The weather appeared to reflect the atmosphere around us as Dongho led the way to Rinah’s house. With a few fluffy clouds lazily floating midair, only a selected amount of sunny rays gently warmed us on our slow walk. Dongho barely looked at me. He walked with his hands in his pockets, mostly just smiling at Rinah and responding to her endless chatter.

- Am I intruding on what otherwise could have been a peaceful walk? Or am I simply too boring? Maybe he didn’t want me to come along.

Those kinds of thoughts were running through my mind as he looked almost everywhere but towards my direction. Were the clouds really that interesting? I even looked up and stared at the sky for a good couple of minutes, wondering how gliding puffs of water vapour could be more fascinating than a human being. Truthfully, I found him far more intriguing, but it felt like he’d say otherwise. -

“Your neck’s going to break if you keep staring at the sky like that,” Dongho called out.

I shifted my vision towards him. He was standing a few meters ahead, waiting for me. The look in his eyes was indifferent, making his thoughts unable to read. Maybe ambiguity was where I lacked luster. Xander had often been able to guess my thoughts by simply looking at my face. I guess a mysterious stance would have been far more alluring. But it’s too late for that now.

I nodded and picked up my pace, quickly closing the gap between us. With an apologetic smile, I mumbled, “Sorry.” He nodded gently, and began walking once again, saying no more.

“Eonni, you’re a bit slow,” Rinah giggled, running ahead of us. “Oppa is too.” She stuck out her tongue at us, teasing.

Dongho smirked, finding her actions adorable. It was probably the only thing I was sure of about him. Then again, everyone found Rinah adorable, so this wasn’t much of an observation.

“Rinah,” I laughed, finding her charming, myself. “Won’t you get tired?”

She shook her head confidently. “I’m fine! See?” To prove her point, she stopped and noticeably stretched before us.

“If you say so,” I smiled.

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Dongho paused to hitch Rinah slightly higher up on his back before continuing on the path. Careful not to wake her up, I brushed her hair away from her face, my fingers slightly lingering on her round face. I’ve always thought that it would be nice to have a little sister like her. Eli would have loved her too.

“And she said she wasn’t tired,” Dongho shook his head. “She always does that, always.”

Unsure of whether or not he was talking to me or to himself, I nodded, in an attempt to play it safe. Silence followed afterwards, lacking Rinah’s bright chatter to fill it in.

- That was how it was for several minutes. I glanced at him casually every now and then, whereas he’d avoid my eyes and look elsewhere. More often than not, this kind of situation would cause time to appear as if it was dragging on at a painfully slow rate.

However, even without any words between us, the seconds seemed to speed by, leaving me wanting more of his presence. A conversation didn’t exist, yet I was contented by merely staying by his side. I remember thinking that, that kind of feeling couldn’t be normal. And truthfully, it wasn’t. That kind of feeling was magical; I just didn’t know it yet. -

“Thank you,” a woman, barely in her late thirties, whimpered gratefully as Dongho carefully transferred the sleeping child into her arms. “Her teacher called me saying they’d lost her. I didn’t know what to do.” She hugged Rinah closer. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun, strands having fallen out in most places and her face was bare. Clearly, she had been running around in distress. “Where on earth did you find her?”

Dongho turned to me, implying that I had found her and not him. “She tugged at my skirt on my way to school,” I explained. “We were by Seonyudo Park.”

Rinah’s mother rested her palm on my cheek, her eyes showing the pain that still hasn’t completely faded away. “For taking care of my daughter and bringing her home, thank you,” she told me. The sincerity she emanated warmed my heart.

“Your daughter’s lucky,” I replied, smiling softly. “You seem like a lovely mother.”

Those words of mine appeared to ease her burden. “Thank you,” she repeated, with a smile this time. “I have to go, but you’re both welcome to my home anytime. Do visit.”

I hesitated. Even though I did want to see Rinah again, I didn’t want to be a burden. It wasn’t like I was her neighbour the way Dongho was, he could just drop in any time.

“Of course we’ll visit,” Dongho assured her, bowing politely as the woman returned to her house.

Curiously, I looked up at him. He was taller than me, but I tried to look a bit daunting all the same. “We?” I questioned, a slight smile forming on my face. Maybe I wasn’t as boring as I thought, in spite of our nonexistent conversation.

“Don’t you want to visit Rinah?” he asked, as if nothing could be more obvious.

“Well, yes,” I admitted. “But are we going together or separately? Are you going to casually drop by while I plan visits?”

He shrugged, trying not to smile by the looks of it. “You think too much,” he noted.

I tilted my head, confused by his answer. “So what does that mean?”

“It means you worry too much,” he replied simply.

I rolled my eyes. He seemed to be talking to someone else instead of me.

- Unconsciously, we had begun walking back to the school. Once more, the silence filled the air between us. Nonetheless, it was a comfortable sort of silence. One where no one is talking, yet there’s no discomfort either. The silence was peaceful.

From time to time, I’d steal a glance, trying to take a picture with my mind. He was about five inches taller than me, and he walked with his shoulders slightly burdened. He had a bit of awkwardness about him, but I supposed that it came from the innocence that he still hasn’t completely let go of. Whilst his actions said that he was a man, his face told me that he was a child.

His mind appeared to be elsewhere, working on a matter that I knew nothing of. Because he wasn’t easy to read, I resulted in a meagre conclusion, in spite of my many attempts at a better observation. There was more to Dongho than he let on. -

He broke me away from my thoughts when he finally turned to look at me, after a bout of silence. “Your name, I never got it,” he said. The way he looked at me was new, quite different from earlier on.

“Hyewon, Kim Hyewon,” I replied, smiling at him.

- Truthfully, there was nothing that called for a smile. But earlier on, even though Rinah’s mother was stressed and rather scattered, when she smiled, she looked prettier. I wanted to do the same. -

“Ah,” he nodded. “Hyewon-ssi. I won’t forget.”

- Even though he could have just said that as an automatic response to someone’s name, I was happy. It was foolish to be so caught up over a few words, that may have possibly been empty, but I didn’t care. He said that he wouldn’t forget.

But then again, that's what I tell you too. Yet that promise seems to be edging more towards impossible every day. -

We had just started talking, but the school building got closer too fast. Out of habit, I headed for my classroom, forgetting for a moment that he was following me from behind. I stood outside my classroom door. Awkwardly, I turned to face him and bowed slightly, really disliking the words that I had to say next. “Bye.”

He dipped his head as well. It could have been a figment of my imagination, but the look in his eyes appeared to have softened. “I’ll see you around,” he murmured. Leaving me with those words in an empty hallway, he turned to leave.

- Rather than immediately entering the classroom and apologizing continuously for my absence, I stood there and watched him walk away. I figured that he wouldn’t feel the weight of my stare, seeing as how this morning he had ignored all those eyes that appeared to be capable of piercing a hole through his back.

I watched him slowly get smaller as he walked further away. Right before he turned a corner however, he noticeably saluted, as if to say goodbye again. -

My hand reached up to brush the hair away from my face as I smiled to myself, despite being alone in the hallway. Heat coloured my face, which made my flustered state more obvious than ever.

“Great,” I muttered to myself, bringing my palms up to my face. “Shin Dongho, what are you doing to me?”