Tzuyu pushed the key into the lock and turned the doorknob. Shadows of two figures casted inside the narrow hallway.  She flicked on the light switch, washing the dark space with warm light. Tzuyu stepped aside to let Sana come in first. Sana took off her shoes and tentatively stepped inside. 

The walls were devoid of pictures. The floor at the entrance was raised to seperate the outside from the inside. Sana walked further inside while looking at the space. The whole apartment was contained in one space. The kitchen overlooked a bed, the two separated by a small desk in the middle of the room. Tzuyu had never thought that her place was small until Sana walked inside. She suddenly noticed how tiny and cramped everything was. Tzuyu headed inside and cleared off the books and notes scattered on the table. She pulled out a cushion underneath the table and turned to Sana.

“You can take a seat here.”

“Oh, thank you.”, Sana headed over to the table and took a seat. Tzuyu stood up and went over to the kitchen.

“Are you hungry? I’m planning to make some ramyeon.” 

“Oh nah it’s fine.”, a growl followed Sana’s replied. Sana blushed and Tzuyu chuckled at her stomach’s conflicting reply. 

“I’ll make two then.”, Tzuyu turned over to the cabinets and pulled out a pot.

While Tzuyu is making the ramyeon, Sana took a better look at the apartment.

“Your place is really cozy.”

“Thanks. But I guess that it’s a bit cramped.”

“It looks like it but it doesn’t feel like it. The bright birch wood floor and the white walls make the space seemed bigger.”

Sticky notes were littered on the wall at the back of the bed, filled with scribbled of equations and notes. The bed was next to the window overlooking some electrical wires weaving through each other, like a spider web stretching over the street below. The books that were previously on the table were now under the bed, next to some clear bins holding Tzuyu’s clothes and other miscellaneous. 

“Do you mind if I use your bathroom?”

“Sure thing.”, Tzuyu replied without turning back. She was checking if the ramyeon was fully cooked before putting them into bowls. Sana headed to the only other door in the apartment. 

The bathroom was lined with white tiles walls to floor. Some tiles had little cracks running along their edges but the grout in between them was clean as if it was laid down that very same day. Sana grabbed the bar of soap that was equally spaced with the toothbrush and toothpaste on the basin. She ran the bar under water before lathering her hands. Her nose was still runny so she took a sniff and wiped it with her sleeve. Sana noticed something as she took a sniff again and pulled her hands closer to her face. The bubbles swirling in her hands were unscented. Beside the faint smell of the ramyeon outside, Tzuyu’s apartment was devoid of any other smell. Sana found the absence of colour and scents to be comforting. Sana could tell that Tzuyu was someone who is very meticulous and paid attention to small details. Her space was empty but every items is treated with great care, nothing gets covered in dust or mold. There was no recollection of the past, only the present.

Sana came back out to see that Tzuyu is plating the table.

“Wow, it smells so good.”, Sana remarked

“Dig in.”, Tzuyu handed Sana a pair of chopsticks and a spoon before sitting down. Sana was about to eat her ramyeon when she noticed an egg yolk in her bowl while there wasn’t one in Tzuyu’s. 

“Why don’t you have one?”, Sana pointed at the egg.

“There was only one left so I gave it to you.”

“Oh…well, thank you.”

“No problems.”

They continued to eat. The room was filled with sounds of slurping noodle and clanking utensils. The ambiance was interrupted with a sniffle followed by a sob from Sana.

“Oh!”, Tzuyu put down her chopsticks and went to grab some tissue.

“I’m so sorry. Does it taste bad? Is it too spicy?”, Tzuyu handed Sana some tissue.

“Oh, it’s not that.”, Sana wiped away her tears and blew her nose.

“Ok, well maybe it’s a bit spicy but it’s just been a while since I had dinner with someone.”, Sana smiled in a thin line.

After they ate, Sana insisted that she will do the dishes. She noticed that the soap this time also didn’t have any scent. Tzuyu was halfway opening the window to let some air in when Sana asked

“Tzuyu. Why aren’t any of your soap scented?”

“Oh, um.”, Tzuyu thought for a moment. 

“I like things to be consistent.”, Sana cocked her head, not quite understood Tzuyu’s answer.

“If I like a certain scent and one day it’s no longer produced, I would have to go out and find a new scent or something that resemble the old one. But if the soap has no scent to begin with, it wouldn’t matter if I change to another kind.”, Tzuyu shrugged as she fully opened the window and locked the levers in to keep the window open.

“Do you like scented things?”, Tzuyu asked.

“I guess I do. Scents give objects characters and they can remind you of nice things. I really like the smell of caramelised sugar since it’s warm and sweet. But there are also scents that I don’t like such as lemon…”, Sana slowly trailed off. Her eyes became glassy as she thought of May and what happened that afternoon. The room fell silent, the only sound was water slowly dripping out from the tap, hitting the ceramic bowls underneath. Sana turned to Tzuyu:

“Do you think I was naïve?”

“Yes…But both of you were and that not necessary a bad thing.”, after a brief silence, Tzuyu added:

“I’m sorry.”, Sana was surprised. Why was Tzuyu feeling sorry?

“For what?”

“I saw those two being together before. I was on the train when they got on. When your friend got off, the guy pulled out his phone and called you. I saw him got off and ran toward you. I should have said something about it when we first talked.”

“Ah…that’s why he didn’t picked up my calls.”. Now it’s Tzuyu’s turn to be surprised. She thought that Sana would be mad at her for not telling her sooner.

“We used to talk and hang out a lot. Despite being together, he insisted that  we shouldn’t make it publicly official. He said that he doesn’t like people gossiping and keeping our relationship a secret keeps it special.”, Sana took a deep breath, composing herself before continuing.

“After a while, we both got busy; well, I got busy. I started to take school a little more seriously. I couldn’t spent as much time with him like I used to since I was really trying to improve my grades. Picking up Lit wasn’t probably a good choice either but the scaling was so tempting.”, Sana chuckled, remembering Tzuyu’s comment about someone like her choosing Literature.

“You don’t have to feel sorry. It wasn’t your place or your responsibility to tell me about it. I should have seen it coming. He was bound to find someone else since I was neglecting him.”, Sana’s lips pulled into a thin line, her eyes squeezed shut, failing to stop the tears from trickling down her face. She can’t believe that she’s oversharing and being an emotional wreck in front of her classmate.

Tzuyu headed over to the sink. She grabbed the bowl Sana was half holding and started rinsing it. Tzuyu said:

“A person should be happy when someone they love is trying to better themselves.”, she turned to Sana:

“You neglecting him for your studies wasn’t a valid reason for him to abandon the relationship. His patience proves that he wasn’t genuine enough to wait.”

Sana looked into Tzuyu eyes. Tzuyu was genuinely concerned. She felt undeserving of her sincerity. She should know what it felt like to be put as second priority by your loved ones. She has been experiencing it first hand.