Director's Cut

The start of the second semester is near. My first summer break as a university student feels shorter compared to when I was in high school and earlier. Not because it’s actually a few days shorter, but due to me being so busy that I didn’t really feel like I had a break.

While I did spend a couple days having fun at the beach and I went back to my hometown to laze around my family’s home for a week, the rest of my days have been spent working at my part-time job. Basically, the majority of my summer break wasn’t used to having an actual break. You could even argue my part-time job isn’t even part-time anymore.

Regardless, as the saying goes, time waits for no one. The summer break ending was a fact that I could not escape. So, in order to shift gears and mentally prepare for it, I decided to have my haircut.

Generally, when I was in high school, I tended to keep my hair to a short bob at most as I found it distracting while playing volleyball if it’s any longer. Even when I tied it to a ponytail, I found the way it sweeps around the back of my neck a bit unsettling. The momentum of the swings was throwing me off-balance as well, although I knew full well the physics of it actually doing so is impossible. Not to mention, it’s kind of a pain to try to remember to bring hair ties daily as I like to have my hair down when I'm not playing.

But, since starting uni, as I haven’t joined my university’s volleyball team or have been involved in any kind of sports club for that matter, I’ve let my hair grow longer. Actually, I haven’t had it cut since retiring from my high school volleyball team. I felt it was time.

However, as a consequence of not having my haircut yet, I wasn’t sure which place I should have it in this city that I have yet to fully acquaint myself with. Back home, I used to have it cut at the same barber as my brothers. I could just head to a nearby unisex barbershop or perhaps cut it myself, but, after telling Naomi about my plans and being scolded for not being girly enough, I decided - or, rather, was nagged to go to a salon.

So, I asked Marie for a recommendation. Naomi actually told me where to go first, but I didn’t need to look it up to know the shop would be way out of my depth in more ways than one.

Anyway, Marie recommended that I go to a certain salon in the shopping district. I tried asking if there was a particular employee there that I should ask for, but she just said to go straight in and I’ll be completely taken care of.

I wasn’t sure what she meant by that until I entered the shop and saw her and Ken inside. It was only the two of them and nobody else, in fact. Alarm bells were ringing in my head. I immediately regretted asking Marie. I was about to turn back, but she caught my arm before I could flee.

“Welcome to our salon”, she greeted with a beaming smile.

It was a welcoming smile, in fact. Seemed like a comforting one, even. However, it only felt menacing to me.

“Sorry, I entered the wrong shop”, I said, trying to excuse myself.

“Nonsense, miss customer”, she replied without breaking out of her creepy customer-friendly voice “You came to the right place!”

I tried pulling my arm away from her hold, but it was met with an equal amount of force so I could barely move from where I stood. It was a mini tug-o-war between me and her.

“No, I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I was asking about recommendations about hair care, not a haircut.”

“You don’t need to be shy, miss customer. You yourself have reserved this time slot for a haircut.”

“That’s why I said there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“We can show you your texts if you like and you wrote ‘haircut’.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s because of auto-correct.”

“But, we’re having a limited-time offer of a free haircut. Surely, you don’t want to miss out on that?”

“I sure do. There’s nothing more suspicious than ‘free’!”

“Alright then, a hundred percent discount!”

“That’s basically the same!”

“Ninety percent?”

“That’s still as suspicious as free!”

Marie continued to haggle the price up, as bizarre as it sounds for someone trying to convince a potential customer to buy in, but I wouldn’t budge even when she settled for full price.

“Then, how about a ten percent markup?”

“I’d have one more reason not to have my haircut here!”

At some point, we were both pulling at full power. It was surprising to know we had about the same level of strength.

“Why don’t you want to have your haircut here?”

“That’s because I know you two are going to take turns in cutting my hair for some sort of game and it will end up horrible for me.”

I may not have cared too much about styling my hair, but I still would mind having a terrible haircut.

“That’s not true! It’s just me who’s going to cut your hair!”

I stopped struggling when she said that.

“Really?” I asked. “You didn’t trick me into coming here so you two could see who’s the better hairstylist?”

“We’re not trying to trick you, I swear”, she answered.

However, she was avoiding eye contact. She didn’t seem trustworthy saying that so I tried pulling away again.

The struggle between me trying to pull away from Marie and her trying to prevent me from leaving resumed.

“Like I said, we’re not having that sort of game!” Marie pleaded.

“Then, why did you tell me to come here?”

“That’s because this is the salon I always go to!”

“Where’s the hairstylist then? I want them instead!”

