People in Seoul often looked at him while he was dancing in the streets, randomly, without any music. Some looked at him thinking he was weird, other people looked at him with admiration, thinking he was amazing. Other people just smiled when they saw him coming their way, used to this guy who could never stop dancing.

Sometimes, that guy would stop somewhere he could hear music and start dancing to the beat before leaving and going to the park, where he would dance again, always at the same spot. He never seemed tired of dancing. People who were used to see him talked about him between them. They had noticed that the shoes that made him dance the best were these old, black leather shoes. They said that, whenever he had these on, he would dance with enough feelings to make any sensitive person cry. When he had these shoes on, his dance was full of hope, love, sadness and loneliness, all at the same time.

What only older people knew, was that there was a reason why these particular shoes would make Lee Hyukjae the best dancer they had ever seen.

*****************************************

“Hyukkie? Hyukkie, where are you?”

The younger boy sighed in relief when he saw his friend dancing in front of some people, amazing them. He shouldn’t have been worried when he had noticed that Hyukjae wasn’t following him anymore in the park. He tracked back and grabbed the older boy’s hand.

“Hyukkie, stop worrying me like this. I thought you were gone.”

Hyukjae pouted.

“Donghae-ah, I was just dancing. You know I love dancing.”

“I know you do, but stop worrying me like this!”

“Okay, okay.”

He followed the younger boy as they walked into the park, holding hands.

“Donghae-ah, do you think we’ll always be together?”

“Why not?”

“But, when we will be grown-ups, we won’t be like this anymore.”

“Why not?”

“You know, grown-ups are always serious. I’ve never seen my parents talk to friends. It’s only work and work and work. Grown-ups are always working. They’re never having fun with friends. If they have fun, it’s with their family, not with their friends.”

“Then, we’ll be a family when we’ll be grown-ups”, decided the younger boy.

“But how? My mom told me a family is a dad and a mom and kids.”

“My dad knows a guy who is in love with another guy.”

“Pwah! A guy with another guy?”

“Why not?”

He pouted softly before blushing.

“You know Hyukkie, I really like you.”

The older boy blushed too.

“I like you too, Hae.”

He smiled.

“But I like dancing too!”

He let go of the younger boy’s hand and started dancing, bouncing here and there happily. Donghae laughed softly, simply watching him dance. Life was so simple, so easy and so happy. They were still kids, back then, and they were innocent, thinking they would be together forever.

And that day…

Hyukjae frowned when he saw Donghae arriving. The younger boy wasn’t smiling like he usual was. He was crying without being able to stop.

“Hae? Hae, why are you crying?”

It took a while before Donghae finally calmed down and was able to explain the reason of his tears.

“My… my… my parents! They… they want us to… to move! To leave Seoul!”

He started crying even more and Hyukjae could only hug him sadly.

The day Donghae had to leave, he came to the park with a box. He gave the box to his friend before kissing his lips quickly and blushing.

“My dad told me this is what you do when you really like someone… so… Oh, and I found these when we cleaned the house. I hope you’ll like them.”

He had stayed silent for a while before breathing deeply.

“I’ll come back one day, I promise! So just wait for me here okay? When I’ll come back, I’ll wait for you here.”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting for you. It’s a promise?”

“Yeah, it’s a promise!”

He had left with a smile on his lips.

“I love you Hyukkie!” were the last words he had said before disappearing in the crowd.

“I’ll be waiting for you”, the older boy had whispered softly.

When Hyukjae had opened the box, he had found old, black leather shoes in it. They were too big for him right now, but he hoped he would be able to wear them someday. He kept them in his room until he was big enough and, when his feet were finally big enough, he wore them whenever he felt like dancing. The only days he wouldn’t wear them were when it rained or snowed, so they wouldn’t get dirty.

Everyday he was free, he went to the spot in the park where he used to meet his best friend. When he got there, he danced and danced from dawn to dusk, almost without stopping, and when the sun had set he went back home, dancing in the streets until he would step inside his house.

And then, the next day, he would go to the park to dance again.

When he wasn’t free, he danced on his way to work, he danced at work and he danced when he came back from work. When he got out from work before the sun was setting, he went to the park and he danced, again and again.

*****************************************

People in Seoul often looked at him while he was dancing in the streets, randomly, without any music. Some looked at him thinking he was weird, other people looked at him with admiration, thinking he was amazing. Other people just smiled when they saw him coming their way, used to this guy who could never stop dancing.

Not a lot of them looked at him knowing he was dancing because he was waiting for his best friend to come back.

And only one person looked at him with eyes full of hope when he saw him dancing in the park, at the same spot as twenty years ago.

He started running, until the dancer saw him. Until the dancer looked at him with eyes full of hope too.

“Hyukkie!”

“Hae…? Hae!”

Until both of them were reunited, hugging each other, crying in happiness. They both had changed in twenty years. They had changed a lot. But one thing never had changed. And that was their love for each other.

When the sun slowly set, people could witness, surprised but moved, the eternal dancer kissing passionately the one he had never ceased to love during these twenty years they were apart. The one he had been waiting for.

He had told him, after all.

“I’ll be waiting for you.”