71 The Awkwardness
Everyone except Mrs San was feeling awkward and embarrassed. It was clear that she dragged everyone to Nivritti’s house to thank her for everything she did for her daughter.
“Uhmma, Ahppa, leave. Your friends must be waiting for you. Also, this is so embarrassing,” pouted Jae-Hwa.
“No, no, have something first,” screamed Nivritti from the kitchen. She turned to look in the living room and found that Jae-Hwa was pulling them up from the couch.
“They are leaving,” emphasised Jae-Hwa.
“No guests who come to my house leave without eating or drinking. I have never even offered them a glass of water. They are staying. Please stay!” protested Nivritti.
Jae-Hwa’s parents looked at her for permission.
“Fine! Give them water,” sulked Jae-Hwa and sat on the couch rolling her eyes.
“What happened to you? Yesterday you were a puddle of tears and today you are acting all feisty and bossy,” teased Nivritti.
“Hey!” pouted Jae-Hwa which made her family laugh at her.
.....
“She is pretty and funny. And look how cute she is looking next to Jae-Geun. They will make a good pair, she can become my daughter-in-law,” commented Mrs San in Korean.
“Uhmma!” both Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun shouted at once. Nivritti froze for a second and thanked God that no one knew that she was fluent in Korean, otherwise this interaction would have been awkward. More awkward than this situation already was.
She turned to get something for the San family to eat but her path was blocked by Jae-Geun. He stood directly behind her and when she turned, she narrowly escaped bumping into him. She instantly took a step behind.
“Oh, sorry!” he exclaimed and moved out of her way. She looked at him, smiled and moved away. He too moved away to the living room and sat next to his sister. He shot a look at his mother, angrily but his mother was in no mood to listen to anyone.
Nivritti took out plates and glasses and filled them up with food. She was still in shock by what Mrs San said. What was she thinking? How can she say something like that? Maybe all mothers are the same. They just want their kids to get married. Thank God her mother was not pestering her about the same as everyone in her family underwent therapy.
She made a mental point to call her previous therapist and thank him. Shaking her head in disbelief, she brought cookies and chips and cold drinks for everyone. She placed the plates on the table and stood next to Jae-Hwa.
“Sorry, I don’t have any Korean snacks,” she apologised.
“So considerate! Jaegeuna! Do you like her?” Mrs San asked her son.
“Uhmma!” snapped Jae-Geun and glanced at Nivritti. She was visibly uncomfortable. She too glanced at him but averted her eyes immediately.
“What? No girl is perfect for you. You will die a bachelor,” sulked his mother. Jae-Geun rolled his eyes hard at her mother.
Nivritti was trying very hard not to react to Mrs San’s words. She kept pondering whether she should tell everyone that she could speak and understand Korean.
“Please ignore my mother. She has no filter,” apologised Jae-Geun.
“Oh, don’t worry Oppa, she does not know Korean,” informed Jae-Hwa.
“Really? I could swear... maybe I am wrong,” said Jae-Geun. He has this feeling that Nivritti understood every word coming out of his mother’s mouth.
Finally, Nivritti thought of revealing her secret. “Jae, I...”
But before she could complete her sentence, Mrs San interrupted, “you married?”
“What?” Nivritti was surprised. “No.”
“Boyfriend?” asked Mrs San.
“No!” answered Nivritti.
“Great! She is talking in English,” Jae-Hwa hit her forehead hard with her palm.
“You like him. He is a doctor,” smiled Mrs San after talking about his son.
“Huh!” Nivritti’s eyes widened and she froze. Her jaw dropped to the floor, and she kept staring at Mrs San.
“Uhmma!” shouted Jae-Geun. He immediately started bowing down to Nivritti. “I am very sorry, I am extremely sorry for her behaviour.” But Nivritti had no idea how to react.
“I am so sorry,” screamed Mr San. He then placed his arm around his wife’s shoulder and calmed her down, “yeobo, stop!”
“Fine. No talk. I don’t talk. I eat and shut up,” sulked Mrs San.
“Thank God!” exclaimed Jae-Hwa.
After that, no one talked. All sat in silence eating cookies and chips. The awkwardness grew tenfold. The whole San family had no idea how to talk to Nivritti and Nivritti was still juggling with the dilemma of telling everyone that she was fluent in Korean.
Finally, Mr San spoke, “we should leave. Our friends have held a get-together. They must be waiting for us.”
“Ask her if she likes Jaegeuna. I don’t want to die before seeing my grandchild,” pleaded Mrs San. Nivritti who was slowly sipping her coke suddenly choked violently on it. Coke came out of her nose and mouth. The whole table was covered with brown, sugary water.
