There will always be a reason why you meet people, either you need to change your life, or you are the one that will change theirs. – Loubis and Champagne -

 

 

 

•  

 

They said she was a lunatic, always walking with her head down and never had any eye contacts while talking with people. She always sat alone, busy scribbling something in her own sketchbook.

 

They said she was creepy, her long hair always covered part of her face and her white skin was as pale as a ghost. Nobody had ever seen her face clearly.

 

There were also those who said that she was possessed by demons, with all the darkness that always engulfed her making people frightened to approach her.

 

More or less, that was how the gossips spread about her in college. For some reasons, Kim Jongin wasn‘t sure why, he had a clear memory about the gossips. He just couldn’t care less until finally he accidentally crashed into the girl in the corridor.

 

The books she was holding fell on the floor.

 

The girl just stayed silent like a statue, with hair covering her face, and did nothing.

 

"Sorry, I didn’t mean it." He stated, while squatting down, helping her to pick up the books that fell on the floor. His wide eyes scanned all the books. Drawing paper, the collins big book of art and a skecthbook with her name written on the cover. Irene. He did not know that the girl’s name was Irene and also a college student majoring in art.

 

Standing up from his previous position, his eyes looked closely at her. The girl, in front of him, wasn’t tall, but she had long black hair, slim legs and a sweet fragrance. (That could be a false memory, he wasn’t sure. Maybe she didn’t give off any scent at all. But, that’s what he remembered.)

 

She also didn’t seem frightening to him, beyond the fact that the girl just stayed silent, not even budging from her previous position, and he also could not see her face because it was covered with her long black hair. Which is pretty strange if you think about it.

 

Taking a deep breath, his hands gave her the books.  "Here is your books." He said, with a smile on his face. He genuinely smiled at her eventhough he knew she wouldn’t even see his smile.

 

But no words came out of just to say thanks or okay, only her tiny and slender fingers touched the edges of the books and held them tightly to her chest as if the books were precious to her. Then, her footsteps just walked away in the distance, leaving him in utter amazement.

 

Jongin frowned, the look on his face was skeptical as if searching for answers to his astonishment. Then, his heart started to pound, it was as if all sound had ceased, all he could hear was his heart beating.

 

That was the first time he met the girl, cluching the books to her chest, and surely, she already had him under her spell.

 

•  

 

Every time he was at college, he always crossed path with her. He didn’t know if fate really brought them together or it was just an utter coincidance. He always saw her sitting alone on a bench in the courtyard, sometimes she walked in the hallway with her head down, at other times he saw her in the library scribbling something in a sketchbook. The thing about her was that she always wore sweater with midi skirt. Maybe she loved sweaters and midi skirts.

He didn’t know why he didn’t have a courage to approach her. Maybe he was afraid of getting ignored by her, or maybe, just maybe he worried too much about what others would think, he wasn’t sure himself.

Later, he got to know a few women, and went out with them. And every time he met a new woman, it felt as if he was longing for the girl more. Her long black hair, her slim legs, her sweet fragrance, and also her delicate hands that always drawing in a sketchbook. The insistent thrill in his heart made him breathless.

Sometimes he could capture the feelings, but at other times not as if he let it slip through his fingers. When he couldn’t get that sensation out of his mind, he would get some pleasant, intimate times with those girls who always flocked around him. He got to be good friends with some of them, and eventually took it to another levels.

Then, he had a relationship with one of those girls. Her name is Han Sohee. She was petite and had a long hair just like Irene. Maybe Sohee wasn’t into drawing like Irene, but she had the same sweet fragrance whenever he kissed her. It felt as if he could manage to grab hold that sensation he was yearning for.

The news about them dating spread around the college. Jongin was sure that Irene also heard it too. Well, she didn’t even know him or even his name, he believed she must have shrugged it off.

One day he saw her walking in the corridor lifelessly, not even paying any attention to her surrounding. Maybe she didn’t even notice him kissing Sohee. Sohee kissed him with so much passion, but his kiss lost its sensation when the girl walked past them. He broke away the kiss and Sohee noticed his change.

“You know what? I get jealous easily.” Sohee said with eyes looking into his brown orbs as if she was making a confession.

“Really?” He stated, acting indifferent.

“Yes, it hurts me whenever you have eyes on someone else.”

He her hair softly. He couldn’t even imagine how jealousy felt, he was just too preoccupied with his own emotions.

 

•  

 

Day by day, Jongin never crossed path with Irene again. He tried to look for the girl in some places where he used to see her, but he got nothing. She was nowhere to be found.

Then, the next day a gossip spread around college that the mysterious girl, he had ever known, had passed away. They said she commited suicide by drowning herself inside a bathtub. Physical Abuse was said to be the cause of her suicide. 

If only he manned up, maybe he could prevent her action.

But it was too late.

Too late to to approach her.

Too late to help the girl.

Only regret would remain in the back of his mind.

Meeting her in the hallway was the last time he ever saw the girl.