Personally I don’t want to think of the ‘what ifs’ in this world. Thinking about those is a complete waste of time when you could be doing something else worthwhile. Missing out on something isn’t always bad, and if you really want something to happen then do something about it rather than wait for destiny or whatever to come your way.

 

In the end, it all boils down to our choices.

 

And no one else can make the choice for us but ourselves.

~~~

 

“Seriously, can’t you, like, chill out for a second? I’m inviting you to a movie, not force you to go on a mountain hike.” The lilting voice of my uninvited guest called out from her comfortable perch on MY couch. With the way she was making herself comfortable, legs dangling over the armrest swinging lazily as her thumbs continued their rapid-fire movement against her phone, I’m pretty sure that woman won’t be leaving the premises anytime soon.

 

I loved Tiffany’s company and her blindingly sunny disposition as much as the next introvert, but there were accounts that needed to be sorted out as soon as possible. But, knowing the woman for so long I knew she would not be leaving without achieving her goal, whatever it may be.

 

I have to ignore her. I need to focus.

 

“I need to get this done by tomorrow.” Without looking at her I waved the bunch of papers I’ve been going over for the past few minutes. I didn’t need to see Tiffany to know she had made a face at the thick wad of paper. I know her motto: There was a time and place for work, and after hours at home wasn’t one of those. Unfortunately, after a heavy lunch, courtesy of the boss, I had accidentally nodded off for a good portion of the afternoon. It was a miracle that no one had seen me or reported me, but now I had a long list to catch up to. “Why don’t you go bother someone else?”

 

“Like who?”

 

“Hm… go play with Prince.” I muttered, starting to tune out her voice.

 

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but cinemas aren’t exactly pet friendly.”

 

And there’s a perfectly good reason for that. “Uh huh.”

 

“And I want a nice, relaxing bonding time with my best friend, one that doesn’t end up…” And there she goes again. Okay, Jessica, concentrate on the task at hand. What is it with accounting anyway? The boss should be happy if the numbers exceed higher than the amount that we’re supposed to receive, subtracting all the withholding tax and all. And what is it with organizations paying their dues under the name of the same person they did last time and yet paying for a different price. How hard is it to change the name on the paper? God, all these numbers are an eyesore. Why don’t they even let the accountants do this? Why me? I didn’t take accounting for a reason.

 

“What do you think?”

 

“Wha- oh..” Wait, was Tiffany asking a question? I lost her around her complaints of not having girl time. Okay so, she was talking about movie night. It should be safe to assume she was talking about the movie she wanted to drag me with to watch. I think. Or, from the furrowed brows and the accusing look in her eyes she had just made a choice and was asking my opinion. Maybe. “That’s nice.”

 

She gave me an eyebrow raise. “Are you sure?”

 

I resisted the deep urge to scoff. That was my move and she knows it. “Geez, Tiff. Anything is fine.” I wave my hand dismissively. What I really wanted to say was leave me alone.

 

Great now these numbers don’t make sense! I have got to remember to ask about these accounts. Seriously, these companies aren’t even trying to keep up with their accounting. It’s all over the place!

 

“… your sandwich earlier.” I felt Tiffany tap my shoulder.

 

Sandwich? Yeah the sandwich she picked earlier was great. A little dry, but I guess that’s expected in a convenience store bought food.

 

I gave her a thumbs up and went back to my work. “It was a great choice.”

 

“That’s it!” Next thing I know the pencil I was using was pulled out of my fingers. I tried to get it back but a pressure on my cheeks halted my mission and instead grabbed at the hand Tiffany used to pull at my cheeks. What is it with my cheeks anyway? Most of my closest friends seem to love pinching and pulling at them. What am I, a baby? I went to pry the fingers away, succeeding at the same time I heard a snapping sound.

 

“Tiff, no!” I glared at her smiling face as she twirled the now tipless pencil. “Oh yeah, wave that right at my face why don’t you?”

 

Tiffany giggled, chucking the useless pencil back on the desk. She reaches to take one of my arm, tugging to get me off the chair. I complied, not that I have anything else to do. I couldn’t remember where I last put my sharpener. May have left it in the office. I sigh. I am not going to finish anything tonight.

 

“You are coming with me, and we are taking the night off.” She said, leading me to my bedroom.

