my one week boyfriend 『 a jihoon ff. 』

Chapter 15

'Thank goodness, I finally have time for a break,' I plop down on one of the vacant metal seats in the cafe and sip my iced coffee. This seems to be the only way I've managed to remain sane since the beginning of the new semester, relying mostly on caffeine to ease my troubles. An effective way to cope, no, but convience and efficiency always rules out creativity in my opinion. Exams are creeping up as the days pass, accompanied by the date that all universities mail out their acceptance or rejection letters. 

I loathe having to spend my days either holed up in my room or sitting in the local library flipping through textbooks and jotting down notes for what seems like 24 hours straight. On the up side, I am grateful for being kept busy. It leaves little room for my mind to wander to places I don't want it to and is instead occuppied by human anatomy or calculus. I clasp the chain necklace peeking over my blouse. A silver ring hangs neatly on it, still as shiny and clean as the day it was bought. And surprisingly not lost. I have a knack for losing all my jewelery or overusing them to the point of rust accumulating, but this isn't the case for the ring. It's been holding up pretty well considering the necklace has practically been glued around my neck for almost a year now. The ring acts as a reminder of my trip to Korea. A trip full of memories I've been meaning to shelve in the back of my mind for a while now, but haven't had the heart to do so.

I take another sip, disappointed to find only ice left in my drink. 'How did I finish that so fast...' I narrow my eyes to confirm the empty cup. So much for my break.

I toss the drink in a garbage bin near the entrance of the door and turn on my heel towards the library, prepping myself for another study session.

The weather is particularly nice today. The light breeze caresses my cheek and runs through my hair, lifting up some pieces of it. Usually the weather has either been so cold that my outfiits have strictly consisted of jeans and some type of sweater, but today the temperature is oddly just right.

Cars race past one another reflecting the speed of the people on the sidewalks, probably in a rush to get to weekend classes or be on time for their jobs. Typical rush hour fashion.

As I maneuver myself past the swarms of people, the ring taps gently against my chest. The cold metal collides with the warmth of my bare skin.

When I make it to the crosswalk in front of the library, I run my fingers along my chest for the ring, expecting to feel its circular shape. Instead, all I feel is skin, sending a rush of anxiety through me. My ears and face heat up as I frantically scan the pavement below my feet for some sign of the ring.

I check everywhere.

Below my feet? Nothing.

Behind me? Nothing.

In front? Left? Right? Absolutely nothing.

At this point, my eyes start to water. Not because I lost a piece of jewelery, but because of the sentimental value the ring had. And, who the ring made me think of.

I take a deep breath, calming myself down to fight back my urge to cry. 'It's fine, the ring shouldn't mean anything to you anymore,' I repeat in my head. The people beside me have moved up during my search, informing me that the pedestrian light is probably going to signal for us to walk across the street soon. There's no point in continuing to look for the ring, since it might not even have fallen around this area. It could have slipped off while I was walking further upstreet, which would mean that I need to retrace my steps. Or, in the worse case scenario, it fell down a sewer.

I bite my lip. The plausible thing to do is to let it go.

The image of a figure walking outlined in white LED lights appears on the pedestrian light ahead, in a sense signaling that I shouldn't dwell on the ring and move along. I start walking with a sense of uncertainty tugging at my mind. I doubt I'll be able to concentrate now. All I'll able to think about is the ring and how I should keep looking..