2014

Even though the three of us also dated other people from time to time, somehow we always ran to each other every time life didn’t work out for us. Or, to be exact, Taemin and I always ran to her.

Krystal was really a match from heaven for us two. I loved theatres, which Taemin hated, and Krystal also liked it. So I and her always went together to watch Shakespeare or other plays. Taemin loved indie bands that I somehow hated, but Krystal shared the same preferences as Taemin so both of them always went together to see band performances.

So Taemin and I always went in casual dates with Krystal regularly back then.

Taemin enjoyed having affairs with women more than me. I dated four to five girls when I was in college, but I couldn’t keep up with Taemin’s relationship counts back then. He was a typical womanizer; someone who could manipulate women’s feeling by making them fell fast and deep for him, but these women rarely recovered even until they broke up.

Krystal dated a number of guys too during our college years. There were times when she introduced them to us, taking the guy to dinner or lunch with us and visiting our flat, but somehow they usually broke up not long after that. I once asked her why the cycle kept repeating in the same pattern and she said to me,

“I am not going to date anyone who can’t accept the fact that I am sharing my life with you guys.”

We were alone in her flat that afternoon, lying comfortably on her big couch and watching some old French movies on TV5. It was a gloomy Sunday; the weather was windy and the sky was dark outside, with a hint of rain every now and then. We initially planned to cook early dinner with Taemin, but he took the late tram and would probably arrive after 7 p.m., so we advised him to grab dinner with his friends while Krystal and I ordered Chinese food from a restaurant below our flat.

“What if you couldn’t find that guy? The one that can accept us?” I suddenly wondered.

“Then I believe my fate must be you or Taemin.”

Krystal answered my question with her usual nonchalant expression as she ran her fingers on my hair, brushing my bangs to the side. I put my left hand on her waist, slightly holding on to her while my right hand supported my head on the far end of the couch.

I stared at her intensely, guessing what was on her mind beyond those oblivious eyes. Her blunt answer made me more curious. At the time, I forgot that a curiosity could even kill a lion.

“If it’s true,” I cleared my throat, “who will you choose?”

Krystal stopped touching my hair and looked at me in the eyes. She tilted her head and smiled,

“I like Taemin best, but I like you most.”

And the world started to change… at least for me.