Everything's finally going back to how it was before, Ren thought as she walked over to Coffee and Cream, the cafe she and her best friend Aemee first met. Since then, it has become their official weekend coffee spot. Ren was looking forward to this, a quick 30-minute catch-up with Aemee, a few days after "the incident" happened.
It's not like they are not up-to-date with each other's lives, they are, what with the hourly calls or messages she gets from Aemee from the time she gets up until she goes to sleep. Compared to her who needs at least 7 hours of sleep, her very outgoing and fun-loving fashion editor of a friend survives on a 6-hour sleeping schedule, iced americanos and energy drinks.
"Ren!" Aemee greeted her, in her usual excited and booming voice. Ren, suddenly became aware of the eyes on her as the customers turned around to see who the tall and pretty blonde lady was welcoming.
"Yes, I'm here," Ren said, trying to shush Aemee, who was smiling at her friend's discomfort at any public display of affection.
"I know, I know- you hate crowds, attention and loud noises. I'm still not sure why we're friends because that's what I came packaged with!" Aemee exclaimed, laughing at her own joke. Despite her feeling of unease, Ren can't help but smile whenever she hears Aemee laugh.
"Sooo, what happened?" Aemee started interrogating her as soon as they got their drinks. The usual iced americano for Aemee, since she said that is what they always order in K-dramas, and a glass of water for her. Being sensitive to caffeine and wanting to keep a strict sleeping schedule to help her function effectively, Ren only drinks a cup of coffee in the morning and non-caffeinated drinks throughout the day. On special days when she has to pull an all-nighter, black tea is the only drink that can keep her awake.
Ren told Aemee about how she was let go from her job because she overslept and ended up missing out on giving the presentation to her former company's higher-ups and investors.
"Ah, yes, how could I forget? Any change in your routine whacks your circadian rhythm and everything else out of place," Aemee said, nodding. "A moment of silence for the time you overslept and no amount of slapping could wake you up, making us miss our flight to Thailand."
"Aemee," Ren said, giving Aemee an admonishing look.
"Fine, fine. I won't talk about it anymore. What disturbed your routine anyway and why couldn't you have told me over the phone? I message or call you every hour and you still don't spill the details to your best and only friend?"
"I just really didn't want to talk about or even remember what happened that night."
"Come on, just tell me. Did your washing machine break down again?"
"No", Ren said, almost rolling her eyes at Aemee. " I saved someone."
"You what?!"
"I saved a man's life", Ren repeated, looking back at Aemee, who was staring at her in disbelief. "There was this guy who was almost run over and I.. I saved him."
After a few minutes of silence, Aemee laughed out loud and said, "Oh, come on, Ren. Be serious. Are you sure it wasn't just a cat that was crossing the street? You did say it was raining, maybe you didn't see who or what it was. Knowing you, most of the time you couldn't even tell a boy from a girl."
Ren, getting annoyed at the laughing Aemee, argued, "I did save a guy, Aemee. I even have photos of him. And I have copies of his fingerprints. Both of which I probably should have deleted by now, data privacy and all."
"You what now?"
"I'm telling you, I saved this guy and I told him to go to my apartment so I can treat his wounds, because for some weird reason, he didn't want to go to the hospital," Ren told Aemee while scrolling through her phone.
"Are you telling me you invited a stranger into your house after just bumping into him?"
"No, that's not entirely what happened. Come to think of it, what I did was kind of creepy and very out of character for me. But at that time, it was the most logical solution I could think of, considering lawsuits and all."
Not hearing a sound from Aemee, Ren quickly looked up from her phone, feeling a bit worried, because Aemee always had something to say, but right now, she was totally speechless.
"I blame it on the adrenaline," Ren said, trying to defend herself. "Ah, here. Here's a photo of the guy I saved."
A loud scream pierced through the entire cafe.
--
"Ren! Do you have any idea who this is?" Aemee said, finally catching her breath after giving the loudest shriek of her life and apologizing to everyone at the cafe.
"Uhm... no?" Ren answered.
"How could we have been best friends for almost three years now and you still don't know who the guy in that photo is? Haven't you been reading my weekly K-culture newsletters?
"The one where you post photos of your favourite K-pop idol or K-drama actor of the week?"
"Yes, that one!"
"Uhm.. no?"
"Hah, I knew it! Wait, when did you stop reading them?"
"Well, after the first one.. but you know I'm not interested in any of these things."
"And you have- no, had a job of watching K-dramas?"
"Aemee, can we just drop that? Who is this guy anyway?"
"This is- I can't believe it, but my best friend might be the only person on the planet who doesn't know who this guy is. It's Kai from the K-pop group X! He is insanely talented, is an ambassador for tons of brands, and is worth hundreds of millions of dollars!" Aemee exclaimed, almost out of breath.
"Huh."
"Huh? Is that all you can say, Ren?"
"Well, I don't really care about any of this. And.. I mean, the last time I saw him, I was really mad and told him that I never want to see him again."
"You did what?!"
Ren told Aemee what happened the next day after she saved Kai and how he appeared at her front door, basically slamming said door in his face, and not knowing what he came there for.
"But you know what, it doesn't matter. What's important is he seems fine, and I'm moving on and trying to forget everything that happened. I just have to look for a job and things will go back to normal."
"Huh," was all Aemee said to Ren, having a blank stare on her face.
"Come to think of it", Ren began, ignoring Aemee's shocked reaction and lack of response to what she was saying. "Have you ever had the feeling that you were being watched or followed? I have been feeling that way for the past few days since that night. I even thought I saw a stalker from the corner of my eye. Well, this is why I say that routines should be kept no matter what. I'm losing my focus and may have been hallucinating."
"Was that stalker very tall, around 6 feet, and has a strong but slim build?"
"Hmm? Yes, I guess."
"Was he wearing a long black coat, black trousers and a black mask?"
"I think so, but why-?"
"Because he's outside the cafe, Ren, and this fashion ensemble belongs to none other than Kai!"
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