02: Tao

Ever since he was a little boy, Tao was filled with this feeling called love. Around his old neighborhood he was known as Little Matchmaker Tao, a cheesy but cute nickname the aunts and uncles created for him.

Tao could find a match for anyone, anyone but the one who mattered the most to him, his mother. When Tao asked, “Why can’t I find anyone good enough for you?”

His mom would only smile down sweetly at him and say, “Mommy has already met her destined one.”

Tao would then curiously look up at and ask, “Then why isn’t he here with you now?” She would laugh and ruffle her son’s hair. “It’s complicated,” would be her answer.

Tao would proceed to crinkle his nose and say, “Love isn’t complicated. If a man and a women love each other then they should be together.”

The mother would then tickle the little boy’s tummy and laugh with her. “You’ll understand more when you grow up. Don’t worry so much about it now,” she would say with a carefree expression planted on her face.

Tao would nod her head and doze off into the comfort of a mother’s embrace.

But the warmth soon disappeared on his sixteenth birthday. Tao was excitedly waiting at home for his mom to come home with a birthday cake when a loud and continuous knock interrupted his thought process. “Tao,” a loud yet anxious voice called from outside.

An uncomfortable feeling suddenly washed over Tao as he slowly made his way to the door. He opened to see his neighbor’s pain stricken expression. “Your mother,” she started.

She hadn’t finished her sentence, but he understood the message. She was in grave danger. “W-hich hospital was she brought to?” his voice quivered.

“Seoul Hospital,” the neighbor replied meekly. The hospital was a thirty-minute walk, Tao made it there in ten minutes by sprinting at top speed. But it was too late, she was already gone. It was this moment when his heart broke.

Tao spent the next two years wandering around here and there like an empty shell. He did nothing except work in order to forget the pain, but exhaustion soon caught up to him. On the night of his eighteenth birthday, after a twelve-hour shift, Tao collapsed on the streets. 

Luckily a girl noticed his limp body while on her way to a cake shop. She quickly ran over to his side and checked his pulse. She felt his heartbeat pulsate under her skin, he was alive!

“Cupid!” she screamed. The bald giant hobbled over.

“What now?” he asked.

“He’s hurt,” she said while slowly turning him over onto his back, struggling in the process.

“So what? We can’t save every poor animal you find,” he grunted.

“But it’s my birthday, save him as my birthday gift,” she grinned.

Cupid sighed at the unreasonable request. “Only if I’m allowed,” he huffed. The girl threw her hands up in glee.

Cupid scanned Tao’s body to find out more information on him. His unwillingness was fading away by the second. With a snap of a finger, Tao was lifted off the ground. The girl happily squealed.

“I have a friend now!” she exclaimed. Cupid sighed but smiled soon after and transported the three of them to his headquarters.

Tao awoke to a brightly lit white room. He shot up from the bed and took a quick glance around the room.

A girl was sitting in the far corner of the room reading a magazine.

“Am I in heaven?” he croaked out.

The girl lifted her head up to locate the voice and smiled gleefully. “No, but I would say this is the closest you’ll get to heaven without dying,” she chirped.

Tao gave her a confused look and she just smiled in return. “Hi, the name’s Yue and you are?”

“Tao,” he answered warily. She was too cheerful of a person he thought to himself.