LIM JEONG HEE - SCENT OF A FLOWER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDLgzWwN27E

---

The moment you left Oh Bar, the temperature had dropped so significantly that even the heat of the alcohol didn’t help keep you warm for long. At some point you remembered that you had been talking to Kris, but after you started shooting down the JD, you started to lose track of your surroundings and felt very dizzy. Kris hadn’t returned, so you assumed he was busy elsewhere with your other friends. After a quarter of the bottle, you looked up to the booth where your friends were and motioned that you were leaving with your thumb. Chen stood up and made a gesture, as if to say, ‘I’ll take you home’, but you adamantly shook your head and insisted on him staying there to enjoy the rest of the night.

Before anyone could stop you from leaving, you turned away and disappeared out into the crowd. You practically ran to the coat check as you gave them your ticket. For some reason, tonight you just wanted to be alone.

You threw on your pea coat and blanket scarf. Once you were buttoned up, you left the bar without a second glance back. As you stumbled down the street the winds began to pick up from above. Shivering wildly underneath the thin coat, you hugged your arms to your chest and focused on not tripping.

*I can’t believe Kai would just ditch me like that. If I trip and break my skull tonight, I’ll never forgive him for not being here to catch me!* You thought bitterly as you waited for the bus.

Kai had always told you that going home late at night by yourself was dangerous, but you never listened to him. It wasn’t because you were being fearless and stupid, but because you usually fought back the people who tried to mess with you. You weren’t usually this drunk, but in your mind, no matter how drunk you were, you were sure that you could send a kick to anyone who tried to mug you. Growing up, you learned self defense at a young age so most of your friends never dared to piss you off. Not even Hayoung. Most likely because she knew she would get her kicked.

Once the bus came, you went on and sat down on an empty seat. The last round of the JD didn’t hit yet, but you were sure once you get off the bus it would be a full throttle hellhole from there. For the time being, you closed your eyes and leaned your head against the window, and thought about Kai and Hayoung.

Hayoung was such a bad kind of drug for Kai. The guys all know it as well, but no one had any guts to say anything to him except you. But even when you try to say something, he would get angry and yell at you.

Tao always poked fun about how you were jealous over Hayoung, but that was never the case. Sure, you loved Kai, but his choices were much more important than your crush on him. If he wasn’t happy, then you weren’t happy. What you wanted was for Kai to always be the happy and cheerful person he is whenever he was with you, and Hayoung just wasn’t the right choice for him. You prefered for him to be with somebody else who could make him happy, instead of keeping him in the friendzone.

You didn’t care if Hayoung treated you like and ignored your presence as if you didn’t exist, but you did care about how she makes Kai feel. It is sad to love a person who would never love you back, but it is more heart breaking when you see the person you love, being treated like a fool and having their heart break over and over again by somebody who doesn’t deserve them.

You didn’t dislike Hayoung because Kai liked her, or that she disregards you—no, that was never it. It was because she kept filling his heart with hope, only to break it. If only you could turn back time and find him before she found him, at least then in that world, you two could possibly be each other’s first love and wound up together without any fear of loving and heart breaks.

Once the bus came to your stop, you thanked the bus driver for not driving like a lunatic like most bus drivers these days and got off. Feeling a bit dizzy, you hugged yourself and made way to your house. You lived in a more rural part of the city, closer to the farms and away from the polluted air. It was quite a walk from the bus stop to your place, but there was something calming and peaceful about walking at night by yourself so you didn’t mind it too much.

Your mind started to get heavier and that’s when you knew the final round of JD was finally hitting you.

*, I should stop letting my emotions get the best of me. I always buy alcohol to mend my heart ache when really I just need sushi and a cheesecake!* You shook your head to get a grip of yourself. It wasn’t helping because the movement made you feel nauseous. Your steps got heavier and the only way to stop you from looking like a mass murderer is if you look up at the stars.

*Okay, okay focus Shin Hari! Look for Orion and you’ll feel better! Come on, Orion, appear before me!* You narrowed your eyes and searched for the star. The alcohol had subdued your mind so much that you didn’t realize where you were walking and you ended up colliding into something.

“Ouch!” was your initial reaction, even though you didn’t even hurt yourself. You tried to move away from whatever you walked into, but it felt like you were stuck and tangled in a large swamp of seaweed.

“Ouch? I think I am the one that should be saying ouch, not you.” The voice and accent was unfamiliar in your ears. Instantly, your drunken guard was up and you jumped back five steps as you looked at the person in front of you.

The person didn’t look like they were from here at all. He had funky blue hair and wore a squared backpack, black turtleneck, gray joggers and strange loo