“Dae-Han-Min-Gook! Clap-clap, clap-clap-clap. Dae-Han-Min-Gook! Clap-clap, clap… Beep.”
Finally, Taeho answered his cellular phone as the man sitting next to him looked on with a critical glare having heard Taeho’s unusual ringtone. “Yubeoseyo?” Taeho asked the caller, and after finally recognizing the voice on the other end of the line, he began to speak more calmly.
Sitting alone at a small table with a cup in one hand and a magazine beneath the other, a young woman feigned a quizzical expression as the phone had begun to ring, but upon the familiar "hello" uttered by the stranger, her expression soon shifted into a bright smile. She lowered her drink and looked to her right to where she heard the voice originate. She then decided that she would make contact.
After a few words uttered into the receiver of the mobile phone, Taeho finished his call and put his phone down next to his drink. Turning back to his glass, he again fixed his eyes upon the television screen situated above the countertop, apparently televising a Japanese news broadcat of the FIFA World Cup. As quickly as he had shifted his position in his stool, there came a soft greeting from his left ear.
"Annyoung?" she said to try and get his attention. The young woman from the table had stood up and walked towards Taeho and was now leaning against the counter braced by her left elbow.
"Ne?" Taeho replied, surprised by the bold gesture.
"Oh, so you are Korean!" exclaimed the young woman. "I've felt so lost here, but now that there's finally a friendly face around, I feel much better."
"I'm sorry," Taeho interrupted. "Do I know you?" In Taeho's mind however, the answer was a negative. After all, he had only been in a Tokyo for a day and has not exactly met that many new friends.
"Annyoung hashimnika, Park Jooyeon-imnida," the young woman introduced herself. "We haven't met before, but I'm so glad I found a local."
"The name's Taeho, I guess. Nice to meet you."
Jooyeon continued, "I've been here all day and you're the first Korean I've seen. Do you mind If I keep you company?"
Taeho then said, "No, not at all". And, with this welcome, Jooyeon went on with her story. She had gone to Tokyo to watch a show with a friend of hers who had yet to show up, so she had ended up finding the Sky Lounge on a whim. She just arrived from Seoul, seven hours ago and had been lost since with only a little understanding of the Japanese language. Taeho was as good a welcome as she could have ever hoped for.
---
After a few minutes and a healthy conversation, the two became silent. Upon realizing this, Jooyeon seized Taeho's phone that he had placed atop the counter. After a second examining it, she said, "Cool phone". At the same moment, she grabbed the strap that had been connected to it and offered it the same compliment.
All that Taeho could do was to thank her and sit back as Jooyeon slid the phone open to take her own picture with the phone at arms length away. She posed for a moment as the phone processed the photograph, then immediately tinkered with the phone's settings. Taeho looked on with enjoyment as she handled the palm-sized electronic device. He examined her up and down then focused on her face that had been lit by the track lighting above her and the glow of the television screen to her left. He adjusted his black-rimmed glasses and gave her a smile with a little snicker. There was not way that this was actually happening to him, he had thought, but he thought again and resolved that it had indeed been happening.
With a twist of her wrist, Jooyeon offered the mobile device back to Taeho, who took it slowly from her soft hands, only slightly feeling her warm touch with the tips of his fingers. "Here", Jooyeon said, "Now, you have a souvenir".
"Hmm?" Taeho murmured under his breath. He opened his phone to find a picture of Jooyeon set as his background. Then from behind his phone, he saw Jooyeon offer her right hand to him.
"It was nice talking to you, Taeho," she said to him. "I hope I can see you again some time."
"Leaving already?" Taeho asked her, somewhat disappointed that his night was about to end.
She nodded and pointed towards the door. "My friend's finally here," she explained. "You're free to come along...."
"I can't," replied Taeho as he soon regretted the words that had just escaped from his mouth. He did not want the moment to go away, but he realized his friend, Ji-woo had already been waiting for him for over half an hour back at the hotel.
Grabbing her small purse and tightening the belt around her light coat, Jooyeong prepared to leave. She raised her hand and tilted her head with a smile as she said, "Bye-bye. Come find me if you get the chance." Then just as soon as she had appeared beside him thirty minutes before that, she had disappeared, only having left him, her photography without a number to call.
