A work of perfection.

Jongsuk couldn’t help but to marvel at the beautiful scenery surrounding him while walking down the High Line. He was lucky Krystal offered to be his tourist guide on his second day. She insisted that her plan is light on the budget since she too was penniless to offer him an expensive visit to neither Rockefeller Centre nor Apollo Theatre. Living in a big city is sure hard.

“I think we’ve walked for almost an hour already, where exactly are we heading?” he whined. Slowly, he began to understood what she meant by ‘light on the budget’ trip. Krystal refused to travel neither by taxi, busses nor her god-forsaken motorcycle! Why bother owning one then? When Jongsuk requested for a time-out she only let him rest for less than ten minutes and continued her journey.

“Downtown Boathouse” she replied. “Relax and enjoy the fresh air, we’ll be there for like another thirty minutes”

“Half an hour?”

“Or more.”

Jongsuk face palmed himself. His energy was slowly depleting but Krystal still look as active as this morning. Besides that, the backpack on his shoulder was adding more burdens to him. Good friends give you comfort, best friend torture you to go beyond your limit and with her, the struggle is real. He continued walking by her side, drifting further and further away from her as the time goes by. His level of stamina was just not up to her par yet.

After a few minutes, he finally spoke, “I’m getting bored. Let’s do a dare challenge”  Jongsuk shuffled closer to her with a wide grin plastered on his face. His mood escalated quickly, already brainstorming the different kind of dares he could come up with to fool the poor girl. 

At first, Krystal was hesitant but quickly agreed to it after that. The last thing she wanted was to regret not spending as much time making memories while it last. With that, she voiced out her first challenge to him. And that was exactly how friendship could damage your sanity. Jongsuk can plan something lunatic and she’ll tell him how crazy that sounded but in the end, she willingly became his accomplice.

Soon, he found his target - a tall, well-built man with a vanilla ice-cream in his hand. How blissful must it felt when the sweet cold treat fuse into his taste bud in this hot summer? To this, Jongsuk figured that it is his responsibility to add a dash of prank to compliment this heavenly treat. He ran towards his prey, slowly picking up his speed and tapped his back.

“Tag! You’re it!” he shouted in Korean. Yes! In Korean since he was not fluent in English. The man look confused at the sudden interruption.

“What the hell?” he shouted back at them. Unfortunately, his ice cream was now slowly melting on the floor.

Jongsuk grabbed Krystal’s hand, signaling her to follow him. They ran past the street with the wind hitting on their face. It was so fun although their excitement was not shared with the fellow. Once the victim vanished from their sight, they slowed down their pace, totally out of breath. It was a good thing that Krystal chose to wear a pair of shoes instead of high heels.

They were having a terrific laugh when he then reminded her, “Your turn.”

“Easy peasy.” she said. Since Jongsuk was done with his dare, it was now Krystal's turn to perform her challenge. She walk to the nearest mart and approached a shopper in her mid-forties. “Hello, may I help you?” she asked, acting like a worker.

“Do you happen to know where the chicken meat section is?” she said. Krystal nodded at the woman and guided her towards the respective aisle. When she finally made her purchase, Krystal suddenly exclaimed, “But wait, we have a splendid ninety-percent discount for boneless chicken!” pointing at the cartons of egg arranged in stack at the corner of the store. The woman frowned at her lame joke and suddenly, Krystal’s cheek flushed in embarrassment.

 “Umm… customer’s joke of the day! Happy shopping!” she sang while marching off the store as fast as lightning.

“Kids.” The customer just smiled at her behavior and proceeded with her groceries shopping. Lucky her that the shopper was a sporting woman. If not, who could've known what will happen to Krystal.

“That was nothing much.” Jongsuk said, unimpressed. He expected the woman to be mad and what not but the reaction was the opposite. Krystal had it easy this time.

 They continued strolling until both reached their destination, Downtown Boathouse. A place that offered kayaking experience around Hudson River for free. From locks, lockers, changing room, and even to sunscreen, you name it, and they have everything ready without demanding or the extra cash. Not only that, the magnificent 20-minutes view around the calm river was absolutely relaxing.

