Chapter 77

77 The Hangover

The morning sun streamed into the room sieving through the curtains. Nivritti groaned and covered her head with her blanket. She shifted a little and her legs touched something warm. She threw her blanket and sat up in her bed.

She sighed with relief after seeing that the warm person lying next to her was Jae-Hwa. For a minute she was scared about who was sleeping in her bed with her as she was not accustomed to finding someone in her bed. She grabbed her chest and exhaled for a few minutes.

But her eyes fell on the sweet face of Jae-Hwa and her heart relaxed. It slowly started beating normally. She remembered Apeksha and a sweet smile appeared on her face. Jae-Hwa treated her like family. Even her family did so much for her.

Who in the right mind would wake up for a complete stranger and cook unlimited food for someone? And they did exactly that. Her brother even brought an eye drop for her. Who thinks about someone else like Jae-Hwa’s family did?

She touched Jae-Hwa’s head tenderly and covered her neatly with the blanket. Jae-Hwa was still snoring faintly. Leaving her lying on the bed, she moved to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and went to the toilet.

Jae-Hwa was still sleeping when she came out, but she threw her blanket away from her and was lying spread-eagled on the bed. A burst of laughter escaped Nivritti’s mouth. She tied her already braided hair in a bun, fished out the eyedrop from her first-aid box, and walked out of the room.

As per Jae-Geun’s instructions, she put the eyedrops, with difficulty mind you, in her eyes and sat for a minute on the couch. Now the burning sensation in her eyes was gone. After proper rest, even her swelling was gone. She was ready to begin a new day.

She opened her fridge and stood before it, staring at the jam-packed levels. She had no idea what to do with so much food. With a loud sigh, she took bread and milk out of the fridge and prepared toast and tea.

She was on her couch enjoying her tea when Jae-Hwa walked into the living room, groaning and moaning. Her hair was dishevelled as if she was in a hurricane a moment ago and was covering her face. She was walking like a zombie from a movie. Even her groans resembled a zombie’s.

.....

She tried lifting her head up and looking at Nivritti with her heavy eyes and head, but she immediately covered her face with her red hair and started walking like a zombie.

“Oh, my head!” moaned Jae-Hwa. Nivritti could only laugh at her cuteness.

“Do you want another bottle of soju?” teased Nivritti.

“Shut up!” groaned Jae-Hwa after hearing her loud laugh and tease. But Nivritti ended up laughing harder. She stood up and went near Jae-Hwa. She sweetly moved her hair from her face and looked at her swollen, red face.

“Come here, I will get you a cup of coffee,” said Nivritti.

“Oh, I feel like I am going to be sick,” grumbled Jae-Hwa, rubbing her temple.

“You need water and some food. Sit,” ordered Nivritti and pushed Jae-Hwa onto the couch.

She went into the kitchen and brought some toast and coffee for her. Another glass was sitting on the tray with somewhat clear water.

“Drink this first,” ordered Nivritti handing her the glass of water.

“What is it?” asked Jae-Hwa.

“Lemon and ginger water for your hangover. Drink it up,” commanded Nivritti.

“But...”

“No but just drink it,” ordered Nivritti.

Making a disgusted face, Jae-Hwa drank the whole concoction in one gulp.

“Now have some toast and rest for a bit. Then take a bath, you will feel better,” suggested Nivritti.

Obeying her orders, Jae-Hwa ate a piece of toast and drank the coffee. Nivritti made her lie down for about an hour and then woke her up to take a bath.

“How are you feeling now?” asked Nivritti.

“Little better. Thank you for letting me stay here last night. My parents would have killed me after learning that I lied to them,” replied Jae-Hwa.

“I know,” mocked Nivritti.

“You know!” asked Jae-Hwa, shocked.

“Yeah, your brother told me everything. Why did you lie to them about soju?” scolded Nivritti.

“They don’t let me drink,” sulked Jae-Hwa.

“Now you know why,” rebuked Nivritti.

“Yes, sorry,” apologised Jae-Hwa.

“Here, drink this glass of water and then go take a bath,” ordered Nivritti and shoved a glass of water in her face.

“I don’t have anything to wear,” pouted Jae-Hwa while taking the glass of water from Nivritti’s hands.

“You can wear mine, anything you want,” suggested Nivritti.

“No, I will call Oppa to bring me some cloth. Oh, wait! Was he angry?” asked Jae-Hwa suddenly realising that she was supposed to go home last night.

