Just Another Love Story

Story 4

"I hate you."

Minjeong read the incoming email and chuckled. She didn't reply. She was jetlagged and tired. Her heart and mind were a mess. After seven years of idolizing this one woman, making her the center of everything she did and always thinking of her everywhere she went, it felt empty to finally let it all go.

"Reply!"

Another email came.

Minjeong sighed. She typed. "I hope you don't mean that. Sending hate email at midnight is totally not recommended."

"It's not midnight here. Give me your new number."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Minjeong sighed. "Because it's time I get over you." She turned off her phone and tried to sleep.

----

"She still hasn't replied?" Ningning asked. "No news? Not even a one-word email?"

"Nope." Karina sipped her drink.

"Well, when it comes to stubbornness, Kim Minjeong is unfortunately unbeatable." Ningning shook her head.

"I can see that. Seven years, huh?"

Ningning laughed. "Yeah. That kid is insane."

"Why did she persist anyway?" Karina asked. She had wanted to ask Ningning that for a year now – ever since Minjeong left Korea. "I mean, what's so special about me? A teenage crush is usually over in what... a year max?"

Ningning shrugged. "You have to ask her that yourself. I don't know. I've tried to make her stop but she just wouldn't listen. She practically idolized you."

Karina grimaced. "That's not good. I'm just human. I have flaws."

"Yeah. I think she has come to realize that during the two years that you two became real friends. Remember that fight about how inconsiderate you are according to her?" Ningning asked with a smile.

Karina laughed. "How could I forget? Okay, it was my fault but I seriously wanted junk food that day. It's not my fault that she always prefers Korean food."

"But you agreed to share before you suddenly ran off to the burger place and left her to finish everything alone."

Karina blushed a bit. "Yeah. That was totally my childish fault. I just couldn't handle seeing another grain of rice."

"She was very angry. She called me and told me how wrong she was, how stupid she was to have thought that you were perfect. She called you stubborn, selfish, inconsiderate and childish all in one sentence." Ningning chuckled.

"That bad, huh?" Karina didn't know how much that had hurt Minjeong.

Ningning saw the downcast look. "Hey, it's fine. She was just waking up from her fantasy. You're human, she's human. It wasn't your first and definitely wasn't your last argument, remember?"

"Guess so." Karina looked down. She put the straw in her mouth and took a sip from her soda.

"I'm not telling you this to hurt you, Rina. At the end of the day, she still thinks of you as the love of her life."

"W-what?" Karina almost spit her drink out. She quickly grabbed the napkin to wipe her mouth.

Ningning laughed. "Come on. You didn't know? Seven years! She spent five years 'stalking' you and two years befriending you without ever wanting to confess. You can't get more hopeless than that." She snickered. "My poor Mindeongie." Ningning shook her head. She then observed her quiet friend.