Tsukemen, a study.

A quaint looking ramen joint on one of the richer sides of the city, you can see the yuppies coming and going, checking out the place that draws the crowds of Japanese expats. They come for the hot soup, the cold noodles, and a cold beer to beat the heat of the summer and the dread of the day that was; to see from the inside whatever it is that they came here for, and to feel like they are on the outside and elsewhere, still.

Me, I came for the food. I try to make it a point to find the best place to grab a bowl of Ramen in town. A friend brought me here so we could catch up with some of our other old fiends. Some we haven’t seen in over a year. It’s convenient, you see, this place being so close to where they work, where they’ve been pouring their energies for the past year, so that they wouldn’t have to be bothered by the schedule. Not that I mind right now, I’m on summer break. I still have those, and will continue to have them for the next few years as I a void joining the labor force for a little longer.

Something strange though. It’s always good seeing old friends for the first time in a long while. It seems everyone looks good on their first year out of college. Some get a new perfect haircut, others hit the gym and bulk up, others lose weight, others just look drop-dead gorgeous (not like they didn’t used to). And we’re all just happy to be standing in the same room again together, breathing the same air. It kind of makes you lose sight of how horrible the last year must have been for some of them.

Almost everyone hates their first job. Some dreams are dying, others are already dead, and the same thing goes for innocence. Some have come close to having their lives ruined at the threat of getting arrested abroad, others have already faced death, getting robbed inside a cab with a gun pointed to his head. Some hearts are crushed, pieces of themselves scattered, while others are terrified by the songs of angels, making their souls tremble.

And yet, here we all are laughing at petty jokes, never paying any mind for far too long, just enjoying the night over a bowl of warm soup, some cold noodles and a good cold beer. Because as the year went, so the next will go. And all these horrible memories have come and gone, they reside inside of us, only in our thoughts. And maybe with them there’s still something to be found, but as we laugh at each other, our happiness it is on the outside and elsewhere, still.