afterglow ‣ s.jy

014

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JAKE

Perhaps, the best way to wake yourself up on a weekend morning is to find out that you are to be engaged to your best friend.

Jake was not halfway into his French toast when his parents told him they needed to discuss something. Oblivious as to what they would want to talk about at eight in the morning, he merely nodded and went back to taking a bite of his food. The least he expected to hear was the topic of the engagement that Hyejin warned him about days ago. If he had been half asleep a minute ago, then he was all awake now, especially with the serious stares on their faces.

"Her parents are forcing it and you know how I feel about arranged marriages, Jake. But if you like Hyejin, then we'll go along with the Kang family." His mother states, looking intently at her son while she awaited a response from him.

"You couldn't discuss this with me when I'm fully awake?" He speaks, the octave of his voice much lower than it normally was. "Even my throat is barely awake."

"It's now or never." His father managed to break out an apologetic smile towards Jake, who couldn't even swallow the toast in his mouth because of the heavy atmosphere among them. "What is there to think about anyway? Hyejin is an amazing girl, the kids have liked each other for years, and we're only doing this for formalities."

"No, they're doing this because they're afraid the kids would suddenly back out on whatever they have." The frown on his mother's face proved her disapproval of the other party's decisions. Like Jake, his mother shared the same displeasure with the whole concept of arranged marriage but their reasons behind it were far from near. Hers is rooted in having to grow up with parents who never loved each other, while his is rooted in the opinion that the idea itself is archaic. "Are you and Hyejin even together?"

He shook his head, still irritated that they were talking about this when he was barely awake enough to be discussing a topic that could affect the course of his life. "So there's nothing to back out from, exactly what they're worried about. They're worried one of them is going to be fond of another person." His father says, taking a sip from his coffee after.

"Well... it's your decision, Jake." She says, slightly resembling a sigh.

"Don't do it." Jake surprised himself by answering that quick.

Even before this untimely discussion, the decision was already certain in his head. He ran multiple scenarios in his head, each observing the repercussions of his choice and it always ended back with one answer: no. And at the very back of his head sat another reason, and it was an image of a girl on top of the towering wall, looking down at him with the rays of the sun hovering over her face. His memories of Siyeon no longer circled on her facial features only, but now it was repeating glimpses of the day they spent together, breaking the rules.

"We should play together sometime. We make a good duo when we're not stealing each other's kills." Jake suggests as they step out of the internet cafe, searching for somewhere to rest for the time being that did not involve staring at a screen for two hours straight.

There was a long pause that prompts him to glance at her to check, yet to his relief, she finally spoke. "When I sneak out again, I'll let you know." She chuckles. "Now let's go get something to eat. I'm starving after stealing your kills for three rounds."

There was a tiny little flame in Jake that grows day by day whenever Siyeon happens to create another memory of her in his mind. It was a tiny spark that expanded until he could feel the faint hint of fire burning him.

He was no longer just attracted to her.

The final push his attraction needed to cross the border to develop into a sentiment he wasn't quite sure he was ready to admit, had been done by the number of days he spent looking at her, gazing at her, and pretending as if everything had always been the same when in truth it wasn't. And that sentiment had played a small part in the long process of deciding what he was going to say if his parents ever bring up the topic.