" 17.....18....19....slurp!...."
The only thing that can be heard is a long slurp I make out of my iced tea while staring down at the empty street from my rooftop apartment.
It's a very nice day, not too sunny or cloudy, not too windy or windless. A perfect day for a jobless person like me to enjoy a cold drink and potato hoops.
I'm Ji Hye Rin, a 27-year-old college graduate. I've jumped from job to job over the past 6 years but I've never lasted more than 4 months at a job. I haven't been at work for over 7 months after my boss fired me on the claim of "You're underqualified", then he hired his niece.
Even though it's embarrassing to say but I've been living off my mother since I ran out of money 2 months ago.
"20...slurp..."
I look at another car pass by when I feel my phone vibrate. It's a message from a company I applied to as an accounting secretary. I sigh closing my eyes before opening the message.
"This is not the first time you've been rejected, don't take it to heart."
I open my eyes slowly and open the message.
"Thank you for applying to Mono group, Your application has been accepted and an interview has been scheduled for the 17th of June at 11:30. Please keep to time as no extra time will be provided once the given time is missed. Have a nice day."
I jump up after reading the message aloud. I fall back on my knees, clasping my hands together and looking at the sky.
"The heavens are finally looking kindly upon me. Thank you dear heavens!!!.... Ahh, my eyes."
"The sun is almost blinding" I head back into my apartment to get ready to head out.
Black sweat pants, a baggy white T-shirt with "YOU'RE A MISTAKE" printed on the front and flip flops. I put on the clothes after taking a quick shower and sit in front of my mirror.
I'm a pretty woman, not too plain or extra, not too tall or short, that's if 161cm (5.2ft) is not considered short. I have brown eyes in almond shape, a straight nose, bow-shaped lips and tanned skin (This is without the sun, I've always been that way.).
After applying some sunscreen and putting on my flip-flops, I take my phone and card and leave the house.
~~~~~
I've been staring at the ice cream section for minutes and I still have no idea what to get. Getting an ice cream flavor is one of the hardest things I go through every month. After thinking for minutes I finally pick the almond flavor but I drop it and pick pistachio, quickening my steps away from the section so I don't change my mind again.
Making my way outside the store, someone accidentally bump into me but apologized immediately.
"I'm sorry," The woman says.
"It's okay." I look up to and smile at the woman but the smile quickly fades when I see a familiar face approach her.
It's Chun Ho, my first and only ex-boyfriend. Even though we only dated for a year, the breakup had me shaken to a point. I found him cheating on me and when I confronted him about it, there was no remorse or any form of guilt from him. I ended the relationship on the spot and he left with a punch in the face when he was being corky.
"Fancy seeing you here, it's been a long time since we met." Chun Ho says in a weird tone with an annoying smirk on his face.
The girl beside him has an innocent smile on her face not knowing what she's gotten herself into.
"You're one beautiful lady, and I think you deserve better than Chun Ho. Have a nice day."
I walk away leaving a confused lady and an annoyed Chun Ho. I wouldn't have said what I said if Chun Ho didn't have that weird smirk on his face. I know people do change and we broke up 5 years ago but some things or people never change I guess.
There was barely space to walk since a big truck is packed in front of my apartment.
"Do you live here perhaps?" A man in a blue jumpsuit with "PESTIES" written on it says approaching me.
"Yes.." I reply.
"I'm from the pest control company, the whole area is been fumigated and it will be advised not to go in for now and later open your windows for about 2 hours after going in.
I nod and make my way to the children's park near my apartment.
"That's relaxing!" I say bringing another spoon of ice cream to my mouth. I look to my right after the happiness melted in my mouth to see some kids staring at me.
I nearly dropped my food and pee my pants with the way they were staring at me.
"That scared me!!!" The kids didn't seem fazed by me and continued staring at me or should I say the goodie in my hand.
"Do you want it?" They look at my face and nod in unison. I look down at the almost empty plastic and stand up from the bench I'm sitting on.
"There's a convenience store near here, I'll get you a new one since I'm in a good mood today." The kids smile happily and follow me to get the ice cream.
~~
"Is it me or people are looking at me a lot today?" I look at the kids beside me who are happily munching on the ice cream, now I know why people were staring.
The two boys are dressed in English Victorian clothes for rich kids, I'm sure I'm right since I've caught a glance of something similar on a channel I watch.
"Who in the world dresses kids in such clothes in this hot weather, no wonder they wanted ice cream so bad." The kids look at me and smile as I chuckle awkwardly.
I watch the kids play around the whole day till they finally come towards me and give me a lotus flower each. They smile at me and walk away from the playground.
"Won't you wait for your parents to pick you up?"
"Do you live around here?"
"It's dangerous for kids to walk around alone at this time though..."
I look around and confirmed there's quite a lot of street lights and CCTV around.
"They'll be fine on their own...Right?"
I take my groceries which became heavier due to the impulse buying I did on my second trip to the store and make my way home.
"Now that I think about it, those kids don't look like they're from around here."
"Even though I kept talking, they didn't utter a word."
I enter my apartment and arrange my groceries before cutting some watermelon to eat while watching TV.
"What's airing tonight..." I switch on my TV and it's a historical English show, this is an adaption of the popular manhwa "And So It Begun". I've never read it since I'm not interested in that type of story.
I watch as a woman on the TV closes the coffin with a beautiful woman who I assume is dead in it. And the movie finishes displaying the credits. Taking a bite of my watermelon, I stand up to close the windows I opened earlier when I came back.
On my way back to the couch, I notice something weird about the lotuses the kids have given me earlier. I dropped them on the center table when I got back and I'm definitely sure they weren't glowing.
I walk carefully maintaining a distance from the table and shining goldish light from the flower.
"What's that smell? It smells like too much essence of wild grass"
Weird smoke starts gathering out of nowhere and clouding my vision. I couldn't help but close my eyes because of the sting.
"Achoo!!!"