It was already sunrise when he reached the banks of an old village, only a few residences reside there, and most of them are elders. Clutching his stuffs, he paced forward. A runaway son, that’s what he is. He had left the premises of his home for a week now and didn’t contact anyone he knows. He requires himself some time alone to unwind and collect his thoughts, he needs time for himself alone.

  Lawyer. Is what he is known. An average countryside boy who challenges life when he decided to study law in the capital city of South Korea, Seoul. The dream his father wish he had achieved.

  Father. The most important person in his life, the only family he has. He loves his father more than anything in the world. Living the life his father wishes he had, fulfilling his dream for him.

  Walking along the street he couldn’t help to notice the lack of kids and teens, no there are neither kids nor teens in the village… except the maiden a few blocks away from him. Her petite and delicate body watering her garden, her golden-brown hair that shines as the rays of sun touches her face. Her faded maroon top and dirty white skirt that reaches the lower part of her knees, her gray cardigan and pretty pink closed shoes, he can’t help but admire her beauty. She’s like a living angel on Earth, and he can’t help but to stare.

  “Go take some shots, photographs take time to fade” she chuckles, as she touches a pink rose and shower it with a little amount of water. He tilted his head and lowered them; he can feel his cheeks burning from too much embarrassment. Her beauty is breathtaking.

  “Mianheyo” He mumbled in an almost inaudible whisper.

  “Gwenchanayo. I apologize if I scared you” her soft voice touches his ears and melts it. He can’t help but compare her voice to a soft lullaby that soothes an individual. Her innocent and pure giggle attracts his entire being.

  “A—aniyo” He stuttered, he can’t help but blush at the sight of her. He doesn’t know why he’s being shy and clumsy in front of her, he wasn’t usually like this. He is Lee Donghae, a graduating student of Kyunghee University, a very well known kingka not only in his university but in the district as a whole.

  She talks to her plants as if she’s singing them a soft good morning song, and with her touch, it’s as if the flowers are majestically blooming. She’s like an enchantress in his eyes. She softly cleared and he once again discharged himself from his short trance.

  “I haven’t seen you here before, are you new?” She amiably asked as she puts her sprinkler down.

  “Aniyo, I’m just passing by” He tried to sound as casual as he can, trying his best to avert looking at her direction. He glanced at her for a millisecond before focusing his eyes on the architecture beside him. It’s a flower shop and before he can stop his mouth, “You own this?” he blurted out.

  She nodded enthusiastically as she eyes the marquee hanging at the entrance “Thee Voyage Flower Shop” that what was written. The smile on her face never left, it’s too overwhelming.

  “Nice name” he commented quietly. The latter smiles wider at the sudden compliment.

  “Do you perhaps” she paused for a while “want to have a cup of coffee inside?” she offered politely.

  Without having any second thoughts he agreed and the two of them entered the small flower shop. The interior is like a flower plantation, the flowers are well organized according to their kinds, and there are also a lot of flower paintings on the wall. He saw many sorts of flowers and he could only name some, the typical ones: roses, lilies, tulips, while some don’t even have the familiarity with him.

  “Your shop looks nice, it’s…refreshing” he said, slapping himself mentally for the lack of comment. He could have said better than refreshing.

  “You think so?” She chuckles as she stands beside the counter, doing something he cannot see under the table. “People think it’s pretty simple, you’re the first one who said its refreshing” she added, making him blush even more.

  “You know, you’re redder than a tomato” Her compliment made him want to hide himself or to be simply swallowed by the tiled floor. He cleared his throat which unfortunately cracked in mid-way. Her laughter fills the whole place, he felt so stupid, but quite glad at the same time, her laughter is contagious, he can’t help but beam every time he’ll hear it.

  He heard the bell at the door chimes, he saw a young girl entered the shop carrying a bouquet of pink roses being wrapped in a white paper “Unnie, these are the freshly picked roses you have asked” she said, placing the flowers on a desk at the left corner.

  “Komawo, Soojungie” She said, flashing a grateful smile towards the young little girl as she watches her leaves the confines of the place. “That’s my baby sister, Soojung” she said as his eyes follow the girl run towards the other side of the street.

  “Inside, let’s have a nice little chat while having a cup of coffee, if I’m not taking too much of your time”

  “Aniyo. I’d like to have a nice cup of hot coffee for this morning, it’s such a beautiful day” He said, shaking his head. He smiles when the latter did so and nodded, he paced towards her.

