7:57 am

“Good morning Mr. Wu”

“Good morning to you too, Wendy” Kris said as he walks past the reception to the elevator. 

He waits patiently as the numbers above slowly ascend.

1…

2…

3…

4… and at last, the elevator has come to a halt at the fifth floor.

A group of people were huddling together in one area. Their suspicious murmurs indicates as though they are surreptitiously talking about something or perhaps someone, however, they all dispersed as soon as one of them caught the sight of Kris walking in their direction.

“Good morning Mr. Wu!” they all greet him in unison with uncanny smiles on their faces. Kris wonders what’s going on.

“Good morning, everybody. It’s a lovely morning today isn’t it?”

“It sure is” 

✺ ✺ ✺

9 months

39 weeks

273 days

6,570 hours

394,200 minutes

23,652,000 seconds & counting

After countless of sleepless nights and endless wailing, Tao has finally accepted the irreparable truth between him & his ex-lover. In fact, that tragic incident pushed him to work harder. Now, he has finally graduated from his university & found a job in the art & design field in New York City where he is now residing in.

Tao's right hand moved gracefully & meticulously, making sure that he’s putting the right amount of pressure on the pencil he’s holding.

He gently dropped his drawing utensils & stopped drawing when he heard the door open.

“Mr. Huang, just a reminder, tonight you’re going to have a meeting with the executive director of OXE Museum at 9pm sharp.” his assistant told him as he read the black notebook he’s holding.

“Okay, got it”

“Tomorrow morning you have a guest appearance at an art school at 8:30 am”

“I wake up at 7 so no problem on that”

“Oh by the way Mr. Huang, your painting will be put up at XXX Museum by next week. They told me earlier.”

“Got it. Thanks”

“Oh, before I leave, I’ve got a couple of mails from your mailbox earlier. One of them is sent from Korea.” Tao’s assistant handed him a couple of envelopes & then he caught a glimpse of Tao’s yet another immaculate artwork.

“Mr. Huang… your drawing” he smiled at his assistant’s concern.

“Don’t worry. I’ve moved on”

His assistant nodded & left him.

“Bills… fan letter… more fan letters…”  he murmured while going through the letters he has received. One of them immediately caught Tao’s attention “…hmm?”

3 days later

“Good afternoon sir, welcome to XX coffee shop!”

Tao scanned the tranquil room until he found the person he’s looking for. Unlike Tao, who has changed from a school nerd to a sophisticated artist, that person still hasn’t changed from the last time Tao saw him.

“Hi”

“Hi”

“May I?” Tao gestured at the chair in front of the person.

“Sure”

“It’s been a while, Kris” he smiled as he looked at Kris who smiled back at him.

“Yeah… it has. Why are you wearing a beanie it’s so hot outside”

Tao fidgeted with his black beanie trying to adjust it “It’s my new style”

“You sure have changed a lot” Kris said as he sniggered.

Before continuing their conversation, they both ordered something to eat.

“Man, this brings back a lot of memories” Kris exclaimed as 2 plates of ice cream cake slices were placed before them.

“Haha, I missed those times”

“Yeah”

“How are you & Junmyeon?”

Kris paused before taking a bite “We… broke up. 2 weeks ago.”

“Pfftt, is that why you came to see me?”

“Well, sort of. I just wanted to see how you’ve been especially since I heard you’re gonna have your own museum here in New York. What do you know, the person who used to at drawing is now having his own art museum”

Tao snickered “I guess the future is just unpredictable”

“I missed you”

“I missed you too, Kris”

“So you actually did move on.”

“I’d say 99%” he took another bite of his ice cream cake “Come to think of it, our relationship was like ice cream cake. The cake represents our friendship & brotherhood & the ice cream inside represents the love we used to have. It was sweet, we both enjoyed it. However, the ice cream was never meant to last in the first place. And although the cake is still physically there, it’s all crumbled up & never to return to its original form again.”

“Wow that’s deep. I guess some things are just not meant to be, right?”

No one spoke for a moment & all that could be heard around them were the sound of coffee being brewed, the clonk of plates & mugs, & the sound of people babbling.

“Say, Kris, is it killing you like it’s killing me now?”

“Our breakup? I thought you’re over it”

“Nevermind, nevermind. You’re right. I am over it now”

“Hmm… you became thinner. Are you okay?”

“Yup! It’s probably just the result of my hectic schedule”

“You should get back to shape. You look feeble.” Indeed, Tao looked obviously frail which worried Kris. Tao did not reply with words. Instead, he just smiled at Kris’ suggestion.

The two continued chattering until nighttime. To their surprise, the atmosphere around them didn’t become awkward at all & talked as if nothing happened. It was as if their friendship was slowly reinstating after a heavy damage.