December 31st - Taiwan
Ryujin is strolling around the streets of Taipei that cold morning, a coffee in one hand. Her dad is busy with a client meeting--which she wondered why it happened on the 31st--so she made up excuses to go out.
It has been two days now since she last saw Yeji. Waiting for another two more days before she could see the woman's beautiful face again feels like hell.
Although she feels she has some importance in Yeji too, Ryujin doesn't want to keep her hopes up. She truly knows that Yeji's affection for her is pent within the barriers of friendship. The best Ryujin could hope for is for Yeji to stay single while she's being a hopeless romantic, or until she finds someone to channel the love she's feeling now. Hopefully, Yeji will not meet her Mr. Right yet so Ryujin wouldn't have to endure the pain of seeing the woman with somebody else.
Ryujin sat on a bench near a lamppost where she's got the view of Taipei 101 ahead of her.
She smiled when she thought of Yeji again. After admitting to herself that she had completely fallen in love with the smaller lady, her thoughts have been in auto-pilot mode. Yeji is consistently on her mind, literally like every single minute of the day, even when asleep.
She wonders if the other woman is thinking of her now.
The idea made Ryujin giggle. It seems impossible but if ever that's the case, even just a tiny chance, then she'll be on cloud nine.
"Well, hello there, stranger. Do you have a company?" a voice said in English.
Ryujin looked up and saw a person pointing at the vacant space beside her. The woman has long hazelnut hair with wavy ends. She's wearing a suspender skirt strap dress and a white off-shoulder blouse. Ryujin shook her head without taking her eyes off the stranger.
Who would say no to this beauty?
"Thanks!" The woman sat beside Ryujin.
Ryujin gestured a "you're welcome" bow. Although the stranger has a friendly aura, Ryujin isn't in the mood for a little talk now. Unfortunately, seeing this woman made Ryujin miss Yeji even more. That woman and Yeji have somehow the same fashion style; the hair, the dress, the shoes, even the height.
"Ooh... it's freezing today, huh?" the woman spoke again in English, rubbing her palms against her arms.
Since it's just the two of them on that bench, Ryujin knew that question was intended for her.
"Y-yeah, that's what I love about this season," she said in English too.
"You don't seem to be from here." The woman crossed her legs. "Where are you from?"
"Korea. You?"
"Really? Where in Korea?" asked the woman, switching to Hangul now.
Ryujin was surprised by the sudden change in the language but felt happy as well that she didn't need to keep on speaking English. "Seoul."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I live there too, I own a flower shop there!"
Ryujin laughed to her surprise. "Is Seoul too big for us we have to meet here in Taipei instead?"
"Maybe Seoul is too crowded for us. Who knows, we might have been passing by each other but never noticed it."
Ryujin shook her head and shrugged. "Well, it's... it's just something..."
"It's not something. It is serendipity." The woman held out her hand to introduce herself. "I'm Chaeryeong."
Ryujin had to shift her coffee to her left hand to free her right hand. "I'm Ryujin."
"It's nice to meet you, Ryujin. You're here for vacation?"
"Mmm. Sort of. I'm just visiting my dad for New Year's Eve celebration."
"Then why are you strolling around here at this hour? You should spend the day with your old man."
Although the question may seem to be personal, Chaeryeong's way of talking made it impossible for Ryujin to resist answering.
"Unfortunately, my old man is busy with his clients even today."
"Oh. What a workaholic daddy you have there."
"Yeah. How about you, you're here for vacation too?" Ryujin sipped her coffee.
"Not sure if you can call it a vacation, but yeah."
"You alone?"
"Yup. Is this your first time here?" asked Chaeryeong.
"I've been to Taiwan twice, but this is the first time I went to this area. You?"
"Not the first time. For the last six years, I've been going to this exact place every 31st of December."
"Wow. Something special here?"
"This is the exact place where I met my boyfriend," came the response. "He was on your spot and I was sitting here. It happened on the 31st of December six years ago. We became official the year after. It was our routine to go here every end of the year because this is where it all started."
"Oh. That's nice. Is he with you now?"
Chaeryeong shook her head slowly. "Well, this is the second time I went here alone... He can't make it anymore..."
"You guys split up?"
Chaeryeong forced a smile. "I wish we did, but it's not that way."
The answer just got Ryujin more interested. She felt like maybe Chaeryeong is a lost soul that needs someone to talk to now.
"Hey, I know we just met but I'm all ears in case you want to talk about it."
Chaeryeong's face looked relieved to hear that. "I'm not sure if I've told you this already but I am a florist. Being a florist, my passion is to prepare the best flower arrangement for any important events in somebody's life. My biggest dream is to design flowers for my wedding."
Ryujin said nothing, expecting the other girl to continue her story.
"It's just that it never occurred to me that I'll be the one who'll prepare the flowers for..." Chaeryeong intentionally paused for a moment as if she's trying to get more courage to say it, "... his funeral."
Ryujin felt a sudden ache in her heart. "I... I'm sorry..."
"Don't worry about it," said Chaeryeong, hitting Ryujin playfully on the arm. "It's been two years now since he left. I'm okay now, much better compared to last year."
"I can't say that I know exactly how you felt but I've lost my mom too so I kinda understand how tough it is when a loved one leaves us."
"Yeah, it's tormenting. The pain is... is just unbearable..." Chaeryeong wrinkled her nose up as if remembering how she went through. "It was really hard to get over him, you know."
"Then why do you keep on coming back here if this place is full of his memories?"
