Exploring the Male Anatomy [6] Nerves
Jungshin wasn’t that bad. She hated to admit it, but Yonghwa and Jungshin were a match made in heaven. They were outgoing and friendly, truly compatible with each other.
“Try this,” Jungshin handed a couple of button-up shirts to Yonghwa. He obviously knew what Yonghwa’s fashion preference was. “This will look good on you, yeobo,” he said in a girly voice. Yonghwa mildly punched Jungshin’s stomach upon hearing the word yeobo. “Stop that,” he told his friend as his eyes were watching Joohyun’s reaction.
She looked away, feeling disappointed that the only thing she knew about him was his perfume. And slightly embarrassed as well that she had to hear the couple’s endless teasing. I’m not supposed to be here. Speaking of perfume, his lab coat was still with her. “Oh.” She remembered that his lab coat was inside her bag right then. She turned around to look at the couple only to be surprised that Yonghwa was standing right behind her. “Aigoo!~” She tapped her chest twice to lessen the shock. “I didn’t know you were behind me.” Yonghwa simply held down his sunglasses and winked at her.
Joohyun held back as she watched the two guys look around in the department store. She pretended to check out a sexy lavender floral print dress in a Jane style. The boys went on ahead. They were teasing each other, holding up women’s clothes to each other’s body and looking at their reflection on the mirrors.
I bet they really want to try on those clothes for real, she thought glumly, smoothing her fingers over the satiny soft silk of the dress she was holding. She took it out by the hanger and held it up in front of her, looking at her reflection in the mirror. It didn’t quite go with her thick framed eyeglasses and tightly pulled back ponytail. If I were one of the unnies, I’d probably buy this in an instant, she thought, appreciating the colour against her skin.
“Joohyun-ah!”
She looked up as she saw Yonghwa waving at her excitedly. He was still wearing the sunglasses inside the department store. She grinned as she remembered the black-eye. She placed the dress back in its slot and walked up to him hurriedly. She wondered what the commotion was all about.
“Sit down,” Yonghwa said as he gently pushed her onto a tall stool. She found herself facing a table full of make-up. “What’s this?” she asked, confused and apprehensive.
“Let’s see how you look like all made-up,” Yonghwa said, smiling at her through the mirror. Jungshin came out from behind the mirror, a hair brush in one hand and a blow dryer in the other. He was holding the latter up like a gun. With his long hair, Joohyun thought he looked like a Charlie’s angel. She couldn’t control herself and burst out laughing.
“Wow, you know about hair and make-up?!” she asked in jest, raising an eyebrow teasingly.
“I major in fashion design, so I know quite a bit,” Jungshin shrugged with a smile.
Uh-oh, a guy majoring in fashion… another gear clicked in Joohyun’s mind as her smile faltered.
“So miss, what look did you have in mind?” Jungshin asked as he held a hand to his chin, pretending to concentrate on her face. “Just make me look pretty,” she piped up, deciding to play along. Any girl would enjoy playing dress-up and make-up, she thought. I’m a girl, too.
“Then you don’t need any of these,” Yonghwa interjected, getting surprised looks from the two J’s. He blushed slightly as he turned around. “I’ll leave you two for a bit, then,” he mumbled, leaving them hurriedly.
“Great! It’s better that he get lost for a while, we don’t need any distractions here,” Jungshin said as he proceeded to remove Joohyun’s eyeglasses and the band holding up her hair in a ponytail. Who’s getting distracted here? Joohyun thought, trying to fight off feelings of jealousy arising from her chest. Yah, Joohyun-ah, he’s actually not bad, she thought as she observed Jungshin quietly. Just be happy Yonghwa ended up with a good guy, she thought, still trying to stifle the green monster.
“Poor guy, the black-eye must still be hurting,” Joohyun said with a sigh, changing the topic. Jungshin sighed in reply. “Yes, it’s all his fault, actually. If he hadn’t teased me, I wouldn’t have actually hit him,” he explained as he examined Joohyun’s hair in his palm. She gasped and turned around to face him.
“You did THAT to him?!” she asked, her eyes like wide saucers. “It was an accident! I’d never do that to him intentionally,” Jungshin fired back, looking guilty. Joohyun quickly turned back to face the mirror and kept quiet as Jungshin continued to look at her hair.
“Well, actually,” Jungshin continued, “he seemed so excited about something, he actually kissed me,” he explained, concentrating really intently on her hair. “Wouldn’t you hit him, too, if you were caught by surprise like that?” he asked her, looking into her eyes through the mirror’s reflection.
