That night after coming back from the concert at around midnight, EunBi had walked into the shower after Dinner while Yoo Ha and the others gathered in the room to discuss what Yoo Ha had promised EunBi.

 

Despite of living in such a modern district of Seoul, their family was slightly below the financial level of the majority in the city. Grandma had two children in all, Eunbi's father and Yoo Ha's mom. But Yoo Ha's mom had passed away a few years prior and her dad shifted to the main city to find a good job to support the family.

EunBi's dad on the other hand lived with their family in Jeju and only earned an average amount of money for the family. 

 

"I know I made a mistake but she somehow found out," Yoo Ha said, crossing her arms, after telling the family about EunBi finding out. She wondered which friend of EunBi here in Gangnam had told her about this. She hadn't seen her talking to anybody but then again she hardly had her attention on EunBi during the concert.

 

"You shouldn't have made a fake promise," Grandma said, wisely, knitting a sweater. She planned on gifting the sweater to EunBi on her birthday which was two weeks away.

 

"I know but we can still take a cab, right?" Yoo Ha suggested helplessly. How was the family supposed to break it to EunBi that they couldn't go on her birthday? It would spoil her entire day.

 

"Yes but we all would need two cabs in all to go which would be very expensive, Yoo Ha, considering the park is another hour from here," EunBi's mom said, drinking a sip of her tea. Yoo Ha just looked down on the floor, feeling guilty. But at the time, she blabbered all that came to her mind. 

 

"Why don't you take EunBi alone then? We could save some on the cake and make it at home instead," EunBi's dad suggested, being the protective guy he was.

He had already lost his sister a few years ago and didn't want to make the other women in his life, especially his sole daughter, upset on her 13th birthday. Even though the three adults were disappointed on Yoo Ha, they understood that it was just a naive mistake.

 

That night, EunBi stared at the bare ceiling in her in the dark while the rest of the house slept soundly. The night was warm and silent. The light from the open window fell in the dark room, making it slightly illuminated in the dark.

 

She thought about her birthday and her newly made friend. She had never made a friend who was older than her. She was only exposed to a small world of kids her age and never dared to talk to strangers. This sure was a new experience for her. As scary as he looks, his words and warmth sure contradict his face. 

 

"EunBi..," she remembered him a few hours ago while she cried. He looked apologetic but sure was startled at her reaction. He had his way of making people forgive him and making them think about him for a long time, and EunBi was still getting to know him.

On her birthday, Yoo Ha and EunBi packed a small basket with snacks and filled it into the cab they were travelling in. EunBi wore a small hat to keep the sun from entering her eyes as she waved good bye to her parents. It was sunny and a typical summer day.

 

"Be back by 4 for a surprise!" EunBi's dad waved back as Yoo Ha and EunBi agreed.

EunBi excitedly looked out the window while the cab drove out of the street they lived in and she glanced one last time at the closed Music Hall. It looked so lonely during the day. You wouldn't be able to guess how lighted and lively it was during the nighttime.

 

The ride was so long that EunBi eventually fell asleep in the car and was awaken by Yoo Ha when they finally reached the park. To summarize, they sat on roller coasters, marry-go rounds and bumper cars.

 

Yoo Ha clicked lots of pictures of Eunbi with her polaroid. The only camera they had in the family. EunBi had the time of her life. She yelled in fear in the roller coasters and laughed and her sister clicked the most candid of her pictures on the rides.

 

At noon, the two finally sat down to have lunch from their basket. While EunBi opened the bento her parents packed, she saw a figure in the distace who faced his back at her. He was walking with his hands in his pockets and had black emo hair and white skin, pretty much the kind Wonwoo resembled. 

 

"Hold on," EunBi told Yoo Ha as she stood up. "Why? Where are you going?" Yoo Ha looked at EunBi in confusion as she ran into the distance. But EunBi had already ran into the distance before she could answer Yoo Ha.

 

"Wonwoo Oppa!" she yelled as she approached the figure she saw. But the figure kept walking without turning around until EunBi caught hold of his hand. But when he turned around, it wasn't Wonwoo but somebody else, who looked at EunBi in confused. EunBi's eyes widened when she realised it wasn't him afterall.

 

Being a naive kid, she hadn't thought of why or how she even considered a new man she met about 8 years older than her a 'friend'.

It was being in Seoul, being new and fascinating, something out of the norm and something not a lot of people her age had in common with her that made him more captivating to her attention. 

