Sun Upon Dark Clouds

31: Beautiful Things in Life

It was instant noodles night. The raven did not mind what they were having for dinner as she let the brunette decide. Eventually, the brunette decided for the both of them to have instant cup noodles for dinner in a convenience store that was not the same store from where Ghrae was supposed to shoplift. With that decision, Coley immediately knew that it was the first time for the rich woman to eat instant cup noodles by just watching her look at the cup noodles cluelessly.

“You’ve never eaten instant noodles? Not even the ones in packets?” Coley asked in amusement as they sat at the table next to the glass wall in the convenience store. Yes, they decided to eat in the store as if they were dining in a restaurant.

“No, I’ve only seen them in Korean dramas,” Ghrae replied and was about to open the lid of her cup noodles that was being cooked with hot water at the moment when the brunette gently pulled her wrist away.

“What are you doing? The noodles wouldn’t cook well if you open it,” Coley chuckled as she caught the little pout on the raven.

“I’m just curious how the noodles are being cooked with just hot water,” The raven turned to the latter as the brunette froze on her spot as if the shorter woman just casted a spell on her.

Along her brown eyes had stars that NASA never knew existed with her long eyelashes looking like the waves on the beach that could be surfed on. Her perfectly shaped pinkish lips were extended forward to an adorable pout that gave her flashbacks in a certain alleyway. Coley began to think whether she did smoke the weed that she stole from her father’s gang or not since she was basically seeing sparkling colorful flower petals falling around Ghrae while she stared at her with her puppy eyes.

What is this? Is Ghrae a witch or something?

“All right, fine! Just take a quick look and put the lid back on,” Coley shut her eyes from the brightness as she looked away and rested her forehead on her fist. The raven was too adorable for her to refuse.

“Nice.”

A smile appeared on the raven’s face as she immediately took the wooden chopsticks that were resting on top of the lid. She slowly pulled the lid up as she moved her face closer to take a look in the cup where the noodles were cooking though she regretted it instantly when she felt the hot smoke rise directly to her face, making her face recede. Ghrae could hear the brunette next to her snickering as she lightly shook her head and rubbed her face.

“Ghrae, you can take a look without pushing your face in,” Coley said as she placed her fist over her mouth while she continued to laugh.

“Oh,” Ghrae quietly whimpered.

After a few more minutes, the noodles were finally cooked as they began to dig in. Coley could see how Ghrae’s face lit up after tasting the spicy instant noodles, which made her proud for being the person that she was with to her first-time experiences again. Unexpectedly, the raven had a big appetite as she tried the other flavors and brands of instant cup noodles along with the brunette as they filled their stomachs with instant cup noodles and canned soft drinks.

After dinner in the convenience store, the two of them decided to eat popsicles for dessert with some other snacks like potato chips and ice cream sandwiches while they took a walk at the park. There were a few teenagers who were lighting up fireworks at the park, which made the moment better. Feeling tired from walking, the both of them sat on the grass by the tree—the same tree where the two of them hid during their first encounter with each other. As they watched the colorful fireworks above the sky while eating their ice pops, the image of Ghrae’s calendar suddenly appeared in Coley’s head as she turned to her, her mind debating whether she would ask her about it at that moment or not.

Eventually, the brunette decided to not hide it anymore as she gathered up her courage and spoke.

“What’s that on your calendar?” Coley asked as she avoided having eye contact by fixating her eyes on the black sky where the fireworks were exploding.

“What do you mean?” Ghrae asked as she threw a glance on her.

“July 31st.”

The raven stopped licking on her lemon popsicle as she slowly dropped her head to stare at the grass. Remaining calm as if it was nothing, Ghrae continued to eat her popsicle before answering.

“What is it to you?” The brunette slightly furrowed her eyebrows when she heard the cold voice of the latter as she slowly turned to look at her blank face.

“What?”

Ghrae silently sucked on the popsicle stick clean before putting it down on the space beside her. She then turned to the latter as their brown eyes met. Behind the raven’s pretty brown eyes was nothing but coldness. The brunette was seeing the exact same person as the mysterious expressionless person that she met for first time.

“It’s the day I’ll be resting in peace,” Ghrae simply said. “We’re just temporary flatmates. We don’t have to know everything about each other.”

