One | Final
For Fate to Decidehttp://www.listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=GOsgKWohjPc
Fujita Maiko | 駆け引き (Kakehiki/Strategies)
Fujita Maiko | 駆け引き (Kakehiki/Strategies)
Lee Eunsa enjoys people-watching. In fact, it’s her favorite hobby; she likes predicting what one person’s life was like before moving on to the next person. That was why when she met Byun Baekhyun, she was intrigued by the way her prediction seemed to be way off.
When she first saw him on the bus on the way to work, she believed he was caring and polite. He had given up his seat for an elderly lady during one of the stops as there were no more available seats. He had a kind smile, gentle enough to warm possibly even the coldest of hearts out there. Eunsa felt her heart act funny; she wondered if she was sick.
The first time they had formally encountered each other was at a colleague’s party. She found out that he worked at the same company as she did, yet in another department. A mutual colleague had thrown a party to celebrate another successful production; Eunsa found this as a chance to finally meet him properly. As she introduced herself, he gave her an expressionless gaze before excusing himself politely, never once turning.
Eunsa became puzzled. Had she already done something wrong that caused such a cold reaction to surface from such a seemingly warm-hearted male? From what she remembered, this would be their first official meeting; never once had they talked to each other before. Her head began to hurt, and she excused herself from the conversation she had suddenly become a part of and left for her home.
-
Lately, her head began to hurt tremendously. To her knowledge, she had no severe illness or tumor that existed in her family tree that would cause such excruciating pain in her head. At first she paid no mind to it as she continued on with her regular lifestyle, though she often continued trying to extract some kind of conversation with the man whose first impression differed from his actual personality.
However, as weeks treaded on, she became disheartened. She had known it would have been hard to communicate with the mysterious male, but it seemed that any effort she put in it went down the drain; he simply was not interested in including her in his life. This realization only added to the pain in her head, and soon enough, she requested for a temporary leave, though she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to return to work.
The night of her first day without work, a sudden memory resurfaced; she remembered a young girl and boy. She recognized the young girl as herself, but the young boy caught her attention. He looked somewhat similar to the confusing male she tried to befriend. The two small figures had played around at a playground in her memory; their laughter and smiles brought a certain feeling of nostalgia and despair to her as her face grew solemn, and she buried herself underneath her covers.
-
Three months passed by quickly, and Eunsa was glad that her head pains were finally gone. She resumed working, often encountering familiar co-workers who greeted her back with warm welcomes and considerate thoughts, like making sure she was not overworking so her head would not hurt again or making sure she rested every once in a while. She smiled happily while reassuring her co-workers, telling them that she made sure her head stopped hurting for sure before returning to work.
That day after she finished work, Eunsa headed out of the company doors, stopping when she found a familiar figure waiting at the steps in front of her. The figure turned around, revealing a familiar face, yet she couldn’t place a figure on it. Who was he?
He cleared his throat, and she found the tip of his ears to be a faint red. “I’ll take you home,” he said quickly before turning around and walking briskly in front of her. She furrowed her eyebrows cautiously; did she know him well enough that he was able to take her home? Rummaging through her memories, she realized that they were blurry, and she was unable to recall anything over the past few months.
Ahead of her, he stopped before looking over his shoulder. “Are you coming?” he asked with a sigh. She snapped out of her thoughts before approaching him carefully, “Do I know you?”
She saw the surprise cross his face before he recomposed himself, clearing his throat again, “We’ve worked in the same company for a while now, though we’re in different departments.” She nodded with a small unsure frown on her face. Seeing her expression, he shrugged, “Believe what you want. I’m just making sure you get home safe, or else your friends will kill me with their questions again.” Eunsa frowned but nevertheless followed the strange male to his car.
-
Time seemed to pass slowly as Eunsa sat in the passenger seat while the familiar male drove her home. She avoided conversations with him by pretending to be asleep, and she could hear a faint dejected sigh once in a while. As her eyes stayed shut, she couldn’t deny the feeling of security as she sat in the passenger seat; there was something about the male that made her unconsciously trust him.
Suddenly, the car stopped. Eunsa swallowed inconspicuously, wondering if she should open her eyes. The male next to her seemed to have no intentions on waking her up or getting out of the car; instead, the sound of rustling filled her ears before she heard another discouraged sigh. She felt something warm clasp around her left hand, causing her heart to skip a beat. “Eunsa,” she heard him whisper tenderly before a hand ran through her hair. She could feel his intense gaze on her, the atmosphere becoming heavy with tension. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, she shifted slightly, and the warm sensations she felt quickly left. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking as her vision began adjusting to her surroundings. When her eyes landed on the male next to her, she found that his face had turned red, his blush spreading up to his ears. She looked around afterwards, realizing that they had already reached her house. “Oh,” she blinked quietly before turning back to Baekhyun, who looked away in embarrassment, “Thank you for the ride home.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, watching as she quickly got out of the car and disappeared into her house. When she was gone from his view, he let out a sigh and hit his head against the headrest. “You idiot,” he muttered to himself, “What are you doing?”
-
Days past, and Eunsa felt herself feeling better and better every day. Her headaches never appeared again, and her mood continued to rise positively with each passing day. The only thing that disturbed her peaceful state was the memory of that night.
Sitting at her work station, she stared blankly at her screen, eyebrows furrowed. He confused her, enough to the point where her mind was filled with only his contradicting actions. After that night, he kept his distance, avoiding her when she tried to approach him. Feeling as though she did something wrong, she gave up chasing after him, physically and emotionally.
It wasn’t as though he was oblivious to her motives. He knew that his actions had confused her; his actions confused everyone, even his close friends. As much as he wanted to let her approach him, he had to stay away; after all, it was up to fate whether or not they would end up as friends or anything more. However, as time went by, he found himself to be at peace more often than usual; he discovered the reason to be that she had given up. Though he was glad, a part of him inside was disappointed.
-
Eunsa lied in bed on a chilly spring evening. Her body was wrapped up in her blankets, and she stared mindlessly at her desk, an old picture frame to be exact. The picture captured the image of a young girl and boy, both smiling brightly at the camera as the boy put his arm around her shoulder. Her arm was around his waist, and both of their faces had a light red hue. Unable to stare at it any longer, she turned around to face the wall, a small sigh emitting from her lips.
She had already confirmed her feelings; she was sure that she had already fallen for the strange male, but what was she supposed to do? They worked in the same company; they were bound to meet again someday, and that someday would only bring more pain to her. She couldn’t just resign now; they were in the middle of another large-scale project, and her company needed all the help they could get.
Her mind filled with wandering thoughts as she mulled over her possible choices, yet to no prevail. She ended up burying herself deeper into her blankets, letting fate decide what the outcome would be.
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