he kept his wallet back.
"Yah! Don't forget! It better not be spicy like that meal we had in the afternoon!" Se-Yi proceeded to remind him, showing her fist directly at Jay in her attempts to threaten him.
"Okay, okay. Just chill out, alright?" He responded by trying to calm the girl down.
"<You're lucky we're not in my home country. If not, I would hit you really, really bad!>" Se-Yi said to Jay in Korean, baffling him for a second.
"Language. We don't want to tip off the people that you're not from around here." The lad reminded her.
"Ne, joesonghamnida." Se-Yi apologised with an innocent smile, somewhat provoking him at the same time just as the bus had arrived.
"Jay-Oppa, since when did they serve nice food here? I thought the food was plain." Se-Yi started talking with her mouth full of food. Something that Jay had to endure for the time being. His eyebrow twitching in annoyance, but he could live with it somehow.
The pair made their way to KLCC, much to Se-Yi's disappointment. But seeing that they were dining at a restaurant that the lass had never stepped foot before, she was quite okay about it.
"They always serve good food here in KLCC. In fact, wasn't this the place that you had that event a few days back prior to your... 'disappearance'?" Jay didn't want to speak out so loud, adding a coughing fit just to keep their conversation in discreet.
Se-Yi simply nodded her head as she chomped on her steak, ripping it off. The lad could only watch how the famous celebrity girl was practically enjoying her meal. He had doubts earlier that the girl may not actually enjoy the local food around, and may find it difficult to adapt to the culture surrounding it. But that didn't seem to be the case.
"I think you could go for another round at the rate you're eating." Jay suddenly spoke out.
"Ye? A-Aniya! It's more than enough!" Se-Yi simply refused to let Jay buy another meal, almost blushing at the sight of that.
"C'mon-lah, from the way you're eating, it's like you haven't had a meal in years." He easily read her while sipping upon his drink.
"Oppa, it's more than enough! Jinjjayo!" The Korean girl replied truthfully, lifting her right hand up, like swearing on an oath.
"Okay... But you do like it right?" Jay asked once more, wanting to confirm it with a sly smile spreading across his face.
"Ne, joa!" Se-Yi responded positively with a bright cheerful smile, acting like a kid in front of Jay.
"So tell me, if I were to buy one more, would you eat it?" He couldn't help but to simply tease her a little, smiling suddenly. Se-Yi bit her lip, tempted by his offer.
"Ne..." She admitted shyly, while still chewing on her food. It made Jay chuckled in humor as it was an unusual sight for Se-Yi to respond like that.
"Okay then. I'll order one more since I'm a bit hungry as well." Jay added as he called the waiter.
With the 2 of them were strolling around KLCC right after dinner, they couldn't help but notice that a certain group of people were eyeing on them. Feeling somewhat unsafe, Jay started assessing the situation, suspecting that something was about to happen.
"I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel that they're gonna find out who you really are in just a matter of minutes." Jay foreshadowed the outcome towards Se-Yi, while looking behind to see if anyone was following them.
"Ottoke?" The lass gasped, tensed for a brief moment as she didn't know what to do, holding onto her handbag tightly. The worried look surrounding her face made her uneasy.
"Things will become crazy just like the other day!"
With his quick thinking, Jay immediately grabbed Se-Yi's wrist, heading towards the nearby optician shop. He had a plan in mind that could just work.
"Tie your hair up like a bun!" Jay instructed her as he quickly picked out a pair of glasses from the display glass panel. A rather oddly huge ones that he knows one would never consider picking.
"Nah, pakai ini." He helped Se-Yi by fitting it to her face. Se-Yi immediately felt uncomfortable with the glasses that wasn't properly adjusted on her face. She readjusted the frame before putting it on once more.
"How do I look?" She asked, awaiting for Jay's answer.
"Nerdy, but it'll do." He responded, smiling a bit as Se-Yi made a pout facial expression.
"Make it a little bit more expressive and you might actually look like Harry Potter." Jay added, teasing her.
"Mwo?! Then, be prepared when I cast a spell at you!" Se-Yi replied sarcastically, her eyes glaring at him.
"What kind of 'spell'?" Jay looked at her curiously, waiting for her to talk back.
"Strangling that neck of yours!" She responded in a serious manner. That stopped Jay from teasing her right after that. But that was just the least of their problems.
Right now, he needs to focus on disguising Se-Yi to the point that no one could recognize her.
After making a quick payment towards the counter over a pair of glasses, they made their way out, only to be confronted by a man that was already waiting for them!
Jay stood in a defensive stance the moment the man approached him!
"Who are you?" The lad couldn't help but ask in a hostile manner, pushing Se-Yi behind him while he stood in front of her. His body frame that was huge manages to cover Se-Yi from the old man's view.
"I know who she is... She's that missing girl from the news." The man who seemed quite aged up answered differently, staring straight at Se-Yi through her disguise.
