Chapter 2 A Blank Space

• "Hey! "I shouted when Kyle finally
• answered my call.
• "What" He responded.
• "I have been calling you the whole day! Why
• are you not answer my calls? What is wrong with you? I sh…" Kyle hung up
• the phone, and I was not able to finish my sentence. 
• I redialed his number, and it was out of reach. "What
• is wrong with this s*n of a bi*tch!" I said to myself while trying to find
• my car keys and about to drive to his place. I do not understand this behavior;
• he was always there for me. Yes! Often, he will find me annoying and weird, but
• he never shut me out like this. Even though he doesn't have nice things to say,
• he is always there to listen and talk with me, patiently waiting for me to
• sobber and bring me home drunk. I do not understand.
• "katok" A Kakaotalk notification came in.
• "Do not go out! I will not open my door. I do
• not want to see you today! You are annoying. "Kyle messaged me on the app.
• "Wow! So, I am the one annoying now?!" I
• said while staring sternly at my phone.
• "I can't take this anymore. I need to talk
• with Kyle and ask him what is wrong. I am the one who broke up with my
• boyfriend, but he is the one throwing tantrums at me! Wow!" I said
• annoyingly as I walk out of my house wearing a black hoodie and jogging pants
• and firmly clasping my car keys on my hands.
• I was about to start my car parked outside my gate
• when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
• "Hey! Didn't I tell you to not get out? "It
• was Kyle, holding a box of beer and Fried Chicken in his left hand.
• "Yaa! What is wrong with you? "I shouted
• at him.
• Silence, he just looked me blankly in the eye and
• winked.
• I ran towards him and hugged him. I put my face on
• his chest and mumbled, "What is wrong with you?"
• "Do not wrinkle my shirt. It's an LV, "he
• playfully said while playing tapping my head.
• "The F*CK! Are you teasing me right now?"
• I retorted.
• "Haha, it is a fact. Let's go inside; it is
• freezing here. It is not good for our skin" I look at Kyle with irritated
• eyes, but I smile.  I grabbed the chicken
• in his hands and followed him inside.
• This makes me happy.
• Talking with my best friend while laughing and
• annoying him.
• "So, Let's get down to business; what is wrong
• with you today?" I asked Kyle with a sharp tone.
• "I mean, you never shut me out; what is wrong?"
• I followed up since he did not answer my first question.
• "It’s just annoying, “he said in a calm tone
• while eating his chicken wings.
• “What is annoying?” I asked while drinking my beer
• in between words.
• “Your stupidity is starting to annoy me,” he said
• in a calm yet serious tone while looking at me straight into the eyes.
• “I mean, I do not understand the logic behind all
• these years. Are you not tired? Of how your relationship with that Shrimp is
• going? Girl, you deserve better than this, and that what annoys me,” He
• continued.
• I did not say anything and just continued drinking
• my beer. What is there to say anyway? That is on point. Somehow, I realize it
• after all these years. What am I doing? Even I get tired of all these charades
• and shenanigans, and I know I am near the point of no return.
• I tried to salvage our relationship because it was
• my first date, my first kiss, my first everything! But right now, even these
• first, it feels nothing but a memory that needs to fade away. Instead of being
• in love and being happy, my first love felt like a cell, a holding cell that I
• could not escape in, no matter how hard I tried.
• “Hey,” Kyle said in a low tone,
• “Huh?” I responded
• “What were you thinking? Look, I think your phone
• is ringing; check who’s calling,” he said while pointing at my phone.
• When I checked my phone, we both got dismayed. It
• is a familiar name that we both dreaded to see.
• “Honey”
• “Wow, this jerk is something!” Kyle said in an
• annoyed tone. While I just stare blankly on my phone. 
• “Yaa! Don’t tell me you will answer that?” he said
• in the same tone again.
• “Huh?” I answered blankly.
• “If you answer that call, I am telling you now, I
• will never talk to you again! I mean it, Angela!” Kyle said in an angry tone. I
• know he is serious; I mean, DEAD SERIOUS. But something inside of me is
• boiling. I feel that I need to answer this call.  I think that I might be able to end this on a
• good note. Somehow, something inside of me, a little voice of courage, tells me
• to answer the call and stand on my ground. 
• And there it goes; I pressed the answer button while looking at Kyle’s
• eyes. His expression changed so fast, from confused to annoyed and then angry.
• He stormed the room so quickly that I was not able to run after him. He did not
• hear what I said on the phone.
• “Hello,” I answered the man on the other line.
• “Babe, I’m sorry” Michael’s voice sounded so
• sincere in my ears, I can hear his sobs.
• “Huh?” I replied blankly. My mind seemed to stop
• working right after I heard his voice on the other line.
• “I did not mean what I said, I still love you, I
• know you love me, do you still love me? “
• He said on the other line.
• I know I heard it clearly, but for some reason, I
• cannot understand. It is like a resounding bell that doesn’t mean anything to
• me. I felt numb. I can’t even describe what I am feeling now…
• “Babe? Are you still there, “said Michael.
• “Oh? Yes,” I answered expressionlessly,
• “Do you still love me?” He asked again since I did
• not answer him the first time,
• “Yes,” I said impassively,
• “Are we good now?” He asked in a happier tone as it
• seems to me,
• “No,”
• I said sternly and hung up the phone, blocked the
• number. I threw the phone on the couch, stared at it blankly for some seconds,
• and somehow this felt good. It felt relieving! The handcuffs and chains that
• have been with me for all these years are is finally broken!  I chucked for a good five minutes while my head
• was lying on the couch,
• “Did you see that, Kyle? I did it!” I said while
• looking at the ceiling; when I heard no response, I lifted my head and tried to
• look around for him, and then I remembered that he stormed out of the room when
• I answered the phone. 
• I went out of the house and tried to look out for
• him outside the gate. I wanted to call him, but he is screening my calls, and
• he is not responding to my Kakaotalk Chats as well:
• “Ya! Where are you? 
• I did it! I broke up with him for good! “
• “Hey! Where are you? Did you go home?”
• “Oppa, why are you not responding to my chats and
• my calls!  Do you want to die?!”
• “I am going there now!”
• I went back inside my house to get my car keys,
• when I was about to open my car door, somehow, I felt dizzy, everything was
• turning black, and there was a popping sound in my ears. Before I entirely lost
• consciousness, I saw a stranger approaching me, a black silhouette that I am
• not sure If I am familiar with.