The bright neon lights illuminated the darkened streets, casting a glow over the city’s night.
As Dylan swirled the glass and sipped the wine, he felt inexplicably restless.
While drinking the wine and staring blankly at the neon-lit street, Lola’s face kept flashing before his eyes.
After finishing the wine in the glass, he returned to the living room, but his gaze instinctively drifted toward the living room sofa and the kitchen.
It felt as if Lola were right there.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have sent her to Ireland?’
He poured a little more wine into the glass, feeling a twinge of regret.
However, seeing her earnest face as she prepared delicious food for him and expressed her desire to attend the seminar, he couldn’t flatly refuse.
He couldn’t oppose her efforts to gain his permission, no matter how much he wanted to.
“I didn’t want to be apart from you for even a moment.”
Holding the glass, Dylan approached the sofa and sat down with his legs crossed.
When he noticed his phone on the table, he reached out. He set the glass down momentarily and picked up the phone, narrowing his eyes. Then he began typing a message.
[How was the seminar? Was it fun?]
A reply came almost immediately.
-Thanks to you, I enjoyed Dr. Peter’s lecture. I think it will be a good experience for me in the future.
[That’s a relief.]
They were chatting in real-time.
-Did you have dinner, Dear?
[Just a little.]
-Did you eat out?
[Yeah.]
-The food outside isn’t that great.
[True.]
Dylan sent a sad face emoji along with his message, just like last time.
-I’m sorry.
This time, she sent a message apologizing again, and Dylan didn’t know how to respond, so he just sent a sad face emoji instead.
Suddenly, Lola called.
Dylan cleared his throat a couple of times before pressing the answer button.
“Yeah.”
Upon his response, a worried voice came through the receiver.
-Dear, is something bad happening?
“Why do you ask that?”
-Because you’ve been sending sad emojis often, I was worried something might have happened.
“Ah!”
Dylan nodded as if he understood something.
I think I’ve become accustomed to the food you make.
Food eaten outside is tasteless, and not being able to eat your cooking leaves me feeling empty.
Without you here, my heart feels hollow and empty.
But since I didn’t know how to express those feelings, I sent a sad emoji instead, even though Dylan said something completely different.
“These days, people send those emojis at the drop of a hat. Is it the latest popular emoji?”
-Oh, okay. As long as nothing’s wrong, that’s good. It’s getting late, so you should go to bed soon.
“Yeah.”
-Good night, Dear.
“Yeah.”
After hanging up, Dylan’s feeling of emptiness still didn’t improve.
Not letting go of his phone, Dylan frowned and sent a message to Gia, who was acting as his spy.
[Are you sleeping? Can we talk?]
Gia must have been checking her phone in real-time because she called back immediately. Soon, her bright and bouncy voice came through.
-Wow! Dear seems to be contacting me more often these days. But what’s the reason for your call this time?
She never fails to ask questions.
Dylan frowned and asked, “Didn’t you go to the seminar?”
-I couldn’t go today and tomorrow because I have duty. But Lola went to the seminar. Wow! What’s going on? Our Dear sent Lola to the seminar.
“I’m not that narrow-minded of a guy.”
In truth, he was regretting sending Lola to the seminar and was cursing himself, but Dylan spoke with bravado.
“Did that Kent guy go too?”
He assumed Gia would naturally think he went to the seminar.
After an unexpected answer, Dylan asked just to be sure.
-Well, I didn’t see Professor Kent all day. Did he go with them?
She was being annoyingly teasing.
Dylan’s lips twisted in displeasure.
-But what should I do? Since I can’t go to the seminar this time, I can’t act as a spy. Aren’t you worried about sending Lola alone? Don’t you feel uneasy?
“I told you I’m not a narrow-minded guy.”
From the other end of the line, Gia’s laughter echoed, followed by her voice.
-Don’t you miss Lola?
I do.
I miss Lola.
I’m worried too.
As Dylan was trying to suppress his longing for her, Gia’s probing question finally broke his patience.
He realized that this feeling of emptiness and loneliness was actually longing.
He was going crazy wanting to see her, but what could he do?
-Dylan, are you listening?
When Dylan remained silent, Gia asked if the call had dropped.
“I got it. I’ll order pizza for you, so enjoy it.”
-Dylan, what nonsense is this all of a sudden? Didn’t you call me for a reason?
True.
It was correct that he called Gia for something.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
Dylan felt a sudden urgency,
-Dylan….
Gia was chattering on the other end, but he quickly hung up.
He first ordered the pizza and then began looking for tickets to Ireland.
If he wanted to see her, he could just go see her.
Isn’t it even better that tomorrow and the day after are the weekend?
A comfortable smile finally spread across Dylan’s face as he searched for flight tickets to Ireland Island.
