Chapter 17: Our Last Good Day

Taesung's POV:

Noona, Noona, Noona. All I could see was Noona. Whenever I closed my eyes I could see her, only her. Sometimes I felt like I was going to be crazy.

Tick

Tick

Tick

The clock was moving but I felt like that wasn't. As if I was stuck in a loop, time wasn't passing. That loop's name was Fahami, my Noona. I sighed and glanced at the clock. It was almost time to go the restaurant. I got up and prepared to leave.

"Taesung-ah, this is your monthly salary." The owner of the restaurant smiled brightly at me and offered the money. I took the money and deeply bowed to him.

When I counted the money, I was shocked. The amount was more than the usual. He gave me extra money. I hurried to him.

"Sir. Sir, I think you made a mistake."

He smiled and asked, "What are you saying?"

I was confused, "My monthly payment is not this much."

He smiled again and said, "Keep it. It's for your loyalty and hard work. You have never asked for anything. So, it's a present from me."

I was amazed and grateful, "Thank you, Sir."

He patted on my shoulder and left. Sometimes, it got hard for me to pay the rent because not every month went the way I wanted. Sometimes, I had to face ups and downs. Thereby I decided to buy some clothes.

"Anything else, Sir?" I asked the customer.

"No, thank you."

"But Fahami, you promised. Come on, it will be fun." My eyes snapped at the entrance where I noticed Noona and her friend who was trying to convince Noona about something.

"No Eunjin, I have to study. I can't go with you." Noona replied in disturbance.

Next she looked around, eyes searching for something. Her alluring eyes stopped looking around when they spotted me, and she flashed her dazzling smile.

'She was looking for me.'

I smiled in return and went to her. She and her friend already took their seats.

"Hello Noona." I couldn't suppress the smile on my face.

"Hello Taesung." She smiled too. Her friend looked awkwardly at us.

I cleared my throat and said to her friend, "Hello." Next I asked both of them, "What would you like to eat?"

Noona said, "Cockle bibimbap and a coke."

I looked at her friend.

"Same for me."

"Okay." I again glanced at Noona.

Later I came back with their order and heard Noona to say, "Eunjin, I really can't go with you. Try to understand."

Her friend said, "Come on, it will be fun. When the last time you went to the beach?"

At that moment Noona noticed me. I placed their foods on the table and asked, "Anything else?"

Noona replied, "No, thank you."

I was hesitating to ask her, "Umm, Noona. Do you have anything to do in this evening?"

Noona looked confused, "No, why?"

"Actually, the owner of the restaurant gave me some extra money as reward. I want to buy some clothes. You have great fashion sense." I scratched my neck sheepishly, "So, I was thinking if you would come with me to....."

"I will go." She replied before I could finish my sentence.

"Huh?" I was startled.

She smiled and said, "I will go with you."

I was delighted. I smiled and said, "Okay then. See you in the evening."

"I will come here at 7.30. Okay?"

It was more than okay, "Okay." I turned and returned to the kitchen. The grin on my face was evident that I was excited.

Later at that evening, I was waiting for Noona in front of the restaurant. I looked at the street again and again. Thereafter, I noticed her. She was wearing a pink hoodie and black pants. Her bag was dangling over her waist and cold breeze was blowing her hair. She looked graceful as usual. She smiled at me when she came nearer.

"Hi."

I smiled and said, "Hi." I didn't remember when the last time I smiled like this. My childhood memories were not very pleasant. After Eomma's death, nothing made me happy. But ever since Noona came into life, I smiled a lot.

"So, where to?"

"Umm, I don't know. Why don't you suggest?"

"Well, I don't know much about the shopping centers but Eunjin took me with her sometimes."

"Then, lead the way." She smiled in response.

Shopping with her was quite enjoyable. She chose the clothes for me. I noticed she picked the blue ones most.

"Noona, isn't black your favorite color?" I asked her as we were walking on the streets. I wanted to call taxi, but she didn't let me. She said she preferred walking. I preferred it too because I could spend more time with her.

She looked confused, "Not the most favorite one. Why?"

"Actually, you always wear black but today I noticed you picked the blue clothes for me."

She chuckled and said, "You are not wrong. Blue is my favorite color and black is my second favorite color. I wear black because I think I look good in black. I choose blue for you because I think blue will suit with your skin tone."

"Ah, I see." After that, we walked in silence.

"Noona, you mind if I ask you something?"

The cold breeze was messing with her hair, and she tried to remove them from her face.

"No, go on."

"Today you seemed angry with your friend in the restaurant. Is everything alright?" I tricked her to know what was going on.

"No, no. You misunderstood. Nothing is wrong. It's just, Eunjin was requesting me to travel with her and few friends. They are going to the east coast and planning to stay three days."

"You don't want to go?"

"It's not like that. They will stay three days. That being the case, I can't go with them. I have to study." She looked down at the street but I heard the sadness in her voice as if she wanted to go.

"Noona, tell me something about your country. And how do you speak so fluently in Korean?" I tried to lighten her mood. She chuckled and told me about her country during the whole time.

I noticed that Noona was hissing. I couldn't realize what happened to her in the beginning but after seeing her tilting her neck repeatedly, I understood she was tired. Therefore, I suggested her to take the shortcut way to our building. I knew the alley was dark and not very safe still nothing could harm as long as we were together.

After walking for a while, we encountered with some thugs. "Goodness! Look, lovebirds!" One of them chuckled and said.

"Is that foreigner? Ya, boy." Another one pointed his finger at me, "What do you think you are doing with her?"

Noona interrupted and asked, "Come to the point, what do you want?"

"Oh! Look, look, the lovebird can speak in Korean." They acted like they were amazed.

This was getting on my nerves. I gritted my teeth and asked, "What do you want?"

"Oh boy, we don't want anything with you. We just want this sugar." They pointed at Noona. My blood boiled in anger.

'How dare they?'

Another one excitedly claimed, "I never tasted a foreign one. It will be so much fun."