We Were Much Better

Entry 1

"You have always been my infinity. Until forever do us apart." 

Those were his last words. Mourning, I slid down next to the wooden coffin. I didn't know he had this coffin ready for him 100 days before he passed. Slowly as the clock was ticking, guests were beginning to leave the church. Was it my fault that he had been placed in the coffin this early in the morning? I told them we could push the schedule to match others. Besides, no one was actually acquainted with him here. 

Now none were staying for the burial. 

I'm sorry, Nick. I couldn't give you a better funeral. I picked up every casket of burgundy gladioli left for him to put at his memorial. That was all I could afford to do anyway. I couldn't fly his deceased body to South Korea, neither could I fetch his family to travel all the way to San Jacinto. This small town was whom I managed to gather to give at least an ounce of respect for this warrior. 

I will never forget what you've done for me. Thank you, Nick. 

I paid my last ever respect here.

"Hyeong, igeo mokgo." She said while persuading him to eat the spoonful of snow crab ramyeon she brought from home. She came from the Naju province but ever since she accepted her first job offer, she settled down in Incheon. It was until then she decided to take a break at Prague as an exchanged student from South Korea. She had always wanted to run away from the two shackles who would keep their eyes on her. It had drove her wild once her every move was being reported to them regardless of what she says. "I told you I'm being obedient just like you want me to!" A glass ornament fell to the marble floor of the huge mansion. Heavy sighs were let when they witnessed her rampage.

They squinted their eyes at her. Their trust for her was as tiny as a particle. She smirked. "You will never associate with those people anymore. You are grounded for a month." She guessed it correctly. Again, the thrice groundment shouldn't discourage her like this. She cracked a plan in her head to leave at the end of the year. By Christmas, she no longer depends on two mortals who were infatuated in taking care of their image than the mental health of their own daughter. The head of the family who was a Supreme Court judge became wedded to the latter who was a distinguished attorney in South Korea. Everytime a case opens, their names were the ones to be printed on the front page of South Korea newspapers. 

She snapped back to reality when his resent hit her.

"Why do you keep calling me hyeong?" Nicholas groaned. "I'm not your older brother here. Besides you're a grown up to know the difference between male and female." Even so, 'oppa' wasn't her choice. The cringe everytime her friends called their boyfriends- it was unbearable.

Although both were South Korean citizens, he wouldn't permit her to call him whatever she wanted. Hearing that, she walked away to put aside the bowl of hot steaming ramyeon that he had rejected earlier. Aria received the signal to zip tight her loose mouth once again today. 

It was her first day in Prague.

She became roommates with a professional prosecutor in a decent apartment in the centre of the medieval city. As an architectural drawing student, she chose Prague as the most statregic spot to have her vacation before moving somewhere more. Prague- the perfect city to blind her elders at the same time enjoy the break of her own. She had planned it all. Travel to Prague, take walks at the Old Town Square, expand her historical knowledge at Národní muzeum and explore the traditions and regulations at the people's city. Her next destination after a few months would probably be Venice.

"Say, roomie," she started the conversation. "What are you doing here in Prague?"

"What about you? You've been running your mouth like an active child. What are YOU doing here, kid?" He pursed his lips into a smugged smile. This arrogant little-

"I'm in an exchanged student programme." "For?" "I take architectural drawing for my Master's degree this year." She believed she had him fooled by the loads of blueprints and sketchbooks she brought from last year's classes. She already had the scroll but that was the only way to convince her parents' eyes that she was on leave for education. Vacation was all she wanted.

Silence fell in the kitchen. 

"Lies." 

Aria was dumbfounded. 

"Pray tell."

"The student programme was cancelled due to the murder cases circulating in the city. Don't you know?" 

Impossible. Why hadn't they tell her earlier?

She's busted for the first day. No, she wasn't backing down yet. "I wasn't informed about it." She shifted her eyes towards the window. The sunset view was like a painting in front of their apartment balcony. Almost swayed by the picturesque buildings in the city, she stood up. He immediately realises her avoiding him thus stepped closer. "What do you want?" She stammered on her words. As a dignified person and full with self pride, Aria Kim was not the type to jumble her words and lose composure like this. Her gaze faltered to see him an inch away from her. 

"You get flushed easily." He clicked his tongue. "You're no fun-" His words paused when he felt the tension between the two. Her alluring scent from the perfume she sprayed this morning before boarding the plane must had an affect on him. His chest tightened as he peered into her striking hazel iris- puzzled whether those were contact lenses. His breath hitched when she blinked numerous times like an innocent sheep. Probably that was one of her seductive tricks to make him forget of the question he spit at her minutes ago- and it surely worked.

"What are you?" Wrinkles formed on his forehead. 

What felt like forever for him was a few seconds that Aria thought he had lost it. 

With all her might she pushed Nicholas aside. "Stop that." 

"Right." Nicholas ran upstairs, hiding his blushing cheeks as his heartbeat raced as if he just finished a marathon. "What the hell?"

Beyond the darkness that felt like forever, she wandered mindlessly.  Looking behind, she saw the two shadows tailing her close. "No, don't come near me. Don't!" She woke up from the nightmare as her clothes soaked with perspiration from the anxiety. How did that became a nightmare? It had been months since she last saw her parents so why was she dreaming about them again? 

As per usual, she went out of her room to inspect the area. Funny enough, even after years of being under the restriction of her parents, she found it hard to believe if their undercover agents would ever leave her alone. After making sure everything was clear, she stepped out to the balcony to enjoy Prague's breeze. 

"It's cold." Admitting the freezing weather in January, Aria stroked gentle her arms as the hair stood erected as a result of the wind blowing that evening. 

Aria turned to see Nicholas holding out a jacket for her. "Thanks."

"I presume you couldn't sleep." 

She snickered. "I'm both, you see." She halted. "I work and I'm a student." She wasn't going to reveal everything about herself just yet. She felt the need to tell him that, however. "I see. Where would you like to go tomorrow?" He wasn't interested in who she work for or who she is, he just wanted to know her better.

That was the first attempt of Nicholas to start a conversation. Impressive. "I may not join the student exchange programme, but my cousin next door is. We arrived a week earlier to discover the programme was cancelled at the eleventh hour. You should've gotten an e-mail." She hummed in response. She got busted anyways so let's just go along with it.

"It definitely is cold."

They enjoyed the serene night as both agreed in silence.