The girl turned her head, frightened when she couldn't maintain eye-contact with him.
He was a rather elderly man approaching into his late 50's, average height, average size, tanned on the skin with some visible wrinkles around his face due to age, and a deep voice that could intimidate most people. Jay however, felt no fear towards the man.
"Uh, who?" The young lad pretended to be clueless as he raised an eyebrow towards the elderly man that wasn't in a fitting mood for games.
"Ha Se-Yi. That's her-lah! Kau ingat aku bodoh sangat ke?!" The man grew weary of the stalling.
Se-Yi knew that Jay was running out of ideas to make this man believe that he was looking at the wrong person. With her quick witted mind, Se-Yi decided to put her acting skills to the test.
"Sumimasen, I don't know-o who is that...? Me, not-o sure who this girl, Ha-Sassy is." The Korean girl popped out from Jay's side, literally sounding like a local Japanese while making the most eccentric, quirky and outright deranged look that finally convinced the man that she wasn't the celebrity girl he was looking for!
She looked more like a retarded person in that aspect. Jay, on the other hand, stared at her unbelievably while the elderly man was just left in a bewildered state!
Leaving the old man speechless, the former could only think that Se-Yi was a strange and odd person.
"Sorry... I thought she was-"
"She's my girlfriend! And she's definitely not the person you're looking for!" Jay interrupted sternly, taking the opportunity to end this as quickly as possible.
Se-Yi stared at Jay right after he had said that. She was rather stunned that he would go to the extent of defending her that way.
"Maaf, ya? If you see her, Ha Se-Yi, here's my card." The man gave his business card after apologizing to Se-Yi. Jay snatched the card away from the elderly man's hand, inspecting it carefully.
"What are you, a bounty hunter? What does an 'Entrepreneur' like yourself want with a girl like that?" Jay threw in sarcasm towards the elderly man which shook the girl as to how rude that sounded.
"No, no, it's nothing that you can imagine. I'm a big fan of her, but I'm also looking forward for her to return to her country. But right before she leaves, I would like to make an offer of which she can't refuse." He responded, somehow not fully stating what his actual intentions were.
"Sure thing, uh... Mr. Azmir. I'm really sure you'll be able to find her... somehow." Jay tucked the card inside his pocket while staring at him suspiciously.
"Ingat ya? If you find her, call me." He said to them, like it was a warning as he began to depart from them.
"Prick..." Jay muttered softly when he was out of his sight.
"That was close!" Se-Yi began the conversation as they boarded inside the train.
"Yeah, that was a close one." Jay took a seat right next to Se-Yi. He let out a sigh of relief that somehow, the critical situation was averted. He couldn't imagine if things went awry.
"Remind me in the future to dress you up in disguise. Like legitly. Where people can't recognize you. There's not a single person here who doesn't know who Ha Se-Yi is." He further commented, feeling exhausted as night had fallen in.
"Joesonghamnida, Oppa... I didn't mean to cause you problems." Se-Yi apologized regretfully after reflecting about it.
"Don't worry about it, it's alright. So as long you don't get kidnapped or shot, I think we'll make it through. Sort of." Jay didn't really care as he rested his head against the cold metal seat.
"Ne, arasseo." The girl simply nodded her head in affirmation as she grinned to herself.
"Oppa, I have a question." Se-Yi's sudden question to Jay, prompting the lad to turn his head at her direction.
"What?" A puzzled look came across the man's face. Se-Yi wanted to ask about his statement earlier. Where he clearly told the elderly Azmir that she was his girlfriend.
As tempted as that seemed, she didn't want to make things awkward. They already went through quite an adventure for the night. She chose to change the topic instead.
"Gomawoyo. Thank you for protecting me earlier from that guy. That was really... brave of you." The Korean girl was eternally grateful towards Jay for being there for her. As a guardian and protector.
Jay didn't respond to her question, but instead, stared at her. There came a silent moment between the two of them before he finally replied back with a warm smile.
"You're welcome."
Unbeknownst to them, they were already being watched by someone that was sitting across a different coach that was connected to the one where Se-Yi and Jay were. He crossed his legs, keeping aside his briefcase while staring at the pair.
He could hear Se-Yi slapping Jay across his shoulder as she let out an infectious laugh followed along by Jay's chuckle.
Dressed smartly in a suit, the mysterious man was able to make out some of the words Se-Yi was talking. And he knew from that point on that the girl was not local!
Later, boarding out from the train, Jay brought Se-Yi to a nearby phone shop, just a few blocks away from where they were staying. He made the girl wait outside, entering the shop by himself to get some things.
Bored, Se-Yi leaned against the wall, just casually staring at random objects and the environment around her. The entire area was covered in dark clouds and the street lamps hardly that bright to shine through the night.
Within a few minutes, Jay got out from the store holding something in his hand.