She simply nodded her head in reply. He smiled. I’d be ecstatic, though, Joohyun thought as Jungshin proceeded to work on her hair, musing it up, pretending to be Edward Scissorhands, who was his role model, he said at some point. She actually felt free for the few minutes he rearranged her hair. One thing kept nagging at her, though.
Trying not to sound too interested, she asked the busy “hairdresser.”
“So, umm, what was he excited about, anyway?” she asked. “Hmm? Who?” Jungshin replied, busy making finishing touches to her hair.
“Yonghwa-ssi, what was he excited about?” she elaborated, pretending to observe her nails. “Ahh, he was very exci~”
“Are you done yet?” Yonghwa suddenly popped up from nowhere, a paper bag in hand. “Yah, I thought I told you to get lost,” Jungshin said as he spun Joohyun’s chair, looking at her hair from all angles.
“Wae? Are you kicking me out?” Yonghwa said, giving a playful pout. Joohyun couldn’t help but be jealous again at the cute interactions between the two. She sighed as she turned back to face the mirror, staring at her own reflection. Jungshin had actually given her hair some waves and volume. I look good, she thought to herself, smiling in spite of her inner turmoil.
“Now THAT is what I call volume,” Jungshin said with a knowing smile, looking at her through the mirror, rearranging some locks of hair here and there. Standing beside him was Yonghwa with his mouth hanging open. She couldn’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses, though.
“Okay, now for the make-up!” Jungshin said with a clap.
“Is this okay? Us being here?” Joohyun asked nervously as she looked around. She was starting to feel self-conscious.
“It’s fine. Actually, this department store~~”
“Is where Jungshin works part-time,” Yonghwa said, cutting-off Jungshin’s explanation. The other looked at him before continuing. “Uh, yeah, I work here part-time, coz, you know, I could use the experience. And the money! Of course,” Jungshin added as an afterthought.
“Wow, you both work part-time? And to think your courses are some of the more expensive ones… bravo!” Joohyun thought as she clapped her hands slowly in admiration.
“Yeah, that’s us, right Jungshin-ah? Hardworking part-time students,” Yonghwa said as he nudged his friend on the side. “Yah, don’t push me, I need to get this just right,” the make-up artist complained, fully engrossed in his role. He was already working on Joohyun’s eye make-up now, his eyebrows meeting as he focused. After a couple of minutes, he straightened up and held up Joohyun’s face by the chin.
“Beautiful,” Yonghwa whispered as if in awe. Jungshin just grinned. He brushed on some shy blush on the apples of her cheeks with a flourish. He then took a tube of lip gloss and held it up to Yonghwa.
“Alright, I just need to get to the rest room, you do the finishing touch,” he said, dumping it in Yonghwa’s hand before disappearing.
Awkward silence filled the gap between the two. Joohyun finally spoke up. “Here, give me that, I can do it myself,” she offered, holding up an open palm for the lip gloss.
Yonghwa held it out of arm’s reach. “Hey, you’re our princess for today, let ME do it,” he said, putting down the shopping bag on the floor behind him.
“Please, it’s just lip gloss, I can do it mys~”
“Shh~ I’ll do it,” Yonghwa said, placing an index finger almost on Joohyun’s lips to silence her. She quickly shut up obediently. This is so awkward, she thought as her heart started to flutter again. His finger was so near her lips, she could’ve just pouted and she’d be kissing that sexy finger.
Oh my gosh what am I thinking?! She started to fan herself as her face felt warm.
“I think Jungshin put too much blush on you,” Yonghwa said as he started to remove the cover from the lip gloss. “Did he?” Joohyun replied, checking her reflection. She WAS quite pink, but she knew it wasn’t from the make-up.
“Alright, gimme those lips,” Yonghwa instructed. “ WHAT?!” she asked in surprise.
“Come on, pucker up, I’m putting on the lip gloss,” he explained. Focus, Joohyun-ah, FOCUS. It’s just lip gloss. Besides, he’s not into you, so keep your head together, she instructed herself as if to calm her nerves.
Joohyun pouted her lips obediently as she waited for Yongwa to put the lip gloss on her. His hand shook slightly as he held the tube in his fingers, slowly bringing it to her innocent lips. He gulped as he stared at those luscious and plump lips, wondering how they’d feel against his own…
Shaking his head to clear it, he placed the tip of the tube on one corner of her mouth and slowly rubbed it towards the other end, making it shiny. Joohyun slightly opened her mouth to give him full access to her lower lip. Yonghwa’s hand trembled and faltered for a bit, pressing on the tube a bit harder than necessary. More gloss squeezed out onto her lips and started to ooze down the side of her mouth.
