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Chapter 8: A Home for Minnie and Minsu – May 2 – June 6, 2020

They drove in silence back to Hobi’s apartment, Minsu burying her face in her little dog’s fur as she cradled her against her chest.  But it was a comfortable silence.  And completely different from the silence she’d endured with Naru last night.  Hobi was her friend.  She knew she was unconditionally accepted in his presence.  She could just relax and be herself.  Without fear of rejection.

Hobi couldn’t bear knowing that he was going to be separating this girl from her dog.  He had been watching her love on the fluffy creature for the last hour.  Would it break her heart when she had to leave tonight to go home?  Even a home that was just across the street?

When they’d finally stepped into his apartment, Minsu explained the situation to her dog.

“Minnie, this is your new home.  What do you think, baby?”

Just then, Mickey came running out barking.  When he saw the other dog, he stopped and sniffed.  Minsu got down on her knees.  

“Mickey, this is Minnie.  She’s going to be your friend now.  Would you please be kind to her?”

The two dogs trembled and sniffed.  

Hobi addressed his dog, “Mickey, be nice.  She’s a girl.  Be a gentleman.”

Minsu snickered.

Hobi took exception.  “What?”

“You are so cute, Hobi.”

Flustered, he grabbed his shirt and asked, “Who?  Me?”

She nodded, watching as the dogs circled each other, sniffing.  Finally, they both calmed down.  Mickey sat down next to Minnie.  Then, she followed suit.

“Look, Minnie.  You just made your first friend.  You’re going to stay here tonight.  Okay, baby?”  

She was getting teary.  Hobi could hear it in her voice.

“Hey, you can visit any time you want.”

She smiled at him through her tears.  “Thank you, Hobi.”

Those tears were trembling on her lashes now.  She blinked, and they slid down her cheeks.  Hobi couldn’t take it.  He came to sit down on the floor next to her.  But facing her.  He reached out with his gentle fingertips and plucked those tears, one by one, from her cheek.

She glanced at him.  “How silly am I?  Minnie is safe.  And happy.  And with you.  Just across the street from me now.  Instead of an hour away.  I should be shouting for joy instead of weeping.”

“Do you wanna stay the night?” Hobi asked.

All the air was instantly sucked from her lungs.  She just gaped at him.  “What?”

“To be near Minnie.  You can have my room.  I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Minsu stared at him.  “Hobi,” her voice broke on his name.  “Why are you so wonderful to me?”

She wasn’t stuttering.  She never stuttered around him.  Suddenly, that knowledge made him feel so good.  Minsu trusted him.  She felt safe with him.  

He grinned from ear to ear.  

“Because you are so wonderful,” he breathed.

Something stirred between them, and she found herself caught in his gaze.

“I’m not, you know?  I’m nothing, really.  No one important.”

“Minsu!”  His voice cracked, and both of the dogs lifted their heads.  “Don’t say such things!  You are not nothing.  Where did you get such a ridiculous idea?”  He sat up and leaned towards her.  “Your appa.”

Tears were sliding down her cheeks again.

“He’s wrong, Minsu.  There is nothing wrong with you.  You are perfect.  Flawless.  Amazing.”  

His eyes were tracing her face.  His countenance had softened.  It was almost liquid now as he gazed at her with such admiration in his eyes.  He scooted closer to her.  He couldn’t resist.  He lifted his hand again and cupped her cheek before sliding his thumb across her skin.  She shivered under that tender touch.   He bent his head near hers.  Until their foreheads kissed.  

“Minsu.  You.  Are.  Precious.”

The gentle wind of his breath passed over her skin.  She closed her eyes.  And tears began to flow down her face.  She had never known such sweet words before.  No one spoke such things to her.  She knew she didn’t deserve them.  

She completely believed the things she’d received from her appa.  She’d been told her whole life what a failure she was.  How she would amount to nothing.  And she had.  The only good thing she’d ever done was to attract Naru.  Somehow.  

And she’d befriended this sweet boy here.

He scooted closer still.  Then he bent and kissed her cheek.  His lips lingered on her skin.  He inhaled that tantalizing fragrance again.  It seemed to be clinging to her skin today as well as to her hair.

“Please.  Stay.  Enjoy your little Minnie.  I’ll make us dinner.  We can watch a drama.”

She nodded.  “All right.  I’ll stay.”  Her eyes met his.  “Thank you, Hobi.”

––

The four of them ended up falling asleep on the couch.  Hobi was sitting next to Minsu.  Mickey was sitting on his lap, and Minnie was nestled in hers.  They binge-watched romantic dramas until they couldn’t keep their eyes open anymore.

This became a pattern for them several times a week.  After three weeks of this, Hobi commented one day, “Minsu, you do realize I have a spare bedroom that’s going to waste.  Why don’t you just move in with me?”

She gasped and stared up into his eyes.  “Hobi, I have a boyfriend.”

She and Naru had continued to see each other a couple times a week.  They always went to dinner.  Sometimes for a walk or to a movie.  Always, she endured a make-out session in front of her apartment door.  She hadn’t invited him in yet.

“I know. I just mean, move in with me so you can be with Minnie.  You’ll have your own room, and I’ll have mine.  How much time do you have left on your lease?”

“It’s renewed monthly now, so I could move out whenever I feel like it.  I have a week left on this month’s rent.”

“Think about it.  Will you?  I mean, I know you love falling asleep on a couch with me, but…doesn’t your bed ever tempt you?”

She giggled.  And slapped him on the arm.

—

They had fallen into another pattern.  At the end of each of her dates with Naru, which usually occurred on Friday and Saturday nights, she would walk over to Hobi’s apartment after she and Naru had finished kissing.  On those nights, she and Hobi would stay up late talking about her date.