"Nah, here's something that can keep us both in touch in the near future." The lad handed over the item he bought to Se-Yi who stared at it curiously.
"Ige mwoya?" She asked, not knowing what it was.
"What is this?"
"It's a phone sim card. I don't think you have a local one just yet. It might overcharge your bill if you continue to use your overseas carrier." Jay responded, having thought this through after Se-Yi had screamed on the phone in the office earlier.
"Arasseoyo, Oppa!" That basically puts a smile on the girl's face, seeing that it meant a lot to her for Jay to make her stay as comfortable as he could.
Shortly after installing the new sim card into Se-Yi's phone, it began to drizzle, much to the pair's dismay. Jay and Se-Yi hurriedly made their way to the apartment, trying to avoid getting drenched in the rain!
Reaching back within minutes, both of them were soaking wet from the rainfall! Jay, slightly peeved about the weather heads into his room, leaving the bathroom for Se-Yi to use for the time being.
"Yah, Oppa! You can bathe first!" Se-Yi called out to him, but heard no response from the lad. His room shut tight and was extremely quiet.
Se-Yi sighed tiredly, taking out her night clothes from one of the drawers and made her way to the bathroom. She couldn't help but stare at Jay's sealed door, pondering if the lad was fine or not. She started coughing out a bit, feeling slightly uncomfortable just above her waist. The lass ignored the certain stomach pain and shut the bathroom door behind her.
The following morning, Jay got up from his bed, extremely exhausted just like all the other days. The clock was pointing close to 6.30 in the morning, and Jay felt like he had to eat something heavy.
Coming out from his room, he was left slightly puzzled to see that breakfast was not set by Se-Yi similarly over the last 2 days.
Jay was hardly angry, but rather surprised since the girl was usually up earlier than he was. He found Se-Yi slumped on the sofa, not looking too well. She looked pale, and sick to the core.
"Oi, you okay or not?" The lad went up towards her. He had never seen that part of her before, and that practically made him worried.
"Oh...?" A visibly tired Se-Yi was almost half asleep when Jay called out to her. She couldn't make out what he was saying. His words that sounded quite alien to her, where in reality, he was talking to her in normal speed.
Jay snapped his fingers, trying to catch her attention once more.
"You don't look too well. Are you alright?" Jay grew quite concerned for her as he watched the lass yawned tiredly.
"Ne... Gwaenchanayo. I'm alright." Se-Yi slowly got up from the sofa, still looking pale and exhausted.
"Se-Yi, I really think you shouldn't work today. You look terrible!" Jay added, observing how the girl was walking in a zigzag pattern. She looked like a drunkard from his perspective. His sudden chuckled immediately capturing her attention.
"Yah Oppa..." Se-Yi turned around, glaring at Jay with her scornful eyes.
"<Do you want to die?>"
She then raised her fist weakly, slightly peeved with Jay's persistent idea of staying back. And the fact that he chuckled right at her. But her threats didn't seem to bother Jay much.
"We have to work to earn money." She added, part of her reason.
"But not when you're like this. Stay back and rest. It'll only become worse if you work today." Jay solely advise her, getting his own mug from the drawers before he proceeded to have a drink.
Se-Yi went up right in front of him.
"Aniyo. Unless you don't want to get beaten up, you let me work. Arrachi?!" Se-Yi grabbed Jay by the collar, trying to act all tough like a gangster, but failed miserably at it.
"Yes, I understand. Wow... you're really something when you're sick, huh?" Jay was impressed upon seeing that.
"I don't want to play games, Oppa... please?" Se-Yi finally said in an upsetting tone to Jay, just as she released him from her grip.
"Fair enough." The lad responded, straightening up his shirt. If there was one thing that Jay knew, he knew it wasn't smart to mess with a girl that has an unpredictable behavior.
And that, he was referring to Se-Yi that could potentially strangle him if he wasn't careful with his words. But nonetheless, the girl wouldn't do such things to him. He was sure of it.
With the 2 of them coming out from the bus, it was obvious that Se-Yi was really sick. Perspiring from top to bottom, whereas Jay didn't even break a sweat.
"You can still turn around and go back, you know. Dah-lah you look so pale. You might just pass out or throw up unexpectedly." Jay's concern for her sparked a warm smile around Se-Yi's face. She somehow enjoyed the feeling when Jay took notice of her sickness.
"Gwaenchana Oppa, I'll be fine. I won't throw up!" Se-Yi wiped away her cold sweat as they walked inside the bank.
"Are you sure?" He asked once more just to be certain.
"Yah, Oppa... This is Se-Yi you're talking to. I can make it through." The girl reassured him. But a part of her knew it was going to be a long day ahead.
True to her thoughts, it wasn't an easy day for Se-Yi as she struggled with work. Feeling extremely fatigued and sluggish. It didn't help much either as her sickness was beginning to make her feel nauseous.