 

She wasn't exposed to such vulnerable friendship all the time that her family didn't know about, which is why it made the friendship one she had initiated herself without any help from anybody that made it more special of a bond she had expected.

But she didn't think even once if Wonwoo felt the same about her.

 

"Sorry," she bowed at him as he turned and kept walking. EunBi watched him go in disappointment. She hadn't met her friend in two weeks now and it was almost time to leave. As she walked by to Yoo Ha, Yoo Ha handed her her bento.

 

"What are you doing?" Yoo Ha asked EunBi. She had watched her embarrass herself in front of that stranger.

 

"I just-just thought I saw somebody I knew," EunBi said as she sat back down while Yoo Ha stuffed with rice.

 

"You know somebody that old?" Yoo Ha asked as she pointed towards the man who was even smaller in the distance now.

 

"Why don't you introduce me to him? I definately need to find a new boyfriend," Yoo Ha joked as she looked down on her bento and separated out the peas. But EunBi just stared at the man with a mouth full of rice.

 

 

Meanwhile, her parents were baking her a cake at home before she arrived. The two arrived by 4 and were welcomed in the house by a strawberry cake for EunBi's birthday. The vanilla frosting was pink, her favourite colour.

 

"Wow!" EunBi said, surprised while standing at the door. Her father hugged her and kissed her on her forehead.

 

"Happy Birthday, sweetie," her mom said and hugged her as well. Watching them, Yoo Ha gave a painful smile and watched them in a bit of sorrow.

She didn't know what it felt like to have parents do so much for you, her father was hardly ever around. But she couldn't blame him. She remembered moments when she was younger and her mother and father would collectively hug her the way EunBi's parents hugged her. 

 

In the midst, Grandma walked from inside the room and hugged little stratled Eunbi.

 

"Ah! My daughter is growing, eh?" she said in a childlike voice to which Eunbi chuckled. Grandma had wanted to gift Eunbi the sweater she was knitting, but the sweater was not yet prepared.

 

EunBi's dad suggested that it wasn't a necessity because Jeju being an island, the seasons aren't as extreme as that in Seoul. The summers are moderately warm and the winters are cool, but it didn't get as cold as to need such a thick woolen sweater that Grandma was preparing.

 

"Anyhow I'll gift it to her the next time you come visit us," Grandma decided nevertheless a few hours before Eunbi and Yoo Ha arrived.

 

"Mother, just make it for Yoo Ha instead. She'd need it," EunBi's father would say but Grandma would protest saying it wouldn't fit a 20 year old Yoo Ha. Also, she had excessive amount of sweaters made by Grandma already.

 

"I think EunBi would like the idea of a hand-knitten sweater," Grandma said, "Living in a modern island like that she wouldn't have gotten a taste of traditions, would she? You know how excited she gets at little things" 

 

"Do you want to see how much fun we had? We clicked so many polaroides," EunBi said as she held the little bag she had in front of her parents with polaroids inside. Her parents chuckled at her pronounciation for big words but EunBi didn't notice.

 

"See," EunBi showed as she held out a couple of picture Yoo Ha took of EunBi, one with her on the mary go round, hugging onto the big pole to avoid falling while laughing, another inside a spinning cup, holding onto her hat.

"Wow Eunbi, you look older!" Grandma exclaimed as she saw the pictures. Her parents and family exaggerated every bit of the detail as the tone they catch while talking to her.

 

"Do I?" she said as she looked at her polaroid. She didn't look any older but she presumed herself to be. She then pushed them into her pocket and explained her rides to her parents and how much she enjoyed. 

 

By the time it was dinner time, EunBi sat with her family on the floor with the wooden table and ate food while watching television, having changed into her night pyjamas with little bows on them. Her favourite food was prepared, much to her delight. She held onto her cup of rice with a tiny picture of a kitty on it with her wooden chopsticks.

 

Right before picking up her chopsticks, she heard noises of fireworks and loud music from the back where the window lay. She looked behind into the window, where she saw the Music Hall in the distance lightened and celebrating. 

"Today must be one of the concerts," she thought. One thing she had learned about this Music Hall was that it didn't hold concerts everyday, so if it did hold one today, it wouldn't hold one tomorrow, the last day EunBi was staying at Seoul.

 

"EunBi?" Yoo Ha called, to which EunBi snapped out of her thoughts and turned in front to look at her family, which laughed at her sudden zoning out. 

