Chaeyoung stared intently at her phone, willing for it to ring. She looked antsy as she repeatedly checked the time. Feeling dejected, she gulped down what’s left of her last glass of wine. She was about to rise from her table when a waiter approached her with a bouquet in hand.
She immediately beamed upon receiving the bouquet. She settled to examine the flowers, eyeing a mix of purple hyacinth, asphodel and cyclamen. She looked alarmed as she cautiously picked the card inserted between the flowers. When she read it, her eyes welled up with anguish tears.
She laggardly walked her way to the restroom. Attempting to compose herself, she bitterly wiped away her tears and touched up her appearance. When she went out of the restroom, she dithered about going back for the bouquet she left on the table.
She eventually went back to the table to get the bouquet. But when she was about to grab it, her hand stopped short. Instead, she tucked a bill under it as payment for the wine before storming out of the restaurant.
She stopped by a convenience store on her way home. She bought a bottle of wine, wishing to drown her sorrows with alcohol. When she got home, she carefully concealed the wine as she rushed up the stairs to go to her room. She went back down to get water from the kitchen where she found her mother washing the dishes. She hugged her mother from the back which startled her mother.
“What is this?” Her mother asked.
“Nothing. Am I not allowed to hug my own mother now?”
Her mother turned to face Chaeyoung, “Alright. So how was your date?”
Chaeyoung froze at the question. Putting on a forced smile, she impassively answered, “It was great!”
She then moved to pour herself a glass of cold water, wanting to calm her nerves. Before her mother can ask her more about the supposed date, she excused herself feigning a headache. She skedaddled with the practically empty glass in hand.
Chaeyoung collapsed on her bed, exhausted and gloomy. She emptied the glass she brought from the kitchen to replace the contents with the wine she bought. She filled the glass to the brim before drinking it all at once. Discontented, she put the glass down and drank straight from the bottle instead. As she was slugging the wine down, fresh tears started to pour down her face. Unable to hold it together any longer, she freely wailed out muffling the sound with a pillow. She unceasingly cried till she fell asleep hugging the now empty wine bottle.
The next morning, Chaeyoung woke up with a heavy hangover. She wanted to skip work because she was not feeling well. But considering the fact that she just started her dream job as a marketing specialist at Hephaestus Furniture Inc. last week, she cannot afford to be absent. Intending to make a good impression at her new company, she needed to show up no matter how she was feeling that day. Thus she prepared to go to work shiftlessly dragging her feet around her room. She put on her makeup in such a way that her listless face will be overlooked.
Chaeyoung was having a hard time at work because memories of Taehyung kept haunting her. When she was using the photocopier, she suddenly remembered how Taehyung voluntarily accompanied her whenever she needed photocopies for their thesis paper back in college. Then upon seeing the virtually empty vending machine in the rest room, she remembered a time when Taehyung had to embarrass himself buying sanitary napkin for her because she belatedly realize that she had menstruation and the vending machine in the restroom was already emptied.
Even looking at a whiteboard in their office reminded Chaeyoung of the times when Taehyung tutored her concerning her accounting class. Chaeyoung was already on her last straw when while playfully brushing her feet under the table, she remembered an instance when Taehyung bought her socks because her new shoes were hurting her feet. Frustrated at herself, she took off her socks and threw them in the garbage bin. Then she hurriedly went to the restroom and cried out her fury.
She went out of the restroom with a puffed up reddish eyes. And she spent the rest of the day avoiding eye contact from anyone she talked to.
After her shift, Chaeyoung went straight to Paladra to visit her best friend, Lisa, who was working there as the branch manager.
“Chae, how was your date last night?” Lisa asked giddily.
Unable to talk, Chaeyoung freely allowed herself to let go of all her bottled up emotions. Her steady tears complimented her sullen look. Her reaction put Lisa in a panic mode so she swiftly adjourned their conversation inside her office before they grab everyone’s attention.
“Chae, it looks like your caramel macchiato won’t suffice for today’s counsel. How about we buy wine, get drunk, talk, cry, talk and cry and you can sleep over at my house tonight. Sounds fun right?”
Still crying, Chaeyoung only responded with a short nod.
“Great! Now can you wait for me here for the next hour? I will just give final instructions to my crew and then we will be good to go.” Lisa turned to leave, but not before giving Chaeyoung a reassuring hug.
... ... ... ... ...
The coldness of the night matched well with Chaeyoung’s disposition at the moment. Ever since they came to her house, Lisa was having a difficult time getting a word from her best friend. All she did was nod or shake her head in response. Even after nearly two bottles of wine, Chaeyoung stayed taciturn. So Lisa decided to up the game as she grew desperate to help ease her best friend’s mood.
“Chae do you still not want to talk about it? You see, I can’t be much help to you if all you do is whine all night. I promised you earlier that we are here to talk. So please, tell me what’s wrong,” Lisa pleaded.
“I . . . uh . . . he . . . was sorry,” Chaeyoung cried out as she handed Lisa the card she took from the bouquet.
“Huh? Wait! What is this?!” Lisa flipped the card over and over again.
