Part I:

                Endlessly, the sound of a phone trilled throughout the darkened apartment. At the end, there was a moment before the phone lit up with a voicemail notification. A few minutes passed until the sound went off once more. However, not a soul moved to pick it up. Not a soul moved or made a sound as the phone received another notification. This time, it was paired with a text message.

                This process repeated over the span of an hour until I heaved a sigh and threw the covers off of me. From there, I slowly climbed out of bed and over to my desk where I had last placed my phone. The entire room was engulfed in black shadows which made it hard to safely cross my room. Once I reached my phone, I the screen only to wince at the brightness of it all. It seemed like it had been ages since I saw light—which was only slightly true.

                Squinting my puffy eyes, I stared at the screen as it declared that I had over twenty calls and double the amount of text messages. I shook my head at the sight and went through each and every message. Most were from my mother, repeating the same phrase while some were from my two best friends asking close to the same thing. However, the most recent message listed was quite different. Without letting another second pass, I jumped to life and rushed to flip on the lights. Once the room was finally illuminated, I dashed to my mirror to examine the damage.

                “I’m dead,” I whispered to myself and turned to the closet. “I’m so dead!” I repeated a little louder this time. Frantically, I rummaged through my closet until I found a handful of dresses. From what the message said, I had a little less than an hour before my mother stated that she would be there. Supposedly, we were going out to a formal dinner with a family friend. And of course, she had to pick this moment in time to notify me.

                Once I finally came across the dress that would fit the situation best, I dashed out of my room to the bathroom in order to take a shower. It had been days since I had last stepped out of my apartment into the human world. Even then, I only stepped out to appease my mother’s worried heart. But like my mother stated time and time again, I have already put my life on hold for a whole month and it was past time to move on. It was past time to get a head on my shoulders once more and face the harsh realities of life.

                An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and I was barely fluffing my chin-length hair when the doorbell rang. My eyes widened and I quickly checked to make sure everything was alright before rushing to the door monitor. Stretched across the screen was none other than my mother’s face decked out in make-up. Hesitantly, I unlocked the door and let the beloved woman inside.

                “After days of not hearing from you, I thought it had been long enough. But you didn’t even have the audacity to answer my calls or texts. I thought something happened to you. Something terrible. I was so scared that I prayed to God Almighty that everything would be alright by the time I arrived. And I am ever so grateful for the fact that it was. But, my goodness, Ji Eun-ah, look at your eyes!” the woman rambled as she started to fuss over me.

                “Ma, I did the best I could. So, let’s go, okay?” I urged, trying my best to avoid my mother’s prying eyes. Yes, it was easy to see my swollen and scratchy red eyes, but it was to be expected. Only time away from the tears would cure such aspects. And it felt like it was time to try and keep the tears at bay.

                Huffing out, half with worry and half with frustration, my mother turned around and led the way out of the apartment. Silence fell in between the two of us the entire way until we were settled inside of the car. When we were well on our way to the destined restaurant was when I finally decided to face my mother.

                “Which friend are we meeting?”

                “Oh! She’s the friend with the son who’s about seven or eight years older than you. I believe his name is Hyukjae? When you were young, you two would stick to each other like glue. Do you remember?” Oh. Him. Looking at my mother’s face, I noticed the expectant look she wore.

                “Of course I remember, Ma!” She smiled.

                “You two always mentioned that you would marry each other,” she laughed, her eyes alight with the memory. However, I didn’t find joy in that. No, my heart was struck down by the pain of knowing that the one I really wanted to marry wouldn’t be an option in the future. Not with the way our last parting happened at least.

                Fighting back the tears that threatened to pour, I forced myself to focus on something else. Anything else. Slowly, I counted back the years when I last saw my friend. I believe that I was about eight when he was forced to leave and move on with his life. Twelve years. And my mother wanted us to reunite? Possibly kindle the small flame of childish love we once had? It seemed kind of silly to think about.

                “Ah, we’re here!” my mother whispered, excitement filling her very being. Sure enough, the car stopped in front of the doors to a fancy restaurant. Before I knew it, someone stepped forward to open my door. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out and stood off to the side to wait for my mother to take her place. Once out, my dear mother brushed past me and headed straight into the restaurant. Shocked, I huffed in annoyance and hurried after her. Instantly, the doors opened and a hostess greeted us with a bow. From there, she led the way to the table that had been reserved for our dinner date. Luckily, we were the first to arrive. When my mother was seated, I thanked the hostess and sat down.

                “I thought it we were the ones meeting them,” I whispered while glancing at the door. Smiling, my mother’s warm hand reached out and patted me on the knee.

                “They should be here soon. They had something else planned earlier in the day.”

                It was as if her words were the cue for the pair to enter. From the door, it seemed as if the lady leading the way was small and frail. But her beauty was clear to see, barely showing signs of age that my own mother portrayed. The woman was dressed in an outfit that put mine to shame and her hair was pulled back into an elegant bun—not a hair out of place. Needless to say, she was so breathtaking that I failed to notice the younger man beside her. It wasn’t until they were standing before our table that I actually noticed him. The man who was supposed to be my childhood friend. Not wasting another minute, my mother stood up and nudged me to do the same. With that, she warmly greeted her friend she hadn’t seen in years.

