Hyori

The ride back home was in silence. Usually whenever we went to the COEX Mall, Zhara had a lot to say on what she saw. But not today. I kept on glancing at her the whole time. She looked out of it, as if she'd seen something that wasn't meant to be seen. When we got home, Eddie wasn’t there yet and that gave me some time to figure out Zhara’s sudden attitude. After putting the Kimchi in the fridge, she quickly went to her bedroom and closed it. I went to mine and changed into something comfortable. I wore my basketball shorts with a grey t-shirt, and tied my hair up.

As I was making my way down the hall, I heard a soft cry. I knew it couldn’t have been from the TV since it wasn’t on. I silently walked to Zhara’s door and pressed my ears against the door. I heard the soft cry again. I tried to open the door but it was locked.

“Zhara” I said, knocking on the door

No respond. “Zhara honey, Can you please open the door?” I asked again, softening my voice. I heard her get up and unlock the door. There stood Zhara, with tears trailing down her face.

“Zhara, what’s wrong?” I asked, hugging her. I hated to see my friend in this state.

“Let’s sit down” I said, leading her to sit on the floor. There I saw pictures of her and jay. They looked so cute together. There was one picture that caught my eye. It was framed. It was the picture they took in my basement, with her wearing the summer dress that she worked so hard to buy and Jay wearing his oh-so-ugly checkered shirt and pants.

“Zhara, look at me” I said, grabbing her chin so she could look at me.

“I saw Jay” She said, looking at the floor.

“Really?” I asked. I didn’t really expect them to meet each other this soon.

“Where did you see him?” I asked, getting interested.

“I saw him at the Kimchi museum when you left” she answered, putting her face in her hands.

“What happened?” I asked, wanting to know more

“Well, I went up and spoke to him, but he looked so mad. He said some really mean stuff, and told me to get my ugly out of here” She answered, fresh tears flowing down

What! Did I just hear that? Jay acting like that? Wow, it took him a whole year just to get over the break up. And now that Zhara is back, and there is actually a chance for them to finally understand each other, Jay is being an causing trouble.

“What! He actually said that?” I asked, still in shock.

“Yeah, he actually did say that” She said, gathering the pictures.

“Well cheer up, its ok” I said, trying to cheer her up.

“Yeah, sure I’ll try to” She said.

“I’m home” Eddie announced coming into the room.

Zhara quickly wiped the tears away and plastered on a fake smile

“Hey Eddie” Zhara said, smiling. She walked out of the bedroom, as I was getting up.

“Okay, hi to you too” He said, his face puzzled.

“What’s wrong with Zhara?” Eddie asked, walking towards me. He put his arms around me and gave me a kiss.

“She met Jay, and Jay apparently said some nasty stuff to her” I replied, walking out the bedroom with Eddie behind me. I walked into our bedroom, closing the door.

“Oh! Did you tell her that he is coming to the engagement party tomorrow?” He asked, taking off his  jeans. He was left standing in his boxers

 “No! I totally forgot about that” I exclaimed, sitting on our bed. I looked at my soon-to-be husband; pulling his t-shirt over his head. After that, he put on his shorts. It felt very unreal to think that I was about to get married to my best friend. It was really weird how, when we hit high school, I started falling for him. I tried to deny my feelings, but they wouldn’t go away. I finally confessed my feelings for him when he started dating this girl at our school. It was with the help of Zhara that finally made us realize that we loved each other.

“What are you looking at?” He asked, walking and kneeling in front of me.

“At you” I said, his hair.

“Am I that good looking?” He asked, leaning towards me.

“Yes, you are perfect in every way” I said, kissing him. I was the luckiest girl in the world.

“Your parents want to meet Zhara tomorrow” He said, getting up.

“Ok” I said, getting off the bed.

“They want you guys to come over their place” He said, tying his hair into a pony. He opened the door and walked out. I followed closely behind. We found Zhara lying on the couch, with her head buried in one of the pillows.

“Zhara” I said, going to sit on top of her

“What?” She asked, struggling to breathe

“My parents want us to come over” I said, getting off

“Oh ok” She said, getting up. We all walked to the kitchen. I got unpacked everything that Eddie had bought.

“You guys want to eat some fried rice?” I asked, bringing out the ingredients needed

“Yeah” Eddie and Zhara replied in unison

We made the fried and sat down for lunch. While we were eating I remembered what Eddie had told me to do.

“Zhara” I said, in between chewing my food

“Huh” She replied, setting down her fork

“The engagement party is tomorrow. And….” I said, not wanting to finish the sentence

“And?” She asked looking all serious

“Jay’s gonna be there” I said, looking inside my bowl

“Oh ok” She said

“Really? You’re ok with that?” I asked, surprised

“Yeah, I’m fine with it” she replied, getting up with her bowl in hand.

“I’ll wash the dishes” She said, walking to the kitchen. Eddie and I cleared the table, while Zhara did the dishes

We watched re-runs of running man. We kept on laughing our butts off. We had the same food for dinner which was fried rice *YUMMY*. Zhara went and slept a little bit earlier than we did. I don’t remember walking myself to our bed room, I must have fallen asleep. I was the last one to wake up. I quickly brushed my teeth and took a cold shower.

When I went into the kitchen, Eddie had already made breakfast. Zhara was sitting on one of the stools, eating omelet and toast.

“Hey sleepy head” Zhara said, in between bites.

“Hi” I said, taking the stool that was next to her. I took one slice of toast off the plate, and buttered it with strawberry jam. I started eating, shoving omelet into my mouth. It tasted so good!

“I’m done” Zhara announced, getting up and stretching her arms and legs

“Me too” I said, also getting up.

“You guys go get dressed. I’ll clean this up” Eddie said, gathering the plates

“Have you already had something to eat?” I asked

“Yeah, I ate some toast and omelet” He said, walking back to the sink

“Ok” I said walking towards our bed room. I wore my black blazer, black shorts, and white shirt. I finished it off with my brown hat and my high-tops.

When I went out, Zhara was already ready dressed in her white shorts, white shirt, and sandy sandals. I grabbed the car key, said goodbye to Eddie and left.