Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Taking a deep breath, you leaned back against the park bench, letting your eyes feast on the greenery that surrounded you. A cool breeze ruffled your hair and you smiled, momentarily letting go of the thoughts that gnawed at you every other hour of the day.
Just as you removed the strands of hair that covered your eyes, you were met with the sight of dark brown loafers, placed right in front of you. Your eyes drew up, following the smartly dressed slender figure of a man and were met with a face that seemed strangely familiar.
Cat-like blue eyes stared back at you while the wind gently swayed the coal-black wavy strands on the young man's head. You frowned as you tried to recall memories of yesteryears, trying to put a name to the handsome face.
"...Akira?" you breathily muttered in the end, eyes widening.
The man broke into a toothy smile, his previous cool demeanor suddenly replaced with a friendly air.
"You remember me?" he remarked with a laugh.
"May I sit here-?" he gestured at the space on the bench.
You quickly nodded in the affirmative.
"Of course! Go ahead."
"It's been what, ten years since we graduated? How's life been since then?" Akira asked as he settled in the wooden seat with chipped painting, drawing the red cashmere scarf around his neck tighter to keep himself warm.
You smiled as you replied, "Yes... time flew by quite fast. I am a school teacher now. What about you?"
For a moment Akira gave you a cool stare, his smile falling before returning in a blink.
"A teacher, huh? ...I hope you look after your students. After all, they can be pretty nasty towards each other."
Your lips drew into a thin line as you swallowed uncomfortably, breathing in deeply before turning to face him, and looked into his dark eyes.
"Listen, Akira. I... I apologize for what I did to you back then. I-I don't know why I was like that... if I could turn back time and change things I would, believe me. ...I am really sorry."
Silence took back its place as you both stared at each other, his cool gaze meeting your nearly teary one.
Then, just as suddenly, his face broke into a charming grin, teeth glimmering as he reassured you, "What are you talking about? It's been so long, and I get it, kids can be mean without realizing, so it's okay, Y/n."
You returned his smile with a tentative, wobbly one of your own, inwardly questioning if it was that easy to forgive your tormentor. It felt too simple, too underwhelming.
It was a shameful part of your life, one that cast a shadow over what should have been the most carefree of your days. Your parents didn't have the happiest of marriages and coupled with that, there was a lot of pressure on you to do well academically.
You were one of the more popular kids and, well, you simply took advantage of your status and picked on the students that "rubbed" you the wrong way, sadistically relishing in tormenting them, loving the power you had over them and your "minions".
You had especially targeted Akira because he was such a weak little thing back then, always bursting into tears when something upset him. It was gradual at first, starting with you taunting him by calling him a "crybaby" and other juvenile insults before it slowly escalated, with you and your friends physically hurting him, pushing him down and "accidentally" hitting him when you all played during recess.
It gave you some sick, perverted pleasure when you saw his red face and teary eyes. He had finally transferred to another school after completing grade seven. After he had left, it was like you had an awakening. You tamed your rather aggressive instincts and grew much more empathetic as you matured, regretting what you had done to Akira for many years.
"...If you say so," you softly said, voice full of doubt.
"Really, it's fine. Don't worry," Akira replied with a smile.
An uncomfortable lull overtook the dying conversation as you sat rigidly, staring ahead while crossing and un-crossing your hands, regretting your actions more than ever.
"To answer your previous question, I'm a software developer," Akira replied after a moment.
"Oh... that's great. I remember you were really into programming languages even back then. Looks like your dreams have come true," you replied with a smile as you looked at his handsome profile.
The soft, feminine features that you had disliked previously ironically made him more handsome to your now mature eyes. The young man turned to face you, lips parted and eyes widened in surprise.
"...You remember?" he breathed out, his tone full of disbelief.
"Mmh, yes."
You looked down, scratching your neck feeling uncomfortable.
"Say what. Since it's getting dark, how about we meet somewhere else again and get to know each other more? ...We started on the wrong foot, to say the least, so don't you think it's time to correct that?" Akira said with a confident grin.
Long gone was the quivering rabbit your younger self had always imagined him to be. You nodded happily at his words.
"Yes, I agree. Where do you want to meet?"
"Hmm, there's a new cat cafe downtown. Do you still like cats?"
Akira's calm blue eyes watched you as you looked at him in surprise.
"Eh? How did you know I liked cats? And yes, I still do!"
Grinning, the young man shook his head gently.
"You never seemed to be able to control yourself around cats, even the dirty stray ones. You always used to pet that cat that roamed the school grounds."
You laughed loudly, fondly remembering the friendly cat you had once loved.
"Yes, you are right. I wish I could have one as a pet, but my landlady has a policy against keeping animals," you replied with a sigh.
"Well, that's all the more reason to visit a cat cafe, right?"
You giggled as you nodded in agreement. As the sun began to set, coloring the sky a pretty periwinkle, you and Akira exchanged numbers. You hoped it was the start of something beautiful.
As Akira walked away from the park, his beautiful face morphed into a sneer and a coldness broke the placid blue surface of his eyes.
Like a spider he would catch you in his web and devour you; that was a promise he had made to himself years ago.
This was just the beginning, the laying of a trap.
