On their first day of meeting, the sun and weather were good to them. It was bright out as it was two in the afternoon. Soojung traced the tennis shoes of the man before her until she met the small eyes of Sunggyu. Once they shared a moment of silence, Sunggyu was the first to break the barrier and waved with a slight smile. “It’s good to finally meet, friend,” he greeted with a jolly tone. His smile spread over to her and soon a smile was drawn to her pale face.

“Same,” she replied.

Though they imagined they’d be friendlier with one another, they found themselves rather shy at the moment. Sunggyu invited himself to the seat next to Soojung on the bench before the silence between them dragged on. All they could do was smiled and at times would giggle and chuckle once their gazes meet. Until once again, Sunggyu took the lead and broke the peace. “How long have you been here?”

Instead of answering, Soojung knew it would be embarrassing to admit that she was six hours early, all because she was curious of what Sunggyu looked like and worried in case she’d be late to their first meeting. Hence she hummed instead and laughed a little, a sign that Sunggyu understood immediately.

He thought she was either unsure or didn’t want to say, therefore he switched the question to her, “You haven’t eaten, have you? I know a good place around here,” he insisted.

“Around...here?” Soojung questioned. All she knew was that the empty plains would run for miles and there was nothing out there unless he was referring to the city which would take them hours to reach, especially after the bus had already left.

“Yeah, it’s not far from here,” Sunggyu said keeping his warm smile, “should we go?”

Soojung thought for a moment. Though she wasn’t so interested in knowing where this place Sunggyu spoke of was, she would rather they do something than to sit alone with Sunggyu and do nothing. Also, she had run out of things to talk about, when she had been sharing everything with him through the post. “Sure,” she answered finally.

Sunggyu was the first one to stood up and offered his hand to help Soojung up, but the awkward girl tried to politely dismiss his manners by smiling before standing up on her own. The lad decided not to think much of it and instead turned to lead Soojung away from the bus stop.

As they walked down the empty road side by side, Soojung was a few steps before Sunggyu. The man had his hands in his pockets and would squint up toward the blazing sun once in a while to give him something to do. Meanwhile, Soojung was playing with her fingers as they walked in silence. At times Soojung would wish that a vehicle would drive by, just so it’d give them some sort of company. But none ever passed. Especially not out in the middle of nowhere. However, she was thankful for Sunggyu’s heavy footsteps as it gave her comfort. Soojung wasn’t used to no sound, in fact, she was afraid of quietness all for the fact that she would easily jump if a sudden sound attacked her hearing. Just like her father who would throw and break things in the middle of the night.

Finally, once the bus stop was out of sight Sunggyu grabbed onto Soojung’s arm to stop her in her tracks. When she turned to face him, she noticed he was pointing toward a dirt road that was hidden by the tall grasses. “It’s this way,” Sunggyu said before he released her and took the first steps toward the dry dirt and off the cement road. As he stopped and stood, he gestured toward the dirt road, “Lady first,” he said warmly.

Soojung returned a small smile before heading down the path first with Sunggyu behind her. Though the tall grasses that were as tall as Soojung’s waist, she couldn’t help but feel refreshed. For the first time, the empty plains felt beautiful. She had only watched over them on the bus or from the road, but it felt different to be buried among them. “Are you usually this quiet?” Sunggyu asked out of the blue.

“Usually,” Soojung answered.

Sunggyu sneered a little, “Your answers really are short, and I thought it was only when you write,” he teased. Soojung knew immediately what he was referring to. When they first started their conversation on the post, most of Soojung’s responses were one to three words long. She never knew though, that Sunggyu had picked it up and purposely aimed for questions that would require more than a one to three words answer. “Is it possible to answer me without only one or two words?” Sunggyu asked.

“It's possible,” Soojung replied, but Sunggyu was unsatisfied with her response and so he could only click his tongue. As they make their way down the path and farther away from the cement road, Soojung wondered how far this place was far out, and just how did a place hidden so well be running out here?

“I thought I shouldn’t ask, but did your parents come back?” Sunggyu raised the question. Though it has been some time since Soojung has heard from them, she wasn’t sure where and how they’re living.

“No,”

“Then are you doing fine by yourself? Don’t you have siblings or relatives?”

“I don’t,”

Sunggyu thought not to ask more, but then Soojung’s question pulled him back into the first conversation they were having in person.

“Do you?”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter