7. festival with you

"Isn't for a girl who always says she hates being touched, this is too close a distance?" Point Joe at the half inch boundary between Jeya and Joe. "You're too clingy."

Jeya is wrong. Clearing her throat,she deliberately clung to her contrived haughty face. "It's because you put us in the midst of a thousand human armpits!"

The word 'we' sounded very fitting to Joe these days. The combination of the names Jeya and Joe which became one syllable made Joe's cheeks turn red.

Instead, let's go back to three hours ago. When Jeya, who was watering the chili seeds that she had just finished planting a few minutes ago, was disturbed by the ringing of the telephone that kept screaming over and over again and found an annoying name there. Joe Ecrath left calls unanswered more than fifteen times.

"What is it?!" No need to arrange a sweet greeting for the person who disturbs this weekend.

"Heeeeyyy... why yell at people instead of greeting?" Men who grumble are so annoying. "And forget it! Why didn't you pick up the phone earlier? I thought you passed out or something. I almost called an ambulance but realized I didn't know where your house was."

"So chatty. I shouldn't have told you my number even though you were chasing me while crying like four days ago."

"Bad girl!"

The girl circled her small room. Pick up clothes that are thrown randomly and then collect them together in a basket.

"So what is it?"

There was a grin that Jeya knew, she was trying to hold it in with her palms.

A voice with an arrogant tone sounded then. "Ehem! Actually I was going to go today with my friend to watch the theater at the winter festival this time. But suddenly my friend canceled the appointment and the ticket became unused."

Long silence.

"Then?"

"Then of course I'm taking you to the theater with me today! Damn! Even a girl like you is colder than yesterday's weather."

"I don't want to go. So take whoever you find on the street to some weird theater in the cold with you. Or just use the ticket to wipe your lips at lunch. Goodbye."

tut tut tut

Jeya's phone line just turned off. But not a minute later, a group of messages came from the same number.

"I'll be waiting for you at eleven o'clock at the bus stop! You must come!"

After reading the message, the girl chose to take a rag in the drawer and then began to clean the dust that had stuck to it for the past week. Festival you say? What fool put on a theater in the height of winter like this.

And what kind of fool would actually comply with Joe's stupid request and end up with Jeya standing in the middle of this crowd of people.

Apparently there really was a festival. People don't even hesitate to gather in the open in cold weather like this just to watch the festival. Jeya doesn't understand. There are a lot of food stands all of a sudden

Standing lined up on the side of the road. The delicious smell of their wares wafted and bothered Jeya's stomach since before the entrance to the festival. The sound of merchants and visitors soared into one like a swarm of bees, making Jeya head spin.

"So where are we going? Theatre?"

Joe looked nervous. The man's eyes circulated as if they would fall at any moment. As if finding another brilliant idea, Joe pointed to the row of food stands in front of them.

"We'll eat grilled octopus there first! Then the red noodle soup! And that! Let's try them all!"

"Hey! You have pork in your stomach huh? You're going to try all the food there? That's impossible!"

But Joe had danced the hem of Jeya coat excitedly making him inevitably have to follow the will of the tall man in front of him. By getting rid of the shoulders that might hit Jeya in the crowd, they finally arrived in front of the food stand and tried one by one the rows of food served.

The saliva that Jeya had been holding back, and the desire to devour everything was now satisfied. From end to end, all the flavors of the food are indeed very suitable for Jeya.

"Is there a pig in your stomach?" Joe reversed what Jeya said earlier. "Look! You finished all the food we bought from the other end to the end here."

Jeya's cheeks flushed hot. Knowing how she became uncontrollable in front of people she had only known for a few months embarrassed her.

"In total there are fourteen foods that enter your stomach."

"Ahhh.. stop!" The girl covered her ears with her palms. she tried her best to ward off the ridicule she was about to hear from Joe Ecrath's annoying mouth.

"Are you so hungry you ate it all?"

"Noisy!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

"I said shut up!"

They are a spectacle now. Obviously it was Joe who laughed loudly and loudly. Jeya even horrified that Joe's mouth would suck the entire contents of the festival with his mouth wide open.

Jeya face grew sour when Joe kept on teasing her with a grim face. "It will be difficult to provide for you if you eat a lot. But calm down I'm Jeya, I'm a hard working man."

The noise of the festival drowned out Joe's voice. In the midst of that, Jeya remembered the reason they came here.

"Haven't we been here too long? How about the theater?"

Suddenly, Joe stopped. His face turned white as if he had just been splashed with a bucket of vinegar. The man's mouth gaped incoherently. Putting words in the wrong place.

"So-and-so. That's... done. Theatre. That's it."

"What are you talking about? Say it clearly."

The man's mouth was still trying to form the right words. While his eyes kept rolling, Jeya was getting more and more annoyed.

"Say!" Her cold tone made Joe shrink. Seeing Jeya's impatient face, Joe finally sighed as long as he could. This is the end of everything.

"Actually all that bullshit about theater is a lie. I lied to you. I just Wanna to go to this festival with you. I apologize. I'm really sorry!"

