Mingyu lived a completely ordinary life. He had a great childhood, played with his friends, had loving parents, struggled with unnecessarily large loads of homework, had a part time job and everything people usually categorize as elements of an ordinary life. One would say that he had the perfect normal life. Except for one little detail. He did not know what danger was. Not that he was stupid or that he was a lazy student, in fact, he was always among the top five students in his class. He knew the definition of danger, he just never experienced it.

Even during his mischievous phase, Mingyu never broke a single bone, got into a fight, fell from his bicycle, been to a hospital other than for routine check-ups requested by mother, or even had an injury at all, not even paper cuts. Now in high school, the boy started to question if his life was actually as ordinary as people said. He couldn’t think of a better way to have lived his life, but he just knew it was almost impossible to not feel in danger with everything that he had done. He just always felt safe as if there was a force that would not let him feel even the most minimal pain.

It got to a point when he started thinking he was totally immune to danger, so he started trying to put himself into what would be considered tricky situations on purpose, but nothing ever happened. Even the most violent dog would become docile when he was around, speeding cars coming towards him always ended up turning the opposite way. It just seemed that danger tried to avoid him at all costs. When he figured that out, Mingyu decided to take the night shift at the convenience store he worked. Nothing could happen to him anyway.

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That night, Mingyu was alone. Usually, Jeonghan, his coworker, would take care of that shift with him, they would close and leave the store together, but the long-haired employee took a day off due to a cold. The owner decided not to call a replacement, as the store was never busy at night. Not escaping the routine, Mingyu only helped two customers, a high school girl apparently trying to get an emergency stock of ramen, and a middle-aged man, who seemed to have just left work and bought several bottles of soju. It was a pretty boring shift and the tall boy spent most of the time playing cellphone games.

When the shift was over, around ten in the evening, Mingyu left his post at the cashier and headed to the exit. He had just finished closing the doors when he felt some pressure on his shoulder. Turning around was not needed to feel the intense smell of alcohol. It was the customer that came earlier, but now his appearance was very messed up and he was holding an almost empty bottle of soju. He seemed as if he was about to pass out from excess alcohol.

“Hey boy, I need more soju.” The man said with a groggy voice.

“I’m sorry sir, but the store is closed,” Mingyu replied.

The drunk man came closer and accidentally broke his bottle as he hit the wall.

“Oh really?!” He looked at Mingyu in the eyes, and held the broken bottle up “Well, I guess you’re gonna have to open it.”

“Again, I’m sorry sir, but, once the doors are closed, the security system doesn’t let the doors be opened until the next morning.” The boy explained with an unamused expression. He had nothing to fear.

As soon as he heard that, the man became aggressive and made a quick movement with the bottle towards the boy’s arm. It was the first time Mingyu saw his own blood and surprised, he only did what his instincts told him. Run.

He was never that grateful for having long legs and for practicing sports since his childhood. As the fear grew in him, his legs moved faster and he ended up in the park that was a few blocks away. It was Seoul’s largest park and very beautiful in the morning with its huge variety of flowers and trees that formed wonderful shadows for a comfortable picnic, but at night, those same trees made the place one of the most famous sites for horror stories. Some areas had such a densely packed amount of trees that no light could pass through the leaves. Mingyu was heading to one of those places. He could still hear steps behind him and the man furiously demanding more alcohol when he suddenly tripped on something he could not identify.

“Oh! I think I hear you.” The man giggled and kept saying nonsense.

As he could hear the man getting closer, Mingyu tried getting up, but he felt a striking pain in his ankle and just dropped on the floor again, so he just closed his eyes in fear and waited for the worst.

A strong wind blew, and nothing but silence came. He felt light hitting his eyes, and slowly started opening them. He did not expect what was waiting for him. Or better, who was waiting for him.

The most beautiful boy he had ever seen was standing in front of him with a worried face. He had fierce, but innocent eyes that were partially covered by strands of silky hair as dark as night. His nose was so perfect it looked handmade and his beautiful lips were of a healthy-looking pink. He was covered in completely white clothing. Everything in that boy seemed to cause an effect in Mingyu, and he just stayed there for what seemed hours staring at the beautiful entity in front of him. He wasn’t even sure why he could see the other boy, but the light just seemed to be coming from him, as if he was glowing. He just seemed pure, and Mingyu could not make himself look away.

He did not even realize he was crying until the boy reached out to wipe his tears, and that was when he finally seemed to wake up and try to recompose himself. When he calmed down, he looked up at the boy and asked:

“Who are you?”

The boy just smiled, stood up and offered Mingyu a hand. For a moment, Mingyu was hypnotized by the mysterious boy. But then he helped Mingyu to stand up and walk, by supporting most of his weight. They stayed in a comfortable silence while walking and Mingyu could not stop being overwhelmed by the other’s outstanding beauty. All he did was observe the boy’s features and expressions. He noticed how he seemed to be slightly taller, and how they seemed to be about the same age. Mingyu was so lost in his own thoughts he did not even realize where they were going until he suddenly saw himself at his front door. Confused, the boy tried asking again:

“Who are you? How do you know where I live?”

Again, he received no answer and the other boy just smiled as he let the taller sit on the steps of his front door and knocked on the door. Mingyu looked away for a second when he heard the steps coming from inside the house. By the time he looked back, the other boy was gone.

Mingyu’s mother hurriedly opened the door and frantically hugged her son, looking everywhere and releasing a surprised squeal when she saw the huge cut on his upper arm. Thankfully, she was a nurse and rapidly and skillfully cleaned and did the proper procedures for his injuries, while he explained what had happened, even though he did not understand fully himself. The boy did not want to but his mother still insisted he should go see a doctor the next morning, as she could not care for the boy’s injured ankle. Once he agreed, his mother showed a more relieved and expression and said that he should rest now.

The more he tried, the harder it was to fall asleep. Mingyu was still trying to figure out what had happened today, and the more he thought, the more questions seemed to pop up in his head. Why of all times, today he first experienced danger? How could it be that scary? What happened to the man that was following him? How did that boy appear out of nowhere? Why did he help him and how did he know where he lived? But the most important and the one that kept lingering in his mind was “Who on earth is that boy who just exhales an overwhelming beauty and apparently has the ability to purify even the darkest hearts?” And with that question, Mingyu finally wandered to dreamland.

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The next morning, Mingyu woke up to feel all the pain from last night’s injuries and he could not help but be glad that it was a Saturday. He felt so tired that he could just fall asleep again, but when he was about to do that his mom barged into the room to tell him to get ready to see the doctor and that breakfast was on the table. He stood up with his eyes still closed and followed the familiar path to the bathroom. He did his morning hygiene, got dressed and went back to his room. He was still leaping because of his painful ankle, so everything took longer than usual.

As soon as he walked into the room, he noticed foreign objects sitting on his bedside table. He probably did not notice at first because of his barely awake status when he got out of bed. As he got closer, he recognized them as a feather and a paper note. That was probably the most beautiful feather he had ever seen. Not that he was a feather maniac and kept paying attention to every bird or loose feather that crossed his path, but that particular feather, just from looking at it, he was already able to feel its softness. It was so white that it seemed that it had its own glow and could illuminate the whole room by itself. He held both objects in his hand, and, as he read that note written in an incredibly neat handwriting, he immediately knew who it came from. But how did those objects just show up in his room?

Again the same question that almost kept Mingyu from sleeping popped up in his head, but this time, he voiced it, as if the boy could hear him.

“Who in the world are you?”

And maybe he could.

“   It’s a secret…

-W   ”