Easily Erased

Bleeding

The shock of seeing each other again left both of them speechless. Slowly, he let go of her and scurried out of the room. Tobi shared a glance with Mary before trailing after his best friend.

“Buddy, wait up!” Tobi called out as he saw him about to get into his car.

Adimchi stopped in his tracks, clenching and unclenching his fists. Hearing Tobi’s footsteps approaching, he turned and asked, “You knew it was her, didn’t you?”

Tobi pretended not to understand what his friend was referring to. “Who are you talking about?”

Adimchi spun around quickly, his eyes narrowing at his best friend. “Don’t you dare pretend not to know who I’m talking about!” he barked.

“Relax, bro. Fine, I knew it was her. I just thought you two would—”

“Damn you, betrayal!” Adimchi fumed, cutting him off.

“Come on, man, don’t be like that.”

“Say that one more time and I’ll knock the teeth out of your mouth!” Adimchi growled, taking a step forward toward his best friend.

“You seem really upset. What’s the matter? Are you agitated because you saw Mary again?”

“You knew I never wanted to see her again, but you intentionally set me up. You are not a good friend, Tobiloba,” Adimchi gritted his teeth bitterly.

“You didn’t tell me you never wanted to see her again. I’m hearing it for the first time.”

“That’s not true. Or even if it is, what were you expecting to happen by making me dance with her?”

“Perhaps there’s a chance you two might—you know, get back together.”

“You’re so delusional to think that!” Adimchi said sourly as he got into his car.

“Don’t you want to work things out with her? She ended it with the other guy,” Tobi informed just as Adimchi was about to slam the door.

Adimchi hesitated, his eyes searching his friend’s face. “She did?”

“Yes, she did. That’s why she’s back here,” Tobi answered with a thin smile of hope in his eyes.

“Ah, she’s become even worse than I thought,” Adimchi drawled with a smirk. “I’m out of here.”

“What do you mean she’s worse than you thought?”

“Don’t talk to me until I decide to talk to you. I’m still peeved about what you did,” Adimchi said, slamming the door.

Tobi knocked on the windshield, but Adimchi ignored him and turned on the car ignition. “Hey, bro, don’t leave like that. Let’s talk things out,” Tobi persisted.

Adimchi reversed his car and drove off while Tobi stared fixedly at the gate.

When Adimchi’s car was no longer in sight, Tobi turned to head back inside, only to find Mary standing at the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. “Mary?” he said, approaching her.

“He’s still angry, isn’t he?” she asked, and Tobi nodded. “Why did you make us dance together, though? Was that why you invented blindfolded dancing—to make us dance together?”

“No, Mary, no. I never knew he was going to come to my academy today. It was just a coincidence,” Tobi defended himself.

“Coincidence? How could you pair us together and call it coincidence?” Her eyes bore into him. Tobi glanced away, feeling guilty.