Immediately, the room seemed to fill with noise again. The television began to fill Taeho's head with information, competing with the music blasting from the stereo system that been set up with speakers at ever corner of the large lounge, overlooking Tokyo's busy streets. Taeho was left speechless for quite some time. He headed to his hotel after that, where Ji-woo, his partner in crime, had already finished packing for the return journey to Seoul the next day.
It's like what the title states. Got so bored, that I decided to write some fiction. Still working on it. FYI, I'm not that good at writing fictions so please bear with me. =) First chapter is the next post. TQVM.
Her screams were spiking through my thoughts. Her attempts of penetrating the wall I created around her was reaching it's breaking point. She was really trying her best but none of it mattered, she could never break out.
"Danial! Let me out!"
"The day you get out, will be the day I have my last breath. And when I die, I'll be bringing you as well. So, it'd be better you shed all hope of getting out."
"Don't be so sure of it. I've made my way out before, it's only a matter of time before I rip your flesh off your bones. Oh, it'll be so fun. It'll be more satisfying If I could peel her skin off as well. Wouldn't you just love for me to do that?"
"......."
"Oh, god, I can already taste it. The smell of her hair, her soft skin, her innocence. Ah, you have such great taste, Danial. It'll be out of this world just feasting on her. It'll be fun while you watch, don't you think?
"You were never meant to exist. No one will ever find out of you, and I plan to keep it that way. You were a mistake, and will forever be one, Adel"
Last thing I knew, was that I was standing at my balcony. Minding my business. Cigarrette half-smoked, and it was raining. An amazing day to be lying down on my couch and laughing my ass off, in my opinion. On the other hand, I opted to finish my smoke and get ready for work.
I headed into my small yet cozy apartment. A nice home theatre system leaning against one wall while the opposite stood a comfortable yet old couch I had for quite sometime. I sat myself down to get my shoes tied.
Lights out. Power surge, I guess. Wait, that can't be it. Neighbour's still playing his shitty music. Checked things out on the balcony. Rain got a little heavier. So did my head. Leaned on the balcony to get my footing right. The last thing I heard, was this loud thump coming from the back of my head and the sound of a crack ripping through ice.
Woke up. Found my body lying down on concrete, 16 floors below my apartment. A man in black was taking pictures of my body. I saw Mum. From the looks of it, she couldn't stop crying.
What the hell just happened?
I feel so hopeless. Like there's nothing that I can do to make a change. All I do is cook, and cook and cook.
What's there to love? It doesn't make my day, so what does?
I need to start rethinking all of these things.
A colleague asked me just the other day, about how long it's been since I've gone for Friday prayers. I told him, the last time I went was in Standard 6. He told me, I was already a "murtad". I couldn't deny it.
What I actually thought about it was, what's the point in denying it or accepting it? I started losing faith in secondary school. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't hold on to any account, of being religious from the start. I remember learning how to "sembahyang" at the suprising age of 9. Suprising because every other muslim kid had already knew how to pray at the time.
I was so eager to pray so that I would fit in. In the end, I finally could pray with the my other muslim friends. Then it hit me, what was the point of me learning to pray? Was it just to "click" with my fellow muslim colleagues or was it to show my devotion to god? I knew it was just to fit in. From that moment on, I knew I was born into being an individual not attached to any sort of religion. I didn't feel ashamed of my current state. People would speak of it, and I would just turn a leaf over it.
In secondary school, I was confronted by one of the "ustazahs". She asked me why I wasn't praying during the "Zohor" period. I asked, "Do I have to?" She replied angrily that I should because I was a Muslim. I asked her a 2nd question, "Am I?" She gave me a cold stare and I continued back to my books. It was then, that I knew how unattached I was to being commited to a religion.
Not long after that, I casted off my faith into a black hole, not wanting it back as it would only cause confusion among others. Oh, don't get me wrong, I do believe in God the Almighty, I just don't hold onto any religion of sort, but of course, when people ask me, I just say I'm a Muslim. What I'm really saying is, "I'm sorry, I don't follow any religion."
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate any religion, in fact, I'm very much interested when it comes to studying any sort of religion but I just don't want to be a follower.
Though, I am afraid that it'll disappoint my mum one day that I might convert for love. At that exact moment, when it happens, I would know that I've left everything behind me.
Does anyone understand what I'm talking about?
