AM I PERFECT

Melina, may my heart not become his. Her heart was crying with nervousness, a strange feeling hitting her so hard. She was trying to get out of it, but she couldn’t.

She was so lost that she didn’t even realize when her sister, Elle, came and stood beside her and said, “We are the same, aren’t we? There is no difference between us. You know, if you have any emergency at your wedding, you can leave. I will sit in your place as the bride.”

Suddenly, she realized that her sister, Melina, was deeply contemplating something.

“Hello… where did you disappear? Where are you? Elle asked. I wish I could have sent you in my place, Melina thought.

“Um, mm… nothing,” Melina said

When Melina looked closely at her sister, she couldn’t understand where her sister was looking. Before she could say anything, Elle said, “Today you look very beautiful.”

Who knows, maybe Melina answered and picked up her bag and started moving forward, while her sister kept looking at her.

When she checked the time on her watch, she grew even more tense because she had very little time left. But perhaps fate had written this.

As soon as Melina stepped out of the house, a voice forced her to stop. Now she has become even more nervous. What if my sister had found out? She thought.

“You forgot this,” Elle said

At that moment, it felt as if words had disappeared from her mouth.

“It’s your friend’s birthday today,” Elle asked

Before she could say anything, a middle-aged woman from the neighborhood stepped forward and stood right in front of her.

“Oh… hello, Aunt. How are you? I am getting late,” she said to both her aunt and her sister. If her neighbor’s aunt had not been there today, she would have had to answer tough questions. She thought

Her heart was beating as if today were her last day in this world. She was thinking that a single word could ruin her life. Inside her, a battle between yes and no was going on.

Suddenly, the sound of someone’s footsteps startled her.

“May I sit here?”

He was a handsome young man. What surprised her were his eyes, which seemed not to need words.

“Yes… maybe,” she said.

The young man seemed to be waiting for her approval. Without asking anything, he sat beside her.

But what did it matter to her? Her thoughts consumed her.

I wish I were beautiful enough that I wouldn’t be afraid.

Suddenly, the young man who sat beside her said calmly, “You are very beautiful.”

Why was his voice so affecting, as if he had crossed the line of her thoughts and delivered a message to her?

When her thoughts broke, she could only keep looking at him, as if a single glance was enough to lose herself in him.

But the journey was short, and the time for conversation had stretched so long that the destination had come close.

“Next stop, Harvard Square.”

The announcement felt as if it had stopped her heartbeat. In her nervousness, she stood up from her seat, forgetting completely that someone was sitting beside her.

As she hurried forward to get off, in her rush to leave, the bouquet of roses she was holding in her hand caused a thin, sharp object to injure the young man. But she had no time to look back.

May today be a good day,” she said to herself.

As she stepped off the bus, suddenly her eyes collapsed on her seat. There was no one there.

She ignored it the same way she ignored everything else that day.

She took a deep breath. The destination was right in front of her. Maybe I can’t do this, she thought.

But suddenly, a thought crossed her mind: You are very beautiful.

She didn’t remember who had said it or when, but somehow the sentence felt good to her. She wanted to think only about that, yet fear surrounded her so much that she couldn’t even ponder why the thought had come to her.

She kept moving forward, but the further she went, the stronger her fear and the dread of breaking down became. She was so scared that her head hung low, filled with nervousness.

One hand landed on her shoulder, and she jumped so suddenly that the bouquet of roses in her hands slipped and fell forward.

When she looked up, it felt as if her breath had stopped. Maybe she didn’t even want to see, because her own eyes were already revealing the state of her heart.

“You are late today,” a deep, handsome young man said in front of her. He didn’t belong to anyone’s time. Every girl at the university admired him. Wherever he stood, the hall would fall silent, listening only to him.

But today, there was no answer for him from her. Her eyes remained closed. All she could see was his beautiful face. Slowly, she felt as if her thoughts had disappeared.

“Are you okay? What happened? Open your eyes,” he said.

When her eyes fluttered open, she realized she was somewhere she hadn’t expected, nestled in his arms. She didn’t want to pull away, yet the bustling crowd of the university forced her to. Reluctantly, she let go.

“You fainted,” he said gently.

She wanted to thank him, but with so many eyes watching, the words caught in her throat. Yet, somehow, he understood the silence between them. With a calm voice, he told the onlookers, “Everything’s fine. Carry on.”

Hearing him, she felt a strange certainty, as if she had found the right person, the one who mattered. And yet, a quiet unease lingered; she had no idea what fate had in store for her.

