Are you free tomorrow? I need to talk to you.
- Jiho
 

He needed to talk. Quite frankly, she knows what it was about. She just did not expect it to be so soon. This is it. It’s done.

He’s done.
 

Okay, meet me at the place where we first met. You still remember where that is, don’t you? ^^
- Hana
 

Her heart ached sending that reply to him. She was afraid. Afraid that his answer would be that he had forgotten that place.

Their place.

-

The leaves of the trees rustle as the wind softly blew on them. It’s the place to be if one just wants to have a peaceful moment on their own. Walking over to the brown bench, with the breeze playing with her hair, this was where she first met him. She had been depressed that day. She had just lost her parents a few months ago to a car accident. Having nowhere to go and no one to turn to, she was sent back to Korea to live with her Aunt. Life in Seoul was not easy at all, especially for someone who grew up talking Japanese. She was an outcast at school because of the language barriers. As if that wasn’t enough, living with her Aunt had been nothing but pure misery for her.

Every single day, without fail, this very spot had been where she cried all of the tears that she had been holding back. Her heart was as badly bruised as her body. What she didn’t know was that her life was going to make a turn when she met him.

She had gone back to that spot after another day at school. Wincing at every step she took, she stopped when she noticed someone had taken her spot. She had never seen anybody walking in this area so she was rather surprised to see someone lying down on that bench. Curious, she took a few steps closer. Without realizing it, she was already standing a foot away from the stranger.

She looked down at him. His blonde hair was spiked a little, with his fringe swept to one side. Her eyes traced down to his features. They seem almost… flawless. Until she came upon his bleeding lips. Hana couldn’t stop staring at his face. She got lost into her own thoughts when the boy’s eyes suddenly fluttered open. She gasped, cursing herself for getting caught. But for a moment, the boy and the girl just stared into each other’s eyes. Again, she was getting lost in his stare when suddenly the blonde boy smirked.

“Are you done checking me out?”

Hana could feel her cheeks burning up and she immediately broke eye contact. She looked down at her fingers and cleared .

“Um. Y-you’re in m-my spot,” she stuttered.

He raised an eyebrow, but sat up after a while.

“Well sorry, I didn’t know you own this place,” he rolled his eyes.

She flushed again, definitely flustered by his response. Seeing this, he chuckled.

“Relax, I was only kidding. Besides, I was leaving anyway. You can have your spot back,” he grinned.

With that, he stood up and straightened his t-shirt. He was about to pick up his bag to leave when he heard her mumble something.

“I’m sorry,” he said, turning around to face her again. “I didn’t quite catch what you just said.”

He watched as she started playing with her fingers again.

“I said that, y-you can s-stay if you want,” she finally replied.

Her eyes widened when he threw his bag down on the bench and got comfortable again.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he looked up and grinned at her, who was still standing. “Two’s a company. Come, take a seat.”

 It took her quite some time to finally settle down beside the blonde boy. They remained silent for a while. She smiled at the fact that the silence did not feel awkward at all. In fact, it felt comfortable. Finally breaking the silence, the boy extended his hand to her.

“My name’s Jiho. Woo Jiho. But they like to call me Zico,” he grinned, his eyes disappearing at the same time.

She stared at his hand for the longest time. This wasn’t something that she was used to. No one had ever offered her a hand. Not for help, not even to befriend her. This was new. This boy, he’s different. She had never felt so comfortable with a stranger before.

“Kim Hana,” she smiled, finally taking his hand. “They like to call me Hana.”

“Hana. Beautiful name,” he beamed.