“Eh, what did you do?” Joohyun cried out. She proceeded to lick the excess gloss at the side of her mouth to place it on her upper lip.
Yonghwa could only stare, standing there frozen like stone. He was suddenly glad for the sunglasses. It was like a bittersweet kind of torture, watching that tongue move over her lips from corner to corner, like a slow-motion movie. He swallowed again as he felt his throat dry up.
He suddenly felt something sticky on his right hand. In his tension, he’d unconsciously squeezed out all the lip gloss from the tube.
“Yah, Yonghwa-ssi, are you alright?” Joohyun exclaimed as she saw the lip gloss dripping from the tube onto Yonghwa’s arm. She quickly grabbed some tissue and proceeded to mop up the sticky mess from his thick and firmly muscled arm…
Stop it Joohyun-ah, just stop it! She tried to focus on wiping off the gooey mess from his arm, her other hand holding on to his upper arm. Oh my gosh, the biceps… She suddenly felt so stupid and helpless, like an airhead drooling over muscles.
“Uhmm, ah, that’s enough, I can just go to the washroom,” Yonghwa said, his voice sounding tight. He quickly turned on his heels and left.
Joohyun dropped back into her chair and tried to concentrate on steadying her breath. Damn, those biceps were mighty fine. Too fine. She mentally slapped herself on the head. She pictured a huge “STOP” sign and another banner which said, “OFF LIMITS.”
Things were getting a bit too out of hand. She had to stay focused on being a gal pal, or else she’d hurt herself in the end.
***
Yonghwa splashed cold water onto his face after washing the sticky goo from his arm. He now smelled like honeysuckle. Crap, honeysuckle reminded him of Joohyun’s lips again.. He couldn’t believe he was having this much reaction to a tube of lip gloss.
You know it’s not about the lip gloss, man. Arrrggggghh~ I need to get this out of my system soon.
He checked out the black eye on his reflection. He’d been so excited the other day, coz he was going to meet Joohyun in class again. He could still remember the tingling in his hand when he’d held Joohyun’s hand in French class. It had made him so giddy, he’d jumped on Jungshin and kissed him. The poor guy was so surprised, he punched out and hit Yonghwa on the eye accidentally.
He spent a couple more minutes in the washroom to compose himself. He could hardly face Joohyun in this state. Maybe I can put some make-up on the black eye…
“I have to go, my group’s meeting up for a project.”
Yonghwa and Joohyun stared at Jungshin, who was slowly retreating towards the exit.
“But~”
“It’s okay, you two go ahead and shop, I’ll see you at home,” Jungshin said, waving at Yonghwa as he rushed off. “It was nice meeting you Joohyun-ssi!” he called out before turning around and running off.
“Well, that’s just great, I’ll have you all to myself then,” Yonghwa said, giving Joohyun the full blast of his smile. Her heart gave a huge flip and settled in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t see his eyes but his smile was still disarming just the same.
“Now, you can help me pick a gift for my mom for Mothers’ Day,” he said, holding her by the elbow and guiding her along. Her heart jumped up to her throat this time. “What do you think would be a great gift? I was thinking of a scarf,” Yonghwa said as he stirred her towards the scarves. “What do you think of this one?” he asked, holding up a wine-colored knitted one.
Feeling choked up, Joohyun simply nodded her head to his monologue and smiled. He’s so sweet, picking a gift for his mom like this. At that point, she noticed the paper bag he was holding. “What’s that? Is that for your mom, too?”
“Uh, yeah,” he answered, hiding it slightly behind him. Joohyun couldn’t help but melt all over again. She was having so much feels right now, she needed to get away from this guy.
So close… so close, and still, so far…
“Yonghwa-yah!”
Joohyun looked up as a guy stopped in front of them. He was really tall and looked impeccable in a suit. He looked vaguely familiar.
“Hyung! What are you doing here?!” Yonghwa exclaimed, giving his brother a hug. He looked back at Joohyun and introduced them.
“Joohyun-ssi, this is my eldest hyung, Yunho-ssi.”
“Pleased to meet you, sir.”
“Same here! So Yong-yong, what are you doing here?” Yunho said, looking at Joohyun pointedly and grinning at Yonghwa. Joohyun blushed and pretended to look at the display of scarves. I guess his family doesn’t know yet.
“I’m looking for a gift for Mothers’ Day. What are you doing here?” Yonghwa said, slapping his brother on the back.
“I work here! I mean,” Yunho paused as Yonghwa stepped on his toe. “I mean, I have a business lunch here, so…”
“Okay, we won’t keep you hyung, you’ll be late. Bye!” Yonghwa said, pulling on Joohyun’s arm.
