“How’s your friend?” I asked, the moment Sunggyu sat down on the vacant chair across me. We were in the library, yet again. He placed his bag on the floor and instantly took a book from the pile I gathered.

He looked at me for a moment, and a curious smile graced his lips. “You’re concerned about strangers, too?”

I pursed my lips, and shrugged. “Stop returning my questions with questions. It’s irritating.”

“Now do you feel how I feel?” he returned smugly. “That’s how you usually play around, Hana.”

“You think?”

“Absolutely,” he answered. “But he’s doing okay now, thanks for asking.”

I nodded away. I stole tentative glances from him, wondering if I should tell him about Woohyun or not. I was usually bad with remembering names, but I figured he was too unique to be so easily neglected like that.

“May I know…” I began. “What’s wrong with him?”

Sunggyu turned to a random page before saying, “I’m sorry, Hana, but you can’t.”

“Why not?” I shot back. This startled me, because I wasn’t the type who would push things. No matter how confusing I may seem in my own eyes, I was sure I could never be a person who would be assertive.

He paused, and his eyes shifted from the book he was holding to me.

“Reasons,” he muttered.

And that ended that.

In a way, I found it funny how I always wanted to know what was happening with the people around me, but I never wished for them to find me out. In this give-and-take relationship, I have long admitted I belonged in the selfish side.

<:>

“I’m going ahead,” Sunggyu said one afternoon. “Will you be okay walking alone?”

I nodded. It wasn’t like he was always there to walk me to the bus stop, anyway.

“You sure?” he pushed.

“Yeah,” I answered. “But where are you going?”

“My dad visited,” he replied. “I should go and entertain him.”

“I see…”

He flashed me a quick smile, and I did the same. The both of us waved at each other and I watched his retreating figure get smaller by each step he took. Soon, he vanished in a corner and I was left alone to deal with my thoughts. I sighed, and sat down on the bench. I still had ten minutes to kill before the bus arrived.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and decided to check on my blog. I was surprised, however, to see I received a message. It came from Clover, and it was one of the shortest messages he had ever sent me:

Let’s meet up.
-Clover

I didn’t know what came to me then, but before I knew it, I was already typing up a reply:

When?
-Thunder

Now.
-Clover

Where?
-Thunder

Sunflower Café.
-Clover

I bit my lower lip.

Okay.
-Thunder

I’ve never seen Clover before, but I accepted so readily just like that. No matter what, despite the fact I was already an adult, meeting up with a stranger was something a sane person should never do.

“But you’re a writer,” I whispered. “How can you even have the nerve to consider yourself sane, Pyo Hana?”