A sketch paper in my hand was not the image of the project the teacher told me to make. They were the beautiful eyes that I couldn't get out of my head. I didn't know why but I remembered all the details. My heart trembled even
at my own drawing.
"I love you too, Gen, in case you didn't know."
After that night, that phrase had been in my head. Now I questioned myself about what made my heart tremble. I was afraid of the answer I might get, so I had to stop thinking. Friends say this kind of thing all the time. I just wasn't used to it... The phone ringing brought me out of my head, back to reality. I knew the universe was working in a strange way when I saw the name of the caller. I had to calm down before answering the phone. I didn't
want to seem too excited
"Hello Aoey."
[Gen, I didn't know who to tell, but I thought of you. Listen to this.]
"Yes, what's up?"
[My novel will be published. An editor just contacted me. My dream comes true now.]
Her happy voice made me smile. I would love to see her face at that
moment. Her smile must have been so big and her eyes must have been
smiling too.
"I'm glad for you. Let's celebrate."
[I will cook.]
"No, I don't want to eat Chinese buns."
[Yeah, whatever.]
When we hung up, I looked at my phone for a long time and smiled. I never thought I would be happy because of someone else's success. I never got too excited when I passed a test because I knew I would pass no matter what. But seeing her happy made me happy. It was such a strange thing for me. I did some research on where we should go out to celebrate. If the restaurant was too fancy, Aoey might not be happy. She would think she didn't deserve it. But the normal restaurant
would seem too ordinary. Should I let her choose?
I drove home happily. I planned to freshen up and we could go out and
celebrate. But once I was home, I saw Great, my brother. She sat with Aoey and they chatted as if they were so close. He had gone there without telling me
"Hello Sister!
He gave me a big smile as if he loved me very much.
"Why do you look like you're going to vomit?"
"Why are you here?"
My tone was cold when I saw him chatting with her.
"I'm here to see you. But I'm lucky Aoey is here, so I don't have to wait
alone. She told me that she is now an author and you two are going to
celebrate. Can I join?
"Because?"
"Celebrate."
"Are you close to us?"
"Yes, I am close to you two. I just wanted to join in, why are you so picky? Let me join."
I was about to argue with him, but Aoey, who saw how much Great wanted
to go, interrupted me.
"We can take Great with us. The more the merrier!"
I gave her an angry look but she didn't seem to notice that. No, that wasn't
fun... But I didn't want the atmosphere to be gloomy, I had to let it come
together. That bothered me even more. Great and Aoey just couldn't stop
talking. I didn't have a chance to speak at all. I didn't remember the topic
but somehow Great mentioned me in the conversation. I don't know if
people like Gen will have true love in this life. I looked at him agitatedly
and sarcastically.
"What do you mean?"
"That's what I mean. You look down on other people all the time. Your
future partner also has to be a good follower because she likes to be a
leader."
Great told Aoey and it seemed like she paid a lot of attention to this topic.
"Yes, I'm curious how your boyfriend will take it. Men like to be leaders,
you know?"
"I can be single if I can't find anyone who is smarter and better than me. I
haven't found anyone like that yet."
"But it's love, you know. You could fall in love with someone who has
nothing better than you."
Great said with a know-it-all attitude.
"I'll never like a loser like that."
I looked at him sarcastically.
"You could just give in to him."
He shrugged. The word 'give in' made me realize something. I looked at
Aoey but she still didn't know anything.
"I wonder what kind of people you will give in to."
"No one,"
I said casually and took a sip of water. Aoey continued speaking.
"What is your type of boy?"
Was she forcing me to talk about the type of person I like? I looked at her
and she smiled.
"I never thought I had one before."
"Does that mean you have one now?"
"As?"
The soft eyes looked at me through her glasses. I Looked directly into her
eyes.
"People like you with beautiful eyes."
There was a silence between us. Aoey looked nervous and quickly turned
around, rearranging her glasses that fell on the tip of her nose. Great didn't
seem to notice.
"Yes, I also like people with beautiful eyes. Like you, Aoey."
He said. I looked at him sarcastically when he just repeated what I said. He
had no brain. Why did he just say that to Aoey? Bastard!
"You have beautiful eyes too,"
She replied and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.
"I like your eyes too, Gen. If I'm going to be with someone, they have to
have beautiful eyes too."