“He was angrier at the fact that you neither called him nor picked up his call,” educated Nivritti.

“He called?” asked Jae-Hwa, shocked.

“Yeah, but your phone was on silent,” replied Nivritti.

“Oh. Okay, I will give him a call, he will be here in 30 minutes, meantime I can take a bath and vomit a little,” pouted Jae-Hwa.

Nivritti ruffled her hair with adoration and went to the living room. She came back with Jae-Hwa’s phone in her hand.

“Thank you,” said Jae-Hwa and dialled her brother’s number. “Oppa! Sorry,” she said in Korean. “I am fine.” She waited for her brother’s answer and then pouted, “I said I am sorry. Please, Oppa.” Nivritti could hear some screaming from the other side but the words were not clearly audible. “Could you get me some clothes to wear?” pleaded Jae-Hwa. Suddenly her pleading tone changed into a shout. “Yaa! I know it’s your off day, don’t lie, just come. Ritti has a fridge full of food that we need to finish, you can help today. Oppa! Please. I love you,” she again changed her tone into a sweet one. Finally, she smiled which meant that her brother was coming.

“Okay, I will get everything out of the fridge,” said Nivritti and moved to her closet. She reached out for the top shelf and started searching for something. “Um... yeah here it is, a spare brush for you, go brush your teeth and take a bath. Make sure to let the warm water fall on your head, that will ease the headache,” suggested Nivritti.

Jae-Hwa jumped from the bed and threw herself in Nivritti’s arms. Nivritti was taken aback by her sudden embrace.

“Jae! Are you alright?” asked Nivritti, sweetly.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” replied Jae-Hwa with gratitude.

“Shut up! I did nothing,” softly Nivritti caressed her hair.

“Okay, you did nothing. Thank you for doing nothing,” Jae-Hwa answered.

With a smile on her face, Nivritti replied, “well then, you are welcome.”

Jae-Hwa broke the embrace and looked at Nivritti, smiling. “I will go to the bathroom. Inform me as soon as he arrives,” requested Jae-Hwa.

“Okay,” replied Nivritti. Jae-Hwa started moving to the bathroom when Nivritti called after her. “Jae!”

Jae-Hwa turned around. “What?”

“Brush,” Nivritti raised her eyebrow at Jae-Hwa.

“Right!” Nivritti threw the brush at her. It looked as if Jae-Hwa would catch it easily but the brush dropped to the floor. Jae-Hwa sheepishly smiled at Nivritti and picked up the brush. Nivritti shook her head in disbelief.

She scoffed and moved to the kitchen. She took out a few containers of the food and left them on the slab to bring down their temperature or rather raise their temperature. She would only need to throw them in the microwave when they would be ready to eat.

While waiting for the sister to get out of the bathroom and the brother to reach her house, she switched on the TV and scrolled around the channels for looking for something to watch.

It was around 30 minutes but neither sister came out of the bathroom, nor the brother came to her house. She was getting worried about Jae-Hwa. She went near the bathroom door and asked, “Jae! Are you alright? Did you vomit?”

“No, but my bowel movements took too much time,” replied Jae-Hwa.

“Ew! I didn’t need to know that,” groaned Nivritti. And finally, Jae-Hwa laughed through the bathroom door. Nivritti shook her head at her naughtiness. It meant that her hangover was getting better.

“So, you feeling better?” asked Nivritti.

“Much better. Did he arrive?” asked Jae-Hwa.

“Not till...” before she could finish her sentence, her doorbell rang. “I think he is here,” she said.

Nivritti ran to open the door. Without looking through the peephole, she opened the door and Jae-Geun stood before her smiling.

“Good morning!” greeted Jae-Geun.

“Good morning!” replied Nivritti. And the topic between them finished. They had no idea how to continue the conversation. They both looked at each other awkwardly, smiling faintly.

Suddenly he remembered that he was carrying a bag in his hand. “Here, I brought her clothes as instructed.”

“Thank you, please come in. I will give her this,” replied Nivritti. She took the bag from him and went to the bathroom.

“Jae! Your brother is here. He brought you a bag,” shouted Nivritti.

Jae-Hwa opened the door and extended her arm and tilted her head out of the door. “Thank you.”

Nivritti came back to the living room. Jae-Geun was already sitting on the couch.

“Would you like some tea or coffee?” asked Nivritti.

“Oh, no, I am fine,” replied Jae-Geun.

Nivritti smiled awkwardly at him and sat on the couch in front of him.