4. Occurred

"Your name is Lee Ji-Eun? Right?"

The peach haired lady quickly looked left and around and then back to the lady who was still writing whatever.

"Ye...yes?" She said in an inquiring tone. "And, please,  could you bring your voice down?" She inquired still,  making the Taiwanese look up at her.

"O.......k, why?"

That 'why' made Ji-Eun furrow her eyebrows. "You don't know me?", she whispered yelled to the latter who shook her head, having a weird expression the whole time.

" nope", Tzuyu deadpanned and sort to write some word when the lady uttered a 'wow'. "Why?" Tzuyu inquired immediately.

"But who doesn't......",  she was going to brag about her popularity and chastise her attempt lie but then, that's a silly thing to do. Right? She coughed to interrupt the moment, internally thanking goodness that she hadn't being given into the hands of a fangirl. 

"Sorry miss Lee" the brunette added and this time, had her gaze solemnly fixed on her. She watched her sip her coffee bit by bit with comfy.

"Well would you like your stories now or later?" Tzuyu asked.

The older lady looked above her withheld cup and contorted her eyebrows, then smiled. "Why not now? Of course".

" sure, then which genre ?" Tzuyu asked looking briskly at the piece of menu before her. The older woman's eyes dance down and round about the story collection which was fixed on the table and right before her. "Hmmmmmmm.... Anyone. I'm just so happy today" she said vehemently and the latter nodded.

Sighing deeply, she said ;

"Here my story goes,

The sun shone over the quiet suburbs. every body hid here and there to avoid the scorching rays of blazing sun that oppressed all. Ryan sauntered about in his room, glum and disheartened. The room was in a mess. The fashion magazines carpeted the dirty floor and the emptyhair gel boxes and bottles of perfumes adorned the corner where stood the old dressing table. It was all to please her, the girl he loved.

He remembered the first time he saw her. She stood out of the rest. Her beautiful blue eyes and her curly blonde hair added to the charm of her stunning perky body. He loved her, but unable to express it. Soon, the cloud covered the searing sun, and a gentle breeze started to blow, in which the pollen fluttered like butterflies in a flower garden. But ryan was not much influenced by the weather, for he was caught up in the bog of his own thoughts and feelings. He lay down on the couch, while his mind kept thinking of the girl he loved, Gina.

He lay down on the couch, thinking of her. He looked pretty down-at-heel in the shabby clothes he wore. His hair was all messed up and his face looked as if it was unwashed since he woke up today. The wind seemed to get stronger and faster by the minute and so did his abnormal and concerning behaviour. He gazed in the empty space senselessly, thinking of her. A thin layer of perspiration covered his face and he amble all over the room, kicking all that came in his way. Why did she not respond to him? Did she not feel his passion, his adour for her?

He loved her but he could not express his feelings. Soon darkness covered the sun and his heart. He was fed up of his life of deprivation, so he took a bold stop to swallot the poison!

Gina never responded to him. Maybe she never felt what was in his heart. But the poor soul loved her more than his life. Her ignorance led him to his doom. That morning, they had a dialogue. He had dared to say what was in his heart, but in the reciprocation, he received insult. She embarassed him infront of the whole class.

It was all gloomy now, both inside and outside. Dark clouds covered the sky. The winds slapped sand on the dirty windows that banged. It was really dark by now. The poison had now started to take over. He felt weak and feeble. A knock at the door was heard above the howling wind. Gina stood in front of him.

''I'm sorry Ryan, they didn't mean to. Ryan I'm sorry, I love you too, Ryan.'' Her eyes were filled with tears. She advanced towards him, but he stopped her with a raised hand. Before he could say anything, he fell. His body was lifeless, motionless. Tears rolled down her cheeks and fell on his pale skin. She clasped her true love and wept. Her bashfulness had cost her too much. The winds blew even more stridently, the sky grew darker, and the clock kept ticking."

Tzuyu smiled, watching as Lee Ji-Eun starred blankly into her eyes, she continued another story.

"One day a boy and a girl were driving home after watching a movie. The boy sensed there was something wrong because of the painful silence they shared between them that night. The girl then asked the boy to pull over because she wanted to talk. She told him that her feelings had changed and that it was time to move on. A silent tear slid down his cheek as he slowly reached out to his pocket and passed her a folded note. At that moment, a drunk driver was speeding down that very same street. He severed right into the car killing the boy. Miraculously, the girl survived. Remembering the note later, she unfolded it and read,

‘ Without your love, I would die .’

" and that ends my story for this hour".

Lee Ji-Eun smiled adorably. She then sniffed and like a surprise, tears rolled down her cheeks. Tzuyu,  hypnotised by her reaction made her tensed up.

"Ma'am,  yo...you're cr...crying", She remained, stuttering, "here".

Ji-Eun accepted the latter's handkerchief and blew her nose. She smiled once again, like nothing had happened. Her nose and cheeks, reddened.

Tzuyu couldn't comprehend what part of her stories  had triggered her to tears. Was it the first narrative or the second? What part? So many questions raced through her mind. On a norms, she barely had listeners who cried, no matter how emotional her story sounded. The only feedback she would get was 'AW': maybe something of that nature, more or less; within the rage and not exceeding.

Taking a quick sip of her coffee after about ten minutes of remembrance with the aid of Tzuyu's stories, she closed her eyes as fresh hot tears rolled down again.

The Taiwanese, then knew that her tears was beyond her stories so she remained Arctic.

Dropping the cup on the table, she looked at Tzuyu and smiled. "don't mind me" she said picking up her handbag and stood up to leave. "Thank you for the story"

"You welcome. But" she said making the turning lady stop, "may I know why you cried?"

Ji-Eun blinked her eyes rapidly and turned to Tzuyu whose firm gaze gripped and won hers. She sniffed and sat down. Placing both hands on the table, she looked downwards as Tzuyu could only see hair messy hair conjured against each other.

"I....I cried because I'd lost two of my best friends who were in the industry with me, doing our thing our way, our best way but....both weren't having it. They weren't....," the lady seemed lost and finally clasped her head with her folded arm on the table as she cried once more. "Jinri died because of......ah-ha!" Her tears were becoming audible, "I will never forget October 15th, 2019. I will never."   She sniffed hard, "I will never forget Hara's death....-"

"Hara? Two of your best friends died? Wow. When did she die?" Tzuyu inquired,  chipping in.

"24th of November" The lady said with a teary tone and hits the table as she cried. Memories of their happy moments flashing back, doubled her tears as Tzuyu did nothing but watch her pour out her tears in sadness. She wished she never told the stories to her since it only helped her remember the sad deaths of her friends.

The rain began to pour outside heavily but it's fading sound was all that could be heard from inside. The older woman cried the more.