THREE.

“You went to his garage?!” Suzy shrieks excitedly, gripping Hyoyeon’s arm.

“Geez, Suzy, anyone would think garage meant big whopping palace with three hundred chandeliers,” Hyoyeon grumbles, prying away from Suzy.

“But you went?!”

“Yeah.”

Suzy screams, running all over the restaurant, a big smile plastered on her face.

“Oh, you’re falling in love!”

“Am not!”

“So are!”

“Bae Suzy, gather your wits! We just had coffee, is all.”

“And star-gazed together?”

“Suzy!”

“Oh, Victoria is going to love this!”

“Don’t you dare; she’ll really barge in for an analysis.”

“Vic!”

Hyoyeon groans, slumping in her seat as Victoria comes in for her shift, and she has to listen to Suzy’s animated voice giving Victoria all the details of their meeting – mind you, it sure wasn’t a date. She is sure Victoria will give her a lecture, though, and sure enough, as Suzy exits with a scream for Hyoyeon to go over again, Victoria is slipping into the chair opposite Hyoyeon.

“Hyo,” she starts.

“I know, I know. What am I doing? Going over to an abandoned garage to have coffee and star gaze with some guy I barely know? And oh heavens, he once belonged to a gang, I have to be on my watch in case he slices me in half!” Hyoyeon butts in.

Victoria’s lips twitch. “I wasn’t exactly going to say all that.”

Hyoyeon smiles, patting her friend’s hand. “I know. I’m being careful, Vic.”

“You really like him that much?”

“I do not!”

Victoria raises an eyebrow. “You don’t?”

“No!”

“Then why do you have coffee and star gaze with him?”

Hyoyeon splutters, unable to come up with a good enough reason. She knows it isn’t a romantic attraction, however, although she admits that Lee Hyukjae is good company. Hyoyeon supposes it is nice to have her first friend from the opposite , but she sure isn’t thinking of marrying the dude anytime soon.

“The coffee was instant, Vic, and technically we were both just looking up,” Hyoyeon sighs. “He’s an interesting one, Vic, I can assure you I am not attracted to him romantically in any way.”

“Alright, alright.”

“Well, see you tomorrow then,” Hyoyeon says, slipping out of the restaurant, and Victoria waves her goodbye. Victoria pretends to sweep the floor, but out of the corner of her eye she can see Hyoyeon heading in the direction of the garage, and she smiles to herself.

Not attracted to him romantically, yet, she thinks.

. . .

“Ah, Miss Kim!” Hyukjae says, opening the office door.

Hyoyeon shrugs sheepishly. “Back for more coffee.”

“Indeed,” Hyukjae says, proceeding to make the coffee.

Once again, the both of them are perched on the pile, and this time Hyoyeon makes it a point not to look towards the sky. She enjoys the coffee, though. She has never enjoyed coffee, but surprisingly this coffee tastes good; she has to be sure to ask Hyukjae for the brand later on. Hyukjae takes a last swig, and then settles his cup on a spare tire. Hyoyeon runs her hand over the neglected materials.

“Why was this place closed down anyway?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” Hyukjae says, shrugging. “As long I have somewhere to stay.”

Hyoyeon nods.

“Hey, Miss Kim?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know stars are really sky fairies?”

Hyoyeon laughs, coffee sputtering from . “What, you’re secretly five?”

Hyukjae smiles. “Ridiculous, I know, but that’s what my mum used to say, to get me to sleep. She said I was a bad boy for not sleeping and the fairies would only come out if I was a good boy and got my sleep. She said the fairies come out to celebrate the good in the world, so I had to go to sleep if I wanted the fairies to come out.”

“But what was the point? You wouldn’t be able to see them, anyway.”

Hyukjae shrugs.  “I guess I just liked the idea of fairies in the sky, but looking back I probably liked the idea of there being good in the world.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Hyoyeon whispers, and finally allows herself to gaze up at the sky - she can almost see the little things dancing against the velvet background.

“Come on, Miss Kim, let’s get you inside, it’s getting cold,” Hyukjae says, leaping from the stack and giving the usual loud whoop.

Hyoyeon shakes her head, but follows suit, and in a minute they are both in the building, where it is a tad warmer. There isn’t a heater or a fire going, but at least they have the walls blocking off the cold wind, and Hyoyeon can remove her jacket. She drapes her jacket over a chair as she rubs her palms together, and Hyukjae is doing the same. They grin at each other, blowing at their hands as well to remove the numbness.

“Well, I guess I’d better be going, then,” Hyoyeon says.

Hyukjae peers out at the early morning sky. “How far do you live from here?”

“About half an hour’s walk.”

“You walk?!”

“Yup.”

“I’m not letting you go home.”

“What?!”

“It’s dangerous out there, Miss Kim, and cold as hell, no way am I going to let you walk half a freaking hour back. I can’t believe I let you walk yesterday.”

Hyoyeon folds her arms. “Why do you care so much?”

“Same reason you brought me those blankets, Miss Kim. I know cold.”

Hyoyeon softens. “Alright, but you don’t expect me to spend the night here, surely.”

“It’s not so bad, there are a couple of cushions I can pack together to make a bed, and-.”

