"I turned out liking you more than I planned" 

Ever since Himchan was a little boy, he had always wondered how many times someone could meet the same person by coincidence in their lifetime. He’d read somewhere in a magazine that you could come across the same person up to ten times if you lived in a small town. If it were a city, where the place was bigger, the probability of meeting got cut to half. This was basically a statistic of the daily patterns of how people spend their time outside their house, the places they frequently visit, and their daily routine.

Currently living in a small town, Himchan figured that the theory might be true after all. It was easier to meet the same person because it had only been two days and here, as he walked in the park, he found Yongguk standing a few feet away from him, dressed in sweat suit and ears plugged with white earphones. From the look of it, he seemed like he’d been jogging for a while. Himchan noticed the bead of sweat trickling down his neck.

“Hey, cat eyes.”

Himchan’s eyes twitched at the nickname. He wasn’t really fond of that name. How did Yongguk even come up with that?

“Stop calling me that.”

Yongguk chuckled and walked up to him after he’d pocketed the earphones in his jacket. He stared at Himchan for a while, as if scanning him from top to bottom—which kinda made Himchan feel uncomfortable— and then finally smiled.

“You remind me so much of a cat though, especially your eyes.”

Himchan snorted and crossed his arms. He didn’t really know how to react to that statement. He’d only heard about people commenting how he looked like a rabbit because of his front teeth before.  

“What are you doing out here in the cold? Who jogs in the middle of winter?”

Somehow Yongguk seemed like he was the type to get easily amused because he started laughing at Himchan.

“Is it wrong to jog in the middle of winter?”

“Yes.” Himchan answered right away and added, “It’s not normal.”

Yongguk chuckled and shook his head. “People jog here all the time, no matter what season it is. See?” Yongguk pointed at an old couple jogging around the fountain. Himchan blinked and made a confused noise. “You don’t jog that much, huh?”

“I never had the time to exercise,” Himchan admitted with a murmur. He could feel his cheeks burning from embarrassment.  “Okay, so I’m the weird one here.”

Yongguk laughed once again, pink gums showing. Himchan swore his smiling face was contagious because he found himself smiling along. After he’d composed himself, Yongguk straightened himself and let out a happy sigh.

“So what are you doing here, Kim Himchan?”

“I was just passing by the park to go to the campus,” Himchan replied with his hands in his pockets.

“Cool,” Yongguk nodded. He seemed to be in a deep thought for a while but before Himchan could ask him, he smiled and said, “When does your class start?”

Himchan looked down at his watch. “Um, in 2 hours.”

“Great, so you can show me around.” Yongguk’s smile became wider, with a hint of hopefulness to it.

“I guess so,” Himchan shrugged.

-

Yongguk seemed genuinely amazed as they roamed the campus. He’d thrown a few comments about how lucky Himchan was to be able to study there and when Himchan asked him about his studies, he’d only smiled and told him that he hadn’t started college, that he’d only finished high school and went straight to working after graduation. Yongguk didn’t really give him the proper answers and Himchan could sense it. He was trying to be mysterious around him and Himchan had to give him the credit for able to make him curious. Himchan wasn’t sure whether it was intended or not though.

“I joined the theatre club so now I’m quite busy with the upcoming Christmas play.” Himchan said when they entered the theatre hall.

On the stage, there were a few students standing in a circle, looking like they were meditating. They were the actors and actresses of the play. The tallest person in the circle was the instructor, a part timer at the campus named Inseong. He was the best instructor they could find around. He could be overly strict sometimes but the others thought that it was better that way—the girls claimed that it totally had nothing to do with his good looks—so they could focus more on honing their acting skills.

As Himchan and Yongguk walked along the aisle of chairs, making their way to the stage, a guy with brown hair called out Himchan’s name cheerfully.

“Oh, Jongup-ah,” Himchan greeted him.

“I bought the props you wrote down in the list, hyung. Take a look,” Jongup held out the box in his hands to show it to Himchan.

Himchan inspected the props and nodded to himself. He then thanked Jongup and asked him to hand them over to the stage volunteers.

“So you’re like the boss of the theatre club, huh?” Yongguk finally spoke up after witnessing the conversation between Himchan and Jongup.

Himchan turned to Yongguk and nodded curtly. “Yeah, you can say that, although the proper word would be director.”

“Director Kim,” Yongguk pronounced the words slowly. “Sounds good.”

“Well, thank you,” Himchan felt his cheeks warming up at the compliment. He looked away and stared at the people on the stage instead.

“I thought you were tied up with your thesis. Do you really have the time to prepare all of this?”

“Yeah I’m kinda busy for this semester.” Himchan shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “But since it’s my final year, I thought that a little bit of struggle would be worth it on the paper later.”

