Live as Me

chapter 3

Chapter 3
Tan Kim
There were times when I doubted our relationship, mostly because it seemed to perfect, and it went too quickly. In a matter of just two weeks, we had become closer than ever, and we were the couple that everyone envied.
"Hey." I said, with something behind my back. This was going to be a surprise for Miso, so I wouldn't tell her what it was just yet.
"Hey." She said, and smiled brightly. "What's that behind your back?" She asked, biting her lip and trying to look at what was held in my hand.
"Whoa, whoa!" I said, turning from her. We laughed. Then I took it out. It was a flyer for a contest where the contestants would each draw their own comics either on the computer like webtoon or like regular comic books and the best comic would win, including all the storyline and drawing techniques. Miso had been down these days, so I figured a contest like this would be perfect, and it would look good on her resume too, if she wins this. However, I was a little worried if she couldn't win... but I knew she could, if she tried her hardest. So I held it up nervously, not knowing what her reaction would be like.
Her mouth opened and she squinted as she read it, and then her eyes grew wide and a brilliant smile appeared on her face. This was what I lived for these days, her smiling face. I'd never seen anything more beautiful and comforting.
"Tan!" She said, laughing. "I would love to join this, but do you think I can win? I'm kind of short on time too..." She said, reading over the flyer again.
I smiled at her. "I can help you. And I already signed you up, so don't worry." I said, relieved that she was happy.
"Thank you, so much." She said, grabbing my free hand and squeezing it. "So what do you think I should draw? This is so exciting..." She said, and she went on for a few minutes about what she should draw and what her storyline should be.
"How about something different? You know, everyone draws comedy and love stories... almost all authors include something like that. But why don't you do something that no one else would do? Like something magical? This one movie I watched... there was some kind of swap where two people switched roles, like the man became the woman but still in the woman's body, and the woman the man but in the man's body. Doesn't that sound really different and cool?" I asked, the storyline already lining out in my head.
She nodded. "Wow, how can you think of that in such a short time?" She asked, sitting down at our bench. She patted her thighs and looked up at me. I laid my head on her legs and perched my legs up on the side of the benches, as she twirled my curls in her fingers. This apparently made her think better. After about ten minutes, she started to finger brush my hair instead, usually indicating she was done thinking. "I got it. Want to listen?" She asked.
I nodded. "Well of course." I said, closing my eyes and waiting to listen to her soft voice.
"Okay, so. There are these two people who love each other, but they can never stay together for long because they never agree with each other. So one day, they go to this garden where all these trees are sprouting. And of all those trees, there is one apple tree. And from the many apples, they just happen to pick out the reddest one, which is the magical one, which would swap the couples, and help them to understand each other. So when they go back to their own places and wake up the next day, they wake up as each other, like you said. The girl in the guy body and so on. And so of course they try to think of a plan so that they can go back to being who they were, but during that time, they understand each other more and more, and also, each time one of them gets hurt and loses blood, they swap back.. And this cycle would continue until they kiss at the very end because they realize why they couldn't understand each other and so on and so on. How is it?" She asked.
I opened my eyes slowly and smiled, getting up. "It couldn't be better." I said. Then I got out some earphones along with my phone. "Want to hear?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes." She said. I did this because she loved my music, although she never really listens to a lot of music. So once in awhile, I would download a few songs onto her phone and she would listen to them. But the main reason I was doing it now was so that she could think better, because when you think of making new characters, sometimes, a song can do the trick perfectly. She closed her eyes, a thin smile on her face, and listened and swayed to the music until it ended, then she opened her eyes. A few leaves fell on us as we sat there, admiring each other.

"TAN!" Miso said, running to me in the cafeteria.
"Hey! What's wrong?" I asked, grabbing my food and setting it down on a nearby table.
"I won." She whispered. "I won!" She said, much louder.
"Wow, really?" I asked, laughing. "You did it!" I said.
"Yes, and guess what? They didn't include this in the poster, but apparently the main host for the contest was Comic, and they said I could come in for a tour of the company and they also offered me an internship! They said they loved my story!" She said, laughing breathlessly.
"That's really great. I'm so happy for you." I said, holding her hand and laughing with her.
Then all of the sudden, she looked kind of sad. "How about you? What are you going to do?" She asked. I panicked. I didn't want to tell her this yet... would she be able to understand me?
"I'll find my own way. Don't worry about me." I said, unable to meet her gaze.
She put her hand up to my face and turned it so I would look at her. "You're lying to me. It's your first lie, so I'll forgive you. You can tell me when you're ready." She said.
So we stood there, in the back corners of the big cafeteria as I took a deep breath. "Miso, I don't think I can tell you now..." I said, turning away from her eyes again.
She nodded. "It's okay." She said, and sat down at the table. "We can talk about something else." She said, smiling brightly. I smiled back. This was one of the biggest reasons why I loved her. She was so freestyle. She trusted me like no one else.

I opened the gates to my ridiculously enormous house. As always, I sighed as I walked through the long path to get inside the house after I entered the gates. When I finally got there, I swung open the door and jumped on our leather couch.
"I heard you asked for a person to get an internship. You finally decided to use your power?" I heard mom's voice ask.
I closed my eyes and tensed as she came closer to me. "I just realized her talent, that's all." I said.
"So, she's a girl?" She asked.
"You already know all about her. You probably did her background research as well. So what's the point of asking me?" I asked, snapping at her.
"Now, now. Calm down, son. I also got this." She said, throwing a big yellow envelope onto the table.
I sat up and slowly reached for the envelope, and reached in and pulled out what seemed to be pictures. The first few were just pictures of Miso, and as I turned them one after another, I started to appear by her side, until I got to a picture of us holding hands and hugging. I threw them back on the table. "Can't I just have my own life?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"Please break up with her." My mother said.
I looked up. She still had a calm look on her face. "No. I can't." I said.
Suddenly, her expression changed and her eyes turned sharp. "YOU ARE THE HEIR TO THE COMIC COMPANY. YOU WILL NOT BE SHAKEN BY A MERE GIRL!" She screamed, enraged.
"I need my own life. I love her. I never said I won't be the heir! I won't even be shaken by her! She helps, mom! You haven't even seen her skills yet!" I said, shaking my head and looking into my mom's eyes with fear.
"You've had enough fun. You already know what'll happen if this continues, correct?" She asked.
I swallowed air. "At least give me some time." I said.
"How much do you need?" She asked.
"Just after we graduate. Which means about three more months." I said.
She sighed. "I'll be lenient this time." She said, and walked to her room.
I felt tear after tear dropping down my face. Why did I even start? I knew that this was going to happen in the end anyway; I was just living in a happy dream... I felt like I was shattered into little pieces, and I felt my heart fill up with air because I couldn't breathe. I hit my chest over and over again, then everything went black. In my dream, wherever I was, I was holding Miso's hand, she was smiling, and we were just sitting quietly at our bench. Only if this could be reality... Sometimes, I would pass out because I had heart problems. And that was now. And every time I passed out and was about to wake up, I had beautiful dreams. Dreams that weren't reality. They were too good to be true, which made me open my eyes. In my sight, there sat my annoyed but worried mother, my busy dad, and our house doctor. I didn't want to deal with anyone now so I closed my eyes again for another sweet dream.