Coley could feel her chest aching a bit as Ghrae finished speaking. As much as she wanted to be frustrated, the brunette decided to keep her mouth shut as she leaned back on the trunk of the tree and watched the fireworks on the sky; they were not exciting to watch anymore. After all, everything that the raven said was true; they were not even sure if they were going to meet after Coley was free from the gangsters and was able to go out from hiding. The only reason why Coley was with Ghrae and was staying at her apartment was because she was only helping her to hide from the gangsters that were after her. If not for that reason, Coley and Ghrae would have never existed in each other’s lives.

Coley suddenly had a flashback in her mind. A flashback when she was 19 and was about to do something terrible.

After school, Coley walked back to the direction of their house. It had been more than a year since she began to despise her life. Everyday at school, all of the kids look at her with horror in their eyes as they did their best to stay at least five feet away from her. She was getting along with her classmates on the first day of school but when they found out that her father was the leader of Undead Beast, they started to avoid her like she was a walking virus; overthinking that they might get shot in the head once they even get close to her physically. The brunette was sick of it.

The brunette could see how the other people at her age were going to the snack bars near the school to hang out before going home. She saw that the others were going home with their normal parents in cars. Everything that she was seeing were things that she would never be able to experience because she was the daughter of a gang leader whether she liked it or not. In an alleyway near school, the brunette saw three guys kicking a nerdy boy on the ground while the fourth guy was counting the money in a wallet, which she assumed belonged to the poor boy.

Coley did not even plan to help the poor boy because she knew what would happen—she was right. As soon as the bullies noticed her presence, they looked at her in terror before running away as they almost stumbled. The brunette’s eyes dropped to stare at the poor boy who looked at her with the same fear in her eyes as he grabbed all of his things and ran away without even thanking her for stopping the bullies from giving him more pain. It was the same thing and Coley was sick of it.

Before she knew it, she was already standing on the edge of the rooftop. The strong wind was blowing Coley’s brown hair back as she blankly stared at the clear blue sky. Fortunately, no one on the streets noticed Coley attempting to jump off the building since the building was a tall abandoned building that no one ever gave attention to. Coley felt numb as her dry eyes looked down. Falling from the building would take a long time as she saw how high she was.

She was sick of it and she was ready to end her suffering that was only caused by her father. The brunette took a step forward and was about to let herself lose balance when the image of her mother smiling appeared in her mind, making her widen her eyes. Coley took a step back as she could see her mother in front of her, shaking her head with a calm smile on her face. Tears started to form around Coley’s eyes and her heart ached painfully as she realized that she missed her mother too much.

The brunette took a step back away from the edge and fell down to her knees as she loudly sobbed while recalling her past memories with her mother. Coley cried for around ten minutes before she forced herself up back on her feet as she realized that it was not her fault because her life was miserable. She realized that she did not deserve to die when she did nothing wrong. She realized that she could not die yet when she had not even experienced the beautiful things in life yet such as having friends who would accept her for who she was. Coley did not end her life to be miserable again, but to be a better person.

“You know,” Coley spoke.

Ghrae turned to her as she watched her open one packet of ice cream sandwich and one bag of potato chips. The brunette took the bread off and placed a piece of potato chip on the ice cream before putting the bread back on as she turned to the raven with the ice cream sandwich with potato chip in her hand. A warm smile appeared on the brunette’s face as she handed it to the raven who accepted it.

“After spending the day with you, I realized that there’s a lot of things that you haven’t experienced yet,” Coley continued as she made another potato chip and ice cream sandwich for herself. “Life is full of beautiful things. You said that you enjoyed being in the arcade because I was with you, right?”

The raven did not respond as she just stared at the potato chip and ice cream sandwich in her hand, silently listening to the soft voice of the brunette.

“If you really don’t want to experience the other beautiful things in life alone, I can always be with you. With me, I’ll help you enjoy the meaningful things in life.”

The brunette flashed a soft smile on her face as she looked at the raven before turning to watch the fireworks at the sky again while taking a bite on her potato chip and ice cream sandwich. Ghrae followed as she took a bite on the sandwich that Coley gave her. It was delicious.