“He did not meet me last night. I waited for him for two hours at the restaurant, looking like a fool by myself with only the wine to keep me company. And when I was about to give up waiting, a waiter gave me the bouquet with a mix of purple hyacinth, asphodel and cyclamen. Do you know how I was about to faint just seeing the flowers?” Chaeyoung moaned in between sobs.
Lisa answered with a confused look, “What’s with the flowers?”
“They mean regret, sorry and goodbye. How about the card huh?! He only wrote the word sorry and his name on the byline. He barely contacted me for a month, bailed out on me and even dared to make me wait for two hours before notifying me that he’s not going to show up for our third anniversary celebration. And he cannot even show me his face?! We’ve been together for three years and all I got was a one-word-apology-card? What was it he was even sorry about?!” Chaeyoung scowled before breaking down completely.
Lisa rushed over to Chaeyoung, now crying along with her. They stayed hugging each other until Chaeyoung finally calmed down. Chaeyoung grabbed the wine bottle and drank it all up, only pausing briefly to gasp some air before finishing the bottle’s content down to its last drop.
Lisa was shocked with Chaeyoung’s behavior, she muttered how this was so unlike the Chaeyoung she knew. Just as Lisa was taking the last bottle of wine away from Chaeyoung’s grasp, Chaeyoung dropped unconscious on the table. Lisa hovered over Chaeyoung, tucking Chaeyoung’s hair away from her face with great compassion. She clucked her tongue thinking about how her best friend was awfully treated.
Lisa slung Chaeyoung’s arm across her shoulders and dragged Chaeyoung to her room. She tucked her in the bed. And looking at Chaeyoung’s miserable face was crushing Lisa’s own heart.
The next day Lisa prepared a hangover soup and breakfast for Chaeyoung. She left the food and the note on the side table, reminding Chaeyoung to eat everything she cooked for her. She added that since she will be working today, she prohibited Chaeyoung from doing stupid things by herself. Lisa explained that Chaeyoung must take her to do everything together.
After Lisa left, Chaeyoung awakened with a throbbing headache. She noticed the food on the side table and smiled when she read the note left with it. As Lisa demanded, Chaeyoung ate up everything Lisa cooked for her. Then she walked home afterewards which was just two houses away from Lisa’s.
Chaeyoung’s mother greeted her with a nag when she got home. “Why did you sleep over at Lisa’s last night? Did you actually sleep at her house? Park Chaeyoung, don’t you even try to outsmart me. You’ve been acting weird since you got home that night you went out with Taehyung, what is really happening with you?”
Unable to hold it any longer, Chaeyoung wailed. “We broke up Mom!”
Surprised, her mother ushered her to sit down. They were hugging each other when Chaeyoung’s father and sister emerged from the dining room. As Chaeyoung was facing her back towards them, her mother mouthed for her father and sister to go back to the dining room. Her mother then pulled back and asked for Chaeyoung to talk about what happened. Slowly, Chaeyoung reiterated the story of her break up with Taehyung. Her mother, shocked and speechless, ended up the one consoled by Chaeyoung.
“Don’t worry Mom, you don’t need to tell me anything that I don’t know yet. I know you love me and that’s more than enough for me. I just need some time to figure things out on my own. And I will go to my room now so you can clarify a few things to Dad and Alice,” Chaeyoung said having found out that her father and sister were lurking in from behind the sofa.
True to Chaeyoung’s supposition, her father and sister rose from behind the sofa when Chaeyoung was already out of sight. They then proceeded to discuss about Chaeyoung’s breakup. It was heartbreaking for her family too, knowing full well about her relationship with Taehyung.
Meanwhile, Chaeyoung locked herself inside her room to brood. Scattered on her bed are her memorabilia of when she and Taehyung were dating. She picked up a tattered arcade play card and her memories of her first date with Taehyung came to mind.
Mid April 2014 . . .
Two weeks after Chaeyoung and Lisa graduated from college, Taehyung offered to treat them to watch a movie in which the ladies eagerly agreed on. They planned to meet at the cinema the next day.
“Taehyung!!” Chaeyoung called out, sprinting towards Taehyung.
“Hey! Don’t run! Be careful!” Taehyung fret.
“Such a worrywart!” Chaeyoung countered, playfully pinching Taehyung’s cheeks.
“I was not . . .” Taehyung started to say but was suddenly stopped when he noticed Chaeyoung’s attire for today.
Looking chic, Chaeyoung wore a short jumper skirt over an oxford white shirt. She paired it with black combat boots causing Taehyung to gape at her.
“Taehyung? You were saying?” Chaeyoung broke his fancy.
“Huh? Oh nothing. Nothing. So uh, where’s Lisa? Are you not together?”
“I don’t know! She told me to meet you guys here since she had an errand to go to earlier.”
“Oh! Is that so?” Taehyung responded surprisingly.
Unbeknownst to Chaeyoung, Taehyung and Lisa planned this act together. Taehyung liked Chaeyoung a lot but his diffidence was stopping him from asking her out. So he seek Lisa’s help to set them up on a date. Taehyung giggled furtively at the initial success of their plan. He hoped that the rest of the day will turn out well.
