Anna
Ding
The elevator door slides open and the cool night breeze blows past my ears, tingling with my black hair. It reminds me of the fact that mum is always mad with me whenever I bring up the topic of cutting my hair.
I absentmindedly twirl some of my hair in my fingers. They're barely past my shoulders. And this is two inches more than my usual hair length.
Hmph. I squint my eyes at my own thoughts.
"You don't rest your face even when you're not arguing, do you?" Kye Yon's voice bounces off into my ear.
"I am arguing. In my head."
"You never fail to amaze me, amore." He laughs.
I roll my eyes.
Kye Yon leans onto the railing to get a better view of the dazzling city from this thirtieth floor terrace.
"I'm shocked." He admits suddenly. And I know exactly what he's talking about.
"Both you and Jae needed this talk." I say and place my arms on the railing too.
"Yeah.. but how should I talk with him now?"
"Ugh seriously!" I throw him an annoyed look. "Of course, treat him as a friend. Or don't tell me you don't know how to talk to a friend?"
He thinks for a moment. Why does this—
"I don't….?"
"Huh? Don't what?"
He says with a deadpan face. "I don't know how to talk to a 'friend'?"
I stare at him. "Are you kidding me?"
"Why would I?" He makes a disgusted face. "I don't understand those things such as 'friends'. No one has ever made friends with me so I actually don't know how to treat a friend, alright!?"
He looks away. His face is slightly red. Is he embarrassed?
"All I've ever known is to give orders and to execute given orders. I'm not familiar with wholesome relationships. Even my father treats me as nothing but a clone of his."
I can do nothing but stare at him. The look of embarrassment has been replaced with something else on his face.
No one has ever made friends with me.
Why did that line sound so cruel?
Now that I look back, we may have known each other for ages but did I ever actually treated him as a kid? As a friend? He always has been less talkative, and we've always given him the least attention, thinking he doesn't need it.
But was it actually him who made us ignorant toward himself, or were it us who made him mature earlier?
"What are you thinking?" His voice cuts off my thoughts.
I look up at him again. There's no trace of remorse or pain in his face. How can he always say the most painful words with the most nonchalant face?
"I'm.." What's this heaviness in my chest? Did overthinking about him give me a cardiac issue?
"I'll teach you." What am I even saying?
"Teach me what?" He arches a brow.
"The meaning of… friendship." Fuck. I've definitely got some fluid malfunction inside my brain.
"...."
I look away. This is so embarrassing. I never talk like this. We never talk like this!
"That's.. that's very.. uh— thoughtful of you…"
I bite my lower lip. "Oh please—" I turn to him. "Don't act so shocked like that. You're making me embarrassed!"
"Ah, no. I'm sorry. But… I'm hella surprised?" His eyebrows almost touch the back of his head. "Are you perhaps tired of being my rival?"
"This is the exact reason why you don't have friends!" I snap at him and slap on his arm.
"Ow easy, amore! This is the third time you hit me today."
"You deserved all of them." I cross my arms and look away again.
"Haha.." A deep laughter rings in my ears. I glance at him.
Kye Yon leans closer on the railing beside me and laughs. That unguarded laugh again. It's not an usual trait of his, and I witnessed it for the second time today.
And the most unusual part is that it makes my chest go light again?
I'm not an emotionally dumb person who doesn't know which feeling is called what. And this light-hearted feeling… Is this relief? Relief that this boy in front of me can be happy too? A happiness that he felt happy?—because of me.
My lips curled upwards before I could stop them and small laughters also flowed out of my throat.
I got to know the unmasked version of Kye Yon today not once but multiple times. Even Ari and Jae's conflict got resolved today. Should I call it a good day?
You even have a type?!
Ari's voice dings in my head. And the smiling face in front of me suddenly makes my chest hurt a little. What's with this sudden temperature up?
"What's with that red face all of a sudden?" Kye Yon asks after noticing the redness creeping through my neck and cheeks.
"Shut up and look away."
"...."
***
"Should we return now?" I look up from my phone to ask Kye Yon, who's been sitting on the swing with me for the past thirty minutes.
Can it be called character development for both of us as we didn't throw each other from the terrace?
"Hey, Anna." Suddenly calls.
Ugh! What's this violent leapt my heart does each time he says my name instead of some weird nickname?!
"Don't you think something is wrong with Hyun Jae?"
I furrow my brows. "Why?"
"He's taking sleeping pills." He looks at me. "Along with pain killers."
I stare into void. "...I don't know what to say. But I can't be surprised either. He does take sleeping pills but opioids..." My furrow deepens.
"Wasn't he looking so shaggy? This is the exact look he had back then before leaving Korea."
I stay silent for a minute. "He usually has nightmares. But yesterday something might've happened that he tried to call me at midnight."
Kye Yon stares at me. "Do you think it's Mi—"
"Mireille's dead, Kye Yon." I cut him off.
"..." He silently gets up. "Let's go down. They'd be waiting for us."
I look up at his face. "Aren't you.. going to say anything more?"
He smiles. "I don't want to scare you."
But his smile scared me the most.