 

“Those numbers aren’t going to do themselves, you know.”

 

“Yeah? Well they’ll be there tomorrow. Do it then. Preferably during work hours. That way your efforts are actually worth the pay.”

 

“Fany.”I groaned, half-heartedly tugging at her arm. Tiffany ignores my plea and enters my room. We get to my bed before she forcefully pushes my down by my shoulder. My nearly misses the mattress, but Tiffany doesn’t seem all that concerned for my well-being as she turned to head on over to my closet. I scotch up to the bed, might as well make myself comfortable. Tiffany was already head deep into my closet.

 

“Can’t we watch a movie some other time?” I haggled. If I’m not going to do the work I’d rather stay home and lie in bed or something just as unproductive. Tiffany doesn’t stop pulling out random clothes, this time a button up to inspect. She scrunching her nose in disdain and slipped the cloth back into the closet. She wore that same button up just last week. What is it with this woman?

 

“When was the last time you went out at night? Aside from the dinner that I had to black mail you into agreeing to come.”

 

“I went to watch a movie!” It was a lie. I haven’t been doing much but stay in and read ebooks. But she doesn’t need to know that.

 

Tiffany stopped scouring the closet to give me a raised brow. “And what movie was that?”

 

Crap. “You know… the one with the… the um.. walking orange mustache.”

 

“You’ve got to be kidding! That was two years ago!” Was it? I swear it was just a couple of months ago.

 

“Well.. How do you know I didn’t watch it again?”

 

“What’s the full title then?”

 

“Uh…” She got me. It was a stupid kids movie anyway.

 

Tiffany rolled her eyes. “You didn’t even like that movie.”

 

“How would you know?”

 

“I watched it with you, remember? I had to sit through the movie while listening to you complaining about how childish it was and criticizing the plot the whole time! It was a kids movie!” Oh yeah, now I remember. So that’s why I was watching that movie.

 

Tiffany pulled out a black ¾ shirt and a matching black skirt and tossed those in my direction. They fall in a heap right beside me. “Now either you be a good girl and change,” she said as I began gathering the clothes. I gave her raised brow, though I’m pretty sure what she’s going to say next. “or I help you change.” Fat chance. I walk past her exaggeratedly rolling my eyes when she gave me a wink. I slammed the door close.

 

“Oh and you don’t mind if I invite some people, right?” Tiffany asked through the door.

 

“And by people I assume you mean Taeyeon. I don’t even know why you ask.” I replied flatly.

 

“Is that a yes?” Tiffany asked. She knocked on the door when I didn’t reply, too busy taking my thick sweater off. “I’ll take it as a yes.” She told the door. Really I don’t know why she bothers asking.

 

“You’ll thank me later.” She called out chirpily, giving the door a few light taps and leaving me to finish changing in peace.

 

 

Found myself stuck in line half an hour later. I counted the line of people in front of me and resisted groaning once I got to the double digits. There were far too many people. I rubbed my cool hands against my warm neck. For a cool autumn evening, the cinema sure was humid and stuffy, and not in the good kind. I could smell the guy in front of me and he smelled strongly of pizza and dog. I’m almost a hundred percent sure the smell came from the thick grey hoodie he had on. There were short strands of fur stuck all over the back that when he moved a few would fall off. Thank God that was all I could smell. I left a wide gap between us to be safe and locked arms with Tiffany to keep her in place right next to me. Behind us were a bunch of noisy teens shoving each other and gesturing wildly with their hands. God knows how much I wanted the word to open up and eat the group to get a little bit of quiet. I’m sure no one would care for their absence.

 

Unfortunately, the world isn’t that fair. So instead I settled for sending a murderous glare at my blissfully happy best friend.

 

“This is your fault.” I hissed. Tiffany’s smile only widened as she pulled us a step forward.

 

“You’ll thank me later.” She said confidently. She had been saying that for the past half hour.

 

“For what? Giving me a migraine?” I muttered.

 

The line moved again. I took a peek at the front and praise the Lord! Another register had opened. Finally, we’re getting somewhere!

