“Hey,” Melle took a seat beside the guy, “what are you doing here?”

“Oh, waiting for my date,” he shrugged and then looked at his wristwatch, “tsch. She’s late again.”

“Hyojin? What do you expect if you date a girl with so much muck on her face that the only way she can remove it is if she uses a metal mallet and hammer the make-up off her face,” Melle ended and the boy recognized the embittered distaste from her words.

 “Are you jealous?” His brows arched in amusement.
“What if I am, what does it matter to you anyway,” she shrugged and knew it really didn’t matter.

“Yea, it shouldn’t huh?” His laughter trailed off as he realized that it wasn’t exactly anything funny. Awkwardness enveloped them.

 Tears sprung to her eyes as the scene when she caught Hyojin and him making out came back to haunt her. She stood up abruptly, “you really hurt me, HyunSeung,” and slowly, she ambled away, praying hard under her breath that some miracle would come true and he would run after her.

 But she knew he won’t. He was too hung up on his new-not-so-new girlfriend, Lee Hyojin. The bitter cold winds cut mercilessly into her tear-stained cheeks, and even when she entered the warm, smoky pub, the taste in never really disappear.

 

“Whisky dry, please.”
“Sorry hun, we only carry single malts here,” the lady bartender threw a sympathetic glance over her glasses at the distraught girl. Melle frowned, not understanding. “You don’t mix single malts, sweetheart. I’ll get you a rum coke instead, you look like you could use the sugar.”

“Thanks,” she muttered disheartened, and rested her chin against the bar counter.

 “What’s wrong?” As the lady placed the ice cold glass in front of her, “got dumped?”

“Yea… How you’d.”
“You see a lot when you work here—bars are places where the lost bare their souls,” the lady shrugged nonchalantly, “you’ll get used to it,” then to someone over Melle’s shoulder, she greeted, “hey kids.”

 “Hi Louie,” the small party of three slipped comfortably onto the other chairs at the bar. It consisted of a girl, and two boys, “tonight’s really chilly,” the girl said and Louie nodded in agreement.

“So what will it be?”

One of the guys ordered, “a red for HyunEe, a beer for myself and something-, something-non-gassy for my friend here,” he slapped the back of the second guy whom like Melle, had slipped his head onto the bar counter—lifeless.

 The painful-sounding slap caused Melle to wince but the guy didn’t even move. Despite herself, she leaned curiously towards the three and asked, “Is he alive?”

 The girl, HyunEe chuckled softly, “barely.”
“Although, he seems better off dead huh?” The first guy replied and hit the second guy again. Still no reaction. He removed his hand, “hi, I’m Junhyung by the way, this is HyunEe, my girlfriend and this lifeless form here is Gikwang.”

 “Melle,” she shook his hand firmly and smiled politely at Hyunee who leaned in to give her a girls’ hug.

“Nice to meet you.”

 “Quickly acquainted huh?” Louie commented, “That’s what’s so nice about youngsters your age, you don’t judge who you befriend.” Hyunee and Junhyung exchanged knowing looks, and then cast an unknown glance at Gikwang.

 “What’s wrong with him?” Louie folded her arms together and stared at the boy. “Got ditched, again?”

“Nope,” Hyunee answered breezily, “He thinks Jin is cheating on him.”
“Thinks?” The lady in her late forties frowned.

“He saw her with another guy, hands around each other’s waists,” Junhyung shrugged. The lady’s lips curled distastefully, then she walked away.

 “Why’s she so mad?” Melle asked out of curiosity.

“She’s not too happy about the fact that she’s been nagging him not to see the girl and he refuses to listen and now he’s in this state,” Junhyung replied so matter-of-factly that his girlfriend actually hit him for it.

 “Uh…” Before she could ask another question, the guy replied.

“She’s his aunt, brought him up and everything. His parents died when he was a child. She owns this club, by the way.”

