ｗｅｅｋ | ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʟᴛᴇʀɴᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ
Jay opened the door and put his things down. After a busy day at school, he went home with a bag of snacks for the love of his life, who's currently busy with her studies.
He took small, quiet steps and found his way right in front of her door. He didn't even bother to knock and just opened it, only to find Joy sleeping on top of her books.
A small smile found its way to Jay's lips as he stared in awe at this beautiful young lady in front. Oh how he'd give the whole world just for her. The things he did, and will be doing just for this girl, is... let's just say, out of the ordinary.
Love, he guesses.
"Love." Jay called out, almost like a whisper. Being the light sleeper that she is, woke up and rubbed her eyes trying to adjust her blurry vision against the blinding lights of the lamp that stood just before her.
Seeing Jay smile, made her smile. "Good morning, let's eat dinner together." He stated to which she just gave a nod, still a bit (too) sleepy to even understand the joke he just told.
"I brought pizza." That was it. That's all it took for her to jolt her body up from her table and let the adrenaline running through her veins control the most out of her.
She ran down the stairs and went to the kitchen and opened the box. It greeted her with the sweet smell of pineapples and pepperonis.
Yes, Hawaiian pizzas. He really knows what she prefers.
"How's school?" Jay asked and went near the table. "Boring." She said.
"There's this one guy trying to ask me out." The young lady nonchalantly says and scoffs when she saw Jay quirking his brow. She continued: "I don't like him in a romantic way though. He's like a brother to me, more like a son. I want to have a son like him."
Jay choked out of air but she didn't care and proceeded to talk some more. "He's kind and sweet and very understanding. It's just that, I don't like him that way. He's still a baby, you know?"
"You're still young, why are you talking about having a son?"
"I don't know, anything could happe-." Seeing the reaction he gave, made her stop and laugh. "Am I wrong though?"
He knows how she loves to kid about these kind of stuff so he decided to join her and, "You can't have a son or a daughter. You don't even have a boyfriend. What are you talking about?"
They both laughed and set the topic aside, letting the comfortable silence take over. Joy stared at him in awe. After a few minutes, she suddenly took her phone and played a song, his favorite song to be exact.
She stood up, went to him and offered her hand. "May I have this dance?"
"My pleasure."
It was a good five minutes (or so) of them just enjoying each other's presence, not until he asked, "What's this for?" confused of the sudden slow dance.
She pretended to think, looking away for a second but going back after. "I don't want to attend prom." The latter only nodded and decided not to ask anymore. He knows she will tell him sooner or later, and maybe even convince her a little bit.
"I know you've been stressed lately." She suddenly opened up. "And I'm sorry if I can't do
anything. But do you, perhaps, wanna visit mom tomorrow before we go to school?"
Jay was silent. He took the chance to let the music sink in. Everything he has been covering up since then, again, slowly towered over him. The guilt, the pain, the suffering he had tried to leave behind, was still with him, up to this day.
Tears started rolling down his cheeks as he hugged her to prevent the girl from seeing it, although he knows that she knows. Even without him telling it, she knew. She has always known. "I'll take that as a yes then." She mumbled and rubbed circles on his back.
.
"Good morning!" She enthusiastically jumped onto him and tried to push him off the bed. Of course she can't. but hey, at least she tried.
He groggily pushed her away, in a very gentle manner. "One more hour." He said, and covered his whole body with a blanket, which she took away from him after a second. He whined at the action and sat up. "My alarm didn't even went off yet."
"But we're visiting mom today, remember?" Joy said and he shot his eyes open and saw the most beautiful woman on earth.
He nodded and cupped her face, "Right. Good morning, sweetheart." and kissed her forehead.
.
Hand in hand, they walked through the streets at almost six in the morning. It was quiet and cold, just like how they both like it.
If people were to pass by them, the first thing they'd think was them being a thing. They've been told a lot, about how they look cute together and that they'd make a great couple, to which, Joy and Jay just laugh it off.