Se-Yi held her stomach lightly, hearing sounds of grumbling in within it. It definitely didn't sound good, causing her to feel all queasy and green. She hasn't had breakfast, still feeling full and bloated since last night.
"Shu-Yi, there's meeting now." Yasotha, one of her colleagues, called out to Se-Yi who jerked by surprise!
"Ne?! Meeting...?" The girl couldn't help but stare at her curiously, trying to hide her sick face.
"Staff meeting. Come on, let's go." Yasotha prompted Se-Yi to leave her work behind to attend the meeting that was one floor below them.
"You all know why I called you here..." Mr. Teo began the meeting, while everyone stood in their positions comfortably throughout the big hall.
Se-Yi made her away around the other staff, searching for Jay among them. When she finally did find him, she stood next to Jay, leaning on his shoulder tiredly like he was some form of cushion. She rested her head while trying to maintain her eyes open for the time being.
"Oi, it's a meeting-lah! You can't just lean like that!" Jay whispered discreetly to Se-Yi, who began perspiring once more with a sick look across her face.
"Mianhae, Oppa... I'm feeling really, really,-" Se-Yi was about to mention the word 'sick' when Mr. Teo himself interrupted their conversation.
"Ms. Shu-Yi? Why are you standing like that?! The two of you are couple is it?" Mr. Teo immediately bombarded them with the most awkward question.
Snickered sounds of laughter could be heard among the staff.
"No, sir! She's just feeling sick and wobbly!" Jay responded instantly as he helped Se-Yi stand in an upright position, as though she was a doll. The lass, slightly irritated by that just went along with the play, standing in a straight posture the best way she could. It was hurting her back somehow.
"Ms. Shu-Yi, you want to visit the doctor? You can go anytime." Mr. Teo offered Se-Yi, who could barely contain the contents in her stomach at that time.
She shook her head 'No' while trying hard to stand upright and straight that became increasingly difficult as time passes by.
With Mr. Teo going on about the topic that involves numbers once again, Jay observed closely towards Se-Yi who, at this point in time, looks like she's on the verge of throwing up!
"Oi, there's a bathroom right there. You better go if you're about to vomit." Jay pointed at the direction of the bathroom for Se-Yi to see.
"An-Aniya..." The Korean girl couldn't answer properly, almost slipping from her foot being unstable.
"Mr. Jay! Do you want to take over my meeting?" Mr. Teo glared at the pair with his fierce eyes. The fact that the 2 of them were interrupting his speech consistently was the key reason that irritated him.
"It's okay, sir! We're all good." Jay responded with a thumbs up.
Se-Yi's face grew paler by the second as Mr. Teo proceeded to continue his speech once more. Her eyes that were welding up with water, her mouth that was partially opened, and her stomach grumbling. Not by hunger, but by the contents that were in it!
"...So from now onwards, we cannot simply,-" Mr. Teo halted his speech at once the moment he saw Se-Yi zipping off like a cheetah from where she was standing!
Se-Yi, as quick as lightning, ran to the nearby bin, and threw up!
All of the food contents that she had from last night and this morning, all in the bin! Those around her were covering their nose as the stench of vomit was strong!
"Aish... Jinjja!" Se-Yi buried her face in her lap while Jay accompanied her inside the clinic that was just a few doors away from the bank. The embarrassment she had to endure after what had happened left a certain mark on her overall image.
"It can't be helped. If you had to throw up, you just have to." Jay's solemn words that didn't exactly ease Se-Yi's stressful moment.
"I should have threw up earlier. Why did I have to throw up at the very last minute?!" Se-Yi ranted inside the clinic, alerting the nurses there!
"She's a little agitated, sorry!" Jay apologized on her behalf towards the nurses that were popping their heads from the counter to see the commotion.
"Calm down, Se-Yi. You're sick." He consoled her as she started whining again.
"I knew I shouldn't have eaten those extra meat! And it was bad too!" Se-Yi complained further.
"It can't be helped-lah like that. If I had known earlier, I probably wouldn't have bought that extra meal." Jay added, patting on Se-Yi's back as though she were a child. At that instance, Se-Yi grabbed Jay by the collar, and stared deeply into his eyes. The kind of glare that was intimidating.
"Yah, you better not tempt me with extra meals from now on, arasseo?!" She warned him in a serious tone.
"So, how do I answer you? I still don't get the whole Korean vibe language." Jay remained calm with Se-Yi's threat that was either funny or repetitive. He was getting used to it.
"You answer; Ne, Noona!" Se-Yi smiled a little before going back to being serious, while still holding Jay by the collar.
"What's a... Noona?" Jay asked curiously, attempting to calm her down with a different topic.
"It means 'older sister'. Hokshi..." Se-Yi responded, before adding on in a curious manner.
"...you are younger than I am, right?"
