Remember Me, Darling

Los Angeles

As the roller coaster plunged down in an almost ninety degree angle, Seri laughed in delight and threw her hands up in the air. Her boyfriend looked pale beside her and released a strangled shout to ease the queasiness in his stomach, causing her to laugh harder. She was surprised when he finally acquiesced to accompany her on the ride despite his fear. It took a bit of pleading and puppy dog eyes on her side to make him cave in before he grumbled and said that she was lucky he loved her. It was the first time that he ever said those words yet he didn't seem to notice how significant the moment was for their relationship. He didn't even notice how quiet she went afterwards.

Epitome of romance, really.

No wonder her father approved of him.

After the ride, he told her to stay put as he went to the bathroom, looking a bit green and holding his stomach. As she waited, she found a cart selling cotton candy and bought herself one before walking towards the boardwalk. The candy melted on her tongue as her eyes feasted on the sun setting behind the street musicians playing their instruments and singing their heart out, and that moment burned into her memory as the perfect portrait capturing Santa Monica.

Too caught up in her daydream, she did not hear the warnings of an inexperienced couple on roller skates heading towards her in dangerous speed. She saw them a little too late, her scream getting caught in her throat, before she found herself on the ground in a heap of tangled limbs. Her cotton candy was pushed against her face, adding to her misery, and she struggled to get herself up to her feet.

She quickly grabbed a wet wipe from her bag while the couple helped each other up. After cleaning off some of the stickiness from her face, hating that she could feel some in her hair as well, she heard her two perpetrators laughing behind her and immediately turned around to give them a piece of her mind. Instead of angrily lashing out like she was supposed to, she turned around to find his eyes staring straight into hers, her mouth open with no sound coming out, and the world around them suddenly stopped moving.

"You."

Seri waited for him to call her in New York. She stayed by the phone for hours, sacrificing her sleep and driving her father up against the wall with her temper, but his call never came in. She went back to the library every chance she got, but she never saw him there again. Even passing by Columbia proved to be futile. For a minute, she even entertained the idea that she might have dreamt up their reunion. She wanted to ask the librarian if he ever came in, but she realized that she did not even know his name.

He continued to stare at her with conflicting emotions crossing his expression that Seri had to force herself to look away. The woman clinging onto his arm brushed away some of the hair covering her eyes before noticing the awkward atmosphere they were suddenly in, glancing over at her before turning her eyes back on him. "Oppa, do you two know each other?" she asked with no malice or skepticism in her tone, just plain curiosity.

"No," Seri answered for him, blinking back tears and wondering if her boyfriend was done emptying the contents of his stomach. She needed someone there with her to be even with him, even though that someone can never compare to his perfection. She forced out a smile for the girl in his arm and hoped that it didn't come out as a grimace. "No, we don't. I'm sorry. I must have hit my head too hard and thought - sorry again. I'll get out of your way."

"No, wait," he said as he grabbed her arm. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the desperation she saw on his face, knowing that she had that same look on hers back in New York. The history of their relationship (as if there was even a relationship to begin with) was vague and unconventional that it didn't warrant the depth of emotions being blatantly exchanged between them, yet there they were, looking like long lost lovers in the sea of tourists, in front of his girlfriend no less. "I – I am so sorry."

She gently pried her arm away from his grasp. "I'm sorry, too," she whispered, turning her watery eyes away. To anyone outside their bubble, they might look like they were talking about the skating incident, but they both knew differently. The unanswerable question of what could have been demanded to be felt, and she had to keep herself from asking why. Did she seem too forward, too eager? Did she say something that made him change his mind? Did he really say that he will see her before they parted or was that a figment of her imagination?

He cleared his throat and gestured towards her while turning his head slightly to address the woman beside him. "Dan-ah, this is... she is the one who helped me back in San Francisco. Do you remember? The one kind enough to wash the coffee stain off my shirt?"

"Oh, right," Dan answered with her expression brightening, and Seri hated how charming her smile was. "Hi. Thank you for doing that. His clothes never smelled better."

His handsome face expressed slight annoyance that Seri had never seen before as Dan giggled. "Hey," he nudged her shoulder with his arm. "That's not nice."

"It wasn't supposed to be," Dan shot back.

Despite the heaviness in her heart, Seri couldn't look away, marveling at how perfect they looked together. Then, for the first time since the start of their relationship, her boyfriend showed up at the perfect time with a hand on her back, and she felt a surge of relief to finally be on the same footing as he did.

"Where did you go? I told you to stay put," her boyfriend started before bringing his hand down around her waist. She saw the other man's narrowed eyes follow his hand and had to fight back a triumphant smile. "Who's this?"

"Just some acquaintances I met a few years back," she answered with a loving smile. She placed a kiss on his cheek, surprising everyone in their circle even herself, and smirked when she turned her eyes back to see his jaw tightening in response. "Well. It is nice to bump into you again."

"Likewise," he replied shortly.

There was an awkward air between the two couples before Dan cleared her throat. "We should get going. It was nice meeting you." Instead of sharing the same sentiment, she only gave her a small smile in response. As they both skated away, Seri welcomed the pang of pain in her heart as she watched him leave her life once again, and that time around felt more permanent. Instead of the hope she felt when they parted the last time, a cloud of bitterness casted a shadow over her spirits, and it darkened when she saw him throw her one last glance over his shoulder before taking Dan's hand and skating away.

She was right. Handsome men do tend to have some sort of weird hidden personality, and perfection has no place in real life and might possibly trigger the end of the world. She just had no idea that his was the one that will trigger the end of hers. She knew she was being dramatic and her heightened emotions were to blame, but she literally felt her heart breaking when he disappeared from her sight, finding herself back in the dull company of her boyfriend.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders tightly. "Are you okay? You look upset."

Well, no shit.

"I'll be okay."