                “You haven’t aged at all!” the beautiful woman exclaimed as she embraced my mother. “And this is Ji Eun?” she added once the embrace was over. Blinking, I stretched a smile across my lips and nodded in greeting. “You’ve grown into such a beautiful young woman! But, my, are you thin!” Unable to reply, I smiled and waited for her to her to say more.

                “You must be famished! Sit! We can continue our greetings once we’ve ordered,” my mother quickly intercepted. As if she had forgotten where we were, the woman before us glanced down at the table. Before another word was said, the man by her side rushed over to pull out a chair for her.

                Suddenly entranced, I continued to watch his every movement until he peered up at me with his gleaming eyes. Taken aback, I pried my gaze away and settled into my seat. I noticed, though, that he was trying to keep a snicker suppressed.

                “It’s been a while, Ji Eun,” he greeted while a waiter appeared at our table to pass out the menus.

                “Yes, it has,” I answered before disappearing behind my own menu. It didn’t seem long until we ordered, had our food, and began the intimate process of catching up on the gap between the last time we met and now. By the end, my mother looked overjoyed yet exhausted. Just one meal wasn’t enough to catch up on years of information.

                “Ah, is it already time to go?” the woman across from us solemnly questioned. It seemed like the two women were children once more, not daring to depart with each other. Sighing heavily, the two got up once the check was paid and made their way out. Outside, Hyukjae’s mother stopped and turned to face her son.

                “I’ll take Ji Eun home so that you two can continue talking,” the man offered before she could utter a single word. Clamping shut, his mother smiled and nodded.

                “Please take care of her,” my mother earnestly requested. Quietly, I wished that he didn’t offer. I wished all my might that I could have gone home with my mother. I just wasn’t in the mood to keep anyone company for much longer.

                “Ji Eun-ah?” Hyukjae’s mother called me out of the trance I had fallen into. Blinking, I watched as she grabbed one of my hands and patted it gently in her warm grasp. “It was lovely seeing you again. Take care, okay?” Unsure as to how to respond, I merely nodded.

                “The cars are here. Be safe!” my mother announced and towed her friend away. The moment the door closed them inside the car was the moment when the air turned awkward between my childhood friend and me. Coughing to gain my attention, my friend nodded toward the car.

                “Should we go?”

                “I guess we should.” As I took a step in the direction of the car, Hyukjae jumped to life and rushed over pull the door open for me. Thanking him, I slid in and watched as he carefully shut me in. Once he was beside me, memories I would rather have locked away crashed into my mind. It had been a couple of years since the memory took place—the memory of first meeting him.

                I was leaving a coffee shop where I had met a friend of mine before an interview. We had lost track of time and if I didn’t catch a taxi that instant, I would have been late. Fortunately, there was one waiting. Thinking that it was my lucky day, I excitedly ran to it. However, a man arrived first. He was just about to get in when I yelled for him to stop. And he did. For just a second.

                Knowing that this was my last chance, I latched onto the handle of the door. He tried to pull it shut, but I resisted with my entire weight. It must have been how desperate I had been, but I somehow put up a good fight against the man until the driver yelled for me to just get in. Victorious, I forced the strange man to scoot over and allow me to get in so that the driver could get on his way.

                Grumbling, the man kept to himself as a sour look distorted his childish face. Rolling my eyes, I settled into my seat and stared out the window. But we didn’t move. Instead, the driver continued to sit and that’s when I noticed it. The sign that said “reserved”. Shocked, I nudged the man beside me and nodded to the sign. His eyes widened and he leaned forward to begin pleading with the driver. But the man wouldn’t budge. That is, until the stranger shoved a wad of cash into his face.

                Greedily, the driver accepted, switched off the sign, and ask where we were headed. At once, the two of us happened to announce the same exact location. Taken aback, I stared at the one beside me. Why would he go there? Was he going to be a performer too? But no matter how much I pestered him, I received no answer. And because of that, an awkward silence settled in between us and didn’t lift until we were out of the suffocating backseat.

                Such a memory was what started my short fate with that man. A fate that would change my entire life. That being said, was this slight awkwardness at this moment the start of something new?

                Peering over at the man beside me, I realized how much he really did change since the last time we had seen each other. His jawline was now sharp and his eyes held a different glint in them. Everything about him was so mature compared to the fifteen year old I last saw. My friend was different and had grown into a handsome man.

                “Where do you want to go?” he finally questioned, turning to look my way. My eyes widened at the thought of being caught staring. I hadn’t meant to stare so openly.

                “Um, anywhere,” I whispered. All of the sudden, I got the urge to go anywhere but back home. If I was home, I would go back into my cloud of self-pity. And I was tired of being captured by such numb feelings.

                “Oh…well…” he sighed and dug out his phone.

                “What?” I watched as his fingers flew over the screen.

                “I had another schedule after this.”

                “I didn’t mean for you to attend with me! I can always catch a taxi and go somewhere on my own.”

                “Where are you going?”

                “I don’t know…”

                “You know what? I was just going to meet up with one of my friends. I can see if you can come along.”

                “No…that’s okay. I know where to go now.” With that, his fingers froze. Making a slight face, he nodded without putting up a struggle. A struggle I had been prepared for. And silence settled between us as his driver took me to my friend’s house. Before we parted ways, Hyukjae took my phone and placed my number into it.

                “If you need anyone, anyone at all, call me. I’ve missed you, Ji Eun-ah.” My heart twisted from those words. A small smile spread across my face as I thanked him. Without another word, we parted our ways. Little did I know, though, that I would see and talk to him sooner than I thought.