As Told By Paramours

chapter five

elijah

BY THE WAY~ WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO SING LIKE THAT?

Josie :~)

I assumed we weren't talking until D-Day?

Elijah.

You could always sing to me.

Josie :~)

Through notes? Not sure how that'd work.

Elijah.

It's as ironic as it is humorous. I pluck her note from the sink, thinking about how in the two and a half weeks we've been sending notes back and forth, I've never actually met her. I don't know how to feel about it, and I have no time to think about how I feel about it before Soo-Ah comes knocking.

I wince as soon as I open my grandfather's room door and she comes barreling past me. Shoving the note in my pocket, I sit on a chair near the table.

"Johnny!"

"Soo-Ah! It's nice to see you again."

"You too, Halabeoji." Her black head of hair barely misses my grandfather's face when she whips back from the hug and makes her way to me. "Elijah."

"Soo-Ah," I greet, welcoming her hug. "How are you?"

She grins, helping herself to a seat. I did miss her: these days, with our friend trio's schedules, we can barely find time for each other. "You? What've you been up to?"

Oddly enough, a lot. I'd met this girl who is pretty fun to talk to, and despite how unusual it is to admit it, I enjoy talking to her. I also ended up finally going through my mom's stuff; all her work uniforms and shoes at least, before I broke down and soiled her clothing. She's not even here to scold me. I know now that when people throw around the phrase 'time heals everything', they lied.

I want to tell Soo-Ah everything. But instead, I say: "Nothing really. You?"

The look on her face tells me she knows I want to say more: her brows pull down slightly, lips twitch, and not in an amused way. She breaks eye contact with me and shakes her head. "Same. Noah said Quinn and him went to a wedding and she caught the bouquet so he's freaking out."

I laugh. "Wait til she asks him to marry her."

"I bet 50 she'll ask him in three months."

We joke and laugh about Noah, and I don't even realize an hour and a half has gone by.

"Marilyn?" I ask her suddenly, referring to her foster mother, and she looks surprised. "How is she?"

"She's good," Soo-Ah said, lips curling. "Thank you. It's been a little hard... Isa meant a lot to her. And me, but I didn't know her as well as Marilyn did."

Having your wife pass away not long after you took in a child could not have been easy. I can't even imagine the hurt she's feeling. I reach over and put a hand over hers. "I'm here."

"I know." She's silent at first, then she hits her thighs as if to say she's ready to leave. "Right. Speaking of Marilyn, I'll take my leave before she murders me. I think she's been watching How to Get Away With Murder."

This catches my grandfather's eyes. "You're leaving already?"

She nods. "I just wanted to drop by."

"Take care," I say.

Then her eyes hold mine for a moment, and I catch a glimpse of the smile on her face as she turns and leaves.