 “Oh…” she inhaled in deeply and her eyes diverted over to Gikwang.
“Honey,” Hyunee nudged her boyfriend, “that’s a lot of information to want someone to absorb in one minute… So, why don’t you come and dance with me?”

 Junhyung laughed apologetically, “sorry about that…”

“That’s fine,” Melle found herself smiling just a little. The couple walked away and before her head stumped heavily onto the bar counter again, her envious eyes fixated themselves enviously upon the departing couple.

 “Ow…” She winced, “that hurt.”

“I bet it can’t fight with the emotional hurt,” she heard a voice from her right. It was the boy with his eyes closed and his cheek resting against the top.

 “Are you talking to me?” Melle asked in a hushed tone.
“Yes I am, but could you pretend I’m not? I really don’t want Louie or Junhyung after my ,” his lips moved but his eyes were shut.
“What about Hyunee?”
“She’s alright—she gives me space to breathe. Those two, on the other hand, breathe down my neck.”

 “Ahh..”

 The boy peer an eye open slightly. She watched with amusement as the muscles in his eye lid shudder as he attempted to just peep a little. Louie was busily entertaining another customer. Gikwang seemed to decide that both of them were truly engrossed before he straightened up and asked Melle.

 “You wanna get out of here? It’s really suffocating.” He sounded tired.

“Ok,” she didn’t know why she agreed but perhaps, she understood perfectly how he felt.

 She slipped into her heavy fleece coat as the wintry air hit the both of them. She saw him properly for the first time under the orange street lights. He was wearing Dr. Martens boots with a pair of dark blue denim jeans and a black hoody. His hair was slightly growing long, a little shaggy and his face was a little chiseled, like he hasn’t shaved for a couple of days.

 “You smoke?” He asked as he exhaled a sign of relief.
“No… And you didn’t drag me out of the smoky pub just to smoke, did you?” She seemed a little annoyed.

 His grin was lopsided, and if she wasn’t still so hung up over her ex boyfriend, she might have thought he was cute. “Nah, I thought you would like to go grab a bite with me.”

 “You want to eat?”
“Do you?”
“Do you think food is the best way to get over a broken heart?” She voiced out her thought.

“If you want the truth,” he shuffled his feet and looked up, “I think dying is,” he cut her, “but I won’t die because of a girl. It’s not worth it.”

 He walked away, dragging his heavy feet, step by step and left her there, pondering. He turned around, “Melle?”

 By default, she turned around, “yes?”
“You coming?” He tilted his head in the direction of the street.

 She sighed grudgingly, and walked towards him. “Ok, whatever.”

 ~*~

 

“Chicken feet, or Thai-styled fried tofu?”
“Definitely chicken feet,” she replied while staring into the menu.

Gikwang put thumbs up, “Atta girl.”

 “So were your ex girlfriend and you together for long?” When she didn’t exactly know what kind of conversation she should start.
“I was in love with her for a very long time, just that she didn’t know,” he drummed his fingers on the table.

“And?” She probed gently.

“Finally got together and it’s less than six months and she’s seeing someone else behind my back. Your story?”

 “My story?”

“You didn’t go to my aunt’s pub to not mope alone, did you?” He kept a steady gaze.

She kept her lips tightly pursed, refusing to say a word. “Never mind.”

 “So what do you do for a living?” He asked after gulping down the shot of soju.

 “Still a student,” she shrugged, reached over and refilled his shot glass with soju.

“Is that a good job?”

“Are you kidding me with the question?” She gave him a disbelieving face.

 “I’m serious; I’ve been out of school since after high school.”

“How old are you?”

“21, are you in college?”

“Yea…”

“What are you doing?”

 She paused, and couldn’t decide why the guy was so interested in her affairs, “biomedical science.”

 “Whoa, you’re probably the smartest girl I’ve encountered for a while now.”

“Is that a compliment?” Her head tilted curiously.

“Not intended as an insult, at least,” he grinned naturally. “How old are you?”

 “Younger…”

“You don’t really like to talk, do you?” he probed.

