Sometimes there might be a confusion over what might be. But in the end, a tomato's just a tomato. Nothing more.. And nothing less.
I was sitting at the balcony, looking at my newly bought tomato plant. I wondered if I could eat the tomatoes soon.
The door opened and Jonghyun walked in. "Hey, I'm back!" Jonghyun called out. "Doing anything, Tae-hee?"
He put his bag on the floor and joined me.
"What's that?" He asked.
"Hmm? Oh. It's a tomato plant." I replied.
"A tomato plant? Why?"
I smiled at him. I took the book that was lying on my lap and opened a particular page. I started to read it.
"Tell me..Is a tomato is a fruit or vegetable?" I asked him.
"A vegetable, I guess."
"No, a fruit. Some of the time, at least."
"What? That dosen't make sense."
I gave him a laugh and explained. "Scientifically, tomatoes are fruits. But in 1887, the united states debated classifying them as vegetables for taxation reasons." I continued to read from the book. "It took quite a while, but they eventually agreed that vegetables were legally vegetables."
Jonghyun gave me an awed look. "Really?"
"Yes, culturally, one usually serves vegetables with dinner, and fruits with desert. Since tomatoes are served with dinner--well, you know. They aren't sweet, you see."
I closed the book and looked at Jonghyun. "Can you imagine how difficult a tomato's life must be? They can tell the world they're a fruit, and people would still look at them as vegetables."
I looked away. I know how they feel.
My name was Yoon Tae-Hyun.
Yes, a boy's name. I even went to an all boys' school.
As you can tell, I had... issues. From the beginning.
I worked at the gay bar for a while. But I soon left. I wasn't a man who wanted a man.. I am a woman, and nobody seemed to understand that.
I moved to my friend's house after that.
--FLASHBACK--
"You'll have to do the cleaning, laundry and the dishes, all right?" Jonghyun said.
"Right," I answered back.
"UNDERSTAND?"
"YES I DO," I glared at him.
Satisfied, he nodded. I looked at him for a while. And laughed. It was SO him.
--END OF FLASHBACK--
I continued looking out of the window.I thought of Jonghyun again. You would think I would get bored off thinking of him, but I'm not. He's a great friend and we both know it.
I stopped reading and got up and mumbled to myself, "Well, gotta clean up the house now."
That time, when I was still in the all boy's school, Jonghyun was the first one that I felt comfortable with. He's not into guys, but he's nice. On that day, when I approached him in a serious manner, unlike my bubbly chatacter, I told him my biggest secret.
--FLASHBACK--
When I confessed to him, I was nervous about his reaction. Would he run away? Would he laugh and call me a freak, just like all the others I've told? It was what I expected him to say.
So it came as a surprise when he replied, "Oh.. No wonder you were so serious. Don't worry, I'm not gonna hate you. Not gonna call you a freak or run away either." He paused. "To tell you the truth.. I've kinda guessed that was the case."
He saw my surprised look. "C'mon. We're friends, right? Friends know these things about each other."
He suddenly thought of something. "Hehe. Mind being my boyfriend for a while?"
Wait-- what?
"Girls have been pestering me. I know I'm hot, but seriously. I'm being STALKED by them." He shuddered. Without waiting for my reply, he grabbed my hand and I was pulled away by him.
By then, I overcame my shock and smiled as I was led away by him.
--END OF FLASHBACK--
(A/N: Tae Hee/Hyun's a transgendered character. I'm not sure what that means, but I think it means that she has both male and female organs. *shrugs* Not sure. Better check the internet/wikipedia/dictionary if you really wanna know ;>)
I started to clean the sink. He's been with me ever since. My operation, my breakups, everything.
I would never forget how my hand felt in his. Never. I'm so grateful for him--
"Tae-Hee?" (A/N: She changed her name to a girl's name, it's not legally changed though.)
I stopped in the middle of wiping the sink clean.
"I'M HUNGRY. HUUUNNNGGREEEEEYY~" Jonghyun's voice dragged.
Sheesh. I'm in the middle of telling the readers of my touching background story here. Tch. Talk about a buzzkill.
"FOOOOD! YUMMIES!" Jonghyun continued in his -now irritating- voice.
I sighed. "All right, all right."
I finished up cleaning the sink and tied my hair up and made my way to the fridge. I couldn't help it but smile. He's in a good mood. Certainly keeps the place lively, I'll give him that.
"I bought some mutton yesterday; can we have some?" Jonghyun said all of a sudden. I opened the fridge and saw the mutton sitting there.
"Sure."
--THE NEXT DAY--
"I have to find work.. I can't keep depending on Jonghyun to provide me housing and food all the time." I mumbled to myself.
I reached a cafe called >Cafe Crema<. I had looked through the newspaper and found out that this cafe was hiring girls.
When I was waiting for my turn, I continued to read about the tomatoes. What's so interesting about them? I also don't know. It's just interesting, I guess. When it was my turn, I kept my book and was finally in the manager's office, he requested for my ID. I handed it over, uneasy.
He took a look at my card. I knew what he was seeing. A boy's name. He glanced up at me, saw my uneasy look, and I guess that sealed his decision.
I bet he thinks I'm a guy dressed up as a girl. I look like both a girl and a guy. So I guess people get confused.
I smiled at him, but it came out as a grimace.
"Sorry, sir," he said that 'sir' with extra pressure. "We're not hiring."
I spent the whole day going to available places, but I get the same answer, more or less.
Comments