Kopter
I was panicking, big time.
Bianca was standing in the entrance of my beloved Koon Chai Cafe, pondering the menu board. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a terror-stricken Park, paralysed with fear.
Bianca turned to face me, not having seen Park yet. "What would you recommend?" she inquired, glancing back at the menu board behind the counter. "What's a Kay-nom Look Chip?" she asked, squinting up at the small chalk letters.
"Khanom Luk Chup, they're like little fruits made from Mung Bean paste," I explained, glancing tentatively over at Park. His expression had not changed.
"Ooo, I'll have that then," she replied. I watched in horror and what felt like slow-motion as she extended a thin bejewelled finger and pressed the tiny silver bell on the counter for service. I spun around to look at Park, nervous sweat dripping down my spine. He sighed, rubbed his temple with his forefingers, and walked confidently over to the counter.
"What can I get you today?" Park asked in his most customer service-y voice.
No response.
Park was beginning to lose his cool, I could see his left arm twitching anxiously. Bianca was staring up at Park quizzically, not uttering a word.
"We'll have two Chai Lattes and a serving of Khanom Luk Chup, thanks." I quickly interjected, slamming the exact change onto the counter and grabbing Bianca's hand, leading her to an empty booth.
She continued to stare at Park, deep in thought.
I desperately searched my mind for a distracting topic. "So, what's Cecelia-"
"It is him!" She exclaimed, cutting me off mid-sentence and scaring the couple at the table beside us. "It's Park." She turned to me, a glint in her eyes. "You wouldn't know him, he's a scholarship student at our school, a total loser."
I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. I desperately wanted to argue but I knew disputing the 'loser' accusation would out my friendship with Park and end up hurting him. "Well actually, he was my partner for the chemistry project. He seemed like a pretty decent guy." I tentatively replied, searching for any topic to change the conversation to, but she was too quick for me.
She twirled her hair menacingly. "Yeah, but that's because you weren't here when he arrived. You weren't here when it happened."
"When what happened?" I asked, genuinely intrigued. I hadn't even contemplated the possibility that Bianca took any interest in Park past his scholarship status. She played with a ring on her left hand.
"When he first joined Trinity Academy, he was super popular. Hard to believe, right? He told everyone his family owned this Korean mega-mart chain," she explained, "But I knew there was something fishy about him, so I had some of my people tail him."
She paused, as if contemplating how to explain her hunch. "I mean trust me, if there's a wealthy conglomerate heir in this city, I'm gonna be the first to know about it. But I'd never even heard of him or his company," Bianca added, nonchalantly.
"And I was right!" she slammed her palm triumphantly onto the table. "He was just some poor kid who got lucky with a scholarship. I mean he lives in Brooklyn, can you believe it!?"
A sense of dread built in my stomach. "Then what did you do?" I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know the answer.
She shrugged. "Well, I had to let people know what a fraud he was, I mean, he was just some scholarship kid from a broke family in Brooklyn who lied to and fooled everyone but me." She stated matter-of-factly. "The people deserved to know, I was really just doing them a service."
The sense of dread bubbled up into my chest and turned into boiling rage. "And then what?" I muttered through gritted teeth.
She relaxed back into her seat. "Well naturally, I let the people know. I posted photos and fliers of his 'truth' all across the school." She clearly hadn't noticed my change in tone as she continued calmly, "Obviously, people were angry at being deceived. All his friends ditched him and he got bullied for a while. Serves him right for lying, the little-"
CRASH!
We both whirled around simultaneously to see Park standing frozen and pale-faced. Shards of broken ceramics littered the floor at his feet. The usual chatter of the cafe had halted, all eyes were on Park.
"I-I gotta g-go," he stammered before running out the door.
Bianca sighed, bored. "What's his problem?"
I felt my fists clench into tight balls, my knuckles burning bright white. I turned to her and stared her dead in the eye. Bianca watched, perplexed, as I unbuckled the Rolex from my wrist and slammed it down onto the table.
"What is wrong with you?" I whispered, jaw clenched.
I didn't want to look at her face anymore.
I turned from the bewildered Bianca and ran out the door, away from this fake date and after Park.
Park
Oh God, he knows.
I kept running, through the crowded streets of Manhattan and through the gates of Central Park.
How could he bring her here!?
He must have known that I could be on shift, why would he risk exposing me like that?
I darted to the left, avoiding an elderly couple feeding the pigeons.
Everything everyone had said was true. They looked perfect together. No amount of hatred for Bianca could make me deny her looks; if there was anyone good enough for Kopter visually and economically, then it was her. They looked so natural together. It made me feel ill.
They were smiling, I saw them! They were smiling and they looked so happy and Kopter was smiling and - oh God, why did my heart have to skip a beat when I saw him?