“Yah, kiddo, call me sometime. We’ll get a drink or something, alright?” Yunho called out.
“It was nice meeting you, Yunho-ssi,” Joohyun said as she bowed to the older guy.
“Let’s go home,” Yonghwa said as he dragged her to the exit. “But what about your mom’s gift?” Joohyun asked, trying to keep up with Yonghwa’s long strides.
“I’ll just come back,” Yonghwa said, his face determined on leaving. Joohyun stayed quiet and allowed herself to be dragged.
***
She was literally dragged to their place. She was trying to convince herself that she didn’t want to come with him, but her mind and body were doing otherwise. In the speed of light, she was already standing outside Yonghwa’s apartment door
Yonghwa still wasn’t speaking as he pressed the keys for the passcode. The door opened and he walked in. Joohyun stood outside the doorway, uncertain if she should get inside or just go home. After a couple of moments, Yonghwa came back.
“Sorry Joohyun-ah, I was a bit preoccupied. Come in!” he said, gesturing towards the inside of the apartment.
There was nothing special with the boys’ apartment. Everything was exactly how it looked like when she first peeked through her dorm’s window. She walked to the window just to check if their dorm window was clearly seen. She never imagined herself standing at the very same spot when she first got to “bird watch” the guys from the next apartment building.
“I think I should go home, this isn’t a good idea,” Joohyun said as she turned away from the window. Yonghwa was standing just a couple of steps behind her, his hands behind him.
“What’s not a good idea?” he asked, slowly taking off his sunglasses. After a long day, she could finally stare into his eyes. And melt again and again into the depths of those dark brown crystal pools.
“Me. You. Here. Alone.” Joohyun stammered. She was thinking about what the unnies were going to think if they saw them like this, then she remembered: this guy is not into you.
Yonghwa simply smiled. He took out the paper bag from behind him. “Here, thanks for spending today with me,” he said.
Joohyun took the bag and looked into it. Her lab coat was inside. She remembered his lab coat in her bag and took it out.
“Here’s yours. Sorry about the mix-up,” she mumbled. She was sorry to let go of the lab coat, but it was something that had to be done.
“I’ll walk you home,” Yonghwa said as he headed off to the door. “No! Wait!” Joohyun bit her lip as she tried to think.
It snapped. “We still have to do our paper, remember?” They still had to do the extra credit paper which was a brief paper about the Reproductive System. Out of all the organ systems, why must they study the reproductive system? “You’re right.” He sighed and laughed.
The door suddenly opened, and another guy came in. Joohyun recognized him as the “fair” guy Yoona was so into when they were birdwatching.
“Hohoho Yonghwa-ssi, what do WE have here?” the guy said, grinning goofily at Yonghwa.
“Shut up Jonghyun. Joohyun, this is another one of my roommates, Jonghyun. Don’t mind him, he just knows he’s handsome, and he likes it. A LOT,” Yonghwa said with a grin.
Jonghyun waved it all off and offered a hand to Joohyun. “Pleased to finally meet you, Joohyun-ssi,” he said, then turned around to leave for his room. Before closing his door, he peeked out and drawled out to Yonghwa. “Be a good boy, Jung Yonghwa.” He waved his fingers daintily through the doorway before disappearing completely.
Oh gosh, not another one?! Joohyun thought in dismay.
***
Both of them didn’t know where to start. Joohyun couldn’t work properly without her own laptop. It was even more difficult for her to do anything normal because she was seated by the window. She knew that she would be receiving calls from her unnies anytime, asking her what the hell she was doing there.
Yonghwa didn’t feel like doing anything either. He didn’t know where to start especially that Joohyun was seated beside him. He may have dated a lot of girls in the past, but she was the first woman who entered their apartment.
“So,” Both of them spoke at once.
“You first.” Yonghwa said, being the gentleman he was.
“No, you first.” Joohyun insisted. “You first.”
“Ladies first.”
She suddenly didn’t want to ask him anymore. She might cross the line if she asked about his relationship with Jungshin. It still haunted her how she witnessed the hug that she wasn’t supposed to see.
“Is your family living in Seoul? I thought they were in Busan?” She changed her question at the last minute.
Surprisingly, it made Yonghwa smile shyly. “Why? Do you want me to introduce you to them?”
She rolled her eyes in disbelief. Yonghwa was such a joker, and it pained her that the words coming from his mouth were jokes that weren’t even half-meant. He has Jung Shin. “Unbelievable.”
His cheeks were bursting as he gently elbowed her. “I can introduce you if you want me to,” he added with a playful wink.
“Why would you even introduce a classmate to your parents?” she asked in exasperation.
