Chapter 32

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How long had I buried my face on the pillow whilst lying down? The phone suddenly vibrated which brought me back up to life.

Above the clouds, the skies had already turned into a bright cyan color instead of its previous hue which compromises of different shades of gray. As I noticed the name ‘Eun Hyung’ appearing on my phone screen, I slowly held my breath.

What would he say to me if I picked up the phone? I carefully thought about what he said after I hung up, but I guessed they would not be true. Had there been any other possibilities of me dreaming the entire thing? If he addressed something like that, there seemed to be nothing I could do but just to respond with a nod. I had to react like that since I didn’t want to go around looking like a weirdo to him.

Phew, I heaved a sigh and raised my flip phone open. Soon, as I had it on my ear, at the very next moment, I was so surprised to find out that the one who responded was the voice of Yoo Chun Young instead of Kwon Eun Hyung. I almost dropped my phone.

While I was falling into a panic while sitting on my bed, he spoke nonchalantly as if we had never fought before.

“We’re outside your house. Come out.”

“…?”

What on earth was he talking about? As I dropped my gaze at the phone doubtfully, he then repeated the unbelievable words he had just said with his unique serene tone.

“We’re in front of your house, so come out. Eun Hyung’s here, too.”

“… What?”

“It’s Sunday and your parents are probably home at home right now, so we can’t hang out inside your house. They might feel uncomfortable, so let’s head out somewhere instead.”

I, again, had my eyes dropped on the phone.

It was indeed such a surprising turn of events when I pick up my phone expecting Eun Hyung’s voice, only to hear Yoo Chun Young, who refused to speak with me for the last three days, instead. Now, he was even asking me to come out since they were outside my house…

My lips were hesitating to pull out some words, but I managed to gain the courage to ask, “Where are you guys going?”

A moment of silence floated over the phone. Then he replied with that blunt and soft voice I always heard from him before we fought.

“Wherever you want to go.”

“…”

“Anywhere.”

I was almost about to burst my tears on the phone.

This boy was truly the very icon of unpredictability. Especially, when he talked to me in that touchy warm-hearted tone, I could barely know how I should react to his spontaneous whims. Though he sometimes hurt my feelings in doing so, his chuckle would melt my heart away in an instance.

I had my lips pressed tightly to block out any sounds coming out and had my other hand pressed on top of my eye sockets. Then I lifted myself from where I was seated and said, “I… did not take a bath yet. My hair is messy, so wait inside my room while I get prepared. It would take at least 20 mins. Let me go open the door right now.”

“We don’t care.”

“It’s still cold outside. Hold on.”

Then I closed my flip phone with a snap and got up. Outside at the living room, my mom was watching TV at the couch and my dad was scratching his tummy under his sleeveless undershirt while reading a newspaper on the floor.

The sound from the TV was too loud for my voice to be heard.

I yelled out at my door, “Mom!”

“Why!?”

“Chun Young and Eun Hyung are in front of our house right. Can I have them inside from the cold?”

My mom, at last, took her eyes off from the TV show wherein a pretty actress shedding tears were the main focused and looked at me. She nodded and spoke with certainty.

“Of course! Are Chun Young and Eun Hyung strangers? They are my sons! Let them feel comfortable here.”

Duh… okay. As I nodded back, my dad, who was flipping over the newspaper, raised his eyes through his golden frame glasses.

He then said, “Hey, just be inside the house instead of chilling out in this cold weather. It would be such a heck to hang outside since the rain just stopped from yesterday’s pour. There would be water everywhere as you guys walk, so just play inside. Why not? You guys usually do that.”

“They don’t want to disturb you guys, so…”

“Come on. I’ve seen Chun Young and Eun Hyung before, and they were like coy and ascetic scholars. To us, it’s you, my King Kong daughter, who’s the most disturbing.”

His words made my mom burst out into laughter as she lied down on the couch. Holy mother of pearl! I stamped my feet repeatedly in anger and thumped toward the front door.

I looked inside the mirror to check myself and saw how my face looked quite alright except for my puffy eyes. After a moment of contemplation in front of the mirror, I finally pushed the door.

