He asked, "How's my lady right now?"
I raised an eyebrow and replied, "How did you even come up with lines like that?"
He said casually, almost proudly, that he likes trying new things.
I teased him back, "So you have to try every new trick on me only?"
He just smiled.
It was a completely normal conversation — just two friends chatting at 11 p.m. My sisters were awake too, and I was sitting right in front of them, reading out the entire chat to them as it happened.
Then suddenly, he asked, "Can we talk on a call?"
I immediately replied that I wasn't interested in talking on call.
He said he wanted to tell me something.
I told him, "Then say it here on chat."
He responded, "The topic is a bit complicated. You won't understand properly on chat."
I shrugged and said, "Then I don't want to know."
He laughed softly and said, "You have so many tantrums."
I told him my sister was sitting right next to me.
He laughed again and said, "What's the problem? We're just friends."
I turned to my sister and asked if I should talk to him.
She replied sarcastically, "You didn't ask before becoming friends, so why are you asking now?"
I said I had told them everything from the beginning — they could have said something earlier too.
Then all of them said, "If you want to talk on call, then talk. Why are you asking us?"
With hesitation in my heart, I picked up his call.
The very first thing he said was, "Heyy… my lady."
And the way he said it — it sounded exactly like my favorite cartoon character.
I laughed and said, "That was such good mimicry! Do it again."
He said playfully, "No orders."
I pretended to get annoyed and said, "Fine, I'm cutting the call."
He quickly said, "Stop it, my lady."
I replied, "Good boy."
Then I asked him directly, "What did you want to talk about on call?"
He said softly, "I just wanted to hear your voice."
That sentence hit my brain like a sudden shock. That's what he wanted to say? Just that?
I got irritated and said, "I seriously feel like cutting the call right now."
To change the topic, he asked, "Do you like K-dramas?"
I replied, "Yes… why?"
In a much softer voice, he said, "I have a picture book for you."
I froze.
"What is it doing with you?"
He replied, "I just bought it."
I asked, "Do you also watch dramas?"
He said, "No, I don't watch these things."
So I asked directly, "Then why did you buy it?"
Without hesitation, he said,
"I saw it on the way. It reminded me of you. I felt like you'd like something like that, so I bought it."
I literally shouted on the call, "Whattt?!"
My sister looked at me in shock and asked what happened. I said I would tell her later.
Then I asked him again to confirm, and he said, "Yes. Why would I lie?"
I asked when he would give it to me.
He replied, "When we meet."
I made a dull face and said, "You're not even coming home for a year."
He just said, "Hmm."
I didn't ask anything further.
But deep inside, I felt so happy. He bought something for me. He remembered my taste.
We continued talking casually. I was using headphones.
When there was nothing left to say, he suddenly started singing.
It was completely unexpected — even he probably didn't plan it.
But his voice… his voice was so beautiful that I just sat there silently listening. I slowly placed one earbud in my sister's ear so she could hear too. She smiled instantly.
He was singing one of our favorite songs.
We were listening so attentively that neither of us even spoke a single word. I secretly recorded the call.
When he finished, I said dramatically,
"Wow. What a performance. Hands up for you."
He replied, "Thank you, my lady."
I said, "You're welcome, gentleman."
I'm not really a "call person." But listening to his voice… it felt like he could become an exception.
For a moment, I imagined listening to his voice forever. Talking to him only on calls.
Then my brain interrupted —
If I start acting like this, won't I become one of those clingy couples I say "ewww" about?
Soon, all of us started feeling hungry. My sisters and I decided to make pasta.
I went into the kitchen, put the phone on speaker, and started chopping vegetables. My sister stood next to me helping. The phone was on speaker, and we kept laughing at the random things he was saying.
Suddenly, my little cousin walked out half-asleep and asked,
"What are you guys doing?"
I instantly lowered the phone's volume.
Still, our voices were audible.
I asked her why she was awake.
She said she needed to use the washroom.
We felt relieved — I was scared she woke up because we were being too loud.
She was still half asleep. After a few minutes, she went back to bed.
We continued talking normally again.
The pasta was ready, and we sat down to eat.
And then — dramatic entry again — my cousin returned and said,
"Appi, I want food too."
She sat with us and ate for a while.
We were unusually quiet while eating because we were scared she might tell everyone in the morning that we were on call with someone at night… and eating unhealthy food.
After she left, we finally breathed properly and continued eating.
He joked, "Looks like she had a full plan to eat and leave."
I replied teasingly, "In all this time, that's all you've understood about her?"
He said, "I've understood a lot more too… but leave it."
I said, "It's okay."
We talked a little more casually.
And then, slowly, tiredness took over both of us.
We said goodnight.
And just like that, our conversation ended.
But something inside me had quietly changed.