1992

It was a beautiful sunny spring afternoon but the air was somehow very humid that day. The wind was blowing in sweeping through the city. The lushes green grass welcomed everyone that came to the park. Bees were busy working on the honey nectar in the beautiful flowers. The sound of happy gleeful children erupted throughout the playground that stood magnificently in the middle of the park. Swings, slides and see-saws of various vibrant colours were packed with children despite it being a school day. A 5-year-old chubby boy came to the park, hand in hand with his mother. He had jet black hair that glimmered under the afternoon sun. His brown eyes showed his innocence. As soon as he saw the swings, he let go of her hands and ran in joy towards them.

“Anyeong” said the little boy to a girl roughly his age that played by herself on the bright blue and red swings. Despite his adorable cheeky smile, she managed to ignore him completely. The determined little boy didn’t back down but instead he poked the girl’s puffy rosy cheeks in his attempt to catch her attention.

Again, she ignored him and she walked towards the rocking horses. This was unwavering for the little boy, so he followed her and this time he pulled on her dazzling long hair that were tied into two ponytails. He yanked a little too hard that she fell flat on her back. Her pretty magenta dress was covered in sand. This finally caught her attention because she ended up bursting into the most annoying cry ever. She was wailing her lungs out. Tears began streaming down her cheeks. He was caught off guard. This alarmed him because he knew he was in the wrong so he covered the little girl’s mouth with both of his stubby hands to suppress any sound that tried to escape .

He shoved a lollipop into the little girl’s mouth and the sweet taste of the candy made her stop. The little girl’s frown turned upside down immediately. He finally lifted his hands that covered mouth.

“I’m sorry.” He apologised sincerely to her.

“I’m going to tell my mummy!” said the little girl as she got up from the ground. He brushed the sand from her dress.

“Shh…I have more candy.” He pulled out another stick of lollipop from the pocket of his pants.

“CHOI SEUNGHYUN! Didn’t omma tell you to play nice?” shouted the little boy’s mother. The young woman crouched down and inspected the little girl for any scratches.

“Alice sweetheart, are you ok?” asked a woman with long golden blond hair. She was exceptionally tall and had a friendly smile on her face. She was not Korean.

“I’m so sorry about this. Boys, they always play so rough. Seunghyun, tell the lady you are sorry for hurting her daughter.”

The little boy avoided looking at the little girl’s mother. With his hands behind his back and his eyes glued to the floor, he whispered an apology.

“I just wanted to be friends but she ignored me.” he blurted out of a sudden.

“Alice that’s not nice. Go shake hands and be friends.” She nudges her daughter forward. The little girl obediently pulled out her hands for a handshake which he gladly took into his.

“How old is your daughter?”

“She will turn 5 in December. What about your boy?”

“What a coincidence! Seunghyun turns 5 in November.”

“Omo, that’s nice. They can be chingu. What is your boy’s name?”

“Choi Seunghyun. And your girl?”

“Alice Soyoung Park.”

“A pretty name for a pretty young lady.”

“Alice honey, he is oppa. You have to call him Seunghyun oppa. Arasso?”

The little girl squirms a little with a hint of disgust on her face. Obviously, she was not comfortable calling the other boy oppa but she simply nodded obediently at her mother. The little boys smiled smugly at little Alice. To which she naughtily stuck her tongue out in defence.

Like an obvious written fate, from that day on wards they became the best of friends. They lived in the same neighbourhood; they went to the same school. They were inseparable. Everywhere Alice went, Seunghyun followed and everywhere Seunghyun was, Alice was there too. They shared everything from their ambitions, hopes, and secrets to the weirdest dreams.

He scribbled on the small square paper and carefully he folded it into a smaller square. When he was done he pushed the paper to the little girl that sat next to him. She was pretending not to see the piece of paper under her sleeve and continued to occupy herself in colouring the cartoon characters in the sheet in front of her. Again he pushed the paper to her, poking her puffy cheeks again and again with the yellow colour pencil in hand. It was then that she finally gave in and opened the letter. She read the letter at a glimpse and scribbled a reply. She shoved the letter towards the little boy who hurriedly opened it. They passed letters back and forth and ignoring the teacher who was busy teaching in front of the class.

I learned how to make an airplane. Do you want to see?

Seunghyun.

No

Alice

Why? It’s cool.

Seunghyun.

You didn’t invite me to your birthday so I don’t want to see your airplane.

Alice.

“Choi Seunghyun.” said the teacher who was extending her hands so Seunghyun would give up the letter he had in hand. In a split second he quickly crumbled the small piece of paper and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed the paper earnestly. The annoyed teacher grabbed him by his ears and pulled him out of his seat. She did the same towards Alice and they were both dragged out of class. The teacher punished them by standing outside of the class room for self-reflecting but instead both Alice and Seunghyun were laughing and giggling in their own world.

The young woman walked slowly behind the two children who were hand in hand walking through the beautiful park. They were heading towards the crowded playground on a vibrant spring afternoon. Both children were excitedly jumping around and fooling with each other. Once or twice she couldn’t help herself from grinning silly as she looked at her only daughter blushing every time the little boy held her tiny hands. A small part of her was convinced that the two childhood best friend might just end up with each other and she would want nothing more for her daughter since she’s known Seunghyun almost all his life.