BLUEPRINT FOR LOVE,

Literature should be easy for Juwon. It should be the class that she succeeds in. In fact, it is the only class she succeeds in. But after a year of taking that class, literature was starting to get on her nerves.

Sitting in the kitchen as Riki tried not to burn the omelet she had asked for, Juwon closed her eyes angrily, mumbling curses at the story displayed on her laptop's screen. She had read the story many times before, as it was one of the most well-known love stories of all time, but this was now her eleventh time reading over the story — and there were many red flags that she wished she had noticed the first time around.

"This isn't even love!" Juwon said, throwing her arms up in the air in disbelief. "Not even close!"

"What is it?" Riki asked, setting the half-burnt omelet on the table. He looked over her shoulder and squinted, skimming over the paragraphs until he got an idea of the story. "Oh, Romeo and Juliet?"

"They're so stupid." She took a bite from the omelet and chewed on it for a moment, making a sour face. "Remind me to ask Jay for cooking lessons," she said, looking back at Riki. The boy nodded and took a seat at the table, watching Juwon eat the omelet he had made. (He knew it wasn't the best, but it still made him happy to watch her wat something he made.) "I can't believe this is actually the blueprint for love," she said, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"You don't believe in love at first sight?" Riki asked.

"Of course not. It's ridiculous to think that one could fall in love with someone else just by looking at them," Juwon said. "You're basically judging a person on how they look and not who they really are — that's 'love at first sight.'"

He nodded agreeingly. "When you say it like that, it does kind of sound ridiculous," he said. "But didn't they die for each other in the end?"

"They died because Romeo didn't even check to see if his lover was breathing," Juwon scoffed. "First of all, it would be obvious if she were sleeping or not. Second of all, the whole story is just ridiculous. All Juliet wanted was to get out of a marriage and Romeo just happened to be there." She paused, drinking from the coffee Riki had also prepared for her. "And you'd think their parents would be even more reasonable. If anything, seeing my child die for someone they met twenty-four hours ago would only fuel my rage."

Riki nodded, listening intently to Juwon's words. She seemed so passionate over her hate for the story and though it was nothing to be happy about, he smiled.

Because they had known each other for such a short amount of time, Riki had never really seen this side of her. She was always cooped up in her room, studying for exams or working double time in order to keep the boy fed. And whenever she did have time off, she would always spend it with Riki, taking him places he'd never been before or buying him things to fill his empty room. Basically, Juwon never spent any time talking or taking care of herself — every moment of her life from the moment she had met the boy was dedicated to keeping Riki alive and happy during his time here.

"It was more of an obsession than love," Juwon said, "because if they had truly been in love then they would've done what was best for each other. Committing suicide was not what was best for each other."

"What about when Romeo accepted the Capulets as his family?" Riki tried his best to keep the conversation going, even though Juwon was the one talking for the majority of the time. She was finally talking about herself and what she thought, and that made Riki happy. Little by little, he was learning more about Juwon.

Juwon doesn't believe in love at first sight, he mentally noted. Juwon isn't fond of William Shakespeare in general. It was the little things that counted, and Riki was making sure he remembered all the little things.

"I might actually fail this assignment," Juwon said. "I have to find an example of what makes love, love but this is horrible. I can't believe this was our only option." She sighed and turned back to the screen, moving her finger across the mouse pad to turn it on.

"Are you going to be here tomorrow?" Riki asked, sitting up in his chair.

"I think... if there isn't an emergency at work, then yeah. I'll probably be here." She glanced at the boy, "Why? Is there something you wanted to do?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I was just asking."

"Okay."

For the next thirty minutes, Riki watched Juwon type away, her eyes focused on her screen. Occasionally, she would reach for her coffee mug, the boy refilling it every time he noticed it was empty. He could tell Juwon was tired and obviously wanted nothing to do with the assignment, but she went through with it anyway. (Maybe because if she didn't, it'd just be a waste of her money — money she could've spent on them and things they needed.) "Juwon," he called her name.

"Hm?" she hummed, her eyes never leaving the screen.

"Let's do something you want tomorrow."

• • •

juju tf away from me 👽
hey
do you like pudding?

seung the rat 🐀
what

juju tf away from me 👽
pudding deez nuts in yo mouth

seung the rat 🐀

juju tf away from me 👽
WHY IS IT IN 4K