水曜日に：How We are All Actually Connected

Initially I wanted to go to the campus at 1 p.m today, but then my lecturer texted me to meet him between 8 a.m - 11 a.m. There were no vehicles (all of my vehicles were occupied) and because the public mass transportation in my city is not yet well-integrated, I called for a taxi.
But then, my dad accidentally cut himself while cutting a mango. The cut wasn't that serious but I panicked anyway, then spent minutes on trying to find iodine solution.
There were no iodine solutions, I couldn't find a single first aid supply but a roll of gauze and a band aid. I was going to put on my shoes and planned to run to convenience store nearby to buy some iodine solutions when my dad told me to ask the neighbor instead.
....

Asking help to a neighbor was something I had never thought before. Growing up in sub-urban area, I know some old neighbor, but not with the newcomers. Some of the old neighborhood friends I grew up with had moved out, so I don't have any neighborhood friend. The social distance is getting further despite our houses are only separated by walls.

.....

It was very awkward and I couldn't settle my mind on which neighbor I can reach first, I din't even know which neighbor willing to help.
I was hesitatingly choosing. all of my neighbor have tall front gate (including my house tbh) and I wasn't sure if there were anyone inside. By then the taxi I ordered came, I told the driver to wait and hurriedly continue choosing neighbor, lol, silly.
In the end, I went with the closest one on the right side of my house. A house keeper came out, listened, and then asked the home owner.
Finally, I got iodine solutions from them, thanked them, gave it to my dad and helped him wrapping the cut.
After making sure that my dad was okay, I hopped into the taxi and went to campus


.....

In the taxi, the driver asked me why I was panicking for an iodine solution. Then I told him the story, the driver laughed and said, "It that was the case, actually I have one in this taxi. But then you already got it from your neighbor."
I smiled, again, if only I could think clearer, if only I were more sensible of those little things.

.....

My mom was still on her way home from Malang when that event happened. Keep in mind that neither my dad or me informed my mom about that accident. After arriving at the campus, I called my mom and told her the story. She said "Your dad is okay now, you can relax, and we really have to consider buying complete first aid supplies after this."

.....

Later in the evening, I got home, then my mom offered me vegetable that I had never tried before. It was Centella asiatica. She bought it on the way back home and boiled it for dinner. Do you guys know the main health benefit of Centella asiatica? Wound healing.



Good night.

Luna's Stages (1)

This is a story about Luna Kim, a young musical actress who loves cats and gets easily distracted whenever a cat is spotted nearby. One day, in her 100th audition, she met her crush during her college days; a senior from Classical Music Department who transformed into a well-known pianist named Braydon Lee. Luna really wanted to get closer to Braydon, but apparently their first encounter after five years had lost its momentum because of a sleeping cat! Luna, heavily regretted that accident, decided to fix here and there about her obsession over cats.

 - ֎-

     A light touch on Luna's arm woke her up. It's 7 in the morning. Mimi, her 18 months old Russian Blue cat, was standing next to Luna's hand on the bed, giving Luna a stern gaze that translates "Give me my food, hooman." Luna smiled and said, "Thank you for waking me up, Mimi. Thank you for not touching my face too, I'll be going to an audition today, so I need to look my best, or else, nobody will cast me," Mimi purrs as Luna pet his head. "Alright, let's go fill your breakfast bowl."

    

    Luna went to the kitchen. After gargling some apple cider vinegar mixture, she checked what's left in her refrigerator, "Ah.. I ran out of side dishes..." She took out her overnight oat that she made last night (her eyes were barely open, she's glad that the oat turned out okay), made some chrysanthemum tea for herself and prepared canned sardines for Mimi and Tom, her giant grey maine coon; chopped some chicken liver for Lucy the Golden Scottish Fold; and chicken breast, slightly mixed with water for Jess the fluffy white Chinchilla Cat. Mimi and his whole squad quickly approached their bowl. That morning, Luna enjoyed her breakfast while watching her cats solemnly eating theirs.
   
     Luna's agenda for today was auditioning for Red Violin Musical Play. She watched the performance when she was younger and since then, becoming the musical actress that plays in Red Violin Musical is one of her dream. Finally, she's one step closer to the role of her dream; the main heroin of Red Violin Musical, Sansa Amaris. Luna even chopped her hair to jawline, dyed it deep purple with platinum balayage to fit in with Sansa's character. The audition location is two hours car ride from Luna's apartement in Busan, but luckily she's up early today so she can do more vocal exercises before her friend pick her up.

Russian Blue Cat, source.