“I’m the hairstylist right now!”

“And that is why I’m leaving!”

We struggled a bit more until Ken finally decided to step in. He asked for us to calm down and actually waited for us to do so.

His silence was intimidating. It felt awkward not doing what he asked as he stared at Marie and I so we stopped struggling.

“Why don’t you give Marie a chance?” he then asked me. “She doesn’t look like it, but she does have a bit of experience cutting hair.”

I didn’t readily believe his claim, though. I thought about it for a moment before turning to Marie.

“Is that true?”

She sounded jumpy and unconfident, but she answered positively. Elaborating, she also said, “I used to cut my little sister’s hair, in fact.”

I stared at her for a moment to see if she was lying about her credentials, but I couldn't really tell.

“Alright”, I hesitantly agreed, but much to the relief of Marie.

I still wasn’t sure what to expect, but if they say Marie can cut hair properly, I had no reason to doubt them.

“As long as it’s free”, I added.

If she makes a mistake, I would still be able to afford having it fixed someplace else.

“Of course!” she happily replied.

Marie then ushered me to a chair and did all the usual preparations.

She pulled up a tray cart containing the necessary tools beside her.

She took a hair cape from the bottom tray, unfolded it, and covered me with it from the neck down.

Then, she pressed some button which activated some mechanism to hold me onto the chair. Manacles popped out which held my arms and legs, and a metallic belt came out from the backrest, which wrapped around my midsection to keep me from escaping.

It happened so fast, I wasn’t able to react immediately. When I realized what was going on, I wasn’t even sure which to react to first; that I was shackled onto a chair by Marie or that this kind of contraption actually exists in real life. I only ever see it in movies!

After I composed myself better, I started protesting.

“What’s the big idea?!” I asked Marie.

“Don’t worry, this is just how I prefer to work.”

“What do you mean? What kind of hairstylist locks her customer down to a chair?!”

“Sorry, my experience has mostly been with my little sister and she was a bit… squirmy, so to speak.”

She said that as if retelling a funny story. I didn’t see the humor in it, though.

“I feel like I could focus more if the person I’m cutting hair for is tied to the chair”, she continued with her explanation. Then, with a brush in hand and a pair of scissors on the other, she said, “Try not to move too much, it’s been a while since I last did this.”

There wasn't any malice in the way she said it, but it still seemed so ominous to me seeing her through the reflection of the mirror posed like that as she stood behind me.

“Out of curiosity, exactly how long has it been?”

“Hmm”, she voiced out as she glanced up, thinking of the answer. “The last time was when my little sister was in fifth grade.”

“And how old is she now?”

“Sixteen, so it’s been more or less five years since she started refusing me to give her a haircut. I haven’t stopped offering though, but she refuses me each time.”

“I can’t imagine why”, I said ironically.

Dear Marie's little sister who I’ve yet to meet but have heard of a few times before, if your big sister looks scary holding a pair of scissors, you should have told her so and we, or at least I could have avoided this outcome.

“So, how do you want it?”

“Just trim it”, I answered.

I figured it may minimize the damage if I only requested for a trim.

“Alright. Now, hold still”, she told me as she made her approach with the hair brush.

I know it was only a brush, but it still made me scared so, resigned to my fate, I closed my eyes so I do not see the horror that is being done to me.

“So, are you the type that naps during the haircut?” Marie asked when she noticed. Coyly, she continued, “Trying to avoid conversation, hmm?”

Not wanting to tell her that I was scared, I answered “Aren’t you supposed to be concentrating?”

“I can talk while treating your hair”, she said as she brushed it. “I’m no pro hair stylist, but I can at least do that much.”

“I see”, I replied without opening my eyes.

“Anyway, there’s a reason why I wanted to cut your hair today.”

I didn’t answer, but that certainly got my attention.

“I was curious as to why you would want to go to a salon today”, she said, to my surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“Playing dumb, are we?”

I then heard a snipping sound, undoubtedly from a pair of scissors. I could sense she started trimming my hair, but considering the timing of it, it felt like an intimidation tactic.

“Pray tell, you have some sort of plans for tonight or maybe tomorrow at the latest, am I correct?”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know… Maybe meeting a special someone at a special place?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“That’s what I’m trying to ask…”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

I finally opened my eyes to take a look at Marie. Through the reflection of the mirror, we seem to wear the same expression on our faces - dumbfounded.

Her hands continued to work through the pause so there were still some snipping noises, which became a bit louder due to our silence.