“I don’t mean the sleeping conditions, Lee Hyukjae. I mean the company I’m going to be with.”

“Hey, I’m not so bad!”

“Yes, but I don’t know you.”

“Still?”

Hyoyeon thinks for a moment. She knows he likes to jump from a huge scrap of junk, which meant he liked danger, and wasn’t afraid of risks. He believed that stars were sky fairies, so that meant he wasn’t all as tough as he seemed. He liked coffee, was nice enough to offer her the cushions, and she was willing to bet he wouldn’t hurt a stray cat, either.

“Alright, I do know you better.”

“See,” Hyukjae says, triumphant.

“But I’m getting the cushions.”

“Aw, damn.”

. . .

Morning light spills through the tiny window, and Hyoyeon rubs her eyes, groaning as she feels a terrible ache shooting through her lower back. She allows herself a minute to adjust to the brightness, and then rolls over, only to meet head first with hard granite. Her yells awaken Hyukjae, who leaps to his feet, courtesy of his years in a gang.

“Hyoyeon?”

Hyoyeon grumbles, standing up and rubbing her arm. Hyukjae goes to support her, for she is swaying, not fully awake.

“Where am I?” she asks.

“You’re in my garage,” Hyukjae says.

“Oh, right. That explains my backache,” Hyoyeon says, stretching, finally clearing her head.

“Backache?”

“Those cushions were horrible, Lee Hyukjae!”

“At least you weren’t !”

“I wouldn’t have been , come on!”

“You never know.”

“Huh,” Hyoyeon scoffs, bending down to touch her toes, hoping some of the strain will go away.

“Here, I can help you with a massage,” Hyukjae offers, placing his hands on her shoulders, but then she springs away with a yelp, gazing at him warily.

“What?” he says, hands in the air.

“Don’t touch me,” she growls, like a bear provoked.

“Well, I’m sorry if you don’t want my dirty hands on you,” Hyukjae says, sour.

“No, Hyukjae, it’s not like that!” Hyoyeon exclaims.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s fine, I’m used to it,” he says, exiting the office.

“Hyukjae!”

Hyoyeon runs out of the office, and immediately is met with a blast of cold morning air. Groaning, she rushes back in to pick up her jacket, and by the time she has ran out Hyukjae is no longer in sight. Calling his name, she wanders around the garage, hoping to explain.

“Hyukjae!”

“Over here, Miss Kim!”

She looks to the voice, and finds his head peeking from behind the metal pile. She scrambles up, anxious to explain herself.

“I didn’t mean it that way, Hyukjae.”

“I didn’t use to be like this, you know,” Hyukjae says, not really listening to her. “I graduated from high school with pretty good grades, and I was going to get an arts course in college. It seemed like a good path, really.”

“What happened?” Hyoyeon asks softly.

“My dad died. He had always been a drinker, and he got into a fight one day at the bar, got himself killed. My mum left me, then, said she had to get away with it all, but I was her son, god damn it, and she should never have left me. But ah well, it’s cool,” he says.

“No, it’s not.”

“It is.”

“How did it feel, when she left you?”

“I-it was fine.”

“How did it feel?”

“Okay.”

“How did it feel?”

“What do you want?”

“How did it feel?”

“I have a limit too, Miss Kim.”

“How did it feel?”

“Can you just shut up?”

“How did it feel?”

“It felt bad, okay! She should have been there, with me, helping me get on the good path, helping me fix my tie for a job interview, cooking me soup, like she did when I was young! She should have been laughing with me, crying with me, being there with me, but she wasn’t! She left me, she left her son, and when she left she made a huge, empty hole that can never be filled, okay? That’s how it felt! It felt like absolute crap, it felt like I was just a piece of scrap she couldn’t wait to kick away! Are you happy now?!”

Hyukjae is sobbing, the tears streaming down his cheeks, his body heaving with sobs, his hiccups coming in fast and violent. He trembles, shaking his head as he replays coming back home from school and finding his mother missing, gone, whipped out of his life. 

“I just want her to come back, you know,” he whispers, looking at Hyoyeon, his gaze like a little child of five, and for a moment Hyoyeon can see him being tucked in bed by his mother as she tells him about the sky fairies, and she has to look away, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

“I know,” she whispers back, and holds out her hand.

He takes it, and she squeezes hard, so that he is sobbing even more, crying his eyes out as he lets his grief flow.

“I know,” Hyoyeon whispers, for that is all she can say.

. . .

^{OhItsYing, I'm really glad you're able to feel that warmth! ^^ Violynn, yes, abandoned cup! Tell me more of your thoughts! ;) Hello, sugarsong; I like the way you speak of the characters, like real people! LonelyStar25, here's your update! In fact, I have this entire story on MW already, actually, so this will definitely be update frequently! Can I please give you one big hug now, dearlybeloved? You hit the exact right note I was trying to deliver, thank you so much, you give me lots of encourgaement! Hyukjae, you mean, mooeysmiley? As always? I can cry now, thank you! Awwwwh, Nisa, I'm really glad you're enjoying! Alright, Sica, I truly hope you will enjoy this story, it's half for you, anyway!}

where are the rest of you lovely people? ^^