The Woman in White
Paraproia
It was 7 pm in Seoul. The 4 degrees cool air in March felt like piercing to my bones. I walked straight in the middle of the after-office crowd in the Gangnam area. I plugged in my wireless earphone and listened to this particular ballad song all over again: Urban Zakapa - I Don't Love You. I didn't feel anything related to that song in a real-life, though. Well, my love life is quite pathetic. A 28 years old woman like me. The only real feeling I remember was that I fell in love with a friend from my childhood, the goddess Im Yoona. She was everything that all girls wanted to be: pretty, skinny, glowing skin, and her attitude like a princess, indeed. I remember how I loved it to accompany her anywhere she wanted after school, after one day she told me she had to leave to chase her dream to be an actress so she moved to the US for a decent acting school there. I remember that first broken heart, after years being friends. I remember how it hurt me so that I fell down to my knees for her. Yes. I like girls. I like her. I'm a hopeless romantic.
I woke up from a little imagination in mind and kept on walking. I looked around, was thinking about what to eat for dinner. I felt so tired and a little bit cold, so I decided to go to a well-known Chinese restaurant that served a delicious hotpot chicken soup in town. I turned right in the crowded corridor, tried to remember the exact location. Once I was sure I walked on the right path, I checked on my iPod to change the song. I kept on walking. I lifted my chin up and the restaurant was just around 30 meters away from me. I was just a little away from this woman. The woman in white.
I looked at her from the distance, but kept walking. She wore a white suit, stood in front of the Chinese restaurant, the exact restaurant I was headed to. Her long dark brown hair straightly decomposes beautifully. She was seen talking to the servant in front of the restaurant. There was a smile on her cold face. A little smile from an angel sent from heaven. It was weird that it comforts my heart wholeheartedly. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, so I kept on walking to her side, to that particular Chinese restaurant. I kept on walking until I could see her closely. So closely.
"I'm not sure what to eat... Let's just say I'm pretty picky." She smiled. "Hmmm... Let me think for a while."
"Excuse me... Is there any seat left for one?" I talked to the servant.
"Uh oh... I'm so sorry, Miss... The last spot should be for her." The servant pointed at this woman in white. "She's looking out for the menu now. I'm so sorry. But maybe you want to be put on the waiting list? We're so full now." He smiled while kept on doing an apology.
"Ah that's okay... I'm just gonna find another restaurant. I'm so hungry." I smiled a little while stared at this woman. Her sweet scent was swinging me for a while. In a flash, I woke up from a little imagination and decided to walk to find another restaurant. Too bad.
"Wait..." The woman tapped my shoulder. "Do you eat alone?"
"Well... Yes, I am."
"The last seat actually can accommodate 2 persons. Why don't we just having a dinner together?"
"Y-You... You want to have dinner with a stranger like me?"
"Yeah why not?"
"No... No, it's okay just take the last spot. I don't want to disturb you." I bowed down a little, giving her my awkward smile.
"You won't... When I was in the UK, we do this every day. So many small restaurants. Let's eat together?" She smiled at me. Yes. It was at me. I died for a while. I had this flashback about Yoona and how beautiful she was, but this woman in white is on another level. Judging by her face, I was pretty sure I won't be seeing her smile so often but that didn't mean a thing for me. What a beautiful creature she is. I couldn't get enough just to stare at her. "What do you think?" She woke me up from my other weird imagination.
"O... Okay... Why not?"
"Great! Maybe you could recommend me what to eat?"
We both entered the restaurant and sat down, face to face. I felt my heartbeat was increased and for an introvert like me, I felt in the middle of scared of not knowing what to say or talk as I usually have my dinner alone, but also I felt that great excitement I haven't had since long time. I felt like screaming, but knowing that I couldn't make any sound. It felt like I want to run away from that place, just to find myself keep on coming back to see her.
"What do you like to eat?" I started the conversation.
"American food? I was born Korean-American..."
"Then why are you here in a Chinese restaurant?"
"Cause I'm bored!" She laughed. I stared at her, holding my laugh.
"By the way... I thought you mentioned UK before?"
"Oh yeah, I just finished my master in London."
"Oh I see... That's cool. Very cool, actually." I looked at the menu, tried to avoid eye contact. "I want a bowl of soup. If you like spicy food, you may wanna try this sauteed spicy beef with paprika. It's delicious. I've tried."
"Okay great, I want that. With a bowl of rice, juseyo." She smiled at the servant who wrote down everything.
"You're sure you don't want to take a look at other menus?"
"I trust you."
"Why would you trust me? What if you don't like it?" I chuckled a bit.
"Intuition."
"Okay, I'm afraid now."
We shared laughter. It was my first time to see her laughing. She looked amazingly beautiful when laughing with narrowed eyes. Oh, God...
"What are you doing?"
"Waiting for my food to come."
She laughed a little. "I meant, what's your job."
"Oh. I work in a publishing company. How about you?"
"I'm an intern for Vogue. This is my first week."
"Whoa... That's great actually. Congrats and goo
Comments