Jae-Geun immediately stood up and started patting her back. Jae-Hwa ran to the kitchen to bring a kitchen towel for Nivritti. After continuously coughing for a few seconds, Nivritti dispelled all the liquid from her windpipe. Jae-Hwa wiped her mouth and handed her the paper towel to clean her nose.
Nivritti’s head was already on fire after crying for the whole night, on top of that she slept late and woke up late, which also made her head heavy and now the coke burned her throat and gave her another headache.
“Are you alright?” asked Jae-Geun with concern. Unconsciously, his hand was still on her back.
“I am fine,” Nivritti said and jerked his hand away from her back.
“Sorry!” he removed his hand, but Abruptly Nivritti cried with pain. Jae-Geun’s pearl ring got entangled with her hair and the moment he removed his hand, he pulled her hair along with it. “Sorry, sorry!” he cried and placed his hand back on her back.
“Oppa!” scolded Jae-Hwa and came for their help. She disentangled Nivritti’s hair from her brother’s ring.
“I am very sorry. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Jae-Geun’s face was screaming with guilt.
“It’s okay. I am fine,” replied Nivritti with a smile but her eyes had a hint of tears in them. Whether it was because of choking or because of the pain, it was unclear.
“Every one of you, leave, now,” shouted Jae-Hwa.
“Are you alright?” asked Mr San.
“I am okay, Mr San. Thank you for asking,” she replied politely.
“Ahjussi!” cried Jae-Hwa. “I asked you to call him ahjussi.”
“Right, sorry. I will keep that in mind,” apologised Niviritti.
“Okay, we will leave. Thank you for having us,” said Mr San.
“You are welcome, Ahjussi, Ajumma,” Nivritti again bowed down to them. Jae-Geun was highly impressed with her politeness.
But Mrs San was not yet done. She again approached Nivritti and gave her a tight hug. “Next time, you come to my house. I will cook food.”
“Of course. I will. You enjoy with your friends,” Nivritti wished them goodbye.
“Okay, okay, leave,” Jae-Hwa shouted and started pushing her parents out of the house. Nivritti followed her. They both said goodbye to the elders and shut the door.
Both the girls exhaled loudly and turned around. Jae-Hwa yelped and jumped in surprise. Her brother was standing before her.
“What the hell are you doing here? Why didn’t you leave?” she shouted.
“I am your driver, idiot. Do you want me to leave you here alone? How will you get home? Do you want to take public transport?” Jae-Geun chided her.
“I knew it would come back to bite me in the ass when I listened to ahppa about taking your car,” pouted Jae-Hwa. “Can you not roam around with friends? We were supposed to meet alone and every one of you barged into my plan.”
“Fine! I will leave. Call me when you are done. I will come to pick you up,” said Jae-Geun.
“Wait! This is too much food for us. Eat lunch and then go,” suggested Nivritti.
Jae-Geun smiled at her suggestion. “So, if the food would have been less, you would not have asked me to eat,” he teased.
“What? No! I didn’t mean that. I meant...” Nivritti was flustered.
Jae-Geun didn’t let her finish her thought and replied, “relax, I was teasing.”
“Since when you started teasing?” taunted Jae-Hwa.
“Since the moment you don’t know when to shut up,” mocked Jae-Geun, right away. “Thank you for your offer, but all that food is for you. And I think two containers are just Kimchi for your future use. I have a friend who lives nearby. I will go be with him, you two enjoy your time. I think she has some secret to share with you.”
“Oppa!” sulked Jae-Hwa.
“Sorry was not supposed to reveal it,” smirked Jae-Geun. Nivritti smiled at him and this time her smile reached her eyes. Her red slightly swollen eyes twinkled with happiness. Jae-Geun gasped. His heart raced fast.
“Now leave,” Jae-Hwa pushed his brother and signalled him to leave.
“Okay! Chill,” he said and moved towards the door. Due to her politeness, Nivritti too moved to the door to say goodbye.
“Yeah, show him the way, I will get the food out. I am hungry,” shouted Jae-Hwa and ran to the kitchen leaving Nivritti and Jae-Geun alone by the door.
“Really, thank you for all you did for that idiot,” he pointed at his sister.
“That was nothing. I did what any human being should have done,” replied Nivritti politely.
“Since the day you arrived, she has not shut up about you,” said Jae-Geun.
“What? Really!” asked Nivritti.
“Yeah, she came screaming that she made a new friend who is beautiful,” suddenly his voice tone changed. He started with his sister’s feelings but suddenly blurted out his own. The moment he realised he made a blunder he explained, “her words, not mine.”
Nivritti just nodded. “Well, I should go.” Then he spoke in Korean, “mannaseo bangabseubnida.”
Nivritti too politely replied, “Nice to meet you too” without realising that he spoke Korean.
Jae-Geun halted in his path and shouted, “I knew it. You understand Korean.”
“Shit!” Nivritti closed her eyes and covered her face with embarrassment.
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