  He entered a door behind the counter, and if the shop awed him, he was more surprised when he saw what was inside the room. Paintings. There were myriads of paintings inside the room; a small kitchen at the corner left and other than that, it’s all---paintings. The room seems spacious than the shop, minus the paintings.

  “You…paint as well?” It wasn’t a question; it was more like an obvious statement.

  She nodded as she placed the cups on a small wooded circular desk in front of an empty canvas. Everything inside was made of wood, except her flatware and silverware. There are a lot of landscape paintings as well as seascape and cityscape. She seems fond of painting environmental paintings or realism. There are a lot of abstract, expressionism, impressionism, surrealism, fauvism, and even Dadaism and cubism. “You must be so good to paint it all” he blabbers as his eyes scan the whole place.

  “Actually I’m not, it’s just an old-time favorite past time, painting” She said, taking an empty seat in front of the empty canvas. “Here” she said tapping the other chair beside her.

  He advances himself to her and to the reserved seat. “I’m Donghae by the way. Lee Donghae” he reached his hand asking for a shake. He felt the warmth of her small but soft hand as she accepted the offer.

  “I’m Jung Sooyeon. Nice to meet you Lee Donghae-shi”

  “Nice to meet you too” He smiles. He grabbed his coffee from the desk as he toured his eyes to look at the paintings. “Oh” he said which surprised the girl beside him.

  “Wae?” She asked very concerned. He waves his hand in the air right in front of his face to say nothing’s wrong. Placing his cup back to the desk he pointed to a painting.

  “I like that one” he said, pointing to a painting hanging at the wall. It has a vast of green rice plantation on one side and an open ocean on the other. In the middle is a sun, it’s either rising or setting he can’t choose. A flock of birds flying in between the two sceneries, in front of the sun, and the whole thing is floating above two hands. He can’t help but admire the creativity, it’s like the hand is carrying the world and the field, sun, and ocean were its foundation.

  “It is? It’s my favorite too” she said eagerly, taking a sip of her coffee before putting the cup down. She stands from her seat to pick the painting and placed in on the stand, replacing the empty canvas. “It’s my first and last surreal painting” she said, he can’t determine if her voice is eager, sad, vigorous, or sorrowful.

  “Surreal?”

  She nodded. “Surreal. You know something that’s impossible” She said. “But don’t you think it can be classified as impressionism too?”

  “Maybe…” his voice trailed mid-sentence as he tilted his head on the right side, studying the whole painting.

  “It can be classified depending on how the audience viewed it” He said in a matter-of-fact. She nodded.  “You really are good”

  “I’ve heard that many times before” she chuckles gratefully “but lately, I can’t seem to paint anything and it bothers me” She said sighing as she eyed her collection

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that will interests you” He encouraging said, placing his hand on her shoulder, he smiles.

  “Komawoyo, Lee Donghae-shi” She said sweetly. “Can I ask you something?” She said making the latter nod his head innocently. Cute. She thought.

  “What can you say about this painting?” She said addressing the painting, holding her cup with both hands.

  “Na?” He asked confused, pointing himself. She simply nodded. “Well as you said just a moment, it can be surreal and impressionism right?” He paused, she nodded. “Well, if we will simply interpret this, it can be said that one loves nature and wants to protect the Mother Earth. Surreal because that kind of painting is something we are only able to visualize in our dreams, minds, and sometimes put them into something people can see like cartoons, or like what you did, in a painting. Because it’s impossible to hold the Earth” he paused for a while. She didn’t show any reaction. “If we will deepen our interpretation, we can say that one wants to see a place like in the painting, it’s either the artist wants to see sunrise or sunset, I cannot decide” he said honestly, he knows something about arts because of a dongsaeng but he’s not really that fond with them.

  At the back of his eyes he can see her smile; it’s as if he had pointed some matters correctly. “I see…” she said, almost a whisper.

  “You seem very intellectual with paintings, are you perhaps majoring in performing arts?”

  “Aniyo. I’m a law student, I always accompany a dongsaeng whenever he visited museums so I know a bit” He said, shaking his head. Recalling the times when Kyuhyun would pull him to visit some museums, how picky he is when it comes to his materials, and how he read aloud his art textbooks.

