Chapter 1
Interrogating Love“It’s often a momentary lapse in judgment that costs us a lifetime. My lapse had been smiling at the wrong person at the wrong time. So, I did. I smiled at the wrong person at the wrong time. I had then realized that there was no getting out of this friendship,” I said, and the crowd laughed at us. “I loved her but it was tough to look beyond the basic surface flaws. The constant talking, the always smiling, the facing every difficulty with a can-do attitude was all very annoying. I think it’s a relief that she’s getting married.
“All jokes aside. She’s the best friend that I’ve ever had but with Jae Hyun, she’s the happiest person I’ve ever seen her be. I’m very proud of her and I’m very proud of the both of them. Cheers, guys. Congratulations.”
The crowd started cheering and clapping and hooting. I smiled at them all and sat back down and felt Min-Ah hug me from the side. She seemed to be vibrating with joy when I hugged her back.
After the reception, I head on home to my average, somewhat happy life. I unlocked the door and walked straight into a dark apartment. Again. It was the third time this week that he had been working late and yet again he had forgotten to inform me. I rolled my eyes and reluctantly turned the light on. This is exactly why I had said that my life was somewhat happy.
-
I woke up to nothing. No smell of coffee ad no smell of food, and a cold bed to my side. I groaned and sat up straight. Of course, I was annoyed but there was no use of feeling that way. I showered and changed into my work clothes, all too mechanically. I didn’t want to think about life or what was up with Hyuk. I just wanted to eat my feelings and go to work, like I always did.
So, I made myself omelets and toast, and brewed my own coffee. I had a lonesome breakfast before leaving for the bus stop whilst blasting Led Zep in my ears because nothing screamed ignorant happiness other than Kashmir. I got into the bus, hating myself more than Murphy’s Law loved me.
Work is usually a piece of cake. It’s boring but it’s somewhat excellent for distracting myself from personal issues or any other issues to be honest. When I was digitalizing meaningless paperwork or rewording countless emails or recalculating the hours that everyone needed to put in, I could tune everything else out.
So, I sat there for the next ten hours with ten minute breaks every fifty minutes. Soon, it was six in the evening and the janitor was cleaning up and the custodian was locking up and I knew that if I didn’t leave, I’d have to stay stuck here till seven in the morning the next day. I had learnt that the hard way.
I got to the bus stand just in time to miss the bus to my house. That meant that I had another eighteen minutes until the next bus and that was going to be too damn tough. So, I plugged my earphones in, selected A Bigger Bang and boosted it to full volume. I put an alarm sixteen minutes later and closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of the seat.
I got home soon enough after that album practically blew my ears out. I felt like someone had come in there for spring cleaning. I opened the door, and thankfully, the lights were on. In the living room was Hyuk, reading a book peacefully. He looked up at me and smiled.
“Hey babe,” he said. “Sorry I didn’t text.”
“That’s alright. I’m used to it,” I told him and walked into our room.
-
“So,
Comments