꠹ꪜﺃꪻᦓᦔ꠹ ᶠⁱʳᵉ ᦓ꠹ꪶᦔꪻᦔꪖ

From outside it all seemed perfect; the venue, the lighting, the scenery from the top, and the two of you sitting opposite each other.

Both of you were dressed nicely, holding light alcoholic drinks as if you truly belonged together, when in reality you knew that this wasn't the case for quite some time now.

You actually hated how picture-perfect it all seemed — you might have loved it once, or you might have wished for something similar in the past thinking about the far future, but certainly not anymore.

...Really, it was pure coincidence and the universe's own momentarily punishment towards you that right now you're bound to be here and witness, even indulge in such a scenario.

"Should I pour some more?" Jo's distant voice hit your ears making you tear your eyes away from your drink, but you didn't let your irises wander onto his comfortable sitting frame.

"No need." Your response was curt and frustration was building inside you like a fresh fire setting ablaze, flame particles rubbing off on your exposed skin burning the surface for a second — or it seemed, as your body was undefyingly growing warmer and warmer.

Why are you even here, having this 'talk' with Jo?

Why are you even breathing the same close air as him? Even if you're under the seemingly endless night sky stretching far beyond your eyes' reach, providing enough room for a thousand new breath strokes... Why with him?

You were surprised by your fast rush of frustration turning into anger, but at the same time, it clouded your mind so thinking clearly was a challenge currently.

The Rosé in your tall glass seemed to swim and flow so efficiently, just like it could rush down your throat, but even consuming alcohol to ease your mind seemed to be just a distant wish for the rational side of your brain.

Damn it.

For digging up the grave another time, weren't you two?

The grave, in which your past relationship lay undisturbed until now.

Even though both of you had the chance to ignore each other when you made eye contact at the far ends of the jazz bar, for some reason you chose to start a conversation anyway.

It seemed especially nostalgic and romantic since you two decided to go out onto the rooftop, for privacy...

Privacy?

What kind of privacy do the two of you need, who now act like total strangers who forgot what their past relationship looked like?

Who erased all past connections, mentions of love, and adoration towards the other, putting all of those now cursed memories in a small box, locking it, then throwing its key away, and then throwing the whole box away. Far away.

...The past few minutes seemed to pass by in a blur, you almost had no recollection of how you got here.

The sweet wine was just a distraction, just like the way Jo made conversation about pouring more of the reddish liquid into your glass, to which you sternly said no.

It was all a getaway from the harsh reality; Rosé flowing with your chosen family which you both knew well... that you weren't each other's home or trusted family-like, significant other anymore.

When the wounds of the breakup were still fresh in your heart you always thought of countless ways to rewrite your broken fate.

'And it would've been sweet... If it could've been me.'

These were the thoughts that still clouded your sunny mind from time to time, bringing a sudden wave of dark winds and rain into your feelings and mental state.

Thinking of all the possible scenarios that could have occurred in the future was always a dangerous mind game for anyone who's trying to forget rather than build new, unlikely, and even delusional memories.

"Some snacks, you'd like?" Jo continued in a quiet, very respectful but still neutral tone — he must have felt your nerves getting the better of you — as he seemed to be averting his eyes for split seconds.

It looked like he finally realized how this situation is wrong on so many levels and he seemed to be getting nervous too.

There were too many feelings swirling inside you; Feeling bad because you snapped at him a minute ago, but frustration also kept building on the side which tore you apart. It made you see two sides of the same coin in a bad way.

The whole situation felt like it was forbidden, for the two of you to even breathe the same air with such conflicting feelings developing inside... you could almost physically see the dark gloomy clouds on top of your heads, as if indicating your personal moods minute by minute.

It was not okay how you were going round and round inside a spinning reel of strong impulses.

You needed to put an end to it somehow, anyhow...

"No, I'm good." You finally answered his previous hesitant question.

Well... you feeling good was the biggest lie currently, but what else could you say?

This was not the place nor the right person to share your emotions with. And clearly, he'll never be one of them again.

A heavy silence fell for the first time and it stayed for several minutes.

As you had time to ponder the spinning reel came back, inviting you in once again; you could cut this meeting short and leave, or in fact, you should leave for both of your emotional safety, or you could change the topic to a light-hearted one, or keep the silence, and so on...

The burning frustration turned into hot nervousness within you as you grew more self-conscious around Jo.

It was even weirder, considering how you felt as if it was the first time you saw him, like your first ever date when it all started.

Or your first kiss.

Right time, and right place, but the wrong person.