Maine Coon cat.source

Scottish Fold, source.

Chinchilla Cat, source.

     09.30 a.m, the cats had been fed, dishes washed, the only thing left is to pack for her audition. Luna took out her cute pastel peach backpack, stuffed it with slim fit black t-shirt, small towel, travel-sized toiletries, her trusty throat reliefer (Kaempferia galanga), cat-furr roller, and large bottled water. After getting ready for the audition, Luna did some brief vocal warm ups on the brown suede sectional couch in the living room, surrounded by her cats ; Mimi was sleeping on her lap, Luna's right hand was holding cat toy to play with Tom and Jess, Lucy was just lying around and hugging Luna's left leg. Moments later Luna got a text from her fellow musical actress, her best friend of 12 years, Solbi Choi. Lucy took down the cat toy to grab her phone and read the text : "You ready? I'll pick you up at 10 a.m. Better not to be late on this audition... and make sure your outfit is not heavily coated with cat furs! lol! but seriously, do make sure. See you!" Luna chuckled upon her bestie's text, looked down to her outfit and paused for seconds, it was already coated with furs, especially Mimi's, his bluish grey fur looks obvious on her pastel blue shirt dress. "Oops," typed Luna on her phone before putting it down and going into her room to find another outfit. It was hard to find a set of clothes that were completely furr-free, but somehow she managed to find one; a cute beige bell-sleeve dress. Luna changed into it and spice her look with black and rose gold choker.

    Luna reached her makeup vanity, and by vanity, it is only her tall, whole body standing mirror next to her bed. Luna always travels for her stages across China, Japan, and Korea. She had no time to invest in real vanity table. guess she'll be fine with only acrylic container on the floor next to her tall mirror. She sat down, grabbed a cotton pad, soaked it with toner, and started patting it onto her face.  Because of the lack of time, she skipped her sheet mask routine and just slathered on some moisturizer, UV cream, and then dabbed BB Cream on like a mad. Luna was trying to even out her winged eyeliner when her phone rings again. "Oh God! it must be Solbi." Cried Luna. She hurriedly packed her makeup pouch and decided to put on some liptints on the car.

 - ֎-

     On their way to the audition place, Luna and Solbi didn't talk much. They were busy rehearsing and giving each other's feedback. Only after they reached the place, Solbi said; "Guess what, one of the judges for today's audition is Braydon Lee," then she focused to find an empty parking space, Luna's eyes twinkled, she vividly remembers that perfect figure of Braydon Lee, whose piano performance once had a special place in Luna's heart,
"Do you remember him?"
"You kidding? I have never forgotten him, not even a single second!" said Luna.
"When did the last time you guys met?" asked Solbi. "I think it was four - or five - years ago. On his graduation ceremony, he thanked our choir team for 'singing beautifully and giving courage for him and his friends'. I was so young then, that I didn't really know how to react back. So I just smiled and answered briefly 'No problem. Good luck for everything! As an adult!' or something like that." Solbi laughed and said, "Ah I remember that one. Your face was only a little less red than a steamed crab !" Luna pinched Solbi's hand lightly and then answered, "Yeah that was a little bit awkward, but at least I was noticed by him. I hope he still remembers me after all these time."
"You've changed a lot, you had lost plenty kilograms and changed your hair colour. You did lasik too. I doubt that he will recognize you just by your look. But I believe he will remember your voice," assured Solbi. She had found a nice parking spot., "We're here. Our turn is at 13.00. We still have an hour left. Wanna grab some lunch?"
"Sure!"

     They entered the cafeteria near the audition place. It was a nice semi outdoor place with beautiful garden. When searching for an empty seat, Luna's eyes spotted a cute Japanese Bobtail Kitten sleeping on a bench with his tummy facing up, upper legs folded inwards, covering his eyes. The kitten was too cute that Luna squealed spontaneously and hurriedly going after the cat to pet him,  On the other side of the cat, A young man with lean figure was eating alone in a four-seatter table. It was Braydon Lee. He saw Luna and Solbi, hestitated for seconds, then he smiled and gave a signal for them to join him in the table. Solbi was the one who noticed Braydon's signal, but it was too late. In the speed of a lighting, Luna ran towards the cat, leaving Braydon and Solbi alone in an awkward situation. Being accustomed to her friend's behavior, Solbi quickly got back to her sense, bowing to Braydon apologetically. Braydon, dumbfounded by the situation, smiled at Solbi and made a hand gesture saying that he's okay. Then Braydon finishes his lunch quickly, as he had to get back to his job.

