From that day on, Aoey and I were very estranged. I started sleeping at
home instead of the condo. I felt selfish for running away while Aoey had
nowhere to go. I vanished from that place even though I was the owner. I
didn't know how Aoey was doing right now. I cared about her, but I couldn't
show it. When I returned to spend time at the condo, there was a big wall
around each of us. We were at a distance, without touching each other,
much less speaking. I was there out of duty, which was all. I feel so skinny
now. I didn't eat much and slept less. I wore sunglasses because my eyes
had
dark circles around them. I didn't realize something was wrong with me
until my mom made fun of me.
"Is your heart broken?"
Her statement made me freeze. Growing up for 20 years in my life, I had
never experienced a broken heart before. I didn't want to admit that it was
either. Without sense. I was the one who rejected her, but why did I feel so
bad.
"Gen."
I rolled my eyes when I heard Great shout my name. Now what?
"What?"
"You have to help me."
My little brother was now kneeling next to my chair where I was eating
with my mother. I looked at the self-absorbed brother and slowly removed
his hands from me.
"You're so annoying. What is all this for?"
"I am losing."
"Lose what?"
"I'm losing to Jade, my superior, and other men who are chasing Aoey. She
is now very popular. She is the star of the faculty."
My brother was now whining like a child. I pretended not to
pay attention, but in reality I was all ears. The star of her faculty... didn't
surprise me. The first time I saw him I realized how handsome he was.
'What do you want me to do?"
"You have to tell her to stop being so flirtatious."
"Coquette? Aoey?"
I asked in disbelief. Great insisted, nodding his head.
"Yes, I don't know where she learns to do that, flirt with her eyes. Is that
yours?"
"No, why would I teach her that? We barely talk lately."
"Are you two fighting?"
"No, not really."
I didn't give a clear answer because I didn't know if our last talk considered
a fight or not.
"If you're not fighting. You have to do something. I really like Aoey."
"You've been chasing so many girls in your life. You don't really need my
help."
"But this is Aoey. The mysterious Aoey that I never get close to."
"That means other people can't either."
"Yes, but it would be better if she stopped flirting. It's so torturous. Please
help me."
Great shook my arms looking like he wanted to cry.
"Or you flirt with those men who tried to get to Aoey. When they see you, it
would be easy to change their target."
"Are you reading too many bad romance novels? That strategy won't work
in real life. What if there is an upcoming top model flirting with you, would
you still focus on Aoey?"
"Of course not."
He was such a sincere person... I didn't answer anything else. I'd let him
deal with it and pretend I didn't care, but considered what to do. It wouldn't
be so much of a flirt. I wanted to know if those men were really good
enough for Aoey. Well, I was her good friend after all. I decided to go back
to my apartment that night after Great told me about those men, although I
pretended not to care. But I ended up frustrated when I found out that she
came home late. It was
already 9 at night but she was not at home.
I sat in the condo lobby waiting for her, either out of concern or jealousy
that I didn't know. My eyes looked for her and waited to see when she
would enter. Finally I saw a small sedan arrive and Aoey got out of the car.
She had short hair... I didn't know if she was a boy or a girl. I hid for fear
that she would see me. Once she passed my hiding place, I followed her
around pretending that I had just returned from a convenience store to buy a
bottle of water even though our fridge was full of water.
"Hey,"
I called her, who walked to the refrigerator for cold water. Her soft eyes
didn't even look at me. There was an icy feeling outside of her.
"Hey."
"Why did you come home so late?"
"I'm an adult. I had things to do,"
Aoey turned to look at me. She didn't have glasses on like I
asked. I could clearly see the changes in her. More beautiful...
She had her makeup on.
"What were you doing so late?"
"You never spent time here again and I never asked you."
This was her way of saying 'leave me alone'. She bothered me a lot and I
wanted to shake her and yell at her to stop being so annoying. But I could
only cross my arms, lift my chin and look at her.
"Whose car was that?"
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah."
"How could you see that? Were you in the store? Since when do you buy
things from here?"
"Since my close friend worked there and retired, sometimes I just use their
service."
Aoey shrugged as if she didn't care how much I paid attention to her. She
walked back to the couch casually.
"My friend."
"man or woman?"
"Because you want to know? Is it important for you?"
"You changed."
"Life has to move on... how long are you going to be standing there? Sit
down. I wanted to ask you something because you are my close friend."
I sat in a space next to her on the couch. I looked into her sweet eyes with
surprise and sat next to her. I wanted to know where this would take us. She
was firmer and not shy like before. She changed a lot.
"What's happening?"
I Said.
"I wanted to ask you about my love life."
She was playing with me... I acted surprised to make her feel like I was
paying attention. She wanted to know if I acted happy to hear her love
story, how she should react to that.
"I heard from Great that you are very popular. Many men chase you."
"I don't wear my glasses anymore."
