“Minhyuk-ah, come out of the room. Dinner is ready.” A middle aged woman, probably in her late forties shouted from the kitchen. Her head looked up while repeatedly called for his son who had been in his room for the entire day. Shaking knowingly, she began to ascend her way to his room.

Once she opened the door, the male’s mother witnessed the common scene in front of her where bunch of crumpled papers scattering on the floor. “How can you sit in this room the whole day? It’s a mess.” The mother spoke in slight disappointment before turning on the main light in the room, splashed the interior and she saw her son, Lee Minhyuk pulling his blanket and turning his body away from the source of light.

After fetching him at his room, the son and mother had their dinner as silence occupied them along the way. As a conversation starter, the older woman glanced at Minhyuk and asked, “You had an appointment with the eye doctor today, right? What did he say?” Nodding once as an answer for the first question, he instinctively fixed the pair of sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

All of the sudden, his appetite vanished into thin air when the answer to the second question came to mind. Pushing the plate away, he diligently thanked for the meal before throwing his body on the sofa in the living room. It was getting dark in a couple of hours he assumed based on time yet the sudden phone call blasted to his ears sounded urgent coming from his bedroom upstairs. So he slowly stood up from his spot, abandoning the idea of channel surfing to pick up the call.

“Minhyuk hyung! Oh my, I’m glad you answered fast. I found a girl that’s totally suit with your taste.” A familiar voice owned by his male friend quickly spoke, trying his best not to stumble on his words. He sounded as if he was in a rush. Shocked at the information however, the fellow questioned doubtfully but still excited for a reason. “Are you serious?! How is she like?”

“Well, she’s cute and apparently six years younger than you. Totally your style, right? Go and meet her now at the restaurant down the street. It’s the one nearby your residential area.”

“Wait,” Minhyuk called, “Isn’t she is your blind date then? Hyunsik-ah, I can’t do that. Your father-” He added on, fully aware of his friend’s father’s personality if the man knew of his son’s hasty plan. But before he could finish his sentence, the friend cut swiftly.

“Just go! I have something to settle, right now.” Lim Hyunsik, his friend hung the call without any delay to his words.

Minhyuk immediately shrugged as he tossed his phone on the bed before heading to the mirror and groomed himself with a smile on his face. Adjusting the glasses for one final time, he made his way down and told her mother of his plan for the rest of the evening. “I might be home later tonight. Don’t stay up for me, okay?” He said and bid his goodbye. The mother merely laughed, noticing the bubbly aura taking over his son.

Following Hyunsik’s instruction like a pro, Minhyuk reached in front of a restaurant he managed to spill through the single call within ten minutes. As soon as he stepped in, he saw the back figure of a girl sitting alone at her table, sipping her drink at ease. Assuming it was her, he advanced unknowingly.

“Excuse me, miss. Are you Lim Hyunsik’s friend?” He kindly asked by the time he stopped in front of the table and caught her visual after her head craned up from the screen of her smartphone in her other hand. The girl casually pushed her long wavy hair back, not smiling and one of her brows shot up questioningly.

“Yes, and you are?” Taken aback by her cold persona, the surge of confidence Minhyuk mustered while he was walking to the restaurant disappeared before slowly taking a seat across her. He let out an awkward laugh to lift his spirit because Hyunsik was totally lying about a major thing with the girl. She did not seem to be his style at all. Nonetheless, he decided to give it a try.

The two of them exchanged light conversation with one another which including random facts like birthday dates and such less than fifteen minutes of talk. She began to play with her nails as he was in the midst of talking more about random things in life and one glare from her was all he needed to know she was not interested.

“Why are you wearing sunglasses indoor? Are you one of those hipster guys or something? It’s nearly dark out too.” The girl, namely Kim Mikyoung crossed her legs underneath the table and pointed at the object on his face. “Oh, this? I need to wear it since I have weak eyes. I can’t look at bright lights directly.” He replied and gathered his hands on his laps, eyes not able to look up to her through the semi-dark vision.

Mikyoung’s head titled sideways upon hearing his answer and nodded. “Order a drink, Minhyuk-ssi. I don’t want to drink alone.” She finally told him when she sensed the discomfort showed by the male. Honestly, she felt bad for her acting but she had her own reason behind it.

The talk went on and on after Minhyuk flustered and waited for the waiter to serve his drink which came quick seeing that he simply ordered Americano. Standing up from her seat, Mikyoung grabbed her handbag before leaving without saying anything which shocked him but he made no effort to stop her.

She glared at the window of the restaurant where she could clearly see him drinking the coffee quietly at the same location. Not an inch moved. Sighing, the girl hailed a taxi which she caught in her peripheral and headed home.

“He doesn’t even recognise me. Why bother.”

Kicking off the shoes to the corner of the shoe racks stacked by the entrance, Minhyuk walked up to his room dejectedly. He even ignored his mother’s concern call from the living room, asking if he was okay when he was visibly not alright. He could not hide the gloominess, not even with the help of his sunglasses. Placing the object in the drawer of his nightstand, he lay down on the bed before dimming the nightlight and brought the blanket on his body.

He could not get himself to sleep. Minhyuk threw the cover off and opted to sit on his workspace for the night. His brain was working overtime so what would be a better idea than to dispose of the remaining energy out by lighting up the space slightly and grabbed his stencils and colouring sets.