  She didn’t talk for a while, not until they had finished their coffees. “You left home?” She said out of the blue, he was startled. She smiles as she looks at the luggage below his feet

  “Oh this… well, I…somehow” he can’t construct a nice sentence to put his thoughts into words, he lowered his head, his mind is slowly filling up with both guilt and shame, but something inside his head whispers he’s doing the right thing for now.

  “Why?” Her voice doesn’t appear as an interrogation, its concern and worried. Her eyes formed a crescent, not because she’s smiling but because she’s worried.

  He was battling whether he’s going to share it or not. He mumbled “My appa…”

  She didn’t say anything.

  “He wants me to become a lawyer, well… that was his unfulfilled dream, so….”

  “You’ll achieved it in his place”

  He nodded. “But is that what you want?” She asked, placing a hand in his leg. He shook his head as he grabbed her hand, holding it very tightly. Her small soft hand is so delicate compares to his.

  “I always love sports, but abeoji can’t understand my passion for sports. I want to be an athlete, but appa strongly oppose to it” He said sighing, recalling the fight he had with his father. “I guess everything happens for a reason”

  She shook her head, to contradict his statement “Everything happens if we make them happen. They are allowed to happen because of a certain reason; some are vague while some are clearly seen”

  “But no matter how much we wanted to make it happen, if it’s not bound to happen, it will never be” He reasoned out

  “But how will you know it’s not meant to happen if you wouldn’t try?”

  He sighed. She definitely had a point. She’s so righteous, everything she said made sense and he’s trying his best to counter-attack it, so he wouldn’t have to admit his defeat.

  “I asked you about your interpretation regarding this painting right?” She said. He nodded. “Well, as much as I want you to perfectly deduce the true content you missed some parts” she paused. “Do you know the difference between an ordinary artist and a passionate one?”

  “What? Their skills and experienced?” He tried to guess

  She shook her head and smile “Aniyo. Ordinary artists paint what they want to see, passionate ones paint what they desire”

  “Not really following” He admitted timidly as he rubs the back of his neck

  “An ordinary painter paints his subject without having any attachment to it, it’s like he just paint what he visualized.”

  “So you’re saying?”

  She heaved a deep sighed, her face had etched an expression as if the answer is to simple and he’s not just trying his best to think what it is. “Ordinary artists paint with only skills and materials alone”

  “And you’re saying that passionate ones paint with their hearts? Don’t you think that’s too typical already? It’s been used many times” He said bluntly, narrowing his eyes at her direction as she beams.

  “It does sound cliché, but I believe it” She said losing herself in a daze as she stare at the painting ahead of them.

  “So… what does an artist had to do with life and this painting?” He asked, very lost at the flow of their conversation.

  “We can compare life with a painting, a life being lived according to our heart’s desire is much meaningful than a life that is just being lived without knowing where it will go. Like a painting, you cannot paint something that can touch or catch people if you don’t know what to paint. Life is like that” She said like speaking in a trance, he stared at her and that’s when she tilted her face to his direction.

  “You said the painter wanted to see this scenery right?” She pointed to the painting. He nodded

  “Doesn’t that make you an ordinary painter?”

  “You think so?” She said and smiles “I didn’t paint this because I simply wanted to see the whole scenery. You know, you missed the colors of the sun” she said picking the painting from the stand and placing it on her laps. “If you’ll look closely, the color of the sun in the east is lighter, which means the ocean, because sun rises at the east” She paused.

  He nodded, signifying he’s following.

  “The colors on the other side are heavier. It’s because I haven’t seen the sunrise or sunset. I painted this in a hope that one day I’ll be able to experience it for my own…”

  “And the hands are symbolizing your plea…” his voice faded mid-sentence, slowly grasping the true content of the painting. She beams “You meant, you painted this not simply because you wanted to see it or this is what you visualized sunrise or sunset is, but because you wanted to experience it” He said proudly, as if he had won a case or debate.

  “Bingo!” She said clasping her hands together as she looked at him mercifully. “And to experience it, you have to make it happen yourself”

  Hitting the core of his idle heart, he realized what she is saying, she’s encouraging him to pursue his life’s dream. Without thinking of what he is doing he pulled her into a hug and whispered gratefully “Komawoyo”

  “It’s nothing” She caressed his back as she leans against him.

