"SHE'S what?! You son of a bi—"
"Hey, Jax, just calm down," Red immediately pulled away his friend when he was about to hit his teenage son, Jaz. "Maybe you can go ahead, I'll take care of him," he said also to his friend.
When he turned around to approach the table where there was the wine they were drinking before Jax' teenage son arrived with a girl his age, he immediately sat down on the single seater sofa facing the teenage lovers.
"Jaz, please forgive your father, the news is just surprising to him," he began to the lovers.
"Uncle Red—"
"Veronica!" Jaz couldn't continue what he was saying when that scream echoed from outside their house.
The one who screams is angry, proof of her anger was the knocking on their iron gate. Yes, the one who screams outside is a woman.
They stared at each other before he stood up.
"Shocks! It's untie!" exclaimed Nica, Jaz's girlfriend who is now with him.
The person outside is shouting the name of Veronica, and it's obvious that it's Nica. This is what the person who is now causing trouble in front of their house is looking for.
"Oh, men," Red only thought when he saw who was making a scandal at their gate at that time. He shook his head.
"Take my niece out if you don't want me to destroy your rotten gate!"
He pressed his lips together before speaking, "Euna, calm down, please..."
Yep, it was Euna who was there screaming angrily in front of their gate.
Talking about a small world.
"You, Red! You must be the one who introduced my niece to a scumbag man like you!" Euna shouted at him.
She had a look that no one would be blessed with at that time as she poked and prodded her. No one will be sanctified— especially him!
Er, why him? What does he have to do with the current trouble?
"Euna, what are you doing, calm down! Red hasn't even met Nica yet," said Reyna, taking her friend off her arm.
That's true. Since he has been delivering on the railway for a long time, today was the first time he saw Euna's niece, Nica. It seems that the girl is not a homebody and doesn't order online either, so he didn't recognize her, just now, yeah, what a crap that in this kind of situation.
"Miss, just wait, you won't see your nephew if you don't calm down, okay?" That's Jax, he's trying to calm down the tiger-like woman who's losing her mind right now.
Even though it didn't fit the situation, he smirked at the sight of his friend. It is obvious that Jax also does not know how to approach the aunt of his future daughter in law.
Tsk, what the hell did those kids get into, even the adults were complicit in the mess—even him!
"Calm down? You want me to calm down, right?" Euna said angrily.
Euna who obviously hasn't even taken a bath yet...
Her eyes are swollen from crying, se's wearing a a house dress, her hair is messy— she's really angry now and her nose seems to be smoking up close, but the weird thing is that she's still beautiful in his eyes...
"Yeah, calm down, okay? Take a deep breath—"
"Are you a comedian?" Euna laughed out loud, unable to contain herself.
Getting more and more angry with—
"Hey, Red! You must take my niece out, immediately!"
His grin faded. Why did she turn to him again?
"Hey, Euna, please chill," he approached her. He held her arm that was constantly banging on the iron gate, the sound of it was already jarring.
But she broke in his grip. And to his greatest surprise...
"What the f—"
Reyna's loud intake of breath was the last thing he heard before he felt Euna's fist on his jaw—Yes, she slapped him after quickly slipping out of his grip and grabbing the collar of his shirt!
"AUNT Euna, I'm sorry..."
Red heard the children apologize to their guardians.
When everyone had finished eating, here he was, drinking alone in the corner, clutching his injured jaw from the hit that Euna gave him earlier.
He gulped down the bottle of wine he was holding while his eyes narrowed at the sight of that person—Euna—who was talking to her niece and to the latter's boyfriend, Jaz, in the small living room of that house of Jax. The small liveing room was only a few meters away from where he was seated.
"I'm sorry, Red," Reyna said to him, she's from the bathroom that was near him because Jax's house was so small.
He nodded. "It's nothing. That's fine."
Reyna sighed. "I don't know what will happen next. The only thing I'm sure of is that she won't go home without Nica."
He couldn't answer because from where they were, they both saw Euna get up and leave the house.
He and Reyna looked at each other, before he decided to stand up and follow Euna.
"NO one said it's bad to cry in front of a lot of people," he told Euna when he approached her.
He also sat on the long wooden chair she was sitting on, that was outside of the yard of Jax's house.
Euna doesn't give any reaction. She didn't look back. She just lit a cigarette after wiping the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
Tsk, only on this girl he understands the insulting lyrics of a song: Cigarettes don't run out.
"What does that taste like? Can I try it—" before he finished speaking, she threw at him a stick of cigarettes and a lighter that she was holding.
He watched her smoking before lighting his cigar. He also lit it even for him, cigar was the most disgusting thing ever invented in the world.
He glanced again at the woman next to him, she was just smoking a cigarette. Seems that her world has only revolved in what is there and the only thing that matters in that world is her deep thoughts.
