Start Again

Chapter Twenty-Five

Audrey

Regardless of the consistencies—

"Audrey?"

—readers cannot deny the relationship between the two texts.

"Audrey?"

Whilst the former text is Eastern—

"Auuuudrey?"

—and the latter text is Western—

"Audrey Jones!"

I ripped off my headphones and turned to her, glaring. "What?" I demanded.

"Don't be so rude."

I exhaled in the attempt to calm myself, but I could still feel rage boiling inside me. The longer my attention was averted, the more likely my thought would disappear. "What do you want, Hye Ri? Can't it wait? I'm working on an essay."

She held up my phone. "Park Joon Soo doesn't stop calling."

I held out my hand to receive the phone. "Sorry for snapping."

"You better be."

"Hello?" I asked as I answered his call.

"You sound annoyed."

"You're interrupting me in the middle of a sentence."

"Oh... Sorry."

"How many times have you called?"

"Like... maybe ten."

I grimaced. "Is it important?"

"It can wait until you're done."

"I've lost the thought now anyway. What is it?"

"Sorry... You finish this Friday, right?"

I nodded.

"Audrey?"

"Oh sorry... I nodded."

"I can't see a nod!"

"I know. My brain's all over the place. Don't tease me."

He chuckled. "Cute."

"Shut up."

"So are you free Saturday then?"

"Yeah. Why? Want to do something?"

"I actually have something I want to talk about with you."

It felt as though a hand had reached through my skin, grabbed my stomach and twisted it upside down.

"Audrey?"

"W-w-what about?" I asked hesitantly.

"Why the shakiness?"

I could feel my eyes start to sting. I always hated those words. Even in Korean they sounded horrible. It was like he was giving me the 'we need to talk'. I didn't like it. "Will it upset me?"

"Um..."

"Why are you hesitating?"

"The ramifications could."