Chapter 31: Arrived just in time.
Ophelia harrumphed and finally let go of me. I stood back straight and took a few breath to calm myself, only when I was done did I give her an annoyed stare.
" You know I never took you for a bully and to think that of all the people you'd tried to hurt, it'd be me." Ophelia simply scoffed at my words and began sauntering off.
' Just what on earth happened to her since the last time we meet, it's like she's more than a completely different person... Almost like she isn't even human.'
I knew that telling Noona about this wouldn't end well and Ophelia knew it as well, after all, if I involved her, it would only stress her out, something the both of us knew I never wanted to happen.
" Fine then... If you truly want to be this way... Don't say I didn't warn you." I muttered beneath my breath just as she closed the door to her room.
******
' If I want to get back at Ophelia, it has to be something big but not too big...' I thought as I stroked my chin, only for my eyes to widen briefly.
' Maybe a simple prank should put the little midget back in her place.' I thought to myself, my lips arching into a soft smile.
My mind couldn't help recalling the fun times we shared together, where she'd tried to prank me but unfortunately, Ophelia was an amateur because every time she did, I could spot her pranks a mile away.
' And yet I always kept falling for them.' I chuckled to myself. ' I really do miss the little midget even though she's all grown up now.' I said, before taking out my phone and going to a domestic online shop.
' But even adults need to be taken down a peg or two on occasion.' me being the remorseful friend I was, decided to make a few small orders.
The afternoon bled away, marked by the slow crawl of sunlight across the floor and the low murmur of some forgettable TV series I had on for background noise. I was half-dozing on the massive sectional or like I liked to call it, the couch, lulled by it's comfy nature and the sheer emotional exhaustion of the day, when I suddenly heard a sound I hadn't expected.
Knock-knock.
Two crisp, polite raps on the apartment's front door drew me out of my partial slumber.
My eyes snapped open. A minute surge of adrenaline, clean and sharp, chased away my fatigue. 'Oh. Looks like it's finally here. Well, that was fast.' A predatory smile touched my lips. The anticipation felt like a fizzy, guilty pleasure in my chest.
Sure it was somewhat stupid and a bit juvenile, but, This was exactly what I needed.
Getting up from the couch, my muscles protesting, I left the glowing TV and its oblivious characters behind. I padded across the cool concrete floor to the heavy door, my heart beating a quick, excited rhythm against my ribs. I took a deep breath, smoothed my expression into one of casual expectation, and pulled the door open.
' First impressions are everything.' I said to myself.'
A delivery guy in a standard-issue uniform stood there, holding a small, nondescript cardboard box with a bored expression on his face. "You ordered the package?" he asked, his voice flat with professional detachment.
"I sure did," I replied, my smile genuine now. I reached out and took the box from him. It was lighter than I expected.
"I'll need you to sign here, then." He produced an electronic tablet and a stylus.
"Don't mind if I do." I took the stylus, and wrote down my signature, which looked like a quick, messy scrawl on the glowing screen. My actions suggested that I was eager for him to be gone, and for the alchemy of the prank I had planned to begin.
"Okay, that's everything." He retrieved his gear, gave a perfunctory tip of his cap. "Hope you enjoy your package, sir."
"Oh, I intend to," I murmured, more to myself than to him. He turned and headed for the elevators, his job done.
I stepped back inside, the apartment door closing behind me with a solid, satisfying thud.
I leaned back against it, the cool wood pressing into my spine. For a moment, I simply stood there, the cardboard box held in both hands, trembling slightly not with fear, but with a giddy, almost childlike anticipation. The sterile, elegant space of the Lee apartment felt charged with the possibility of harmless chaos.
"What's that?"
The voice, cool and unmistakable, sliced through my reverie like a shard of ice. Every muscle in my body stiffened. My head snapped up only to see that the one who'd spoken was non other than Ophelia.
She stood, Leaning against the kitchen island with a casualness that was utterly deceptive, one eyebrow arched in a perfect expression of bored curiosity. She must have emerged from her room like a phantom. How long had she been standing there, watching me? The thought sent a chill down my spine that had nothing to do with the prank.
'What's she doing out of her room? And why now, of all times?' The timing felt cosmically unfair.
I forced a nonchalant shrug, trying to hide the box behind my leg, a futile gesture. "It's nothing that should concern you," I said, my voice carefully neutral. I met her gaze, and a spark of the earlier anger flared. I let it show, just a little. "Wouldn't want you breaking it like you almost did my arm." I punctuated the sentence with an unhappy, pointed glare.
My internal monologue was less restrained. 'Darn midget. Always showing up at the worst possible moment.' I couldn't help secretly panicking that she'd already seen through my plans and was just giving me the benefit of the doubt. The last thing I wanted was to lose in such a manner.