“Ryujin, you’re nineteen for crying out loud. Walk out the front door without me!” an exasperated Yeji breathed out in one go. It’s half past seven o’clock, and the duo were still in the middle of a pleading-declining argument.
Yuna, the cheerleader arranged a masquerade-themed party to be commenced inside her spacious residence. In the popular sophomore’s defense, this would be the only time they could clear their heads out before midterm exams come crashing down. Loads of students but Yeji signed themselves up.
“Stop acting like you’re gonna be annihilated the moment we get there. Girl, loosen up.” the younger retorted, dusting crumbs off her fitting crimson dress. “This is why I’m your only friend.”
“You’re not my only friend!” Yeji scoffed, a bit offended at how her roommate could articulate such words. She aggressively plopped down on her unmade mattress. “Don’t be an ass, I’m not going and that’s on that.”
“Give me names, then.” Ryujin challenged, deciding they still had time to spare before the event.
“Chuu.”
“Whom you’ve only brushed shoulders with in a convenience store? No.”
“Chaewon.”
“No.”
“Lisa?”
“She just SCOLDED you at practice yesterday, but I fuck with you for trying.”
“...Soyeon?”
“Doesn’t count and we both know that.”
What was the point of this Q and A, then? She wanted to scream. Oh boy, did she want to howl at Ryujin, but Yeji knew the blonde was right. People hardly attempt to look in her direction let alone have a word with the brunette. It’s not like she’s a campus bully or something akin to that, hence Yeji was puzzled by her amount of friends (or lack thereof).
“Fine.” She huffed. Just like that, they’ve hit the dead end of the banter. Besides, she wanted to prove something. Supported by her forearms, Yeji pushed herself up and stomped her way to the dresser. A black off-shoulder dress that stopped three inches above the knee caught her attention.
Ryujin clicked her tongue at the (boring) choice of garment, and bit it to refrain from making further comments. At least, Yeji was going this time.
---
Yuna’s dwelling was fancy, to put it mildly. Numerous LED lights illuminated the path stretching from their gateway to the two-storey villa. The interior was nothing short of, either. Even with youngsters mobbing the vicinity and cups strewn across the floor, Yeji admired the detailed paintings sprucing up plain white walls.
“Where do they get the- shit!” Yeji cursed behind her black-and-gold masque. Ryujin was nowhere to be found. She started to fidget the loose end of her dress. Skeptical footsteps trailed the hallway reeking of ironically cheap alcohol. One of these doors must lead to the bathroom. And Yeji, always a fan of horror stories in which bathrooms are at the end of the hallway, followed her instinct.
What she didn’t anticipate was a spacious backyard garden with multiple fireflies adorning the area. Candle lights were situated left and right, creating a walkway towards a medium-siized gazebo in the middle. This doesn’t look off-limits, and it’s not like I’m damaging some property, no? Yeji thought to herself alone.
Or maybe not.
A lady, presumably the same age as her, perched on a bench nearby. She didn’t seem to notice Yeji and was staring into the void. The mask did a good job in covering a great chunk of the unfamiliar person’s face. And as though a light bulb just pinged inside the brunette’s head, she had a great idea. She’s unhurriedly walking towards the ‘target’. still grateful that the latter was kind of spacing out. No clammy palms, nor rapid heart pace; just Yeji wearing a confident simper.
Making friends, it is.
“Hey.”
The woman looked up. Her equally-brown locks slightly shook at the action. Through the half mask, auburn orbs and heart-shaped lips could be distinguished. The eyebrows were hidden, but the stranger’s eyes stared right back into hers, indicating a silent inquiry. And suddenly Yeji had clammy hands and rapid heart pace because Jesus fuck!
“You wouldn’t mind an unfamiliar company, would you?” She let out a faux grin and internally cringed at her lame excuse of a conversation starter.
The woman kept her eyes glued to her (or was it to her lips?), and for a second Yeji contemplated running away. She wasn’t about to get decked on her FIRST attempt to befriend someone new. The brunette steered clear of eye-contact by taking a quick inspection of the garden with practiced nonchalance.