...How much time has it been since you parted ways?

6 months.

Over half a year, but not a full-length year yet, so there's still a chance for forgiveness.

Or at least this is what you read in many novels, or saw in consolatory movies, series, dramas.

Is it weird to have a little faith in that?

Is it foolish or even selfish to think about your happiness like that?

—You have to say something or your thoughts will start to spiral again.

"...We went from strangers to friends, then to lovers, then to strangers again but with a shared past. We were something, don't you think so? " You spoke out of turn, surprising your rational self and poor Jo, who currently looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Quite the change of topic, but there was no turning back now.

"I, well... That's in the past now. We're not in a relationship anymore." He said, still unsure but his voice had a cold tone to it. "We were something, we had something, but that something — seeing that we can barely name it, passed a while ago." He kept his voice quiet as if he, too, was afraid of saying such harsh things, or worried about hurting you.

But he said what he said anyway, no eye contact whatsoever, nevertheless, just as brutally honest.

Silence fell again, your surroundings seemed to falter and blur around you, and you barely registered the fine wine in your hands.

Tears weren't coming to your eyes, it wasn't that, your focus just simply shifted, altered itself.

Right, it passed.

You hummed, almost inaudible even to yourself as you ran his words over your head once more, to confirm them.

You unintentionally ignored Jo for a couple of moments too, while being lost in your thoughts, but then he spoke again, louder, to direct your attention back to him.

"In my defense—"

"I have none." You cut him off sharply, trying to imply the end of the conversation somehow, anyhow.

You were desperate to stop, but he was desperate to continue... When there was nothing to continue, but a lot to stop.

He said enough already and you too, way more than you should have and wanted to have.

It has all been said and done between you two, six months before and now, this turn of events confirmed everything for you.

There was nothing to talk about anymore, it was starting to get awkward how Jo seemed to try communicating with you again.

As if he foolishly wanted to make everything right after such a long amount of time, just because he might have realized his mistakes...?

...No, that time has passed.

Memories were bulging up inside you once again, those sweet, promising times, as if after a long drought on dry land suddenly salty ocean water washed over the desert-like place, just like that your recollection started flashing vividly.

As if everything suddenly got reborn, every single little thing, feeling, thought, and future plan.

Rainwater was something most lands and owners were happy to receive but you weren't this time.

It was like a blessing for them... but the worst curse for you currently.

But if it gets out of hand... Flood is not an option, it would destroy every house and shelter that you've built up until now.

It would be a shame to see your hard work go, so you had to do something to prevent such bad things.

"I should go." You said, interrupting whatever Jo was explaining before in an uncertain tone. "No, we should go. On separate ways." You added, a rush of confidence taking you over and you stood up abruptly putting down the fancy wine at the same time, indicating your words further.

"...We need to say goodbye at some point, for both of our sakes. It didn't work out, and by now I'm certain that it never will. This has to be it." You sighed audibly, peeking into the nicely decorated inside of the jazz bar for the first time since you've got here, and you hastily stepped closer to the balcony glass door. "Goodbye Jo, take care." You looked back for a split second and then left, finally, forever.

➪ 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 【𝐌 𝐀 𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐋 𝐈 𝐒 𝐓】 !

I was anxiously biting my nails while traveling on one of the last buses around this hour, deep in the night.

I can only hope I'm not too late yet.

While rushing I even forgot to bring my phone with me, instead, I left it plugged in on my bedside table... And I didn't even check the opening hours of the drugstores around me!

I hastily glanced at the time every 30 seconds, as slowly the last 10 minutes before 9 pm were ticking away right in front of me, while I was racing with time to desperately find one store that was open at this hour.

...Well, technically, I was racing with the bus's schedule contrary to the current time but whatever.

I was incredibly nervous while awaiting the last few stops.

But the reason behind it... Let me do a recap before I reach my destination, maybe time will stop while I explain?

It all started about half an hour ago; I was lazing around in my dorm room watching a film on my laptop quietly, while halfway through I started playing with my phone.

It's Saturday evening, and I was gearing up for tomorrow's long hours of studying with an easy schedule the day before... Or at least, I tried to.

Suddenly my phone's screen switched while I was playing and my friend's caller ID appeared.

I picked it up without question, immediately finding it strange that she was calling me at a time like this.

Although I had a feeling that something was up, in a negative way but I didn't let my worrying get the worst of me right away.

...Just after she started speaking into the device in a shaky tone.