 

What was showing anyway? I distinctively remember Tiffany mentioning something about a Nicolas Sparks movie as we were heading to the theater. Was there one showing this year? I try to make out the words on the led screen right behind the cashiers. Unfortunately I can’t see very well from afar, I can only make out the prices of each movie. The rest were blurred colors of green and red. It didn’t help at all that they were constantly movie for some reason. Looked like a Christmas greeting from all the way back here. Ho ho ho, here have some bright lights to make your headache worse than before.

 

It wasn’t until I felt Tiffany practically jumping in her place that I stopped trying to read the titles. “What are you doing?” I asked, following Tiffany’s line of sight. First thing I see is a blur crashing right into Tiffany’s outstretched arm. I retracted my arm and took a step back, watching the two women giggling like teenagers as they tried to squeeze each other as hard as they could. If I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought that they hadn’t seen each other for years instead of just this morning.

 

“Can’t you guys be embarrassing somewhere else?” I said flatly, crossing my arms.

 

“Hi Jessica!” Taeyeon greeted as soon as she pulled away. She held up her hand for a high five. I relented and reached out, planting a loud slap against Taeyeon’s palm. It had become a customary greeting for us after the hilarious first meeting. I had offered my hand for a shake when the confused Taeyeon gave me a hard slap to the hand, much to my surprise. Tiffany had frantically explained that Taeyeon had been watching American movies with her and mistook my hand shake for a hip-hop greeting she had seen. It had stuck ever since.

 

“Thanks for inviting us.”

 

“Us?” I asked, raising a brow at the smiling Tiffany. “Who’s us?”

 

“Taeyeon and I.” Another voice chimed in.

 

“Hi Ppany. Hi Sica.” Yuri greeted, grinning that wide, dorky grin as she slid up in line behind me and in front of Taeyeon and Tiffany. She noticed me staring at her and raised a hand up, wriggling her fingers like a child. I reached up to pull her hand down, shaking my head at the childish display.

 

It didn’t take too long for their actions to meet with protest. The loud teenagers began complaining about the two women cutting in line. People at the front of the line glanced back at the noise for a curious peek before turning their attentions back to what they were doing. My case in point, no one would care if they were gone.

 

Tiffany, being the most responsible of the four of us, did damage control, explaining that the two were just there to say hello. Taeyeon got the hint and made a grab for Yuri’s arm, tugging the taller woman out of line.

 

“We’ll get the snacks!” Yuri had managed to yell back, ignoring the unpleasant jeers from the teens.

 

I shot the rowdy teens a glare and reached to grab Tiffany by the arm. I didn’t let her finish whatever explanation or apology she was going to say to the noisy crowd and pulled, bringing her to stand beside me once again. Ungrateful teens could jump off a cliff for all I care.

 

“Don’t.” I told Tiffany, stopping the sentence that I knew she was going to say. Tiffany glanced back to the teens, once again ignoring the rest of the surrounding, then leaned on my side.

 

“They’re just teens.”

 

“They’re obnoxious.” I muttered. At this point I was focusing hard on the grey hoodie of the pizza-dog smelling guy in front of me. I could still hear their loud complaints, they were just asking to get kicked out. I took a calming breath and began mentally counting the fur sticking to the hoodie.

 

I could feel Tiffany slipping her arm around my waist, moving closer to place her head over my shoulder comfortably. “We were once like them.” She whispered, not wanting to call any more unwanted attention from the teens.

 

“I’d like to think we had more class than they do. At least we knew to be quiet and not verbally harass our seniors.” I muttered back.

 

She giggled, nudging me by the hips. “Now you’re making us sound old, Sooyeon-ah.”

 

I ignore her.

 

She giggles, nudging my side. “So, starting to feel thankful yet?”

 

“Shut up, Miyoung.”

 

We ended up not watching any of the romance flicks showing that night. Or rather, we weren’t able to watch any of the romance flicks that I wanted to watch. The two romance films were on their first and second night’s premier showing, and like Tiffany, the rest of the female population had decided that that evening was the best day to watch movies. Tiffany’s adamant refusal of watching another Nicolas Sparks movie didn’t give us much of a choice. In the end it was between what looked to be a horror film or a kids film. I didn’t want to pick.

 

On the plus side, the noisy teens were nowhere within the cinema theater we were in, thank God for that. The downside was that horror films were one of my least favorite movies to watch. Throughout the first half of the movie I had continuously cursed the film’s director and Tiffany in between trying to push myself back onto my seat and the screaming contest held between Tiffany and myself. I know we were the loudest there, not a lot of females were watching this film. The theater wasn’t even half full.

