“I HOPE it’s okay with you to sleep on the couch,” Sarah said shyly at Jino when he arrived and fixed his things. “You can put your things inside my room if you want, but it will be just a hassle if you want to get something, and I’m not here.”
JIno smiled at her. “My things are fine here,” he said and took out something in his pocket. “I wanted to give you this.” He showed her a rose gold necklace that had one dangling black stone. “This black stone is a tourmaline quart that helps attract good vibes and fortunes.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “You’re giving it to me?” she asked hesitantly, although she had a feeling that he’d ask for a payment.
“It’s freebie from because you let me stay here in your house,” he said and went behind her to wear the necklace to her. “To maximize its effect, this should be worn near the heart and never take off.”
“Will it ditch the bad spirits, too?” Sarah asked as Jino wore the necklace to her neck. She held her hair up for him to see her neck. “Does it mean that I’ll be able to get a new job because of this?”
Jino laughed. Sarah felt his breath fanned at the back of her neck. “This is just a good luck charm. It won’t dictate your future.”
“But, there’s a chance that I could get a new job because of this?” she insisted. She really wanted to start working again.
“Yes, it will help you ditch the bad vibes for you to have clear and positive thoughts,” Jino replied. He went in front of her to see the fitting of the necklace. “I’m right. Tourmalinated Quarts look good on your skin.”
Sarah touched its pendant and felt surprised by its warmth. "It's warm. Is it its natural temperature?”
“The stone absorbs your body temperature,” Jino said. “You’ll have a relaxed mind now, Sarah. The stone will protect you from bad dreams because it will attract good vibes while you’re sleeping.”
She gasped. “Really? This is what I really need,” she said, then paused. “Wait, you have insomnia, right? Then you should also use this stone to be able to sleep well.”
The man put his hand inside his collar and took out something. Sarah gasped when he saw that they were wearing the same necklace. “Before I went here, I visited our temple to get these pairs of necklaces. I’ve been keeping it because I don’t know who I am going to give the other until I meet you.” He showed her the side of the stone that looked ripped. “It’s the other half of the stone in your pendant. And, because it was smashed into two, its power won’t take effect if the other is not worn.”
Sarah didn’t know why, but she felt overwhelmed by what Jino said. “So it was like a couple necklace,” she said, suppressing a smile. “I felt flattered that it was me you chose to wear the other half. I promised that I would take care of this stone as much as it takes care of my life.”
“Then, this is the start of your happy and lucky life,” Jino said and offered his hand to her. “I wanted to introduce myself to you as your new roommate. I’m Jino Yun, a twenty-nine-year-old shaman who will help you ditch the bad spirits around your life.”
Sarah laughed. She took his hand and shook it. “Sarah Liberato, twenty-eight years old and… single.”
The man laughed at what she said. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll find the right man soon.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I hope he’s my new roommate…” she murmured as she shook his hands repeatedly. “By the way, Jino, I made a copy of house rules. It wasn’t that strict, but the landlady just wanted her apartment to be presentable and clean always.” He gave him the peace of paper. “It’s just a few reminders.”
Jino looked at it closely. “Thanks, I’ll follow these rules,” he said, then put it inside his bag. “So, do you want to go to the grocery?”
Sarah’s brows raised. “Huh?”
“I accidentally saw the content of your cupboard yesterday when you offered ramen to me, and it’s almost empty,” he said, still smiling.
Sarah wondered if this man had felt sad in his life, because if he did. It doesn’t show in his handsome face. She looked at his attire. He was wearing a plain white hoody partnered with plain gray jogger pants and sandals. He looked like a hot male lead in the Kdramas that she watched these days.
“What do you think, Sarah?” Jino repeated.
Sarah looked away and suddenly blushed. “Ah, I don’t have enough budget to buy groceries now…” she admitted shyly. “You see, I’m jobless now—”
“I’ll pay for your groceries now,” Jino said casually. “I will stay here for a couple of days, I should fill the cupboard for us to eat during those days.”
Sarah didn’t expect it. She thought that since she hired him as a shaman, all the cost that he would consume during his stay in her house would be charged to her. “Are you sure? I was supposed to provide all your needs while you’re here because I hired your service.”
The man scratched the back of his head. “So I was the only one who thinks we have developed a friendship beyond the shaman-client relationship…” he smiled shyly, then avoided her eyes.
Sarah covered her mouth in embarrassment. “No, I mean, yes! I mean, no! Shocks—”
“It’s fine, Sarah,” Jino said and laughed. “But I still insist on getting your groceries. It’s on me for now.”
Before Jino could change his mind, Sarah accompanied him to the nearest supermarket to buy the groceries. It was her first time doing groceries with a man because Carlo, her ex-boyfriend, never helped her with this girly things.
“What else do you want?” Jino asked her after they roamed around the whole section of the supermarket.
“It’s too much,” she blurted as she stared at their overflowing push cart. “I think it’s more than enough, Jino.”
“Are you sure, Sasa?”
Sarah paused on what he called her. “Huh? What did you just call me?”
Jino smiled, and his eyes disappeared again into a line. “Sasa,” he said. “It suits you. Sasa is a Hungarian name that means ‘princess.’”
Sarah giggled, and she felt like a teenager. “But, Sarah also means ‘princess’.”
“Yes, but Sarah is a little bit common,” he countered. “Sasa suits you, and it sounds like the fish cracker that I ate when I was a kid.”
Before Sarah could react to Jino’s joke, she heard two teenagers laughing flirtatiously behind her. When she looked back at them, they were both looking at Jino.
“He looked like a Kpop Idol,” she heard the girl with red-dyed hair said.
“Maybe he’s really a Korean actor. Let’s ask him,” the one pixie cut hair replied and approached Jino right away. They almost swept her away. “Hi, are you Jung Jinyoung?”
Jino knotted his forehead. He glanced at her as if asking for help. “I’m not familiar with that name…”
“Jinyoung is a Korean idol, and you really looked like him!” the red hair insisted.
“I’m not Korean, I’m Chinese,” Jino said and stepped away from the two teenagers.
And that was the time that Sarah went to Jino. She hooked on his arm and pulled him away from the two teenagers. When they had walked far enough from them, Jino looked at her and scowled.
“Why did you just let those girls question me?” he asked with furrowed brows.
Sarah looked up at him with a knotted forehead. “Why? You’re not the actor that they’re telling you are, right?”
“Yes, but what if they took photos of me? I don’t want my handsome face to get spread on the internet,” he said and pouted his lips like a kid having a tantrum.
Sarah laughed. “Okay, from now on, I will never let any girl approach you—” Her phone rang. When she looked at who was calling, she almost dropped her phone. “Ismael!” She removed her hands from Jino and quickly pressed the answer button. “Hello—”
“Sarah, I’m on my way to your house. I wanted to meet your new roommate,” Ismael said from the other line. “You told me that he’s gay. But I still wanted to warn him.”
Sarah lowered her phone. Shock is all over her face. She looked at Jino, who was just watching her. “Oh, my gosh…”
***