CHAPTER 11

Whatever was left of that day was spent by me sleeping away in the second bedroom of Baek and Grace’s apartment. We didn’t talk much or discuss about my living arrangements because well, I was way too exhausted and that was seen all over my face and so Grace suggested I just sleep it off.

The next morning when I woke up it was just past eleven AM, Grace was already gone for the day to attend her classes and dance studio rehearsals and Baek was in the living room watching what I guessed was a Korean drama.

I believe it was What’s wrong with secretary Kim that was playing but my entire attention was on the plate of food lying on the small coffee table in front of the sofa, eggs and toast never looked more appealing to me.

'Never am I ever forgetting to eat something no matter what that’s for sure' I promised myself.

“Ah Rads you finally awake now, come sit have breakfast. Sorry I can only do eggs and bread, Grace knows better cooking” Baek said smiling sheepishly, and invited me to sit next to him.

I took me less than ten minutes to wipe the plate clean off of any food particles .

Yup, no one should mess with hungry me for sure.

“So now you sleep well and eat also well, we need to talk” he said with a serious expression on his face.

“Yes, I’m absolutely ready to talk now, what is it?”

“Rads I know you fight good, very amazing really but I don’t want to force you. Think, take your time and think, don’t worry about anything just ask yourself what you really want. You can do any other job if you want, I will help, Grace will help too. I just don’t want you to fight because it's only thing you can do to earn and stay here.” As he said all of this to me and I could see it in his face just how nervous he was.

Maybe the fact that I might get hurt in the course of my newfound career path was eating away at him because he was the one to introduce me to it so I did the only thing that came to mind, I comforted him.

I pulled Baek into an assuring hug and said, “Baek I appreciate the concern, I really do and i want you to know that this is actually really all I can do here, and also what I WANT to do."

I emphasized my words and took a pause for him to absorb them, and then continued, "I can’t do a legal job because then I would have to go back for a visa extension plus no one here would ever hire me, I’m just a High School graduate who doesn’t even know the local language. And if you’re thinking that I will let you and Grace take care of me without letting me help that’s not going to happen.

I don’t know why you both are helping me so much, making me feel like family, but I will be forever grateful. I simply cannot take any more favours.” I spoke with finality.

"I don't want to feel powerless, ever again..." I said, my voice a soft whisper.

“But Rads listen…..” he tried saying,

“No Baek. My decision is final. Are you going to support me and train me like you said you would?”

“Yes” he said without hesitation this time.

“Good. Now you need to drop me back to my AirBnB because I desperately need a shower.” I said, making a sour face at the word shower.

He just laughed while nodding his head before getting up and leading me out the front door.

Come to think of it, I still didn’t know why they were helping me so much. I mean yes they knew that I didn’t have an ideal home but that’s all, why help me so much? Baek could’ve just sympathized with me, given me a few words of comfort and call it a day but he took me to the fight, offered to help me more with it and settle here, build a new life here.

I had a strong suspicion that all this was related to something in the past that must’ve happened to either one of them or maybe both of them and that had impacted them in such a way that they wanted to so badly help me out of my toxic life, away from my toxic family.

They could sense I was drowning and they wanted to help me float, to swim back up on my own and never drown again. I could only hope they both would trust me enough to tell me about it one day, trust me enough to tell me about their own journey of drowning and surviving.