Define 5: Two Pieces

The next morning was Saturday. Aya woke up at seven forty-five. She woke up from a very good sleep. Having been rested well, that is. Aya had always loved Saturdays. Not just because there weren’t classes to attend to but she got the whole day to herself without anyone distracting her peace.

But, the text message she just received completely destroyed that.

Tick tock, Aya Han. I’m not a very patient person.-K

She didn’t get text messages from someone so often. Maybe because she was incredibly anti-social or whichever the reason was. The usual she received were completely important ones. The message was from an unknown contact number but judging from the ‘K’ at the last and the way the text was formatted, she had the gut feeling who it was. She could even almost see and hear that smirk of his just from reading the text.

Kai.

Aya didn’t bother to think how he got her number. He probably ju-jued someone for it. He seemed to be the person to get the thing he wanted quickly. Every Kai fan girl or fan boy was designed to do that kind of thing. Plus, he’s a manipulative prick.

Aya did all her preparations in just ten minutes. The walk to the playground was probably four or five minutes. She dressed to her tattered blue sneakers, ratty jeans that she picked on the floor, a blue sweat shirt and wore it with a white graphic shirt inside. She left her black bushy hair to a side braid. Then, she grabbed her wallet, a cold pizza from last night and rushed out of the apartment.

She was there after three minutes of walking fast and he wasn’t.

Aya expected that he’d be late. Boys always did that thing during dates. Not that, this was a date or anything. She slightly flushed at the though. No, we aren’t dating, She told herself making Evil-Aya scoff in the process.

No, this is not a date. This is my consequence for losing from that dreaded evil little cockroach. The more she convinced herself that, the more Evil-Aya was breaking free from her prison. Even before the villain could take over her, the real her pushed the loathsome and foul Evil-Aya away.

Whatever her consequence was, she wished that it would end fast.

He arrived at exactly 7:59 looking like a total runway model. He brought a red motor bike with him and when he removed his helmet, it was as if everything went slow motion. The wind blew his previously chocolate now platinum blond awesome hair while he ran his fingers through it in an attempt to probably fix it. He dismounted from his bike and walked towards Aya’s way.

Then, the background blurred. She could only see how y and good-looking he looked in leather jacket. He was walking with a bored expression on his face but the faintest smirk decorated his cherry lips. As usual, he walked with this some kind air of confidence and persuasion that made everyone near look at him and drool in awe. He wore a white shirt with his leather jacket, faded black pants and a pair shoes. He looked so much like the stereotypical-proclaimed badboy he is.

Yes, he looked very appealing and hot. Well, he always did but this was different. This was the ‘outside-uniform’ hot and this hotness was better than when he wore his uniform. Aya was starting to believe that he made everything he wore look great and y on him.

“Take a picture, it might last.”

Aya was kicked out of her fantasy. She blinked when she saw those familiar deep eyes leaning down on her. His face was once again dangerously close to her. She then flushed when she saw that teasing smirk on his face. He was teasing her. He was teasing her because he had caught her looking at him like some kind of hungry animal.

Damn you, Aya. She cursed herself, looked down and took one large step back.

“Y-Your hair looks g-good on you,” she said, struggled to keep her voice from shaking. It was supposed to be an attempt to make herself clear to him that she did not found him so damn gorgeous and she only realized now how stupid she ought to be for her comment. She just told him that his hair looked good on him.

She just gave herself away like that. Bloody hell

Well at least I said “good” not “great”, She tried convincing herself but that didn’t work well on her. Aya grimaced distastefully, looking at how she fidgeted her fingers.

“Heads up.”

Aya looked up and suddenly a helmet was thrown at her. She barely caught it since the damned thing was too heavy for her limp and un-athletic arm to catch. She looked at the shiny red helmet before averting her gaze to him, “What for?”

Kai gave her an ‘are-you-kidding-me?’ look. Well, in Aya’s case, it looked like that. His eyebrow was rising in a questionable manner and his face was absolutely blank. She assumed that it was that. “Do I have to explain to you the use of a helmet?”

She wanted to slap him but she’d probably hurt her hand so she merely settled by rolling her eyes in annoyance. “Are you even legal to drive a motorbike?”

The bastard broke to a wide, devious grin. Then, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the playground. Aya almost lose her balance but thankfully, her equilibrium was cooperating with her this time. They halted to a stop near his motorbike. He released his grip on her wrist and mounted his bike. He turned the ignition on and cranked it twice then gave Aya a look.