“Touche,” Yongguk nodded in agreement. He then sat himself down on one of the chairs and stared at the people rehearsing on the stage. Himchan did the same, finding his spot next to Yongguk. Their shoulders touched when he leaned back. “So can I watch the play even if I’m not one of the students here?”

Himchan thought for a while before he nodded. “I can provide you the ticket if you want to.”

“For free?”

“For free.”

“Whoa, are you sure? I mean I can pay.”

“Nah, you don’t have to. It’s my treat.” Himchan shook his head. “I would be happy if you attend the play on the 23^rd.”

“Before Christmas Eve, huh?” Yongguk seemed like he was thinking over something but then he smiled at Himchan and thanked him. “I’ll be there, I promise.”

-

Himchan’s head was a complete mess. He had his research papers scattered on the floor of his room and he only had an hour before he had to go to the hospital to take care of his grandmother. As always, he was in deep concentration in writing his thesis and had to stay up all day by consuming an ample amount of caffeine just so he wouldn’t pass out. He was reading over the papers when a notification on his phone beeped. He grabbed his phone and unlocked it before he opened the message.

It was from Yongguk.

He smiled at the name. They’d exchanged numbers last week after Yongguk’s visit at the campus.

“So I was wondering whether we could meet up tonight? :)”

Himchan pursed his lips and thought for a moment before he sent a reply.

“Sorry, but I’m taking care of my grandmother tonight. It’s weekend.”

It wasn’t long before Yongguk responded.

“Great! You’re at the hospital. I’ll be there too, you know. I’ll come by? Just text me the room number. :D”

Confused of the way Yongguk phrased his message, Himchan could only comply to his favour. He wondered what Yongguk was doing at the hospital in the middle of the night. He could still recall that Yongguk told him that the hospital was like his second home. Does he live there?

Himchan pondered over the question as he made his way to the hospital. When he got there, he immediately took the elevator and entered his grandmother’s room. The old lady was watching TV, the blanket pulled up to her elbows since the weather was extremely cold today. Himchan sat down on the chair and rested a palm on the back of her hand. She turned to him and smiled.

“Hello, grandma. How are you today?”

“Good,” his grandmother answered. “What about you?”

“Not bad,” Himchan replied with a smile. He didn’t really know what else to say so he stayed silent as he watched the TV with his grandmother.

It was close to half an hour when his grandmother fell asleep. Himchan pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and fluffed the pillow so she wouldn’t hurt her neck. He then pushed the button at the side of the bed to lower the upper part of the bed so it would be horizontal. He also made sure that the water for the air purifier was completely refilled. When he realized that the flowers his father had bought for his grandmother had wilted; he took them out of the glass vase and was about to throw it away when a knock on the door caught his attention. He walked to the door and opened it, smiling when he saw Yongguk standing there with a new bouquet of fresh flowers.  

“Come in,” he welcomed him inside and Yongguk went straight to the bed, staring at his sleeping grandmother.

“She looks lovely,” Yongguk commented before he turned to Himchan, gums on display. “I brought flowers. They’re chrysanthemums. Not sure what they symbolize but I’m sure it’s something good.”

“I wouldn’t have any idea,” Himchan shook his head as he took the flowers from Yongguk and placed them in the vase after he’d thrown the wilted flowers in the bin. “So you wanted to meet up here?”

“Yeah. I figured that I should pay your grandmother a visit but I guess she already fell asleep before I could introduce myself.” Yongguk rubbed at the back of his neck embarrassedly. “Sorry.”

“No apology needed,” Himchan said with a shake of his head. “You can visit tomorrow.”

“I guess so,” Yongguk smiled. He shifted on his feet and tilted his head sideways. “You know, I actually have something to show you. Is it okay if we ask the nurse to take care of her for a while?”

Himchan looked at his grandmother and then nodded. “Sure, I think.”

Yongguk’s smile became broader at Himchan’s agreement. He then headed towards the door.

“I’m gonna call the nurse. You stay here first.”

Himchan shrugged and sat down on the chair after Yongguk left. It took him only 5 minutes to call the nurse. When he came back, the nurse was there with him and she gladly took over for the time being. Himchan followed Yongguk to the next building without questioning his motive. When they reached the hall, he could see a sign indicating that it was the children ward. He could only furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

“And here we are,” Yongguk stopped in front of a sliding door and held up a finger to his mouth. He then whispered, “Try to be as silent as possible, the kids are sleeping.”

Himchan nodded and followed him inside. The night light was and he could barely make out the row of beds that accommodated sleeping children. He trailed behind Yongguk as the latter cleaned up the mess on the floor. There were toys and story books everywhere. Himchan figured that the children had played with them before they went to bed.

As he walked with cautious steps, he accidentally stepped on a rubber chicken. He gasped and quickly covered his mouth with his palms, looking at Yongguk worriedly. Yongguk too had his mouth covered with his own hand. When they realized that the kids didn’t wake up from the squeaking sound, they grinned at each other and sneaked their way back outside with the toys and story books bundled up in Yongguk’s arms.

