2010

 

 

 

Jen leaned back on her chair, in a few minutes she'll be landing in Japan.

Her vacation in South Korea is pretty exhausting. But she's glad to continue her journey somewhere else.

And she's relieved to have gotten away from Junsu.

The guy irritates her in all possible way.

For three days straight he kept texting her nonsense.

Asking about what she's doing, if she's doing fine, if she ate her meals and all that jazz.

Then he called her.

Something about him rubs her off in the wrong way that it was off putting.

His way of speech, his mental capacity, and his intellect turns her off.

She found him unbearable to the point she rolls her eyes when she talks to him.

His constant calls didn't help either.

She cannot even describe how much she hated talking, especially about things that doesn't even concern her.

The phone calls increased day by day, to the point she will just ignore it.

Thinking he will get the hint.

But it seems he's oblivious about some things.

He didn't even falter calling her.

In the end, Jen has no choice but to answer.

The constant vibration inside her pocket or bag or even on the table annoys the crap out of her.

"Where are you?" He called her one night.

"Do you even know what time it is?" she responded. She doesn't like being woken up for such nonsense.

She heard him chuckled on the other line.

"I know you're trying to cut ties with me," he replied. "Not answering my calls and the one word answers on the texts are just the beginning wasn't it?"

 

 

Junsu smiled.

What am I doing? he thought to himself.

"So?" she said. "I told you, no phone calls."

"I know that."

But text messages aren't enough for him.

Even hearing her voice doesn't make the cut.

The excitement he felt whenever he would get a reply from her is too much for him.

He always felt giddy.

Until one day, he started having this weird feeling. A feeling that felt like he was craving something.

He was craving her.

Whenever they finish talking or she stopped replying, he couldn't stop moving. He just needed to do something to sate that feeling.

And the only thing that can sate it is her, Jen Joves.

After she stopped answering his calls and the next to nothing replies, he started getting agitated.

He would often think of her.

He only saw her thrice, but her face was already imprinted inside his memory.

The more she ignored him, the more his tenacity to see her increases.

He has never fallen in love at first sight.

But Jen is an exception to him.

"So where are you?" he asked again.

"Why do you need to know?" she replied.

"Because I'm here in Japan."

The other line went silent.

"Hello...?"

His voice echoed.

"Jen...? Hello...?"

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"To see you."

 

 

Jen felt like punching someone in the face.

"Why do you need to see me?" she asked, her voice strained.

"Because I have to," he emphasised his point.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. So tell me where are you in Japan?"

The anger is now rising inside of her.

"No, I'm not telling you," she replied. "If you're so determined on seeing me, come find me then."

She hung-up the call and went on to take out the battery on her phone.

She laid down on the bed again, covering herself with the blanket.

The anger she's feeling right now is indescribable.

Who the bloody hell does he think he is that he can do whatever he wants then?

Who gave him the right to follow her here?

She's becoming irrational by the minute.

Everything isn't boding well with her.

She spent the next two weeks near the sea.

It's the only thing that calms her.

The sound of the waves, the salty air and the bright sun.

From time to time, she was thinking what Junsu is doing or is he getting close to knowing where she is staying.

The more she thinks about him seeing her, the more annoyed and angry she gets.

She didn't open her phone at all to avoid him. This leaves her with no choice but to use long distance calls to her parents.

She sat down on the sand and gazed at the vast ocean.

She wondered what it felt like if she could swim.

Or to fly, just like those birds.

Anywhere, anytime of the day.

Her thoughts were cut short when she felt someone staring at her and from the corner of her eye she can see someone walking towards her direction.

She didn't turn her head and she remained sitted on the sand.

When the person stopped just a few inches beside her, Jen felt goose bumps all over her body.

And she sharply looked up to see who that person is.

 

 

It wasn't easy to find a person just by their name.

They can change it or use a pseudonym in order for them to hide their real identity.

But that doesn't mean he will give up that easily.

Thankfully, he remembered their conversation many moons ago.

He remembered when she told him that she will go to Japan to see something.

That doesn't mean his job is done, he needs to know where in Japan she went.

She never gave any hint where she is going.

It never occurred to him that he'll be needing that information.

He already set his mind to find her, there is no stopping him.

If he needs to go to Japan, so be it.

And here he is.

He was staring into his notebook, recalling everything they've talk about. Maybe something slipped into that conversation that he didn't pay attention to or got unnoticed.

Maybe she told him somewhere in one of their texts messages.

After going through each messages twice, he was about to call it a day when he noticed something in one of her text message.

This particular message has an error near the end, it was incomplete.

Probably due to connectivity and she might be out of the country when she sent the message.

It was quite a long message though, another factor why it's been incomplete.

I'll be in Japan next. I'll be going to Ya [error some text missing]

It was cut off there.

"Ya..." he muttered.

He's not even sure if it's a town or a prefecture in Japan that starts in 'Ya'.

He decided to list down those that starts with 'Ya'.

It wasn't that many, but the problem will be the place itself.

It will be a huge place to look for someone.

Especially that he'll be doing it alone.

A month wouldn't last. Unless he'll drag himself day and night just to look for her.

He cannot hire an investigator.

He doesn't have a photograph of her and he's not even sure if that's her real name.

And why should he hire one in the first place?

What will be the reason?

Because he was smitten with this girl that he just saw for three days?

It's a preposterous reason.

But it's strong enough for him to look for her.

 

 

He didn't told anyone about this trip, except his brother and his two close friends.

By the time he landed in Japan, he started in Yamanashi Prefecture.

And in goes on from there.

The last talk they had was two weeks ago.

He's at his wits end.

This will be the last 'Ya' on his list, the town of Yamada in Iwate Prefecture.

He stayed in a small hotel not far from the beach.

After resting for quite a few minutes, he decided to go to the beach.

He was walking towards it when he noticed a single person sitting down on the sad.

It was hot that day, but the humidity isn't quite off putting.

Looking at the person, his heart began to race.

He isn't exactly thinking, but he knew deep inside he was praying that it would be her.

He walked a little faster towards that direction.

The closer he got, the harder it is for him to breath.

And when he's a few feet away from that person, he can feel the sting in his eyes.

It is her the person he was looking for all this time.

She turned her head and looked up at him.

Her hair is shorter now compared to her hair the last time they met and she got a bit chubby.

His heart swelled when he saw her face.

That face he can never forget even in his dreams.

"Found you."