A Regular

Part 4

I was rolling around on my bed when I heard a set of knocks on my door. I didn't move nor make any sound and just ignored it. Whoever knocking there will come in anyway. As if on cue, I heard the door being opened. From my peripheral vision, I saw Chu coming.

"You okay?" she asked with concern evident in her voice.

I sighed and looked at her. She sat silently on the edge of my bed, expecting me to answer her question. I signalled her to come closer. She moved her body and lied down, half of her body resting on the bedpost.

"I want to say that I am, but you know I'm not." I looked at my ceiling. Raising my right hand, I opened and closed my palm repeatedly, playfully catching the orb of the light bulb in my room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know if she had a girlfriend. She never told me about her love life and I never saw her with anyone either. If I knew, I will tell or warn you in the first place." Her facial expression was serious this time, unlike the usual bubbly-explosive crackhead that she usually wore.

"It's not your fault, Chu. You don't have to say sorry." I reassure her. It's true, though. The only one who had the answer to all my question is Irene. I didn't want her to feel like it was her fault, which truly wasn't.

"Have you talked to her?"

I shook my head. "She didn't reply to my texts."

After our unexpected meeting, Irene stopped contacting me. I sent a couple of texts but she just left it at 'read'. I didn't want to look desperate, so I stopped.

"Give her some time. I'm sure she will come around. She's not the type of person who'll leave unfinished business behind her. As her cousin, I can vouch for it. You know how reliable I am, right?" She wiggled her eyebrows as she said her last sentence.

"Dork." I chuckled seeing her funny expression. I always appreciate her effort to comfort me. She knew how to make me smile whenever I'm down.

"Anyways, help me to do my English assignment, will you. My head hurt just by looking at the questions." She fished out a book from her bag.

I smirked mischievously when I saw the pen that she's holding. It's the pen that Chaeng bought for her. "Nice pen, I don't know you're into that cutie stuff." She saw my smirk and throw a pillow on my face.

"Shut up, it's from Chaeng. She will be mad if I didn't use this." She tried to sound mad, but I saw a blush creeping out her cheek.

"Or you just like it because it's Chaeng who gave you that." It was my turn to wiggle my eyebrows to her. I like teasing her like this. It's a rare occasion. Usually, I was the one who got roasted by them, so I'll treasure this chance. I can feel myself growing demon horns, holding trident and making an evil laugh right now.

"I. Told. You. To. Shut. Up. You. Monkey!" She emphasized each word by hitting a pillow on my body.

*

Today was supposed to be our 'date day'. It didn't happen, though. Ah well, I knew my place. I was just a random girl she met at the party, and she already had a girlfriend, a gorgeous one at that. I had to stop this growing feeling inside me before it's getting too deep. I cursed myself for falling easily to someone I only met once.

I can't help but question what happened these past few days. It's like a rollercoaster ride and making me dizzy. One time I flew so high, not long after, I crashed the ground. I still needed an explanation for her action towards me. Deep inside, I wished that she didn't play me.

I walked around the park to unwind. Sitting under a big tree, I rested my back on its trunk. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I like this. I like the feel of fresh air, the green leaves and the grass. It's a perfect place to unwind and read a book, my favourite thing to spend time with. I began to read the novel that I brought and immersed myself in it.

I startled when I heard someone called my name.

"Lisa."

Oh no, I know this voice. What do I do? What should I do? A rush of feeling came flooding my mind. Why was she always startling me whenever I was sitting alone?

I carefully turned to the owner of the voice. "Irene, you're here." It came out too cold to my liking, causing her to flinch.

"I want to apologize." She uttered slowly, head looking down, one of her hand gripping the side of her dress.

"Sit here." I tapped the grass beside me. She looked up and moved her body to sit next to me. I turned to face her.

She looked stunning as always. She wore a white sleeveless dress showing her flawlessly smooth milky skin. Her dark wavy hair flowed freely, framing her small face. Light makeup and soft-pink lip tint accentuated her beauty perfectly. I felt light-headed just by looking at her, how could someone be this beautiful? Gods really took their time to shape her beauty it seems.

She glanced anywhere but me, her body tensed and the aura around her seemed heavy.

"How did you find me here?" Seeing that she won't talk anytime soon, I tried to break the awkward silence that surrounded us.

"I came to your house, your mother said that you would be here." She looked at me briefly and go back to her earlier stance.

"I see. What do you want to apologize for?" My heart hammering in anticipation of what will she say next.

"I, I want to apologize for my behaviour." She said barely above a whisper.

"Why did you do that?" There's a clashing of thoughts in my mind. The anger that I felt reminded me of how she played me, but deep down I couldn't stay mad at her. I wanted to know her reason for playing me. I won't be able to sleep properly before she answered that.

"My girlfriend cheated on me." She began. "I thought that if she could cheat on me, I can do that too. That's why I approached you that day. That time at the café, I wanted to confront her and told her to pick me up." She paused and turned her gaze to me, a sad smile plastered on her face. "When I saw you, I felt guilty and scared. I didn't know what to do or say and just left you like that. I'm so sorry." She averted her head again.

Tears brimmed in her eyes but she blinked it back. I put my arm on her shoulder and squeeze it softly. Seeing her like this pinched my heart, I wanted to ease her burden but I don't know how to. I'm not good with words.

"I ended things with her that day. I never answered your text because I still couldn't get rid of my guilt over you. Then Jisoo came to my house, asking me why did I do what I did. She told me to apologize to you. But she didn't have to tell me that, I was about to apologize anyway. Will you forgive me, Lis?"

She's slowly looking at me. A glint of hope, sadness, fear and anticipation could be seen clearly in her eyes. Anger and disappointment were still there, in my heart. But seeing her like this made me pushed away all of that thought.

"I forgive you." I declared.

A genuine smile replaced all the uncertainty on her facial expression after she heard my statement. It was a sight to behold. She looked so pure, angelic even. I was sure it will bewitch anyone who saw her, making them wanted to protect that precious smile. Or it was just me being more whipped than I was, though. It brought warmth to my chest and was so contagious, I couldn't help but mirroring it.

"Thank you. It lifted a huge burden from my chest."

"If I knew that, I would've done it sooner." I grinned. "Oh, wait here a minute. I'll be back." I stood up and ran to the park entrance. Her brows adorably creased in confusion.

When I got back, she's still sitting on her previous spot, unmoving. Her creased brows were soon replaced by a crescent smile on her lips after realizing that I came back with two cups of ice cream in tow.

"I hope this could make you feel better." I offered one of the cups to her.

She took it and mouthed a thank you. We ate in silence, but not a suffocating one. It's the contented, comfortable one. I would surely let it last if not the urge to get to know her better kept growing inside me.

"Come to think of it, we never officially introduced ourselves, right?" I broke the silence, hands scoping in my chocolate flavoured ice cream. She looked at me at disbelieved and giggled.

"Should we do that then?" She put her spoon on her cup then held her hand out to me. "Hi, I'm Bae Joohyun. You can call me Joohyun or Irene."

Smiling widely, I took her hand and shook it. "Hi, Joohyun, I'm Lalisa Manoban. You can call me Lisa, but I preferred to be called yours." I added a wink.

Her laughter burst out when she saw that. It was heavenly. I could spend my entire day listening to it. An unexpected date day it is.