"PACMAN"
[ #DAY6 #JAE OneShot]

If someone ask me to describe love in a sentence, I'd say that love, for me, is like one scary game that no one ever wins.

But the way I view love suddenly changed—that gloomy day when I met a bleached-hair guy on the train ride home.

(2)
I won't be able to know his name if not for the incoming iMessage that I had unintentionally seen...

"Jae. Let's break up."

(3)
I didn't want to intrude his personal business but for some odd reason, I sensed that his heart was silently yet heavily being ripped into two—and so, I thought of opening the windows to let the crisp air kiss his skin & comfort his soul.

(4)
"Fresh air won't heal a broken heart but atleast it relaxes the mind for a little while." I subtly gazed at him.

Jae's lips curved into an enigmatic smile before slowly closing his eyes—as if momentarily allowing the chilly wind to carry all the heaviness in his heart.

(5)
There was a 30-minute silence before Jae broke it by saying, "If I tell you what breaks me, will you promise-"

"What happens here stays here." I cut off his words.

"...and besides, after we get off this train. We're back being strangers again." I then added w/ a soft smile.

(6)
Jae put both his pretty yet bony hands inside the pockets of his black jacket & averted his gaze at the night city landscape outside that was quickly sliding by.

"She broke up with me." He muttered, w/ a voice that had an indescribable sorrow on it.

(7)
I turned to face him and commented, "Breakups happen all the time."

Jae nodded and answered back, "You're right. It happens all the time and yet, I'm still here—tirelessly calling her, chasing her, and choosing her over & over again..."

(8)
"Over and over like a red rover?" I remarked which made Jae smile.

"Like Pacman and lover." He said, as he tried to hush the ache & fight his tears with an empty chuckle.

(9)
"Pacman must be exhausted then." I muttered, obviously using the maze arcade game as a metaphor of him.

"All the chasing definitely exhaust his heart..." Jae nodded, as he then lowered down his head—for me not see a lone tear that trickled down his cheeks.

(10)
We paused talking as the train entered a tunnel—streak of diffuse lights hit Jae's face making it look like surprise cosmos in a non-starry dark sky.

The whole scene was breathtaking like him—gleaming despite the darkness, beautiful despite being broken.

(11)
"Would you still hold on even if it kills you?" I asked in the middle of silence.

Jae then gazed at me and answered back, "If I die it's with her."

(12)
And as the train approaches the end of the tunnel, Jae continued with a frail smile...

"Most people might think Pacman is such a loser for chasing too much—but aren't we all too much when we're inlove?"

(13)
We both get off at the last station, left all the stories & heartbreaks inside, and bid each other goodbyes.

And as Jae turned his back & walked in the opposite direction, I looked at him for the last time—and realized that perhaps, my view in love was wrong afterall...

(14)
If someone ask me to describe love in a sentence, I'd say that love, for me, is like one scary game where only brave people who love tirelessly and gamble everything for love would be hailed as winners.

END

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