"Let me try this again", she said, her voice sounding a bit shaky. "Are you going on a date?"

"With whom?" I asked.

"Like I said, that's what I'm trying to ask."

"I don’t have plans to go out on a date with anyone any time soon."

"Then, what's the occasion? Why visit a salon today?"

I told her my reasons and how Naomi had a nag about it.

“Is that it?” Marie asked, sounding exasperated. “And here I thought I could finally have some talk about romance with you.”

I noticed her pouting as she trimmed my hair.

Two thoughts came to my mind after that.

The first one is that she looks like she’s cutting my hair normally - as careful and precise as a professional would. It made me feel silly getting scared of her earlier, but I should be forgiven for thinking so considering she can be rather unpredictable. Still, my fear lessened, but my wariness was still there.

The second is that she seemed really looking forward to talking about romance with me. It made me feel a bit guilty considering I have nothing to share at the present. I wouldn’t be adverse to the topic either if I did actually have one. Honest.

Regardless, considering she has already brought up the topic of romance, I thought it might be a good time to ask at least one question that I’ve always wanted to ask about Marie and Ken.

“Sorry I don’t have a love story to tell you”, I started with an apology. “But, we can still talk about romance. In fact, I’m curious as to how you and Ken met.”

Marie’s expression lit up. Her playful tone returned.

“Hmm, so you want to know how Ken and I met?”

“And how you two started dating, if I may ask as well.”

“I see, I see”, she said, nodding. “That’s gonna cost you though.”

I thought she was going to ask for money for their story, but, before I could tell her I changed my mind, she named her terms.

“When you finally get a date, I have to be the first to know.”

That was cheaper than I thought so I agreed.

Marie then turned to Ken, who was quietly sitting on a sofa on the other side of the room as he played with his handheld game console.

“It’s okay to tell her, right?” she asked.

I half expected them to make a bet if I would believe the tale she was about to tell, but that was the extent of their exchange.

“You see, Kat, we didn’t start out as lovers”, she started with her story.

“I think that would be obvious”, I retorted.

“We didn’t start out as lovers”, she repeated, ignoring my retort. “But, when we met in grade school, we were already soulmates!”

“I see, it was love at first sight”, I commented, trying to ignore her overblown statement and hoping she would get discouraged from trying to exaggerate if I showed her I wasn’t willing to go along with that way of storytelling.

It didn’t deter her, though.

“Not quite”, she addressed my comment first. “We didn’t become infatuated with each other at first glance. Our hearts didn’t throb for each other when we were first introduced to each other.”

“However!” she exclaimed before taking a dramatic long pause. “However, we already had that feeling that we could trust each other to watch our backs.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” I asked.

I knew the phrase, but I wasn’t sure how it applies in a romantic context.

“Exactly as I said”, she answered. “If I needed support, he was there, and if he needed it, I was there for him as well.”

“He would try to help me even when I don’t ask; I did the same.”

“We kept each other safe by covering our blind spots.”

“Each of us made up for what the other lacked.”

“All that and you two weren’t dating yet?” I asked, impressed.

“That’s right”, Marie confirmed.

I was about to say how impressive their relationship was despite not being lovers yet, especially when they were also likely too young to know what it actually means to be in a relationship, but it was ruined by what she said next.

“And that’s how we conquered the mythical dungeon.”

I paused for a moment. It took a second for me to process what she just had said.

“You’re not talking about a game, are you?”

As I grew up with multiple brothers, I was exposed to video games. I even played some of the games they were into. So, when the word “dungeon” came up, that was the first thing that came to mind.

“No, I’m talking about real life”, Marie claimed.

“Liar.”

“Meany”, she countered, pouting. “But, it’s the truth.”

I wasn’t inclined to believe it even though she claims it’s the truth, but I kept quiet. I didn’t feel it was necessary to call her a liar twice.

She then continued, “Then, I guess you wouldn’t want to hear how we started dating?”

I was hesitant to ask for her to continue, but I was still curious. I thought, maybe, after calling her out, she might not tell me a tall tale this time.

“I’m sorry, I believe you”, I apologized monotonously. “Please tell me how you two started dating.”

“It wasn’t anything special, really. One day during our first year in high school, I was about to be late so I was running and then I bumped into Ken when I turned a corner. After that, we walked to school together, talked a bit then agreed to start dating.”

“Wait a minute”, I interjected. “You expect me to believe you had such a cliched encounter?”

“That’s right.”

“Don’t tell me you were eating toast while running, too?”

“Oh, how’d you guess?”

