You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast.
He figured it came from her past experiences. Her solemn expression meshed uncomfortably well with her knitted eyebrows, telling him that her words were not meant to comfort him but to warn him. He didn’t know why he told her that he’s never been in love before, but when he did, he was surprised that she didn’t give him a snide comment or insult him but rather gave him advice on what it meant to be in love. It wasn’t as pleasant as most people around him have told him, but sure enough, he felt her words rang truer than anyone else’s. Not everyone could have a happy ending, but everyone did have an ending. It was tragic, really. How people are born into this world without knowing what they are born in to, but as they grow up with free will bestowed upon them by God, their stories are written by a phantom writer that cares not what happens to the people, but simply waiting for their story to end so that he can start another novel. Some are short with happy endings other long with sad endings, but whatever ending a person had, they were given an ending. And that rang truer to Takeshi than even her words.
The air around them was tense, neither one of them speaking but rather absorbing in what they had either heard or said. They were left to their own devices and either one could’ve gotten up from their seat and leave, but they had remained behind until they were the few twinkles of life left in the large dining room. Suddenly his tie felt a little too tight around his throat, and chandeliers hanging were a bit too bright for his eyes, so he closed them shut and allowed the darkness to envelope his eyes. Suddenly he had forgotten how, in a big dining room such as this with people dancing and laughing, he had found her in her seat in the first place. He opened his eyes again to look at the girl who had been staring straight ahead toward where the large painting was hanging. He wondered what she must’ve felt when all she could see were black, white, and hues of gray while everyone else were in awe by the colors that swirled together to create the masterpiece before them. Suddenly he felt guilt building up in his chest, her words from earlier on slowly delving in the back of his mind, before he let out a heavy sigh.
“You’re a lot like her.” His voice is soft and smooth, coming out with just inklings of the regret he knew she was all too aware about. Something inside of him stirred whenever he was with this particular girl. All the same emotions he felt toward Sooyeon resurfaced, but along with them, came the regret and guilt he felt for allowing someone like her to leave the earth before it was her time to go. “She would’ve given this type of response too. Well, at least I think so. She was a peculiar girl like that.” Looking at her for too long made his heart clenched in pain, and so he took it upon himself to look down to the ground this his elbows on his thighs. “You can never know what she says next. It was frustrating, really. You’re so sure she’s going to say one thing, something snide, and all of a sudden, a sullen breath of air comes out of her and nothing snide slivers off her tongue. Just wisdom.”
“Goodnight to you, Takeshi.” Was all he heard until the doors of the dining room were cracked open to allow her to leave. The chandeliers grew dimmer, and he was sure he was alone in that large dining room. His eyes were downcasted as he tangled his fingers together, his eyes wide as he clicked his tongue in realization. Suddenly everything made sense. Suddenly, he realized why he saw Sooyeon in this particular girl. They were one and the same. And all he could do was smile.
“Yeah, she would’ve done the same thing.”