PROMPTS

Bad Omens - 8

"Are you wearing a heart pendant?!"

Ha Chae-yoon looked up from her laptop to see her friend eyeing her new jewelry. "It's a jade one. Tae Gu says it's good luck."

"When have you ever believed in 'luck'?!" Ji-hye asked.

"I still don't but he believes it and it's a gift from him for our 100 days," Chae-yoon replied, touching the pendant that was on her neck. "Leave me alone."

Ji-hye chuckled. "I'm teasing you. He's good to you?"

Chae-yoon nodded. "He is."

"Good. I'm glad. Did you complete his background check?" Ji-hye asked, partially in jest. 

Chae-yoon nodded. "He submitted all his government IDs and police clearance and his record is clean save for a few parking tickets which he promised to settle soon."

Ji-hye chuckled. "I'm happy for you. You have to hide your necklace for now because we have work."

Ha Chae-yoon knew this but this was the first time she truly regretted taking off or hiding something. Even her former engagement ring, which turned out to be cheap pewter,  she never had an issue taking it off to lock it during work hours. Yet here she was, lamenting having to take off her pendant and her rose quartz bracelet.

Seeing her dilemma, Ji-hye giggled. "Oh, you have it bad for this man."

Ha Chae-yoon smiled proudly. "I do. I like him a lot."

Keeping his gifts close to her was not the only change in Chae-yoon. She also became one of those women who called their boyfriends to check if he had eaten lunch. She chuckled when she recalled giving Ji-hye a difficult time when she would catch Ji-hye on the phone checking on her boyfriend.

"He's a grown man! He knows it's lunch time. Are you his mother that has to remind him?" Ha Chae-yoon used to complain. 

But now, at the canteen, she was dialling Min Tae Gu's number asking the same thing. "Are you eating well? Make sure you get your fill, alright? Am I seeing you tonight? I already miss your face! Can you come see me?"

Ji-hye was making kissy faces at her so Chae-yoon threw a table napkin at her friend. "Shut up."

Min Tae Gu was speaking into the phone. "Of course. Can I sleep over?"

"Of course!" Ha Chae-yoon replied, turning away from Ji-hye. She loved it that Tae Gu still asked her whenever he would enter her space, not assuming that he could just step in. 

He would even ask, "Can I kiss you later?"

"Hmmm let me think about it."

Min Tae Gu laughed. "Okay then. I'll bring my toothbrush just in case you say yes. I want to make sure I have minty breath."

Another new thing she discovered about herself was that she loved calling Min Tae Gu various pet names. She never used English or Korean nicknames for the people she dated. She just called them by their first name, but with Min Tae Gu, she like calling him nicknames because he seemed to revel in them also. 

One time, he was so busy writing five articles due to the various outlets he was providing them that he couldn't even stand up to eat. She brought him food to his home and insisted that he take even just a few minutes break. He protested until she cooed, "Baby, please? I don't want you getting sick."

He absolutely love it. 

There was another time that she had an early day filled with meetings so he prepared her a lunch box. To show how grateful she was, she kissed him gently and whispered, "You're so good to me. Thank you very much, Sweetheart."