"Can you study without them?"
"I use my contact lenses. Thanks to my new friends who taught me how to
put on makeup and wear contact lenses. I never realized that I had many
men who love me."
"No less than you."
"What do you really want to ask me?"
I answered. Aoey shrugged.
"Love life."
"What's up with that?"
"I have 4 men chasing me now. Who should I choose?"
I looked her in the eyes to look for any nonsense, whether she made up
those numbers for a dramatic reaction or not. But Aoey wasn't a liar and I
was good enough to know when she was lying to herself.
"You have to choose the best one that you like. Is there someone you like
more?"
Which boy did you like more than me? This was the real question. Aoey
paused and sighed.
"Everyone is good, including Great. Everyone has their strength. One is
always good to me since the first day we met, that's Jade."
"AHA."
"Phong, who left me today. He is my classmate. He's a rich guy and he
treated me like a princess."
"AHA."
"The other one is called Mint."
The name took me by surprise. It was definitely not a boy's name.
"Mint?"
I caught her smile at the corner of her mouth, but it quickly disappeared as
she continued her story.
"Yes, Mint. She is a woman."
I didn't know why I felt tense. The soft eyes in front of me tried to test me
with something. I once said I didn't like women who acted like men. She
tried to make me angry.
"AHA."
"She's nice and sweet. She has beautiful fingers.."
The last sentence made me bite my lip patiently. I tried to stay still to
manage the anger inside me. I had to pretend to answer her love enigma.
Otherwise; I wanted to pinch her cheek. Why the fingers? There were so
many things to look at instead. Why would I care about fingers anyway?
She wasn't rude at all, but why was I so upset "You're so weird. You look at
people's fingers."
"Great is the last one. He is perfect and has beautiful eyes."
Aoey looked at me as if she was trying to hypnotize me...
"Like you."
She flirted with me...tried to hypnotize me like she did other guys. I knew
this trick well because I also used it when I wanted to flirt with someone. I
laughed and looked away.
"Too many chosen ones could confuse you. All are good. I was just like
you. I was so confused about who was the best, who I should date. I ended
up not seeing anyone."
"Do you have many men chasing you?"
"Maximum 13 men at the same time."
I boosted to a number of men. She paused for a moment and nodded.
"You are beautiful. That's not a surprise."
"If you ask me, I suggest you take some time to make a decision. If you
don't like anyone in particular, everyone can be your friend. If in the end
you don't choose it, you can be friends."
"Who is the best of the 4?"
Aoey asked. She didn't understand what I tried to tell her. She didn't have to
choose now.
"Well, Great is...."
"Because he is your brother?"
"He has beautiful eyes like me. You might like them."
I looked directly at her and now she turned around. I smiled at my victory.
"I'll go to bed now. Let me know when you can choose. I'm glad I could
help you tonight."
I had such a big mouth even though I had an unstable emotion. She had 4
men chasing her even when she was barely wearing makeup. What would
happen to her when she learned to do her makeup perfectly? I became too
obsessed with her story... too much to not know myself. The story of the
men chasing her bothered me a lot. I wanted to talk to her more about it, but
I didn't want to be obvious. I suggested she look for a boyfriend. Why
should I be upset then? Aoey called me when I tried to calm down by doing
my manicure.
"Hello Aoey."
The bad thing was that I felt happy when I saw her calling as if it were the
first time she called! I needed to calm down. I had just had a rollercoaster of
emotions.
[The thing is...]
There was some hesitation in her voice. I adjusted myself, stretching my
back to try to hear her.
"What happened?"
[I have to ask you a favor. It's okay if you can't help me.]
"You need money?"
[I would never do that. The thing is, my friends and I had a task to do
together, but we have nowhere to go. Can I bring them to your condo?]
"Of course, I thought it was something serious."
[Very sorry. However, I don't know when we will finish. I don't want you to
feel uncomfortable.]
"I can come home if that's better for you.'
[But this is your condo. I can't kick you out of your condo.]
"Don't worry about that. This is a group task, right?"
[Thank you very much, Gen. Wait a second....the owner of the room said it
was fine. Mint, you have to give your ID card when you arrive. You can
park in Gen's parking spot. There are 2 parking spaces we can use.]
"How many friends you invited to?"
[Around 5.]
"Is that Mint... your friend?"
There was silence on the other end. I had no idea what that silence meant.
She might be thinking of some excuses...why was she quiet? Give me a
straight answer if there is nothing to worry about.
[Yes, we are a group of 5. Mint will also go.]
She brought that girl to our space. I almost spoke my mind, but I had to stop
myself. I responded kindly.
"Well, you have to work on your homework."
I hung up the phone and pushed the hand away from a woman who was
painting my nails. Now on the back of my hand I had nail polish. The
people inside the nail salon looked at me nervously. Damn! You little scoundrel