Japanese Bobtail Kitten, source.

     Solbi approached Luna, who had already fully immersed into the cat. Being ignored, Solbi flicked Luna's forehead, "Ouch!" cried Luna. "Heaven's grief, Luna! Now what to do with that poor Braydon?!" Solbi sighed deeply. "Eh? What happened?" asked Luna innocently. "Braydon, that senior you adore, he was here the moments you were distracted by that kitten. He even paused his lunch, about to invite us to join him. But then you fell completely for that kitten. Leaving him, with spoon hanging, eyes wide open, totally puzzled." Luna gasped, then grabbed Solbi's hand, "Wait, what...? Braydon was here?" Solbi made an eye signal, Luna turned back and saw Braydon's lonely-looking back walking away from the cafeteria. "See?" said Solbi. "Oh God... what have I done," said Luna, feeling sorry for both Solbi and Braydon. "Sorry." Said Luna. "Girl I am okay with that, but aren't you lucky? It means that you have reason to approach him!" Answered Solbi jokingly, but then became serious again and said: "You need to apologize, okay? But first, lets grab some snack and something to warms up out vocal chord." "Okay..."
     Luna and Solbi ordered a bowl of salad to share. They need to fill up their stomachs but the portion was too big for one each. At the cashier after paying, Luna saw the perfect spot for them to sit,"Hey Solbi, Lets sit th-"

"hey!"

Luna and Solbi were both flustered, a young man, dressed like Woody Gochild, his blonde, medium length hair tied up into half-ponytail, approached them with big smile. "Sorry, did I interrupt you? Hey, your hair catched my attention! You got some Sansa's swag, eh?" His Busan Dialect called Luna's inner Busan Dialect, "You think so? Thank you! I choose to go for the short version of her hair after her long hair got burnt in that battle at the front bridge of the castle..." Luna and that guy got into a long discussion about the play. Solbi, with her Seoul accent, tried to offer them to take a seat and continue with their sudden fandom gathering. They chatted for some good minutes, switching Busan and Seoul dialects alternatively so that Solbi could join the conversation too. "Here's your order." A waiter delivered Luna and Solbi's order, "Thank you!" Said Luna and Solbi in unison. "What? You guys are expecting another food to come,right? There is no way you girls share this tiny bowl of leaves!" said the guy jokingly "We need to maintain our food intake, you know, its only-" Luna took a look of the clock from her phone, and panicked "OMG! Solbi! We have to go ASAP!" Solbi continues to chew her salad carefully. "Yeah, but let's finish this salad first, my friend." The young guy seems puzzled, "Where are you girls going?" asked the young guy. "We're here for an audition for Red Violin Musical! Thought that you're here for that purpose too?" Asked Luna, her thick eyebrows frowned at that guy. "Me? as a musical artist? Buahahahahaha," The guy stopped his terrifying laugh for seconds when his order came; Jumbo portion of steamed and seasoned potato. "Thanks," said the guy to the waiter, "This is what people should eat, no wonder you girls are so tiny and fragile looking, here, have some steamed potato." said the guy. "No, thanks,umm...?" Solbi tried to answer but she didn't know his name yet, "Oh.. call me T-rekt." "Ahh.. okay, sorry, T-rekt, we need to go to the auditioning hall soon!" Said Solbi as she gulped a mouthful of cherry tomato, onion, and the fish roe.
    Luna and Solbi finished their meal quickly and then saying goodbye to T-rekt, "Hey. I don't know your name!" said the guy, "OMG, my bad! Sorry! I am Luna, Luna Kim and this is Solbi Choi, nice to meet you! See you around soon!" said Luna.
   T-rekt continued eating his potato for a while after Luna and Solbi left the table. After a while, his beeper vibrated, "Dude, you didn't inform me that today's audition is that infamous Red Violin Musical! You know I am a die hard fan of that musical!" T-rekt whispered into the beeper, "You handled it well, I sensed no problem." said the voice across the beeper. "Whatever, give me the cash as you promised soon!" answered T-rekt. "Easy, I am not far from you, just wait for a moment."
    From afar, there's another young man (maybe younger than T-Rekt) with bad haircut underneath his favourite navy coloured beanie. He was peeping inside the cafeteria from the moment Luna and Solbi arrived at the audition hall. After done talking with T-rekt, he changed into another channel, "target locked, boss." said the beanie man through his beeper, "Well done CBR53082. Did you confirm her name??" said the voice from his device.  "Yes,"

"Its Luna Kim."

To be Continued