Y A N G Y A N G
'Taeyong, she hasn't texted me for like, 5 hours. Why shouldn't I be concerned?'
'I mean. It's not like she hasn't texted in a month or something. I'm sure she's okay.'
'Yes, but 5 hours is like a year in her time. She usually texts me every hour.'
'Is she your girlfriend?'
'WHAT NO WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT'
'The way you talk about her sounds like you really like her.'
'Me? Her? Ha!'
Taeyong shrugged. 'Okay then.'
'But all the same,' I frowned. 'Is she okay?'
'Why don't you find out?'
'Good idea. How, though?'
Taeyong inhaled deeply. 'I'm sorry if this comes off as too simple, but why don't you ask her? There's no harm in texting her first.'
I thought for a while. 'Wow. You're a genius, Taeyong.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
N E Y Z A
'JAZA IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED'
Jaza smiled triumphantly, adjusting her hijab. 'What did I tell you? My plans always work.'
I had been panicking the whole week about the Yangyang situation and how I was suppose to face him. I didn't even know if he liked me. My texts to him had been wholly awkward and preposterous, until Jaza had suggested that I should just stop talking to him for a while and see if he bothered to text me back, and then I could plan accordingly.
I opened the messaging app on my phone.
💖
💖: hi
You: ur texting me first? whats the
occasion
💖: nm, just bored and no one else be online
You: so im ur last choice -_-
You: better than nothing ig
💖: u busy
You: why? wanna hang out :D
💖: i just asked cuz ur annoying me less tdy
You: so u wanna hang out or no
💖: ...maybe
You: asahkfehfxbbsch
💖: ???
You: ah sry my cat walked
over my keyboard
💖: u have a cat?
You: no the uni doesnt allow pets
You: i mean
You: ANYWAYS
You: where u wanna go
💖: butterfly farm
💖: get ready in fifteen
💖: ill explain later
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Y A N G Y A N G
'A butterfly farm is an interesting choice. Why, though?'
'It's educational.'
Neyza made a face. 'I'm only doing this because you asked me to,' she said slipping her hand into mine, which made a trickle of electricity run through my arm.
I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, we were on top of a winsome, mist-covered hill. In front of us stood an antique wooden house with a wide, captivating garden. And in that garden, in a loud Hawaiian shirt terribly mismatched with the scenery, stood a rotund little man, waving his scythe vivaciously.
'Who is that and why is he waving a murder weapon at us?' Neyza asked, shifting closer to me.
'That's my father. He, uh, kinda likes collecting weapons. He won't hurt you though, I promise.' I pushed open the rickety old gate, dragging her in with me.
'I'm meeting your parents already. Aren't we going a bit too fast? Not that I'm complaining, though.'
'That scythe looks very tempting right now.'
'Noted.'
'Hey Dad,' I called. He grinned buoyantly.
'Son!' he said, stepping closer, 'It's been ages since I last saw you! Have you been so busy that you couldn't pay your old man a visit? And who's-'
His eyes narrowed as he saw Neyza. His once cheerful expression was now dark and bellicose. 'A girl,' he hissed, raising his scythe. Neyza whimpered, slowly backing away.
I pulled her to my side, wrapping an arm around her waist. Apparently the freezing cold wasn't cold enough, because my chest burned like a coal furnace.
'Dad, be nice,' I said.
He pointed the weapon at Neyza, not taking his eyes off her for a moment. 'The last time you brought a girl home, she nearly-'
'Father,' I spat, putting as much warning into the word as I could. Just the thought of her made my stomach queasy, an uneasy feeling swirling around inside it. 'We do not speak of her here. That is the rule, and you know that.' I was surprised by the change in my voice. It appeared distant. More like Death than Yangyang.
'Mister, uhm, Yangyang's dad.' In that moment, Neyza looked so much like the six-year-old I had first met that I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. 'I don't know what I did but I'm sorry. I just wanted to see your butterflies. Please don't kill me.'
Dad's expression lit up almost immediately. 'My butterflies! My most prized possession! Ah, for years I've been waiting to show them to someone. You must be an angel in disguise!' He pointed at me. 'Marry her, boy.' then he turned back to her. 'Follow me, sweetheart!'
'That was quick,' Neyza mumbled, holding on to me for dear life.
'Hey. I'm right here. No one will hurt you as long as I'm by your side.' I cringed at how cheesy that sounded, but it would do.
'Your dad wants you to marry me,' she giggled, albeit nervously.
I crossed my arms. 'Really? That's all you got out of that?'
'Was there something else I should have gotten?'
I was hoping the scythe would have given her a clue, but she was extremely stupid for a top student. Time for Plan B, then.
'Let's go look at the butterflies,' I said.
'The motley mix of colors is what calms my mind,' My dad was saying. 'All of these delightful insects.' He waved his hand at the vibrant creatures flitting about in the air. 'I've had an illustrious career. This helps take my mind off things.'
We walked around to another section of the farm. 'These are the baby ones,' he told us, gesturing to the fuzzy green caterpillars that were munching on lettuce. 'Soon, they will expand in size and began to form a cocoon around themselves. Can anyone tell me what a caterpillar transforms to?'
I was counting on my dad and his fourth-grade field trip style.
Neyza raised her hand excitedly. 'I know! It's called a.... a chrysalis.' she frowned.
'Excellent! Boy, marry her and have a hundred kids.'
But I wasn't paying attention to his ridiculous comments. Neyza clutched her head, swaying.
'What's wrong?' I asked, steadying her.
'Chrysalis. Neyza Chrysalis.'
Then she collapsed.