Bobby and I arrived in front of my place. When I was about to open my door, I realized that my house key is not in my bag. To my desperation, I fumbled my bag, searching and hoping my key was somewhere inside. But it’s not there.

“Oh God I can’t find my key.” I sighed and Bobby looks confused as well. I take out my phone and dial my housemate to open the door for me. As if the situation couldn’t get even worse, she said over the phone “How can you lose your key….. I’m not at home right now. But I’m going home soon. Give me about 30 minutes okay”. I said bye and ended the call.

“What did she say?” Bobby asked.

“She’s not at home. You can go now, I can wait for her.”

“No I will wait with you.”

“I think you should just go. It’s late.” I denied, pointing at the dark sky, not wanting to spend any more time with him.

“That’s why I will wait with you.” He insisted and I sighed in defeat.

We sat in front of my porch, waiting for Kei. Uncomfortable with the sudden familiarity between us, I made sure there is a space between us.

“It’s been a while huh” He breaks the silence and I just nodded in response. Realizing I was not going to say anything, he added, “So, how’s life been?”

“Well, after you’re gone, I was confused for a while, wondering what I did to make you angry. But other than that, my life’s been pretty much normal.” I replied with slight sarcasm, barely containing my annoyance. This is the longest sentence I said to him today.

To my annoyance, he chuckled as if trying to lighten the mood, “You did nothing wrong, actually.”

Displeased with his response, I scoffed, “Yeah, I realized that I did nothing wrong. I realized that maybe I was the only one who cherished our friendship”.

“No,” He argued, “I cherished it. A lot. Like a lot. You have no idea.”

“Really? Then if you cherished it that much, shouldn’t you at least said goodbye to me before you left? I even shared my ice cream with you. Do you know how important an ice cream is to a little girl?” I snapped, feeling the heat rising up my face.

All of a sudden, he snickered. “Are you serious right now?!” I raised my voice in exasperation. He stopped and studied my face. The air is so brittle, it could snap anytime.

“I’m sorry” He said softly, but it felt so loud in the heavy silence.

Taken aback by the sudden change in his tone, I turned my head towards his direction without saying anything. His demeanor changed, he was cheerful and unbothered earlier, and now his face is serious and apologetic. I never seen him like this before – so vulnerable, as if he is laying all his walls down in front of me.

Seeing how I kept silent, he continued “It’s just that-” He stopped, trying to find the right words. “The reason why –”

He was interrupted again by my housemate suddenly appearing earlier than expected and said while looking down, trying to get the keys from her bag, with handful of shopping bag, “Hey, Hyo Kyung! I rushed home…” she stopped and glanced our way, confused, before finishing her sentence,  “for you.” She paused in her track as her voice becomes smaller by the end of her sentence, her glance back and forth between Bobby and I.

I stand up abruptly, taking my roommate’s wrist and drag her towards the door, signaling her to unlock it. Then I turned towards Bobby and said, “Thank you for taking me home. I think you should get going. Bye.” I forced a smile. Before he can say anything, I walked inside the door.