Secrets on Melody Street (Jenlisa)

12

Jennie Kim

The whole point of me moving to Melody Street was to get a fresh start somewhere where nobody knew my past or judged me for my mistakes. I needed somewhere that was free of drama and unassuming. Somewhere plain. However, like most instances in my life, drama seems to follow me, regardless of which point I'm at in my life.

In 6th grade my parents divorced and I had to go to court when they fought for custody of me. Each parent was begging me to testify against the other. I was young and under al lot of pressure, the stress of it all deeming too much for me to handle.

When I was 13 and a half, a girl called Yooa kissed me behind the school cafeteria. I promised I'd never tell anyone what we did, because I had a fat crush on her and wanted to ask to the dance, but she freaked out nonetheless and convinced everyone that I'm the one who pounced on her. I think it's safe to say it was very difficult to maintain many lasting female friendships after that fiasco.

And so, at the tender age of 14 I moved halfway across the planet, so pursue a dream that wasn't, for once, centered around getting a girlfriend. It's a shame it didn't go the way I planned, but I'm still glad I went through it as it propelled me into the work and job I love to do now. A job that, back in my old city, didn't leave much room for dating around.

I worked for a popular animation studio in Tokyo before moving back to Korea and working in central Seoul for a year and a half. It was fun, but demanding. I spent long hours in a cubicle sketching designs, processing them through tech and then finally sending them off to the animators who would bring the characters to life. Things went pear shaped after I dated a co-worker and our relationship didn't work out. So I left. It was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make, but my ex-girlfriends cousin ran the studio we worked at, and I knew if I wanted to advance in this industry, the relatives of the girl I'd just dumped, were not gonna make that happen for me. So I found a smaller, but much more reliable book publisher that was hiring, and I've been illustrating for them for the past 8 months. I like it as I can work from home more often and the pay is actually much better. Although a downside I have with being at home at lot is that I have more time to let my thoughts wander.

And they usually drift off in daydreams about my neighbour, Lisa Jung.

I kid you not, the first time I laid eyes on Lisa, I knew I'd be thinking about her as I lay in bed that same night. I'll never forget how adorable she looked as she held that welcome basket out on my front lawn, the late afternoon sun bouncing off her sharp bone structure.

I know for a fact I've found my soulmate at 26, it's just my luck that she's married.

--------------------

I finally put down my paintbrush and checked the time on my phone.

22:47

Happy enough with what I've achieved for now, I moved the easel aside, left my art room and headed for the shower. Like I do almost everyday, I watched the swirls of color making their way down the drain as the pigments that had once stained my fingers, cheeks and hair washed away, leaving me clean and glowing.

My sheets were crisp white, a stark contrast to the room next door that was splattered with art. As I lay in my double bed, I stretched my body out like a starfish, brunette hair fanning across my pillows. Although this was comfy, it was too much for one person, too lonely. I strained my ears but I could hear nothing but silence. No movement, not even a faucet was dripping. Just me, my masses of art, a vast expanse of space, and not a soul to share it with.

With a sigh I reached out to my bedside table and pulled out my sketchbook. Flipping it to the newest available page, I began to depict my muse. As the pen travelled across the paper in a routine it's performed so many times before, her side profile quickly came into view. I often drew her from memory, she has an essence about her that's incredibly hard to forget, believe me. It only took about 15 minutes, but when I was happy with it, I was left with an image that resembled Lisa. I had drawn the left side of her face as she looked up to view a moonlit sky. She had a cute little beauty spot underneath her left eye, her plump lips were slightly apart in awe as she stared up at her moon, the reflection of it shining in her doe shaped orbs. It was only a rough sketch, but I was proud of it nevertheless as I closed the book and put away my pen. Clearly, it isn't the first time I've drawn Lisa, in fact my sketchpad's so full of various artistic depictions of her, that it's probably borderline creepy.