Chapter 4

It's Saturday, school is closed and it's time to be a maid at home. The agenda every Saturday is to clean the house. Even though it is cleaned every day, it still needs extra care every Saturday to keep it looking neat and clean. Yes, this is how it is if you have a Mother who is a perfectionist. Everything must be neatly arranged and look beautiful. It should not look messy or smelly. The versions of clean, neat, and beautiful according to us and Mother are very different so we have to obey the instructions and understand Mother's tastes so we don't have to work twice.

We can clean the house all day but we enjoy this activity because it can make our family more united and understand each other's tastes in the arrangement of a room. Like, our room decorations are different. The main room, belonging to Father and Mother, is Korean style with warm bright brown walls and a neater room arrangement. It looks pleasing to the eye because Mother is a perfectionist. Then Agha's room is blue with a medium glass cupboard full of Hotwheels collections. Meanwhile, my sister Zeina's room is covered in pony wallpaper and shelves filled with dolls. As well as some makeup products too.

For my room, it's absurd because I get bored easily so every few months I'll take over the concept and layout of some of the items I want to move. Like today, I just changed the concept of my room which previously had a warm nuance with wood motif wallpaper. This time I replaced it with Chinese Blue wallpaper and changed the position of the study table to be near the balcony so I could study while breathing fresh air when I opened the window.

At exactly nine in the evening, I had just finished tidying everything up and it was time to take a shower while relaxing by inhaling the aroma of liquid soap that smelled of cherry blossoms. Ah, so relaxing. Only with abundant soap foam can calm the mind and relieve fatigue after a day of being a baby. Washing my hair using shampoo containing mint can make the dizziness disappear by rinsing the hair with water. I enjoy showering on Saturdays after a hard day cleaning the house.

After this I want to sleep, before that, I will dry my wet hair first with a hairdryer and a fan. A quick way to dry your hair quickly but it's not healthy for your hair if you do it every day.

Look, I can blow out this soap foam before rinsing myself using a new scoop every month because it often leaks due to being touched by my hand when I shower in a hurry. Sometimes I deliberately express my emotions so that I don't explode in front of other people so that a dipper who is just an inanimate object who doesn't know anything becomes a victim.

This is very interesting, my bathroom doesn't have a water reservoir, but a shower but I have a dipper.

"Aw .... Nareswara!"

Did I hear Mother's scream correctly just now? Mother shouted Nareswara's name very excitedly and happily. Did the child make a video call to Mom? But it's not possible but it could be possible. Who knows, maybe he misses his big fans because he hasn't seen them for a long time.

"You've grown up now and look just like Cha Eun Woo."

Gosh, who is Cha Eun Woo to be compared to Nareswara who is not handsome at all? Is Nareswara not so handsome that he looks like Nareswara? I laughed while splashing my body with water from the shower.

As I was washing my face with facial soap, I heard hurried footsteps and then a knock on the door. "Nayana, come out quickly, we have a handsome actor coming," Mother shouted from behind the bathroom door when did Mother enter my room? I don't know, Mother is that magical.

I just mumbled the sign is yes. How can I talk if my whole face is covered in soap foam? Instead of meeting the guests you mentioned just now, I'd rather dry my hair while playing a Don McLean song because it makes me more enthusiastic to read a book before bed. Even though it's not the right song to listen to as a motivational study song, it's still a calming song.

My feet stepped out of the bathroom and Mother was no longer in the room. I walked over to get the hair dryer and then started using it while sitting on the dressing table chair even on the study table while staring at the balcony window which was covered by a mosquito net.

"Nay," Mother's scream was so loud it startled me that I dropped the hair dryer onto my lap and made my thighs hot. I want Mother to be an elegant woman and I know now why I'm not elegant, this is because it came from Mother.

The door to my room opened and my Mother appeared from behind the door with a face that was so enthusiastic as if she had met Hyun Bin, her favorite actor and first love even though my Mother was dating my Father before I knew Hyun Bin. Mother has been a fangirl since she was young and that remains ingrained to this day. "Come out quickly, there's a special guest. He's very handsome and looks like Cha Eun Woo." Mother's enthusiastic voice still insisted that I come down to the living room right now.

"Which Hyun Bin is more handsome?" I asked while continuing to dry my hair very casually. I calculated that Mother would soon be angry.

"No one can match Hyun Bin's good looks! Now hurry down and wait downstairs for Mom!" Sentences full of intimidation and the sound of doors slamming. It's easy to upset Mother.

Because I wanted to sleep soundly without Mother's nagging at night, I went downstairs to meet the guest that Mother meant. When I appeared in the living room, all eyes were on me. It seemed like I had entered the wrong room or they had just been gossiping about me. My eyes were looking at them alternately and suddenly returned to look at the young man who I was sure was the guest that Mother was referring to.

The guest who was probably my age also looked at me while smiling sweetly and it seemed like he had drunk too much sugar water today because his smile looked so sweet. A smile that says 'Hi, how are you, I'm happy we can meet again'. Have I now turned into a fortune teller or is fortune telling my hidden talent? It seems like I'm rambling too much nonsense.

The guest stood up from sitting and I raised my left eyebrow and was surprised when this guest suddenly hugged me and I immediately rebelled. Father, Mother, and Agha remained silent and looked at us full of emotion. Am I going to be matched with this guest? No, this can't happen. I pushed the body of this guest who didn't know any manners until his embrace on my body was released. "I'm being hugged by someone I don't know, why are you just silent," I scolded my Father, Mother, and Brother.

"You don't remember me? Even though we often text, um ... more precisely you and Betari because you often ignore my messages. It's very hurtful."

I opened my lips while looking at the guest who seemed to be a neighbor who had been to Seoul for a long time. My neighbor and childhood friend who I don't like. "That annoying Nareswara," I asked, examining his face, which was very different from the photos he had taken with Betari and the face that had appeared when I made a video call with Betari.

He nodded while I shook my head. "Did you have plastic surgery," I asked and immediately got a sigh from my Father and Mother. Meanwhile, Agha giggled.

"Wow, this lipstick is really good. Auntie's skin looks bright," said Mother, holding the lipstick and Father holding the cellphone which Mother used to look at in the mirror. I'm sure that Mother did this to divert the atmosphere from my amazing question just now.

"My prediction was not wrong, Auntie looks very suitable wearing that color lipstick. She looks youthful and brighter," praised the guest who I believe was Nareswara to Mother the compliment made Mother look embarrassed and grabbed Father's thigh tightly and that was Mother's reaction when excited.

"How did you know that I like this color," asked Agha while wearing the blue knit sweater.

"I chose it using feelings," he answered which made me hold back my laughter while Agha and Mother looked touched.

I looked at Father and it was perfect, Father also looked at me and we both smiled not understanding what was happening even though we heard it.

"Are you Nareswara or door-to-door salesman," I asked and immediately got a glare from Mother who looked very scary, like a ghost in an Indonesian horror film.

"Nareswara, door-to-door sales, and here I have a gift for you too," he answered, taking a small box that had been on the table.

Nareswara stood up from his seat and approached me again by handing me a small box that looked like a gift box. I received it and immediately opened it out of curiosity.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh, Nareswara is crazy!" I shouted with my heart beating very fast because I was shocked and afraid of the rubber band snapping. I immediately threw this box at Nareswara and ran towards the stairs because I was really afraid of rubber bands.

Watch out, Nareswara!