Thousands of thoughts flew through my mind at that moment, the worst scenarios possible but after a second she told me this: 'My boyfriend broke up with me today.'

Oh. No.

That was one of my worst ideas!

Then she added: 'Over text.'

Holy— I didn't even think about this case, and now it was even worse!

So I knew I had to get going, this was my calling, and it was time to go and take matters into my own hands.

Time to cheer her up, and gossip about the guy until she feels better.

So, that's what I intend to do, still, in the middle of the evening; others may get ready for bed, but I get ready for the local plaza to check out drugstores.

Sounds cool, right?

I still don't understand why was a drugstore my first instinct to go there but it seemed right.

Nowadays there are healthy snacks and a couple of sodas in these places, aside from makeup and hair products and so on, so I figured I could buy everything in there.

And it's a rule that after a breakup we change ourselves for the better... So hair dye and nail polish it is!

And oh look, catching up really did help, I'm here already!

Since I didn't have my phone with me I couldn't check the time, so with a shrug I speed-runned the outline of the plaza, looking for a drugstore.

It put a small panic in me that most clothing stores were closed at this hour — not that I should be surprised by this or anything, really — but some fast food restaurants were still open, so I might have a chance.

Using an escalator I arrived at the next level of the big mall and saw the drugstore at the end of the line so with quick steps I stormed off in that direction.

But as I inched closer I saw more than half of the cover was pulled down, to protect the store for the night.

It had some small holes in it, but I couldn't see anything through them so I crouched down in my last desperate try and looked under.

The remaining open part provided some clear evidence that the light was in fact on inside the small store, so it meant that someone was still there.

So I clung to hope and voiced my concerns.

I guess it doesn't hurt, hardly anyone is around here at this hour so if I can convince a cashier or manager to let me in for 5 minutes, it's already worth it.

"Is anyone here?" I raised my voice so it echoed through the seemingly empty store for a bit until I think I heard some quiet footsteps.

My heart did a funny jump because I hoped I wasn't imagining things so I waited for a pair of legs, still looking from under the metal cover thing.

I'm sure I look ridiculous, but hey, whatever gets the job done.

I didn't have to wait long, I saw a pair of lanky legs coming my way; they were wearing comfortable white sneakers and slightly baggy, washed-out denim jeans... Also, I think I saw a glimpse of the store's logo on the shirt they were wearing so my night is either saved or dumped.

In a moment, I came face-to-face with a very handsome guy who seemed to be around the same age as me, with eager, sparkling eyes despite his evening shift, a stylish haircut, smooth skin, a cute nose, and pretty lips.

As we locked eyes he seemed surprised too, but only for a second before pulling out his typical customer smile.

"Hi, can I help you?" The greatest and awkwardest line ever said in a context like this, I almost burst a lung but managed to keep my cool in the end.

Okay, get it together, this is serious — don't forget, you're still running on high time for your friend!

And her boy problems!

"Is the store still open?" I asked with a hopeful glint in my eyes.

I didn't want to dump all my questions on him at once, so I figured before I boast to him my chaotic apology and reasoning about why I needed 2 bottles of soda, a bar of chocolate, nail polish, and crazy hair dyes at night I'll just appear a little less weird, for now.

"Well, our closing time is at 9 pm, but I'm still here so technically yes, the store is open." He flashed a cute half-smile, waiting for my next sentence.

"Is it possible for me to get in and buy a couple of last-minute things? I promise it's a maximum of 5 minutes, I know what I need." I tried to sound as determined as I could never, but I really didn't want to test his patience too much.

He seemed to be thinking through my words for a second but then he easily nodded and gave another kind smile.

Then he extended his hand in my direction under the metal wall thing and at first I gazed at him questionably, but then I accepted his help and let him pull me through the 'entrance' in a weird way.

After I was in the store I saw that truly every light was still on in the aisles, and the cashier's check looked intact as well.

"You're lucky because I usually leave the cash register to the last, so you'll still be able to pay." He chuckled while helping me to my feet and our gazes lingered on each other for a second.

It seems today he's the one on duty to close the store and make sure everything is intact before leaving... I feel lucky.

He's... cute.

"Ah, I was just in time then!" I answered enthusiastically with a giggle, then we slowly untangled our hands, his warmth leaving mine as I turned to the aisle where the hair products were.

For a while I felt his sparkling eyes on me as I skipped through the shelves, checking out only those products that I had an interest in.

There was no time to waste when my friend needed me urgently!

I gathered my thoughts and after a few minutes, I was done, heading to the cash register while opening my bag to check how much money I had on me.

