Meant To Be • Jenlisa ✔

6

20 years later

[...]

"What's your name?"

"Malee."

"How old are you?"

The girl looked strangely at her but hesitantly replied.

"15."

"Cool, you're a year older than me. My name is Ella, by the way, nice to meet you. Do you live around here?"

Malee shook Ella's extended hand with an indecipherable smile.

"You know, Ella, normally when people bump into each other and almost fall, they apologize or feel embarrassed and quickly flee the scene." She looked around to alleviate the embarrassment the other seemed to feel. Was this... attractive? Could you give a word like that to the way the chubby-cheeked brunette looked at her entire face except her eyes? "This is the first time someone has asked for all the basic information about me to start a conversation. Are you a stalker?"

The younger girl couldn't help but blush, and Malee found it cute how her face turned red when she stared at the ground.

"I'm kidding," she laughed, amused at how easy it was to tease her. "Yes, I live around here. My mom and I just moved to this neighborhood, actually. Why?"

"Sorry. My grandma always says I should take it easy when I meet people so as not to scare them; I end up talking too much and seem too nosy wanting to know all about your life, right?" Ella smiled awkwardly, feeling somewhat regretful for starting the conversation without permission. "But my mom always taught me to say my name and ask for the person's name as soon as I meet them. It's kind of a habit. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable."

"Wow. You took that seriously. I was just kidding; you don't need to apologize. In fact, I found it cute. But what about you? Do you live around here?"

"Yes, I do. My whole life, my mom and I have always come to this theater, and she used to come even before having me. Astronomy is a passion we share, and this is the only city in Seoul where the planetarium never closed, so we're very lucky. My mom would be very sad if this place closed..."

She noticed the younger one seemed distant as she rambled on.

"Funny you should say that. This is the first time in 20 years that my mom has come back here. She was here once when she was younger and always wanted to come back, but my grandparents were called to work in Thailand, and she had to go with them. I never asked why, but for as long as I can remember, she showed me photos of this planetarium, promising that one day we would come. Until my moms got divorced, I lived for a few years with my other mom in Thailand, and then I chose to come live with mom here in Seoul, and we moved to this neighborhood, which is very close to the theater."

Malee returned a piece of her story so the girl wouldn't feel so talkative.

Ella fell silent for a moment, thinking about how cool it must have been to be raised by two moms; she only had one and her grandmother while growing up.

She took a good look at the girl in front of her. She was tall for her age, had dimples when she smiled, and had a charismatic eye shape that she could swear she'd seen somewhere before.

"Can I ask-..."

"Malee, we have to go!"

A deeper female voice interrupted their conversation.

"Oh, Mom! Already?"

Only then did the mother notice her daughter was talking to a girl and raised an eyebrow at her, who blushed.