It was somewhere in January, the coldest day in Hanguk ranging between minus six degrees and three degrees celsius at most. I was left out with two drunk namja just outside a tavern in Gangwon-do. I was imagining a place where the water freezes in winter, locals and tourists alike flock to the stream, carve out a hole in the ice, and begin ice fishing for sancheoneo. But it was nothing like that at all. It was a plain dark and freezing night, where all I can think of was just to go home, turn on the heater in the tiny hideous room apartment i rented for two days, wait, what was I doing Gangwon-do though? Geez, I can't really remember. I guess the image of the two namja i was talking about earlier have clouded my memory a little bit.

The only thing they had with them was a bass guitar slung behind one of their back, and a car key in the left hand of the other. No wallets, no IDs, no cash. Nothing. I don't even know where they parked their car. I called the blathering one, Yong-Hwa ssi . And the tall, slightly introvert one, Jung-Shin ssi. They later insisted on calling them oppa, but I refused. I found out later that morning as we have to go by foot back to my rented room just because my red Matiz decided to take a good night rest on the same cold night. I forced the two boys to walk all the way down the cold road, it was just a few kilos away from the tavern. At least thats what i thought.

 See, this is a problem with me. I always find myself trying too hard to solve another person’s problems. Oh, you’re hurting? Lemme swoop in and save the day. Oh, you’re broke? Lemme dump my savings into your bank account and all will be well. Oh, you’re single again? Lemme set you up with my sister. That kind of s. I guess I just got addicted to helping others. I have this idea that the problems other people face always look simpler for me to fix it for them. Same thing happened with those two boys. The chatty one, Yong-Hwa ssi, when he walked to the bar, he was fine at first. But he started drinking so much and suddenly all the weird judments about few random man sitting at the bar just came out and people started getting annoyed. Another problem was, Jung-Shi ssi , who was supposed to look after him, got drunk and fell on his knees right before the fight. Next thing I know, people started throwing punches at each other. AND IT WAS MESSY. So I couldn't help but to drag them out. The tall one  had a busted lip from the fight, i guess it was pretty bad which may explain why i had him losing the fight just to walk out alive. 

As we walked back to my room, it was already half way through, but I couldn't go on, we stopped by the street. No big deal anyways, we were so tired we slept through the noise. The next morning, I woke up to the smell of coffee. A strong one. I saw Yong-hwa sipping a cup of hot latte, and Jung-shi  had one too, he was also holding an ice pack to his face. Surprisingly, my first question to the boys was " Where did you get the money to buy coffees?" as i looked at their faces, semi-sober. "Oh I'm sorry, we took it from your purse. You were sleeping on the street with us, so I guess you must be a good person." A naughty smile formed on his lips when he saw me struggling to get my feet on the ground. "Ajusshi, don't you know it's wrong to steal from people? Not to mention, good people." I said. "I know, I'm sorry I should've sold my bass, but we just needed coffee. And an ice pack. So, thanks." The tall one  replied, probably annoyed with my sudden coldness. "Ajusshi? Eyyy, who is that you called ajusshi? You have no idea who are we, don't you? Haha. Oppa my dear, oppa. Jung Yong-Hwa, and this tall baby is my dongsaeng, Lee Jung-shin. And you are?" The older added. "Min Hyun Byul." I replied. "Pretty name, Byul. Here, have a sip. I hope you like latte." he said as he pushed the cup towards me, slightly forcing me to drink from his cup. "It's Byul ssi, if you don't mind." I replied. 
 

"I'm heading back to my apartment. I can see you're handling your hangover pretty well. So I guess this is goodbye then. Aannyeonghi gaseyo'." I bowed and waved I as told them goodbye.

"Chamkamaniyo. You're leaving? We have a request to make." said the elder. I looked at them with half confused half annoyed facial expression waiting for his further explaination. "Can we crash over at your place for a night, we're really need it. We can't sleep on the street again. Its freezing. Sleeping in extreme cold will kill us. Please?" he added, almost pleading.

"I would love to say yes, but my room is really really small i don't think we can all fit in. Joesong haeyo, Yong-hwa ssi." I added

"It's alright. We can sleep on the floor. We're really desperate here. Plus you gave us coffee, so we are forbidded to hurt you. I promise." said the younger .

I guess I had no choice,so I said "Arasso. You're right. Sleeping in extreme cold will kill you. But you have to promise me you'll sleep on the floor and never talk to me unless it's the matter of life and death. This way then." I said reluctantly and led they way.