 

Tiffany would constantly look away and let out small nervous-embarrassed giggles whenever she catches any of our eyes. It was a habit of hers that had developed back when we were still in uni. That was no way to watch. And though my way of watching was unconventional, watching through the gaps of my fingers, at least I didn’t miss a thing. I had wanted to excuse myself half an hour in, before the whole plot started to pick up, but I have to admit the story was intriguing. Demonic possessions were always intriguing in a morbid fashion. As much as I wanted to hightail out of there I also wanted to know why.

 

A jump scare, I had a feeling would make an appearance soon, still made me jump in my seat, accidentally biting the edge of my tongue in the process. Tiffany had made a short squeak of surprise and Taeyeon’s suddenly started laughing from what I guess was from getting surprised by Tiffany’s sudden movement. I could hear Yuri’s slow exhale, followed by low nervous laughter. For the first time since the beginning of the show I tore my gaze away from the screen, checking exactly how the girls were faring. Tiffany had successfully backed up to her seat, inclining towards Taeyeon to the point that she was nearly riding the armrest in between them while watching the movie with only one eye open. Taeyeon was a little more.. calm with her back plastered at the backrest of the chair and her eyes glued to the screen. On my other side sat Yuri. With the light from the screen I could see the slight tremor of her hand that was resting on the armrest, but the woman did her best not to jump or look away from the action.

 

The slight increase of dramatic music had caught my attention and it was back to the front again. I began to search for Tiffany’s hand, looking for something tangible as a way to remind myself that what we were watching wasn’t real no matter how scared less I am. The scene suddenly took to a darker tone. The hairs at the back of her neck stood straight and my stomach muscle clenched as I waited in anticipation. I leaned my head back as far as the backrest would allow me to, pushing against the floor so hard that my bottom was beginning to lift from the seat. I continued my search for someone to hold on to, switching to the other side. My hands brushed up against a trembling hand and I quickly secured a tight grip just as the music ascended into its crescendo.

 

The music abruptly cut off and the theater went dead silent. I held my breath, preparing for another jump scare and another scream.

 

The hand in my own returned my death grip.

 

And like a glass falling from a high place the silence shattered with the culminating screams of terror.

 

 

 

 

After the movie had rolled into credits and the theater began to light up with dull yellow light the fear of the dark once again became a distant memory. Still a little shaky we managed to make our way out of the semi-lighted theater. Tiffany had practically had her upper body carried by a grim faced Taeyeon who was sticking to the walls for support. I followed after her example, feeling like my knees wouldn’t be able to tolerate my weight for another second.

 

“I will never watch movies with you guys ever again.” I vowed. I could still feel my heart pounding hard against my ribcage and taste the coppery tang of blood from when I bit my tongue.

 

A sharp intake of breath beside me pulled me back to reality. I looked to my left, down to the hand that I had secured in a death grip. I immediately let go, sending a non-verbal apology to Yuri. She curled her hand into a fist, shaking off the pain of being crushed and grinned.

 

“This wasn’t the distressing I had in mind.” Tiffany muttered, her voice sounding raspy from all the loud screaming she had done. She slid off Taeyeon and flattened her back against the wall for a better position. Then, jerking a thumb over to the emptying theater, said. “But you have to admit, all that screaming took a load off.”

 

“I am never going to see clowns the same way.” Yuri said as she began rubbing her hands over her arms to fight off the goosebumps.

 

“Hear, hear.” Taeyeon weakly raised a hand in agreement.

 

Tiffany shook her head. “I’ve always thought clowns were demonic ever since ‘It’. I had a feeling this was going to be the same.”

 

“Oh gee, what gave it away? The creepy face on the poster or the title in red, bold letters?” I sarcastically spat out. My eyes caught sight of the poster that would be giving me nightmares for a while and suppressed a shudder. “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.” I suggested, grabbing Yuri by the arm and hurriedly pulling her towards the exit. All that screaming took a lot out of me. As nice as it was to freely scream, screaming in terror only made my throat hurt.

 

“I think TaeTae and I should head back and rest. You girls have a good time!” Tiffany called out. I can hear the teasing in her voice, but I chose to ignore it. I didn’t give her a second look and just raised my free hand up in goodbye.