I wasn’t sure if I should complain that she thinks I would be naive enough to believe such a scene that seemed like it’s been taken out of some girls’ comics. But, I figured she would just double down on the made-up story so I decided against it. Instead, moving the conversation forward would be better.

“How did the conversation go? Who asked who out?”

“It was Ken who asked”, she replied as she held her cheeks as if she was savoring something sweet.

Then, she wordlessly walked away from me without answering the other question I had. However, it seems that she was done with the haircut and was preparing to move on for the shampooing as she brought out a portable sink.

“I’m gonna adjust the seat now”, she stated.

Simultaneously, the backrest leaned back, the armrest went down and the footrest moved up so that I would be in a comfortable position despite still being shackled.

I was kind of hoping Marie would release me for this part, but she quickly refused, giving the same reasoning she made before.

After draping my shoulders with a towel, she started working again. She also picked the previous conversation back up.

“Now, where were we?” she asked.

She didn’t need an answer to continue, though.

“Oh, right. After I bumped into Ken, we talked about how the others were teasing us that we were inseparable like a married couple so he asked me if I wanted to start dating him with the prospect of marriage.”

It was uncomfortable trying to talk with my neck stretched out towards the sink so I was unable to comment. There wasn’t anything I could retort to anyway since that seemed like the most believable part out of everything she has told me so far.

“I thought he was joking at first; I didn’t even realize he was seriously asking me out”, she added.

She continued telling the story despite me no longer asking for more details or any other questions. Although, the rest of it was her telling me how their daily school life didn’t really change much afterwards.

But, they did start their matches some time around their second year after both their parents met at a school event and they teased about grandkids. The two talked about it as well in private, and that is how they found they weren’t in agreement with what each of them wanted for the future.

The story ended as soon as the shampooing was done. I had a feeling she just prolonged the treatment so she could tell the entirety of her tale, but I wasn’t able to keep time.

Anyway, after everything, I was shocked by the result and not in a good way. My fears, which had been allayed, somehow became reality. I was expecting something to happen, but then I stopped expecting it, so it was quite a surprise.

“Why does my hair look like Edward Scissorhands?!” I asked Marie.

“Good question”, she answered. “I don’t know why, but this always happens.”

“Always?!”

No wonder her sister didn’t want to have her hair cut by Marie anymore.

“I think I’ve done things properly, though”, Marie commented.

“I would have agreed, but the result says otherwise!”

Despite the work being done, I was still bound to the chair so I started struggling and protesting.

“Let me off!” I exclaimed. “I should’ve gone to a barbershop instead!”

“Well, calm down”, Marie said. “We’ll fix it for you.”

I then noticed Ken approaching as he put on an apron. My first thought is that it was his turn to cut my hair next.

“I knew it! You two really did have a match!”

“I promise this isn’t a match”, Marie tried assuring me again. “It really wouldn’t make sense to see who’s the better hairstylist when we’re only cutting one person’s hair.”

Thinking about it, it did make sense. It would have required them to style the hair differently, which would be hard to judge.

“Although we kinda did have a bet.”

“What bet?”

“We bet that I could give you a haircut you would be satisfied with, but I guess I lost”, she said while wearing an awkward smile as if she made a humorous slip-up.

I wasn’t laughing, though. Especially since it was my hair she made a mess of, plus another person whom I don’t believe would do a better job is about to touch it next.

“Ah, but don’t get me wrong”, Marie continued. “I really did want to have a talk with you. It’s just that the opportunity presented itself.”

I was unable to give a comment as Ken was about to start. I tried avoiding this time, but he held my head as if to tell me to stop.

“Stop moving around or I might cut you”, he said, as he presented a sharp-looking pair of scissors near my face.

Just like Marie earlier, it felt like a threat so I complied. Actually, he seemed scarier for some reason.

I could only close my eyes again out of fear.

“Don’t worry”, I could hear him say. “This salon is my mom’s. She makes me help out sometimes so I learned a bit from her on how to cut hair.”

But, after what I’ve been through, it didn’t really ease my worries.

Unlike Marie, Ken stayed silent so it was even more scary to have him cut my hair. Every snip sounded intimidating, especially with my eyes closed.

However, once the job was over, I was surprised to find that he had done the haircut properly. It was a normal haircut, but I felt like I had to admire it for a while.

When it was time to leave, they told me to come back when I decide to have my haircut again. But, while I'm satisfied with Ken's work, I’ve resolved to look for another shop for the sake of my sanity in case they decide to do something like this again.