Several days had passed, and I didn’t catch any glimpse of Sunggyu ever since he walked away from me at that time. I wanted to send him a message, but something held me back. I felt that he wouldn’t reply even if I asked, because he already did that to me whenever he’d leave without a word. That was another side of him, you see. Sunggyu was the type of person who would vanish without any warning and would only come back as if nothing had happened, and there was me, who wouldn’t ask unless I was awfully curious. I guess from the very beginning our friendship was already defective. I was too proud to ask, and he was too indifferent to even bother sharing.

It was a Tuesday when he popped out of nowhere. I was in the library, nibbling on some biscuits while reading a book when Sunggyu suddenly plopped himself down on the vacant chair in front of me. I paused to look at him, and he only stared back.

“You’re here,” I pointed out.

“Yeah,” he whispered.

“You missed some things.”

“I’ll get into it.”

Silence. I cleared my throat, and finally asked, “Where were you?”

I could’ve sworn there was a pleasant spark of surprise in his eyes. I wasn’t taken aback by his reaction, though, because I knew as well it wasn’t like me at all to initiate such mundane conversations.

“I visited a friend of mine,” he said.

“I see,” I replied. “Is your friend okay?”

“Pretty much,” he murmured.

I nodded away, and as if on cue, Sunggyu stood up to grab a book for himself and just like that, we spent the rest of our free time reading away as if he wasn’t gone for more than a week; as if I wasn’t worried; as if nothing mattered.

All of a sudden, he smirked, and this caused me to look at him.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“It’s amusing,” he returned. “How you’re starting to care about the people around you, Hana.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I replied with a scoff.

“Take it whatever way you want,” he said. “I meant what I said, after all.”

<:>

As always, Sunggyu would take his time walking me to my bus stop. We sat down on the bench, and looked up at the digital time table.

“We’ve to wait for fifteen minutes,” I said.

“We’ve to talk for fifteen minutes,” he added.

I smirked, and proceeded to stare at my black pumps. “Why do you always leave without saying anything?” I blurted out.

“Why do you ask?” he enquired in response.

“I just wanna know,” I honestly said.

There was a long pause, and he replied, “So you’ll miss me.”

I scoffed. “What?”

“So you’ll miss me,” he repeated, without missing a beat. “I think it worked, though. It always does.”

I didn’t bother replying anymore. Like I said, Sunggyu was someone who wanted to feel needed. If he was aware someone yearned for him while he was gone, he could be the happiest guy in the country. I didn’t know what occurred to me at that time, but I decided to give him what he wanted.

“I did miss you,” I said. “It’s good you’re back, though.”

“Liar,” he replied, smiling a little. “You only see me as a study buddy, after all.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

Afterwards, our conversation revolved around the generic things again, and it stayed like that until my bus arrived. Sunggyu stood up and watched me enter the vehicle before going on his own way.

<:>

I don’t even know why I’m opening up like this, Clover. I rarely do it and it’s uncomfortable but I feel if I don’t do it now, then I’ll feel worse.

I know you’re still on hiatus but I figured I’d write to you just the same. How are you, by the way? I hope you’re doing well. I saw a good acquaintance of mine today for the first time after a few weeks, you see, and he told me I’m starting to care.

It's fascinating, because I think I always cared, I just didn’t want to express it. Or maybe I never really did care in the first place. I’m not sure.

-Thunder

It’s okay. If it helps to just message me like this, trust me on this one: it’s all right.

I think you’re starting to care, though. It’s your first time asking me about my condition, to be honest. I’m doing well, thank you very much. And how are you faring?

Your acquaintance may be right with that amusing thought of his. Haha.

Have a nice day.

-Clover

<:>

It was a rainy day when I had to get out of the house to buy ink for my printer and several realms of paper for my thesis. Albeit I didn’t want to get out of the house, I pushed myself to go, all because of that cursed deadline looming nearer and nearer.

I ran all the way from my apartment to the bus stop only to realize I wasn’t alone. There was another guy in the tiny shelter, and strangely enough, it was the stranger in the bus. He was humming to himself when he turned to look at me. His eyes showed a glint of recognition, and before I could say anything, he smiled at me and burbled, “Hello!”

I gingerly bowed in return, ending our greetings with each other.

“Do you love the rain?” he casually asked.

I glanced at him, and saw his shoulders, slightly damp, together with his mop of black hair.

“Why do you ask?” I returned.

“I think you’re the type who would love it,” he said.

“You think so?”

He laughed his tinkling laugh. “Why do you return a question with a question?”

“Do I?” I replied. “I get that a lot.”

“You did it again,” he pointed out, the smile not leaving his lips. “But really, do you love the rain?”

I looked up at the dreary sky, and my eyes traced one of the rapid raindrops fall on the puddle in front of us, forming a ripple.

“I hate the cold and getting soaked,” I murmured. “But it’s funny, because I could never detest the rain.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s beautiful,” I looked at him. “What about you? Do you love the rain?”

He looked up to think, and said, “I think I’ll try loving it now.”

“Why?”

“Reasons,” he outstretched his left hand to catch some raindrops, and I noticed the back of his palm, bleeding.

“Did you hurt yourself?” I asked.

He turned to look at me, but before he could even reply, I took out a spare plaster from my bag and handed it out to him.

“Can you do it on your own?” I asked again. “Or should I stick it on for you?”

There was this moment of silence, and he said, “For a stranger, you care a lot.”

Nonetheless, he offered his injured hand, and I placed the plaster on his wound while slightly blowing on it. My hand brushed against his for a fleeting second, and at that time, I thought his hand was too warm for a cold day.

“The bus is here,” he said. “Let’s go.”

"...a tad less indifferent, a tad less clouded, a tad more passionate, a tad more human."
^ Yes, Jess, I do get what you mean. I felt like that, as well. Haha. If those people see this I wonder how they'll react xD
And yes, I do feel that way sometimes, too. There are times I even attempt to guess a stranger's name, but of course, I'm always wrong. You want to make friends with strangers? I think we already are doing that at this very moment, Jess. Haha.