ANAGAPESIS

"Do you know what is Anagapesis?"

It was so unexpected, that Jaehyun did not expect that this conversation would start with another question he ain't sure if he had the answer to give.

But Iris looked so calm like she had expected it from the beginning.

"I don't have my phone right now to look it up in Google, but I think I could have guessed if you told me the whole story," he rubbed his nape in embarrassment, erupting the girl into a small giggle.

Every time she did that, she got everyone around her bewitched.

Especially him.

However, when her face fell as she stared far across the sea, Jaehyun could feel that something interesting had come into the way.

"I once cared too much," she blurted out as she turned her head towards him.

Those glassier eyes have proven that she was hurt. Jaehyun somehow regretted his decision to hear the whole story.

"It's okay if you stop here," he said, though deep down he was curious as well.

"No, I will tell you the story," she insisted, sniffling ever so slightly.

And so, she started from the beginning with how she was a victim of a long-distance relationship. For all this time, she'd never thought that it would be hard as long as they had faith in each other and maybe some tolerance.

At first, it was easy but as times flew, it started to be challenging. Being a human being that had a small circle which mostly consisted of girls, she struggled mentally when her boyfriend was doubting about the existence of other male species around her.

She did not know how the idea suddenly crossed his mind, but she felt offended.

They might have settled down the issue but Iris couldn't help worrying if this kind of problem would be triggered again in the future if they proceeded to the next step of their relationship.

"So you are almost married?" Jaehyun asked just to be answered by a sigh from the girl.

"Almost, but something had stopped me," her gaze returned to the darkness in front of her. "I don't know why or how but I did stop everyone from proceeding."

Maybe she should have thanked all the times she asked to find herself back. If it was not because of it, she wouldn't have seen all these things happen.

"What is the most disturbing thing you feel right now?" he asked, getting interested in the story. "The one that keeps you pressured today?"

"Being forced to be married," no hesitancy laced in her tone as she answered, her eyes getting more teary as she looked at him. "My mother keeps pushing me, telling me that no one is perfect and so I shouldn't have expected perfection from someone."

Her breath hitched as she remembered those words she heard from her mother every time they started the same quarrel. She felt so down as the one she trusted the most started giving back to her.

"Iris, this is your life. You have the right to create your own story," he advised, looking more desperate than he usually was. "Tell your mother how you feel."

"I can't, Jaehyun," her face scrunched up, a loner tear suddenly rolled down her cheek. "She never gave me any chance to explain myself."

The way she miserably tugged her hair from its root, he somehow could have concluded something.

For Iris had been dead internally, after being killed by people she trusted the most. Only her body was living, waiting for the time to vanish from the world.

"I believe there is more that had happened between you and him," he did not want to sound desperate but he wanted her to open up, he did not mind hearing all her rants, he would be glad to be her listener. "What exactly makes you like this?"

Staring into his curious orbs, Iris bit her lip. This kind of opportunity rarely came her way - to have someone listening to her.

Though she was hesitant, she continued, "I've been receiving harsh words."

"What kind of words?" by the question he asked, Iris lowered her head, fingers fiddled as tears now had dripped down from her puffy lids, landing onto the sandy ground.

Once again Jaehyun was taken aback. He wondered if he had asked the wrong question or if the situation she had been through was too much for her to live in.

"Words that make me lose my smile," she admitted, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. "And now, I am stuck between to make my mother happy or to find my happiness."

Her once soft sob had turned into wailing, how crumbled her heart might have been to have her weakness shown like this?

Jaehyun wanted to calm her down but he knew he was no one that could have made her feel so. He assumed only Alice and Anne could but they were nowhere to be seen during this time.

He understood what she meant by making her mother happy. She lived her life only with the lady's existence, she did everything only for her mother to be happy as a reward for all the hardships the lady had been through.

But she had the right to be happy as well. Why must she get married just for other's happiness and not hers?

Regardless, they both knew not everything they wanted would be granted.