“Only if you make me remember you by the end of the night, though.” the honey-like voice gave Yeji a whiplash she would suffer from later. The stranger was now donning a jolly expression, squinted and smiling eyes taking a big role showing it.
(Yeji liked this version better than the poker-faced one forty seconds ago.)
“I’m Yeji.”
“Lia. Join me..” Lia patted the vacant space on the bench. Once Yeji was settled down, she casually asked what brought the former here.
“You mean here here, or here, like, the mansion?” Yeji closed and opened her mouth to add something, evidently not expecting the question.
Lia giggled. “If you feel like talking, tell me both.”
“Oh.” One pause. “A friend dragged me to get my introverted soul partying. and then had the audacity to leave me hanging somewhere.” Yeji, with exaggeratedly furrowed brows and animated hands in action, began her narrative. Cherry lips started to form a pout somewhere in between. “She said I don’t have friends beside her, and that ticks me off because I know I can make friends but then she just had to ask me names and everytime I mention someone she declin- oh. I’m sorry.”
Dear God she’s going to kick herself in the guts after this verbal diarrhea.
But then Lia was beaming at her, and maybe shitting words wasn’t so bad now.
“How about you? Why are you alone in here? Are you avoiding someone or-“
“No! No,” Lia chuckled. “I’m not from your uni. A cousin of Yuna, actually. She invited me, thinking I would enjoy these types of noise and chaos, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise.” She looked down on her red dress that matched the aforementioned mask and sighed. “Pretty much the same as you.”
Another pause. It’s nothing sort of awkward, if anything it was that kind of comfortable silence most quiet people are fond to dwell on.
Yeji tightened her grip on the side of the bench. “Why don’t we tell something we actually liked in this party? On three.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“Wait! I gotta think this one first.” Lia wore a puzzled expression. For a minute, she really looked like a kid having trouble picking between ice cream flavours. “I’m down.”
“Three.”
“The mask.” both answered in chorus. Their eyes widened, and a second later a joyous harmony of laughter boomed around the area. Yeji was close to having tears in her eyes from too much wheezing, and the other girl’s thigh must have hurt from the continuous slapping to contain some hilarity.
“Whew.”
“Mhm.” Lia was the last one to emit a chuckle. The sounds have died down around them ever since.
“I don’t want to take this off for the night; gives me protection from others I don’t want to meet inside the house.” Yeji thinks she’s getting better at this whole ‘starting conversation’ stuff.
Lia nodded her head in understanding. “I get it. I don’t want to, either. But you’re outside now, so tell me about you, instead.”
Yeji shrugged off bits of disappointment at Lia keeping her features under the wraps. “I like to dance, I guess. Oh! And sing. Yeah, I do that sometimes.” She ended her sentence with a proud smile.
“You sing?” the latter had her mouth dangling at the confession. She suddenly straightened her posture, yet maintaining her physique’s direction towards the older. “No shit, I do too! Yuna was the one who encouraged me to sing more, and eventually people just had to suck up the fact that I’m loud and noisy whenever I try.”
“Bet you sound really good, though.”
“You haven’t heard me yet.” Lia blushed at the sudden compliment. No one rarely pays her one, so it’s good to receive it from someone new.
(Someone like Yeji, her mind said. She immediately ignored the thought.)
And just like that, hours full of playful banters and laughters and soft gazes under the warm milky glow of the moon have passed. Somewhere in between arguing over the superior ice cream flavour, the two of them managed to stand up and walk along the candle lit path (hand-in-hand). And by the time that Yeji won the simple debate with vanilla taste, they were already comfortable under the yellowish radiance of gazebo lights.
“Nah, Sherlock was pretty boring for me. Mycroft deserved lead, honestly.”
“Come again?” Yeji countered. Oh hell, no. They’re NOT touching her favourite BBC Series. “Mycroft knows too much. The story is wack when you solve problems quickly.”
“Yet who did your little Sherlock call when he wanted to fake his jump from the hospital? Exactly.” Lia smirked with her “I’m going to win this round” look on her stupidly pretty masked face. “Smart is sexy, Yeji.”
