'AJ. AJ Torrez.'
'AJ.'
'Torrez.'
Tae's parents had left the apartment to have some fresh air while picking up his siblings from school. Tae had refused to come with and said he had to have some time to think. And to be honest, I could understand why. Arranged marriages were serious matters and I'm surprised I was allowed to hear something this important. This is one of the first secrets I wish I haden't found out. Once they were gone, I stood up and headed out as well.
"Roxi-ah? Where are you going?"Tae called from the far window.
"You wanted some time to think. So I'm letting myself out."my hand gripped the door handle tightly as I replayed what I had just learned.
Tae and I were supposed to be a married couple right now. We were supposed to have a family right now. My parents would be alive right now. My brother would be at my side. I looked at my left arm.
'That tattoo isn't supposed to be there.'
Instead, I'm in Korea. I'm here without my family. Tae and I had just found out about the arranged marriage. We're friends. And now he knows about my past, while his parents don't even know my real name. There's always a silverlining to something, I just need to find out what it is.
"I never said I wanted to think by myself."Tae said from the dining room."Please come here."
I exhaled through my nose and regained my composure as I walked toward the far window. He was sitting on a dining room chair and I sat next to him at a friendly distance. The bustling city was beneath our feet and the skyline was covered with buildings and hills. If anything, this scenary was calm compared to the big city. Tae placed a hand on mine, I turn to him only to see his eyes look outside, holding a distant and lonely feeling to them.
"Did you know about this Roxi? Did you know about the arranged marriage but didn't tell me?"
"No, this is the first time I'm hearing about it too."I confess, seeing him study my face for any sign of me being untruthful.
"...So you knew what happened to your parents."Tae says."That's what you meant back at your dorm...Saying that they were dead. Saying it wasn't that easy to reach them through a phone call...You weren't acting."
"Yeah. That was what I was implying..."I say, realizing how indifferent I felt now that I had talked about my parents often for the last few months.
"I'm sorry for being so ignorant."he apologizes, his raspy voice vibrating against his chest.
"No need for you to be sorry. It's in the past now. Nothing can change."I say, feeling his hand squeeze my own."My parents wanted me to marry you. Yours wanted you to marry me. But now that everything's cancelled, I guess your parents just wanted to get this deal off their chests by telling you."
"Yeah, I see how they would want to do that."he sighs."But now the burden is passed down to me. Especially now that they don't know that my would be fiancee is in their home."
"Do you want to tell them?"I ask."Tell them that I'm AJ Torrez."
Tae thought for a while. The mood of the room turning tense while watching a small bird land on his window sill before flying away back into the clear blue sky.
"Now what good would that do?"Tae chuckled."They would hit you with so many questions you wouldn't even know the answer to."
"True. So this is going to be out own secret I guess."I smile, holding my pinky out."Promise to keep it a secret?"
He takes my pinky in his own and smiles a mischivious box smile."I promise."