I ran past benches, vendors, and ponds until my lungs finally gave out and I stumbled to a halt. I felt tears stinging the edges of my eyes but didn't bother to hold them back.
He looked so dashing with her. He practically glowed, he must really like her to make such an effort. Everything about him, from his shoes to his hair must have taken hours to achieve, so of course he liked her. If I was straight, wouldn't I have done the same to impress a girl I liked?
My thoughts blurred with my vision. Was he happy next to her? It shouldn't have been what I was focused on but I couldn't help but analyse his presence. Kopter's always so kind, open and expressive, it's impossible to tell when he genuinely likes someone or is just being nice. He seemed to like her, but did he really?
I crumpled down into the rough gravel, buried my head in my hands, and let the tears stream down my face. Whether he liked her not doesn't even matter now. He knew my most shameful secret. He knew that I had been pathetic enough to lie. He knew why everyone despised me. He now had reason to despise me too.
I was an idiot too, ashamed to be truthful about my real background. I'd tricked everyone who cared for me into thinking I was something I'm not.
I was so sure that they would hate me if they knew the truth, so sure that life would be hell that I lied. Now I really know what hell is like.
Kopter would never speak to me again. I was a liar. How could he trust me now? The first friend I've had in four long, lonely years, and I'd blown it again.
"PARK?"
Someone raced towards me at full speed, feet slipping and sliding on the park gravel beneath them. I took a deep, rattling breath and stood up to get out of his way. As I turned away, that 'someone' screeched to a halt and placed a hand on my shoulder. I heard heavy breathing as he caught his breath.
Kopter looked down at my face, his own full of concern and sweat. He didn't say a word as he pulled me in close. I felt both his arms wrap around my shoulders as he drew me into his warm chest.
I let my arms hang loosely at my sides as I sobbed into his shirt.
His warm breath blew over my ear. As it slowed, I felt the steady beating of his heart beneath his shirt slow to a comforting pace. He lifted one of his arms and placed his hand on my head, gently stroking the hair on the back of my head. If this was the last good-bye, I didn't have to feel any shame letting him see me cry.
"It's gonna be okay," He repeated over and over again in the same soothing tone my mother used when I fell over as a kid. I lifted my arms, grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, and pulled him in closer. I buried my wet, mushy face deeper into his chest, possibly permanently ruining a very expensive shirt. I didn't care. At least by his actions, neither did he.
After what felt both like hours and seconds, he stepped back and pushed me back with both hands placed firmly on my shoulders. My eyes were so swollen I could barely see anything except that he was looking straight at me with a stern expression. Unable to hold his gaze, I looked down at the gravel strewn path.
Here it comes.
"Why didn't you tell me, hmm?"
My head shot back up to look at him with shock. Where was the anger? The shame? The judgment? The rejection? Everyone else at school gave it to me, where was his?
He removed one hand from my shoulder and ran it through his hair, a pensive expression on his face. He looked off into the distance, in the direction of the cafe. Back to his date. Bianca.
"If you'd had told me what she did back then I would've told her to shove her date where the sun don't shine." He looked back at me with one of his sun-filled smiles, "Did you want me to have one of the worst dates of my life?"
I stared blankly back up at him and his face fell into a serious look.
"Look, Park." He placed his hand back on my shoulder, held me at arm's length, and looked deep into my eyes. The setting sun reflected in his eyes made them glow like molten gold honeycomb.
"You might not want to hear this 'cause God knows you're no good with any act of kindness or affection aimed towards you, but you're my best friend. I care about you. And if anyone hurts you, I'm always gonna be on your side. Even when you're wrong." He grinned again. "Even though you'll probably always be wrong."
"Hey," I muttered, weakly punching his left shoulder. He staggered back at the sheer power of my measly punch.
"That's more like it, the usual grumpy, aggressive Min-Hyuk Park." He beamed back, rubbing his shoulder in mock pain.
"Let's go," I mumbled, finally noticing there were now crowds of people milling around, staring at us and whispering.
I began walking towards the exit, back to the abandoned cafe. Kopter bounced to my side, slid an arm around my shoulder, and dumped a scarf around my neck.
"Is this your new look then?" I asked, pulling the scarf down from my eyes and scornfully eyeing his immaculate suit.
He looked down at me and pulled the scarf tighter round my neck. "Why, do I look even more dashing than usual?" He smirked, one eyebrow slightly raised.
I pulled the scarf over mouth to hide my smile. "Pssht, as if," I murmured into the fabric.
Kopter grabbed my hand and began excitedly swinging it as we walked. I let him.
"Come on then," he exclaimed cheerily as we approached a vender truck, "I'll buy you a pretzel."