Live as Me

chapter 4

Chapter 4
Miso Han
Two months went by, and we were still the same. Although at times, I found that Tan was sort of weird and distant, it was still a healthy relationship. We got peace and felt happy just by being by each other, we went to see movies and walked in the parks, we went to the zoo once, an amusement park, but most of all, we sat at our bench until the weather got too cold; and even then, we continued to sit there. We would talk about our lives and sometimes I would talk about my friends, but it seemed that Tan didn't really have many friends. If anything, he only had one major best friend who was away on a business trip. All of his friends seemed really rich, and I began to wonder if he was rich as well. I don't know how I would feel if he really was, but one thing was for sure: nothing would change between us. I didn't care if he was rich or not.
"Hey. I have to tell you that thing I didn't tell you the last time." He said.
I looked up at him and looked back down at my hands. "Yeah?" I asked.
"I hope you don't think I lied to you... or used you in any way... because I didn't. I just didn't want to tell you because I was scared. And I wondered if you would like me and accept me for who I was, not because of what I'm about to tell you." He said.
I raised my eyebrows. Eh? What was he talking about? I laughed. "Come on, you're making me feel nervous." I said.
"Okay, first of all. I got you a present. I thought it would look good on you." He said, taking out a knit scarf and wrapping it around my neck. We were at the bench at this time, so it was cold.
"Thank you. I love it." I said, touching it and smiling up at him.
"Really?" He asked, pinching my cheeks. "You look so cute in it." He said, smiling. Then he turned sad again.
"Okay, now tell me the truth." I said.
He took a deep breath. "I... my family... I'm the heir to the Comic Company." He said.
I laughed. I laughed so hard, holding my belly until tears came out, but he wasn't laughing with me, so I stopped and looked at him seriously. "Wait, you're being serious?" I asked, frowning.
He nodded.
I gulped. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I asked, kind of disappointed.
"You aren't mad at me?" He asked.
I shook my head. "There's no reason to be. Except that you didn't tell me earlier. Did you not trust me?" I asked. And like I said earlier, it really did not matter to me if he was rich...
"But Miso..." He said, his voice sounding even worse.
"What now?" I asked, frowning.
"I can't be with you anymore." He said, a tear dropping down his face.
I looked at him seriously. "Why? Do we seriously have to go through the stuff that comes out in movies and dramas? Where I can't be with you because I'm nothing but a poor girl? I'm not even poor though! Tan, I'm middle class!" I said, knowing I was being irrational. I held his hands and looked him in the eyes, tears now running through my face like I'd dipped it in water.
"I love you. More than I'd ever loved anything." He said in short breaths. Then he turned away from my eyes.
I stood up and slapped him. "You love me. I love you, too. Why can't that be enough?" I asked. I could now taste snot, which was disgusting.
"Because! Because you'll never be enough for me! Don't you get it? We can't be together! Don't ever look for me, call me, or think about me again. Just forget about a jerk like me and start all over, okay?" He said, but I could tell he was gritting his teeth as he was saying it. There was no way that all this... his eyes, his eyes told me there was no way this could've been fake.
"Stop. Stop it. We can meet in private... and, and, we don't have to go on nice dates... and all I need is to see your face..." I said, sniffling, holding on to his hands.
He dropped them and faced me again. This time, he looked me straight in the eyes. "I didn't know you would be so selfish. Let me go now. You've had your fun." He said. That made me let go as well. I took another deep breath as I watched him turn his back on me and walk away. One step, two steps... three steps... until I couldn't see him anymore. And just like the characters in my comic, we became characters that weren't able to understand one another.