 

"Looks like she's really tired already," Yoo Ha said to EunBi's family but EunBi's mind was still off at the concert that had probably just began. She tried to switch to watching television instead but the loud music somehow distracted her and made her think about the Hall even more.

 

"I just wanna go out to play after Dinner," EunBi said to her family as she thought. She didn't have a ticket and she couldn't make Yoo Ha to buy one now that the concert had started, so she just decided to watch from outside for the last day of her 12th summer she could watch the concert. 

 

"This late?" her mom exclaimed, but EunBi's dad nodded his head, signalling that it was EunBi's birthday and if she wishes to play she should be allowed to. Except she shouldn't wander too away from sight.

 

"Where?" her dad asked to which EunBi pointed across the street.

"Just around the corner," she said while chewing her rice, to which her parents eventually agreed.

Walking around at night, EunBi looked up at the sky outside her house. She was walking out of the door after Dinner that day at around 9 and watched as the feeling of the city was different.

 

It was bigger but at the same time, it stayed emptier than Jeju Island. The street where Yoo Ha lived was empty and except for the noise coming from the concert across the wide, wide road, the noise was almost never there.

It seemed as if the Music Hall was the reason the street ever even got the feeling of livelihood at all. Otherwise, the street was quite dull.

 

It was less populated than the other parts of Gangnam.

This was right at the corner where fewer people lived, fewer shops were situated, but a big music hall was present because of the cheap price it would be sold for at such an area. EunBi didn't know all this about the area, to her it was just as good as being at any other area in Seoul.

 

But today on her birthday, she found it hard to not let her mind wander off to Music Hall.

She walked across the street towards the Music Hall which had guards today due to the concert. When there's no concert, the Music Hall's doors are locked and it is just as dull as any other area on the street. It blends in quite well during the day and at nights when concerts are not held.

But at nights when concerts are held, it had the lights and noise and colours and voices of idols singing and fans chanting.

 

But outside the Music Hall, the noises coming from inside were minimised, but still evident.

EunBi walked over to the guards just to frown and realise she can't walk in because she didn't have a ticket for today booked.

She couldn't do it now that it had started. It never occurred to her why she thought her friend would appear here magically every time she does too. Simply because she knew that if Wonwoo attended this Music Hall instead of the one on the 2nd street, he must live close by.

The only place she knew she had in common with him in terms of visiting was this Music Hall and she wouldn't think whether or not he would show up.

 

She walked around the Music Hall outside for a while, taking a look at it from the outside. It was round, like a large stadium, just enclosed on the top instead of being open. There was one big door for the entrance and there was plastic trash scattered around the floor around the Music Hall which the fans often might litter before walking inside.

 

At the back of the stadium, there was a fence surrounding it about 30-40 feet away from the boundary of the Hall.

That space between the fence and the Music Hall's edge had old torn seats, used props, torn posters and all concert-related items kept that were used and not needed. The Music Hall used this area as the dumpster. It was empty and quiet at this area. The fence finally joined the Music Hall at the edge and there was a dead end.

 

She turned around to walk back after her little quest of curiosity. As she walked back to the entrance, Wonwoo, who was standing between two walls in the darkness, caught sight of Eunbi. He was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pocket as he turned his head to the right to watch EunBi walk back.

 

"EunBi?" Wonwoo said as he walked out from the wall, surprised at the little girl wandering around at night.

EunBi was surprised as well, hearing Wonwoo's voice. She turned around happily and saw a tall Wonwoo standing in front of her. For some reason, he got taller every time she saw him. But it was probably because he was older than she was. A lot older.

 

"Wonwoo Oppa!" she happily said, flashing her teeth at him. He just smiled big at her in the midst of the minimised fan chants and noises coming from inside the Music Hall.

 

"Why are you here this late? Shouldn't you be inside with your sister?" he said to her, pointing at the Music Hall, thinking Eunbi came here for the concert.

But Eunbi shook her head.

 

"We didn't book tickets for the concert today, I came here to tell you," EunBi walked closer to him with her hand in her pocket, looking for the polaroid she had stuffed inside. She pulled it out and held in up to give to Wonwoo, who reached out of his hand and caught it.

 

"It's my birthday today," she told him.

