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Enthralled.
His red eyes pierced into hers as his body bent down to her level—his melanin skin glistening under the daylight, his tall figure towering over her, skin-hugging clothes emphasizing his toned body and his pretty face with harmonious features.
"You can see me." His voice had a hint of rasp to it as his black hair tipped to the side when he tilted his head, amusedly staring at her with a thin grin dancing on his red lips, stating those words to himself as a sort of confirmation.
Oh.
Jiyeon's mind turned into a plain white sheet of paper for a split second, her eyes simply locking with his enticing ones, blinking blankly at the male who hovered close to her face, almost as though he was hypnotising her with his eyes that held swirls of the prettiest shade of red in them.
"Huh?" She uttered mindlessly in a trail of a whisper, holding her breath at the base of her throat.
The corner of his lips tugged upward, breaking out into a small grin as he flashed the white of his teeth amidst his curled lips—eyes still roaming across her features, taking a good look at her.
"Hey! Quick, keep it moving!" The car that was forced to a stop at her tail yelled, honking at her for halting her vehicle in the middle of the road.
The loud blaring honk snapped her out of the surreal trance, and she looked over her shoulder, yelling a 'sorry' followed by a quick bow as a sign of apology.
Jiyeon spun back around, steadying herself, but much to her surprise, the man was nowhere to be seen—her head quickly bobbed from left to right, eyes scanning her surroundings that lacked his presence, and her eyebrows knitted in bewilderment.
What the hell? She wondered.
She did not waste another second in speeding down the lane and proceeding with her assigned work. Reaching the destination, she pressed down on the doorbell, holding the delivery bag in her hand as she waited for the door to open.
"—I'll get the door. It must be Minseok." The door drew open to reveal a familiar face, and her eyebrows jumped upon stumbling into an acquaintance from her university.
"Yo, brotha- oh."
"Hey, Mark." She greeted her classmate, who mimicked her expression and was equally surprised. "Uh, hey, Jiyeon?" Mark's smile dropped to a thin line at the unexpected presence at his front door.
Jiyeon extended her arm, which held the bag full of groceries in his direction, "I'm here to deliver your order from the supermarket." She answered in response to the confusion painted on his face, and he nodded immediately.
"Uh, thanks. I was not aware you worked for them. Part-time, I assume?" Mark asked, initiating a small talk as he hastily grabbed the bag from her.
"Yeah." Jiyeon nodded curtly—the awkward silence lingering as the two had rarely interacted before except for greeting each other occasionally in class.
She glanced at the watch on her wrist, and the ticking time immediately reminded her of the copious amount of work she had to complete by the end of the day.
"Alright. I gotta go. Nice meeting you." Jiyeon said with a small smile, pointing at her parked bike while taking small steps away from his doorstep, to which Mark nodded with a smile, "See ya in class."
Jiyeon spun around and patterned her way towards the bike, progressing with her shift until the night drew closer.
"Thank you, sir. Have a good night." Jiyeon greeted the manager with an exhausted smile as she shoved the envelope filled with her monthly wage in her bag before she headed out of the supermarket.
Her hand was curled around the single strap that dangled off her shoulder, feet pattering against the pavement, kicking a small stone along her way out of boredom as she headed for the nearest bus station.
And all of a sudden, her mind crept back to the strange encounter with a red-eyed male out of the blue in the middle of the road, making her stop kicking the stone, distracted eyes watching as the rock rolled off to the side.
"What was that- did I daydream or something?" She uttered to herself at what felt like a fever dream, evident memories seeming hazy in her head.
Jiyeon sat down at the bus station under the only tube light that flickered, hanging low on battery, and she placed her bag on her lap, staring into the open that had no company to offer her, but she was unfazed as solidarity naturally incorporated into her everyday life.
The last bus dropped by and she quickly hopped on after swiping her card at the entrance. The bus was scattered with very few people, and she sat at her regular seat by the window at the very last row, resting her head against the glass and closing her eyes to take a quick nap.
University, work and home; exhausted and soulless—trapped in the endless cycle of tedious adulting life while juggling her academics, it was hard for her to make friends in her newfound life in the city, struggling to navigate her way in life.
Sometimes, she just craved going back to the suburbs and seeing her grandmother greet her with a warm hug and fulfilling food without the hustling life in the now home that sucked the soul out of her body in an attempt to keep her life together.
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