Minhee laid on her bed, still in her street clothes from earlier, wondering why the encounter shook her so bad. The girl let out a huff and stared at the ceiling while trying to rationalize why things would be fine.

    “It’s not like I’m a bad person. I’ve grown since then,” she said aloud, hoping hearing each syllable would make her brain take it as truth. She sat and looked across the room at her gerbils. “I’m a good person, I have pets, I respect animals,” she said as she stood and walked towards the fuzzy balls resting amongst the wood chips of their 10 gallon home. Minhee stood on her tip-toes to remove the cover and lowered a hand into the cage to pet two that had clumped together in a corner. She rubbed the top of their head with her finger until one awoke and she took the opportunity to wrap a soft grasp around its torso, lifting it out of the tank and into her palms. “Right Alfonso, I’m a good person, yeah? I’ll give you a treat, you’ve had a long day of playing while I was gone huh.”

    “Have you gone insane?”

    Minhee nearly tripped over nothing from shock as the unexpected person entered.

    “What? Can’t I speak to my children without being judged?” she defended herself. Her mother just tilted her head as she walked into the room and approached her daughter. A moment of silence passed and Minhee continued petting her gerbil, awaiting the reason her mother entered. When no words came, she decided to say something herself. “I saw Namjoon today.”

    “Ahh what were you doing?” the woman asked, and Minhee felt like she was looking in a mirror as they made eye contact.

    “We went to a computer room. Tae and the guys and yeah, it was like fate,” Minhee said as she stood on her toes again to put the animal back in it’s home. She choose to make the encounter sound as movie-esque as possible, knowing her mother would eat it up and also loving any chance to be as dramatic as possible in a comedic way. “I was all alone,” she started letting out a soft sigh as she placed the mesh lid back atop the tank. “I searched far and wide, then finally saw the light- an open seat.” she added with a swift and calculated turn to face her mother. “And as I approached, I felt, I felt, it, you know, felt it in my gut,” she said with a squint, actually telling the truth but making it sound as if it was a feeling of destiny rather than anxiety. “Then I looked, and right beside me, was him.” ... “AFTER ALL THESE YEARS” she practically yelled “he was still beside me.” she finished with a hand clasping her collarbone with her head turned to the side, acting as fake dramatic as possible.

    “Really.”

    “Mhmm. He told me he’s working at our store.”

    “I told you that didn’t I?”

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