Being a 12-year-old kid, she expected Birthdays to be the special event where everybody is happy for you turning an age older. Wonwoo, of course, was no exception to this and wished her. He saw the picture of EunBi, where she was holding her hat with both her hands to make sure the hat doesn't fall off on a coaster in the air. Wonwoo slightly smiled at the candid picture and gave out a sigh.

 

"I wanted to invite you to join us but I didn't know what my parents would've said," she said to Wonwoo to which he just smiled.

He was awed at how much EunBi wanted to befriend him despite their brief encounters. But who could blame a 12-year-old kid in the most modern city in the country? she sure wanted to make new friends here and Wonwoo met her every time she came to the Hall, she sure would've grown fascinated with him.

 

"But I need to leave two days after," EunBi quickly followed and let him know "I only came here for Summer, I actually live in Jeju,"

Wonwoo smiled more. He enjoyed the little things EunBi would say to him even though he wouldn't know what to do with these facts. She was only a child.

 

"So I guess this would be our last encounter?" Wonwoo asked, ruffling his head and looking at Eunbi. He wasn't upset as such, just smiling at EunBi's little facts that she liked to point out to Wonwoo who isn't necessarily bothered but listened anyway.

She held both her hands behind her back and swung her body left and right like a kid.

 

"Mom is saying we might come visit Granda every summer. We wanted to move in with Grandma but my father would have a hard time finding a job here, according to my mom. So we decided we'll visit Grandma's every year." Eunbi said matter of factly. She only recited what her mom had told her without realising the true meaning of it. 

Wonwoo nodded to her remarks.

 

"So this might be out last encounter this year," Wonwoo said.

 

"Yes but if I come here next year, well.." Eunbi began. But she was too shy to say she'd like to meet Wonwoo again next year. She wasn't sure as to why she was eager to get to know him. But she liked being around him.

 

Wonwoo understood the meaning of what Eunbi was trying to say. He hesitated to complete the sentence for her despite that. He didn't want EunBi to get attached to him. Somebody like him. It wasn't safe.

So he closed his eyes and muttered, "Sure, we will meet next year,"

 

Wonwoo didn't know if EunBi would show up next year. He wasn't sure if she would come to meet him or not because a year is a long long time. People forget people and small encounters that Wonwoo and EunBi had weren't enough to have her remember him.

 

Although he agreed onto meeting her, he wasn't sure if she would remember because people say such things in the moment but often forget in the future.

 

Things don't matter the same in a year's time. So he agreed despite his hesitation because he was sure EunBi wasn't actually going to remember him and come meet him next year.

 

But Wonwoo's remark made EunBi smile as she looked down on the dark green grass which needed to be mowed, it almost reached her knees. She didn't even know she found her blushing.

 

"So where will I meet you? Where do you live?" EunBi asked. She was having a hard time thinking where exactly Wonwoo lived because it would be difficult to meet him if it wasn't for this Music Hall.

She's always relying on the hope that she would meet him here without being 100% sure if she would. Afterall, not being sure if you'd ever meet somebody again is a hard hope to have.

 

Wonwoo grinned at her questions.

"I'll meet you here in the Music Hall," he answered, peacefully.

 

"For sure? Which concert will you come visit me for? The first concert that summer? Second?" she asked. She would've given him her phone number if she had one.

 

"Whichever one you're here for, I'll meet you," Wonwoo said. EunBi sure didn't have to worry about whether she would get to meet Wonwoo next year or not as long as she came to Grandma's and as long as she remembered him.

 

"How would you know which one I'll come for? Let's decide on a definite one so we don't get confused," EunBi said

 

"EunBi, as long as you show up in this Music Hall, I'll be here, no matter which concert you come for," Wonwoo said. The way he said it made EunBi believe that perhaps he was a big fan who comes for each concert. So meeting him wouldn't be a problem.

 

"OK!" she said cheerfully, after thinking for a while.

 

"Don't forget me!" she waved at Wonwoo after which she turned around and hopped back home happily.

 

Wonwoo waved back until EunBi was gone far in the distance. He planned on walking back inside between the two walls where he was standing before EunBi surprised him, before realising he still had the polaroid EunBi gave him in his hand which he forgot to give back.

 

He walked back to try to find her but he realised she was gone and he couldn't chase her out of the Music Hall. So he just looked down at it in the midst of the starry night and smiled at her candid picture of her holding on to her hat on the ride.

 

"You don't be the one to forget me," he muttered while smiling, looking at the picture of a laughing EunBi he was talking to.