Chaeryeong brought her hands to her lap and fiddled with it. "We were together for two years before that fateful accident happened. And it feels like I'm betraying him if I won't come here anymore."
Ryujin let out a loud sigh as she stared blankly at the horizon. No matter how much she tried to take the gloomy mood off her she's still feeling what Chaeryeong has felt for the loss she had.
"But yeah, I'm okay now," said Chaeryeong cheerfully. "I went here today to officially say goodbye to him, to the memories we had here. I'm moving on now. It's just somehow ironic that on the last day I pledge to go here, to formally bid farewell to him, I found you."
"Huh?"
"Don't get me wrong, okay? It's just that... you know... you somehow reminded me of him."
"Oh." Ryujin didn't know what to say.
"I don't know why I'm even telling you this, but yeah, you may not look alike, but you have the same aura," said Chaeryeong. "The way you held your coffee, the way you seated when I saw you earlier, that sunglasses you wear, all of those just reminds me of him."
"Okay... so... should I just buzz off now because I just heard that you already want to say goodbye to him?" said Ryujin, pretending to stand up.
Chaeryeong stifled a laugh. "Crazy! That's not what I meant!"
"But how can you forget him if you're talking to some stranger who reminds you of him?"
"Hmm. How should I explain this?" Chaeryeong brought her hands to her chin. "It's just that I feel like we're destined to meet here today."
"Okay..."
"You see, going here alone, what are the odds of me finding some random stranger that reminds me of my previous boyfriend?" asked Chaeryeong. "You could have gone to this place later and not meet me. Or maybe I could have gone here earlier and sat with another person instead. But then, of all the time we have in the 24 hours of our days, both of us had chosen this time to go here."
Ryujin bent her head right. "Well... that's an accident..."
Chaeryeong chuckled. "Now you're talking like him already. He said that our meeting was an accident."
Ryujin smirked. She's relieved to see that Chaeryeong is over now with her grieving.
"There are no accidents, Ryujin. Everything happens because it is destined to happen. We may not know it for now but there is a reason we met here today."
Ryujin smiled. "Yeah, serendipity, as you said."
Chaeryeong shifted her crossed legs. "You know, this is what I love about talking to strangers. You can share anything about yourself without worrying about how they'll think of you later."
"I couldn't agree more," said Ryujin, sipping from her coffee. "I used to travel a lot before. I know what you're trying to point out."
"So... how about you, any issues you wanna share?" Chaeryeong nudged Ryujin.
Ryujin saw Chaeryeong's hopeful face for a touching story from her. Although she's entertaining the idea of telling this stranger what's on her mind, her face reflected a bit of hesitation.
"Come on, tell me. I just did all the talking earlier. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone your secret," Chaeryeong whispered.
Ryujin shook her head. "I don't know..."
"Agh. You're so unfair!"
Ryujin laughed. The truth is, she really wants to have someone she could express all her thoughts about Yeji freely. Meeting Chaeryeong could mean that maybe that someone is she.
"Fine." This time Ryujin turned her body to face Chaeryeong. "Okay... well... there's this girl..."
Even Ryujin hasn't finished her sentence yet, Chaeryeong's expression seemed to change to a Mona Lisa smile. "And?"
"And I just... I just recently realized that... that I'm in love with her."
"Okay. I think we should give that girl a name."
"Her name is... Yeji..." said Ryujin, feeling a sudden sugar rush in her heart.
"Okay, so, are you 'friends' with Yeji?" Chaeryeong's hands quoted.
"Yeah, we're close friends... I think..."
"Is she aware of your feelings for her?" asked Chaeryeong. Ryujin shook her head no. "Ahh, I see. So that's the problem."
"Exactly." Ryujin looked down at her coffee.
"Can't you just confess to her?"
"Nah. Can't do that. I'm not even sure if she's feeling the same thing for me. In fact, I don't think she's open to having a relationship with someone like me."
"Oh, c'mon. I won't believe her if she would say that she doesn't have a crush on you. Seriously, with that look of yours, I'm pretty sure she's attracted to you."
Ryujin's face shone with joy with what she heard. "I love what I'm hearing now, really. But Yeji... she's straight."
"There are no straight people these days. Everyone is closeted bisexual. Some are just hiding it well." Chaeryeong elbowed Ryujin. "And you said you were close, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm not sure if she thinks the same way. It's just probably me, you know, having these kinds of thoughts."
"What is she like?"
Ryujin's eyes roamed around the area. "She's slightly smaller than I am. She's beautiful. Her smile is just... ahhh... I don't know."
"What do you like about her?"
"Ummm... everything? I just love being around her. Every place becomes an extraordinary place when I'm with her."
Chaeryeong stared at her with a smile on her face. "You know what, I'd love to meet her."
"Huh?"
"If it's okay with you, I said I'd like to meet her."
"Why do you want to meet her?"
"Let me see her first then I'll tell you if she's into you or not."
Ryujin's face lights up with the idea. "How would you know that?"
"C'mon, Ryujin. I know how another woman acts when she's in love. I've been there."
"But how are we going to meet?"
"Call me when you get back. I'll be flying back to Seoul this afternoon."
Ryujin felt Chaeryeong's eagerness to help her. Even her intuition tells her she should trust Chaeryeong. They gave out their numbers to each other and took a photo together.
"I'm not sure if I could bring her to you right away. It depends on the chances," said Ryujin, still looking at her phone.
"No problem. Just call me, update me on what's happening between the two of you. I'd love to see you both be together," said Chaeryeong.
Ryujin's heart melted with that. "Thanks, Chaeryeong. It was nice meeting you here."