9 eight: It's hard to convince

"Lina-ah! Look here!" Dae Ju shouted from another side of the road. The road was quite crowded as the supermarket was there. It was the main road and that's why many vehicles were running on the road. The road was not dark as there were many restaurants, shops, and houses with a lot of lights.

"Oh! You are here! Come to this side! I need to go inside the shop!" Lina shouted from the other side. But her sound was not too loud so Dae Ju couldn't hear her well.

"What?" he asked from his side.

"I need to do some shopping. Come to me!" she shouted again.

"Okay! Stay there! I am coming to you!" Dae Ju shouted. Then he was waiting for the red light. After a few minutes later, the red light came and all the vehicles stopped. Dae Ju safely went to Lina.

"What do you need in this late hour?" he asked.

"We are out of rice and noodles. I need to buy them. And for other things, let's decide it later." she didn't look at him and went to the supermarket. Dae Ju couldn't understand what he should do but he followed her. She went inside and directly went to the place where packets of rice were kept. She chose one pack of five kilograms and put it in the cart. Dae Ju was just following her as if he was her bodyguard. But it feels nice to be her bodyguard. She went to that unit where various kinds of noodles were kept. She stood there for a while. Maybe she was searching for her favorite one.

"Ah! I found it!" saying this she bends down as they were kept in the bottom of the shelf. She took some packets of them and put them in the cart. Dae Ju was pulling the cart with himself and Lina was doing the rest. She was walking all around and whenever she founds something that she needs, she put it in the cart.

"Lina-sshi! Come here!" a salesgirl called her.

"Oh! Mrs. Park!" she rushed to her. Dae Ju also followed her.

"Take these. It's for free." she gave her some packets of meat and said by whispering.

"Ah! Really? Which meat is it?" she asked with a low voice and looked around to check if there was anyone who was watching over her.

"These are muttons. They are tasty just the date will be expired by tomorrow," she said.

"Ah! Okay, I'll keep them. Thank you very much!" she said and bowed to her. Then she put them on the cart too and went to another side for something else. It was the first week of the month and seems like she got her salary and start buying the monthly ration.

After finishing their shopping, both of them came out.

"Let's eat something first." Dae Ju said.

"No! We bought a lot! How could we take them home! We need to go home! I bought some fruits and vegetables too. They need to be refrigerated quickly." she said and looked for a taxi. She was acting like nobody was with her. She doesn't have time to look at him.

"Okay." he just listened to her and looked at his stomach. It was hurting out of hunger.

"OH! TAXI! TAXI!" she called a taxi which was going through the path. It stopped after listening to her. Both of them with a lot of necessary items got in the taxi and took their seats. Lina took out a packet of snacks and give it to Dae Ju.

"Eat it for now. I will make something after returning home." she could feel that he was hungry. Dae Ju got embarrassed but he took it. It was a salty snack and Dae Ju didn't like it much. But he opened the packet and put some of them into his mouth.

"Take some." he acted cold to cover his embarrassment.

"No! I am fine!" she replied. Actually she ate her lunch very late and she wasn't hungry at all. Dae Ju wanted to talk with her but he didn't found any topic to talk with her.

"Lina-ah!" he called. He wanted to confess his feelings before die. He thinks that he will die if he go to the race.

"What?" she looked at him. Her face was looking very cute for her scarf. She wrapped it very well that a single hair was not seen.

"I don't want to hide anything from you. But you know, there is too much going through my life. And after I came here, I lived a very different life. You always support me and I know you will always support me. But, I have to go. I know, you will be lonely without me but, please accept the fate. If I die..." he couldn't complete his words. Lina put her hand on his mouth.

"Why you are saying it from yesterday? I told you if something happened then say it to me!" she was annoyed. Dae Ju took her hand and grab it tightly.

"I am going for a race again. I don't know if I come back with my life but..."

"What?" she was astonished. She looked at him with her big and questionable eyes.

"Yes, I don't have any choice. I must go. As you know I can't drive a car properly and I don't have a driving license either. But, they told me that they will arrange everything. All I have to do is win the race. Do you think I can make it?" he looked at her.

"But you promised that you will not do that again?" she looked down. She was very worried.

"I know! He did a promise! But right now, I don't have any other choice! He will kill both of us if I don't take part in the race. And he will kill only me if I lose the race. So, just listen to me and don't try to do anything." he said and sighed.

"Who is he you are mentioning?" Lina asked slowly.

"It's him," he replied and gulped.

"Why you go to him again? He will not spare you this time! We have to think about it! Let's shift from here. Let's go too far from here so that he can't reach us." her eyes were shaking a lot. Maybe she didn't know what she should do.

"No! I won't let you do that!" suddenly she shouted with her broken voice.

"I am not seeking your permission. I am just telling you." Dae Ju said coldly. This time he was really cold to her.

