Girl In The Winter's

Chapter 32

Ayumi walks down streets full of colorful murals, currently in Gamcheon Culture Village or Gamcheon art village, the village is all the roof and walls of his house in colorful paint with a variety of paintings and temples of various art objects. Befriend the earphones that always faithfully accompany him he continues to walk enjoying the scenery of the work of the creative hands of the artists.

He smiled when he saw the waves of teenage tourists who were partly wearing hijab were chattering and joking using Indonesian. However much he misses his homeland, he misses the sun that always shines scorching burning skin, he misses Jakarta's hot air, very much, he longed to drink young coconut ice on the side of the road with his friends, he missed the sound of the bowl being hit by the spoon of the meatball brother passing by his house every afternoon, he misses many things even he misses the mothers who always gossip at the vegetable stall.

Not only once twice he wanted to return to Indonesia, but he was not prepared for the welcome he would receive from his stepmother, his chest trembled again and felt claustrophobic when he recalled how his mother Rama treated him during his stay together.

Ayumi remembers when her father married Aunt Widi, not mom or mom but aunt Widi, a call that Ayumi had to use when talking to her father's wife, the woman will be very angry and even not hesitant to hit him just because Ayumi called him mamah for following Rama.

"I'm not your Mom!"

Ayumi was too young to understand her mother's screams at the time. But he remembers that on his 7th birthday, his father took him to a family dinner at a restaurant that had just opened in the Ancol area, but which was there when they returned home, her parents had a big fight. Ayumi and 4-year-old Rama hugged each other in the room for fear of hearing her mother scream.

Ayumi's kisses heard the woman yelling that Ayumi was not their child, which made her little heart seem to stop beating for a while. The next day the little girl ventured to ask her father and that's when she learned that Aunt Widi was not her mother. Since then Ayumi began to understand her position in the family, she never expected herself to get affection or whatever the same received Rama. But he was grateful to still get that affection from his father and also his sister.

"Excuse me."

Ayumi's daydream breaks down when a couple asks her to photograph them in front of a giant fish-shaped colorful ornament, which is not far from where she stands today.

Ayumi smiled again at the lovers who looked very friendly, in her heart she felt jealous to see them. He recalled how his relationship and Erik had now truly become like two strangers who did not know each other.

Yuri's kidney transplant surgery has been successfully implemented and is now still in the healing stage, that caused them to still meet often at the Hospital and however it still made Ayumi's heart tremble when she saw the sharp gaze and cold smile that belonged to the man.

Often Ayumi found the man on the roof of the Hospital in the afternoon, usually they would just be silent to each other without a word spoken, trying to enjoy the view of the sunset, and the, the distance they stood was only a few meters but it was as if there was an invisible wall looming between them. After the sun had completely sunk usually one of them would leave the place first without a farewell, leaving only one of them back in the silence of his dark befriending of the night.

Ayumi is now standing next to a statue of a child and a dog who was looking at the colorful roof of the house set in the vast sea and blue sky that afternoon. He inhaled a deep breath of cool air, already a few months he lived in Busan but only now he can enjoy his day off by taking a walk. He loved the beach so much that he was grateful to live in Busan where he could see the beach wherever his feet were stepped on.

His phone rang indicating a message was coming in, a smile came back when he read a message from Dr. Lee, yes lately their relationship is indeed closer. Ayumi begins to open up even though her heart can not accept the man completely, Kevin who often reminds her to no longer easily fall in love with anyone and it makes Ayumi more careful.

It was dusk when Ayumi got off the bus that drove her home from the art village of Gamcheon to Haeundae which is the center of Busan city, he was just about to re-attach his earphones when I sneezed heard the sound of people screaming in pain, he sharpened his hearing, his eyebrows wrinkled sign he was concentrating, he said, unwittingly his feet stepped into a narrow alley in a bridal clothing boutique and a 24-hour convenience store.

Either came the courage of the girl when she entered the dark alley where the voices of some men who were threatening someone were more clearly heard.

"Foolish base, what are you doing, Ayumi?" He muttered to himself, his chest skipping with fear, his common sense telling him to run away from there, but curiosity made him move closer.

His hand held the mobile phone tightly as if the tiny object could be his protector. His feet suddenly stopped stepping, his eyes widened when he saw three men taking out all the contents of a bag that seemed to belong to the man who was chuckling with some bruises on his face.

Ayumi shut her mouth trying to not make a sound, "Come on, think, Ayumi!" he said in his heart, in his anxiety, he saw his trembling hand holding a mobile phone, he turned around while scolding some phone numbers.

"Hello, the Police Station!" Shouted Ayumi while running away from the three men who were now looking at her in surprise.

"D-IT.- HELL!" Shouted Ayumi when she saw the three men now running towards her, she ran as fast as lightning and walked into a bridal boutique and hid behind a mannequin dressed in bridal clothing with a very wide bottom that could hide her tiny body.

