The Perfect Life

Nightmare Come to Life

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"I...uh..." Sehun tried to find some kind of excuse, because Namjoo just stared at him. "Sohee told me where you lived. I thought...I should visit."

She blinked. This wasn't like the home she lived in with her grandmother. He worried. There was no longer an elderly lady to let him into the house and cuss Namjoo out for an empty fridge. And he wondered how lonely she must have been coming all the way here from Seoul.

Sehun sucked in the image of her trying to identify some lonely trace of her soul. The broken piece he'd met but hadn't coddled carefully. Why did she leave so suddenly? He was going to go back to her.

Were her hands still soft to the touch? Did she still want to kiss him? When it rained, did she carry an umbrella with her?

Sliding the key into the door, she said, "Come in."

He followed her right in. Her home smelled of freshly laundered sheets. Small and tidy. He immediately noticed a picture of her grandmother hanging on the wall. Another of a young boy. Her brother.

The couch was a soft pastel blue with a Sherpa blanket thrown over it. A small television set placed against the wall ahead and a tiny coffee table in between the space on an indie rug. Placed beside the couch was a Chinese shaded lamp on a stout drawer. Squeezed next to it was an organizer for mail. The floorboards a deep brown.

The kitchen was a little smaller with tiled floors and pale-yellow counters where her rice cooker, toaster, and dishware sat. A pale brown table was surrounded by four chairs and he wondered who she may invite over at all. Sehun took a peek down the tiny hall where he was sure her bedroom was. Had she brought her university textbooks with her? And the collectibles he'd seen before? Was her bed dressed in white? Or a different color now?

"Do you want water?" Namjoo asked setting her bags down onto the counter. He saw asparagus, pasta noodles, raw shrimp, leek and other greens.

"What are you making?" He was curious.

A cold glass of water landed on the table on his side. He peered at the glass but didn't touch it.

"I uh...got transferred," Sehun lied. "I didn't know you were here. Honestly."

Namjoo's eyes didn't quite touch him. She seemed to be listening as she stared at the floor.

"I uh...flew to Jeju for training," Sehun continued weaving his story, "and when I returned, I learned that you moved. I saw you at the pastry shop the other day, so I asked Sunu about it. It's a coincidence."

"Ok," was all Namjoo said.

He became uneasy. An awkward silence set in and he hated it, really hated it. He didn't want to go through this again. They had gotten so much closer. Had dispelled this silence. Why were they here again?

Her eyes set on him. They turned soft and he really wanted to go to her. Cross this room and breathe in the scent of her.

"I'm glad you're doing well. I honestly am."

"Yea..." he lowered his gaze. "Me, too."

Her phone rang and Namjoo turned away to pick it up. "Oh...Young. I thought you were in a meeting. Yea? That's great." She turned around to look at him, "Hold on." Covering the receiver, she said, "I think you should go."

"Yea, no problem." He hesitated then asked, "Lets have tea sometime."

He touched his pockets. Darn. No paper. No pen. Looking around he spotted a magnetic dry erase marker on her fridge.

"We can catch up, whenever you're free," Sehun scribbled down his phone number. Stepping back, he looked at her hopefully, "See you."

When the door closed behind him, he felt drained. Leaning against it, he sighed. Would Namjoo call him? Could he step back into her life?