It had been an hour. From nearly endless tiny droplets to unstoppable pouring rain out there. This twenty nine years old man in front of me hadn't paused for a bit in order to inhale a single breath. I wondered how tremendous his lung volume was. He made a speech of infinite paragraphs which contained uncountable indirect swearing and criticisms. The main idea of most paragraphs were persuating - forcing - me to come back again. Inappropriate words kept on flowing out of his lips as I kept on refusing. 

Should I count how many 'no's I had uttered? Too lazy for that. There was no way for me to easily break down the defensive great wall I had built. Regardless he was the king. The king of an island constructed by neurochemical reaction causing my hormone turned into a mess and formed that 'butterfly'-shaped island.

Eventually, he wrapped up,"Standing still?" I nodded. I glued my eyes to his customised fountain pen which was lying on the wooden desk. There his name was carved elegantly. Kyujong. A name of a person who had supported me in any path I took, motivated and criticised, also my personal editor. Voluntarily.

I knew he intended to cry. He was about to shout his disappointment. Preventing an explosion, he rose from his seat approaching me and whispered,"Come back, how you paint through words, that is the background of me falling for you."

"Kyujong, I have a reason -" Kyujong slammed the café door leaving its bell to ring loudly. As he walked down the sidewalk then went across the main street, I caught a glimpse on his fading back. He would never understand my motive. 

The sky stopped shedding tears. Still remained the clouds with grayish shades and strong earthy scent.

Kyujong left his fountain pen. Indeed he was careless. I gripped the pen and lifted it close to my lips. That strong scent grew even stronger now. Ah... I forgot the fact that, it was indeed his perfume.

~~~

"Miss Yongsun!" that was how she cheerfully called me a few months ago. As she sat right at the opposite side of the desk, she showed me something which she hoped it would make me smile brightly. She succeeded. An arch line appeared on my face and it made her even happier,"I'm a fan of yours, Miss Yongsun. I'm a reader of all of your books and currently addicted to this one." she grabbed a ballpoint as she pushed a book to me. It was my novel. It was the first volume of a series. I knew, she wanted an autograph from me. 

She was so impatient. I could see from her fingers that kept on ticking the desk and her legs down there was unstoppably shaking. I thought she was in tremor. I quickly put my autograph on the very first page of the book and wrote down a message,"What is your name?" I asked,

"Kei." she replied.

Her name was exactly the same as the main character,"It's cute that I have the same name with the main character of your story, Miss Yongsun."

"Beautiful coincidence."

"Yeah, and what makes it even more awesome is that the lover of Kei also shares the same name as my boyfriend." I was quite shocked. I laughed. This coincidence was too funny until I couldn't hold more. I didn't know this Kei girl and just met her at the moment. No possibility for me to stalk her and her boyfriend to make names for characters in my story. Coincidence was indeed hilarious.

Kei continued the conversation,"When will the second volume come out? I'm sorry that I'm so impatient. Waiting is not my skill." she giggled. I winked,"Waiting is fun, darling. It's thrilling. I'll make sure that the thrill you suffer will end to a nice great story. I won't disappoint you."

"You never make us, reader, regret to love your works, Miss Yongsun." she complimented. 

After giving back the novel and ballpoint to Kei, she didn't rise from her seat. She cutely hugged the book and the ballpoint on her chest then looked down to her knees. I watched her figure meticulously. She did resemble my imagination of 'Kei' in the novel. Round chubby face accesorised with small eyes and sweet pinkish lips, long brownie hair, silky milk fair skin, and around 160 cm tall. I was so extremely happy to see her.

Kei rose from her seat and bowed politely,"Thank you, Miss Yongsun. I'm so glad today that I accidentally meet you here at this café."

"Nice to meet you too, Kei."

"Do you often come to this café?" she asked enthusiastically. I nodded to her question. Kei mouthed a 'wow' and waved at me as she went approaching the glass door of the café. Seeing her figure from afar made me lift both corners of my lips. 

Two days after our first meeting, Kei did appear again in the café. A boy who was sitting next to her caught my attention.

~~~

I opened the café door and went straight to order a large-sized iced cappucino and two cinnamon rolls. I intended to look for a place to sit until a sweet voice called me. A familiar one,"Miss Yongsun!" it was Kei. She was sitting right behind the spot I usually took. Kei was with someone. Someone I had never seen before, but had ever imagined to see.

Kei waved as if she was giving a signal to join them. I stepped approaching the couple. The one who was sitting next to her was blankly staring outside. What he focused on was pretty hard to guess. Nothing interesting to be seen that day. Unless foggy atmosphere was quite fun to see for him. I was guilty to interrupt his daydreaming. When I sat at the opposite side of him, he instantly realised and awkwardly greeted me in silence. I smiled to warm the situation up. 

Kei lingered her hands on his left arm. She smiled as her gaze was straightened to the boy's face,"Come on! Be friendly to Miss Yongsun! Miss Yongsun, this is my boyfriend that I have mentioned to you before."

"Hello." I greeted him. He only smiled shyly. He looked as if he was only a tall cold ice statue, nevertheless I could feel the warmth he was about to let out. He wanted to show it, but a shell covered his figure. A shell that he made himself.