For the time that she was residing in Jay's small apartment, Se-Yi haven't got to ask him about his age, nor his background. Somehow, she wanted to know Jay's age since they were at the clinic. And it was more or less private.
"Am I? I thought it's you who's a lot younger than I am." Jay raised his eyebrows suspiciously, not wanting to reveal his age just yet. It made Se-Yi giggled a little, even though her tummy hurts after she had vomited out.
"Aniya! I'm way older than you are!" Se-Yi snapped back with an embarrassing smile.
"Really? Like from which year you were born in? '96 or '97?" Jay teased her even more.
"I was born in '93." Se-Yi's reply that had Jay's mouth almost dropping by surprise.
"What about you, Oppa?"
"I don't think I would want to tell you that. Yet. But you sure as hell do look younger than you really are." Jay complimented her, astonished with her revelation.
"You don't want to tell me your age? Fine. But from now onwards, I'll be really informal towards you, arrachi?" She stated clearly before releasing his collar.
To Se-Yi, it was a big issue on how she uses her honorifics to others she'd barely knew. But by being close to Jay, it was made possible to drop her honorifics much easier. The lad nodded obediently without uttering a single word right after that.
By the time the 2 of them came out from the clinic, Jay immediately passed his house keys to Se-Yi. Besides having that baffled look across her face, Se-Yi knew that Jay wanted her to get back home.
"You know your way back to the apartment, right?" He looked at her while the girl stared at him in a rather quiet manner.
"Ne... But Oppa, I still want to work." Se-Yi stated benignly, hoping that Jay would change his mind in the least.
"You threw up like a sick cat in front of everybody. I don't think they would even want you to work if you're like this-lah." Jay's sole reason that had Se-Yi doing a puppy dog face.
"Oppa..." Without discipline, she did her best form of Aegyo to convince him.
"And that's not gonna work, in case you were wondering..." Jay added as he crossed his arms, fully unimpressed with her futile attempt.
"Fine... I'll go back." The girl finally gave up after losing her mood to continue the conversation.
"Do be extra careful. There are lots of weird people around. Like literally." Jay simply put, walking alongside her.
Se-Yi nodded in affirmation, not saying another word. She was clearly unhappy, but she didn't have a choice either. Her stomach hasn't fully recovered. Jay accompanied Se-Yi to the bus stop, making sure that she boards in safely.
Boarding out from the bus for about an hour later, Se-Yi started walking towards the direction of the apartment. The bright clear weather that was sunny in the afternoon shone directly at Se-Yi, somehow healing her nauseating stomach.
While rubbing her belly cautiously, the idea of throwing up once more pondered across her mind. Clearly she didn't want that to happen again, after that disastrous incident in the office earlier.
Midway before reaching the traffic light stand, Se-Yi stumbled across a man who was walking against her direction.
Staring at the tall figure who was in his mid-20's, he was rather dashing in his smart casual attire and a pretty face to look at. The man himself smiled at Se-Yi, with her responding more or less the same. Fully aware that her identity could get exposed, the girl reminded herself that she had to walk away discreetly. And fast too!
With Se-Yi quickly walking away from the man to avoid being recognized, the young man turned back at Se-Yi, with a charming smile across his face.
"Excuse me!" He called out. Se-Yi stopped dead in her tracks, slightly unsettled! She bit her lip thinking of the consequences she could face if the guy knew who she really was.
"Yes?" The lass responded calmly without turning her head. The only thing she feared from that point on was to hear her full name called out in public. But luck was on her side on this one.
"I just want to admit that you look really, really attractive. I have a couple of coupons here for coffee, but I have no one to accompany. Perhaps you might want to join me?" The guy offered Se-Yi unexpectedly.
"Huh?" That was the only thing the girl responded back with her eyes visibly wide. It also left her quite blurred at the thought of hearing that. It was something she had obviously not encountered before.
"Free coffee. I have some coupons here, but my date..." The young man suddenly stopped as Se-Yi blinked her eyes repeatedly by surprised.
"...She sorta ditched me. That wretched girl."
"It's okay... I am not well today." Se-Yi gave her excuse while eagerly waiting to walk away. She didn't want to sound rude, but she was unwell after all.
"It's just coffee. It won't kill you. Plus, it would be such a waste to let this coupons expire. Pretty please?" He added in a pleading way.
Se-Yi sighed a little, feeling sorry for the fellow lad who seemed really good in charming his way into the girl's heart, earning her sympathy.
"Okay." The girl turned around, accepting his offer with a heavy heart. She didn't like the idea of going around places she wasn't familiar with, but she had nothing to do if she were to go back to Jay's apartment. She adjusted her spectacles before answering him.
"Just coffee will do."
After placing their orders at a nearby cafe, Se-Yi and the mysterious man took their seats near the window, facing each other. Throughout the conversation, Se-Yi avoided eye-contact with him, having that fear that he would recognize her as a celebrity.