 

Thankfully Yuri didn’t say anything afterwards and simply followed my pull. I expected her to be asking where we were heading to or make an attempt to pull her arm away.

 

“I hope you don’t mind eating greasy fries. I’m not in the mood to go look for healthy alternatives.” I tell her, finally letting go when I see the golden arch not too far away. Fries and a medium coke sounds really good right about now.

 

“I.. don’t really mind. Do- healthy alternatives?” she asked.

 

I gave her a half shrug. “You know, since you’re so into health, being an instructor and part time working at a family owned restaurant. I figured you’d be into that kind of stuff. Eating healthy rabbit food and grinding yam or something.” I laughed at my own joke.

 

She takes a while to answer. I look back at her. She was staring at me from a short distance away. My laughter faded away. Did I offend her with that joke? I began to walk back to her about to apologize for that tactless joke when she spoke.

 

“How did you know?”

 

“Know what?”

 

“That.. I grind yam.. in the morning.” She asked, tilting her head down in embarrassment.

 

I take a while staring at her, waiting for her to begin laughing. But her head remained hung, refusing to look up to me. “I was joking. Oh my God! You actually do that? What time do you even wake up?” I laughed again. Tears began to drip from my tightly squeezed eyes and my stomach clenched from laughing too hard. I have never met anyone my age doing a very old thing. And I thought my mom was crazy when she began routinely grinding yam juice every morning.

 

“I don’t always do that.. only when I wake up before my alarm. Is it really that funny?” she asked, the embarrassed smile on her face letting me know she didn’t take any offence to my actions and words.

 

“You, Kwon Yuri, are a very interesting person. Talking out loud without meaning to. Very persistent. Two jobs, hardworking type of girl. And yet impractical. A daydreamer.”

 

“Um..” she rubbed one side of her arm, eyes darting from side to side. “Are we just going to tick off all my traits in hopes to find someone interested? Cause this is starting to look like a public announcement of my date app profile.”

 

“You have a date app?” I raised a brow. What an interesting information. I thought she was the type to be overwhelmed by the insane amount of confessions and date offers. She was tall, good looking with a nice tan, and the woman worked out. You’d think dating was the least of her worries.

 

“Is that all you got from what I said?” she asked, chuckling.

 

“I just.. didn’t expect you to have one.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Well, for one,” I held up a finger, jabbing her shoulder with it for emphasis. “even though I’ve never seen you out of a t-shirt, jeans or your gym wear, you’ve got the body a guy would be after. And secondly, you’re not that bad.”

 

“Uh..” one of her hand went up to the back of her neck. Maybe it was just from the neon light of a nearby bar, but her face looked a little pink. She was staring at her shoes. Cute.“I’ll.. take that as a compliment. You’re not so bad yourself.”

 

“Just not bad?” I asked, teasingly raising a brow and crossing my arms over my chest.

 

Her hands began flying in all directions. “No, that’s not! I mean, you’re nice, interesting, really gorgeous and-” Her eyes widened, face reddening further, and now I was sure it wasn’t from the light. “I-I mean, no! I mean! I mean yes, what I said is true! Wait, no- I don’t mean it in a stalkerish kinda way! Oh, God, I just made that worse… I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think you’re beautiful inside and out and.. Oh my God, I’m making it sound like a break up.” Her hands went up to her hair. A few creepy eavesdroppers made whistling sounds and said encouraging things to Yuri. It only further horrified the woman and she gave up trying to make sense and stopped talking. Fully embarrassed she grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the group still hollering after us, all the while hanging her head down.

 

I didn’t say anything and followed her, not even after we passed by Mcdonald’s. Her whole reaction was amusing and really cute. And honestly hearing her complimenting me had affected me a lot more than I thought. I’ve heard my fair share of compliments, though it felt that most of those were empty and was said just to up to me. It was not the case in the way she said it. Despite the rushed stuttering I knew she meant the whole thing.

 

“Do you mean that?” My heart thumped louder, trying to drown out the sound of the night life. Even with the cool wind brushing my exposed skin it didn’t do much for the sudden stuffy feeling as I waited for her answer.

 

“What?” she glanced back at me, finally stopping. There was nowhere to go anyway as we got to the edge of the sidewalk, merging with the small group waiting at the pedestrian.