The look of disappointment was evident on the girl's face. shit! shit! There should be no need to lie with theatrical nonsense in this winter. Joe should have invited Jeya to the festival without any stupid excuses or anything like that. Things got complicated because of Joe.

"Irritating."

That one cold word made Joe's heart clench and fall on the cold path under his feet. The girl in front of him was already walking, turned away with a face that was clearly disappointed because he felt lied to. But Joe is not a coward who will let Jeya go with anger just like that. Picking up his broken heart, Joe followed Jeya with steps twice as wide.

"Jeya I'm sorry!"

The shoulders blocked Joe's steps. The cold weather every hour into the afternoon made his knees throb. "Jeya I'm really sorry. We'll eat pork after this if you forgive me."

The girl paused, much to Joe's delight. But sharp glances were directed at Joe. Oh Shit! Damn mouth! Why pork?!

"Beef is also available! Hot soup is also available, Jeya! You can have all of them!" Now Joe sounded like a merchant around the festival. "Please forgive me."

His mind became confused. The words he had strung together became a tangled thread that pooled in Joe's brain. He didn't know what the temptation was to get Jeya to stop and forgive him. Smiling faintly for him again like a few tens of minutes ago.

"Your black coat is so pretty! It suits you so well! You also match your hair in a ponytail!"

Like a miracle, the compliment was able to make Jeya's steps stop. The girl was silent in front of him, like the earth sucking the girl's feet so as not to go any further.

"You'll forgive me right? I'll buy you beef and hot soup after buying you that!" Point to Joe at the eye-catching knick-knacks stand, once they're close. "Wait by the pillar. I'll be right back.

After getting a nod of approval from Jeya, the man walked as fast as he could to the knick-knacks stand

Joe spent quite a bit of time just picking out some trinkets that he would give Jeya as an apology. And Jeya patiently waited for Joe to choose while enjoying the man's confused face with furrowed brows. To be honest, Jeya wasn't that angry with Joe's problem lying to her about the theater because as the girl thought, which idiot would be holding a theater in this winter.

In the midst of observing Joe's face who was talking to the merchants and the more crowded people milling about in front of him, Jeya's eyes fell on someone in a thick brown jacket and bassball hat. His face looked familiar and it managed to make Jeya's whole body trembled tremendously. Jeya's eyes did not leave the person, getting further and further drowned by the people who had gathered at several points.

With a heart stirred by what kind of demon, the girl tried to take heavy steps. His legs were as heavy as tens of tons of sledgehammers. The person kept walking with his hands in his pockets, Jeya almost lost his figure because the girl's trembling body was hit by the passing shoulders. They are like magnets that attract each other, to be more precise, Jeya is attracted by the appearance of that person.

The face she hated the most. A sickening face that should still be buried in the ground and leaving bones that are starting to crumble. It should be. However, now that person was in front of her eyes. The man was there wearing a brown jacket and Jeya was chasing him. Did the man rise from his grave? Or is he just someone else who looks like him and or is what Jeya is seeing right now is just an illusion that his brain has made so that Jeya is tricked and becomes insane?

The girl's heart felt like it was about to explode when the distance between them was only a few meters. The man stopped at the edge of the traffic light. Waiting for the red light to turn green, but God! Jeya please don't let the lamp change color. Stay red and keep standing there so he can approach the man, pat him on the back and see if Jeya is hallucinating or is he the old man who rose from the grave to terrorize Jeya to death.

His legs were really shaking, Jeya's wobbly steps made it difficult for him and was hit by several road users until she fell to the asphalt. The girl whimpered a little, clapped her hands and tried to get up again.

But damn. Her legs were useless at a time like this. She was too limp only to get back on her feet and chase the person before disappearing. With the remaining strength, Jeya really tried to stand up even with a loud enough groan and her hands became a support. And as a result of spending so much time just standing, that man was completely wiped out. Lost in the swarm of crossing people. Yea screamed. She was trying her best to run her way through the crowds in search of the hallucinatory or real man. She didn't care about the dozens of pairs of eyes staring at him like crazy. She just needed to run and search. Just need to be sure that all this is a dream and Jeya will be woken up by Joe near the electricity pole. That is it. But the man really wasn't where he was, she found the man across the street, far in front of the lined up shops and his flashing brown jacket. The girl's hand reached out trying to catch the man in her grasp even though she knew they were too far apart. Her legs began to gain strength from nowhere and ran just like that with a scream that kept coming out of the girl's mouth.

Today, maybe the nightmare will really come back. All bad luck and revenge will also definitely start again. Although tired, Jeya will still live to see the man fall into the deepest hell. Even if necessary, Jeya will happily lead the man into the abyss of disaster.

Jeya screams continue to bark. Calling out that the man would obviously never hear. And the next minute, Jeya's screams are now combined with the screams of those around him. A loud screech soared through the air as well as a blow to Jeya's thigh. Then all she remembered was that she felt light against the ceiling she had last seen.