3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Young Jae
S tartled awake by a loud sound, I hear Elise whisper yell, “Ouch. Shit that hurt.”
Her footsteps fade as she goes downstairs and I glance at my phone to check the time.
4:45 a.m.! My eyes practically bug out of my head. It never dawned on me how early Elise wakes to get to Perk Up and have everything ready for her 7:00 a.m. open time.
Groaning, I roll out of bed and pull on some shorts and a T-shirt. May as well make her breakfast and start my day too. I wash up in the bathroom before padding down the stairs. Elise is standing by the back door, waiting for Kimchi to be done doing her business.
She doesn’t notice me, looking rested as she smiles at whatever antics Kimchi is getting into. Elise was beautiful as a teenager when we met, but she is stunning as a woman. Her quiet confidence is alluring.
Running my hand through my hair, I give my head a shake. I shouldn’t be noticing how attractive or appealing she is. I locked those feelings up years ago.
“Morning.” My voice is rough with sleep.
Elise jumps, turning with her hand pressed into her chest. “You scared the crap out of me. I wasn’t expecting to see you this early.”
“Not used to the extra sounds in the house,” I rumble, my voice groggy from sleep. Heading into the kitchen, I scrub my hands down my face. Coffee. I need coffee. Turning on the coffee pot, I’m grateful I had the foresight to prep it last night. It doesn’t take long for me to throw together breakfast for us. Using some leftover bulgogi, I make a Korean-style breakfast bowl.
Elise lets Kimchi in before pouring coffee and setting the table. Despite the early hour, I admit having her here in the morning is nice. Glancing at her, I appreciate that she’s wearing jeans and a flowery top instead of her typical evening attire. I’ve always found her attractive, but seeing her dressed down is inexplicably hot. It’s opened my eyes to seeing her in a way I’ve never had the chance to before. A way that I don’t need to be looking at my best friend.
“I’m sorry I woke you. I bashed my funny bone on the hall table. It jumped out at me, I swear.” She chuckles softly. “Thank you for breakfast.”
Mumbling a “no problem,” I devour my food still half asleep. Sipping at my coffee while I wait for her to finish, I ponder how I’m going to pass several extra hours of awake time.
As I move to clean up, she holds out her hand to stop me. “You cooked, I clean. It’s only fair. You saved me time making breakfast, and I would’ve cleaned up after myself anyway.”
It’s useless to argue with Elise, so I move into the living room and call Kimchi to my lap. I never had any pets as a child. My parents were so busy in Korea working that they didn’t want the responsibility. And that continued when we moved here. They didn’t see the value in an animal when there was so much work to do and school to focus on.
As Kimchi curls on my lap, sighing contentedly as I pet her, I can’t believe I waited fifteen years since becoming an adult to get a dog.
Elise finishes in the kitchen, coming out to stand by the hall. “I’m off. I should be home by eight-thirty if cleanup and prep goes well.”
“I’ll have something ready for dinner,” I reply. “And don’t forget to put up that ad. You’re still planning on hiring someone, right?”
She smiles at me. “Yes. I’m still going to post for someone. It’s time.”
“Good.”
Taking out my phone as she leaves, I scroll a bit but lose interest. I don’t have to work for close to four hours, my normal wake-up time usually seven or eight, my work day not until nine.
Glancing around my living room and at all my stuff, I think about the boxes Elise has stored in my garage. She really didn’t have too much to pack, which enraged me in a way I wasn’t expecting. She lived in Jake’s house for years, how does she have so little?
“Kimchi, what do you say we make space for Elise’s stuff?” Scratching her head, I gently move her to the couch and stand. She looks at me and turns in a circle a few times before laying down with a huff. Shaking my head, I give her one more scratch. “You rest, I will get the boxes.”
It doesn’t take me long to bring in the boxes that belong in the main part of the house. I know Elise is planning to look for an apartment, but vacancies are always hard to come by in town, and I want her to know she’s welcome to stay for as long as she needs.
Opening the boxes with her books, they definitely take up the most space. Pondering my shelves, I’m grateful for the built-ins I added on either side of my fireplace. I think if I move some of my stuff, I can fit all of her books.
I work quickly trying to remember how she organized her books, but as I step back and examine my handiwork, it just doesn’t look right. Sighing, I grab my cell from the coffee table and call Ari.
“Why are you awake this early?” Her tone is a mixture of worry and suspicion.
“Cliffs notes: Elise moved in after she and Jake broke up and she wakes up at the ass crack of dawn.” I adjust some of the books and still don’t think it looks nice like how she had them. “Anyway, I’m not used to the noise of someone in my house; therefore, I also woke up abhorrently early.”
“Wait, wait, wait. The woman you’ve secretly been in love with for seventeen years is living with you?” She sounds much perkier.
“I’m not in love—”
She cuts me off. “Whatever. Why are you calling this early?”
I massage the bridge of my noise. This was a mistake. Maybe I should just hang up.
“Young Jae!” Her voice is so shrill even Kimchi lifts her head in disgust.
Sighing, I mutter, “I was trying to unpack her books to surprise her, and they don’t look nice like she had them…”
“Say no more.” Ari hangs up.
With a groan, I head to the kitchen to make fresh coffee. I have plenty of time until I need to start my day, I should’ve just kept working at it. The early hour has clearly messed with my brain to make me ask Ari for her help. I love my sister, but she can be so meddlesome.
Our older brother lives a couple hours away, so I bear the brunt of her younger sister quirks.
Kimchi barks as my door swings open, banging into the doorstop.
“Annyeong, Oppa,” she singsongs as she breezes into the house. She freezes when Kimchi rushes up and jumps on her before squealing and dropping to the floor. “I see there’s more than one secret you’ve been keeping.”
“No secrets, I just got her on Sunday. It’s now Tuesday, calm down,” I tease.
Ari rolls her eyes, rubbing Kimchi’s belly as she looks at the bookshelves with Elise’s books added. “Yikes. It’s a good thing you called me.”
She reluctantly gets up and pulls the books I’ve just added off the shelves. “Does she have any knickknacks?”
“Yeah, in the garage.” I go grab the boxes with knickknacks—there’s only two—and bring them in. “The rest of the stuff is her clothes and a few other items she had stored in her bedroom.”
My sister scans the boxes and the stacks of books. “I’m glad she dumped his ass. Although, I’ve already heard rumblings through town that he’s trying to win her back.”
Scoffing, I growl, “Why wouldn’t he? He took advantage of her and now he has to do everything himself.”
“I mean, yes. But I do think he loves her, just not in the way she needs.” She turns, her brown eyes somber. “She deserves someone who will cherish her… someone who will call their nosey sister to ask for help setting up a bookshelf.”
I groan. “Don’t start. We’re just friends.”
“Fine. Tell yourself whatever lies you need to.” She returns to work, opening the boxes of little trinkets and ornaments that Elise had and adding them alongside books. “Ji Hoon called Mom last night. He’s coming back to town for good. Eomma is over the moon.”
Shock fills me. I’m close with Ji Hoon, we talk every day, and he never mentioned it to me. “Are you sure for good?”
She nods. “Yep. Bought the old auto shop. Said his friend and him are going to fix it up and open a garage. Will be nice not having to drive to Thistle Creek to get my car worked on.”
“I wonder why he didn’t tell me.” Frowning, I move to help Ari by pulling the rest of Elise’s things out of the boxes and clearing the cardboard out of the way. “Want some coffee? I made a fresh pot.”
She nods, so I head to the kitchen, topping up my mug and making her a cup.
“Probably because he knew you would offer to design something or rush over there to help him move and he doesn’t want to burden you.” She turns, taking the cup with a firm look. “You always try to help everyone except yourself.”
“That’s not true.” My tone is weak because I know she’s not completely wrong. “I do things for myself, but there’s nothing wrong with helping people.”
Ari drops down to the floor, drinking her coffee. Her face is pensive. “No, there isn’t. But I know you need more in your life. I hear how you talk about Owen and Cam and what they have. And I see how you look at Elise.” She lifts her hand when I open my mouth to argue. “Whatever, you can deny it, but that woman has been the center of your world since high school. And if you think that Jake’s ineptness as a boyfriend is the only reason that relationship didn’t work out, then you’re dumb.”
Blindsided, I don’t respond. I did have a crush on Elise when I first moved here. She helped me study English nearly every day. From there we became best friends and when I no longer needed her to study with, I was planning on asking her out and then Matthew “with two Ts” asked her out and she said yes.
It gutted me. There has been the odd occasion I’ve thought about crossing that boundary, but when she started dating Jake, I decided to move past my crush and cherish our friendship. Something I plan on sticking to.
“Done.” Ari’s voice startles me. “I think she’s going to love it.”
She stands back, admiring her handiwork and I have to admit, it looks amazing. “Wait, did you redo my books too?”
“Yeah, they’ve been bugging me for years.” She smiles slyly. “Now should I check to see if you’re keeping it a secret that you’re together?”
I don’t move as she bolts up the stairs, only to come down moments later looking disappointed.
Laughing, I shake my head. “Why don’t you worry about your own damn love life instead of prying into my non-existent one?”
She crinkles her nose in disgust. “No one in town is interesting enough for me. And I don’t plan on moving. So unless I take Eomma’s offer to set me up with one of her friends’ sons and they fly him out here, I will live vicariously through you.”
She plops down on the couch, her lips drooping a little as we drink coffee in silence. It’s unusual for Ari to allow silence to fill the air. Usually she’s talking about anything and everything.
“You okay?”
Ari sighs, her lips pressing together as she meets my gaze. “I tried to talk to Eomma and Appa about retiring. Appa didn’t say much, but Eomma and I argued. It sucks. They should retire, they’ve been working for so long. And I’m ready to run the inn on my own. Try some new things. But I can’t keep arguing with Eomma about it.”
I can’t imagine being in her shoes. I know how stubborn our parents can be, especially our mother. Working with them has had its ups and downs, but mostly it’s gone well, but Eomma always wants to take the lead on things and it’s time for her to let Ari take the reins.
“Do you want me to talk to her?” The offer is genuine, but part of me hopes she will say no.
Ari’s spine straightens, her eyes lighting up. “You would do that?”
Taking a deep breath, I nod. “Yes. Maybe an outside perspective will help.”
She’s bouncing on the spot now, her bright smile back. “You are the best big brother. Well, tied for best because Ji Hoon said he’d fix my car for free once the shop is running.”
Lips twitching, I shake my head and roll my eyes.
She starts talking about me and Elise, her focus returning from her life to mine, when my alarm rings, alerting me to the time. With a hint of relief, I say, “I gotta get ready for work. Thanks for your help.”
“Anytime, Oppa.”