Two
The Dream Gazer
► CHAPTER TWO
(FENG YU JIE)
The best part of taking the subway is that you can just let your thoughts fly. There is no need to concentrate on steering wheels or traffic lights nor listen to impatient honking around. The worst part, however, is when you're stuck among the hundreds and getting inside is like being in a battle of the fittest. Well, what do I expect from a Friday night?
As soon as the subway train goes to a stop, every breathing creature ran and crowded to the entrance, hoping to have luck on their side and get a decent seat. In this case of a heavy hour, one could be just lucky enough for having two feet on the floor.
If not for Jiali, my best friend, I doubt that I'd ever be willing to get myself into all this hassle. Right after my last class, we were in a deep heart-to-heart phone call as she bawled her eyes out in heavy sobs. Her playboy rockstar kind of boyfriend - or ex-boyfriend for this matter dumped her over a short, lame e-mail. How annoying is that? I swear he'd better not appear in front of me. I might break his face.
Here I am now, at the middle of the very crowded subway train. The only hope I have for keeping my balance is this iron pole I'm holding on to. The two heavy hard-bound books fastened by my arm are certainly not helping with the situation.
My phone kept on ringing, yet I can't fish it out of my sling bag. One arm is in charge of the books, the other was for holding the pole. To make things worse, a fat alcohol-smelling man beside me was also in struggle of keeping his balance.
I close my eyes, hoping it wasn't Jiali at the other end of the line. If it's her, I wish she's in good condition - not drunk which I highly doubt, not with some bad guy's company and certainly not in the verge of any kind of danger.
I sigh deeply, hoping to somehow eradicate my negative thoughts.
"Excuse me, miss." Someone pokes me from my back.
I turn around and see a guy smiling at me with his head tilted. He is literally a few inches from me, which is inevitable considering the crowd. Being this close, I can smell his musky and lightly spicy perfume. He purses his lips, showing his dimpled cheeks.
"Is it yours?" He asks. "I think your phone is ringing."
"Yes. Uhm, mine." I nod. "Is it annoying? I can't get it out though. Too hassle." I shrug, looking anywhere but on him. What could be more awkward than talking to a stranger so close that you're almost skin to skin?
He shakes his hand briefly. "Not that it's annoying, but I can get you some help."
"Oh." He surely does look harmless, but he's still a stranger. Even little kindergarten kids knows the mantra of not talking to strangers. Here I am, already talking to one. I might as well refrain trusting one with fishing my phone out. "No, thank you."
"You sure?" He raises a brow. "It could be an important call."
Right! It could be Jiali. Oh, for goodness' sake. What should I do?
"Believe me, miss." Mr. Stranger sounds amused. That would be better than getting him offended. "All I'm up to is helping. I swear, I am not a thief or any kind of felon."
I didn't know how to deal with this kind of situation, so I averted my gaze somewhere to avoid him.
"Uhm, I understand you can't trust a complete stranger for dealing with your phone." With the thickening compression of the passengers, he was almost whispering right on my ear. Maybe I was sort of exaggerating my sensation, but I think I felt his breath on my neck. "I can at least help you with your books?"
With the nonstop ringing, I assumed it was some sort of emegency. Alright, I'm up for the risk!
"Thank you." I smile awkwardly at the good-looking stranger.
He extends his palm up and I hand him my books.
"This won't take long. I promise." I say, earning a nod from him.
As expected, it is Jiali. But no, it's no emergency at all. She was histerically laughing at the other end of the line, obviously drunk.
"Where are you?" I can't help but roll my eyes ar her. "You told me you'll be at your apartment."
"It's boring there. I need to dance and drink and sweat this out, Yu Jie." She continues to laugh. "Guess what? I learned a new song today. Will you listen?"
"Where are you?" I repeat. This time, sternly.
"Heard of the new bar near my place? It's really nice in here. I see lots of hot guys."
"I'll be there. Limits, okay?" I roll my eyes again. Limit vanish in Jiali's dictionary when she's drunk.
"Won't you listen to me sing?" She whines.
I sigh deeply. "I will when I get there."
When I turn to the Mr. Stranger to get my books, I notice his eyes focused on the cover of the top one - Minds, Consciousness and Dreams.
"Interesting." He remarks as he shifts his eyes on me.
I smile briefly and attempt to get the books from him. He grips on them tighter and shakes his head. "Where's your stop?"
I stop myself from answering.
"It's fine." He says, smiling again. He inches closer and whispers in my ear. "That fat man beside you is already enough of a struggle for balance."
We chuckle and end up laughing over other few passengers around us - the baby who keeps on his brother's finger, the old lady who struggles on opening a pack of chips, the sleepy man who hangs his mouths open, the Goth guy arguing with the chic in pink about some invasion of personal space and almost every soul.
"Why do you carry these around?" He asks, pertaining to the books.
"For research." I say briefly. One think I'm not very fond of is revealing something about myself. Worse, to a stranger regardless of whether he helped me with something or not.
"So, you're a researcher? Psychology?" He asks, fairly amused. "You must be a smart head."
"Not really," I shake my head. "Smart isn't the word for me."
He narrows his eyes. "Then what is?"
"Just doing what needs to be done." I shrug. "School requirement."
"Oh." He snaps. "Psychology major, I suppose?" I nod. "Researching on these topic? Dreams?" He pauses and looks at me. "Interesting."
"Very interesting." I tap on the book cover. "This was published by my teacher's teacher's teacher."
"And you're the next generation researcher, huh?"
"Not exactly. Consciousness isn't really my focus. I'm just assisting on the research. You know, additional credentials." I cease myself from spilling more information.
"Why not much in interest?" He sounds curious but at the same time impassive. "Don't you find dreams--" he pauses and skims his fingers through the book's spine. "Magical?"
For a moment, I gave his statement a thought. As a major of my field, dreams are not magical. They're simply and merely mental processes. Certainly no magic is involved. If he meant to be figurative or literary, then he has a point. After all, dreams have always been a hard-on and delicate topic.
Before I could respond, however, a faint sound goes off, signalling for the stop - my stop.
I turn to Mr. Stranger and smile at him. "Thanks for the help," I say, catching glimpse of his lips. With one last look, I take notice of his lower lip - thicker than his upper and expressive.
"You're welcome," he says. "Actually, this is my stop as well."
Oh. After all, that's not the last look.
author's note
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