“How’d it go tonight?” he asked her about four weeks after she’d started dating Naru.  “What did Naru say when you told him you were moving in with me?”

She frowned.  “It was the weirdest thing.  I expected him to be mad.  At least a little upset to find out his girlfriend was moving in with another guy.  But he wasn’t upset at all.”

He had, in fact, had an odd gleam invade his eye.

“Wow.  He’s an understanding boyfriend.”

Yeah, but why did that make her feel so insecure?

After she’d told him, Naru had pulled her closer and ravished her mouth.  She still didn’t really care for it, but she endured his touch because she liked being with him.  He was so gorgeous.  And he was sweet to her.  Taking her out for nice dinners.  For walks in the park.  To the movies.  She’d never had a guy treat her this nice.  If the price was a few sloppy kisses, what did it matter?  She could afford them.

But a question niggled at the back of her mind.

Why didn’t she enjoy his kisses more?

—

The next day, she and Hobi moved all her stuff over to his apartment.  A couple of his friends came and helped with the heavy stuff.  She was glad that she was light on belongings.  All of her things fit in his spare bedroom.  Except for her kitchen stuff.  

Hers had been a studio apartment, so she’d had no living room furniture.  Really, she’d been outfitted with the sparest of belongings.  When her friend had moved out, Minsu had given her most of the furniture, figuring she and her son would need it more than a single gal.  And Minsu was a bit of a neat freak.  The fewer belongings she had, the easier it was to keep the apartment clean.

—

A week later, Naru walked her to her new door.

“Can I come in?” he whispered as he embraced her suddenly.

“Hobi’s home.”

“So?  Let’s go to your room.”

His suggestion made her quite uncomfortable.  She paused.

“You don’t want to show me your new living space?  What kind of relationship do we have if you can’t invite me to your room?  I thought I was your boyfriend.”  He pulled away from her then.

“Y-you are m-my b-boyfriend, N-Naru!” she cried out, reaching her hand out to him.  

“Never mind,” he responded and walked towards the elevator.  Without looking back.

Minsu stood on the doorstep as a tear slid down her cheek.  She opened the door and quietly entered the apartment.

“Hi,” Hobi greeted her as he entered the living room.  Carrying a big bowl of popcorn in his hands.  “How was your date?”

She burst into tears.  “I think we just broke up.”

“What?” He set the bowl down and crossed the room to her.  “Come here,” he whispered, reaching for her. 

He slid his arms around her and pulled her gently up against his chest.  “What happened?”

She pillowed her head over his heart.  “I don’t know.  He wanted to come in and see my room.  I hesitated.  He asked me if he was really my boyfriend.  Then he walked away.”

Hobi could feel ire rising in his heart.  “I’m sorry he hurt you, Minsu.”

“I – I don’t understand what I did wrong.”  More tears leaked out from under her eyelids, and she sobbed as she leaned into Hobi.  Pretty soon she was clinging to him and crying so hard her nose was running.  He reached down and grabbed some Kleenex out of a box on the table next to the couch.  

“Here,” he offered her the tissues while speaking in a gentle voice.  “Blow your nose.”

She did, and then she snuggled into his chest again.  “Hobi.  Would you just hold me tonight?  I don’t want to be alone.”

She was feeling worthless again.

Hobi swallowed.  “You mean, you want me to sleep in your bed with you?”

She nodded.  “Is that weird?”

“Weird?”  

Hobi’s heart was racing.  She had no idea what she was asking.  But how could he deny her anything?

“No.  It’s fine.  Do you want to go to bed now?”

She nodded.  “I’ll go get ready.  You can come in my room whenever you’re ready for bed.”

She pulled away from him and headed for the bathroom, but then she turned back.  “Thank you, Hobi, for being here for me.  I really appreciate it.”

“Of course, Minsu.  I’ll always be here for you.”

A few minutes later, she slid between the sheets and lay her head on her pillow.  Minnie used the stool at the end of her bed to jump up in bed with her.  A couple minutes later, Hobi was hovering in her doorway.  

“Minsu?”

“Hmm?  Come in, Hobi.”

He walked to the opposite side of her bed and sat down.  He felt extremely awkward being in her bedroom.  Sitting on her bed.  Where she slept.  Where his mind wanted to imagine other things.  He cleared his throat to dispel those thoughts. 

They were just friends.  And she was looking for comfort tonight.  Not passion.  She wanted Naru.  Not him.  He gritted his teeth.  

He did not like that guy.  He had never liked that guy.  The more time elapsed, the less he liked him.  What kind of a guy was okay with his girlfriend moving in with another guy?  That seemed to be a big, fat red flag.  And then tonight, he had tried to pressure her into allowing him into her room.  And when she’d resisted, he’d emotionally manipulated her before abandoning her.  

Honestly, Hobi was fuming.  Naru was a jerk.  But Hobi couldn’t tell Minsu that.  He’d just look like a jealous bystander.

So, instead, he steeled himself to hold her in his arms all night long while resisting the urge to kiss her himself.  He cleared his throat again.

“Hobi?  You feeling all right?”

“Yeah.  Just a little tickle.”  Boy, was that an understatement!

He lay down next to her and leaned his head back against the pillow.  She rolled towards him.

“Thank you, Hobi, for not leaving me alone tonight.  This really hurts.  So much.”

She snuggled up against him as his arm came down around her.  She pillowed her head over his heart and closed her eyes.  Hobi’s warmth invaded her.  She tried to concentrate simply on him.  And not to think of Naru.  

Then, she realized she could hear the steady beat of Hobi’s heart.  So she focused all of her attention on it.  She fell asleep to that faithful cadence.  However, she didn’t know it was the rhythm of his love for her.