“I won’t do it next time,” Haru said sternly, “Don’t text me saying you’re not available suddenly.”

The girl bowed apologetically several times in front of her, “I’m sorry. My parents came in yesterday, and they wanted me there with them.” She told.

Haru remembered her mother. How she feeds Haru all the time, when Haru visits her in her hometown. She pleaded that her mother lives with her together in the apartment she rented out, but her mother refused because she said it reminded her of Haru’s father. But Haru didn’t insist much because her mother loves the hometown and she has a lot of friends there. And Haru won’t be feeling guilty when her mother stays at home alone, when she’s out for college and work.

“Your parents came?”Haru asked warmly. “Are they fine?” She asked. The girl nodded and apologized again.

Haru smiled at her as she was about to leave but stopped when a familiar figure stood in front of her. His dark rimmed eye still remained the same; cool and vacant.

“We meet again” he spoke.

“You?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot.” he chuckled and put his hands in the pocket of his jeans.

Haru ignored and walked past him, taking her bag and exiting the convenience store.

“Seeing your reaction, I think you still remember me.” He said.

“Tao.” She said, trying to sound unfazed. “Bingo.” He smiled. Then he looked at her questioningly. “Part timer?” he asked. He looked behind the store and then back to her, “Interesting.”

“Your overwhelming interest in me is uncomfortable.” She said. She walked again, with no intention to develop the conversation.

“You still remember our deal?” he asked again. She pretended not to hear him. Instead she took her ear phones out from her pocket and plugged it in her ears.
”You promised,” he insisted.

“I promised nothing.” she said, angrily. He turned and chuckled, “Take the earphones off, let’s talk like civil human beings,” he said coolly.
”Do you ask all the girls to eat with you?”
He nodded, “They never refuse.” he said dramatically. There is a hint of smug in his voice. He sounded as if he was pro at it.

She scoffed, “ What’s with basketball players and their level of confidence?”

“Who else you’re referring to?”

She smiled politely at him, not wanting to be rude, “I have to go.”

“It’s Friday night, it’s not a crime to stay up a bit late.” He joked.

“Spend it with your friends.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, and remain silent. He wants to say something back to her, but he hesitated.

Haru hates it, she have a habit of seeing people beyond their appearance. She tries to understand people even sometimes they are not meant to be understood.

She sees it; beyond his smug expression and tough exterior, she hates to admit it, but she sees it.

“Don’t try to read me,” he chuckled, after seeing the concern in her eyes, “Just act dumb and cute, I like it that way.”

“Don’t piss me off, I’m trying to be nice.” She growled. She regret giving in. She paced up her steps, looking irritated.

“I have to be on my toes to talk to you, it seems. You get angry very easily.”

“You don’t have to talk to me.”

“But I want too.” he smiled. He extended his hand to shake her, “Friends?”

“No,” she pushed his hand away. He looked slightly bothered, when she didn’t accept the handshake. “Then do you want to be my spy?” he asked, smirking. Haru raised her eyebrows at him.

“Tell me about your college basketball boys.” he asked, taking a cigarette from his pocket, “Are they training hard?”

“You want me to spy on my college team? Bad joke.” she took the cigarette and put it back to his pocket, “I don’t want to die early, so you can smoke after I’m gone.” She walked past him, then stopped in her track, and turned back, “Well if you don’t want to die, then don’t smoke at all.”

Tao stares at her back until her figure left his sight. He smiled inwardly and dropped the cigarette to the ground.

//

“At certain junctures in the course of existence, unique moments occur when everyone and everything, even the most distant stars, combine to bring about something that could not have happened before and will never happen again. Few people know how to take advantage of these critical moments, unfortunately, and they often pass unnoticed. When someone does recognize them, however, great things happen in the world.”

Sehun sat on his bean bag and read the remaining last pages of the book. He smiles slightly as he reads through the end pages. He patted on his cat and grinned. He was alone, with his cat, just like always in the monstrous room. He glanced over to the unfinished jigsaw puzzle on the glass table. It was his habit to complete it every night. The puzzles clear his mind, he assumes.

There were large bed and furniture in the room, but his large room always seemed empty. He hates to be alone all the time, so Sehun made companion with what was around him ; his cat, his puzzle, and his big piano. Those were the only things in his room that kept him alive. There are times he wanted to bang his head on a hard wooden door to call himself back to the body, and there are also times, he wanted to run and be in his room without any human contact. To Sehun, being alone is a nightmare and also a mean of escape.

Sehun was about to open the door of his room when his father and his secretary barged in. His father was in black suit and tie, probably just from a business meeting. His father always has been workaholic, for long as Sehun remember.

“You’re here” his father said his voice cold and stern, “Are you still hanging around with those useless boys?” he asked.

Sehun scoffed bitterly, “You see me after 2 months, and this is all you have to say?” he walked and sat on his leather sofa in the middle of his room, “Does it matter to you whom I hang around with?”

“It does, you’re my son.”

Sehun chuckled, “So you remember,” he eyed at his father darkly, “That I’m your son?”. He crossed his legs and tapped his fingers on his knee, waiting for his father to respond. Before his father could answer, the secretary whispers in his ear. His father stopped and nodded.

“I think you should go.” Sehun mocked. “That is something much more important to you.” He desolated. There were a hint of hurt in Sehun’s eyes. He hoped his father ignored the business call and sat down with him. But deep down, he knew, his father would never choose him over money.

His father took a glance at the jigsaw puzzle and then to him. Sehun couldn’t help but to wonder if his father felt the same way as Sehun did- that everything involving family was painful in some way. The emotions, whether they were joy, sorrow, love or pride, were so deep and sharp that in the end they left you raw, exposed and yes, in pain. The human heart was not designed to beat outside the human body and yet, each child represented just that - a parent's heart bared, beating forever outside its chest. And he is now damaged, beyond repair.

“You should tell yourself that I am your son more than you tell me.” Sehun spat when his father closes the room door.