Expiry date, what would you think of in the first place? The expiry date on canned food, or the driving license in your wallet? Everything has an expiry date. Food has an expiry date. If it expires, you have no choice but to throw it away. Driving license has an expiry date. If it expires, you either renew it or it will become invalid. Your life has an expiry date. If it expires, it just expired… Love, love is not an exception. You might ask what about those couples who live together until death. Their expiry dates are a bit longer, but still dues at the day they passed away. Love will expire eventually.

You pick up a canned food, scan the ingredient tag carefully until you spot the expiry date. Six months. Six months, you let out a sarcastic laugh at it as it reminds you of your expired relationship, a short but almost-killed-you relationship. Stop dwelling on that pathetic past, you put the canned food into the cart, heading towards the cashier. The cashier greets you with a brief smile, a business-purpose one, and starts introducing you to some products which are on sales.

“$5 for two packs of Lindt chocolate bar, do you want some?” speaks nonchalantly the cashier. The cashier is busy with scanning the barcode of the products in your cart, without taking a look on you.

“It's on sales due to the coming up expiry date, pretty cheap now.” The cashier adds, steals a glance from you and sees if you are interested.

You slowly fake a smile to the cashier, shaking your head. Silence is all you can response even though you want to yell at her for bringing up the topic expired. But then you know she has no idea what you have gone through for the past few months, you simply sigh after picking your stuffs, heading to your car. The world still spins after your break up with her, but then you find it ironic that it seems everything reminds you that you are nothing but an expired girlfriend. It feels like that everything changed after that.

Going to a club after work because your boss invited you for a celebration after three months of intensive long working hours, your team decided to get wasted tonight. Never have you liked this kind of event, but it would not be harmful either if you go once. A dark and crowded dancefloor filled with hunters, waiting to get their preys back home or just solve their hunger near the club. Loud music makes your head throbbing, almost hurting. You frowned at the place once you stepped into it, realizing how much you missed your bed right now, missed your peaceful house right now. A few body guards surrounded your team so that you all would not be affected by others, treating you all like VIPs and in fact, you guys are the ones. Your boss was  acting hyper for what was coming up next which was drinking but you did not care at all. As something caught you attention, a round of whistling signed you that something hot was going on down there. The view of a two hot girls dancing together was clearer as you were walking up to the second floor, the VIPs floor. Both girls with heavy make-up, one wore tight one piece that could completely illustrate her body line while another one wore an oversized white tank top with tight leather jeans. They both lost in the music, waving their bodies along with the beats. That was hot. This was what you thought when you saw their dance. The lady in one piece dress grinded her back against the red head lady behind her. Heat rose in the house, noise got louder and louder. It became a hot reality show to everyone. Following the loud music, the brunette’s hips brushed against her partner seductively, bending her body down, you could almost see her even you were on second floor. She turned her head around, biting her lips at her. The red head roamed her hands on all over the brunette, exploring every inches of her. All of a sudden, the music changed to another up-beat song, the brunette lady turned around, wrapping her hands around the taller girl’s waist. With such dark lightening, you could see the face of them, but somehow you could feel that you knew the red head. You want to find out who she was, therefore, you just sat there steadily and drank, without interacting with your colleagues even they asked you some questions you could not hear. The longer you stared at the red head, the much anxiety you could get as you were desperate to find it out. Without yourself noticing, you gulped at the sensitive movements between the ladies as the red head took a handful grasp of her partner’s , bodies swaying together. And suddenly, a loud pop sound exploded right next to your ear, scaring the shoot out of you, drew your attention away for a second. Your boss was popping a bottle of champagne, having a toast to what the team had been through lately. It drew not only your attention, but also the red head. For the very first time since you stepped into this club, your eyes met hers. At that moment, you were speechless. Her face looked so much a like your girlfriend, Heo Gayoon. However, the make-up, the style, the feeling of this red haired lady were completely opposite of who you knew of your girlfriend. Your girlfriend always wore white one piece dress like a girl next door. Angelic smiles could be always found on her innocent face. Make-up was never in her daily routine, the only thing she would put on her face was only lipsticks or sometimes sunscreen. The only common in these two ladies was red hair. Even their stares were so much different, her girlfriend’s always made you feel warm while this one on the dancefloor shoot you with her fierce but addictive stares. A smirk, a smirk that the red head sent you was suspicious. It started to make you have some illusions of dreaming. Was this all real or you were simply in a wet dream? Her eyes never left you since then, until her slightly lifted the brunette’s chin, pressed her lips on hers. Somehow all the excitement rushing under your vein was gone, it was just…gone. Your wondered what was happening but then you found it hard to breathe after witnessing that. Your head started to spin yet you had no idea if it was the alcoholic drinks affecting you or you actually had a headache. Weirdly, your heart ached at the scene of the red head kissing the brunette passionately. Tears almost formed in your eyes, any moment could be a break down. But you were pretty sure it was not your girlfriend, Gayoon. Instead, it was just a hot girl you might want to hunt, just like other hunters in the house. For that, you felt a bit guilty as it felt like cheating on your girlfriend. Thoughts in your mind were messy as you looked like right now. You seemed lost in the atmosphere and not even paid attention to a party happening right next to you.