Joy could never lie about how Jay looks so fine even when he's at his mid 30's. Honestly, she's confused as to why he's still single after all the years. Although she knows that Jay would never move one from his past, a part of her wants him to forget it and enjoy the rest of his life with a significant other to share his struggles with.
With her mind completely occupied with the thought of Jay, for a few seconds, she wasn't able to recognize a familiar place: the cemetery. Soundlessly, they walked a path they memorized and stopped at a specific tomb, with the words "Joy Park" engraved in it.
They sat down and placed the beautifully wrapped flowers she grew just from outside the house. For a moment she was hesitant, whether to talk to the other "Joy" or just let Jay do his thing. The time she decided to finally talk, he sobs and gently caressed the faded name in front.
It's only silence that was present at that moment. Jay's faint sobs, and the wind's whispers were the only things evident to Joy's ears
"If you did love her," She blurted out of nowhere. "Why did you let her go?"
He's been waiting for this day to come. The day where she can't help but ask what happened. Is this the sign? The sign to finally let her go?
"I loved her. So much, that the moment I took my eyes away from her, I missed her already." Jay started, recollecting his last moments with her.
To say that Joy was confused was an understatement. She was mad, she's sad, she's everything in between. So again, she asked: "But why? You told me she wanted you back but you ignored her. You left her."
He only smiled, bitterly, "Because I didn't want her to love the thought of me loving her. I didn't want her to love our memories, I didn't want her to love the way we were so perfect." He stated, pain laced in his voice. With every word he let go, a piece of Joy broke.
Seeing the man she loved, and will only love the most, almost physically pained her. The young woman now started to regret getting curious. If only she could turn back time, she would've kept the question to herself. Even better, she'd bring her "mom" back to life.
"For the nine years we were together, I thought I knew her. It killed me up to this day that I didn't even get to listen to her reasons. I left her, without even letting her speak to herself. I knew she loved me, and it's just impossible to fall out of love that easily." Continuously he spoke, unusually without tears. "Seven days, a week. I saw how much she tried not to give back the love I gave her, yet I chose to ignore it and focused on the hundred ways she avoided me instead of looking at the thousand ways she expressed her affection." He uttered without missing a beat.
Silence greeted them, once again, as soon as Jay finished his tale. "I'm sorry." was all she said, until they decided that it was time to go back to their usual routine.
.
"Joy Yook." The lady announced the Summa Cum Laude for this school year. Joy, who's always the best, the most beautiful, the outstanding one, in Jay's eyes, started to walk to the podium. Finally, he's about to hear the speech she's been preparing, but wouldn't let him hear because "It's a surprise." and that, "There's no thrill in knowing someone's speech already."
But just like any other valedictorian speech, it was made up of "thank you"s and "sorry"s. What made Jay's ears quirked up though, was her outro.
With a big smile on her face, she looks up and talks to the other "Joy", "This is for you mom." She holds her diploma up high, as if she was handling it to her. "It's a shame that I didn't get to meet you. It's way more of a shame that I'm not related to either you nor dad, but thank you. Thank you for keeping my dad motivated. Thank you for making my dad happy when you were still alive."
As if his tears never run out, rivers of tears of "Joy" came running down both their faces as they looked at each other. "All these, I couldn't have done without you. To the best single dad in the world, you're the reason why I'm here right now." She said and tossed her cap up, to which her fellow graduates copied. All together, they cheered and ended their university with gladness in their hearts.
Same goes with Jay letting go of Joy the same day. Besides, he's found a new "Joy".
A "Joy" he knows he'll love until his last breath. A "Joy" he promised the heavens to not let this precious angel go this time. Just like what his adopted daughter said, they may not be related by blood, he's glad that she came to her life.
Though, there's nothing similar much to Joy Park and Joy Yook, there's one he'll keep in mind: he loves them both, to eternity.