“I don’t really know you.” She replied smartly. She didn’t really want to judge her by the naïve façade people say she always give but.

 “You know enough of me to talk to me, I hope? You know my only family—my aunt, you know my friends, you know I’m heartbroken, you know I prefer chicken feet to tofu, you know I’m between jobs.” She really liked his eyes, when he talked to her, he genuinely listened.

 “But I know almost nothing about you, you can’t blame me for being curious then.”

 The honesty in his words and voice totally won her over, “ok, what do you want to know then?” He took a deep breath and prepared to ask a series of questions.

 “How old are you?”
“20.”

“That’s a good age, I remember the days when I was 20—working at Louie’s as a bartender. How’s your 20?”

 “College…” she contemplated, “can be quite contradictory.”

“How so?” he shuffled in his seat comfortably and leaned in curiously.

 “It’s many things,” he waited patiently for her to continue her words, “it’s fun, it’s boring, it’s tedious, it’s all-sleep-and-study, it’s all hormones-raging-love-making in the halls, it’s all competitive, it’s all interesting, it’s a basic mix of everything you can think of.”

 “And also, weed, cigarettes, assignments and grades?” He continued with a half cheeky grin.

 “That too. So you ever want to go to college?” She asked.

“No, I don’t like the idea of having to conform to perform for grades when I don’t care about the subjects I study…”

 “Did you know him from college then?”
“Who?”
“Your ex boyfriend—whoever he is.”

 “No. I hope college boys aren’t half as bad as him,” she self-explained.

“I hope not either, there’s this perception that with that amount of studies in your head, you ought to be able to think better.”

 “Really?”

“I believe so,” Gikwang replied with a shrug.

 “It’s just that, I thought he would be the one whom with this relationship truly lasted. We were together for about a year and I had this major crush on him but I daren’t tell him. In the end, he did take an interest in me, and we got together…”

 “Things don’t always go as planned,” the guy ignored the taste of dissatisfaction in his mouth, “I had intended to marry my ex-girlfriend, until she cheated on me though.”

 “Would you have forgiven her? If she asked for your apology?”

 At that question, Gikwang pondered for quite a while, “I believe so…”

 “You’re weak,” she told him to the face. He wasn’t offended although he did flip the question back at her. Not so much of a question than a statement of mutual understanding.

 “You would have forgiven him, yourself.”

“Stating the obvious, of course.”

 “Yea, we’re both weak,” after he didn’t reply. He stoned for a moment, his eyes diverted away.

 “More soju?”  He lifted up the bottle of soju.

“Yea, sure,” she pushed her shot glass towards him. He poured a fair amount in for her.

 “You don’t get drunk easily, I hope,” Gikwang eyed the girl suspiciously.

“I thought guys like that in girls?” She patronised.

“You will think so but sorry, I’m totally hung up on my ex. Besides, I’m serious about not all guys being like this.”

 “You including?”
“I’m special—I’m idealistic about love, and girls. Just that, maybe the right girl wasn’t her.”

 “So… How idealistic?” She couldn’t help probing. The guy was strangely interesting, a speaker.

“One person for one person in this world kind of deal, I don’t believe in anything else.”

“Right, I’m sure your girlfriend was all hot for that ideal,” she replied sarcastically.

 “Not really, I did mention that she cheated on me, didn’t I?”

“For how long?”

“Let’s see now, we went out for about a year and a half and she was faithful to me for about…”

 “A year?” She probed hopefully.

“Half that please, if you would.”

“That’s bad…” She trailed off, rather speechless.

“Yes, it isn’t very good.”

 “I don’t understand why people cheat on people.”

“Neither do I, just break up with them first.”

“Maybe it’s the uncertainty.”

“I will gladly bear all uncertainties as long as it doesn’t happen to me.” He shifted uncomfortably, “and it has happened to me.”

 “Hah…”

 Silence enveloped the both of them for like five minutes before Gikwang mustered the guts to break the silence.

