“I didn’t tell them. I saved up some babysitting money and bought myself a new one. This one, right here.”
She released the pendulum on the second metronome. This time, it ticked with a steady beat.
“I want you to have it though. The messed-up one.” She handed the metronome with the chipped paint to me. “As a souvenir for all those times you had to listen to me practicing.”
“Are you sure?”
She shrugged. “I mean, I have no use for it.”
“Thank you,” I said. I set it carefully on the bookshelf above my desk. It had gotten a bit chilly in the room, so I turned off the AC and opened the window a couple of inches.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“I told you. A souvenir. Of when you listened to me practicing. Something to remember me by.”
“You make it sound like you’re dying,” I joked.
She scoffed. “I am moving across the world though.”
“That’s true,” I said. “But I mean, I can always visit. Or I could drive up to Fargo during the holidays.”
Eunjin didn’t say anything. Maybe she was distracted because she was doing a final sweep of the room. I asked if a couple of the chargers plugged into the wall were hers, and she said no. I sat on the chair in front of the desk and waited for her to finish. She zipped up her backpack and placed it on top of her suitcase. Then, she sat facing me on the bed. We stared at each other for a few seconds. I wondered if this was the moment she would bring up the scarf. When she finally spoke, her voice sounded odd, a bit high-pitched, but I wasn’t sure if it was just me.
“You probably don’t remember this, but…”
“Don’t remember what?”
“You mentioned to me once, a few months ago, that you had purchased pepper spray.”
“I did?” I was afraid to look at her, afraid of what my expression might reveal.
“I almost forgot about it, then after graduation I went back to our text messages and checked.”
“Oh.”
“After you were spit on in the subway. You asked me if I wanted one and I said no.”
“I forgot about that.”
“I don’t think you offered it to Leah or Alex. At least, they never mentioned it.”
“I see.”
“I don’t think you mentioned it to anyone else either.” She looked out the window. “I didn’t mention it to anyone. I won’t mention it to anyone.”
“I…appreciate that. I threw all of them away a while ago.” I wasn’t sure if I had revealed too much.
“That’s probably a good idea.”
Finally, I met her eyes. And as soon as I did, she looked away.
“Eunjin, I—”
But she stopped me before I could finish my thought. Which was good, because I didn’t know what that thought would be.
“I know you’re not evil. You are a lot of things, but not evil. So maybe it’d be better for both of us if we just left it at that?”
I nodded. She unzipped her backpack again, checked that she had her ID, laptop, and wallet. Together we took the elevator down to the lobby, then walked a couple of blocks to the station. I walked with her all the way to the turnstiles. She tapped her phone on the screen, rolled the suitcase under the metal bar, and walked through to the other side. For a moment, I worried she wouldn’t turn around, that this was it, and she would just leave me here to watch as she walked away. But finally, she swiveled her head and looked at me.