What first came into my eyes was Yoo Chun Young with his long, black, knee-length coat on as well as Eun Hyung smiling behind him with a gray jacket. As they entered the front door and gave polite nods to my parents, my mom and dad greeted them back with nothing but smiles. While watching that scene, I asked myself if I really did look like King Kong and went inside the bathroom.

During my facial wash, I could hear my parents consistently talking, which was too loud that it penetrated the sounds of the TV and the splashing sound of water from the faucet. While I rubbed my face with foams, a frown enveloped my face as I heard them converse. Oh, god. Dad, please!

“Honey, maybe our daughter has turned all her luck in having beauty and brain into having good friends. Do we call that all-in? After all, how could she bring these handsome boys to our house as her friends, right?”

“Come on, Donnie’s okay. She has already made a successful life so far. Hey, Chun Young, last time aunty was watching TV and you appeared at the Entertainment Weekly! Very nice photo shoots!”

“Thank you.”

“You were a hundred times gorgeous than my daughter.”

What my dad spat out at the end made me let out a horrible shriek out while brushing my teeth. My voice bumped into the bathroom ceiling and resonated through the living room.

“Dad!!! Can you just stop!?”

His blasé voice rang back as if it was none of his business.

“What’s wrong with my pumpkin? I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“Dad!!! Cough, cough!”

The bubbles went down my throat finally making me cough out loud as I screamed my tone of defiance. Yuck, this would later feel so gross.

While I turned on the faucet to wash my mouth with water, my parents continued dissing me as if I was not a part of their blood lineage.

Thankfully, Eun Hyung had my back occasionally with a chuckling voice.

“Donnie’s beautiful. She’s also nice.”

“Jesus, Donnie should get married to this gentleman type of guy.”

As I stopped trying to hear their conversation and started wiping my hair with a towel, I, at last, combed my hair severely with a brush. Then I looked at my face in the mirror to look at the imperfections on it, but after a while, I finally stepped out of the bathroom thinking about whatever and just fu*k it all.

Why didn’t thse guys texted me or something before arriving in my doorsteps? I would have been fully ready if they did so. Even though we’re just friends, showing myself to them like this was very embarrassing for me as a girl.

I bounced along the way to the living room and scowled at my dad immediately. My dad looked, however, comfortable eating strawberries while sitting crossed-legged on the floor.

The two boys who were sitting with their backs against me got surprised as I came into their sight. Maybe because my hair was still wet and my face was horrible from the severe brush combing.

Again, f*ck it. I swept my hair and said,

“Oh, dad. Are you really my dad or what? I bet you just pick me up from the streets, didn’t you?”

Nothing I said fazed him; he just put a strawberry in his mouth and said,

“This girl believed until she was seven years old that a crane delivered her to us in a big pouch.”

“Dad!!!”

“Dry your hair instead of just standing there.”

My dad’s unaffected response made me stop scowling and just heaved a deep sigh. Then, I spat abruptly to Eun Hyung, instead of my dad, who still had a refreshing grin on his face.

“When I’m born again, I want to be Eun Hyung’s daughter. He’s been on my side from the very beginning, but what about you, mom and dad?”

“Was our love not enough?”

“Oh, my god.”

My patience was already reaching its limit! That’s enough! I could hardly say that since the boys were here. All I could do was just stomping my feet. It was then when I realized my face was stinging from someone’s constant gazes.

As I raised my head, there was Yoo Chun Young looking at me with his bluish eyes. Then he opened his mouth to speak, which coincided with Eun Hyung as he spoke at the same time as he.

“No.”

The two said the word in perfect harmony and gazed at each other. As Eun Hyung shrugged his shoulders, Yoo Chun Young turned his head to me. He then said with a serious face.

“If you are born as Eun Hyung’s daughter, that means you can’t live that long. Do you want to die earlier?”

“…”

I stood there blankly and shook my head at a slow pace. That was right. Thinking carefully of what he had said, there were about 10~20 years left for Eun Hyung marry someone. Since girls would die to marry a man like him, it could only take about 10 years or so. To be born again, I should end my life soon, which indicates that I only have 10 years left to be reborn as her child. Of course, I didn’t intend to do that. Absolutely not.

Though I knew it was a joke… I can’t stop my mouth from watering.