Me After Meeting You

Calvin didn’t feel the same ruefulness that Amber was savoring. Although he noticed that Amber was still distracted, he couldn’t have imagined that she was already reevaluating their relationship in her mind.

He was still very happy because this was his first time coming to Amber’s house, the house that belonged solely to her. He felt that this was an intimate gesture in and of it self.

Amber refused his offer to help cook, entering the kitchen alone and busying herself. Calvin held the glass of water she had poured for him and slowly took in this house that had been filled to the brim with Amber’s presence.

Her house was very clean and tidy. Despite her interior decoration being somewhat at odds with it self, with maple colored furniture and European style marbling, the house was filled with a faint fruity smell that naturally made him relax. Because Calvin liked her so much, he couldn’t seem to find a flaw with any part of her home, everywhere he looked, it felt pleasing and intimate.

After looking around in a circle, he sat down on the sofa that she liked to lounge on and picked up the books that she looked at, all related to medicine, complicated and arcane. But the sight of her notes penciled in that oh-so-familiar script, slim and graceful, threw him back to those childhood years.

He was engrossed in his reminiscing as he leafed through her books.

By the time Amber finished making breakfast, she had decided how she would break the news to him. But when she saw looking through her books, she couldn’t help but smile. “Do you like them?”

“Yes.” He nodded seriously.

Amber’s smile grew even wider. “Not bad. As someone who studied abroad, reading books like these must be a piece of cake for you. If there’s something that I don’t understand, I’m sure you’ll be able to help explain it to me.”

Calvin playfully bowed in the manner of a scholar. “It would be my pleasure.”

This was a conversation that they had often had while studying. Although it sounded like it would be an awkward conversation, when Calvin said it, it was surprisingly intimate perhaps because his posture was so refined and natural.

The two of them laughed together. Calvin put down the books and walked over happily.

Amber’s breakfast was very simple, a simple bowl of noodles with a poached egg that was topped with a few stalks of green onion and flavored with a dash of red oil. The golden yolk and pale white noodles contrasted with a few splashes of onion green; while it looked quite ordinary, it tasted remarkably good.

When Amber heard Calvin’s praise, she laughed. “It’s the seasoning that my mother made for me that’s truly tasty, this red chili oil.” As she talked, she picked up a small bottle of chili oil from the table. “It’s a true miracle seasoning that can turn even the most unpalatable meal into something in describably tasty. Without it, I really wouldn’t have had the courage to invite you to eat my food.”

Her exaggeration made Calvin laugh. “Your parents really do make delicious food. When I was overseas, I would long for their noodles and dishes every now and then … But since I’ve been gone for so long, I do feel somewhat afraid of going to see them again now.”

Because Calvin had been poor in the past and his mother always busy, he often eitherate cup noodles or whatever he coulds crounge up. Luckily for him, Ruby’s grades were poor, and as his younger sister, Amber found it embarrassing to help tutor him. So, she had gotten Calvin to do it for her instead. For this reason, Calvin was quite familiar with Amber’s Family, and had frequently had meals with them.

After Calvin went abroad, they hadn’t heard from him again. Amber’s mother had even asked about him a few times, and still brought him up occasionally, always starting off with the words, “That refined and particularly responsible classmate of yours …?

After Amber swallowed the food in her mouth, she said, “I’m not free this weekend, but next weekend when I’m free, I’ll invite you to have my mother’s food again.”

She paused, and then added, “Call Trysta and Silvia and the rest of them over too. My mom will be delighted.”

Calvin stared blankly before accepting happily, his eyes curving upwards like small crescent moons. “Alright. I’ll be free in the afternoon, so I’ll go pick out some gifts forthem right after. I still have some things from overseas. Oh, you should help me picksome things out when you’re free, something that they’d like ….”

She smiled comfortingly. “Don’t worry about all that. What’s most important is that you go.”

Calvin shook his head. “How can that do? I used to freeload from your place so much. If I still did that now, then I’m afraid they’d chase me out.”

“How was that considered freeloading? You helped too. If Ruby hadn’t had you around, then he probably couldn’t have gotten into even the most ordinary of universities.”

Upon Ruby being mentioned, Calvin asked, “How’s he doing now?”

“Oh, he dropped out of university and got a job doing construction, which made my mom really angry. But he has a small business now, so I guess he’s doing alright.”

Calvin smiled. “I guess he did get what he wanted in the end. Even when he was studying, he always said that he wanted to be a boss in the future.”

As they ate, they talked about some other funny childhood stories related to Ruby. When they had almost finished the noodles, Amber asked, “Calvin, do you remember that patient that you met last time at the hospital?”

“The one that bit you?”

“Yes.”

“Is your hand better now?” He immediately looked at her with a gaze full of concern, and then urged once again, “Don’t be so foolish next time. It must have hurt! I think it wouldn’t be so bad if you just behaved like the other doctors, locking them up or strapping them down if they misbehave.”

When Amber heard this, she looked at him with a complex expression.

“What is it?” Calvin asked.

Amber could only sigh and tiredly explained, “My patient’s situation is a bit complicated. Before she became ill, she received some very severe mental trauma. If we restrain her, then it would only make her resist more. So, I don’t want to do that.”

“But you can’t just let her bite you. What if something happens?”