“She isn’t answering her phone,” Chaeyoung said.
“Oh! Do you want to eat ice cream while waiting for Lisa?” Taehyung asked.
Chaeyoung bobbed her head excitedly at Taehyung’s suggestion. He took his time in buying the ice cream while Chaeyoung’s effort in calling Lisa remained abortive.
Taehyung hid his enjoyment as he approached Chaeyoung, “Did she answer this time?”
“Nope!” Chaeyoung answered dismayingly before cheering up with the ice cream in hand.
In the middle of finishing up their ice cream, Chaeyoung received a text from Lisa saying that she cannot go with them to the movies after all. Her errand took her more time than she expected.
“She can’t come?” Taehyung asked, acting innocent.
“No. She said she will try to catch up with us but she does not want to keep our hopes up.”
“Really? So . . . do you still want to go ahead with the movie? Or we can go some other time when you and Lisa are both free.”
“We can?” Chaeyoung blurted looking hopeful.
Taehyung tried not-so-well to hide his disappointment, “Of course! After all, this is my congratulatory gift to the both of you. So yeah, no problem with me.”
Chaeyoung was feeling uneasy at her realization that this will be the first time she and Taehyung will hang out with just the two of them, minus Lisa. Chaeyoung looked conflicted not knowing what to do with Taehyung, his disappointment was apparent although he seemed to be trying not to show it.
“Um! Since we’re already here, should we do something else instead?” Chaeyoung tried to appease Taehyung.
“Really? Yeah! We could do that. So what are we going to do then?” Taehyung immediately brightened up.
“Let us go to the arcade. What do you think?”
“Sounds fun! Let’s go!”
Then Taehyung tugged Chaeyoung’s hand, they skipped to the direction of the arcade holding each other’s hands. Chaeyoung looked at their clasped hands warily, her heart beating rapidly because of the contact.
Taehyung slowly realized that he had been holding Chaeyoung’s hand for some time. Flustered at his faux pas, he gently let go of her hand. Though he was inwardly wishing to hold her hand a little longer.
Alarmed at Chaeyoung’s sudden silence, Taehyung rushed acquiring the play card. They first played Zombie Apocalypse which had Taehyung amused at Chaeyoung’s choice. What delighted him more was her amiable concentration towards the game. He even cheered for her to boost her psyche even more.
At the next game, Taehyung and Chaeyoung played Street Basketball together. It was draining both physically and emotionally for Taehyung. The game was physically exhausting but their juxtaposition was more tormenting.
When Taehyung tried to wipe Chaeyoung’s forehead from sweat, Chaeyoung stepped back reflexively as she was finding their physical closeness disturbing.
So Taehyung wordlessly handed his towel to Chaeyoung instead, to which she received graciously.
When they were playing air hockey after, Chaeyoung and Taehyung were already getting more comfortable around each other. They were blithely outwitting each other during the game, no one wanting to loose. Although in the end, Taehyung deliberately lost to Chaeyoung.
“Hey! I saw that. It wasn’t fair. You intentionally lost the game,” Chaeyoung accused.
“I did not, it was an incorrect flick of the wrist. You were just lucky! I will do better for the next game.”
Chaeyoung responded with a broad smile, “Nah. I don’t want to halt my luck just yet. Maybe some other time I will allow a rematch.”
“Is that a promise?”
“Do you want to pinky swear to seal our deal?”
Taehyung laughed hilariously at Chaeyoung’s frolic but not before agreeing to do the pinky swear.
She chuckled in response.
“Let us eat!” Chaeyoung declared fervently. And off they went to the nearest restaurant.
It was a fun time even during dinner because Taehyung did not stop teasing Chaeyoung.
“Are you sure that’s enough? You don’t have anything more to add?” Taehyung asked as Chaeyoung was about to munch on her second burger.
“Did you order ice cream?” Chaeyoung exclaimed.
“But you’ve had one earlier.”
“Yeah! But that was earlier. Now is not the same,” Chaeyoung answered sweetly.
“Okay! Let us just get one at the convenience store in your neighborhood.”
“Great!”
As promised, Taehyung and Chaeyoung stopped by a convenience store on their way home. It was another awkward moment when Chaeyoung realized that Taehyung was walking her home later. They both stopped momentarily when they reached Lisa’s house but walked on silently without even looking back.
“We’re here!” Chaeyoung said.
“Um. I. Uh. Thank you for your time Chaeyoung! I had so much fun!”
“I had a great time as well!”
“And uh don’t think I will forget your promise for a rematch at the arcade.”
“Of course! We pinky promised remember? I won’t forget.”
“Thanks again and goodnight. I won’t mind if you dream of me tonight,” Taehyung said as he boldly winked at Chaeyoung.
Taehyung went home gleefully that night, thinking how their date went very well even with his shortcomings.
On the other hand, Chaeyoung was peacefully sleeping waiting to dream about Taehyung later in the night.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I actually wrote this story about two years ago and it was not a fanfiction. It was entirely something else.
But since I was hooked in fanfictions, I decided to make this into one. I hope you'll like this story too and support it the same way you did with my first story, She's Off Limits.
Please vote and write comments. 😊