Himchan closed the door and heaved a sigh of relief.

“That was close.” He chuckled.

“Yeah. We would have to stay up for another hour if one of them woke up.” Yongguk said with a wide smile on his face. “They can be quite active. Sometimes it takes two stories to make them sleep.”

“So you volunteer at the hospital,” Himchan crossed his arms and looked at the closed door. “Do you come here often?”

“Every day,” Yongguk replied.

“Wow, that’s really dedicated of you.” Himchan blinked. “You’re really fond of kids don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Yongguk nodded proudly. “I guess their innocence remind me a lot of my childhood, that’s why I’m drawn to them.”

“That’s nice…” Himchan smiled a little.

“Actually this isn’t the only thing I wanna show you,” Yongguk admitted. He then led Himchan to another room. “There’s something else.”

“What is it?” Himchan asked as he followed Yongguk inside. When he entered the room, he could see a number of balloons tied up at the leg of a table. On the table were decorations for what looked like a birthday party.

“I’m throwing a birthday party for one of the kids and the birthday is tomorrow. As you can see, I have a lot of balloons to tend to and…”

“You want me to help you?” Himchan finished the sentence. Yongguk gave him a guilty nod and a sheepish smile. “Sure, why not?”

“Thank you,” Yongguk thanked him. He then grabbed a chair and offered Himchan the seat. He also handed him a pump for the balloons before he seated himself across him. “I want it to be special for him. He missed his birthday last year.”

“I noticed that the ward is for children with cancer. Is the kid…” Himchan trailed off.

“He has brain cancer,” Yongguk lifted his gaze from the decorations to look at Himchan. “He was in the ER on the day of his eighth birthday.”

“Oh,” Himchan stared at the balloons and frowned. He felt sorry for the boy. He was so young. He couldn’t imagine what the boy felt about spending his time at the hospital instead of going to school and play with his friends.

“Hey, don’t be sad. Joon’s happy to spend his time here,” Yongguk assured, as if he’d read Himchan’s thought. “You know what? How about you come to the party tomorrow morning?”

“I’m not sure…I have to go to the library and return the books.” Himchan said. When he saw the slight pout Yongguk had on his face, he was quick to redeem himself. “I might be late?”

“As long as you come,” Yongguk’s face lightened up. “Joon would be glad to meet you.”

“Okay then,” Himchan replied with a nod. He then covered his mouth when a yawn slipped out.

“Are you tired?” Yongguk questioned with his brows creased.

“I have been tending to my thesis since morning.”

“Really? I’m so sorry I made you come here,” Yongguk quickly apologized. “You must be really tired. You should get some sleep.”

“It’s okay. I wanna help, Yongguk.” Himchan insisted. “Plus, I’m really excited to meet Joon tomorrow. I want to be part of this birthday party too.”

“Are you sure?” Yongguk asked, still doubting that Himchan would be okay.

“Yeah, no worries.” Himchan assured as he waved a hand. “You better pump the balloons now or we won’t get to do the decorations.”

Yongguk chuckled and thanked Himchan once again.

They spent three hours decorating the room. Himchan felt his bones cracking when he stretched his body and yawned for the umpteenth time. He grabbed the cup of coffee that Yongguk had bought for him (out of gratitude) from the vending machine and peeked inside, only to frown when he realized that he’d already finished it.

“That’s it, we’re finished with the decorations.” Yongguk had his hands on his hips as he stared up at the ribbons and balloons decorating the whole room. He then turned to Himchan and smiled.

Himchan returned the smile with a sleepy one, his head already resting on the surface of the table. Yongguk approached him and grabbed at his arm.

“You should sleep on the bed. Come.” Yongguk tried directing him towards the bed at the corner of the room but Himchan shook his head.

“Nah, I’ll just walk back to my grandmother’s room.”

“It’s a long walk back to your grandmother’s room. Just sleep here, Himchan.”

“But…” Himchan tried to argue but then Yongguk gave him a disapproving look, ending the argument immediately. When Himchan slumped in defeat, Yongguk grinned at him and ushered him onto the bed.

Himchan lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, feeling something warm covering his body. He figured that Yongguk had thrown a blanket over him. He was extremely exhausted that he felt like he could just fall asleep right there and then but he knew he shouldn’t leave Yongguk alone. He opened one eye and smiled at Yongguk, hands tucked under his head.

“You’re a nice guy, Yongguk.” He muttered. Yongguk blinked and gave him a curious look as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He wasn’t saying anything so Himchan continued, “I’m glad that I met you.”

Himchan closed his eyes when he heard nothing from Yongguk.

He then fell asleep to the sound of murmurs.