Again

Chapter 19 - Someone Like You

~~~

I've been travelin' a hard road
Baby, lookin' for someone exactly like you
I've been carryin' my heavy load
Waitin' for the light to come shinin' through
Someone like you makes it all worthwhile
Someone like you keeps me satisfied
Someone exactly like you

(Song Lyrics - Van Morrison)

~~~

"OH NO!"

Jeong Hyeok rushed out of his room upon hearing Se-Ri's whine with Max following behind him closely. He found her on the living room couch, eyes wide in disbelief as she kept on scrolling on her laptop. "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Se-Ri's eyes turned to him and her lips jutted in a pout. "I lost 50,000 dollars."

"Why?"

"I invested in this stock that was going up last week and it just crashed," she explained.

"Can I have a look?"

Se-Ri made a move to stand up but he stopped her. Jeong Hyeok took the space behind her and leaned over to check the screen. Inhaling his scent, she started to feel better already.

He pulled up the trade history and then checked the stock itself. "Look at this," he pointed to the chart on the screen. "It's a bad stock to begin with. It just had a good run last week."

"Then why would it suddenly drop?" Se-Ri asked. He spent the next thirty minutes patiently explaining the transaction half of which she didn't understand so he needed to repeat. "So I made a bad purchase?"

He cringed but nodded. "It seems like you missed checking additional information that would have clued you in that it was not a good stock."

Se-Ri pouted again while studying the screen.

"Did you need that money?" Jeong Hyeok asked.

She shook her head. "No. I remember what you taught me that I invest in the market what I am comfortable losing. I just didn't think I'd lose all of it."

Jeong Hyeok studied the transaction. "Sell now and you can still recover half. Cut your losses."

"I can?!" They spent the next few minutes finalizing the sale. Once Se-Ri was assured she was going to recover some amount, she turned to him to thank him for his help. "I'm bad at this. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? Don't. You're learning. Besides, this happens to everyone."

"Oh my, it's late. I haven't even made breakfast yet!" She started to get up but he stopped her.

"I thought you were still studying this?" He asked.

"Later. I need to feed you first," she replied.

"No. Go study. I'll call you when food's ready. I'll take care of Max and Mina, too." He got up and headed to the kitchen.

Se-Ri sighed. This was what she always loved about Jeong Hyeok, he never expected her to fulfill the more traditional roles of a woman. When used to come home late from work, he would check if they had food. If she said she was running late from work, too, he would pick up something on the way and feed them. All other household chores were shared tasks.