"Get up let's go for a morning jog."
Lanyard's call came early in the morning. No clue what time it was, but it wasn't the time I should be getting up at. So I proceeded to hang up. But Lanyard wouldn't be my best friend if she gave up so easily. The phone kept on vibrating with calls with no sign of giving up until I picked it up.
"I'll buy you breakfast to compensate for ditching you for midnight snacks last night."
"No need. Just let me sleep." Hang up.
Ring, ring. The phone vibrated again.
"I'll help you with Chief." Hang up.
Ring, ring.
"It'll help you lose weight."Hang up.
Ring, ring.
"Xiaoyu, don't think I didn't notice the little looks you were giving Senior Ling."
"......"
"Come down in 5 minutes."
Lanyard is a rare early riser in this generation of internet addicted night owls. I don't know how she had manipulated our species into accepting her in society, but it seemed like a lot of people liked associating with her. I had many times felt bad for the hybrid babies she would have in the future. They would hate their lives.
And what's worse is that Lanyard has eyes of an eagle or a vulture, whichever of the two has better eyesight. She observes everything. I should have known the little drink exchange would not miss her eyes.
A dumb person acting intelligent makes them a joke but an intelligent person acting dumb makes the whole world a joke.
"So your spring has finally come, huh?" Lanyard joked as we sat on the bench en route of the trail behind our community after 30mins of jogging.
"What spring? Stop making nonsense."
"You looked like you wanted to drink him up along with his black tea yesterday." I choked on the water Lanyard handed me. Tears ran down my face as I kept coughing feeling the weird burning sensation of liquid in the wrong pipe. Lanyard, however, had no sympathy for me and kept cackling away.
"Ah, I can finally put a face to the mighty figure that I always imagined that would take your fraud noble self down."
"What fraud noble self?! Speak properly." I glared at her.
"Oh please. I've slept with you on the bed that you wet when you were 8 years old okay? Don't act all high and mighty in front of me."
"I never act high and mighty." Lanyard gave me a pointed look which made me add, "Intentionally."
"So what are you going to do about Senior Ling? Should your Brother Lian catch him and present him on your bed for you?" Lanyard thumped her non-existent chest, swelling her it out. I looked down at her tank top clad breast with disdain as a proud smile tugged at my lips.
"This punk...are you looking down at me right now?!" Lanyard screamed. "Do you know how much effort this lady has put into this? I'm single but I obediently massage them myself every night before sleeping okay?" All these aunties on the forum thread have no clue what they're talking about. Wasn't she giving them enough 'nourishment'? But they still won't grow okay? They're still pitiful okay? Just look at Qiu Yu's breast. So jealous. They look so pretty. They're just the right size and do not sag. So pretty really wanna touch.
Lanyard's hand reached out to touch my chest, her eyes looking like at them like Doremon looks at Dora cakes, so perverted oh my god. I immediately swatted her hand away like it was a fly.
"What the hell are you doing?" I'm straight okay? I wanted to cry. This girl has no sense of a distance that you should maintain even between friends. She's so improper.
"Qiu Yu, what did you eat to grow them like this?"
"Nothing, they're natural."
"Don't lie. How many times do you massage them to maintain this quality?"
"..."
"Did you.....by chance, did you get surgery behind my back?"
???
!!!!
"It's okay, don't feel ashamed. I know even more shameful things about you."
Fuck, get lost!!!
I immediately stood up to walk away. Lanyard saw that I was getting angry so she stopped and held my wrist, immediately pulling out her innocent puppy face that said 'I'm wrong'. I sat back down.
"So Senior Ling....?" Lanyard started slowly again. When she saw the glare I sent, she shrank her neck back down again.
"It's nothing like what you're thinking. I only think he's a bit interesting."
"Oh." Lanyard replied but it was evident that she didn't believe me. Well then think whatever you want to.
"But Qiu Yu, don't you think he's a bit familiar?" I furrowed my eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, I just feel like I've seen him somewhere before. I even asked him."
"What? When?"
"Yesterday, after you left. I asked him if we've met before."
"What did he say?"
"He said 'oh really' and walked away." Lanyard mocked him, rolling her eyes. Really suit each other the best.
"Oh."
"That's it?" Lanyard leaned in to properly look at my face and asked.
"Oh." I nodded.
"Damnit, how long do you intend to be single? Nowadays even 13 year olds have had 2 boyfriends each for alternate day rotation." Lanyard complained which made me laugh.
"My oldest dream is to be a milf."
"Shit, for that first you have to be a mother too."
"Why do I have to? Can't I just be a stepmom and get the son immediately?"
"You have to date a single father for that too, okay?" I laughed without giving her a reply and Lanyard rolled her eyes while drinking her water while a small smile tugged at her face.
The whole trail was silent. People barely even came to walk here and those few that came did not come at this ungodly hour. The whole sky was a grayish blue and a light cold breeze swept through the whole place, swaying the sparse trees that lined the path. The cicadas chirped away in sync with the flicker of the faulty street lamp near the bench we sat at which still hadn't been switched off. This was the kind of tranquility that I enjoyed so much that I ran away from it. I hated the utter joy this peace brought me, fearing just how fast it would be taken away if I kept coming back to it.
This peace was what Lanyard was to me. We were so close since childhood, so close that I never expected to still sit here with her. She was probably the only one who still knew me, the real me. And that scared me because I couldn't think about what I would do if I didn't have her.
"You know...." Lanyard started," I'm thinking of giving up."
"Why?"
"It's childish but you know he has his in-game wife, right?" Lanyard had the flush on her face that she always had whenever she talked about Hacker, our other friend. "And I know it's nothing, that they're just gaming together but I feel so bad whenever he ditches us for her. There's a guild war today or there's a hidden quest tomorrow or they found a new boss the day after. And I get it that it's not because of a person or anything, it's just that he honestly likes gaming but whenever I think of the fact that there is someone out there who can be with him in a way I can't, I feel so helpless, Qiu Yu."
"Then why can't you be with him? Gaming isn't anything very difficult. If you tell him, he'll take you with him, teach you even."
"But I honestly do not like gaming. I really don't understand it. And I also don't want him to like me because I can game with him because one day I won't. I want him to like me for me. Like the Lin Qian who does not like anything more than counting money every day." Lanyard shrugged as a sardonic giggle ringed out of her.
"Lin Qian, you're too sorted, do you know that? How can you be so logical in love? Love is about compromises, since you're the first on the ship, can't you give in first? You can write down your grievances and then make him pay them later. And when he-"
"But I'm not wrong either, am I?"
I sighed. Of course she wasn't. She had just been disappointed so often that she had unconsciously stopped herself from putting too much effort.
"Do you know what love is? When a person shines in a crowd to you, shines so hard that you want to walk to them. And they walk to you too. The crowd parts for you and there's a whole aisle that is made for you, a whole red carpeted road waiting for you. But do you know, everyone is part of the crowd and in real life everyone shines. There is so many over lapping carpets, Qiu Yu. And what hurts the most is that when you walk down your aisle, you realize that the other person has another aisle that doesn't lead to you."