My heart was beating very fast and I began to realize what was causing my
heart to beat! abnormally. Now I knew what was happening to me.!I just not
only surrendered to her, but my sensitivity was also around her. I decided I
would never
give in to her. So I looked into her eyes again. I didn't know what she was
thinking, but there was a little war between us. I knew I would never give
up, even my heart skipped a beat as I looked into those light brown eyes. I
believed that my
gaze could be as powerful as hers. I didn't know how much time passed
until Great waved his hand in front of us to get our attention.
"What are you two playing?"
Looking at each other like that.
"Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom,"
Aoey said and quickly left without looking at me again. Great looked at her
strange reaction and raised his eyebrows.
"What happened to her?"
"She needs to pee."
"Why does she turn red then? And your face is red too."
Great looked at me curiously. I felt heatnon my face but she was upset by
her comment.
"Do you have too much free time to focus on other people all the time? Are
you paying that much attention to your school?"
"I just said your face is red. Because you are angry with me?"
"You are very talkative today."
Great moved a little and looked at the direction Aoey had just walked away.
He checked to see if she had returned yet and quickly started gossiping.
"Did you help her with the publication of her book? Mom said you are you
playing the role of dad."
"Shut up!"
I pointed to his face and asked him to shut up. I was worried that she might
hear this.
"Why did mom tell you?"
"Mom asked me if I knew your friend. I figured it had to be Aoey because
she's the only one you're close to. You're great, doing something like this.."
"Never speak of this again. Aoey can't know about this."
"Because?"
"Stop being nosy!"
If people who were arrogant like Aoey found out that her book was
published because someone helped her, she would be sad and feel
worthless.
"Okay, I won't talk... but I need something in return.."
"What is it?"
"Can you help me with her?"
Great smiled sheepishly. My 18-year-old brother Casanova was a good-
looking boy who now had a dreamlike face.
"I like her."
"But she is much older than you."
"Only two years. I'm old enough to have a baby...hey! Why are you hitting
me!"
I hit him hard on the head that made such a loud noise. The people in the
restaurant looked at us with curiosity.
"What is this dirty talk! Respect!"
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm an adult. You can be my matchmaker. I
like it a lot."
"No, I won't."
"Then I'll tell her that you asked Mom to publish her book, not because the
publisher likes her book!"
We look into each other's eyes as if we were at war. Great's stubbornness
was very typical of him. He would get what he wanted. I sighed and gave
up.
"You have so many girls. She's my friend, can't you do without her? I don't
want to hurt her."
"No one is going to hurt her. I promise I'll take good care of her if we're
dating."
"Because she?"
"She's mysterious,"
He said frankly.
"I never met any sweet girl who was also very shy at the same time."
It reminded me of the time when Great tried to help Aoey from breaking
down, but was rejected. It was the feeling of a kid who always got what he
wanted, but when it was hard to get, it was more fun. It was the challenge
that seemed fun to him. It would help... Why he thought Aoey wouldn't
accept it.
"I'll tell him you like him but I won't help. You have to do the rest
yourself."
He gave me a big smile.
"It's enough. If you say something, Aoey won't reject me right away. Now,
she comes. Don't forget what you said."
We all sat and enjoyed the meal without talking about it again. Aoey was in
a very good mood. She smiled and hummed a tune. It would be nice if she
was so happy every day. I asked her about my brother, although I was not
willing to do so.
"You don't have a boyfriend, do you?"
"Oh?"
Aoey, who was watching TV, now looked at me curiously.
"No."
"You want to have one?"
"No."
I smiled to myself and was satisfied that Great didn't get what he expected.
"I want to be with you, Gen."
My heart skipped a beat when I heard that. But I tried to stay calm and
looked at her.
"You don't want a boyfriend but you want to be with me. What do you
mean by that?"
"I don't want to spend time with a boyfriend. I don't like anyone touching
me. A boyfriend will touch me, I prefer not to do that."
"Are you so afraid of being touched?"
"I just don't like it."
The soft eyes looked at me surprised.
"Why do you ask?"
"I guess I wanted you to be my girlfriend,"
I said jokingly. She opened her mouth in surprise. I reached out and closed
her mouth, laughing.
"I'm kidding. Great wanted me to ask you."
"Are you a matchmaker now?"
"Great like you. He asked me to help him."
The soft eyes looked at me differently now. She changed from a happy
mood to a confused mood so abruptly. I couldn't reach it.
"And now you're helping him?"
"What's wrong with that? Shouldn't I help you?"
"No."
"Why not?"
I looked at her blankly. Aoey stood up to make eye contact with me.
"In this world, anyone could be my matchmaker, but not you,"
She said coldly. She went into the bathroom immediately and spent a lot of
time there. I was confused and I didn't know what had gone wrong. Matching was the wrong idea
