Imaginary Boyfriend

6

Jacob was laying on Soomin's bed and eating chips that he found on her study table.

"How are you eating the chips if you're not real?" Soomin asked gritting her teeth quite audible for him to hear.

"Maybe you're imagining the chips too." Jacob said and took a bite.

Although not a big fan of whatever that was happening, he sure liked the annoying look Soomin had on her face.

He liked it because he felt annoyed by everything happening too.

Soomin took her phone out and took a picture of Jacob and send it to her bestie Haeun.

'What can you see in this pic?' Was the caption.

If anyone was dear to Soomin besides her parents, It was her best friend.

'Your messy bed. Clean up.' Haeun replied making Soomin more restless than she was.

"What did Haeun say?" Jacob asked and she was scared now.

She found him giving her a smug smile.

"H-how do you know it was Haeun?" Soomin asked and he smirked.

Truth be told, he looked more as if he was trying to haunt her rather than help her.

"I'm your boyfriend babe. I know everything." He said and she shook her head.

"If you're my imaginary boyfriend, then where were you before today?" Soomin asked and he shrugged.

"I came when you called me. You made me. How can you ask questions about my existence when you are the one who made me by imagining me?"

"But that is the thing. I cannot imagine." Soomin whined and he shook his head.

"Babe. What are you saying? You are imagining me. This packet of chips. And what not."

"No. I have a disease. I cannot imagine." Soomin's eyes glistened and Jacob felt uneasy with her sudden change of emotion.

"Hey. Don't cry." Jacob was about to touch her but she moved back.

"Don't touch me." Her tears were falling now.

It was hard for her. Her mind was messed up. And the boy knew that, he knew that very well.

"Please leave." She asked him nicely and he nodded, not wanting to add more weight to her tears.

"It will be alright Soomin. I'll be here again." Jacob smiled and left. Soomin locked the door as soon as he left and started bawling her eyes out like a little baby.

'I feel so guilty now.' Jacob sighed and walked to the bus stop.

Behind him, Soomin was trying to take deep breaths to help her with her continuous sobbing.

She picked up her phone and somehow Jacob was still there in the picture. She couldn’t understand why Haeun lied to her about him not being there.

Is this really a dream? It has to be.

She couldn’t think of any other explanation that would justify it.

It was either that or her mother and best friend whom she trusted more than ever were lying to her.

He has to be a part of my dream. It was just a dream

She looked at the packet of chips that Jacob was eating, a few crumbs still visible from far away.

She reached the packet and picked it up, took a piece of chips out and popped it right in.

Her eyes grew large as her teeth made a loud noise, indicating that the piece of what used to be a potato was indeed real.

Oh god, this is not a dream.

Jacob kicked the door to his brother’s room lightly and startled the older boy.

"I don't think this will work." Jacob said and sat on his bed.

"Really? On the first day?" Reve asked and Jacob sighed. If only his brother knew how unexpected his day was.

"I don't know. She is not very appealing and nice." Jacob said recalling everything that happened.

"Wait till you have a grumpy boss then." Reve scrunched his nose as a depiction of how hard it actually was to have a grumpy one to listen orders from.

"It is a very good project. I was convinced of getting nice grades but her personality is really weird. I have never seen anyone so emotionally unstable." Jacob said and pouted. His mind still fixed on her crying state.

"You have to understand Jacob. She is not someone who has been happy and this is all a sudden change for her." Jacob nodded as he already knew all that. But he was also confused about her behaviour.

He thought that she would have been happy to know that she can imagine even if it was a lie. Anyone would be blessed to have him as their boyfriend. Well only because he had the looks and heights for it.

He knew he was a great catch because of his previous encounters with a lot of girls that had crushes on him in higher and senior school.

"You don't have to keep doing it forever. We just have to open her imagining vision." Reve said breaking the not so silent silence.

"But she can't imagine right?" Jacob asked as these terms were confusing him.

"No. What she actually has is Aphantasia. You CAN imagine but it is all blank. You cannot memorize the features in your brain but you can explain what it looks like. Which in her case is absent. She has blocked all her thoughts away.". Reve explained to him.

"All you have to do is insist her on trying. Make her explain every little thing. Make her trust you. Make her trust herself. Give her confidence. It has already started Jacob." He told him and patted his back.

"Alright." Jacob got up from his bed and was about to leave but froze when his brother said something odd.

"But know your limits. DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH HER.” Reve joked, trying to imitate a movie that both of them had seen a while ago but Jacob seemed to have it at the back of his head at that moment.

“Ew bro. She is not even close to being my type.”