Lies took the elevator.
Truth took the stairs.
Both arrived and met Revelation.
Jane killed a family in a car accident. Depressive and accustomed to self-harm, she decides to go back to where her life toppled upside down. Jane doesn't know what to e...
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"Rice cakes."
"It's my grandma who made them."
"Really."
Jane's face glows as though I gave her a valuable gift. She turns to face me, and for the first time since I know her, she smiles. Her reaction is an exploit because Jane excels in lopsided twitches and pursed lips.
The expression makes me feel warm, as if someone lights a fire in a cold cave.
You did well, Tae Won. Thank you, gran.
"They're delicious; thank you, Tae Won, please thank your grandmother for me."
As she eats, her face seems to color, her cheeks flush.
I see myself blush like a teenager. I've started to notice things about Jane's face and features. It's as though I'm discovering another girl when she's been there the whole time.
Come on, Tae Won, this is beyond your stature, your not going to melt in front of a girl eating rice cakes, are you?
But I am melting, and I know why. The words my gran pronounced attained my doubts; there's nothing wrong with our friendship. I'm comfortable with Jane, and she's at ease with me; I hope she is.
"Jane."
"Yes," she replies, her mouth and cheeks plumped up with rice cakes.
"Do you, are you comfortable with me?"
Oh, gosh, she looks so confused that I reformulate the question as I adjust my posture to allow myself to wipe my now sweaty hands on my knees.
"I mean, I don't embarrass you orㅡ."
"No, you don't; I feel comfortable with you, perhaps too much," Jane says, putting down the rice cake she was going to bite into on its wrapping.
Her face looks grave, as though she is making a difficult choice.
"I shouldn't; I mean, you don't know me," Jane adds, she barely holds up her gaze.
"Isn't it the reason why we meet to know each other?"
Jane frowns, making her eyebrows knit together, "It is, I mean, you wanted to be friends with me, but I'm afraid to be taking up your time when you should be doing other things, essential things."
"This is important for me."
The buzzer for our lattés vibrates," just a minute, I'll be right back."
I get up and go to the counter; once there, I look back on Jane. A form of disappointment fills me as I see she isn't looking in my direction or at me.
"Your girlfriend is pretty," says the café's manager, who appears to be about the same age as my mother. The older Korean people get, the freer their tongue is. They say things naturally without worrying too much as they would have if they were younger about the perception of their words.
