He didn’t particularly know where he was heading. After a huge fight with his mother, all he wanted to do was wander and cool himself down. It was his life and his mom shouldn’t be all up in his business—or at least that was his mindset. Maybe he was a little too harsh on her; he never raised his voice to his own mother before. Maybe it was only a phase—teenage rebellion could it be? His dream was to be a musician but his mother said otherwise.

“Who knows where musicians are these days?” she said to him. She was in the middle of making dinner, already stressed out from a busy day in the hospital. “Why don’t you try going for a more… I don’t know. A more plausible career? Singers aren’t always successful, honey.”

“But Mom, I won’t know if I don’t try,” he mumbled. She’s being difficult again. He knew every time that he brings this subject up she’ll just slap it away. “Junhong-ah,” his mom said, wiping his hands on a dish rag, “I don’t want you to struggle as much as I did. I want you to live happily.”

“I can’t, mom!” he burst. “I can’t live happily if you keep manipulating every single thing I do! I can’t live happily if I can’t make my own decisions! It’s my dreams and you can’t strip that away from me!” He abruptly got up from his chair, letting it fall back with a loud thud and stomped out the door. His mother, in complete awe, stared at the tall boy walking out of the house before the door slammed shut. She’d never been so scared of her baby boy before.

Her day couldn’t get any worse. How in the world could she be laid off work? Didn’t she just hear her boss tell her that she was one of the best workers he’s ever had just last week? “We’re short on money…” he had said to her. “I’m going to have to fire you. It’s a very hard decision but—” She didn’t want to think about that whole scene. There were other people that he could have gotten rid of but it had to be her.

How is she going to pay off her rent now? Being only seventeen doesn’t help at all. The condition between her and her parents isn’t really something to be messed with; they’re still quite pissed she decided to run off and live on her own. Her older brother could help but he’s all the way on the other side of the world. There was no hope.

She needed to cool down. Her boss knew that too after the way she marched out of the café created a huge scene. Who cared anyway? She won’t be back there any time soon. She was still in her black vest that smelled of coffee while taking a stroll around the city. She didn’t know where she was going but she just wanted to wander. She wanted to take her mind off of this day and maybe make something out of it. She didn’t lose hope—not yet.

The apron around her waist hung loose as she took steady steps. She needed to meet up with someone and watch a movie or something. Anything would do to cool herself off. Taking her phone out of her apron pocket, she dialed a number and waited for them to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey! I was wondering if you could meet up with me in front of the theater on 10^th street. Is that fine with you?” she asked. It took the other some time to reply but eventually agreed. “But don’t you have work today?” She sighed and replied, “I’ll explain when we meet up,” and hung up.

Tenth Street was not far from here, only three blocks away. She took her time because she knew her friend would take some time getting there. But when she finally turned the corner towards the theater she saw him leaning against the wall, waiting. It was almost as if he was having a tough day too. She ran up to him, apologizing for the wait but he shook it off.

“It’s okay,” Junhong said. “I was around the area anyway.”

“Oh, I see. What brought you here?” she asked, leaning against the wall beside him. His head hung low as he took a deep breath. “It’s okay; you don’t have to tell me.”

“No, no. It’s just that I had a fight with my mom… again,” he explained. “It’s about the whole career thing and I really don’t want to be an engineer like my dad. I kind of raised my voice at her. It was good thing my father wasn’t home or I would have been smacked to a whole new universe.” He tried to lighten up the mood and she managed to smile at his attempt. Today could get worse; her best friend was having a hard time as well as her.

“To make you feel any better—which I doubt—I got laid off work today. That’s why I asked if we could meet up.” He looked at her with sorry eyes. She forced a smile and said it was nothing. “It’s not nothing,” he replied. “You really liked that job and it’s their loss. You’ll do great at another place, trust me. That coffee shop , to be honest…” She smacked his arm but couldn’t help to agree. Badmouthing the place helped her feel better and seeing her smile helped him feel better.

“Hey,” he mumbled after things quieted down. “Remember that own time when our moms would make us do those little photo shoots at the mall?” She thought about it and laughed. It was so long ago; they were about five years old then. “Do you remember that one time where it was a dinner type of thing?”

“I remember,” she laughed. “You almost swallowed the bread and your mom had a hard time taking the piece of foam out of your mouth.” He smiled back at her and replied, “That bread was highly realistic, okay?”

“Okay,” she said. “What about that then?”

“Let’s go out to dinner.”

“What?” She turned to him and found him looking up a building. His features changed as he matured and he was a whole head taller than her now that she realized. He grew up to be a handsome guy.

“Let’s go have dinner,” he said again, this time turning to face her. “Let’s both get our minds off this day and eat it all out. Let’s have a date.”

very simple and short but i hope you liked it!