”Why aren’t you in your university?” he asked her suddenly while paddling, constantly getting splashed by the water due to his clumsiness.

“I was dropped out.”

Jongsuk’s face fell. He tried to brainstorm for comforting words but was totally out of idea. Not that he was a good motivator or listener back then anyway. “Why didn’t you inform your mother?” he asked. By now, their pants were already soaking wet. He was questioning her motive when she told him to pack extra cloth earlier and his question was answered now. Nevertheless, he wished she had reminded him of extra undergarments too.

“Tell them what? Her ‘outstanding future-guaranteed’ daughter screwed up her scholarship offer?” Krystal snapped. Whatever reasons that may come out of , he doesn't have to know the truth. What a shame it was to be born in such a dysfunctional family.

 

 “And please stay strong because the neighborhood will rub the incident in her face for years? Sounds delighting!” Jongsuk sealed his mouth shut at her comeback. Although he can’t see her expression, it was dread obvious she too was frustrated.

“They had too much on their plate already, I don’t want to add any more burden.” she continued in a shaky, quiet voice. Her head hung low.

“I guess I’m a shame to this family then” Jessica once said to her.

It must have come out of from sarcasm. Mrs. Jung tend to go overboard with her boasting sometimes, claiming that Krystal is the perfect daughter everyone could ask for, and this attitude of hers seemed to be spreading hatred and jealousy among their neighbors. But, Jessica knew more than that. She's aware that her mother had an affair with one of the school's highest authority just to get her daughter to the top. 

However, Krystal is not much of a 'justice fighter' like her now wheel chaired sister (Thanks to her foolish dad who'll do anything just to protect his wife.) Nevertheless, she knew she can prove that she was worth the rank given to her in school.

A stretched moment of silence was present between them. Jongsuk was relieved when one of the volunteers called them to announce that their session was expired. At least it helped him to escape this awkward atmosphere.

The rest of the day was spent in the mall where they would dare each other with the silliest thing possible; earning either glares or giggles from bystanders. There was once when Jongsuk picked up a yoga book while trying out the tree pose in a bookstore. Krystal tried her best to muffle her laugh but it was too much of a torture. She was also positive that there were some people giggling along with her while the others look disturbed. Their action caused commotion and that was how they got kicked out of the bookstore.

“I can’t believe you talk me into eating here. I have credit cards that will serve us fancy dinners, you know” she said with full.

Jongsuk was not dumb to know that she too was struggling with money by judging at her state of living. Therefore, he did not want to trouble her even further than he already was. Jongsuk shoved three pieces of French fries at once into his mouth while replying, “I’m craving for McDonalds. It’s still western food anyway. Only difference was location.”

“That aside, I truly enjoyed myself today” she beamed. Her eyes glittered in excitement and her smile strecthed from ear to ear. Letting out a small chuckle, Krystal took her tissue and wiped off the chili sauce on the corner of his lips.

Jongsuk nodded in agreement and replied, “Luckily you got to your senses and chose the bus” he chortled. She extended her hand and pushed him playfully.

“It’s a shame that I left my camera.” he said out of the blue. Truth to be told, Jongsuk was flabbergasted when he couldn’t find his favorite possession this morning. Pretty positive that he did pack his camera along since he’s the type to keep memories in the form of photo. It’s hard to confirm anyway since he was too lazy to double check his belonging before this. Serve him right then.

“Well, you could use your phone.” she responded without facing him. Her eyes seem to busy itself studying the scenario behind the window. The bright lights and the cheerful citizens walking on the street – this city is absolutely a darling!

Suddenly her phone rang. Krystal took a glance at her phone and turned it off upon seeing the contact ID. Jongsuk gave her a weird look but she just brushed it off. "Hey, this French fries look like a sword, it's so long" she blurted out, in an attempt to distract him. Jongsuk laughed at her comment and began his pointless argument.

If strangers were looking at them at this moment they might mistook their relationship as a romantic relationship. And that is exactly how this stranger is viewing them right now at the corner of the room.

A/N: I googled High Line and gosh, it was so beautiful. Thank you to my first subscriber for having that much faith to even subscribe for the first chapter. Thank you!