LOVEPHOBIA

The Book of Love

Areum found herself in the school library, eager to issue a book related to biology to aid her quest for better marks. Amidst the biology section, she stumbled upon the perfect book for herself. But as she reached for it, her eyes wandered to the adjacent romantic fiction section, where another book caught her eye. Though not a fan of romance, there was something about this book that intrigued her. Curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to take both books and issued them from the librarian.

Back home, after her classes were over, she lay on her bed and picked up the romance novel. The first page bore a quote, "Love always starts with love. Friendship, however warm, cannot change into love, however mild." The words struck a chord, leading Areum into a contemplative state. She began to reflect on her experiences and those of people around her, realizing that, indeed, friendship often remains just that—friendship. Could it ever change into something more? Would confessing her feelings to a friend risk losing that cherished bond? It was a dilemma many faced, both in real life and in the world of movies and dramas.

As she read on, the warm embrace of the bed beckoned her to dreamland. The novel might not have been her usual choice, but it certainly triggered thought-provoking musings.

The next day at school, Areum sat beside Cha Yeon Woo, her mind still lingering on the quote. Once again, she was caught in a daydream. Cha couldn't resist making a playful comment, "You're daydreaming a lot these days. I never thought a guy could change you so much that you couldn't stop thinking about him even for a second!"

Startled, Areum swiftly returned to reality, assuring Cha, "Oh, no! I was just thinking about a quote I read yesterday." Being the curious cat he is, Cha couldn't resist himself from asking what it was and Areum shared the quote with him and said "Don't you think like that too? Like, no matter how much you try to be something more than friends with the person you love, you can't bring yourself to actually do that if the person you love is your friend. It's really hard. You always think if it would ruin your friendship if the other person didn't feel the same. I mean, that's what they worry about in movies and dramas. Anyways, I don't know much about love and all that stuff you know?" But Yeon Woo disagreed, "No! it's not always that way! I mean , yeah, sometimes things go wrong and all that but that is not always the case. I've seen friends turning into lovers and living a happy life ahead. Heck, even my own parents were friends since childhood and soon turned into lovers..." 

With differing views, they concluded that life could be unpredictable, and not all friendships necessarily transformed into romantic relationships. Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Lee Yeon Woo and Lee Jae Young, who greeted them with waves. A lively discussion ensued, with the friends talking about various topics that piqued their interest.

Soon Han Soo Min joined them and said, "Hey! Did you guys watch the new movie called Oppenheimer? It's great really! I went to watch it yesterday." To this, all four of them replied that they haven't seen it yet. But Lee Yeon Woo had more to say. "What do you guys think about going to watch Oppenheimer wearing all pink and going to watch Barbie wearing all black?" he said.

Giggling at the idea, Areum chimed in, "That would be absolutely hilarious! Can you imagine the looks on people's faces when they see us? They'd think we've wandered into the wrong movie!"

Cha Yeon Woo took the laughter to another level, adding, "Let's take it a step further! We'll go to watch Oppenheimer cosplaying characters from Barbie! Lee Yeon Woo could be Ken, Areum could be Barbie, I could be.... I could be... wait, I don't even know any more characters in there!"

Everyone started laughing again. But later when they saw that Cha Yeon Woo wasn't stopping even now, they just looked at him with straight faces and waited for him to stop laughing. "Come on, your idea wasn't even that funny for you to keep laughing for a lifetime!" Soo min finally said. "That's not true, I'm the funniest person to ever exist in the world!" Cha replied. Soon they somehow stopped him and told him that he just looked like a fool and nothing else.

Despite the laughter and joy throughout the day, Areum couldn't shake the lingering thoughts about love and friendship. Later that night, she opened her diary and wrote a few lines, "Life isn't a Barbie movie, but whatever it is, it is just the best of something that could ever exist. I don't know what has suddenly gotten into me that I am writing all this stuff about life and all! I swear this is not me! Maybe I got possessed or something.... I hope this goes away by the next time I write to you, goodnight!", and with that she closed her diary and drifted into a deep slumber.

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And guess who finally updated? Hehe...

Anyways, I'm really sorry for not updating sooner. I kind of lost enthusiasm. You see, this story was based on me and the person I love, or maybe, used to love. After around 5 years of loving that person, finally, I'm starting to lose my feelings for him. I guess it's just because I am losing hope in love slowly.

These past weeks I tried contemplating my feelings. When I first started loosing my feelings for him, I was not ready to accept that because he is my first love. So to keep me busy in thinking about him, I started writing this story, thinking that maybe the story could help me save my love for him from drowning out. But finally, I've realised that it doesn't work that way. I'll not force myself anymore. Anyways, nowadays, I feel too empty, now that I have no-one to daydream about anymore. This book may even be my only escape from reality now.

I promise I'll not stop writing this book just because I lost my feelings for him. Love you all, Goodbye!(●'◡'●)