"Uhm, thanks for the drink." She thanked the man while curiously trying to figure out who he was, or what his motive was.
"By the way, what is your name?"
"Devin Wong. And you?" The handsome lad returned the question, rather intrigued with Se-Yi's curiosity towards him.
"Shu-Yi." The girl purposely lied to him, just beaming with delight that he hasn't figured her out yet.
"No surname?" Devin asked once more, trying to get to know her more. His eyes fixed directly at the girl's pretty face.
"Not so important for now." Se-Yi answered, with a teasing smile.
"Right..." Devin felt a little embarrassed after attempting to get her full name. He didn't dare to continue the conversation.
"Where are you working? Or what do you work as?" Se-Yi's next question as she didn't want to make things awkward between the two of them.
"I don't." A brief response from the lad as he sipped his coffee. Impressed by his statement, Se-Yi begun drinking hers while nodding her head, paying attention to the hand of the clock that was five minutes to 1pm.
"Dad owns the company. And I just... study, I guess." Devin added, observing a clueless Se-Yi as she gulped the entire mug of coffee unintentionally.
"You don't really know how to drink, is it?" He chortled at her, watching her smile innocently as coffee cream was all over her lips.
Se-Yi shook her head, while observing the time once more. It was time for her to leave.
"I really have to go now." The girl quickly got up from her seat, placing the coffee mug on the table as she carried her backpack.
"I'm not feeling well. Sorry."
"Wait! Before you go..." Devin quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"Oh?" Se-Yi had a confused look on her face the moment she saw his phone. She guessed his intention, but wasn't quite sure about giving out just like that.
"Can I have your number? It's not everyday that you bump into someone, and they're willing to accept your invitation for a drink." Devin explained briefly, not wanting to sound like a creepy person.
Se-Yi, rather awkward, didn't know how to answer at his request. She had a fixed smile and was hesitant about giving out her new phone number to him.
As Se-Yi came out from the lift at the apartment, she saw a figure standing in front of Jay's apartment door.
"<Hmm? I wonder who's that?>" The Korean girl simply wondered curiously as she paced towards that direction.
The mysterious figure quickly took off in a hurry upon hearing footsteps, sensing Se-Yi's presence who was approaching fast!
Brushing it off as a random stranger who was just at the wrong place, Se-Yi entered the apartment casually, only to find a letter that was placed on the floor.
Picking it up to inspect the letter, it quickly became like a mystery to the lass upon seeing the 2 words stapled to the letter that made her worry for no apparent reason.
"To: Jay."
"<Who was that person?>" Se-Yi pondered for a moment while she took off her glasses and untied her hair bun, letting her long hair go free after it was tied up for a long period of time.
However, she was fully unaware that the mysterious figure whom she spotted earlier was watching her from outside the window! Both in curiosity, and in awe-struck just to see that the girl that was living in Jay's apartment was none other than Ha Se-Yi!
As evening finally came, and Jay had returned from work. He was lucky to get off early from work due to the less amount of workload in the office. He was in for a surprise as Se-Yi had made preparations for dinner.
"Oppa! Jjang!" The girl surprised Jay by showing him the dinner meals she had prepared on the table. Filled with varieties of side dishes, Jay was simply astounded by Se-Yi's cooking skills once more!
"What's this supposed to be? Steamboat?" Jay's sarcasm as he kept away his shoes.
"Steamboat? Aniya! BBQ!" Se-Yi corrected him at once, quickly dragging him towards the dining room with both her hands.
A tired Jay had no choice but to comply towards her childlike demeanor.
"BBQ? I thought you were unwell." The lad was slightly baffled, after overseeing the table that was well-prepared.
"I'm okay now, Oppa. I had plenty of rest when I got back home. Promise!" Se-Yi raised her hand up like she was swearing on an oath.
"Okay then." The lad simply responded, hardly didn't care much as he took a seat. He was just hungry. Se-Yi hurriedly sat next to him, pouring oil inside the frying pan that was already heated up.
"How is it?" Se-Yi asked eagerly while beaming cheerfully like she always does right after Jay took a bite from his plate.
"I didn't know you could cook well. I thought celebrities like you would rather have their personal chefs to make them savouring meals. Seems like I judge you wrong, Princess." Jay was rather sarcastic as he took a bite out of his meat. This prompted Se-Yi to get mad at him for the first time. She immediately grabbed Jay in a headlock position, tightening his neck as the latter dropped his meat and chopsticks by surprised! He struggled hard to set himself free while Se-Yi was still going strong with her arms.
"I told you I'd be informal! You didn't listen well!" The Korean girl simply raised her voice out loud as she watched how Jay was wincing in pain.
"I get it! I get it!" Jay's plea to get her to let him go. Se-Yi released him as he quickly rubbed his sore neck.
"Ahh, pedih..." He muttered with regret.
