Two hours to the bus station and another four hours to Francis' place—a total of six hours on the road. Louise's province was in the south, while Francis' place was in the north. The long travel time was to be expected. Thinking about it, it was indeed quite a long and tiring endeavor.
Louise, though, had already been on this same trip multiple times. He was used to it. This was also the reason he had chosen to travel at night: less traffic, fewer people. There were not a lot of dangers as each bus had a security guard and CCTV.
It was already 1 a.m. when he rode on the bus. During the daytime, a seat would be allotted for each passenger. At night, however, every passenger could choose to sit wherever they wanted since there weren't a lot of people traveling.
Louise chose a seat a few rows from the back. He sat beside the window and glanced at the full moon. Thinking back, it had been a while since he had the chance to look at the sky.
Since he had always preferred to just stay in his room except during mealtimes, it had been a long time since he last stargazed. Once in his life, it had been something he would do every single night, but then he grew up. The responsibilities became heavier, and the freedom and time to simply lay on the roof and count the visible stars had long since disappeared.
'Nostalgic…' This was the first word that entered his mind as he stared at the sky. It was beautiful without comparison, and the soothing feeling it gave him made him wish he could just float toward it.
"The bus is about to go! Anyone going to Olongapo?" the driver called out.
Louise's reverie was broken. He looked toward the door, but it seemed no one else would ride the bus anymore. The driver waited for a few moments before pushing a button to close the doors.
It was already 1:15 a.m. when the bus left the station. Louise wanted to nap, but after tens of minutes of being restless, he felt that he was too awake. The bus was cold, and there were no people around him aside from the couple two rows behind him, probably doing some "stuff."
Louise looked around and saw that everyone else aside from the people behind him was asleep. One guy was even snoring, but fortunately, it wasn't too loud. He once again glanced outside the window as the scenery changed with each passing moment. There were little to no other vehicles along the road, so the bus was fast.
He took his phone from his pocket and put on his earphones. He played a song and closed his eyes, but he was immediately bothered by the notification sound inside his ears.
Sighing, he turned his phone on again and saw that it was his little sister, asking whether he had already boarded the bus. After replying to his sister, he checked the other chats. He notified Francis that he would arrive around 5 a.m., and he also bumped up the other group chats.
Finally, he arrived on Discord. He specifically set his status to "offline" so most people at work wouldn't message him. However, that didn't really stop a lot of others from still leaving him a message, asking him to reply as soon as he was available. He simply ignored most of the messages and checked the more important ones.
Finally, he tapped on his chat with Anna. Before he left his house, he told her that he would be traveling soon, so he might not be able to reply until much later. Anna was someone who rarely, if ever, slept at night. As such, it was normal for them to talk at unholy hours.
In any case, since he was already too awake, he might as well see whether she was awake.
—Moxie: Hey, the bus just left the station. Four hours of travel ahead. You awake?
As expected, Anna replied within a few minutes.
—Kyporith: Hi. Your trip seems sudden. You usually tell me when you're traveling to your friend's place a few days beforehand.
—Moxie: Hm. It's because of that.
—Kyporith: That?
—Moxie: Yeah. It's a little sudden, but we decided we need to sort things out fast.
—Kyporith: Oh... Stay safe! I've almost forgotten about it, and you reminded me again. You going to sleep?
Anna had always talked about a terrible defensive mechanism of hers. When faced with traumatic events, she would drown it with nicer things so that she could put them behind. At the moment, it was indeed not a good thing to talk about it.
Louise honestly wanted to know what happened to her. He also wanted to ask how she could see him, and whether she had really seen him. He wanted to know the difference between the red door he had entered and hers.
However, he also knew that the government or some people in power were already monitoring these chatting apps based on what Francis said. As such, talking about it could cause more harm than good. Especially for someone like Anna, who was a total stay-at-home person due to the things that happened to her in the past. If she was ever tracked or observed, how scared would she be?
He decided to just change the topic. Perhaps, it was for the better.
—Moxie: Wut. Nevermind. Let's not talk about it. Maybe in three days, we can. And nope, I'm too awake. I tried to nap a while ago, but I just can't get myself to sleep. There's an annoying couple smooching each other just behind me. Lol.
—Kyporith: The hell!? People these days… really wild ah.
Three days? What will happen in three days?
—Moxie: It's a secret!
—Kyporith: Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!
—Moxie: I'll tell you in three days. Hahahaha.
—Kyporith: Tsk. What now then? Play, read, watch, work?
—Moxie: I don't really feel like doing any of those. We can just talk if you're free.
—Kyporith: So story time?
