"Baby~" Zen heard and actually physically gagged. 'Oh god, please kill me.' He thought to himself. "You met her yesterday. Why were you so lovey dovey? She left you, remember? Can you not be such a weak bitch?" Zara spoke, her voice filled with sugary sweetness and Zen wanted to teleport to where she was and choke her to death. "It's called emotions, which something an alien like you would of course lack and not understand. Now, why the fuck did you call me? Get to the point or I'll hang up on your ass." He spoke, uninterested in her bullshit.
"Oh. I just wanted to tell you that I fucked-" And with that, Zen hung up. He didn't need to know Zara's sex adventures at all. He wouldn't even care if she was kidnapped and rap- no. As a human being, he would care if that happened. He tossed his phone aside and looked at where it landed. On the bed, near his precious guitar. He smiled as he looked at the guitar. Happy memories danced in his mind as he remembered all the times he played it for Aelise.
He got up and put his laptop aside for sometime. He put on a hoodie and took the guitar before he put his shoes on and left the house. He made sure to wear a cap so that his face wouldn't be seen to easily and also put on a mask. He walked to a nearby park. There were of course people there but he didn't care. He just walked to a big tree and sat down in the shade. He positioned his guitar which already attracted the attention of people but he only focused on his guitar. The only thing left with him after Aelise left. At least in the list of what was precious to him.
He leaned his head back onto the tree and rested against it as he started to strum away a few chords which were oh so familiar to his fingers that they played on their own. It was like muscle memory. It was a song he used to play often. People pulled out their phone and started to record. His face was of course covered but they focused on the melody coming from the guitar too and smiled, swaying as they let the music fill the afternoon air with calmness.
'Such happy times and then I had to go and ruin everything. I'm sorry, baby. I really am. What can I do for your forgiveness? From the point of hoping to beg for forgiveness, I've come to the point where I don't think I deserve your forgiveness anymore.' He thought to himself as the melody he was strumming casually changed in to a sadder one.
He finished up with the song and heard applause. He smiled at them but of course they wouldn't be able to see it and hence gave them a small bow as they got back to what they were doing but not before posting the video and making it go viral already. From the time Aelise left, he hadn't been able to sing for anyone. He wanted to and tried to so bad but just couldn't. He wasn't able to get the correct feeling for the song which he often usually got. He tried to do some song writing but he was able to write only sad songs. He tried. Oh, he tried to write a love song and sing it but it always came out so bitterly, the words falling like venom from his mouth towards himself so he didn't do it anymore. He just sighed and stayed there, resting against the tree.
Aelise flinched as the vicious flies ridiculously pestered her injured knees. She shooed them off. However, they wouldn't budge and get the hell away. Aelise took deep, steady breaths. She was utterly calm. Amazingly. Outstandingly. Very calm. If anything, she somehow regretted drinking last night, but at the same time, she didn't. The persistent headache was almost like hell to her. Torture. Just a while ago, she took some medicine so as to get the pain to go away. But eventually, it was just the same as the flies.
She got up from the bed. "I have nothing to do today." She said to herself as she looked around the room, trying to find something, just anything she can do. The once messy area was now neat. Her sketchpads were full and she left the new ones abroad. Give her pets a bath? But they just did yesterday. Chores? Nope, she hates them. She facepalmed and rummaged through one of her cabinets. She had a mini celebration as she found her old phone which she used back then in high-school. She hid it here before she left. The first thing she noticed were the cracks. The reason for that was her breakdown that night. She threw the precious phone on the ground. However, she was sure it was still working.
And apparently, it was. 'Thank God'. She switched it on and typed down the passcode. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but I have nothing else to do." Oh, she knew that she would definitely cry. Aelise started to scroll through every single app that she had back in the day and burst out into fits of laughter at her young and cringy self. And now, it was time for the gallery and messages. She scoffed and hesitated. She clicked on her gallery and the first thing she saw was-
A sixteen year old Zen and Aelise.
Oh, she absolutely regretted scrolling through her old phone. Well, regretting is her usual job anyway. She smiled sadly as she scrolled through her photos. She was so happy back then. She won't even lie about that. Just seeing him, even if it was for just a mere second, made her problems go away. She missed him. She terribly did. His voice, his hugs. Everything about him. It was all just special to her. She wanted to see him smiling again. Genuinely happy. Even if she's not the cause of it.
"Why do things have to end up like this?" Aelise spoke as if there was someone in the room. She cried again. Her heart ached so bad. It was even more painful than her headache. "Hell, I was supposed to ask you if you want to come with me to Korea to pursue our dreams but things took the wrong turn." She remembered that night. So vividly that it was starting to become scary. When she found out that he was 'cheating', the pain she experienced was indescribable. She still eventually moved out. She lived in Korea as a drunk, instead of pursuing her dreams like she wanted to. She let out a sad laugh."I'm so sorry for leaving you. I should've stayed with you even if it made me a fool." She let out quite sobs as she held her phone close to her chest as it displayed a picture of them both smiling.
"Yo, Zen!" Nate woke the boy up. "Zen?! That's Zen? As in Zen Shima?! Oh my god! He was playing the guitar before!" Zen woke up to squeals. He rubbed his eyes as he looked at Nate. "Oh god, he's so adorable!" He heard and then noticed what was happening. In a second, all he could see were blinding flashes. His hands started to tremble. Flashes always triggered the wrong parts of his memory which he never wanted to go back to. 'Zen~ Just one picture. For your girlfriend~' He could hear Zara's voice, still clear in his mind as she clicked pictures, trying to humiliate him. "Snap out of it. Let's go." Nate spoke as he covered Zen's eyes. Zen quickly reached for his guitar and took it while Nate held his shoulders and took him to the car immediately and started to drive.
"What the hell did you think you were doing out there alone?!" Nate exclaimed as they were finally away from the crowd filled park. "Just wanted some air." Zen spoke as he relaxed against the seat, taking in deep and steady breaths. "You'll never be able to get out of it if you keep doing such stuff." Nate sighed as he looked at the guitar. Zen hadn't even touched it ever since Aelise left. "What if I don't want to?" Zen asked and looked at him. "She has a boyfriend. You told me that yourself. He's in abroad or whatever. Leave it. Clear your mind. Forget her." Nate spoke. He was just looking out for Zen.
Zen laughed as he looked at Nate. "Come on. You know I'm a pathetic fool. Let's leave this here, okay? What brought you to the park?" He asked. "Natalie wanted to go somewhere. She wanted to spend some time with her big brother who wasn't around too much." Nate smiled, thinking about his sister. "Awww. She's so adorable. I swear. Look." Zen pulled his phone out and showed Nate his schedule for the day. "Hole shi- you're packed." Nate said as his eyes widened and Zen nodded.
"I'll get her candy. I promise." He spoke and closed the app to show a picture of him and Aelise. "Zen." Nate called out as a warning.
'I can't.'