 “We should really look pass all the past, we both deserve better.”

“I have been trying to convince myself of that.”

“You’ll do fine, really, let’s try and get over this together then.”

 

“I’ll,” suddenly her eyes widened and he could literally recognize the fear in her eyes. It was the same kind that he saw reflect in his eyes when he first saw her and him making out.

“Is he here?”
“Hide me,” she whimpered and tried to hide behind him.

“Wait,” her hands were gripping his Tshirt tightly. She felt his upper body freeze. Out of curiosity and ignoring her fears, she tilted her head slightly to an angle so she could see his face.

His face had writhed into a look of pure angst. He faced her, “YOU MEAN HE’S YOUR EX BOYFRIEND?! THAT’S MY HYOJIN! WHAT THE !?”

She couldn’t believe her ears, or her eyes. In front of her now was a totally pissed off Gikwang who had just yelled at her at the realization of the absurd situation. “What?!”

 “YES, THAT’S MY EX-GIRLFRIEND! THAT WAS THE GUY SHE CHEATED ON ME WITH!” He screamed again and next, he immediately stormed towards the unaware couple. Before Melle could register what was going on, he was picking a fight with Hyunseung.

 “You blardy fart!” And he pulled Hyunseung quickly from behind the shoulder and jostled him violently. “WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT YOU SEEING HYOJIN?!”

 Hyunseung’s eyes widened as he recognized an infuriated Gikwang, “Kwang! Hey…” Then he spotted Melle, “Melle? What…”

 “SO YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH THIS ER?! HOW COULD YOU! HE WAS MY FRIEND!” Gikwang turned towards Hyojin and insisted. His face was red with emotions.

 Before Hyojin could also reply, Hyunseung pushed Gikwang aside, “don’t yell at her!”

 “YOU RATHER I YELL AT YOU HUH!?” Gikwang returned his attention, “SO PROTECTIVE OF HER? WHAT ABOUT YOUR HEART-BROKEN EX GIRLFRIEND HUH?” Hyunseung bowed his head, slightly in guilt. But he returned up with a rekindled flame in his eyes.

 “I DIDN”T LOVE HER!” He yelled back ignoring the tearing Melle. She hated the truth and how she had been deceiving herself…
“WHAT THE DOES THAT MEAN!?” Gikwang , well-aware that she was crying, gripped her shoulder tightly.

“SHE’S NOT EVEN HALF PRETTY! HYOJIN IS GORGEOUS.”

 At his words, Melle’s eyes flew up, “that’s why you cheated on me? Because you thought I wasn’t pretty enough to be your girlfriend? How old are you?!”

 Gikwang turned to Hyojin with a horrified look, “YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH SUCH A GUY?!” Then to Hyunseung, “what’s wrong with you?! Melle is the best girl I know! At least, she has a heart, and don’t tell me she’s not pretty, SHE’S REAL AND REALLY PRETTY!”

 And then before anyone of them could protest, Gikwang’s fist flew across Hyunseung’s face and caused his lip to bleed.

 “YAH GIKWANG!” A furious Hyunseung punched a not ready Gikwang back in the face. That impact causing him to fall backwards.

 “Gikwang!” She ran towards him where he realized that he had scraped his palms. He put one of his bleeding palms near her face and gritted his teeth.

 “This isn’t over yet,” he stood up and punched Hyunseung into the face first, “this is for Melle,” and then elbowed his knee into the latter’s stomach, “and this is for Me!!” He stole a last harsh stare at Hyunseung who had doubled over and was now crouching on the floor and the girl on her knees next to him.

 “Gikwang…” Melle pulled the still agitated boy and ran a couple of blocks away with him. “Come here,” she coaxed him under her breath, “you’ve done enough…”

 Gikwang gazed deeply into her eyes, “you really think so?”

“The rest is up to us to deal with, at least we got it out,” she beamed at him and took his hand. He winced when she accidentally squeezed his hand.

