Mortal Enemy | Liskook

30

the evening is perfumed by the thunderclouds overheard. his back leaning against the driver's seat, looking across the highway. there's a strange kind of grace in the heavy twist of his body. if i had to label the image, it would be yearning.

i have to jiggle the driver's seat forward about a mile, necessitating quite a lot of jerky pelvic thrusts. he slides the passenger seat back without comment and watches me as i struggle. i snap on my seat belt and angle the rearview mirror down a bit.

"want a phone book to sit on? how'd you get so small?" he teased.

"ya, your car's just big," i hissed. he laughs at my reaction before putting his hand on the gear shift, with the veins in his arms showing.

"over halfway there now," he says as his knees started jiggling.

"you seem excited, jeon. what's with you today?"

a smirk appeared on his lips, letting out a small laughter.

"it's your birthday in an hour, baby. the real question here would be how come you're not excited?" he suspiciously asked.

well, it's not that i'm not excited nor am i thrilled. it's just that as we get older, the less exciting birthday gets. not to mention the fact that i won't be celebrating it with my family. blame it all on our hectic schedules.

"hey, everything okay?"

he looks at me with an expression that makes my heart shake. like he's concerned with whatever was running through my mind.

i simply smiled to reassure him that i'm alright. but who am i kidding? i have spent almost an entire year with this man — a simple smile won't fool him.

he hit the brakes in an instant and looked at me intensely. leaning closer, he put his hand on my cheek and started to gently caress it.

"yeobo," he whispers. "i hate seeing you sad."

i sat in silence, not knowing what to say. he looked at me steadily in the face, pain and worry expressed in his doe eyes.

"to be honest, i don't have the words to make you feel better. i know you miss your family, baby . . . and i don't know how to take the pain away."

he looked away for a moment, before cupping my face in both of his hands. with a smile flashed on his lips, he muttered, "but i do have the arms to give you a hug, ears to listen to whatever you want to talk about, and i have a heart . . . a heart that's aching to see you smile again." he pouted upon saying the last phrase.

i immediately chuckled at his words, and seeing as to how i laughed at his remarks made him cackle as well.

"you're cringey when you're sweet," i giggled. "but it's alright, at least i'm not meeting pervkook tonight."

i lean back and look at him. "thank you, baby . . . and sorry if i made you feel bad."

he put his hand on my thigh as he starts the engine again. "never apologize for how you feel, manoban."

"arasso, but i think i deserve an apology for how you kidnapped me," i jokingly said.

"ya! i told you i asked for your boss' approval," he defended. i rolled my eyes, yet a sudden realization hit right through me.