—Moxie: Sure. What story do you want me to tell you?
—Kyporith: Tell me about it then?
—Moxie: Tell what?
—Kyporith: Yesterday la.
—Moxie: About the three doors, it's not good to talk about it here.
—Kyporith: No, not that. The other one.
—Moxie: What?
—Kyporith: Duh!
Only now did Louise understand what she was referring to. Ha, it was about what had put him in such a tragic mood yesterday. He thought for a moment before eventually deciding that it was fine to just say it.
Anyway, there was really nothing else to do. A year ago, when Louise was still studying, he would always ride a car or a bus to and from school. During this time, he would either read, play, or work especially if there was a deadline. As such, Anna was already used to him always having something to do while on the road.
For now, Louise didn't feel like doing anything. There was no sleepiness at all, so he might as well talk with her through the remainder of his journey. He closed his eyes as his thumb began tapping on the words to describe everything that happened.
—Moxie: That day, I realized one of the most painful things in life. Let's see… It's seeing the one you love the most becoming better and happier without your existence in her life.
Upon reading this, Anna, from her bedroom, frowned. Her sleepiness vanished as a few memories entered her mind. It was a past she yearned for, a past where she could have done better but didn't. And now, she had become the opposite of what Louise was talking about—the worst version of herself.
—Kyporith: All ears.
—Moxie: It's been a few months since we last met each other. Ever since the breakup, I guess. Then she suddenly asked to meet up. And so I was a nervous wreck, thinking things could turn around or something. I guess I was stupid.
—Kyporith: You don't say! I already know you're dumb. Not just dumb but dumb dumb.
Louise smiled as he thought of what to say next. 'This girl…'
—Moxie: Long story short, she just wanted to give back everything I've given her and end things once and for all.
—Kyporith: What's the long storyyy then?
—Moxie: Haha. Well, the long story is, the moment I saw her, all my expectations vanished. She was more radiant, and she looked much happier. I knew and understood that breaking up with me was the best decision she made in her life. That's all. Hahahaha.
—Kyporith: That's a lot of pain. Pats.
But you know.
—Moxie: Hm?
—Kyporith: Her happiness shouldn't be your misery. Since she's happier, then you need to make it a motivation to be happier too.
—Moxie: How does that even work?
—Kyporith: Dunno. Isn't your IQ 144 or something? You analyze it.
—Moxie: That sounds troublesome. Haha. But I do get what you mean. Still, it's not easy. It's never easy.
—Kyporith: I feel like you need a drink or two.
—Moxie: You know, one of my professors told me, drinking is only for happy things. Because once we associate it with sad things, it becomes a habit. After all, life has more downs than ups.
—Kyporith: You told me that before. Makes sense, though. But then again, a drink sometimes lifts you up. It gives you the energy, the power, to do something you should have done like crying your heart out. Right?
—Moxie: Yayayaya. Then you'll treat me?
—Kyporith: Come to Singapore then. I'll treat you to as many drinks as you want.
—Moxie: Buying a ticket...
—Kyporith: I'm kidding. I'm broke la. You should be the one to treat me!
—Moxie: Alright then. Hahaha. Just pick a place, then we go. By the way, I feel like you've forgotten something.
—Kyporith: Ye?
—Moxie: Didn't you say you're sending a selfie?
—Kyporith: What are you talking about?
—Moxie: Tsk, really can't be trusted. Hahahaha.
The conversation went on for a while until Anna said that she had to do something. Louise was a bit disappointed, but this conversation did lift his spirits up. After the twenty days in that passage, he had almost forgotten about that. The pain from that time surged, but it was no longer as bad as today.
He looked at the black ring on his finger. 'Is the pain less because of this or have I somehow gotten over her?'
Louise pursed his lips and made a bitter smile. The pain was still there, but it wasn't so bad anymore. He wondered, did Michelle also enter the three doors? She should have. Should he message her? He hesitated and eventually decided against it.
A lot of things have changed. Although in reality, only a day had passed since their last meeting, perhaps she had also spent a lot more days in that place. He was curious, but the curiosity wasn't enough for him to go out of the way and message her again.
'Since she's happier, then shouldn't I think of my own happiness too?'
And then he recalled something very important. "Six months. Damn it."
His thoughts strayed toward the future. Just what would happen next?
All of a sudden, he noticed something incredibly crucial. "The bus stopped?"
He stood up and looked around. What the heck was happening?
And then everything slowly went black. No, it was not him losing consciousness, but instead everything disintegrating to nothingness. In just a few moments, everything around him vanished. Looking around, all that was left was the full moon hanging in the sky.