Breaking Rules

RULE # 7: NEVER SHOW OTHERS HOW YOU FEEL

Some rules can never be broken

He tossed around his bed – unable to take his mind out of how she looked at the training room when he denied knowing the rap piece.

He had never known such masked sadness. She was good in hiding it from YB but he knew better.

"Gaho. Gaho. What do I do with her?" he asked his dog, who, unlike him was sleeping like a log. He grunted in envy.

"I hope I could be like a dog" he thought "I'll just wag my tail and everybody will think I'm cute."

Not HER though, a voice in his mind reminded him. Ahhhh. Yep. Dara had always been scared of dogs.

Ji stood up from bed, giving up all hope that he'd be able to sleep. He headed for the kitchen, looking for something to eat. His mother had brought a lot of groceries last week and he hadn't had a chance to eat anything because he always dined out.

He settled for a bag of chips, turned on the radio, and decided to sit up on his balcony and watch the night sky.

He always calmed down whenever he looked up the sky. It was a good meditation exercise for him and maybe – just maybe – he could erase her image on his head.

How long had it been? he asked himself. Three? Four years?

He'd dated other girls – even thought that one of those flings could lead to something else. He had not thought of Dara much but on nights like this... her memory crept up on him like a bad case of flu.

"Santokki, what seems to be your problem?" the DJ's voice took him out of his reverie.

Santokki? What a coincidence.

"I – I can't really sleep tonight –" Ji's insides froze as he recognized her voice.

"Why is that?" the DJ asked.

"You see... I have a friend, a really good friend from way way back and we've seen each other but he – he really doesn't act as though he knows me."

"He doesn't recognize you?"

There was a deep sigh "Uhmmm... no. I don't think so. I haven't really changed that much physically, I think. And he already knows what my name is so I'm supposing that he should recognize me, even."

"But he doesn't talk to you at all? Say Hi or anything?"

"Well... he does. He talks to me. But – it's as though he didn't know me from before. He acts as though we'd just recently met."

"Are you sure he's the same guy?"

"Of course I am. I'd never forget him."

Ji felt his gut receive a punch at her words.

"That is weird Santokki. Have you tried to talk to him about it?"

"No... I – I'm afraid of being humiliated."

"Now, why would a guy do that? You're just going to ask him about it."

The hesitation she felt was so palpable even if he couldn't see her. He could with no trouble imagine her squinting her eyes or puffing her cheeks uneasily. "I – I'm not sure how he's going to react. And I don't really want to confront him about it... I just want to ask you, though, why do you think a friend would do that to another friend?"

The DJ coughed. "There could be a lot of reasons why a guy would do that to a girl who has been his friend. He could be shy about other people knowing that you were friends..."