Three Months Later:
"Yeah! That jerk... that stupid jerk left me... and... and..." I said, my eyes half closed. I'd been out drinking with my friends, because I'd started my job at Comic now, and I wasn't going to quit just because Tan Kim would be there. I squinted my eyes and pointed my finger at the sky.
"Come on... Miso. Why are you still thinking about him? It's been three months already! Every time we go drinking... you always have to bring him up. Just forget about him! Start over!" Yui said, clunking our cups together as I took another big swig.
"That... jerk... that... stupid jerk." I said, crying. To be honest, I missed him. Like a lot. Too much for what he did to me, and what he said to me. But I would start over... someday.
"Excuse me, miss. Can you please be quiet a little?" A man's voice said to me. I looked up to see a really good looking guy standing over me. He had dark brown hair which was kind of long, running down to part of his forehead. His eyes were small but they looked charismatic, along with his high nose and perfect lips. I laughed. I was finally feeling something!
"HEY!" I said, and pointed to the guy.
He turned back. "Whoa!" He said.
"Sorry, sir. You can go on back. I'll just take her out." Yui said, waving everyone away. But it was obvious she was also drunk.
"NOOOOO, hey, you. Guy. Man. Want to be my boyfriend? You know, I'm quite the girl." I said, licking my lips and trying to look attractive. Then I started sniffling, and tears rolled down my face again.
"W...Wait! Why are you crying all of the sudden?" The guy asked, leaning in his face to study my face.
I pushed him away and got up. "Yui! Let's go!" I said, putting my arms around her. "I hate that jerk. Even if I see him at Comic, I won't even say hi. Nor will I get distracted. Nor will I follow him just so I can see how he's doing. Nor will I even talk about him to other people!" I said.
"Okay, okay, everyone in the world gets it." Yui said, unlocking our door to the house. We were roommates and our house was very close to Comic, which was even closer to the bar we'd just come from.

"MISO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? IT'S YOUR FIRST DAY OF WORK AND YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Yui yelled, and I heard her hurried footsteps move all around my room. "Here, put this on, quickly, and eat and go! Geez, and where is that phone of yours?" She screamed, smacking me on the back.
"OW!" I said, and I sat up in my bed, only to read the clock and almost fall out of bed. "MY GOD, YUI, WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP EARLIER?!" I screamed.
"SHUT UP! YOU THINK I DIDN'T TRY? I JUST WOKE UP!" She screamed back.
I hurried and slipped on the black pantyhose and skirt, and a light pink top with a black dress jacket on top. I hurried and washed my face and brushed my teeth, and did my best to put on some CC cream and lipstick. Really, that was all I needed. I tried to brush my hair a little, but that didn't even help, so I hurried and rushed to the breakfast table, where there was a sandwich laid out for me. Grabbing it, I hurried and slipped on my black heels with a red back and swung on my purse, and ran out of the house.
"Thanks Yui!" I yelled, running to the other side of the road. Thankfully, the road sign was still on walk. Entering the company, I stood there and spread out my arms, and breathed in the fresh smell of the first day of interning. When I opened my eyes, there was a man in front of me, which made me jump back and almost fall.
"AH!" I said, staring at him. "Can I help you?" I asked, blinking frantically.
The guy leaned down and stuck his face closer to mine, and a smile appeared on his face. "So, you are her." He said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, giving him a weird look.
"I'm surprised you're not late today though." He said, making me give him an even weirder look.
"Excuse me, who are you?" I asked, my eyes searching for an answer. Then I remembered. He was the guy in the bar yesterday! The one that I'd asked to... oh man. I looked up at him with a new look on my face and laughed awkwardly. "Oh... haha, haha, haha." I said, not sure of what else to say.
"I believe you are the owner of this phone?" He asked, holding up a phone. I knew it was mine by the baby pink case.
I reached for it, but he took it away again. "Thank you so much." I said, and tried to take it again. But he wouldn't hand it to me. Finally, I put my hands on my hips and looked up to meet his eyes. "What do you want?" I asked.
"If you buy me lunch today, I'll give it back to you then." He said.
I raised my eyebrows again. "Sir, we get free lunches in the cafeteria..." I said. "And I don't want to buy lunch for you if we can both get free ones." I said, wriggling my fingers. "Give me my phone." I said.
"No. Then if you have lunch with me, I'll give it back." He said.
I gave him a weird look. "Look, I'm really sorry about yesterday, but as you saw... I was a bit... no drunk. Like really badly. And if you took what I said seriously..." I said, looking up at him but avoiding his gaze. Then I shook my head. There was no way someone would feel that way for me after seeing how I acted yesterday. I bit my lip and nodded.
"Okay, let's have lunch." I said.