The party was finally over and you could not wait to go home and take a shower, then sleep. Tiredness made you forget to find out whether that was your girlfriend or not. But then your brain cells already died in the club house, and your brain could not function well to take any clues together, picturing the whole thing out. With a positive thinking, you believed that was not her, until the reality slapped your face hard.

Weeks later, you found out that your girlfriend slowly turned into someone indifferent, talking to you nonchalantly, ignoring your messages, even giving you sarcastic laughs at your clingy actions. No signs of the change, it felt like Gayoon switch with someone else suddenly. Until one day you got that smirk, from her, from your girlfriend, Heo Gayoon, it was exactly the same as the one you saw in the club.

As usual, you stayed overnight at her place at a normal weekend. The atmosphere changed. Her attitude changed. No more sweetness, replaced by ignorance and silence. Two of you in the same bed, but you could feel that she was not with you here. Her figure lied on the bed, but her soul was gone for long. She used to cuddle with you in sleep. She used to ask for a goodnight kiss on her lips. She used to say I love you for thousands of time until you tickle her to make her stop. She used to. Things were in the past. Tonight, you slept with a stranger. Studying her back, you felt scared as if she would harm you any second. Her flawless red hair used to be your favourite, yet you felt like that it was a kind of colour that polluted your girlfriend, even her vibe had changed. Fierce, unapproachable, uneasy feelings covered the room, covered your brain. For a second, the scene of that red haired hot girl in the club flashed out in your mind. Your heart somehow linked these two persons together. Are they the same person? You questioned yourself until sleepiness dragged you to dreams, mostly nightmares.

A noise from a hair drying machine woke you up and you realized the emptiness on your right side which was Gayoon’s side. You woke up with a rapid heartbeat and it was not a good sign. Slowly, you followed where the noise came from, with your messy hair. The walk seemed like a path to the end of your life and you had no idea why you got this feeling. Taking a peek, you found a red haired lady in her white t-shirt, leather jacket and shorts wearing a red lipstick after drying her hair. It took all your oxygen away. Your feet almost dropped on the floor that your hand had quickly found the support from the wall. Heartbeat raced even faster, more, rushing to the limit of its own. It brought you a strike to your brain when she turned her face to you – the exact same face you saw in the club. Fingers on the wall clenched onto it hard. The hot show in the club replayed in your mind quick, the hips grinding together, body waves, and…the kiss. In order to breathe well, you took a deep breath, trying to get back on your ordinary rhythm.

“You’re up finally.” She stressed the finally as if she had been waiting for you for long and it was wasting her precious time. She made you feel redundant here.

“I bet you saw me that night.” The unfamiliar red haired lady focused back on the mirror, assuring that her make-up looks fine. She then walked out to the living room, followed by you.

Your blank mind could not figure out whether it was a nightmare you were trapped in or a cruel reality. Feet followed the lady you barely knew now. The red head found her seat on the couch, putting a pair of black high heels on. Black was never her colour, not to Gayoon. You thought. Basically, this lady sitting in front of you was someone else, other than your girlfriend.

“Lemme cut it short. You saw me cheating and yes I am. We’re over now. You can leave the key on the table. I’ll leave first, got a date.” Speechless, even you wanted to say something. Before she left the house, you finally managed to stop her. All you saw was another annoyed face.

“What!” Her tone apparently sent you a warning that either you got things done quick, or she would leave right away.

“What’s happening?” And this was all you could stutter, which pissed her off as you could see her rolling her eyes at you, finding every inch of you disgusting her.

“You’re the third wheel. I wanted to try some so-called good girl life and see how it’ll go. But I got sick soon. It’s no fun when you act like the dominant one all the time, and I’m just a ing good girl following all your steps. Plus, acting good is really not my style. I rather get nasty and just have fun with my girlfriend who you saw in the club.” She explained quick and your brain was about to explode as it could not handle this. Your heart leaked, hurt, bled. All she told you was lies. From the start, you knew it was nothing usual, but you still gave it all of you to her. This was the result you would get and you might face. Not that you have never thought breaking up, but when it came to you, the pain nibbled your heart out, took your soul away, and left you nothing behind. Tears flowed out on its own even you wanted to hide. You felt mad, angry, sad, painful, almost everything, to the point that you did not know how to react.

“It’s been only a few months…you got sick of me already? You weren’t like this, Gayoon ah…” You still hoped that the lady in front of you was the one you met at the beginning. Your feet brought you closer to her, your hand tried to reach her. However, she slapped your hand away, giving you another eye-rolling hateful message.

“I’m not your ing good girl Heo Gayoon! Wake up Jeon Jiyoon. Every relationships end at the end. Everything got their expiry dates. It’s over now. Our relationship is over, it expired. We had a good time, that’s enough for you.” Expired. She said expired. Never had you heard that love would expire but she proved that. Relationships expired. Food expired. Life expired. Everything got an expiry date.

Your head spinned. Your sight became blurry that you could only see a blurred shadow walking out of the house. A sound of the door slamming echoed. Everything between you two ended with a slammed sound.

Arriving your apartment, you lock yourself at your room, eating the canned food while listening to the voice mails. It's your friend, Jihyun. She has been calling since the day you informed her about the break up. But then you do not care, or you do not want to care anything right now. All you want is to wait until your expiry date to pass.