Kei continued introducing her boyfriend,"His name is Seungjun." she did not lie. Seungjun. It was a name of a character in the novel and indeed Kei's lover. A silver lining between fiction and reality started to emerge, or had emerged.

Physically talking, he passed my imagination. This tall figure in front of me, Seungjun, was the live version of my original character. No illustration needed. The man had showed in front of my gaze. I was totally amazed. 

He didn't utter any single word for the rest thirty minutes. I nearly assumed he was mute until suddenly he talked to Kei,"Kei..." eventhough it was only a single syllable of Kei's name. Kei turned her head to Seungjun. A radiance sparked from her eyes. Like a psychic, she responded Seungjun,"Oh! The performance is about to start in fifteen minutes?" she checked her watch and turned her focus on me,"I'm sorry, Miss Yongsun, but we have to go."

"Sure, it's alright."

"It's nice to meet you again, Miss Yongsun." they rose from their seat and bowed to me. 

I watched the beautiful couple from behind as they kept on stepping to the café door. They once again looked back and threw me a smile. No, only Kei who smiled at me. Seungjun also looked back, straightened his eyes on me as if he was wishing for something. Something I couldn't understand. Those eyes gave me clue that he wanted to tell me 'the thing'.

I turned back and sip my cappucino. Out of the blue, my brain led me to make a vision of Seungjun's eyes back then. It forced me to keep on getting an information, but failed. A few seconds passed and a sudden thought my mind. It was not only a thought, it was the answer. The answer of Seungjun's eyes. 

It was a stare of fear. Slight fear.

I didn't understand what he was feared of. When I thought of it, as I calmly sip my cappucino again, a loud bang was heard. Followed by screeching sounds of glass or metal scratching the asphalt. I instantly turned my sight to the cafè window to see a scene which caused the loud sound.

My pupils enlarged.

~~~

Kei steadily bit her fingernails in anxiety. I was worried. Seungjun was inside the E.R. room and we didn't know how he was suffering there. This medicine scent of the waiting corridor drove me crazy. My head was spinning out of dizziness. It grew more severe as I was reminded by the scene I saw earlier.

I only got the image of Seungjun was lying on the street. Red fluids covered nearly all of his figure. Scratches and wounds were everywhere on his skin surface. I closed my eyes for awhile to mantain my emotion after seeing his tragic condition. The phosphene vision was followed by a crying voice as the background sound. When I opened my eyes, it was Kei. She cried while trying to wake Seungjun up. Useless act and she knew it. Nevertheless she kept on trying.

It went more saddening, knowing the fact that it was supposed to be Kei. Kei was supposed to be in Seungjun's current condition. He saved her.

The doctor went out and we quickly rushed approaching him. Standard question,"How is he?"

"He broke his femur. Everything besides his broken femur is just fine. No internal brain damage although there is a slight fissure on his cranium. There are also some fissures on his right radius and ulna but it's not really severe. Everything is under control."

"Thank you, Doctor. Can we speak to him?"

"Better not to talk the heavy ones. Are you his family?" none of us was his family. Neither Kei or I. Speaking of it, I realised that no one was waiting at the waiting corridor other than us and there were also no one who came to look for him. Kei looked down to floor, she knew something. I answered the doctor with 'Choi Woo Sung' written on his name tag,"No, we are not. We will make sure to call his family sooner -"

"They can't be reached, for the time being." Kei cut my speech. She knew better, so I let her.

~~~

Seungjun's family couldn't be reached, and would never be. Unless, there was a way to contact people who lived in afterlife. The family Seungjun had was only his parents. He had no sibling. Kei wasn't sure that Seungjun had other family members beside his nuclear one. Seungjun had never told her before and Kei had no intention to ask either. None of her business, she thought. She never knew that this kind of situation would ever happen. 

I sighed. 

Kei went inside the room. I followed her like a lost duckling. Seungjun had been conscious from his anesthesia and he spoke in a low volume. A question that Kei thought it was extremely ridiculous,"Kei, are you alright?" Seungjun asked,

"I should be the one who ask that, shouldn't I?" Seungjun responded Kei with a slight giggle. His eyes met with mine. After the meeting of our gazes, the gleeful mood drawn on his face suddenly faded slowly. I stepped closer.

Kei left us in the room after Seungjun asked her to get some water and bakery at the convenience store right on the opposite side of the hospital. I felt like Seungjun did it on purpose, nevertheless I didn't know his plan. He talked to me,"Miss Yongsun, I bet you already know it all."

"Excuse me?"

"I hope you please not to pretend like you don't get everything."

"I don't understand."

"You do know why I saved Kei, in detail."

"It is obvious and clear. Because she means the world to you. Everyone would surely do that heroic act." Seungjun seemed wasn't satisfied with my statement. He was like hearing an essay which only deserved an 'E' score. Heavy sigh was heard in the entire room,"She deserves to live longer. She deserves not to get her lifetime cut twice," he continued,"I bet you have heard what I said earlier before you met me. Don't you seem familiar with all of this, Miss Yongsun? Don't lie." as soon as he ended his speech, I narrowed my sight.

Seungjun was too tricky.

Continue to Chapter Two