Slowly he tried to peek out from behind the skirt and finally could breathe a sigh of relief when he saw the three men running past where he was hiding. After feeling safe he came out of his hiding place and returned to the place where the injured man was now trying to put his belongings back into the bag.

"Yes God! You okay?" Ayumi asked as she crouched down to see the man grimacing, "You need to be treated," she continued, helping the man stand up who immediately complained of pain while holding his stomach.

"You need to go to the hospital."

"No, I'm fine" the man replied and Ayumi could now see the man must be younger than her with sharp eyes and thin lips, her hair bright brown, a handsome young man.

"Wait here, I'll buy medicine" Ayumi said after sitting the man in the front seat of the supermarket, then she quickly went inside to buy medicine and mineral water.

Ayumi cleaned the wound on the man's lips and face, smeared it with ointment and covered it, she then examined the other wounds on the man's hands and stomach.

"What are you doing? Well yeah! Stop it, I'm fine!" The man exclaimed as Ayumi lifted her shirt to look at the wound on the abdomen.

"I'm just checking, like they kicked you in the stomach, you were in pain when you walked."

"Yeah! Well yeah! Stop it, everyone's staring at us!" The excitement returned after Ayumi was still busy trying to lift the shirt she was wearing.

Realizing her actions Ayumi finally cleared her throat then returned to sit up straight, "It doesn't seem like a serious wound."

"I've said it since then" he said, grimacing with a sting on his lips.

"Do you know the three of them?"

"Do you think I know them?"

Ayumi was silent for a moment then shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I don't know them, are you satisfied now?"

Ayumi frowned, she disliked the young man's attitude, however she had saved him so it shouldn't be that the man was being rude to her.

"Don't go! I'm sorry.they took all the money and my phone," she said with a clear face, now Ayumi could really see that the man was really young.

Ayumi took a deep breath, feeling sorry for the man who looked at her with compassion and she was sure that the man was not from Busan considering that he did not use the typical Busan dialect.

"What's your name?"

"Kim Joon Seo, you can call me Joonie."

"How old are you?"

"Yeah! Are you interviewing me?"

Ayumi said nothing, she just looked at him while raising an eyebrow.

"Alright, I'm 24."

"Look, I'm 3 years older than you, so stop talking banmal (informal) to me. And call me Ayumi noona, do you understand?"

"Alright, I'm sorry, Noona," Joonie said slowly, but it was enough to satisfy Ayumi. He sat back in front of the man who turned out to be very cute when he pouted.

"Well, Joonie, what are you doing in Busan?"

"I want to visit my brother, but now his address is gone with my phone and my money."

"We have to report it to the police."

"No, don't go to the police station!" Joonie exclaimed which made Ayumi look at him in wonder.

"Are you... fugitive (in a whisper)?"

"Nona! How could an angel face like me be a criminal!" Joonie protests with an adorable pouting face that makes Ayumi smile, the man before him reminds him of his sister Rama.

"Pardon me, are you from Seoul?"

"Yes, I don't want my parents to know that I'm in Busan, which is why I don't want to go to the police station" he explained, drinking the remaining mineral water that Ayumi had bought.

"So what's your plan now?"

"Can I borrow your phone? I'll have my brother pick me up here."

Ayumi handed over her phone to Joonie with a bright smile, she contacted her brother and asked to be picked up after previously asking Ayumi for their current address.

Ayumi did not notice clearly what the man was talking about on the phone with her brother, she rather enjoyed the view of the sunset over the beach. Haeundae is indeed an amazingly beautiful place for sea lovers, on the one hand stands office buildings and shops but on the other we are presented with beautiful beach views. And as a sea lover, it is a blessing for Ayumi to live in Busan when she has to move to Korea.

"Noona, thank you, my brother will pick me up soon," Joonie said as he handed her his cell phone, and it was then that Ayumi could hear a rumbling stomach sound from the direction of the man who was now grimacing while holding his stomach.

"You haven't eaten yet?" Ayumi asked who was answered by Joonie.

"Oh my God, wait here I'll buy you some food."

"Noona, no need, my brother will be here soon I can have him buy me a meal."

"You should eat something while you wait for your brother." Unwilling to hear Ayumi's refusal to go into the convenience store and buy her a triangular kimbap, bread, banana-flavored milk and a bottle of mineral water that Joonie hastily devoured.

"Slow down, eating like that isn't good for your digestion."

Joonie drinks his mineral water to push the kimbap that fills his mouth.

"Noona, are you a doctor?"

"Yes." Yeah."

"Well, really? You're so cool."

Ayumi smiled at the praise from the man with a charming smile who was now spending his banana milk like a child. He had finished off one kimbab, one brown bun and one milk bolot, Ayumi could only smile at the young man's appetite which reminded her of herself.

"Joonie?"

Ayumi's heart immediately stopped beating for a split second before finally going crazy when she heard the heavy voice, she did not need to look back to see who the owner of the voice was, because she already knew him very well.

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