“Girls are lining up for me, then.” the older challenged, but not before realizing she basically revealed her sexuality. Her smile dissipated for a second, dead afraid that she might blow this chance of blossoming friendship. “A-and guys...of course.”
“Sure.” Lia’s simper only got bigger, if not widened enough. “Sure they are, pretty girl.”
Yeji was getting a little intrigued and a little desperate to see her face.
Since when did this take a turn to full-time flirting?
(Neither of them minded, anyways.)
The party was still on a roll, and both silently agreed to try to drown the noise by entering their own bubble of fun. Not to mention the fireflies fluttering around which made the view more enticing for the two.
They both discovered a fair share of information about the other for the last two hours.
Lia said she wanted to learn dancing, and Yeji was really intrigued and kind of desperate to see her face.
Lia said she’s gay, and Yeji was brain-rotting intrigued and painfully desperate to see her face.
That was stupid. Her announcing that she doesn’t want any face-reveal to happen that night was stupid. God, what she was willing to do to take her words back and eat them up like some pricey buffet.
The younger got Yeji wrapped around her finger in a matter of hours. She’s talented, and a song cover that the older didn’t know yet still appreciated a while ago proved it. Good-natured, because if Yeji bursted into anyone else daydreaming, she would’ve been sporting a black eye on the way home. Gentle, and she’s only describing the way Lia unconsciously wrapped dainty hands over her calloused ones while Yeji was talking about her parents who unfortunately kicked her out for going against their religious beliefs.
So when Lia was about to tell the gist of her second favourite Julie Garwood novel, Yeji said it.
“Fuck friendships.”
Lia was startled to say the least. Has she articulated something wrong? “H-huh?”
“You heard me. Fuck friendships. I don’t need friends. Ryujin is enough.”
Lia’s eyes were nearly watering, hurt flashing across confused brown pools. Something had definitely gone wrong, and she was pissed at herself for messing this up with the latter. But before she could fully withdraw her hand, Yeji grasped it tighter. Firmer.
“Let me take you out on a date.”
“Christ, Yeji. I almost fucking weeped!” Lia cried out, pinching and hitting the older’s arms to show her frustration.
“So, it’s a yes?”
“No.” She’s totally savouring a tinge of sweet revenge.
“Oh.”
“Kidding. Don’t screw around with me next time, karma is pretty digital now.” the younger donned a shit-eating grin. “Thursday. Does it sound good to you?”
Yeji answered a half-assed yes, too busy ogling their adjoined hands together.
To her, fuck this party.
Fuck Ryujin and her beer-loving ass.
Fuck friendships. She’s found something more in it.
Lia unceremoniously stood up, the action sadly breaking the tangled fingertips. “I guess this concludes our first meeting, then. Yuna probably needs a lot of help in cleaning up, and I can’t dishearten the poor kid now.” she exhaled and turned around. Heavy footsteps were imprinting themselves on meticulously trimmed grass.
“Wait!”
Another pause. Unlike the previous ones, this was charged. Waiting to be filled with something, anything. As though someone would go sleepless for days to no end if no one would speak.
Well, Yeji did.
“Take off your mask. Please. I want to see you.” she couldn’t see Lia’s reaction since the latter still had her back facing her. All she could make out was that Lia was chuckling, if the small shake on her shoulders was any indication.
“Discard yours, too.”
She turned around, and Yeji could have sworn something shifted right then and there.
Perfectly-sculpted eyebrows and the flawless slant of her nose were revealed right in front of the older’s eyes. Lia looked...immaculate.
The younger wasn’t doing any better either. Yeji’s features are what Aphrodite had been trying so diligently to achieve for centuries. Sharp eyes and noticeable philtrum, God knew what He was doing when he created this being. She took three strides to almost close the gap between the both of them. And just when Yeji had closed her lids anticipating for an action, Lia went right for a peck on her cheek instead.
“Thursday, pretty girl.” She dragged the breathless words from her cheek up to the reddened ears before sauntering off. “I’ll wait for you.”
Lia took off her masque, and Yeji thought she was an angel.
Five days later, when Lia entered the cozy cafe downtown, Yeji still thought she was an angel.
Five years later, when Yeji is down on her one knee,she still thinks the same.
fin.