I run my fingers along the words on the crumpled list.
I bite my lip and hold my breath as I use a red pen to cross off the first item.
I exhale sharply as soon as I lift the pen up off the paper.
I swallow hard.
The next thing to do is
"Apologise to Kyun-Ok seonbae."
I don't have much to go off on, and I doubt his mother would know; she said she didn't know any of his friends.
The only other person I can rely on at this time, is his sister, Jung-Ok.
I dial her on my mobile, as I see the sun rise up above the trees from my window.
"Hello?"
"Hi, um, it's Hwan-Jae."
'Am I being too familiar?'
'What if she's weirded out?'
I shake off the negative thoughts and put my focus back on her voice.
"Ah, Hwan-Jae! Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"
My gaze slowly shifts to my bedroom door.
Just beyond that.
Eun-Hyuk sleeps.
I gulp.
"Yeah, do you remember that list you saw?" I inquire.
She reassures me she does.
"The second item is to apologise to a seonbae? Kyun-Ok?"
There's silence for a brief moment.
Then I hear a frustrated and exasperated sigh.
"Kyun-Ok? Why would he want to apologise to that idiot..."
I stay silent and fiddle with the paper in my left hand.
"Yeah. I know him, but you obviously don't."
My ears perk up.
"Was he important to Eun-Hyuk?" I ask. I can feel something caught in my throat. It feels like a big, sticky marble.
"Yeah, you know right?" She says.
"Uh?" I didn't mean to let that slip but, it was said reflexively.
"He was gay. Kyun-Ok was his first crush."
I feel my heart sink, and plop down in my stomach.
'His first crush?'
'Then why is "Fall in Love" on the list?'
'He's obviously done it before.'
I feel sick, these thoughts keep suffocating me.
"Yeah but, Kyun-Ok didn't take too kindly to him confessing, and he started avoiding him."
I grit my teeth.
He sounds like an asshole.
"Give me a sec, our mums are friends, I'll see if I can find his address anywhere..."
She trails off and for a few moments, all I can hear is shuffling and the sound of things moving.
Eventually, she comes back; and tells me the address.
I scribble it down on a sticky note and shove it in my jean pocket.
"Thank you, again," she says.
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YOU ARE READING
ghost
Romance× Choi Hwan-Jae is your regular twenty-four-year-old guy, he's making a living off being a barista; which is... well, it's work. In this day and age, you need work to survive. After a shift, Hwan-Jae decides to go out drinking with a few co-workers...