c h a p t e r  s e v e n .

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That night, Wendy lay on her stomach atop her full-sized bed (adorned with her favorite beige sheets, the patchwork quilt that she had found a few years ago at a local vintage mall, and Taro, her oversized stuffed plant creature) with her socked feet swinging back and forth in the air at a steady pace.

                It was almost an hour past midnight, but she was determined to finish Chen’s book before going to sleep. She was by no means a fast or an adept reader, but she was determined nonetheless.

                ‘Of October,’ according to the notes at the beginning of the manuscript, was the author’s interpretation of ‘a turbulent long distance relationship, stretching across a decade.’ It was ‘an exploration of human thought and emotion in regards to the struggle between the mind and the heart; responsibility and desire, duty and aspiration.’

                Wendy had thought about those words for a while, pondering what sort of interesting twist Chen could’ve put on such a familiar plot (she could’ve sworn that she’d watched at least ten movies with that same storyline).

                The book’s protagonist was named Suho. He was a melancholic young man who grew up with a strict upbringing that endowed him with a foundation of firm morals and a calm, quiet, polite demeanor but also with a tendency towards naiveté and obliviousness. As a young adult, he was often taken advantage of due to his kind, no-questions-asked sort of character.

                Opposite to Suho was the beautiful and multi-faceted Irene, his friend since elementary school and romantic interest throughout the story. Irene was often referred to as being a queen ever since kindergarten due to her gentle leadership, numerous talents, and otherworldly beauty. Even as a child, she had the heart (and the mind, in many ways) of an adult.

                Over the course of a ten-year period, Suho and Irene fall in and out of love, beginning with a simple, innocent friendship in middle school; an emotional on/off high school relationship that ultimately leads to their break up; a fateful night five years later amidst the lights of Seoul, South Korea; and ultimately, a bittersweet proposal at the end of the story.

                The title, Of October, referred to that fateful night five years after the couple’s split when the two parties were unexpectedly reunited mere minutes after Suho was discharged from the military. The month was also a reoccurring motif and was frequently referred to in the story.

If she was being honest with herself, Wendy was more interested in the author’s notes--which were written all over the manuscript; above and below sentences, in the margins, wherever they had been forced to fit--than the actual content of the book.

                Those notes weren’t technically part of the book, but she felt like they were the most important. They explained Chen’s objectives and intentions for the book; the chapters, the paragraphs, the sentences, the words. The substance, the style, the expression, the message.

                The notes were Chen speaking, not Suho or Irene or any of the other characters, and Wendy paid close attention to them.

                After another hour of just thinking, she was sure that she knew exactly what she would say to the author when she met up with him the next day.

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Choosing an outfit for her meet-up with the author proved to be just as much of a task as reading his book.

                Wendy always felt incredibly grateful that she had attended a private school all the way from kindergarten to high school; private schools meant school uniforms and school unifo