Blog Post 5: Story: Bad Feeling

“I got you something.”

It was a chilly mid-winter afternoon, nearly 5 pm. The sun had set, and the once-aquamarine sky was slowly fading to sapphire.

Two high schoolers stood at a Starbucks’s doors. Kaya and Hyuck were on their first date, a day after their unexpected but welcome confession. Kaya handed Hyuck a small bag.

“What’s this?” Hyuck asked.

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” Kaya replied enigmatically.

Hyuck sticks his hand into the bag. “What are- oh.” Hyuck pulled out the bag’s contents; two key chains, one a heart with a hole and the other an arrow with a hear-shaped head. He quickly figured out the mechanisms; the arrow head fit in the heart’s hole perfectly. “Neat design.”

Kaya smiled. “A memento of our relationship. I actually intended those as a late birthday gift for you, to keep one for yourself and to give the other to your crush.” She had been quite delighted when he had confessed, albeit on a social media platform, that said crush was Kaya herself.

Hyuck holds the keychains, this time with the arrowhead in the heart’s hole. “Should I give one to you or something?”

Yes. I want you to. Show me that you care about me as much as I care about you. “I’ll leave it up to you.”

Kaya didn’t regret those words. She was never the type to force her thoughts onto others. This was not just a gift, but also an experiment. She’d observe Hyuck a little, see what he did and how well his actions aligned with her expectations.

Perhaps this little test said as much about her as it did him.

“Hm…” Hyuck separated the keychains again. “I’ll keep both of them.” Hyuck put the arrowhead in the heart’s hole and grinned. “Because this is the arrow that has pierced, my heart.” Hyuck handed Kaya back the bag. “I think you’ll find a better use for the packaging, though.”

Kaya hid her anger at being treated like a caretaker cleaning up after a child who had messily unwrapped a present behind a neutral exterior. But beyond that, there was a deeper, darker feeling. Why does this feel so familiar…

Two-ish years before

“This is for you.”

The gift’s recipient looked in awe at the flower-print box placed in his hands. He opened it and pulled out one of the items Kaya had thoughtfully included; two halves of an opal geode. He smiled. “Wow, this is so cool, Kaya! Thank you!”

Kaya had thought that was the end of it but was pleasantly surprised by Jun holding out one of the halves.

“I feel like you should have it.” Was his explanation when she asked.

Kaya accepted the geode gratefully. “Thank you!”

Kaya smiles down at her half of the geode. She and Jun had become friends after he had taken an interest in her grades. Their relationship had progressed so quickly that several classmates had taken to shipping them “Jumaya”. Although both of them denied all the rumors (except the one time Kaya had confirmed them, just for kicks), they had taken to bringing each other gifts, to make the best out of the time they had before they parted ways to different high schools.

Kaya was jostled out of her thoughts when she heard a quiet hum to her right. “Hm?” Kaya turned, to see Jun, who looked slightly uncomfortable.

“Kaya, can I see that?”

Kaya was slightly suspicious. Why would Jun need to examine the opal half when he had plenty of time to already? Regardless, she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and so handed him the geode back.

I knew something was off, she thought, when Jun grinned, holding both halves.

“I changed my mind; I’m keeping both halves.”

Kaya’s mouth fell open in shock. You could have just asked! She saw no reason for the trickery, but the fact that Jun used such an underhanded method just to get half a stone back… did he really think that little of her?

Kaya clenched the bag in her fist. Her relationship with Jun was fast, short, and intense. After they started ninth grade, Jun had slowly drifted away and stopped initiating conversations on social media. Kaya was constantly torn between urges to scold him for his lack of attention and not forcing their friendship if he didn’t want it.

Why are there so many similar boys in my life? Her friends liked to joke that she had a collection of “Korean boys who ditch [Kaya] once they go to different schools”. After their respective situations, her opinion of Jun and Hyuck had decreased quite a bit. They were not the same, not fully, at least, but Kaya wasn’t so blind as to not see the parallels.

I have a feeling this will end badly.