The Life Of Normal-Taro

"I feel like you are deviating from the topic here. It sounded like the plan to having me live here was nothing more than a pipe dream up until now." Park spoke with a serious tone.

"Nah, man. It was nothing big like that. There were small hiccups, but…" Taro was interrupted mid sentence by his best friend.

"Like?"

"Huh?" Taro gave out a confused look at Sinyim.

"I asked you to elaborate those small hiccups." Park spoke.

"Well, our caretaker rejected it first. Then his superior rejected it. And to top it all off, I expected his superior to reject it as well. However, surprisingly he accepted and he's a guy I don't vibe with at all. So, I guess that's a weird set of circumstances." Taro shrugged.

"So, what you're saying is that you betrayed my trust by making false promises to me but now everything is fine and dandy?" Park asked again.

"Well, that would be the case, yes." Taro nodded his head.

"Wow! I don't even hear a bit of remorse from your voice right now. You don't feel bad for betraying my trust, huh? Or have you been doing this for a long time since our days back in Wados that you don't feel anything by now?" Park asked as his voice cracked under the emotional display.

"Oh, no! That's not the case. Of course not. It's just that all's well that ends well, right?" Taro asked with a smiling face.

"Is that so? Dude, I've had enough of you now. I thought we were friends." Park shed a tear from his eye as he spoke.

"Bruh, why are you being so emotional about? I don't understand. It's not that big of a deal! I mean, this is the second time I'm seeing someone act like this since I reached Earth. And to think that it would be my best friend is just… weird as hell." Taro spoke.

"You still don't understand what I'm trying to say now, do you?" Park asked with a pitiful look on his face.

"Nah, I do understand. I betrayed your trust just this one time and it's not like I stabbed you in the back or anything. I just said a simple lie that would make everyone involved in it happy. And that's exactly what happened. So, why is it that I've got to hear the tale of betrayal, such a heavy word at that, for something trivial that had a happy ending?" Taro asked.

"Understand this. Don't quantize everything into huge and trivial. A lie is a lie. And I wouldn't have been this pissed off if you just went on to apologise to me once. But no, you're just so adamant about proving you're right that you don't even have the time to do that." Park scoffed as he gave out a reply to Taro's question.

"Well, if you don't want me to quantize it into huge and trivial, then don't quantize… Shoot, somehow I'm not able to think up any witty remarks. Had I though of it, I would've dished you with it by now." Taro replied.

"Ha, this shit happens every single time, huh? I talk about something serious regarding you and you manage to brush it off like nothing by using deception. But that ain't gonna happen this time. I would like a proper answer from you." Park strained on that term in particular.

"Hmm? What are you even talking about?" Taro asked with a surprised look on his face.

"You didn't get it? Well, I'll explain. Just now, when you talked about not having a witty remark in your mind, you thought that I'd counter that, didn't you?" Sinyim asked as the surprise in Taro's face grew even more.

"Well… You can't prove that!" Taro argued.

"I don't have to. I didn't talk about it because I wanted to prove something to you. You asked me a question and this is my answer. So, if you're that insecure about it that you gotta ask proof from me, then I don't even know what to say next." Park replied.

"It isn't insecurity. I'm just baffled by the false claim." Taro spoke.

"False claim, huh? Sure. Take it as such. I'll just move on with my point. As I was saying, you expected me to counter so that you could move on with the topic. A usual tactic that you use, I just pointed it out this once. Anyhow, with that out of the window, you're acting oblivious to it hoping that I would just toss this talk aside…. And to hell with it, I'm gonna grant your wish of tossing that conversation aside, by not having any sorts of conversation with you at all. That fine with you?" Park asked as he moved away from Taro.

"Wait a minute! I didn't mean it like that. Just listen to me, will ya?" Taro tried grabbing Park, but Sinyim tossed his hand aside.

"Still not apologizing. Why do I even listen to the shit you spout?" Park sighed as he successfully moved away from his friend.

"Goddamn it. Why is he being like this?" Taro mumbled as he passed by someone who actually managed to hear his mumbling.

"What happened?" It was Thankappan who posed the question towards the frustrated Taro.

"Well, Park just… wait a minute! Weren't you the one that told me that you've got stuff to do?" Taro asked with a suspicious look on his face.

"Well, I had something to do. But I did it already. So now I don't have that. Simple as that." Thankappan shrugged.

"Well, I can see that you're lying through your teeth, but I'll forgive you this one time because I want someone to talk with as well." Taro spoke.

"Damn it! How come you know exactly when I lie about something?" Thankappan asked. "You know even legit experts fail to guess when I'm lying about something." He spoke, with pride filled in his tone.

"Oh, come on! Really? Who are you kidding, huh? I mean, who's gonna fall prey for such an obvious lie that you displayed just moments before?" Taro asked.

"Well, the circumstances were not right then, so I made up a bad lie." The MIB agent shrugged.

"Well, anyone's a good liar when the conditions are favourable to them." The Wadorian replied, giving out a knowing look.

"Yea, I guess that's the case. I simply can't deny that." Thankappan nodded his head along at that. "So, now that you've forgiven me for lying, are you gonna tell me about it?" He asked.

"Ain't no one forgiven you…. Wait, yes… It's a trivial thing, isn't it?" Taro asked.

Thankappan didn't expect it to be a "question" question, so he didn't answer initially. However as few seconds passed and there was no reply, he realised the deal behind the question.

"Oh, that was an actual question! Then yes. It was a trivial thing." Thankappan answered.

"Great! I forgive you then." Taro smiled as he patted on the MIB agent's shoulder.

"You seem really happy with that." Thankappan spoke.

"Of course! This directly lines with the dilemma I am facing." Taro spoke.

"And that is?"

"Trivial things like breaking the trust of another person should be forgiven, right?" Taro asked.

"Oh, boy! I don't think breaking someone's trust could be considered a trivial thing." Thankappan shrugged.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. It's more like a help, you know? Me lying to someone to help them. Isn't that good?" Taro asked.

"Well, if it helps them then… Who am I to ask?" Thankappan spoke.

"Right? Right? This is exactly what I said to him! But for some reason, it became a tale of betrayal and such." Taro sighed.

"Well, you lied to your friend. So, no matter what, that would be considered as a breach of trust, right?" Thankappan asked.

"Et tu, Brute?" Taro cried as he saw the MIB agent betray his trust as well.

"Well, I don't think he's wrong about what he said. You shouldn't lie to your friends, you know?" Thankappan spoke.

"Wait, I've seen you lie to Lonappan a plethora of times. Doesn't that count as betraying your friend as well?" Taro asked.

"Nah, bruv. There's a distinct difference between that case and your case. I'm not lying to Lonappan, my friend, instead I'm lying to Lonappan, my superior. So, I'm breaching the trust of my superior. Big difference between them." Thankappan spoke.

"So, you think I should apologise as well?" Taro asked.

"Oh, boy! Tell me you're kidding. You really didn't apologise to him?" Thankappan asked with a shocked look on his face.

"Well, I thought that there was nothing wrong with what I did, so I didn't apologise." Taro spoke.

"Then I'm gonna tell you this one thing. The first thing you do after you end this conversation is to go to your friend and properly apologise to him. That's the only way you can salvage your friendship. Everyone thinks that their point is the right one, but that necessarily isn't the case. You hurt his feelings, you gotta apologise. Got it?" Thankappan asked.

"Got it." Taro nodded his head but the slight hesitation was clearly visible to the MIB agent.

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