Drawing had always been a passion of his since he was a little boy. Others of his younger age would ask for action figures and fancy toys but not him. He asked for the tray of colour pencils and easel instead. His parents were more than happy to provide their only son with those artistic things for him to play with. Thus, it was not a surprise that he did not notice the time.

The analogue clock on his desk four o’clock, meaning dawn was nearing. When he sat back, his eyes widened as he gasped at the result of his unconscious drawing. He drew her. There was a small curve forming on the sides of his lips as he stared at the product so he placed it away and yawned.

Morning soon hits the closed drape hung on the window of Minhyuk’s room. His mother came in with a basket in one hand before picking up the clothes left around the fellow’s room and noticed he was tossing and turning on the bed.

“Minhyuk-ah, did you stay up last night? Are you alright?” Contrasting to his plan to sleep decently after his late activity, he was not able to take a wink of sleep. Heaving a long sigh, the mother gently patted the son’s head as an attempt to set the boy to doze off which apparently worked even for a grown young adult like him. Approaching the working desk out of curiosity, his mother smiled as she gazed at the sketchbook he left on the table before leaving the room.

Later that afternoon, Minhyuk felt his mother shaking him, telling him to wake up and also, someone wanted to see him that day. He asked if it was the ophthalmologist wanting to see him randomly at the house but when she answered a ‘no’, he sprung up. His mother passed him his glasses after he finished washing up as he wondered who would want to meet him at that kind of hour.

Minhyuk’s eyes still squinted for a brief second when he pulled the door open and became flustered again upon seeing her figure standing less than a metre, hand about to press the bell he failed to hear before from his room. He opened the door wider before ruffling his bed hair to its place.

“Why are you here?” He asked and noticed Mikyoung was far from surprised when she heard the question as if she expected it coming from him. She was wearing a pair of large rimmed sunglasses and chewing a mint gum in before putting and throwing away those two respectively where it belonged which were her bag and trash bin. Flipping her hair out of habit, she looked at him with furrowed brows. “I called you a couple of time but you didn’t pick it up.”

She did not see it but his eyes opened wider behind his glasses at her statement before he scanned through his call log only to find an unknown number. She made not just a couple but four couples. Eight calls, she made eight calls.

That was weird. He did not remember giving her his number. Could it be she asked for it from Hyunsik? He thought it was going to be a onetime meeting. And how did she know where he lives? The longer he looked, the more number of questions made in the back of his mind and the list seemed to go on longer until he heard his mother’s voice visiting his border of consciousness.

Finally inviting her into his house, Mikyoung’s eyes darted around the place in wonder before he gestured a seat at the dining area between the kitchen and living room. “This is quite a huge terrace house you live in, Minhyuk-ssi.” She frankly admitted before landing her eyes on his who had no idea how to reply to her compliment regarding the size of the house.

“Both of you can talk first. I’m going to shower for a bit.” Minhyuk bowed shortly before leaving the two females in the room. He did not see her expression unlike his mother but the older woman felt a foreign connection when the girl looked at the rest of the house from her spot. She seemed genuinely curious about something.

“Does this house always dark like this?” She glanced up on the ceiling where a single light hung above the table being and not the others throughout the house. The curtains were closely draped together and the answer she got from the mother was the same ones as Minhyuk stated the day before. Somewhere along the line saying that he was sensitive of the light since he was born into the world. How unfortunate.

She bobbed her head understandingly at the condition of the male and there was a sense of respect in her when she heard it from his mother herself. Mrs Lee served her a cup of warm brown coffee and continuously conversed before Minhyuk showing up after showering. Gently placing the cup on the coaster, Mikyoung smiled at his mother.

“Can I borrow Minhyuk for the day?” She said bluntly which surprised him a lot more than he supposed to. Eyeing on the choice of clothing he put up, he could not help but accept the reality and followed along with the girl’s plan.

The two of them made their walk down the path and nearing themselves to a park. The atmosphere shared was rather awkward for both so as a start, Minhyuk suggested ice cream to wash away the heat and treated her. They took their seats in front of a playground, spending the next couple of moments watching kids running around, playing on the slides and swings.

“Well,” both of them uttered simultaneously and shy smiles curved on their faces. Glancing at the melting ice cream in the midst of another silence, Mikyoung opted to do the talking first. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to tell you yesterday. I already knew you since my school days.” He turned his gaze to look up once she confessed, the smile still lingered as she continued.

“You’re a senior from Taehyun High,next to Jeongguk Elementary. Does that ring a bell?” She questioned hopefully and noticed he was staring at her as he tried to recall his memory. It took him awhile before a picture of a girl vastly younger and physically different came to mind. Mouthing an ‘o’, he nodded approvingly.

When he said different, he meant it truly. Contrasting to the confident look she put up with the brunette locks flown on her back now, she used to have short hair and even wore thick-rimmed glasses to help with her eye-sight. She must have tossed them away and made way for contacts instead. Sheepishly rubbed her nape, the girl cleared to gain his attention.

“During your graduation day, I bought you a bouquet with my own pocket money since I noticed you’re alone. You said your mother didn’t attend since she had to take care of your late father.”

Behind his dark sunglasses, he never felt so thankful for two reasons. One of it would be she would not able to see the tears building up at the edge of his eyes and second, he was touched upon hearing to her kind intention back then. He remembered the look she had when she gave him those flowe