affixed | jjk ✓

22. plans to forget

Yet, these thoughts never raised fury — as much as she wished it did — it just put her in a reverie charged with his presence.

His voice, his childish actions. These factors perplexed her by just how much she allowed him to affect her life when she only knew him for about three months.

It was embarrassing to come to terms with that. Three months and he had already put her on such a tight chain.

Well, that solved the mystery of why women were all over him — he was blithe, somebody you craved to be around all the time.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Her mother's sweet voice chirped. "If it's about the show, you'll do just fine. Stop overthinking." She lectured her over from the kitchen, cooking for the family.

"No, it's not about the show mom." Devora exhaled wearily. "It's just... some dumb boy problems, you know?"

Her mother stopped stirring the liquids within the pot, forehead creased. "Boy problems? I haven't heard you talk about boys since... well since high school."

That didn't really shock Devora.

She did have a few crushes in high school, giving up on them once she found out what jerks they were.

But, as soon as she went to college, she converted her time and attention into her studies.

Since she was paying to get an education there, she had to get something out of all that money-spending.

After all the blunders with boys in high school, she realized that some men never truly grew up, or grew out of their immature ways.

The majority of guys in college took things as a joke, it was uncommon to find a guy who genuinely took important matters seriously.

"I know, tell me about it." Devora huffed, removing herself from the couch to assist her mother in the kitchen.

"I met him at work. He isn't really my co-worker, he's part of my boss's team — a photographer."

"I thought he was a great guy... but out of nowhere it was like he just resented me, and wanted nothing to do with me."

She told her story, chopping the green chives on her mother's wooden cutting board.

Sakina hummed. "And how long have you known this boy for?"

"Like... three months? Maybe less." Devora was reluctant to confirm when they started talking more.

"Wow, three months? And you're already worked up about his absence?" Sakina pushed her lips in a flat line.

Devora felt her ears redden at her mother's comment — already aware that her agony was beyond ridiculous.

"He must have really been a charming boy." Her mother continued before Devora could retort.

"At least I thought he was, we never got the chance to exchange numbers but he was always dropping small hints at me. The way he looked at me... almost like he wanted to get my attention."

She deliberately chopped, absentminded. "All that for what? Just to leave without a word?"

"What if he just needs time to think to himself?" Sakina tried to be open-minded. "You never know, maybe he was going through something?"

Devora considered this, and it was part of the reason why she felt so horrible.

If he was going through something, why couldn't he just tell her? The tatters of detachment would be much easier to deal with knowing he was going through something personal.

'Maybe he doesn't think I'm trustworthy enough with whatever he's going through?' Devora considered, setting the sharp knife down.

There was a chiming sound coming from her phone, letting her know she got a call.

"Oh, hold on. Let me go check who it is, in case it's Hoseok." She dismissed herself from the conversation, leaving the chives unattended.

She was slightly perplexed by who had chosen to call her at a later time of the day.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Devora! It's Catalina, you know, from the bar?" Her voice was perky and cheerful, something Devora needed.

"Hi! How've you been?" Devora laced on an animated tone, not letting her prior discussions phase her.

"Drowning in work, the usual."

Devora laughed, correlating to her struggles.

"Listen, we should hang out again. Whenever you're free, for some stress relief?" She suggested.

Devora picked her shoulders up, interested in the conversation. "Yes, we should hang out! I have a show to go to during the weekend, maybe we can meet up before?"

"Perfect! Let's hang out at night? I have classes all afternoon."

"Yeah, sure that's fine. I have work all morning, so it works for me."

Catalina celebrated, pleased. "Great! It's with friends from my classes, you're okay with that, right?"

"Of course, I don't mind." Devora nodded in agreement as if Catalina could see her through the phone.

"Good, you can invite a couple of your friends, too! Let's meet up at Grill and Bar, it's right around the corner from where the other bar is, where we first met." She instructed.

"Yeah, I know the place."

"Okay! I'll see you then. Goodnight." Catalina gave her goodbyes.

Devora did the same, hanging up.

Sakina looked up from the stove. "Who was that? A coworker?"

"Not exactly. She's a friend I met at a bar, she wants to hang out with me before the show." She walked back to complete her kitchen duties.

"That's a good idea, you need something to distract you from that guy you were talking about." Her mother encouraged her upcoming plans. "Oh, and call your brother to come and set the table."

Devora tried to see it that way, something that would get her mind off Jungkook, to just get out for once with new friends.

She just hoped things would go as planned.

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