Mary awkwardly stood outside the restaurant, glancing occasionally at her strappy sandals and admiring her purple-painted toenails which were luminous under the golden streetlight. Suddenly, she heard a startled voice and something hard impactfully crashed against her face which caused her over-sized spectacles to haphazardly move up on the bridge of her tiny nose. That split second unerringly reminded her of her bicycle crashing into a parked car when she was a child. She heard the sound of quick footsteps and a concerned face instantly hovered over her.

"This wasn't the best place to stand, huh?" She abashedly smiled, looking at the glass door of the restaurant which had brutally swung against her.

"The guy who passed by was a dick. He could have opened more gently," Hyun impulsively said, taking a step away so he could stand next to her under the striped awning.

The little raindrops from the earlier downpour still glided from the awning and fell one by one on the tips of her gleaming, painted toenails, sending a shudder each time through her slim body.

She got a little agitated by the discomfort and impetuously suggested, "We should wait somewhere else." The 'we' resonated in the relatively quiet street and looking through the glass-sheathed walls of the bustling restaurant, she added, stammering, "They'll a-anyway take time."

Mary's best friend Abraham grimly sat opposite to his girlfriend who was Hyun's best friend Veronica in the opulent restaurant. Veronica stared confidently at Abraham with a saccharine smile like a sickly sweet dessert and Abraham was upright like a pole erected. They had met up to have a somewhat civil conversation about the issues in their relationships while simultaneously dragging their respective best friends, Mary and Hyun for moral support. Mary and Hyun stealthily excused themselves to give the couple some privacy and avoid getting caught up in their heated conflict.

Hyun chuckled lowly to dissipate the tension which was forming like a thick, blinding smog between them. "I'm getting hungry, are you?"

Mary was flummoxed that he would ask her since they didn't know each other, only having heard about each other through their best friends (mostly despicable things.) "Um-okay. Should we go inside?"

"Ah, no. Let's leave them alone---"

"Yeah, sorry, yeah, I thought the same," she interrupted, feeling foolish to have suggested that. Was it treacherous of her if she hung out with Hyun? Hyun, the guy who Abraham was incredibly envious of because of the amount of time he spent with the glamorous Veronica. A tinge of her own jealously towards Veronica inched slyly on her heart like a fungus slowly appearing before consuming the entire place within the blink of an eye.

"There's a sandwich truck around the corner," Hyun said, bewildering Mary.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" she asked candidly, her eyes indicating to the apprehensive situation inside where the couple took a stance of two wild cats ready to scratch each other.

Hyun sighed audibly, running a hand through his silky hair. "I'm tired of them at this point. Aren't you?" The words that were festering in her own heart were openly admitted by this stranger who she was supposed to hate, but she couldn't help and nod quietly, concurring with him.  He merely declared, "Let's go."

As they strode further away from the restaurant, Mary fidgeted uneasily with the strap of her cross-body bag. Her heart grew lighter with each step away from seeing Abraham and Veronica together and she soon found breathing to not be a strenuous activity anymore. They gave their respective orders to the cheerful cook in the fiery red truck and stood languidly opposite each other, the sky a pitch-black above their heads.

"How much time do you think they'll take?" Hyun started the conversation, looking straight at her.

Mary's fingers intertwined with the strap of her bag again as she shrugged. "I can never tell when it comes to them."

"Well, he should apologise soon to her."

"He should?" Mary's tone was indignant as she found herself growing defensive of her best friend.

Hyun, stating what his best-friend had told him, said nonchalantly, "Yeah, well, he made out with some chick from his work."

It was her, Mary, he had kissed Mary in a moment of tumultuous confusion then gave no explanation and left like a passing stranger visiting a random coffee shop, leaving her confused.

Mary grimaced at that memory, a lump of shame and hurt lodging in the base of her throat. "That's because---" Promptly catching herself from being explosive, she inhaled sharply and said in a suppressed rage, "That's because she cancels all their plans of meeting and then puts up Instagram stories of hanging out with you."

"Because he's a cheating asshole," he said derisively.

That was once! It didn't mean anything . . . At least to him.

"She's the one emotionally cheating on him," Mary brought up the topic with the same feigned coolness that Hyun was portraying. "She keeps bringing you up in their conversations all the time, comparing him to you. How he doesn't give her much attention, but you do. How he's so uncaring, but you're a saint."

"Really?" Hyun was perceptibly amazed. "You're joking me."

She feverishly fished out her phone from the cross-body bag and displayed the screenshots of Abraham and Veronica's conversations that Abraham had supplied her. Hyun's astonished eyes flickered, absorbing all the messages like a dry sponge in need of water. His smug expression made her bitterly shut the phone.

"You like her?" It seemed more like a rhetorical question to Mary, but she asked him anyway.

"I mean yeah. What's not to like?" was his simple reply which made her fight all the muscles in her face to not roll her eyes or sulk.

"Well, she's a bitch for a start."

