PROMPTS

Stranger in my Bed - 3

Jet lag hit Jin Ah so even if she was tired, she only had a few hours of sleep and then she was up again before daybreak.

She set out to brew herself some coffee then sat down on one of the stools by the kitchen counter. There, like she did before she fell asleep the night prior, she held up her hand again to stare at it. This time, she traces the empty spaces in between.

For the first time in the three weeks that she was gone, Jin Ah allowed herself to think about him.

Him... the one who used to hold her hand.

Him... whose fingers used to fill up the spaces in between hers.

Him... the one who completed her.

Jin Ah sighed. "I miss you."

"Who?" came a voice from the bedroom.

Jin Ah straightened in her seat and turned to the person who owned said voice. "Good morning," she greeted a little breathlessly. She saw last night that the stranger was quite good looking, but in the bright morning light, Jin Ah realized just how handsome the man was. He was already bathed and in a white knit sweater and white pants, while she was still in her pyjamas. He looked like he came straight out of a magazine.

"Good morning," he greeted. Looking at her coffee mug, "Do you mind if I get a cup?"

"No, go ahead," Jin Ah said.

Jin-woo sat at the dining area where he set up his laptop and started checking his emails right away with his back slightly turned to her which was fine with Jin Ah because she wasn't in the mood to talk that morning. Deciding to ignore him, Jin Ah held up her hand again to look at it and sighed.

"Who are you missing?" Jin-woo asked. When Jin Ah looked at him, he shifted his gaze from her face to her hand then back again. "You've been sighing since I went out of the bedroom. Boyfriend?"

"Boy, you're nosy," Jin Ah muttered.

"Ex?"

"My goodness!" Jin Ah said, exasperated.

Jin-woo crossed his arms and with a self-assured smile said, "Definitely an ex."

"Wow! Someone's confident," Jin Ah remarked, narrowing her eyes at him and crossing her arms like he did.

"Am I wrong?"

Jin Ah frowned at him, made a face and took her cup to sit at the couch where she didn't have a direct line of sight to him. "I bet you wouldn't understand what it's like," she mumbled under her breath out of his earshot.

Or so she thought.

"What won't I understand?" Because apparently he was standing right behind her, leaning on the wall where the couch was set up against.

"Oh goodness!" Jin Ah exclaimed, jumping on the couch to put some distance between them. "Could you please stop sneaking up on me?!"

"Wow, your senses are really weak," Jin-woo commented.

"It's not!" Jin Ah returned defensively.

Jin-woo rolled his eyes. "So, what don't I understand?"

Jin Ah stammered.

"I won't understand what it's like to miss someone?" he helped.

"Not just that," she said, defensively. "It's... It's..."

"What?"

Jin Ah's shoulders slumped. "It's missing someone you loved so much. Missing someone you thought knew your soul. Someone who completed you that his fingers filled the spaces between yours and you felt like all was right in this world. That special someone that made you feel like you were complete."

Embarrassed at her sudden outburst, she hid behind the covers that she had not yet fixed from her sleep. She felt the couch dip, signalling that her visitor had taken a seat. "Come out."

"No."

"Come on. I don't want to talk to a blanket lump," Jin-woo commanded.

Grudgingly, Jin Ah showed her face but the rest of the blanket still covered the rest of her head and body. "You're very bossy."

Jin-woo chuckled. You're very cute, he thought but did not dare say it out loud.

Meanwhile, Jin Ah thought, Dimples. Come on. He has dimples as if he needed one more trait to make his face better than it already is.

"Where's your hand?"

Jin Ah's eyes widened.

"I'm not going to touch you. Just hold it up." When she finally followed as he asked, he continued. "See? No spaces between your fingers." Jin Ah frowned but before she could say anything, he continued. "You're complete. You don't need someone else to complete you."

"There are spaces when I spread my fingers out. See?" she responded.

"Yes but like you said, it's when you spread them out. It's up to you to let anyone in... to assist you or to comfort you or for whatever other purpose you decide. But your hand is still a complete hand without someone else."

As she pondered on what he said, Jin-woo stood up to go back to his laptop. When he was seated, she called out, "How'd you get so smart about this?"

Jin-woo was silent so Jin Ah turned to look at him from where she sat. When he met her gaze, he shrugged and said, "I once was broken, too."