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For Kyung, since she could navigate the world on her own, never had she felt the simple joy of being given a birthday gift. Maybe it was because her parents provided her with everything she needed that it wasn’t necessary to ask for more. It was also her self-expectations that she didn’t allow herself to demand anything from others, because she felt that she wasn’t good enough to be gifted anything.
Every year, her birthday comes and goes, and she just grows older. 18 years of that same routine, 18 years of being given food, shelter, and the best environment to thrive in, isn’t that enough? She never thought she was worthy of expressing her own thoughts and expressions in those 18 years she was alive. For Kyung, the only way to deal with unnecessary feelings are to bottle them up and store them on a shelf in her time hall — the hall she could never turn back and actually see what those jars really contain.
It’s true that old habits die hard. Although not living with her parents anymore, which means more people her age, more who can understand her, more who can relate to her, it’s still difficult to open up to others.
People say she’s like a child of Ares: competitive, egoistic and a sore loser. But for Kyung, she bonds with this war god not because of his characteristics but the fact that he was once trapped in an indestructible bronze jar. She feels exactly like him, locked inside a cage of her own feelings as unreachable as Otus and Ephialtes’ jar.
She doesn’t know how long she has been there, like she doesn’t know how long she has been waiting for her Hermes to come and save her from this captivity. Gods, if Hermes is so fast and cunning, then why isn’t he here already?
Does she want to screw the jar lid open and free herself? Oh yes she does. Why wouldn’t she? But she simply can’t. Because she’s the jar herself.
She’s so spineless and dependent on others’ thoughts that nobody could tell that she’s majoring in law at university. Courts and cases are all about legal arguments. If she can’t even decide what to have for dinner, then what debates could she possibly win? So spineless to the point that the person sitting in front of Yeri isn’t a smart young lady but more likely a fan which goes with the wind's direction.
Yeri lies flatly on the bed doing absolutely nothing while her roommate is busy getting used to the pace of college life. She was mindlessly scrolling through social media when a notification popped up: tomorrow was Kyung’s birthday.
Wait, tomorrow? Oh heavens, she thought it wasn’t for another month. Why was she so forgetful and indifferent? Still, even if it were her 18th birthday, an important milestone that marks her maturity, she would still be buried in those books and papers like it was just an ordinary school day. Would she ever take her head out of her desk for once?
Yeri sighed, brows furrowing. She was technically a criminal, yes, but that doesn't make her a bad friend! She will give Kyung the birthday she deserved, especially her 18th. And she knew exactly what she should do.
(*)
The morning light crept through the blinds, waking a sleeping Kyung from her slumber. She was instantly hit with severe back pain from sitting on the desk for too long, but the comfortable bed and pillows did help to sooth it.
“Ow! What the-”
The birthday girl took her precious time to get used to the sunlight and reached for her phone on the stall to check the time. Weird, she didn’t remember leaving it there last night, or charging it.
The numbers blinked 2 p.m. That took a while for her to process. Was she supposed to have college today? After a quick check into her schedule, yes. She missed it all.
Kyung muttered a curse under her breath. There’s nothing she could do anyway. Maybe she should sleep some more…
“Kyungie! Good morning, did you sleep well?”
Ah, she was reminded that she has a really loud roommate. Kyung made a mental note that this was not a great start to her adult life.
“Sorry for not waking you up earlier, but you needed that sleep. I was the one to drag you off that desk at 3 in the morning, no need to thank me.”
Yeri grinned at her, feeling extremely proud of herself. She sat herself down on the bed, trying to act as if she was busy thinking while she’s already got all planned in her fox brain.
“You call this morning, Yeri? Typical.”
Kyung threw in an insult but didn’t forget to add an inaudible “have you eaten anything yet?” at the end of her sentence.
Yeri shrugged:
“No, I haven’t. My morning shift at the cafe had just ended, and I came home to a sleep-deprived university student snoring like she had never before.”
She paused for a moment when she heard a weak “Hey, I don’t snore!” before continuing
I was thinking maybe we could grab lunch together, then maybe go somewhere after that? It’s not like you do anything about your missed lecture anyway, so why take a day off?”
It was exactly what Kyung needed — something to take her mind of the piles of work lying on her desk, even if it were just fr a day. But of course, she wouldn’t admit it and groaned
“Your choice”
No more than 20 minutes later, the 2 young women were idly walking down the pavement leading to a small local cafe. Kyung heard that the food is great, but she never had the chance to try it for herself.
They were led to a small table after entering the cafe. Yeri thoroughly scanned the menu, then asked Kyung what would she want.
“Uhh, maybe I’ll get the fried rice? No, wait, I’ll have the noodles, thank you. But the rice also sounds good though…”
Kyung was still choosing what she wanted to eat when Yeri finished ordering. The former turned to her, asking for advice:
“Yeri-ah, what should I have? All of these look so good, I can’t decide!”
Finally, after some time, Kyung ended up with a small rice cake portion.
The food really was good, she should come here more often, Kyung thought to herself. It wasn’t just the food that she liked; she also enjoyed the time spent with Yeri, just sitting there in silence and eating their respective meals, occasionally dropping a comment about the quality of the meal. It was quiet, yes, but it felt soothing and comfortable in the simplest way.
Then came the cake.
Kyung never suspected a thing. She just brushed it off as dessert after their light lunch.
That day was easily the best day she’d ever have. They went to many places Kyung never got to experience because the bob-haired girl was too engaged in winning first place in school. It was that moment that she realized how much of life she was missing out on.
You can easily spot them in the city. They went to see that new movie, fed the fish and ducks at the local park, and wandered Seoul to find street food stalls. Little by little, throughout the day, the bronze jar appeared subtle cracks. Not enough to break out from it, but plenty to notice the changes
“Wow! The movie was certainly really good! I really liked how he transformed into a cool superhero, definitely my favourite scene.”
“Ah! The fish splashed water at me!”
“You should really try this, Yeri, it’s really good!”
Never had Kyung seemed so carefree and joyful. She doesn’t look so soulless and machine-like right now, but rather resembles a happy child trying new things.
“Yeri, thank you for this wonderful day. It is actually my first time doing all this, you know. I really appreciate it.”
They stood silently under the dim moonlight on their apartment balcony, enjoying the busy night life under them and the tranquil starry sky above them.
“So maybe this is what a birthday should feel like…” Kyung muttered to herself.
They stayed quiet for a while, before Yeri laughed lightly, reaching out to give Kyung a bear hug:
“Happy birthday, genius. You think I dragged you out here for nothing? Well, you were absolutely wrong.”
Being ambushed by the taller girl, Kyung didn’t do anything but stay there, face stuffed in her hoodie, letting Yeri hug her tightly.
The jar finally broke because Hermes finally cared enough to come and release Ares from the jar. Ares never knew her messenger god was that near, and that close to her.
Never had Kyung been given a birthday gift, but this year was an exception. She finally hugged Yeri back, an action that shows Yeri she adores her just as much as the other one does.