Although a 15-minute bus ride was still awaiting me to arrive at my friend's place, but I felt like I was starting to see the end of this rushed journey.

I walked up to the cute guy and put my things on the rubber plate for him to beep it in.

As I glanced at him while he peacefully punched in numbers and product names to the computer beside him I saw his eyebrows furrowing, then he slowly looked up at me and a small smile was hiding in the corner of his mouth.

"You're going to a salon or something?" He chuckled adorably and I couldn't stop the blush creeping up on my neck to my cheeks as he questioned my choices.

Right, he's still a shop assistant, and he must see countless weird listings every day, but I'm sure mine is pretty questionable as of now.

I gave a short laugh before answering and averted my eyes for a second, not bothering to take out my wallet yet.

"No, I'm going to my friend's place, girl's night you know... Her boyfriend just broke up with her, so emotional support is needed." I felt a bit bad for telling him just like this, spilling a piece of my friend's personal life but I wanted to answer truthfully, since I panicked because of his reaction and I just blurted it out.

At my answer his eyes seemed to scan me over quickly, as if searching for something very thoroughly, his whole gaze shifted for a second when he seemed to think about something, but then changed back to normal.

Yeah, he definitely found that TMI weird.

I know he tried to play off his reaction with a cool vibe but I'm sure he was uncomfortable.

Sorry, cute guy.

"That's unfortunate." He nodded and quietly expressed some sort of sorrow to be empathetic but I knew it was forced. "That's all, right?" He changed the topic, mustering another shy smile in my way.

"Yep, that's all." I nodded back, paid, and quickly packed everything into my small backpack, except the delicious orange-flavored soda, because just as he started talking to me I realized how dry my throat was.

I unscrewed the top and stopped to drink, no longer feeling in such a rush.

The guy was staring at me, not moving from behind the cash register, as if wanting to say something before I leave.

I held the drink in my hand and turned to him as I felt his curious eyes on me.

We made eye contact again and he looked away for a second, then released a sigh and turned back to me, a more determined look present on his face as he spoke again.

"Ah... By the way, can I ask for your name?" In a second I noticed the nervous gradient in his soft voice but it made me giggle before I could stop myself.

"I'm Y/n, nice to meet you. And you?" I answered almost immediately with even more enthusiasm, trying to stop myself from blushing and smiling too hard.

Calm down, it's just a respectful cute guy, nothing to see here...

"...I'm Harua." He said after a moment of gazing at each other and I noticed his mouth corners lifting the same into a bunny-like grin, but the moment my brain registered his name I suddenly felt my heart drop to my stomach.

Wait, what?

I take that back, it's not nice to meet you.

...You broke my friend's heart, you monster.

I was sure my hasty reaction was visible outside as well; I felt my body grow still for a couple of seconds and my smile faltering, then freezing onto my face in a rather awkward manner, and my hands grew into fists as I held the strap of my bag.

Now I regret coming to this store, even if they had all the goods.

Damn, I didn't even know that this guy works in a place like this... This is just so unbelievable suddenly.

What did I do to deserve such Karma?

I don't know if I should even mention this to my friend, this situation is wrong on so many levels...

But by the looks of things it seems he doesn't recognize me, since he asked for my name.

I guess I never got mentioned by my name, which comes in handy right now.

Good thing, because now I have a very clear picture of him when I arrive at my friend's house.

As well as his other side that doesn't include him humiliating her like that, through text.

And I take everything back I said about him being nice, respectful, and cute.

If he broke my friend's heart like that he's far from respectful or nice.

Nor do I find him cute anymore.

....Wow, this is a mess.

I snapped out of my thoughts after about a minute of standing silently in the store, still being there instead of running out as if my life depended on it.

I didn't even know what was the last thing he said to me, the past couple of minutes turned into a blur as the emergency alarms went off in my head.

I can't stay here any longer, that one thing was for sure.

"So...Harua! Thank you for letting me in after closing hours, I really appreciate it, but now I have to run! Bye!" I recovered from my shock and blurted out everything at once, already inching towards the half-closed entrance of the drugstore.

Just pronouncing his name felt hard enough after putting the pieces together...

'And it wasn't nice meeting you!' I wish I could have said that but then I would have blown my cover.

...What a night, and the hard part had just begun!

➪ 𝐀/𝐍.: One of my randomest scenarios ever, but I enjoyed it so much! And in a way, a piece of it is based on real-life events lol.

➪ 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 【𝐌 𝐀 𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐋 𝐈 𝐒 𝐓】 !