Sock Puppets : Liu Yangyang

Chapter 15: Squares and Roses

N E Y Z A 

October 2021

'So Spirits were just... there?'

Renjun shook his head, playing with his pencil, a preoccupied look on his face. We were in the living room and were having some idle chat while he waited for Comet.

'Some Spirits were mortal beings who had passed away. They became the strongest emotion they felt in their last moment. They're mostly good people, though. Even Envy, Anger, and Guilt. Even Vengeance. Although, why Jaemin became Joy I have absolutely no idea.'

'So when you died you were feeling wise?'

Renjun cackled. 'I said some spirits. Spirits like me, Jisung, Chenle, and Mark- They're Dream, Procrastination, and Memory- we were born to Spirits. We're... purebloods if you will.'

'Even Yangyang,' I said, recalling the time I met his dad. 

'How's that going?' he asked.

'Not too bad,' I grinned. 'We're making more progress than the two of you.'

'He just needs some time. He isn't ready yet. Soon.' He smiled sadly.

'Soon,' I mimicked. 

'Speaking of soon, Yangyang's birthday is tomorrow.'

'What?!' I jumped up. 'And no one told me?'

'To be fair, you didn't ask.'

'I can't believe I forgot to ask him that! I mean, I guess I just assumed he didn't have one, but that makes no sense. What do I gift him?'

Renjun shrugged.

'Way to go, Wisdom,' I groaned. 'What was that again? Roses, red, basketball- Not basketball, I suck at sports- Dancing.' A lightbulb flickered in my head. 'Thank you so much, Renjun!'

'I did nothing, though?' Renjun said, raising an eyebrow. I pirouetted out of the living room, bumping into Comet on the way. I gave him a bear hug.

 'You're the best brother ever,' I said, skipping to the door. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y A N G Y A N G 

Bestestestest Friend

Bestestestest Friend: hey beautiful~

You: hey babe

You: whats up

Bestestestest Friend: HASKDYKWRYF 

Bestestestest Friend: BOI WHY TF U TEXTING 

                                              LIKE THAT 

You: uh idk???

Bestestestest Friend: SJLDJ I PANICKED SORRY 

Bestestestest Friend: that "babe" got me going places

Bestestestest Friend: now that we're on the topic tho 

Bestestestest Friend: what did u save me as 

You: Bestestestest Friend

Bestestestest Friend: eye-

Bestestestest Friend: oof

Bestestestest Friend: that friendzone </3 

Bestestestest Friend: no bday gift for u >:(

You: WAIT WHAT

You: WHO TOLD U IT WAS TODAY

Bestestestest Friend: obviously not u  

You: didnt think it was important

Bestestestest Friend: well mines 20 dec

Bestestestest Friend: and u dont have to get 

                                            me a gift :))))

Bestestestest Friend: no really 

Bestestestest Friend: no pressure 🔪

You: ...so whats my bday gift

Bestestestest Friend: abt that 

Bestestestest Friend: cupid cafe, 9 pm 

Bestestestest Friend: be there or be square 

You changed 'Bestestestest Friend' to '<3'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A clandestine tenebrosity swaddled me as I stepped into the café. I was overwhelmed by the saccharine scent of roses. I heard the click of a lighter in front of me, and one by one, a cluster of shimmering lights flared up, irradiating the embodiment of magnificence that I called my girlfriend. 

Neyza was the epitome of elegance. She wore a resplendent, deep red dress that cascaded around her. Her lengthy hair dropped down to her waist, the ends curling inwards. She smiled shyly as she walked gracefully up to where I stood, paralyzed, and held out a hand delicately. 

'Would you like to dance?' Her voice was soft and mellifluous. 

I pulled her to me, resting a hand on her back. We performed a gentle, leisurely waltz around the café in the candlelight, the only music our shallow, intermingling breath and our thudding hearts.

'How old are you now? Ten thousand?'

I rolled my eyes. 'I ain't no pedo. I'm, like, 300.'

She giggled. 'Definitely not a pedo.' 

'I made a little something a few minutes ago, while I was heading here.' I pulled out the daisy tiara from my coat pocket and set it on her head. 'Perfect,' I murmured. 

'This is surprisingly good,' she said, extracting it from her hair. 

'You taught me,' I told her. 

'I think you'd look better with it,' she stated, placing it on me. 

I wiggled my eyebrows. 'How do I look?' 

'Silly. But also pretty.' She pecked me on the cheek.

 'Happy Birthday.'