A few days after our trip to the gym I arrive home after another day of classes and find a large cardboard package outside my apartment. I pick it up and examine it, the address is correct and…it’s addressed to Chen. Despite its size the box feels particularly light and I toss and catch it a couple times as I bring it inside.
“Chen!” I call as I walk in. No response. I walk to his door and knock a couple times. “Chen!” Still no response. I try pounding against the door with a closed fist a few times. Then I directly try the door only to find that it’s locked. He’s probably either sleeping, so absorbed in his writing he can’t hear me, or out. I shrug and turn back to the package. It isn’t mine but…
Several minutes later I’m slicing the tape and opening the cardboard to find…a jumbo pack of Lays, Doritos, Fritos, Chitos, and Funyuns. My mind immediately turns to Chen’s words from his first day coming here: “well…I have chips”.
So this is what he means by “chips”? My mind immediately conjures pictures of Chen sitting in his room, haphazardly munching on nothing but chips for days on end and I frown.
When I was younger my parents were fairly restrictive in what I ate, we rarely had typical sodas, chips,…etc. and even at Patti’s (Grandma’s) I usually just ate whatever she made me with the closest thing being homemade banana chips or Indian sweets. Furthermore, in middle school I became obsessed with playing soccer and in high school when I became team captain and the primary forward, I especially began to watch my diet. Now, although I may not play soccer anymore, I really do love my abs. I lightly pat my firm, muscled, stomach before turning back to the chips.
If that’s all he eats…not only is it unhealthy but he’s never going to put on any muscle, even if he does work out like we did at the gym. My mind goes back to the scene where we first met. He was all soft and squishy, nothing hard to speak of. I blink. Timeout, why does that sound so weird…?
“…is there anything to eat?” A drowsy voice sounds after Chen opens his door with a click. He’s in an oversized fluffy orange sweater and his hair is all mussed up. Upon exiting the door, his eyes catch sight of the chips and they alight. He plods forward in fuzzy yellow slippers, reaching for the box. Before I have time to process my actions I grab the box and lift it out of the reach of his slightly more than five feet height. He stops short, a vaguely puzzled expression on his face, mixed with the drowsy one. His full lips lightly part and he blinks his large, limpid eyes.
“…Ram?” His voice is milky and soft, I feel a shiver go down my spine. I vigorously shake my head a couple times before turning my gaze to meet Chen’s.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Pr atlr jii sbe fja?”
“Qtj…?” P rtjxf atf ybz j mbeqif alwfr mjerlcu atf mtlqr lcrlvf ab gjaaif. Ktfc P cjggbk ws fsfr ja tlw.
“P jrxfv, lr atlr jii sbe fja? Gb sbe xcbk tbk yjv atlr qgbmfrrfv raeoo lr obg sbe? P wfjc, la’r olcf jr ibcu jr sbe fja reoolmlfca qgbaflc jcv nlajwlcr jr kfii, tbkfnfg, lo sbe’gf pera ublcu ab ilnf bc atlr lc sbeg gbbw sbe’gf cfnfg ublcu ab qea bc jcs wermif. Megatfgwbgf, atlr’ii mjerf tfjiat mbwqilmjalbcr lc atf oeaegf.” Jtfc bqfcr jcv mibrfr tlr wbeat j mbeqif alwfr, raeccfv. Ktfc tlr ojmf oiertfr.
“What right do you have to lecture me?”
“The right that you’re living in my apartment.”
“This isn’t your apartment! You may have originally been the one living here but now we share the rent! Furthermore, even if we’re living together what gives you the right to control my actions?!”
“Do you know how terrible this junk is for you?! I’ve seen how you spend days, sometimes longer, holed up in your room with nothing but your chips! You don’t exercise nor eat healthy! Do you know how horrible this is for you?! It’s behaviors like this-“
Chen lunges, grabbing the box from my hands then, swift as a rabbit, he darts back into his room.
“-that result in complications and illnesses which can be deadly.” I finish to the empty room, my voice growing softer with each word. I turn and press my forehead against the fridge and groan, low and throaty in the back of my throat. It’s none of your business what he eats Ram. It’s none of your business what it does to him. Who is he to you? Just a roommate. Leave him be. It’s none of your business, none of your business- nasal cannulas, white white walls, hospital beds– I groan again, then turn back around towards Chen’s room.
I stand outside it, close my eyes, and sigh. Then I open them and knock once. No response. Of course. However, I hear something thud within the room so he should be able to hear me.
“Chen? You can hear me right? I wanted to say,” I close my eyes again and inhale sharply, “I’m sorry. You’re right. I don’t have the right to tell you what to do. I-” I what? I was saying it for your own good? I know what’s best for you? I’m not his parents. What possible right do I have to say such things?
“-I’m sorry. It was-it was a bit of a personal issue but that still doesn’t give me the right to have yelled at you like that. Can you forgive me?” No response. “I won’t do it again.” Still nothing. “I’m going to cut the watermelon you bought. I’ll leave a slice right here and go to my room, okay-“
The door opens. Chen stands there, his face slightly flushed and eyes discernibly red. He looks right at me and says quietly “you were a bastard just then.”
“I was.”
“You don’t have the right to tell me what to do.”
“I don’t, I’m sorry-“
“Watermelon?”
“Ah…right here!” I grab a knife then quickly make my way over to the watermelon on the counter. In my haste, I trip over the rug and my whole body pitches forward, my forehead hitting the watermelon with a resounding thwack! Thankfully, I manage to use my arms to somewhat stabilize myself before I do any further damage however I feel a burst of pain from my forehead and dizziness overtakes me.
“Owwwwww!” I groan clutching my head.
“Are-are you okay??!” Chen quickly comes forward, then he stops short. As my vision clears I glance in the direction of his dumbfounded expression curiously.
“Wha-” I follow his gaze to peer at the watermelon. There’s a large crack winding all the way down the center from where my head made contact. I blink. My head split a watermelon. Then Chen starts to giggle. It soon transforms into full blown laughter. I join him and we both laugh till we’re breathless.
“What…was..that…so…weird! Your head…is so…hard!” Chen chokes out amid his giggles.
“I didn’t know it was that hard either!” I respond, helplessly.
Once we finish laughing, we decide to finish cutting the already open watermelon. We chat about the worst and best professors, what we’ll miss when we graduate, etc. as we munch on the melon slices. Neither of us mentions the chip incident.
Thanks for the chapter!!
Oh no Chen… his parents sounds like helicopter parents damn. And poor Ram, his patti’s death (??) Must have hit hard.
Thanks for the chapter € ^ *^)/// ~~ ♡♡♡♡♡