First time falling? .02.

‘Good morning, sweetie!’ my mother cried over the phone with blaring enthusiasm that could even put the sun to shame.

‘Morning umma. Sorry I couldn’t take your call last week; things were crazy at the office, ha-ha,’ the laugh came out a little more bitter than I’d imagined, but I quickly brushed off the observation.

‘Oh no. That sounds awful, dear. Please don’t tire yourself out, I’m sure you’re working hard to make us proud. Oh, and you won’t believe the price of cucumbers here…’

‘Yes, yes, of course. Hmm? How much are they?’

‘Mighty expensive, but thank goodness I happened to snag a few before the real winter. But anyway, how’s that darling of a boyfriend doing, love? Is he looking after you?’

‘Yes, umma, he’s as sweet as ever. He took me out to dinner last night and we had the most wonderful time.’ Oh, the unstoppable lies!

‘Oh my, that sounds fabulous, sweetie! Hold on, your dad wants to chat for a bit.’

‘Moe-chan!’

‘Hi appa.’

‘Umma says that you’re working very hard! Don’t tire yourself out, OK?’

‘Yes, yes, I won’t. I’ll be careful.’

‘That boyfriend best be looking after you if you do,’ he laughed, and my mother laughed in the background too. ‘I can’t wait to meet him. We’re so excited to see our daughter’s future husband—oh gosh—so much so that we have a little surprise for you!’

I smiled thinly at the peeling paint of my bedroom/kitchen/lounge/general living space wall. This didn’t sound good. I didn’t like the tone he use, and even though the two were usually this bubbly, somehow something seemed incredibly off.

‘Oh? And what’s that? Oh appa, you know me and surprises, ha-ha-ha…’

‘We actually weren’t supposed to tell you this so soon, but we’re coming over for Christmas!’

Sehun stared at me for the longest time as I stood pressing my forehead into the top of the broomstick as if I were a suicide patient. His eyebrows upturned with concern, but mostly, skepticism.

‘Momoe. Chill. We talked about this. You can just tell them you guys broke up.’

‘How convenient. Broke up exactly a month before Christmas and New Year? I am doomed, I tell you, doomed! I swear they’re going to find out I lied about almost everything up until now, and I’m going to be shunned for life.’

‘Hmm.’ Sehun dwelled on this for a moment; one hand on his chin as he rubbed it thoughtfully. ‘You could make this awfully dramatic and say that he broke up with you on New Year’s as a resolution.’

‘… Sehun, that doesn’t make me feel in the least better. In fact, it makes me feel worse.’

Sehun spread his arms out innocently. ‘Well sorry! I’m not the one who “bluffed” my parents that I’m living the good life and panicking now cos they’re gonna catch up to me any time soon. Also, don’t forget I’m taking off at 2 today.’

‘Yes, yes. If you’re worried I’ll miss you, then you’d better think again, er.’

Sehun laughed. ‘Hey! When I get famous I’ll deliberately ignore you!’

I rolled my eyes playfully at his snarky comment and he took off back to work into the depths of the theatre. When he was safely out of sight though, I sighed deeply to myself. In a way, Sehun was right. I could have just conjured up more lies to counter my previous ones, although at the same time, this all really needed to stop. Yes, Momoe. No more lying. You’re going to live honest from today. More importantly though, would I even still have an apartment for the upcoming festivities? I’d been collecting a ridiculous amount of notices as of late, and thinking back on this, I cursed under my breath. Great. I’d have to find a new place I could afford, and I’d have to start looking really soon… and after that, I’d need to Google some good cabbage dishes.

And all this needed to be taken care off within a month. What did I do to deserve such a crappy fate? I sighed again deeply at the growing misfortunes that lay ahead. And as if on cue, the heavy doors to the theatre creaked open and in came the mysterious pale figure.

I stared at him absently as I worked on mentally compiling a list of impossible things to do within the next month as well as sweeping discarded pamphlets and other undesirables. He walked coolly from the shadowed side of the theatre and covering the length in long strides, made his way up to the stage in that composed however uptight way.

I could never quite place it, but after all the silent admiring I pulled off, this guy looked pretty troubled. He always looked as if his mind was on something else even though he had his music sheets or scripts or whatever those papers were in front of him, and even though it was none of my business, it was intriguing to say the least. His cold, uncaring exterior, along with that equally troubled expression… huh. I looked away from the stage and continued with sweeping the dark carpets. Guess we had one thing in common after all. Problems.

The Ninja Warriors theme song suddenly blared in my mind and soaking up the motivation it oozed like a sponge, I slaved on like a warrior with my job.

It was around 3 PM when I was officially alone in the theatre, and I couldn’t help but find the feeling a little daunting at first. It was the first time I had ever been truly alone in the large, cold space, and I took a moment to observe this.

Sehun had taken off to his afternoon appointment just over an hour ago, and Cullen had left earlier before him. Hah, and just when I thought I’d perhaps get lucky enough to have him to himself! I snorted at even the thought of how little anything would have changed even if that was the case. The chance of the two of us magically hitting it up was the equivalent of a beautiful popular actor falling head over heels for a snot-nosed fan buried somewhere at the other end of the world.

The thought was so amusing that I laughed to myself; my laugh echoing thinly until it disappeared completely somewhere in the very back. It gave me an eerie chill for a second, but I quickly brushed off the feeling before any more suspicions could fester in my mind. I refused to think about Sehun’s silly campfire stories about the theatre and quickly moved to the stage to prepare for the finishing touches.

‘Ye know not this pain!

‘Pain—ye shall never know. For a real man’s tears are buried under the snow.

‘Kunai! Shuriken!

‘The man from the sea, NOW RISING FROM THE GRAVE!

‘We cry the tears of a man 6 feet under!’

I sang to keep my mind from wandering into uncharted territory. My voice was probably awful considering the original TV show song was sung in a chorus that consisted of weeping men, but I couldn’t quite care. I was alone anyway… and perhaps when I was done later, I would treat myself to a fine cup of chai tea from the nearest café to soothe my nerves.

Oh, how I wished Genji was real! How I wished I was in an alternate universe instead of this cramped reality where I could be the Japanese princess of peaches that a pack of undead zombies were revived for and sought to save! I pulled off my gloves as I sang, staring at the black piano that the somber stand-up poet always sat at, and wondered how different my life could have been if perhaps I’d actually had a talent at something. Apart from making up ridiculously creative stories (aka bluffs), there was nothing else I was capable of that seemed plausible enough. Sure, my office job was something I sort of enjoyed because it kept me busy, and the pay wasn’t bad… well, at least I could afford the rent every month and sometimes even spoil myself with some fancy clothes.

Ah, but how far away those days were. Ever since I’d gotten fired thanks to a certain someone, I’d been reduced to the sad alternate of selling even my most prized dresses for extra cash, weeping as I did. I’d even cut down o