"I would like to know if this cigarette can get rid of your problem? I'm just wondering and a lot of people are going crazy here," he said. Trying to start a conversation between them.
Still, no reaction from her.
But because he was naughty, he continued speaking, "They also say, love is like a cigarette, it's fun at the beginning... but eventually, it will kill you."
"You'll die even if you don't smoke, so, you can just smoke while you're still alive. Besides, there's no cigarette in heaven."
Wow, that's it. Just in case, what kind of logic is that?"
"Because heaven is heaven, that's why?"
Er…
Her face crumpled at what he said. If that's all he's going to say, maybe she hopes he doesn't speak at all.
"Where is your family? Why like me, you stay together with your friend?"
"Huh?" He was shocked. He didn't prepare his question. "Ah, I—It's nothing, you know, I understand why you kicked me, that doesn't hurt," he said jokingly.
She laughed at it. "I'm sorry, that's me when I'm angry. But back to you, why don't you want to talk about your family?"
He let out a breath. He played with and looked at the cigarette that was lit and stuck in his finger because he didn't want to smoke it to begin with.
"Well, first, they're not the issue here. It's not right to talk about it in this situation. You know that, if we were on a dinner date or a movie date, I would answer all your questions about me. This may sound corny but, I guess, I will tell you until your heart's content about it."
When she smiled, he smiled too.
"You're talking too much, I'm only asking about your family, you've said a lot." She rolled her eyeballs at him.
He chuckled. "On Saturday, I promise that I will answer all those questions you want to ask me, we have a date, remember?"
She raised an eyebrow at her. "You're really pushy about it, eh?"
"But of course!"
Euna giggled. But it's interrupted by the wink she got from Red…
That wink and his killer smile is fatal. Her heart beat abnormally because of it…
She swallowed, trying to take away the effect of Red's smile and winked.
She looked away. "I'm not forgetting that, Red."
"Good."
"There is nothing good for me now," she couldn't stop saying.
It was very difficult to accept what she found out now. Kinda weird, that's it's too heavy to digest.
Maybe, the man next to him felt the weight she was talking about so he had the courage to intertwine their palms.
She looked at Red again.
"Listen, even if you haven't forgotten our date, or even if you have, that's still not what's important right now. Especially not my family. It's your family that has an issue now and I clearly understand it's in need of solving."
"R—Red..." she actually stuttered when he caressed her cheek in a sweet way... fortunately it was only for a moment.
"You can't run away from the problem you're facing now. You can cry now until your heart's content, for tomorrow it won't be there. Facing and acceptance afterwards," he told her figuratively.
Those words were the only words that Euna's tears were waiting for because those tears had already begun to fall…
Disgusted, she rubbed those tears using the back of her palms. She also threw away the cigarette that she had forgotten because of this man.
"Come on, you made me cry with candy in my mouth!" She complained here afterwards.
As he expected, the courier rider laughed.
RED laughed out loud. He really couldn't help but laugh when Euna spoke like that.
Yes, she is really unique that way.
He gently held her by her arms, she leaned her on his shoulder and he smiled widely when she didn't blink, she just let him do it.
Then she cried... again. This time, without hesitation.
"That's right, just let your eyes get wet. Just cry it all, so that it can be washed away, for the next day, you can see more clearly why you are going through those problems."
She responded to him with another cry.
Who wouldn't cry when you knew that your niece couldn't proceed with her studies due to pregnancy? When you hopefully get out of the hardships of life, get pregnant early?
But hey, for him, what is set cannot be taken away. Everything happens for a reason.
"I don't know where else I failed. I promised to their parents that I would take care of them and watch over them, but what negligence did I do?"
"Stop blaming yourself. You know, life has many ways to test us, really."
She left from leaning on his shoulder. "That test! It's not over! It's tiring!"
He looked at her sweetly. "Well, I don't believe you're tired, Euna."
She scoffed. "Hah! How did you say that?"
Shrugging his shoulders he answered, "That kind of situation will not be given to someone He knows is tired. Let me tell you again, life's way of testing us is funny. This includes the absence of problems, believe me, and it's also like what's happening to you now that all the problems are crashing big time," he said seriously as he stared into her eyes as black as night.
He just stared at her for a moment.
He hopes she's okay. It's good to look at her while she's also staring at him and they both seem to be in control of each other's faces—only that it was intereupted by suddenly burst out laughing!
"Why—What?" he asked in surprise.
Euna burst out laughing, pointing something—someone— to his back. "Because Reyna is laughing behind your back. She looks like she's going to poop from crying!"
He looked at what she was talking about, and there, it was Reyna—who was peeking out from the hem of her dress!
Uhm, well, he doesn't want to say it, but it's hard not to notice that the world is unfair. It's not good for Reyna to cry. While the girl next to him who is still laughing, has already cried a few times, is still beautiful...
In his eyes.
You're really something, Euna. Your uniqueness is really magical to me...