Chapter 50: Attention

Fahami's POV:

Next day, Taesung and I went to the physiotherapy center. This was a bit costly for us, mostly for me. Taesung didn't have his own money. The owner helped a little when he heard about the accident. Still, it wasn't enough. The hospital bill, our daily expenses as well as his physiotherapy, all were depended on the money I earn through my little freelancing. It wasn't enough, and I was running out of money. I didn't know how would my father react if I asked for money. Before I came to South Korea, I told him I got a scholarship and I would not need his money to survive in here.

Hopefully, my father would understand my situation.

"Next, Baek Taesung!" Someone said loudly and I came back to reality.

Taesung who was sitting next to me sighed.

We both stood up and walked up to the entrance of the room where the physiotherapy was going to happen.

"Will you be okay?" I asked him.

He gave me a little smile and said, "I am not a baby, Noona."

I smiled back and messed up his hair, "Yes, you are. A big baby to me."

"Well, hello there!" A male voice greeted us, or maybe Taesung. He went inside and they closed the door.

I thought this was the perfect time to call father. I didn't want Taesung to know about it. He would feel bad if he heard we were running low on money. I looked at my wristwatch, it would be evening in my country.

I called him, patiently waiting for his response. After ringing for thrice, he picked up.

"Hello?"

I replied in my own language, "Hello, Papa. Are you busy right now?"

"No, we can talk. What's the matter?" He replied in his usual commanding tone.

He seemed interested. Well, that was rare. Papa was also changed like Ma as time passed. He devoted himself more to work since Nabil died.

"Papa, how are you?" I was being careful.

He sighed from the other side, "I am fine. What about you?"

"I am fine too."

Papa asked, "There's something you want to say. What's it?"

I was fidgeting, "Umm, papa, I need some money. I wouldn't have disturbed you if it wasn't necessary. Can you lend me some?"

There was a droop dead silence. Oh, no! This wasn't good. Papa was that kind of person who could use his silence as a weapon.

I cleared my throat, "Papa?"

"You are my child, Fahami. You don't need to borrow money from me." There was a longing in his tone.

' Papa is getting emotional!'

Now it was more shocking.

He then cleared his throat and said, "I am proud of you being so mature and hardworking and earning your own money. I feel proud as a father because my child didn't need me to stand on her own feet. She didn't need a shoulder to lean on for financial support, but you are still my child. It's my responsibility to support you financially when you really need it. So, never hesitate to ask for anything, alright?"

I sniffed and tried to control myself, but these damn tears wouldn't stop. Papa was that kind of person who hardly expressed his feelings and emotion.

I sniffed once again and said, "Thank you. Thank you, Papa."

I didn't know why, but I could picture him smiling, "You are always welcome. Now, how much do you want?"

*****

After we came back from the physiotherapy center, I went to the Bank. When I said I was going outside for something important things, Taesung looked at me a little weirdly, as if he was sensing something.

And I was right because after returning home, I noticed Taesung behaving differently. When I asked how did the session went, he had a blank expression, and he replied, "It was okay."

It could be because of the exhaustion, but I was getting restless. Something was off, and I needed to know.

He was quiet when we ate, didn't utter a single word. It was getting under my nerves. I cleaned the dining table, then checked his prescription and gave him the required medicines.

"Alright, now tell me what happened?" I folded my arms tightly around my chest and stood in front of him. He was sitting on the edge of my bed.

He didn't meet my gaze, he just kept staring at the floor.

"Taesung." I whined as I was getting impatient.

He still didn't look into my eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I had zero idea about what he was talking about. "What didn't I tell you?" I looked at him in astonishment.

' Oh, God! What did I do now? What is he talking about?'

He looked up at me, keeping that same blank expression. "Why didn't you tell me you were running low on money?"

Okay. This wasn't going to end in any good ending. Either we were going to end up in arguing, or he was going to remain stubborn and stop me from spending money on him.

I exhaled deeply, "Taesung. I know what you are going to say. But listen to me."

He was going to say something.

I raised one hand to say 'Stop', "Please, hear me out. Look, you call me Noona, right? So, as a Noona, it's my responsibility to look after you, specially when you had an accident.

Rather than that, Taesung, we agreed that we would work on our relationship. If you consider me as your family and obviously, if I mean something more than that, you would let me spend money on you. Wouldn't you have done the same for me if you were in my position?"

I was winning! I could see it. He was debating on how to reply because I threw lots of logics at him.

' Nowhere to go, my dear.'

I sighed, "You would. You would do the same."

He exhaled loudly in annoyance and whined, "You are using my feelings to settle your decision. It's not fair."

I simply gave him a cheeky smile, "Everything is fair in love and war. And this is love, so of course, it's fair."

He snorted.

I stared at him, "How did you know?"

He gave me a half-hearted smile, "I pay lots of attention to you, Noona. I know when you are going through something. And your eyes looked puffy when I came out of the physiotherapy session, so I guessed you were crying. Then you went to the bank and since coming back from the bank, you looked relived."

I was sure my jaw was hanging open. How much did he notice me?

Taesung looked amused seeing my reaction.

"Boy! I should be careful from now on." I said in fake cautious tone.

He laughed. I joined him too.

He stopped laughing and looked at me intensely, "I am not going to take physiotherapy."

"What?" I exclaimed.

He kept looking at me, "You heard me. It's already hard for you, and I am not helping. I can at least do this."

I was getting angry. Damn this short temper! I took deep breaths, "By skipping your physiotherapy? No, I won't allow it."

He smiled, "You can't force me."

That's right. He was a grown up man. Not a five years old kid that I could spank for being naughty, although he was behaving like a five years old kid.

Well, someone had to be matured. I knew what could make him agree, but I didn't know if it was the right option. I meant, using it as a weapon rather than an act of affection, the idea didn't appeal to me. Still, it was the only way.

I smiled at him, "How about I give you a present if you agree to take physiotherapy?"

He chuckled, "And what am I? Five years old?"

I smiled and slowly started walking to him, "No, but I know you are going to love this one. In fact, you would agree to do lots of things in exchange for it."

His eyes were fixed on my moves, on my eyes. He gulped when I stopped an inch away from him and stood between his leg.

I raised on brow, "Wanna see it?"

I held his face in between my hands and looked intently in his eyes. His eyes were hooded with hunger. And then I looked at his lips. It was quite interesting that I was also feeling hungry to touch him. So I stopped wasting my time. Closing my eyes, I touched his lips with my lips and I kissed.