  He pulled himself from the hug and playfully said “You know, you talk like an old person” he laughs tenderly

  She slaps his arm playfully with a bashful smile plastered on her face, nevertheless, she wasn’t angry and played along “Who knows…maybe I am”

8 YEARS LATER

  Donghae returned to the old village after fulfilling his own dream. Right now, he is known as the famous soccer player. He didn’t regret having his talk with her, he was thankful that he was lead to the small town where he met a lovely and sweet girl.

  Carrying a bouquet of flowers which he had brought in Seoul, he drives his way towards the flower shop he once visited. He stepped the break slowly as he saw a moving truck in front of the shop, and a face he wouldn’t forget carrying things inside the small opening. Sooyeon. Jung Sooyeon. He beams.

  Stepping outside his car, he straighten himself as he looked at his own reflection at the side mirror of his car, he grabbed the bouquet from the shotgun seat.

  He advanced himself, he stand there for a couple of minutes, hoping to be recognized, but to no avail. He started feeling embarrassed, watching the girl carry things back and forth, covering her face. He cleared his throat. The girl stopped her tracks.

  “Mianheyo, I didn’t noticed someone, do you need any help mister?” Her face doesn’t changed a bit, like she didn’t old. But he shrugs his admiration when she addressed him as a mister

  “Don’t you remember me?” He said, losing his cool

  “Mianheyo, I don’t know you…well” Her voice trailed trying to think of his familiarity.

  He sighed. “It’s me Sooyeon-shi, Lee Donghae”

  The girl gasped at the mention of the name, he smiles when he thought she remembered. “You…you know my aunty Sooyeon?” Her eyes widened

  “Aunty?”

  “Yes. I’m Jessica by the way. Jung Jessica, the daughter of her sister, Soojung” She introduced herself

  “You’re…”

  “How did you know my aunty?”

  “I’ve been in this place eight years ago and we talked….”

  “You must be disillusioned back then, it can’t be…” She said frightened a bit.

  “Waeyo?”

  “My aunty Sooyeon passed away 50 years ago…” She said eyeing him suspiciously

  “That’s not possible, I even entered this shop and Soojung is only a kid back then….” He’s starting to get creeps, the way she dressed, the way she speaks and….

  He pulled himself from the hug and playfully said “You know, you talk like an old person” he laughs tenderly

  She slaps his arm playfully with a bashful smile plastered on her face, nevertheless, she wasn’t angry and played along “Who knows…maybe I am”

  “No…” he mumbled to himself.

  “Aha!” Jessica snaps, retrieving him from his thoughts. He watched her as she rushed inside “This! I know your face seems familiar!” She said, carrying a painting covered with a white tempera. “This is the last painting aunty Sooyeon had painted when she found dead inside her atrium” she said, pulling the white cover off.

  He dropped the flowers he was holding and he felt shivers down his spine. “It…can’t be” he said inaudibly soft. It was a painting of him when he first visited the shop, same position, it’s as if someone had painted them from the back, the surreal painting on the stand, the empty canvas below it, the two cups of hot coffees, the same dress Sooyeon wore when they first meet, and her admirable smile.

  “It’s freaking me out…” She said bluntly, taking turns into looking at the painting and back to him. “You’re the exact replica of him”

  “And you’re the same with your aunty” He blabbered. They really look the same, except Jessica is modern while Sooyeon is old-school, dressing up the way women dressed during her era.

  “I get that a lot, they say aunty Sooyeon looks like she reincarnated through me, funny. But I’m glad I inherit her beauty” She said smiling at the painting. “You know what umma said she liked about aunty Sooyeon the most?

  “What?”

  “She said a phrase to umma that my mother would never ever forget.” She paused for a while, admiring the maiden inside the painting she is holding.

  “We are life’s greatest artists”

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[A/N] Okay, I know I broke my own words, saying that next chaptie will be sweet and whatnot again. But~ as I was watching dream high 2 (OmayGosh. I love JB!!!) I felt this urge to write something about life and dreams. Then also there's this "Sherlock" MV by Shinee, and huwalaaa the whole idea just pops into my mind. And to clear some things, NO. Sooyeon and Donghae did not have a love affair, their just close enough to be getting friends. Yeah, so I hope you all like this, just please don't hate me? Subscribers, do comment once in a while =)). The ending is kinda creepy don't you think? But I love the plot, unfortunately I'm not really a good verbose, I can't put my thoughts and imaginations into words. That !