 “Ouch.”
“I’m sorry,” she wanted to let his hand go but he tightened his grip on her hand instead. A short painful expression crossed his face but quickly faded.

 “Don’t let me go.” The words flew out of his mouth, to his own surprise. She didn’t let go of his hand, “I think he broke my jaw,” he put a hand to his cheek painfully, “Come on, let’s go to my place,” and he pulled her in his apartment’s direction.

~*~

 

As soon as she came out with the three hard boiled eggs from the kitchen, he sat down on the sofa and pat the seat next to him. They cracked the eggs together in silence and then at the same time, offered each other’s peeled egg to each other. She took over his egg and bit into it, “thank-you,” as she chewed.

“For the egg?”
“Not just the egg,” her jaws moved. He could see her brain clogs working, “well…” She didn’t say another word but continued to work at the egg.

“Good times huh? It’s not often I have that much fun during a date anymore.” Gikwang were making weak attempts to grin. She finished her egg and wiped her hands with a paper serviette. She wrapped the last egg in a handkerchief and started to dab at his cheek. He eyed her method of healing.

If she was surprised, she hid it well. Gikwang sat there appreciatively and enjoyed someone giving him attention.

“I don’t understand. Was that a date?”
“Kind of,” he gazed down at his feet and wriggled his toes. “Look, I’m alive!” She hit him with the other hand.

“Don’t play around…”
“I like this, my aunt never did this, and she couldn’t even boil eggs. We eat out every single day.” She listened attentively.

“Simple things that I sometimes take forgranted,” she answered. He gazed away, a look of seriousness evitable on his face.
 

“I like how you’re honest with your feelings,” he replied.
 

“And I don’t go on a date with a guy the immediate day I meet him,” she smiled.
“Maybe it’s fated. Your ex boyfriend and my ex girlfriend were cheating on us together, making us seem like fools,” he shrugged and tried to smile. His swollen cheek got into the way, “oww.”

She felt lighter than she had for a long time, “that’s a really weird first date then,” she continued to rub the hard-boiled egg wrapped in the handkerchief gently into his wound. He winced but his eyes dancing a little, “it was a good first date.”

“Not too bad,” she admitted honestly, “especially when you gave him a swollen eye and a bleeding lip. I’m glad he can’t kiss her now, aren’t you?” He was gazing into her eyes in a incomprehensible way.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing,” he smiled secretly to himself.

“Come on, tell me.”

He looked away for a second, “I was just thinking it turned out to be a really good night.” She smiled and focused her concentration on the bruised area. Seeing that she didn’t say a word, he probed her gently with his knee, “what do you think?”

“Rude,” she rolled her eyes at him, “don’t get too chauvinistic, I’m not your wife.”

“And I’m not your husband either,” he told her straight, “So we’re at least friends?”

“Friends,” she started to harbor the same grin as him.

“You know what I’m thinking?” He asked her.
“What? I’m not a worm in your tummy,” she told him.

“Never said you were…” He smiled. Melle put down the egg back into the bowl on the coffee table.

“We shouldn’t eat that.”

“No we shouldn’t… Anyways, we can’t like get over our exs yet but you think like we can see each other on perhaps a slightly more regular basis?”

She laughed uncontrollably at that rather irregular question. Gikwang tried to his embarrassment by attempting to hide the question with another question.

“Er, you wanna head to Louie’s?”

“And show your aunt your new bruise?” She sounded skeptical, he shrugged it off.

“Oh, she’s bound to see when she’s back anyways, might as well show it to her in a public place, less room to scream at me,” he explained with a grin.

“Okay,” she stood up.

“I’ll grab our coats,” he said.

“And I’ll clean up—”

“Look, you’re already treating this like your own apartment!”

“Hey!” She protested.

Then at the door as he opened it with his bandaged palm, “hey. You wanna like catch a move tomorrow? Then dinner?”

She grinned, “I’ll like that.”

THE END.