You could hear the tumbling and twisting of the clothes inside the washing machine coming out from the kitchen as I was sitting beside the balcony's door watching the raindrops create ephemeral ripples one after another.

We both had gotten entirely drenched as if we had swum across the Han River. It was a short sprint from the bus stop to her apartment. A vain attempt to save ourselves from the ruthless, serendipitous rain. "Junggoog-ah! Get changed quickly, I don't want you to fall sick!" she said as she darted in and out of the room carrying a loose shirt and sweatpants. "I'll take a quick shower and be back". “Ung” I replied, gently clenching at the clothes she'd thrown my way. All I could do was just smile. Smile like a fool who was ardently in love.

My train of thought broke as I heard the door to the bathroom open and close. Faintly, the room became filled with the tantalizing aroma of shampoo. My eyes searched for her figure as a consequence of my reflexes and there she was, standing near the sofa, busily drying her hair with the towel, pulling me out of my trance.

She wore a peach dress with a long creamish cardigan. Will that even keep her warm enough in this weather?

She was consumed by her own thoughts until she abruptly stopped drying her hair and looked at me with a blank expression on her face.

"Junggoog-ah" she said and started to walk towards me. As a result of her suddenness, I quickly straightened my posture and lay the coffee mug on the table. She came and sat right in front of me, tilted her head and reached out her hand only to touch the ends of my hair near my nape. Ah, her fingers are cold. Her action flustered me but by now I had become exceptionally good at concealing my feelings.

"Yah! Your hair is still wet. You should have dried it properly!" worriedly she said.

"Ah…mianhae" I tried to make a face that depicted repent, but she caught onto my act.

"Tch, forget it! I'll do it." she said soughingly, then took the towel from her lap and inched forward. She wrapped the towel around the back of my head and started to gently rub the cloth against my hair.

My heart was beating in a frenetic fashion due to the close proximity of our bodies almost as if it would rip my chest open and come out. My face was no evidence but if humans could hear heartbeats out loud, I'd be caught in no time. She smelled so enticingly sweet, only my sheer will was stopping me from pouncing at her. Her lips were slightly parted and her eyes were focused on my hair. I moved my gaze slowly from her lips to her eyes and then to her chest. What is she thinking? Is her heart not beating as fast as mine? What can I do to make her really look at me?

She had been completely unaware of the emotions that had been growing inside of me over the course of past few months. Whenever she had looked at me, she didn't see a man who thirsted to be with her. All that she saw was a friend, who was a year younger than her. Nothing more. Nothing less. How many times had I hesitated to take the step. Scared.  But right now, at this moment she was jus