Aya was having a double-take. She didn’t even know if he had a license or something plus, he only had one helmet and he let her wear it. That means that he wouldn’t wear a helmet and a driver not wearing a helmet is unacceptable.

“Just get in.”

“I won’t until you tell me you have a license.” She said stubbornly eyeing his motorbike. Is this even safe? Of course she rode a motorbike before. Countless times, she did with some people she was close with back then. But, this was different. She was not close with Kai.

Kai shrugged, “Does it matter?”

Aya blinked twice. Can you actually believe this guy? He was asking her if having a license mattered. And he was saying this as if he didn’t care if he went to prison. She now was sure that this guy used to be a rehab escapee in his past life.

Completely mental, he is.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” she said with a grimace.

“If that was a question then yes but sadly it isn’t,” he casually said. “Now, see that tree?”

She looked at where he pointed. He pointed at the tree in the park. It was a very old tree and it was really tall. It was probably there even before Aya was born. Aya nodded, “Yeah?”

“If you don’t get in this instant, I’m going to tie you around there and leave you starving to death.”

This git, really.

Aya sighed, put on the helmet and got in. She didn’t have much of a choice anyway. Even if he was turning his back from her, she could feel that annoying smirk on his face. She crossed her arms in distaste. “Happy?”

“Hold on tight.”

And she did because the next thing he did almost threw her away.

“Drive slower!”

“I can’t hear you!”

Aya had her hands clutched so tight on his jacket, shirt whatever fabric it was. She was holding on for her dear life. Kai drove like a mad man. They were driving fast. Aya couldn’t see the views on both sides. It was all blurry. They twisted, avoided other vehicles. He drove so dangerously that it made Aya closed her eyes tightly.

Since that accident, Aya didn’t like fast cars or motorbikes in this case. She didn’t like the sensation it brought her. It always flooded images of that accident whenever she was in them that is why she always told the driver in taxis she rode to drive slow. Heck, it took her three months again to even enter a car.

She could hear the laughter they shared before it happened. The screams, the screeching sounds, the loud honk of the truck, the sirens. She could hear everything as if it happening right now. It tingled, buzzed, filled her ears, she wanted to cover them but she was clutching something to keep herself from falling. Then, she saw them. Her brother, her dad, her mum. Blood was everywhere. She could smell it. She could smell. She saw her own blood.

She saw her Mum’s laugh, her dad’s grimace and her brother’s laugh then it was replaced with their dead bodies. They’re dead. They were dead.

Aya whimpered while mumbling the words ‘Please, stop’ all over again. The whimpers became sobs as the images became clearer. She couldn’t feel herself anymore. She could not feel Kai. She couldn’t feel her hands. Her head ached. Her ears ached. She couldn’t open her eyes. Her heart beat erratically in her heart.“P-please stop..p-pleaase”

Aya didn’t know what happened next but everything halted to a stop. She was suddenly lifted up from the motorbike and someone was hugging her. Someone was rubbing her back soothingly. Someone was whispering in her ears. His hands were clutched in someone’s chest. She didn’t who it was but it was assuring. She couldn’t make up the words at first because of the muffled sounds of words, laughter, screams, and screeches but as seconds passed by, she could finally hear those warm words.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t know. Shh…It’s fine, okay? You’re strong. I’m here.”

His voice was unlike the voice she usually heard from him. It was comforting. Her eyes were still tightly closed but she knew that if she looked up, the same warm eyes she saw that Wednesday would be there. She felt at ease in his strong arms. The numbness was gone, the throbbing in her head was starting to cease.  The sobs turned to small whimpers

“You’re safe, Aya Han. You’re safe here.”

Safe. Yes, she felt safe. Her tight closed eyes started to relax. Her body did as well. The warmth she felt was calming. The way his chest heaved slowly, the way his heart beat felt in her hands returned the color to it. Her breath suddenly became synchronized with his. The sudden coldness she felt was washed away and was replaced with something assuring.

She was safe.

Aya had finally calmed down after forty-minutes. Yes, they were standing on the side of the road for forty minutes. The pair was now sitting at a bench near a merchandise shop. They were sitting quietly, Aya was fidgeting with her fingers while looking down in embarrassment and Kai was giving her a calculating look. They were seated apart from each other at both ends of the bench.

She was starting to feel stupid. She had showed how emotionally unstable she was to him twice in not less than three days of meeting him. This was not supposed to happen. His searching eyes were starting to intimidate her it as if he was finding the reason of her break down. Aya was not going to give it to him just yet. He just could not know about it.

