Ae-ri

     The sliding door opened with a creak.   

 ‘Welcome to our cafe. What would you like?’ I asked a customer.

 ‘A powdered donut please, and an iced latte with caramel drizzle.’ as she took out a cigarette and started smoking.

  I glanced back at the customer, and back at the ‘’No Smoking.” sign, hinting that smoking was prohibited in this cafe, but she ignored it. It's okay. Just bear it for now.

 ‘A powdered donut, and a hot or iced latte?’

 ‘Iced.’ She looked a little impatient. 

 ‘With?’

 ‘Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me?’ she raised her voice.

 ‘Have you ever thought humans could make mistakes, asshole?’ I snapped.

 ‘How dare you talk to your customer that way? I can sue you.’

 ‘Oh really? I think you’re really the one in trouble now, smoking in a non-smoking area?’ 

 ‘Huh. Well I never have.’ she stormed out, throwing her used cigarette on the floor and stomping on it.

  The ashy smell disgusted me. I should control my temper next time. 

 ‘Ae-ri? What’s going on?’ a blonde haired man said.

 ‘Sorry, sir. I-’

  He interrupted me. ‘Take the day off. Go. Clear your head.’

  I let out a frustrated sigh. He was basically kicking me out of the cafe. I really should control my temper.

  I packed my stuff and left the cafe. On the way home, my eyes caught a familiar face by the sidewalk. Soohyun? Isn’t that Soohyun from church? His wavy black hair was ruffled by the soft gust of the wind. His jet black eyes got smaller as he laughed with a brown haired woman beside him. He has a girlfriend? Well, I would’ve expected it anyway. The light turned green, and I continued my journey home. The next day I had church. I drove my car and parked it. I walked in the somewhat old but maintained building. The priest clapped his hands. ‘Let us reflect on our actions during the past week, shall we? Let us pray.’  I sat down and said my prayers: I’m terribly sorry, god. Wouldn’t you be upset if someone was pushing all your buttons too? Please forgive me for losing my temper. Please, lead all people who have wronged me to the path of repentance instead of me. Yes, I wasn’t a very nice person, but no one needed to know that.

  ‘Oh my, Ae-ri! You looked so upset during prayers. What were you praying for?’ A middle-aged woman asked me.

  ‘Oh, you know,’ I said with a sorrowful face. ‘Praying for the sick people. Recently, I noticed many people around me were sick.’

  You’re such a kind soul, Ae-ri,’ The woman glanced at the man across from her. ‘Well, see you again next week!’ She walked over to.. Soohyun. I glanced at his neat, slicked back hair, his well ironed shirt, his nice shoes.He’s multi-talented and diligent, too. He’s.. perfect. 

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  ‘You’re amazing Soohyun! What can’t you do?’ The ladies laughed.

  ‘I wish I knew some nice young ladies. I want to set you up with someone, but no one is good enough for you.’ One of them said, 

  ‘Come on now, Soohyun isn’t interested in dating. I don’t understand why, when he’s such a fine man!’ Another teased. 

  ‘Pfft.’ I laughed. They all turned towards me, in surprise. 

  ‘Oh, it’s just that last night, I happened to see Soohyun with another woman. Maybe it was your girlfriend?’ 

  He looked shocked. His gaze bore into mine, with a hint of hostility. I was a little surprised at that, but I didn’t think much of it. Must’ve been my imagination, anyway. As all the ladies gathered around him, asking him questions, I left after saying my goodbyes. I got into my car, and started the engine. A hand smacked my car window. 

  ‘Hey, could you do me a favour?’ 

  It was soohyun. 

I smiled and said, ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Could you drive me home? Sorry for the trouble, I called a cab here, but my phone ran out of battery.’ 

Again. That look on his face. Something felt off.

  ‘Sure, get in. Is that the luggage you were holding? I’ll open the trunk for you.’ 

He put his luggage in the trunk and got in.

What’s this? He’s never even talked to me unless we’re saying hello. Why does he ask me for a ride? I glanced at the rearview mirror to look at him. He was staring directly at it. It felt a little.. uncomfortable. I looked back at the road. 

  ‘So, where did you see me last night, by the way?’ he asked.

  ‘I was on the way back when I saw you around the intersection here..’

I faltered. He must be upset.

  ‘You must be upset about what I said earlier. I was just kidding. Sorry though, I must’ve taken it too far. I’m a bit nosy, you see. I’ll explain further to the ladies next week-’

  ‘Do you remember her?’ He interrupted.

  ‘Huh?’  I was confused. What do you mean do I remember her? I’ve never even seen her.

  ‘That girl. Do you remember her clearly?’ He repeated. I paused and glanced at him, and back on the road. That’s weird. This felt even more off.

  ‘No. Not really.’

He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. The rest of the ride he looked like he was thinking deeply. He was making me uncomfortable. ‘We’ve arrived.’ I almost heaved a sigh of relief when we reached his destination. I wanted him out of my car. I glanced back as I didn’t get a responce. ‘Um.. we’ve reached..’ I repeated once again.  ‘Oh. Thank you. You’re..’ He paused.

‘A really good driver.’

  He got out and as I started to go, he turned back so abruptly and stared. Yeah, no. I quickly drove away. What was his deal? That was so suffocating. Whatever, let’s just go home.

  I groaned as I opened the back of my trunk after stopping at the side of the road. Why did he leave this here? I really didn’t want to get involved with him any further. I smacked my forehead with my palm out of annoyance. My phone suddenly started ringing. 

  ‘Hello?’ I answered the phone. 

  ‘Ah, Ae-ri!’ Soohyun. 

  ‘How did you get my number.. nevermind. You’re calling about your luggage, right? I’ll bring it to you now-’

  ‘You can have it.’ I can have it? 

  ‘I’m sorry, what?’ I responded with confusion. 

  ‘You must not have opened it yet.’ What?

  ‘Why would I open it? It isn’t mine.’

  ‘Open it.’ 

  ‘What?’

  ‘If you like it, you can have it.’ 

  ‘What’s in here?’ I pulled the zipper.

  ‘Why are you giving this to me-’ I stared at it in shock. It was a corpse. The girl I saw with him yesterday. Only she was more pale, her hair was messed up and she was really…thin. Like all the blood had been drained out of her body. I didn’t have time to daydream about this though. 

  ‘Well, if you don’t like it.. You can just bury it in the ground.’