LOVE CAN BE COMPLEX

It was her favourite period of the year.

Petals dropped by as she passed by that morning, headed for the sculpture studio. Juniors greeted her as she passed, with some stopping to ask questions related to assignments.

Most of her classmates were working on their various pieces by the time she arrived.

"You're here?" Sol asked with her eyes fixed on her piece.

"Mmm." Tahti affirmed

"Where did you go? I was looking all over for you." April joined in the conversation.

"I went out to get a textbook." Tahti replied.

"Lucky you, I'm stuck to this piece...Fuck,I'm craving a smoke. Who wants to go with me?" April asked and everyone turned to their pieces, pretending to ignore her.

"Hey, Jennie." She poked

"Sorry, I just got back from having one." Jennie replied

"Sol?" She tried again

"Not interested." Sol replied.

April turned to Tahti with a pout.

"What do I do?...What if something happens to me when I'm smoking? My mom will forever blame herself for..."

Tahti slapped her hand on the table with a sigh.

"Fine, I'll go with you." She replied.

"You're a darling." April said, rising to her feet as coy smile playing on her face as they turned to head to the rooftop, a place where they had the right to do anything they wanted. It was the only place the professors would not go to.

April slipped out a cigarette and slid it into her mouth as they walked up the stairs looking down at her phone she kept swiping left- rejecting-different guys.

"Looking up for a guy to get hooked up with again?" Tahti asked.

"Of course." April replied nonchalantly

"What happened to the guy of last week?" Tahti asked a question she really didn't need an answer to.

April raised her head and took out the cigarette from her mouth.

"Last week's guy was last week's guy. You don't expect me to keep seeing him in a new week, do you?" She remarked and slid the stick back into her mouth.

"I just can't seem to understand you sometimes." Tahti said giving up.

Some guys were having a chat on the rooftop by the time they arrived, April chose to sit down on the bench while Tahti leaned on the stair wall.

"Darn, I hate guys who dye parts of their hair. I mean, they can just dye the whole thing instead of leaving out some parts. Gosh, they are so freaking ugly." Tahti commented looking at one of the guys they met at the rooftop.

"Not all of them are ugly." April blurted making her friend slowly turn before she dropped her eyes on her.

"Where" Tahti asked disgusted "Where did you see a good-looking guy with coloured hair?" She added.

"Just somewhere." April replied zoning off thinking of him

Tahti narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you." She said and turned back to her phone before she squealed and sat up startled.

"What's it?" April asked concerned

"I just swiped left on a really hot guy." She swept her hair back as Tahti returned to where she had found comfort resting on the wall.

"And here I was, thinking it was something serious." Tahti said.

"What an ill luck...I'm craving alcohol today. Wanna come?" April asked taking her eyes off her phone for a quick glance at her friend.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Tahti replied, with eyes glued to the blue sky.

"Hey, there's a really good-looking junior who's been wanting to drink with you." April said, eyes now fixed on Tahti. "You can use this opportunity to get hooked up with...."

"I just got out of a relationship, April." Tahti popped in cutting the nonsense spilling out of April's mouth adding a death stare as a topping.

"Hey, I didn't mean that...I mean, we all know each other, so I just wanted to introduce you two." April defended hands up in mock surrender

Tahti clicked her tongue as she turned to look away. "My answer still remains a no." she said returning her gaze to the boring cloudless and bird-less sky view

"God, you're so boring. You're acting unlike yourself today." April frowned and drew in a short breath as she examined her.

"Why did you say that?" Tahti asked curious, she was not about to let anyone read her mood so openly. She needed to know what she was doing different from normal.

"I mean, you got rid of that jerk so you should move on. Don't you think?" April asked in a gentler more concerned voice.

Tahti didn't reply, instead she found great interest in a pair of birds that just appeared.

"Seriously? Ugh... you're a complete bore. My craving for a smoke has disappeared. I'm going down." April added as she turned to walk a couple of steps before she turned back to the spaced out Tahti.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked tapping her back to reality.

"Not yet, I'll stay here for a while longer." Tahti replied taking April's former position on the bench.

"Suit yourself." April said as she trotted off

Tahti sighed again once after April had left. It's been a solid month since she'd broken up with her boyfriend. Their two-year relationship which looked like a perfect one hit the rocks shortly after she'd found out he'd been seeing one of his juniors.

At first, she hadn't believed the rumors until she had seen for herself, her boyfriend necking his junior in his studio.

Disgusted, she'd called him out on a date and broken up with him and had gone drinking right after. That was when she met him, the handsome guy with the partly coloured hair.

TWO WEEKS AGO.

She clicked her tongue as she poured herself a glass of alcohol, that night. She had heard drinking after a break-up helped to reduce the heartache.

"You're here early." The voice called out

Her head whipped round to see him as he slid into the seat next to hers. He turned to look at the drink she was having before he slanted his eyes to her.

"I thought the plan included no drinks." He said with a firm look

"Who are you?" A confused and mentally stressed Tahti asked the stranger.

He frowned. "Aren't you Sophie?"

"No, I'm Tahti." She replied turning back to her drink

"Tahti?" There was an unreadable expression on his face as he asked. "Are you Korean?" He caught her attention with the question.

"Half Korean." She replied and she saw something similar to embarrassment flood his cheeks for a minute and it disappeared before she could confirm what she'd seen.

"I'm sorry. I must have mistaken you for a friend of mine." He said and rose up before he turned to leave, taking along with him the heartache that had been weighing down on her since a while ago.

Why was she feeling like that? Tahti wondered as she downed her cup and poured another.

He soon returned to her surprise and slid into the seat beside hers.

"Are you with someone?" He asked.

"No." She replied needing another filled cup, she wanted to get knocked out. The alcohol was already making her see things but it wasn't enough.

"Can I sit here then?" He asked and she leaned towards her left arm.

"You're already sitting there..."Her voice trailed off as she really looked at the stranger for the first time. She threw her face back to her empty cup, maybe she had had enough she thought to herself, she didn't like the thoughts in her head concerning this stranger.

Was this the definition of being sinfully handsome, she thought to herself then turned back at him.

"Aren't you here to see someone? You said you mistook her for me." She tried to talk smart but the alcohol had started it's work so her words came out slurred

"I was, but not anymore." He replied, looking and sounding angelically cool and calculated in contrast to her who was battling with stuttering.

"Then?" Tahti asked and he turned to the waiter.

"Can I grab a lemonade?" He asked.

"Sure." The waiter replied and turned back to her.

"I called her to cancel..." he answered her looking at the waiter go for his order

She frowned. It couldn't be because...He wouldn't do that right?

"Why?" She asked

"I just felt there was no need to meet her anymore." He replied nonchalantly

"I see." She replied now wanting another cup.

He leaned forward. "What's the occasion anyway? You hardly see a girl in a bar drinking all by herself."

A smile crossed her lips as she poured another cup. "Really? Well...I had to severe ties with my boyfriend today."

"I see...It must have been so bad, for you to be drinking over it."

"Kinda...feels like I was the dumb one for sticking with him for this long." Tahti replied.

"Do you believe it? That drinking is the way to get rid of heartaches?" He asked and she turned towards him, fully interested in what he had to say.

"You have a better idea?"

He folded his arms and leaned back, a smile playing on his lips.

"If I do, what's in for me?" He said retaining the smile.

"Well I don't know, what do you want?" Tahti asked out of curiosity

"Loser has to grant the winner a wish."