It was the last thing he had expected to see from a girl like Se-Yi. From what he could remember, she didn't look like a tough person from the outside. The girl under 50 Kilograms had really proved him wrong this time!
"That's why you should be nice to people." Se-Yi finally responded innocently, somehow frightening Jay.
He moved his seat further away from her, picking up his chopsticks while maintaining eye-contact with her. Just in case if she pulled off something like that again.
"Yeah, whatever you say." The lad simply brushed it off, taking another piece of meat from the pan, while being extra careful this time.
While the pair ate their meals in silence, Se-Yi wanted to inform Jay about the mysterious stranger that was lurking near the apartment. But she found it quite difficult to translate the words.
"Oh, by the way... this came earlier." The lass finally gave up after her attempts to put words she was trying to construct, pulling out the letter that she had kept earlier. She was about to hand it over to Jay, but the lad was reluctant to take it, fearing it was one of Se-Yi's tricks to put him in a headlock position again. That wasn't the case however, seeing that she wasn't in her playful mood like she did just a while back.
"Someone dropped this in. I saw the person, but I don't know who it was." The girl added, this time being serious with her words.
Jay knew she was telling the truth. From her eyes, it says it all. He swiped the letter off from Se-Yi's hand, quite baffled as the letter itself doesn't seem like it came from the post office.
"Was it a he, or a she?" Jay suddenly asked in an eager manner. From the question itself, Se-Yi felt like Jay was somehow expecting this person to be at his apartment at that given point of time.
"Waeyo? Was it a friend of yours?" The girl answered back, trying to press her luck in finding out more about this person to which Jay was reluctant to provide.
"Nevermind, forget what I just said. Wrong person maybe." The lad answered simply, tearing the seal of the letter.
"Ah... Okay." Se-Yi finally stated, feeling slightly depressed. She pursed her lips while carefully observing Jay's actions. She had a hint that something was clearly up.
Right after he read through the whole letter, Jay crumpled and threw it inside the dustbin. His thoughts filled him with loathe by the contents of the letter. The situation didn't help either when he saw how curious Se-Yi looked with what he did towards the letter.
"Waeyo, Oppa?" She asked, seeing the look on his face. Devastated, upset, dejected. The mood in the room suddenly became sullen and quiet.
Jay stared at her with brooding eyes. He didn't want to converse with Se-Yi as he walked past her like the wind, slamming his bedroom door as he entered, rendering Se-Yi completely speechless.
"<What's wrong with him...? Why would he get so upset with a letter?>"
Her face slightly irritated and flustered, but somehow she had to convince herself that something must have happened in the past, prior to her meeting Jay for the very first time. Something so drastic that it might have traumatized him.
Quietly, Se-Yi opened the dustbin lid to retrieve the letter that was crumpled and thrown by Jay. Her curiosity kicked in when she unfolded the crumpled letter, seeing how neatly the words were written on that letter by an unknown person that only Jay knew of.
Wide eyed and shocked by what she read, she immediately understood why the lad was so distraught about it.
"Jay, I just want you to know:
On the night that we fought, it was the last straw for me as I couldn't take it anymore. Constantly, we were bickering towards one another as our arguments grew from bad to worse. Even then, after our break-up, it was a difficult choice for me to accept the fact that you're no longer a part of my life. And I see now that I actually can't live without you too. I don't have the courage to face up to you until today, afraid that you might just ignore me. So I've decided to write you this letter. Before it ends, I hope that we could still give it another shot, to try to work things out. If that's okay with you...
Cheryl."
The contents of the letter that had Se-Yi's heart almost breaking into a million pieces. Not because of how well and constructed the letter was written, but for the reason that she was falling for him.
She admired Jay for being the first person she could trust and rely on here in Malaysia, but she was worried that someone from his past might actually reunite with him.
"<What's this? I didn't know he had a... girlfriend.>"
Se-Yi was almost at a loss for words. Devastated in a huge way, she placed the letter aside, and made her way to the dining table to clean the cooking utensils that were used to make the BBQ. Her dismal mood made her slow in cleaning up the whole place.
Her mind clouded with negative thoughts! The hows and whys. She couldn't think straight! Barely a week in this unknown country, and problems were overflowing from one point to another!
Shortly after Se-Yi had clean the table, Jay came out from his room. Showered and fresh, he easily noticed Se-Yi's depressed expression as the lass sat on the couch. Seeing the crumpled letter on the table, he knew that the girl had already read it.
"My ex." He suddenly engaged the conversation as he placed his clothes inside the washing machine. Se-Yi turned towards him, looking like she had her energy all drained out.
"About a while back, we broke up due to a big fight. It was not a pretty one. It didn't end so well." He added as he approached Se-Yi who sat tiredly on the couch.
"You should try to fix your relationship. Go back to her." The girl could only advice Jay, yawning tiredly so suddenly.