Tears filled her eyes, her heart shattering as if she could never speak to him again. The street lay deserted, mirroring the emptiness inside her. Somewhere among the withered roses, she wondered if one had been hidden there for her.

She stared at a wilted bloom, lost in it completely, so absorbed that she didn’t even notice when a gleaming, expensive car pulled up beside her. Inside that car was the very young man who had caused her tears. He rolled up his car’s window, saw her, and

Without a second thought, ignoring his luxury car, he stepped out and started following her, drawn irresistibly toward him.

Suddenly, her gaze lifted from the rose, and she noticed a reflection behind her. The sight terrified her so deeply that, without thinking, she began to run. The road was deserted, yet in her panic, she neither looked ahead nor behind.

“Stop!” he called out from behind.

The moment she heard his voice; she turned around because she could recognize that voice even among a thousand others.

Why is he coming toward me?

He looked deeply shaken, though she didn’t understand the reason.

“Watch out!” He shouted.

He pulled her into his arms, and they fell a short distance away. Only then did she realize that if he hadn’t been there, she might have died that day.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

She didn’t answer. She only looked at him, perhaps wondering if this was love?

“You’re okay, right? You’re not hurt?” He asked again.

She wanted to respond, but she also wanted to lose herself to him, and she did. She moved closer.

“Nothing happened. Everything’s fine,” he said softly.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

She placed her hand on his chest and rested against him, but soon she realized they were still on the road. As she tried to pull her hand away, he didn’t let her. Holding her by the waist, he drew her closer.

He wanted to kiss her.

“If you allow me,” he said quietly, “may I kiss you?”

She felt as though she were dreaming. Even now, she said nothing, yet her silence felt like a yes.

As he moved closer, her breath began to falter. He leaned in and gently kissed her flushed cheek, lingering there as though he wanted to feel this love completely.

She didn’t want to pull away from that feeling either.

But the sudden sound of a ringtone broke their moment. She took her phone out of her bag and grew anxious; it was already quite late. Lost in that beautiful feeling, she hadn’t noticed how time had passed. She wished time would stop in his arms, but the demands of reality wouldn’t allow it.

Reluctantly, she stepped away from him and began to stand.

“Perhaps you wanted to say something to me?” He asked, stepping forward. He reached into his pocket and took out a small box.

She couldn’t understand what he was doing.

Then he stood up and moved toward her, coming closer until there was no distance left between his lips and her ear.

The young man whispered into her ear, “I love you.” He didn’t even give her a moment to think before he pressed his lips against her. Perhaps this was really happening. In her heart, she thought she had never felt anything so wonderful before. No words could describe the state of her mind; it was the most beautiful day of her life. She wanted to freeze this perfect moment forever.

“I love you too,” she said. It was the first time she had spoken about anything like this; otherwise, she might still have remained silent. To her, it was the most peaceful feeling in the world. Without caring about time, she moved closer to him, feeling as if their souls were merging into one. She stood motionless, as if she had handed the thread of herself into his hands. And they continued kissing until the horn of an approaching car broke the spell.

When the car came closer and stopped near them, they instinctively held each other by the arms, staring at it as if asking why it had come toward them. It was a beautiful black Bugatti, but it was impossible to tell who was sitting inside. The car was gleaming as brightly as the moon itself, yet for them it felt like a threat because they did not know who was inside.

Still gripping each other’s arms, they stood in a defensive posture, as though nothing could happen in the very next moment. It felt as if the car were watching them, as if it wanted to say something. It did not seem happy; rather, it felt as though the person sitting inside was sad. Then, suddenly, without doing anything at all, the car drove away toward its destination.

“What was that?” He spoke. “I don’t know who was inside, or why the car stopped, and why no one came out,” she replied. “Leave it,” he said. “Let’s go home.”

When they turned back, they saw the car disappearing into the distance. Yet it felt to them as though the person sitting inside was still watching them even now.

It was two in the night, yet she still couldn’t fall asleep. She was incredibly happy, and yet, for reasons, she couldn’t explain, restlessly. I can’t believe that someone so beautiful, and the person of my dreams, is about to become my life partner, she thought. She was still lost in these thoughts when suddenly a small stone hit her window, and she startled. What is that? She wondered. She thought about waking up her sister but then remembered that her sister had an exam the next day and her sleep would be disturbed.

“Who is it?” She whispered. Beside her sister’s bed was a balcony; their room was on the first floor. Slowly and fearfully, she moved toward the window. She did not want to open the balcony door, yet she needed to see who had thrown something at it. Closing her eyes, she opened the balcony door. She did not open her eyes. Suddenly, something soft brushed her face and disappeared. She opened her eyes, and what she saw left her completely stunned.