Lina looked at him. Her face turned pale. Looks like she got hurt by his behavior but she couldn't say anything else to him. Both of them stayed silent until they reached home after that. Nobody wanted to talk with each other. They went inside with their belongings.

Lina starts working silently. She was unpacking everything and keeping them in their places. But nobody has any words to each other. The environment was getting heavy. Seems like both of them were ghosts and they can't see each other. Dae Ju couldn't look at her because he was feeling guilty. But Lina was avoiding him because he never listened to her and this time also he will follow his guts only. Dae Ju thought she was angry because of his rough behavior. So he wanted to say sorry but how can he say sorry to her, he couldn't find a way.

"I am sorry. I was rude to you. I shouldn't behave like that." saying this while itching his head he came to her. She was keeping the fruits in the fridge. She acted like she didn't hear him.

"Ah! Lina-ah!" he was hesitating to call her name so he has a very low voice. But this time also, she didn't answer anything and kept doing her work.

"Lina-ah! Why you are ignoring me like that? I am disappointed!" he makes a pouting face and said. Lina finished her work and closed the fridge. She went to the kitchen as if nobody else was there and she lived here alone. She took the packets of noodles and kept them on a desk. Then she took a pot and start washing it.

"Hey! Heey! Lina-ah!" he shouted cutely but nothing was working on her.

"I know you are angry with me but, don't you think you are going too far? How can you ignore a person who is blabbering around you for that long?" Dae Ju was trying to get her attention but failed.

"You told me earlier that I have to live without you and I am just trying to do that. Nothing else!" Lina answered simply. Then she went to the stove and put the pot on it.

"I didn't tell you to ignore me!" he shouted. Lina looked at him with her cold eyes.

"Ah! Sorry!" realizing that he yelled at her again, he smiled and said sorry.

"I am not mad at you. I am just worried about you. I know, you can win since you love to race very much but accidents can happen to anyone in any place! Did you forget about your accident? Because of that accident, that man is still lying on the hospital bed. You can't even imagine how it feels! How his family is feeling right now! Even I feel very bad for him! I almost cried when I saw him in that position. You should thank to almighty that you are okay and you can live a normal life. But no! You are going to that way again." said Lina. Dae Ju was confused about her words.

"E-hei! I know you are feeling bad! But that's okay. The man got another chance for living. He got a very sweet thing so he is happy now. And all that happens for that accident. It was good for you and me. So, don't worry. I will be fine!" he said.

"You can't guarantee your destiny!" Lina was busy cooking and said without looking at him.

"I know. I am experienced enough!" he sighed.

"So, you aren't mad at me, right?" he asked slowly and closed his eyes.

"No! But there is one condition," she said and give an evil laugh.

"What condition?" he surprised.

"I will go with you," she said and looked at him.

"What? Why?" Dae Ju shouted.

"To look at you of course!" she replied simply.

"I can't promise you about it." Dae Ju makes a serious face.

"You have to or else I won't let you go!" she nearly threatened him.

"What will you do?" Dae Ju thought she was joking so he asked while smiling.

"You have no idea what I can do!" she was looking like the beautiful villain of a drama.

"Dinner is ready. Come and eat." she served some hot noodles and called him. It was looking tasty. Dae Ju starts to eat as he was very hungry.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" he asked.

"No! I am not hungry." she prefers to watch him from far. When Dae Ju pour some noodles into his mouth, he felt like he can burn everything. It was too much spicy and he couldn't bear it.

"What happened? Eat up! You should not waste food like this! Eat up!" Lina came to him and said while giving him an epic smile.

"Hey! Give me water! Where is water!" he was breathing heavily.

"There is no water in the fridge! There is only one bottle of water in my hand! If you want it, then you have to promise that you will take me there." she smiled.

"Hey! Give me that! I am dying! How could you do this to your husband?" he nearly cursed her but he couldn't as he was suffering a lot. He got wet by his sweat and keep asking for water. He stood up and went to the kitchen. He will drink the tap water if he don't get any. But Lina blocked his path and didn't let him go.

"Give me that! Please!" he requested her.

"Then promise me you will take me there?"

"Okay, okay. I will take you!" he said quickly.

"Promise?" she showed the bottle and asked.

"Yes, promise," he said and nearly snatched the bottle from her. He finished all the water with one sip and calmed down.

"Ah! I am relieved! How can you do that? I nearly died! How much spice did you out there?" he was still breathing heavily but not like before. In answer, she just smiled without saying him anything. Then she gave him another bowl of noodles but seeing it, he lost his appetite.

"I am not gonna eat it! You b...." he nearly cursed her.

"Don't badmouthing me! It's not like before!" she took some from it and pour in her mouth to prove that it's not spicy like before. Dae Ju looked at her with suspicious eyes and came to the table. She gave him the chopsticks which she just used and stood up. Dae Ju starts eating with them but he was still glaring at her.