Just The Girl

Chapter 6

D A H L I A

Mom thought I looked ridiculous wearing such an oversized 1975 shirt, a pair of strawberry printed pajamas, and my yellow duck slippers. She told me to change into something else if I was planning to visit the Lawson house, saying along the lines that I shouldn't look ridiculous in front of Ivan.

But this is Ivan we're talking about; he wouldn't care about how I would look.

So nonetheless, I skipped towards the house across the street, ignoring my mom's frantic calls for me to go back and change. Hugging the big paper bag—containing snacks and a bottle of Sprite—close to my chest. I began to ring their doorbell.

Mr. and Mrs. Lawson were still outside of the country, Ivan mentioning that they were coming back the next month, so I had Ivan to depend on opening the gates and letting me in. It took him 5 minutes to greet me by the gates, looking at me from head to toe, before settling them back to my face, giving him an obvious pout.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I promise I'll explain everything. Can we do the movie marathon thing today if you're not busy?" I gave him my brightest smile, even wiggling both of my eyebrows for effect.

Ivan was still wearing that 1975 shirt he wore yesterday, but he wasn't wearing it last night, so I guess he re-wore it to sleep. Based on the way he was looking at me right now, the way his hair was standing all over the place, and the crumbled numbs of his shirt took away the fact that he had just woken up from his stupor. I had woken him up from his stupor.

"Fine, I forgive you." He muttered breathily in between his lips, letting out a light yawn soon afterwards. He then opened the gate just enough for me to slip in with my snacks, he then started getting the bag out from my hands as he carried it instead.

"I'm only forgiving you because you're wearing the most ridiculous outfit ever. An eyesore, yes. But I like it." He added, earning a smack from me on his back—making both of us chuckle on our way inside his house.

We both ended up choosing Squid Game as the first movie for the day, a popular Korean Drama that aired around 3 years ago. We were now on the final episode, snacks askew on either side of us.

"I have a very big feeling that Gi-Hun is really Il-Nam's son."

"What makes you say that?" I asked, raising a brow at Ivan. He paused, taking a huge gulp of his Cola before turning his whole body to face me. He held up a slice of pizza, still warm from the delivery an hour ago, and pointed dramatically at the massive flat-screen TV in front of us.

"Okay, remember that scene where those creepy guys in masks were giving the players their meals? And when Gi-Hun was offered milk, he said he couldn't stomach it, and ended up not taking any?" Ivan's face was animated, his eyes wide with excitement. I could almost see the gears turning in his head as he pieced together his theory.

I squinted, trying to recall the moment. "Yeah, I remember that. What about it?"

"Well," Ivan began, leaning forward as if he was about to deliver some earth-shattering revelation, "right after that, Il-Nam made a comment. He said something like, 'I guess you always got hit by your father,' and Gi-Hun was all, 'How did you know?'"

I sighed and shook my head, leaning back against the couch. "That doesn't really count as plausible evidence to your theory, Ivan," I said, trying to keep my voice steady despite the smirk tugging at the corner of my lips. He had a knack for coming up with the wildest fan theories, and while I enjoyed humoring him, this one seemed like a bit of a stretch.

Ivan's face fell slightly as he let out a sigh of his own. He placed the half-eaten slice of pizza back in the box and settled the Cola bottle on the coffee table between us, clearly not ready to give up his argument.