"Woah, Woah---"

"No, listen," she interrupted contemptuously. "If she didn't keep comparing him to you, he would have never kissed---" me "---but she does it all the time and he feels so-so . . . " Like how she felt, the neglected leaf devoid of any sunshine on a blossoming plant.

"Here are your sandwiches," the cook handed them both two large chicken and cheese sandwiches which had to be held with both hands.

"It seems that you like him," Hyun said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"No, never," she lied with such passion that Hyun smiled slyly. Her eyes widened as she absently squeezed the sandwich and said with emphasis, "I don't. It's you who likes your best friend."

"I'm tired of it," he confessed, his eyes focused on the sandwich. She felt exactly the same way- tired. "I'm tired of loving her then holding her all night and hearing her cry to me about how her boyfriend is being a dick."

His words resonated her own thoughts and she found the burning vehemence in her extinguish.

"I have done the same, not cradle him like a baby though. If Abraham gets to know you hold her all night, he'll lose his sanity," she teased and his laugh was muffled in the sandwich.

"I definitely don't mind seeing that as long as I'm ten feet away from him."

Abraham had brawny arms and seeing Hyun's skinny ones, she giggled. "Don't worry, he's so jealous of you that he'll want to avoid you at all costs."

"Yeah, he didn't even glance at me when he entered the restaurant. Not complaining," he said humorously, finishing the last bit of sandwich while Mary still had over half of hers left which she found it difficult to finish. "If you're not eating yours, do you mind?"

Mary amusingly shook her head, giving him her sandwich.

He grinned, his teeth sinking into the delicious sandwich as he tore a piece and with food in his mouth, spoke incoherently, " . . . Pwddty-shoor . . ."

"What? First, eat!" She laughed freely at his childishness which broadened his grin.

He finished chewing the morsel of food and said, "I was saying that I'm surprised you and Abraham and haven't banged yet. You're pretty cute."

Not like Veronica. She was a Goddess.

She snorted. "I don't like him to want to "bang" or anything. And you're saying that just because I gave you my sandwich."

He chuckled. "What's there in that big bag?"

"Some notes and books of Abraham and mine." He raised his eyebrows suggestively and she burst out, "That doesn't mean I love him! Stop annoying me." Those words caused an uncomfortable silence to descend on them where she could only hear the crumpling of the paper which had been wrapped around the sandwich as Hyun dabbed it on his shiny lips and disposed it off. She finally admitted, no longer able to bear the silence, "I'm just tired like you, that's all."

The earlier humour from Hyun's eyes had vanished and he looked at her in such a tender, understanding way which made tears of suppressed emotions well up in her eyes. He pulled her in a light hug, further escalating her emotions and she coughed in embarrassment, the tears ceaselessly flowing. She hid her face in his chest, to avoid being looked by the cook or the people who came to buy food. Soon, when the fabric of his t-shirt was soaked, she pulled away and nervously joked, "You have become a station for sobbing girls."

"I'm returning your favour of the sandwich," he jested, making her smile naturally. "Let's go now, yeah? Let's see which of our best friend is still alive."

"They must have clawed each other's eyes out."

"They're both fools," he remarked and both of them sniggered in unison.

Mary's sentence had been an understatement because the minute they arrived at the restaurant, they witnessed a scene fit for a telenovela unravel in front of them. Veronica was shouting in a manner considered too loud and indecent even for a cheap diner let alone a restaurant like this. Abraham was laughing cynically at her, again, too loud, too indecent. The waiters crowded around them with mouth agape, dubious of what they should do.

Mary and Hyun rushed in, each grabbing their respective best friend's arms and pleading them to take it outside. Once out (much to the relief of the management team inside who were sure to ban them permanently), Veronica continued to yell. Mary barely paid any heed to what she was saying, it was all noise to her, but she couldn't help and think how gorgeous Veronica looked even in this disgraceful state. Hyun's whispering in her ear seemed to placate her and she no longer shouted.

However, Abraham caught this change and in turn yelled, "Yes, go to him! Fuck him! That's all you know!"

Hyun started, "Woah, man---"

Mary started, "Abraham no---"

"I have already fucked him." And Veronica smirked in satisfaction.

"Let's get out of here, no use giving her any of our time," Abraham said loudly, grasping Mary's arm.

"As if you gave me any time earlier!" came her snarky remark.

"Let's go," he addressed Mary curtly, ignoring Veronica and leading her away.

Mary stumbled after him, trying to loosen his grip which was subconsciously tight around her arm and before they could disappear from that street and into darkness, she instinctively glanced back. Hyun who was also walking away with Veronica turned slightly at the same, fateful minute. His eyes connected to hers, wide at first then drooping in the same, understanding manner. Both of them exchanged an ironic, secretive smile and the street curved, separating their ways.

* * *

A/N :

The street is a metaphor for how their own lives take an ironic turn hehe. Do vote, comment and share if you liked this story!