Chapter Eighteen: Midnight Escapade

It’s 12 midnight and Mi Ja finds herself sitting on Junmyeon’s car.

She mentally thanks herself for slipping into thick and decent pajamas after taking her time bathing. The weather has gotten colder than the past few days, and the snow has already piled up by the side of the windshield. If it wasn’t for the wiper that sweeps off the snow, they wouldn’t obviously see how dark it already is outside through the parabolic shape cleaned off of snow.

“Before I start wondering why my mom actually let me out of the house at midnight – and with a man, too – should I first be wondering why the man even asked?” Mi Ja questions, after few minutes of letting the silence rule their words out. Junmyeon must have preferred silence over a failed attempt of small talk because it seems like he doesn’t intend to reply.

Mi Ja whistles and mumbles under her breath, “Okay, that went well.”

Junmyeon sighs and slows his driving down. There aren’t too many people around the vicinity right now, and luckily enough, the place looks so familiar. She sees a string of lights from the thin papers of lanterns gleaming down on them. There are small steps on the snow by the sidewalk, the road’s a bit icy, but Junmyeon refused to stop. Mi Ja starts talking again, “Where are we?”

“How about you shut up?” Junmyeon sneers at her and then proceeds into the ‘keeping-quiet’ game. Mi Ja mocks him by mimicking his tone and all but stops afterwards as she realizes that Junmyeon looks deadpan serious right now. It’s not the bad kind of ‘serious’ though, so she isn’t really that afraid.

Mi Ja talks again, stubborn as she is, “What ploy is this? Don’t tell me you’re actually pursuing your being a ‘murderer’.”

The wheels of the car screeches as Junmyeon suddenly steps on the brake. Junmyeon avoids her eyes and buried his face on his palms. Mi Ja could only notice now but his fingers looks so blue and pale and shaky. She suddenly hears a sniffing sound coinciding with a low-pitched chuckle emitted from Junmyeon’s figure. She gets taken aback as Junmyeon’s fingers start to make their way to hers.

He then meets her in the eyes and grips on her hands tightly, “That’s right, Mi Ja. You weren’t supposed to know but now that you already do… I guess there’d be a slight alteration in my plans.”

Mi Ja pulls away out of fear and hugs her legs, “Junmyeon, holy . W-What is happening to you!? It’s not funny!” She covers her face, with her thighs against her chest, and she was about to let out the tears out of her eyes when she suddenly feels the engine rev under her seat. She peeks over at Junmyeon and hears a sinister chuckle.

Junmyeon is laughing uncontrollably and tears are already beading around the corner of his eyes.

“Oh my god, Mi Ja, that was hilarious! I’m so glad my acting skills are still as great as ever. I can’t believe you are such a—!” He breaks out into louder guffaw and using his free hand, he holds on to his stomach that’s probably in pain right now due to too much laughter. Mi Ja can only sulk at the corner of her seat and pout at Junmyeon. She knows she won’t ever feel much embarrassed as she is right now than she ever will be. She wants to curl up in a ball right now, and magically become a speck of dust. Goodness, her existence feels like a joke now.

Mi Ja utters in slight distraught, “You . I thought you were serious. Your fingers looked blue!”

“Oh really?” Junmyeon chuckles, then wipes his eyes swiftly, “I don’t quite see the connection between my fingers being blue and me possibly being a psychotic murderer. Would you mind explaining?”

Mi Ja likes how the conversation is getting extended by Junmyeon, himself. And that her embarrassment’s starting to subside. And that the cold weather is starting to get outshined by the warm atmosphere between them. Mi Ja elucidates her theory, “Well, it’s just that when murderers, well, murder people, the blood sticks to their hands so, somehow, in a way, you appear as if you have just murdered a blue-blooded mammal.”

“That’s absurd,” Junmyeon snorts.

“That’s how it seems to me. Knowing what you really are, at least,”

“And what do you know about me?”

“You like Girls’ Generation,”

“No, I don’t,” Junmyeon does a partial chuckle and partial sigh, which Mi Ja finds slightly funny.

“Yes, you do,” Mi Ja says in tone that seems so forceful before she quiets down to reminisce the facts that can support her stand. And when she finally grasps one, she snaps her fingers and chuckles, “You once tried to take me and Taehyung to a concert. But we refused because we were 13 and my parents refused. I remember that. And I will never not remember.”

Junmyeon cringes at the mention of a third party’s name, but he shakes it off. “I’m going to have to make you forget, then,” Junmyeon leans forward to see a better view of the road ahead them. The lights are getting brighter and brighter, or at least maybe the windshield is becoming cleaner and cleaner. Or maybe it’s because of Junmyeon’s smile that never faded off his lips, or how for a moment, Mi Ja’s lips seem like a reflection to his.

Mi Ja asks in a daring tone, “The question is… How will you do that?”

“And the answer is…” the car stops moving. The engine just silenced down. The surroundings stop coming to and going away from Mi Ja’s sight. They settle in one place, one environment. And it takes Mi Ja ten seconds or so to realize that they’re in front of a restaurant that looks like its menu is a list of food with prices ranging from three Starbucks coffee to three vacant lots. Mi Ja shivers at the sight and turns to Junmyeon in surprise, “You’re going to fatten me with such luxury!?”

Junmyeon pulls his chin closer to his neck and looks at her weirdly, “What? I’m taking you to the library next to it. Why would I waste my money for you?”

Oh. Mi Ja her eyebrows upward and shies away, “Then, let’s go out.”

Junmyeon doesn’t move and instead, he gasps, “How daring for a girl to be the one who proclaims such a…marvelous thing!” When he finished talking, Mi Ja slams the door and Junmyeon feels the pressure hit his face and blow his bangs side and up. He chuckles to himself and runs his hand over his mouth, “Okay, Junmyeon, totally not obvious.”

Mi Ja’s eyes sparkle at the sight of shelves filled with so many books that there are already stacks of books carefully lying on each side. Her nose scrunches at the light scent of old paper and air freshener and somehow, a nice smell from Junmyeon’s shirt – no joke. She prances towards the books, and carefully slid her fingers on each book, scanning the titles one by one. She’s like a little bird searching for her mother.

And Junmyeon can only stare at her. He can only watch from behind her. No, not even from behind. He pulls a chair and sits on it and safely, he slowly leans back to his chair and cranes his neck to have a better view of the explorer. Her hair tied in a ponytail, borderline wavy or just plain messy. Regardless, she’s still beautiful. And he would find her as beautiful as she is even when she starts drooling now while lusting over the books or even when she trips on her own foot anytime now.

“That your new girlfriend over there?” Junmyeon mentally notes to remember not to forget that he’s still in the real world and that there are still people around him. His eyebrows arch up as he entertains the question, pretending like he didn’t hear, “Pardon?”

He finds his eyebrow arch up even higher, which surprises him because he never really thought it could get higher – but it did. And what triggered it is the sight of a familiar face smirking triumphantly at Junmyeon as if his secret has been exposed. He blinks several times and laughs, like he’s extremely joyed by the fact that someone he knows had seen him dazing off at the sight of a younger girl – well that sounds weirder than when Junmyeon pictures it. Junmyeon greets, “Ah, must be fate.”

“Never lost your humor, I see,” she grins.

“And so have you with your beauty,” Junmyeon beams back and claps her hand. They laugh in unison, almost destroying the silent ambiance of the library with their gracelessness. After a second or two, Junmyeon just settles down and sighs, “Wow,