The Falling Petals...🌺

What-if-i-still-kiss-her?...

Unfortunately, the next morning wasn't a pleasant one.

Jet lag, change of weather, the weariness after a long journey and my night shower - all brought me down with a cold. I was sneezing, had a bad headache and an aching throat. In other words, I was completely screwed up.

In that unpleasant condition, I was turning left and right, squeezing the bouquets which I had been embracing in my sleep. It took me a long while to, finally, open my eyes completely.

Then I noticed her SMS - Will be der at 11.

It was quarter to ten in my watch.

Damn! I wanted to reply asking her to come a little later. But I didn't. Rather, gathering all my energy, I got ready. I took a warm shower this time. I was slow in everything I was doing. And all that was running in my mind was: Will I get better by the time she comes here?

By eleven, I was through with my breakfast and she called me up to say that she was going to be late. She would be at my place in the next half an hour.

"OK," I said. I kept the call short because I didn't want her to notice my condition. I was still sneezing and coughing. And someone seemed to be beating a giant drum inside my skull. The headache was killing me. I rarely get headaches, but that was one rare day. Just my luck!

For the next half an hour, weird things were running through my brain.

"Damn! Did I have to come down with a cold today, of all days!" With my running nose and a heavy, choked voice, my desire to kiss her again after forty-five days got crushed. I had been waiting for such a long time and the next day I was to fly back to Gwangju. Moreover, I was not sure when I would see her next.

"What if I still kiss her?" I was still talking to myself. That one wish was debating with the germs of cold in me. But then, in the evening, I had to be at her place. What if her family noticed her sneezing and coughing, just like me? Would they figure out how I transferred my virus to their daughter? (Yes, I know, at times I think too much.)

But she reached the hotel and gave me a missed call, interrupting my weird thoughts. I rushed out of my room to receive her. And, at last, after these long one and a half months of being apart, we were standing in front of each other.

She was wearing a nice white top, blue denim (a perfect fit), a light shade of glossy lipstick and small earrings. Her hair was untied, the breeze scattering it across her face.

My beautiful was in front of me—her sneezing handsome.

Her blushes and smiles revealed how delighted she was to see me. She smiled and her eyes revealed her satisfaction of being with me again. And within me I was all happy, excited and nervous.

"Hi," I said, giving her a small (or maybe the smallest) hug. I did that with the fear of others noticing, though there was no one outside. There was a little hesitation in the initial moments. It happens, you know... And with that "Hi," she realized my condition immediately.

"You have caught a cold?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Nah... It's just a little thing," I answered as if I was fine.

"But..." And she kept looking at me, trying to help me. "You want to take some medicine?"

"No... no. It's okay, dear. I will be alright... Just because of the climate change. But I will be fine soon. Now shall we move in or are we...?"

"Are we going to stand here for the rest of the day?" I said.

The worry on her face turned into a little smile. (A fake one—she was still worried.)