No one should be able know about it.

“I-I’m sorry,” she quietly said.

“You didn’t tell me you were scared, why?”

Aya pursed her lips, taking a deep breath. “It’s not something you tell someone just like that and,” she cleared to clear the scratchy feeling that was building up. “You didn’t exactly asked, Kai.”

Then, there was silence.

“I’m sorry.”

Aya looked up to him. He was looking away with an unreadable expression. He ran his hands through his platinum blond hair. He apologized. But, he already had earlier. Aya couldn’t count how many ‘sorry’s he whispered in her ear. She still couldn’t get that out from her. How could she? He made her feel so safe.

“It’s okay Kai—“

“I shouldn’t have forced you.”

“It’s fine—“

“It’s not fine Aya!” he stood up, giving her an angry look. “I almost killed you!”

Aya was confused. Why was he angry? It wasn’t like it was her fault. He should have asked her first before forcing her. But then again, it was her fault too because she accepted his forced offer. She stood up and studied his face. His face was contorting to fury. His jaws were hard.

Then, she looked at his stance. His shoulders were tensed. His hands were balled to fists and he clenched it so hard that she could almost see his knuckles turning white. He was slightly shaking. He was heaving deep breaths and his Adam’s apple was moving up and down.

She replayed what he said, he almost killed her? He thought he almost killed her? Was that the reason why he was angry? Then, she dared to look in his deep orbs. His eyes were glassy. It looked three shades darker than it usually is. But, she saw something different in his eyes. The way it looked so hard yet so downcast. The way everything about him right now looked so…defeated.

He’s blaming himself.

Aya almost whimpered at the realization. Why would he even blame himself? She wasn’t in any way dying there. Yes, she was breaking down but she won’t be dying any time soon just because of a bad case of emotional instability. He was hurting himself with that thought of his. He was killing his soul and his heart with this thing he has put his mind on to. This side of him was breaking her heart so hard. She couldn’t believe it. Why was he doing this to himself?

She was sure that this was not the first time that he blamed himself for someone’s death. He looked so broken, so ashamed, so unlike him. It was now that Aya realized that this guy in front of him was a different someone. He was different from the things people name and want him to be. This was not the paper she always saw from him. Whoever this was in front of her was not the perfect Greek deity, people ought him to be.

This someone in front of her is a boy.

It was a very foreign sight, almost scary. She didn’t know how to handle this heartbreaking side of him. It was all too mind-boggling to be true. Her heart leaped inside her chest. She was feeling multiple emotions all at the same time. Pity, happiness, fear, hope…

She had hope for this different person. She was willing to know him. If he made her feel warm, safe and at ease then she was willing to take the risk to be able to know him. He was worth it. He was so worth the shot.

“Go home, Aya Han.”

No, she was not going to. She was not going to run away. This was too precious to run away from. And she trusted him so much. She didn’t know why but she just did. Yes, they barely knew each other but to hell with those things.

So, instead of taking a step back, she took a step closer to him.

His eyes suddenly got so confused. She could almost see a protest building up in his throat. Aya stretched out her arms and held his clenched, cold fists with her warm hands. All the time she looked his eyes constantly change emotions and shades. The confusion suddenly turned to surprise. She watched at how the barrier in those translucent orbs almost looked almost obliterated.

It was almost gone now and Aya would be there to witness it turn to dust.

His clenched hands relaxed. Aya took this to her advantage and interlaced her small fingers with his big ones. She didn’t know what she was doing but it just felt so right. She could almost feel how his calloused hands looked so perfect with her own. Sappy, yes, but true.

Aya offered him a serene smile, “I heard that there’s a place where we could rent bikes here. We could get two and go to the amusement park. How does that sounds?”

She wasn’t sure what he’d answer or do. But she didn’t care. She wouldn’t care if he’d push her away or what. She didn’t know what was going inside his messed up head. But again, he was worth the shot.

What he did next broke Aya’s smile to a grin.

He squeezed her hands. It was not long nor was it too hard but it was enough to make Aya’s heart leap.  A small smile on his lips, he said, “Sounds great.”

And as the two of them walked towards the shop with their hands intertwining, Aya knew why they perfectly fit each other. They were different jigsaws, both a little complex from one another. They were both humans that had dark sides. Yes, both of them were a little messed up.

And both of them being messed up was enough for Aya Han.