CHAPTER 4

Jihoon squinted his eyes as a ray of sunlight fell directly on his perfectly sculpted face which came through the glass window.

He made himself sit on the bed letting out a loud yawn and warmed his muscles up. He turned his head to know the time from his alarm and it said...

9:15 A.M.

OH...NO...

His eyes wide opened on seeing the time and also as he got reminded of the plans he has for that day.

Without wasting anytime more, he jumped out of the bed and was getting himself ready to California's most favorite place - The Yosemite Park.

******

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK...

One of the topmost popular parks in the city of California, recognized for its huge granite cliffs, graceful waterfalls, clear streams and light-green meadows. It is the must-go-place for every tourists who visit the United States.

After a good half an hour of travel by a cab, he reached his destination safely. He got out of the cab and started to walk so that he can see many wonders of the nature on his way.

Jihoon's face lit up when he saw the wooden board with bold white letters, written as 'YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK WELCOMES YOU' that indicated the entrance of the park.

Jihoon entered the park, his heart brimming with happiness for the nature and the green scenery which laid before his eyes made his heart feel so warm.

The serene view of the nature made him float on cloud nine. He felt so joyous just to stand at the place and witness all the beautiful surroundings. He visited so many exotic places inside the park and he had no words to describe the beauty of the sights he had seen. If truth be told, he felt himself one with the nature.

Also, for this very reason, he loved his job very much.

He unzipped his backpack, taking out a high resolution camera to click the amazing view he had been viewing. He spent the whole day in the park because had no wish to leave the place anytime sooner.

But still, he has to walk out as the time allotted for the visitors has been up. Jihoon really had a fantabulous day in the Yosemite Park. The tall green trees, the still water in the ponds, the chriping sounds of birds and to mention, the warm gentle breeze all made him doubt for a second whether he was in paradise.

He started his journey back to his apartment around four in the evening. He determined himself to write the draft for the report in the evening while going through some of the pictures which he had clicked in the park.

Let me send some pictures to the friends group chat!

He mumbled to himself and pulled out his phone from the pocket.

Jihoon felt delighted seeing the texts of his friends popping up on the screen. He always felt grateful for having such wonderful people as friends in his life.

He had a simple snack after coming back to his apartment. He was trying his best to write a report of the park which he visited few hours ago.

He slided through the pictures in his phone gallery once again hoping that he would find some words to describe what he saw and how he felt to be there.

To his disappointment, his brain did not seem to function at that time. He felt so done and decided to play some games and take a small nap so that he will feel refreshed to start his work again.

********

The sun became warmer and spread its golden rays across the dusky sky announcing the end of the day.

Anna was still in her cafeteria and was so surprised of not hearing Katie's 'take care of the café' that she always hears almost everyday.

Though Anna was satisfied with the job that she is doing, these days, she felt really weary and felt done of the things happening around in the café.

Suddenly, Anna heard the dragging sound of a stool, indicating that someone is about to leave as usual they always do.

"Anna, I'm leaving. Take care of -"

"KATIE!"

Anna raised her voice for the very first time at Katie.

Katie was so shocked that the reticent Anna whom she has been seeing for years has become bolder all of a sudden.

"Stay here till your shift is over", Anna said sternly.

"What happened to you all of a -"

"Stay. Here. I. Said"

"Who are you to command me, huh?!"

Katie was extremely angry at the moment as it was clearly reflected on her face.

"Your comrade. Your fellow worker."

On one side, Katie was terrified that she might get fired from her job, if Anna notifies what Katie does to the manager. To safeguard herself, she texted immediately to her boyfriend, John to arrive to the café as soon as possible.

John arrived there within few minutes, panicking something bad happened to his beloved girlfriend.

"Katie! Babe, are you alright?"

Katie being a mastermind did not want to let this moment go to teach Anna a lesson for raising her voice against her. The thing is, she did not even respect Anna as her co-worker.

Clearly, she was looking for chances to take revenge on Anna. She initiated her drama by letting out a loud cry and ran to her boyfriend.

"Hey Katie, why are you weeping, baby?", John asked her not being aware of her scam.

"J...John, she hit me with her goddamn filthy hands!"

"Wh...What?! Did you hit her??", John questioned in a dominating voice which made Anna get panicked for a second.

"What's happening here? Why would I hit her?"

"Katie would not be crying, if you hadn't done something!"

Anna realized that even if she wanted to justify her arguments, it would be vain. She felt so powerless to stand there at the moment.

"APOLOGIZE TO KATIE"

Anna was dumbfounded when she heard what John commanded her to do. Anna is a woman of self-esteem though she obeyed her senior all these years.

"But I didn't..."

Katie was so persistent this time to chase Anna out from the job. She whispered something into John's ears making Anna understand that she's plotting against her.

"If I come to know that you bother my Katie anymore, I can't stand it and you'll meet the consequences."

Ha... you y'all are speaking all this knowing that I don't have someone to stand by me, right?

Anna could not stand all these as she's a sensitive person; she was becoming too emotional.

Some customers were heading to the café at this time and it was even more embarrassing to Anna.

She grabbed her bag and strode off the café, slamming the door behind her.

She took quick steps as if she needed to go somewhere to find comfort. Her teary eyes made her vision blurry, making her uneasy to walk faster.

I walked out so quick from the café, didn't I?

Anna asked herself.

She asked herself because she was making up her mind to give up on the only one job she had to fill her stomach.

Why is this everything happening to me alone??

She ran to the place where she always goes to escape from the reality, where she lets her worry to fly away like a dust - yes, the small park where she goes all evening.

********

After a small nap, Jihoon came directly to the park as he felt that the calm surroundings will help him to write. With a pen in his hand and a notebook on the other, he started writing the report.

As he was writing, he was reminded of the last evening. The gentle breeze, the rustle of green leaves, birds chirping and....Anna. The memories of Anna sitting beside him nervously flooded back making him let out a chuckle.

As he was about to pack his stuffs and get going, he heard some low-pitched muffles coming from behind the tree near the bench.

Jihoon did not want to bother about it but still he felt that something's wrong in the air. He took some steps near the tree and saw a small figure of a woman crouching down, crying, burying her face in her tiny hands.

Those hands...

IT'S ANNA!

Jihoon identified that it was Anna but was still hesitant to enquire the reason for her wailing. As for Anna, she didn't know someone was standing nearby.

Should I ask her what happened?