The Letter (Scenario Number Four)

I am on a Jin-Bo roll, don't take this into heart though, that is why this is called fiction. Okay?


This is going to be a great day, for no other reason than it being August 16, and it being her birthday. She has the whole day to spend with her family - her mother is currently busy cooking seaweed soup and other delectable treats, her father went out a while ago, she overheard that he's going to buy a simple cake in the nearby bakeshop while her brother called up to say that he'll be there with his girlfriend by lunch, he even asked what kind of flowers does the celebrant want. Later, she'll have dinner with her close friends and maybe go to the club for some dancing, she reached a stage in her life when big, glamorous parties doesn't appeal that much anymore.

For the meantime, she decided on chilling out in the front porch, with a bunch of back issues of fashion magazines, willing herself to read and study designs that might have passed her, she had been busy these past few months and admittedly, her passion for fashion designing had taken the backseat. She has been thinking of going to the US to take a short course but her schedules wont permit it at the moment, she has to talk to her manager and work something out if she wants to ever get into it. 'I need to make a decision soon, I'm not getting any younger. I need to seize the day and make my dreams happen,' she mentally noted.

She was in the middle of reading and sketching when she noticed the postman shoving a bunch of letters in their mailbox, she hadn't been visible around their neighborhood for a while now as she mostly stayed in her apartment unit in Seoul,in her line of work, proximity is the key, hurrying from location and studio shoots to their house will take a lot of time thus an apartment in Gangnam-gu is a wise choice. The postman went away as she looked on, when the man was finally nowhere in sight, she giddily stand up and semi-ran to the mailbox to get the letters, it's not that she badly wanted one but she just feels like something special is hidden in the bunch of papers and envelopes somewhere.

She was shuffling through the files when a yellow envelope caught her eye, it has her name written on it and it's from the military camp in Busan. Her heart leaped in excitement, it must be from Choong Jae, a greeting card maybe, he sure won't forget her birthday as they had celebrated more than their fair share of birthdays together as they were born, only, three days apart.

She cut the envelope and found an old yellowish card with a simple heart caricature as a front design, when she opened it, she found a small folded stationery inside with a printed note that reads - Read the card first!

And so she starts to read, with a furrowed brow, wondering what her best friend is up to, 'Why would he send me an old card, did he bought it in a vintage shop somewhere but he knows that I don't like antique stuff, and it's not even a birthday card. I wonder what the eff is Choong Jae thinking?'

She has just finish the first stanza when it hits her, what the hell, she stares at the poem, mouth agape...

My friend, I hate to do it
But our friendship just can't last
The times we've shared together
Have faded to the past

I told you it would happen
Our friendship was bound to end
Although I know you care
I don't consider you a friend

Please don't try to argue
But try to understand
That time can change people
As the time changes the sand

Our friendship has been lovely
But you see, it has to end
For I look at you at a different way
I have fallen in love with you...

MY FRIEND!

"What is this?" she mused loudly.

She read it for the second time and the moment she finished, she began to roar with laughter, she, actually, ended up on the floor laughing her guts out. 'Choong Jae really knows his stuff, it's just a simple card but it did make her day.' she thought, laughing and clapping harder.

A worried look followed by an amused one by her mother and a glassful of orange juice later, she calmed down. She was able to get on to the small note tucked in the card and her heart felt like exploding because of the three sentences that was written on it.

Yah! Stop laughing!

I wrote that when we were high school seniors but I was too much of a coward to give it to you so I hold on unto it until I found the courage to hand it to you, but as luck might have it, I am stuck here in the military camp by the time the powers that be grant me the spunk to do so.

There's no need to answer me now, you have till I come back from my service to decide but if ever you find it in your heart to save me some heartache and worried days, visit me at the camp and I'll give you a better version of that poem, the one I wrote recently and the one that I'll record as our song when I have my comeback a year from now.

--- Park Choong Jae

She wants to laugh but for the life of her, she can't. Her heart's beating so fast and so hard, it feels like her ribcage will tear apart any moment now. An overflow of blood seems to be stock in her brain as she can't think clearly. The nerves and muscles of her body are not working as it should as she can't move a finger. And her tear ducts seems to have a life of their own as tears began to fall even though she doesn't want to.

After being frozen and being wrapped in silence in an hour or two, Hwangbo Hye Jung was finally able to come back, to herself, that is. A smile slowly etch in her face, "This is a great day, indeed!"


Note: The poem's title is My Friend.