 

I took a long breath in, calming down my nerves and the nearly unbearable heat my body was subjected to. I held her hand tighter, closing in on her until we were literally face to face. She had that deer in headlights look to her and it took all my concentration not to laugh at her face right then and there. I tilted my head, moving towards her ears. My cheeks brushed against hers, she was so warm.

 

“Do you like me?” I whispered into her ear. If it was possible I felt her stiffening up more.

 

Her reaction gave me a ticklish feeling around my stomach and chest. I was about to lean away when I felt her arms going around my waist. I froze. Thankfully none of the other pedestrians took interest in us and they began crossing the road, leaving the two of us. After a while she pulled back, a wide toothy smile on her face.

 

“Of course, I like you. I like you a lot! I wouldn’t have stuck with you for the past few months if I didn’t.” she answered cheekily. She pulled back, pinching one side of my cheeks as she laughed. I grab at her hand, but do nothing. Eventually she lets go, dropping her hand to her side. Her eyes scan the traffic light and the easy flow of traffic.

 

Before she could take a step forward I reached around her, squeezing her middle the same way she did mine. “I like you too.” I said as I pulled back. I turned around, my cheeks flaming hot. The pedestrian sign was already flashing red. I ignore the increased pumping of my pulse and how the world seems to sound so far away. I can’t help the smile on my face. “So, where are we going anyway?”

 

Her hand slipped into mine. “I change my mind. I’ll whip us up some good sandwich if you can wait. What do you say we head back to my place?”

 

I give her a smirk. “That doesn’t sound bad.”

 

I have to remember to thank Tiffany.

 

 

 

 

 

“A movie date and then picnic under the stars all in the same day? Aren’t you going a little too fast bud?” Jessica teased as she unbuckled the seatbelt. She zipped up the thick jacket before pushing the car door open and stepping out to the cold night. She leans back inside, grinning toothily as she reaches for the picnic blanket she had used as a cushion.

 

I switch off the engine, leaving the headlights switched to the low beam to act as our light. I pull out the materials I’ve packed, following after Jessica. She had run off to the other end of the encampment, away from where I’ve focused my light source. I had expected that she’d be a little less enthusiastic about this since we had just watched a horror movie and we are technically in the middle of a dark forested area. Best setting for a horror film.

 

Like the sidewalk confession another spur of the moment idea had hit me and was out of my mouth before I can even think things through. Jessica had looked at me as if I had suddenly grown a thick beard and decided that I’d be a lumberjack before a wide toothy smile replaced the questioning look. She had then eagerly rushed back to her flat to change once I told her where we would be heading and what to expect, but not before teasing me about how long it took me to ask her.

 

Jessica places the blanket over a patch of grass then proceeded to lie on her back, gazing at the light dusting of light blue across a group of stars. I leave her be, placing the small cooler full of our snacks and drinks right at the edge.  I find a spot a little farther from where Jessica was and began setting up the tripod I had brought. After making sure it wouldn’t collapse I screwed the holder onto the DSLR and slid in onto place. Tilting the camera to a position that I want I set it up to capture the scene from above us.

 

“Are you done yet?” Jessica called. She had rolled over to her stomach, I think, otherwise she was a lot more limber than I thought. I shake any erted thoughts off my mind. Tonight was going to be an innocent night of star gazing and taking pictures, at least I hope my limited knowledge of changing camera settings could help. Even getting away with one decent photo would be worth the trip.

 

“Hold on. I’ve got to change the setting after this first photo.”

 

“How long is it going to take?”

 

I hear the click of the camera. “I’m checking it now.”

 

“Hurry up! The stars are a lot more beautiful when you actually look up at them rather than in a photograph.”

 

“Just- just hold on a second.” I call back, checking the small screen for the snap shot. I make quick adjustments of the shutter speed and iso, slipping the camera back on the tripod before hurrying back to where Jessica was. She had threatened to hold my half of our midnight snack if I didn’t get my over to the blanket right that second.

 

I reach her side, plopping on the space beside her. She turns back onto her back, shuffling closer until there was no gap in between us and sighs.

 

“Thank you.” She says simply.

 

Never mind the photos. This is already worth the trip.

 

~~​~