Kacey the butterfly

I had just left the park where Dijour lived.

Yassin and I were talking about everything that had happened when a feminine voice from behind me suddenly interrupted our internal conversation.

“Oh my God, Shin! Did you go to that crazy beggar again?!”

I turned around in surprise.

“Kacey?”

Kacey was one of my old classmates from school.

She had bright, lively eyes, with a beautiful, captivating shade of brown.

Her hair was chestnut brown, with lighter highlights and wavy ends.

I didn’t notice how beautiful she was until years had passed.

Back when we first met, I was just a simple kid, and to me, she was nothing more than the girl who sat behind me in class.

Kacey always sticks her nose into my affairs...

Whether they’re private or not!

And whether I’m okay with it or not, she simply doesn’t care.

Sometimes, I feel like she treats me like one of the rabbits she keeps at home and feeds.

We argue and bicker constantly about it!

But no matter how many red lines I try to draw, she crosses them effortlessly.

Whenever I ask her why she keeps interfering in my business, she simply tells me that she cares about me.

But not when it comes to my friendship with Dijour.

She cannot interfere any further!

Especially since she sees him as nothing more than a lunatic.

A crazy man who claims he communicates with mysterious sages.

Kacey is extremely realistic.

I’m the complete opposite—far more imaginative.

But with Dijour...

What he says is real!

Kacey hit me on the forehead because I had visited Dijour.

I angrily snapped at her.

“Stay out of my relationships! You don’t even know Dijour! And I don’t like the way you treat him like some beggar!”

“Don’t yell!!! I’ll get angry with you if you do! And who are you getting angry for?! A beggar?!”

Our voices grew louder and louder.

We sounded like street cats fighting whenever they crossed paths!

A few moments later, we went to a café.

Fortunately, the social-anxiety-like condition I suffered from became less intense whenever I was with someone else.

“Which coffee are you going to order?” Kacey asked after we entered the café.

That was true.

We always made up quickly.

Kacey continued as though she were talking to herself.

“Never mind. I know your favorite coffee! An iced Spanish latte!”

I fell silent and, as usual, let her take the lead.

She acted as though she knew everything about me and always knew what was best for me.

After we sat together at a table, Kacey suddenly asked,

“Shin... do you know my favorite coffee?”

Her eyes were shining as if it were extremely important for me to know.

I hesitated.

I wished I had paid more attention to what she ordered before.

I knew this would make her angry...

And her anger frightened me.

After I spent too long stammering, she tore the receipt apart.

Thankfully, our drinks arrived.

The waitress brought them over, and I immediately recognized Kacey’s drink by its dark color.

“An Americano, right? An iced Americano?”

She shot me an angry look, grabbed her drink, and started drinking.

I took mine too...

I sipped it, enjoying its sweetness.

Then I looked at her dark coffee and tried to lighten the mood.

“How can you drink that? It’s so dark!”

And just like that, we started arguing again on our way out of the café.

She said I was like a child, pointing out that my coffee was basically just milk, a sweet mixture, and barely any coffee at all.

We sat down in the nearby park.

The same park where Dijour lived in his tent.

It was a perfect, beautiful moment.

Birds were singing throughout the park.

Kacey was in a good mood and began talking about her life.

Yes...

Her life.

A life I honestly didn’t care much about.

But I cared about her talking to me.

Because she looked genuinely happy during these moments we spent together.

And her happiness made me happy too.

I knew this was her favorite time.

And I felt completely content knowing that I was the person who made her smile...

The person she was happiest to be with.