Earlier…

He was woken up by a soft knock on his bedroom door. He has fallen asleep last night with the thoughts of Hyun Hae flooding his consciousness. His mother then entered his room, smiling at him then spoke.

“Good morning, jagi, you didn’t join us for dinner last night so I wasn’t able to tell you”, his mother says now sitting by the side of his bed.

He seated himself as well, rubbing his eyes; he asks his mom, “tell me what, eomma?”

“Well, I and your appa have talked about you wanting to have a vacation in Japan. Do you remember requesting for that this summer?”, his mom explained which made him smile. He so wanted to go to Japan and visit the place where cosplayers are everywhere; this is another part of him that he doesn’t let others know at first meeting—he’s an anime and manga fanatic. This is good news for him.

“Ah, chinchayo, eomma? Kamsamnida! Thank you so much”, he said with overflowing happiness, he hugged and kissed her on the cheek.

“Aish, this kid”, she said shaking her head smiling. “Well, get up and get ready, your flight is tonight at 6pm”, she softly patted his knee then motioned to get up when Minsoo stopped her.

“Tonight?”, he looks genuinely surprised.

His mom then turned to him with a questioning look. “Why? What’s wrong with that? Thought you wanna go to Japan so much? Your ticket’s already booked. Do you want me to rebook it for you?”

“No, mom, tonight is the best. I was just surprised that I woke up this morning and find out that I’ll be flying to Japan this evening, hehe”, he laughs at his silly reaction.

His mom then continued getting up, then out of his room.

Jumping off from his bed, he immediately starts packing summer clothes since he knows that summer in Japan is just as hot in Korea. After asking his sister to look after Hyun Hae the cat while he was away, he made his way to the airport. His dad couldn’t take him since he has an important meeting with some business clients.

From the moment he’s told that he’s going to Japan up to boarding the plane, Minsoo’s smile couldn’t be washed off from his face; thinking of the things he'll do when he get to Japan, and an unforgettable summer vacation for him. What he hasn’t anticipated is seeing her here!

Getting passed the immigration officers, he spotted a familiar figure carrying what seems to him an over-night bag. With this thought, he’s brows furrowed. Overnight in Japan? Pretty intense if he would think about it. From then on, he never let her out of his sight.

They’re out of the airport now, walking through the train station. Being fascinated with Japan and the things about the country, he knows that this is the most convenient mode of transportation here. She’s walking in an even pace, earphones stuck in her ears, he continue to follow her. He watched her buy her ticket, and bought his as well after peeking at her destination. They rode the train. Almost an hour has passed and they reached Tokyo. The main city, huh, he thought.

She alights from the train with him lagging behind. Minsoo haven’t checked in on any hotels yet, his mom insisted on arranging the room he’ll be staying at before leaving Korea but he insisted on looking for it by himself. They are now walking passed a busy street when Hyun Hae stopped in front of a two-storey house and get herself in.

Minsoo hadn’t anticipated for her to get into a house, he’s expecting that she’ll be checking in a capsule apartment basing on the overnight bag she’s carrying—a real life backpacker. What now? He anxiously thought.

The house is unusually painted in bold orange with dark brown roof; it has a low brown steel gate. Over it, you can see the structure of the house inside. The front is well lit but the door is closed, though he can hear muffled conversations inside. He can even distinguish, or so he thought, Hyun Hae’s excited and happy voice. He stood there, his mind blank on what he’s going to do next, even cursing himself for doing things on a whim. He turned to leave but then something he saw stopped him from his tracks. He smiled to himself, thinking that the universe and all the stars in the heavens are taking his side.