“We’re not just classmates. We’re already friends, remember? You promised,” he said, pouting like a kid. Oh my gosh, he’s doing aegyo, who wouldn’t fall for this kind of guy…
“Yes, we are, but--” She looked by the window and saw that the lights from their dorm were turned off. Oh dear, they might be bird watching by this time. “Can we close these curtains?” She asked him.
Yonghwa crossed his arms in front of him and shook his head. “Andwaeyo. I’ll feel more at ease if the curtains are opened. You might do something to me if those are closed,” he said, laughing on his own.
“What did you just say?” Joohyun gasped, at a loss for more words.
“Nothing,” he said with a smirk. “Answering your question, my parents are, let’s just say traveling.” He was obviously trying to avoid the question relating his parents. “But I’m very thankful to them because they taught me to be independent.”
“And how did you become independent?”
He pointed at the poster posted above the TV. “Now look at that good-looking guy.”
It was him sporting an ensemble from The Suit House. “You’re really a model?” She was surprised. She never imagined that he was really a model.
“Seeing by how mesmerized you were during the first time we’ve met, I was expecting you already knew.” He leaned his face closer to her which made her uncontrollably blink more than expected. “You were mesmerized, right?”
“No.” She looked away and blushed.
“But you’re blushing.” He moved back, still smiling while looking at Joohyun, who was as red as a tomato. “Let’s walk you home.”
***
“Oh oh oh, to touch and feel a girl’s v___ such heaven!”
Joohyun gasped in shock at Yonghwa’s words. She couldn’t believe he’d just said the V word without hesitation. He even said all of it with so much sensuality, she was having goosebumps on her arms. She hit him hard on his shoulder, very much offended.
“Why’d you hit me?! It’s a mnemonic taught to me by my brother to help be memorize the cranial nerves!” he cried out, rubbing on the spot where Joohyun had hit him. That earned him a glare from the librarian as she shushed them.
They’d been studying in the library all afternoon since the professor was sick and cancelled class for the day. They still had to study for the next day’s exam though. Joohyun also thought it was a great opportunity to start on their extra credit project.
“Ahh seriously, stop it!” said the blushing Joohyun.
“You gotta admit it though, it really sticks to your memory, huh?” Yonghwa whispered this time as he opened a book and let it stand on the table, covering him from the librarian’s laser eyes.
Joohyun bit her lip before she finally admitted. “It does.” Yonghwa smirked as he turned back to his notes. “Here’s another one. I swear, my brother’s a genius.” Joohyun peeked into his notebook in spite of herself.
Yonghwa continued to explain. “We also need to remember if the cranial nerves either have a motor function, a sensory function, or both right?” he asked. Joohyun nodded her head, the mnemonic still ringing in her mind.
Yonghwa moved his notebook closer to Joohyun’s side. “Here, M is for motor, S is for sensory of course, and B is for both motor and sensory. Here it goes: Sister Says Marry Money, But My Brother Says Big Boobs Marry Money.”
This time Joohyun giggled in response. It was quite vulgar, actually. However, she also appreciated the humor, and how it really helped her memorize the details she needed to remember.
Seriously, if I didn’t know his orientation, with all these talk about female body parts, I’d think he’s a perv. She felt a slight twinge in her chest, then, but these tiny stabs were slowly getting weaker day by day. I guess I’m getting used to all of it.
“So… how DOES it look like?” Yonghwa asked out of the blue.
“What looks like what?” Joohyun asked absent-mindedly, busy looking through her notes.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours… after all, it IS our project,” he whispered.
That got him another smack on the head. “I WAS JUST KIDDING!!!” he shouted as he cried out in pain. Joohyun gathered her stuff and left him there. This boy is really getting on my nerves… and my heart just can’t take it anymore!!!
***
Glossary of terms:
Cranial nerves - the 12 nerves that control motor and sensory functions of the head, face and neck.
S I- Olfactory - sense of smell
S II Optic - sense of sight
M III Oculomotor - controls movements of the eyeballs
M IV Trochlear - controls movements of the eyeballs
B V Trigeminal - sensation on the face, movement of jaw
M VI Abducens - controls movements of the eyeballs
B VII Facial - controls facial movements and sense of taste (tongue)
S VIII Auditory (Vestibulocochlear) - sense of hearing and balance
B IX Glossopharyngeal - sense of taste (tongue), speech and gag reflex
B X Vagus - swallowing, sensations on the throat
M XI Spinal accessory - controls movements of the neck
M XII Hypoglossal - movements of the tongue, speech
*S - Sensory function
*M - Motor function
*B - both motor and sensory function
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