"No... No, I won't." Jay stifled his remorse as he stared at Se-Yi. He wanted to explain further about his problem, but it didn't seem right. Who was she to him? She's a celebrity currently residing at his apartment, and she's also a guest. And his problems were a lot more complex than he could actually remember.
Se-Yi turned her head upwards, just astounded by his answer. She could guess that something about this mysterious person was bothering Jay. From his body language and posture, he wasn't going to tell her everything.
"Even though it was hard to let go of her, she was no angel nor was she a saint. She did some pretty nasty stuff. Heck, I'm no angel as well, but I can justify my actions." Jay could only explain this much to her, worried that she couldn't understand what he was talking about.
"Oppa, let's sit and talk." Suggested Se-Yi as she got up from the sofa, proceeding to make her way at the dining table.
"I don't have the privilege of living the luxurious or glamourous of life like you do. I had my own problems to deal with. When I first met her, Cheryl, she was an absolute beauty. Perfect girl, with a perfect life. I used to think that things were fine between us. Until this one day, some punk-ass kid was getting in between us." Jay explained to Se-Yi.
"Getting in between?" The Korean girl couldn't understand the reference Jay had meant.
"It means, he was interfering with us." Jay responded casually while he fiddled with his fingers.
"He got on my nerves because he was constantly text-messaging her day and night. Even when we were on dates that he would interfere. That son of a cat..."
"So, what happened after that?" The girl asked eagerly, getting hooked into Jay's side of the story. "We fought. Fought, and fought, and fought. Until one day, she couldn't take it anymore, she betrayed and left me. Right then, when she left me, I had no one to fall to." Jay's answer that seemed really depressing, lowering his head.
"What about your parents, or your siblings?" Se-Yi was curious to know more about his background. From her perspective, if Jay had no one, he could always rely on his family for support. But Jay's answer would change her thoughts for good.
"They're... dead. It has been a long time now." He answered in such a way that Se-Yi's jaw dropped by surprise! She didn't know what else to say!
"Seeing that letter just burns my heart. It really does. All the more why I wouldn't want to go back to the way it was. It could kill me someday. Probably." The lad added.
"Ne..." Se-Yi was, again, at a loss for words; not knowing how to continue the conversation. The lass could only feel embarrassed by her earlier question that didn't feel right. She cursed herself inside her heart for asking such a dumb question!
She knew the kind of pain that Jay had to endure. In fact, it was something similar to what she was going through, but his was a lot more worse.
"You should be lucky, Se-Yi. The life of a celebrity, it's probably the good life, isn't it?" Jay suddenly said.
"Ani." The girl's negative answer that was soft spoken. It had Jay raising his eyebrows. He was perplexed by that.
"Why do you say so?" He further asked her, this time, intrigued with her part of the story.
"The life of a celebrity, it is not what you think it is. Everyone is always watching you. If you picked your nose in public, the whole world knows that you picked your nose." Se-Yi lamented.
"If you meet a certain person, everyone will say that you are dating that person. That is no life. It's more like a... suffocating life."
"So, is that really the reason why you ran away?" Jay's sudden question to the girl, seeing her staring at a portrait of him and his family that was hung on the wall in the living room. Se-Yi turned her head facing him, silently she thought about it for a moment. The two of them exchange looks before the girl finally answered him truthfully.
"Ne..." She nodded her head.
"Well, you shouldn't. Your parents are probably worried sick about you." Jay advised her.
"I don't want to go back. At least not for now." Se-Yi remarked, quite firm with her answer. She wasn't going to let Jay manipulate her to change her mind.
"Why not?" Jay's short question that had Se-Yi biting her lips.
"Sometimes, I want to get away from all of it. Be in a place where no one knows who you are. A place where the only person I'm with is not crazy about me. He treats me just as fairly as everyone else." Se-Yi's indirect answer that somehow had Jay smiling for a few seconds.
"...Even when he knows I have everything, he still provides me." Se-Yi added with a warm smile.
"I was never a fan of K-Pop, mind you." Jay chortled, thinking of it as a joke.
"Which is why, I will introduce you to some." Se-Yi suddenly smiled at the sight of that.
Just then, Se-Yi's cellphone rang. The ringtone that Se-Yi had set, New Shoes by IU was heard playing. The pair stared at her phone that was placed on the wooden coffee table. An outside call that was clearly not from Malaysia. The phone kept on ringing, prompting Jay to say something.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" He turned to Se-Yi, while the latter stuttered just a little.
Se-Yi simply nodded, picking up the phone and setting it on speaker mode.
"<Hello?>" Se-Yi answered the call in Korean, guessing it was one of her close friends that was trying to reach her.
"<Where are you, Se-Yi?>" A familiar voice echoed from the speaker of which Se-Yi could only understand.
Se-Yi's face almost turned white upon hearing that. Fear, somewhat.