Time: 7:15am

Location: Gyeongbu Train/Busan/Korea

Date: 4/17/2012

The city of Busan could fully be seen through Hoya’s window. It’s tall buildings and artistic buildings could fully be distinguished now. As the train rolled to a stop, the voice of the railroad engineer echoed through the train’s speakers: “Passengers, we are reaching our destination. Please begin to pack your belongings.”

The train entered the train station, where the sight of the city was replaced with the smiling faces of relatives and people alike. Out of the dozens in the crowd, one face stuck out. The bright smile and wrinkles bellow her eyes caught Hoya’s attention. It was his mother. Hoya could have seen his mother’s white mess of hair from a mile away. The usually straight, white hair was usually tied in a bun, but today, Ms. Lee experimented. Her hair fell in curls to her shoulders.

“You called my mom?” asked Hoya.

His three friends didn’t respond. The answer was obvious. Just the pure elated expression on his mother’s face gave away the answer: Yes, they called me.

Hoya sunk into his seat. He already knew that for however long he was kept captive in Busan by his friends, he'd would have a hard time.

Time: 8:45am

Location: Haeundae /Busan/ Korea

Date: 4/17/2012

"I already called all your old friends! They are so excited to see you, honey," gushed Hoya's mother. 

Hoya nodded quietly. He had already expected this from his mother. She found pure enjoyment out of planning gatherings like this one. For any chance to plan some sort of occasion, Hoya's mother usually was the first to volunteer. His hand gently squeezed his mother's shoulders as he walked with her into his old home. 

With his three friends trailing behind, Hoya and his mother opened the door to the home. The scents of scented candles and kimchi welcomed him as he removed his shoes. The nostalgic feeling of home swept over Hoya. How long has it been since he's been home? Months? A year? Multiple years? 

"It's been awhile since you've been home, hasn't it?' asked his mother, almost reading Hoya's mind. 

"It has," he replied with a surprised smile. He somewhat shocked that his mother still had the ability to read his mind like that. Maybe if his friends were right. If there were one person who could fix him, it would be his mother. 

Woohyun, Hyomin, and Dongwoo began to explore Hoya's childhood home. Photos of Hoya that hung on the hallway walls caught their attention. "Is this you?!" a shocked Hyomin asked. She pointed to a photo of a chinky boy with incredibly large spectacles that hid his eyes away. His uniform and uniform haircut made it obvious that the picture was for school purposes. 

Hoya walked up to the picture and laughed, "Unfortunately, yes. These were my dark days. I could never get any girl to like me back then." 

Hyomin closely examined the photo and chuckled, "You were more handsome here." 

Hoya sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't bother to reply to her, because he knew that he was handsome now. That kid, with the large glasses and an atrocious haircut, was bullied. He was ridiculed. Hoya knew that he changed for the better. Besides, there was only one person that thought that that version of Hoya was attractive.  But, Hoya had no idea where she was, nor did he really care. 

"Let's go eat," Hoya said, pulling his friends away from the embarrassing photos. 

With a final glance at Hoya's childhood photo, his friends turned their back to the boy in the frame and followed their friend into the dining room for lunch. 

Time: 8:00pm

Location: Haeundae /Busan/ Korea

Date: 4/17/2012

Hoya checked his phone. 

"This is the right place, right?" Hoya asked himself. He shrugged his shoulders and walked inside. He partially hoped that he was in the wrong restaurant. At least he'd be able to tell his mother that he tried. 

Hoya pushed the large wooden doors of the restaurant open, to only be faced with a nightmare. Almost everyone from his high school class was present. They sat in a long table that occupied at least thirty familiar faces and about twenty unfamiliar ones. Hoya grimaced for a split second, then shifted it to a bright smile. 

"My friends!" Hoya yelled. 

Faces turned to Hoya and they all glimmered with happiness. Many got up and reached out to Hoya. Some approached Hoya and gave him tight hugs and heavy pats on the back. Hoya was ushered around the table, where he re-met his old "friends" and was introduced to new faces. Many of these new faces were the wives and husbands of his former classmates. Hoya put up a fake smile for everyone and constantly watched the clock. 

After the introductions everyone sat down. Hoya was placed in the center, because he was the only one from the group that left Busan. It was as if he received some sort of honor for leaving them. 

As the group waited for their orders to come out, Hoya's old seat mate Dongho asked him a question that silenced the whole room. "Where is your family?" 

Hoya stared at the man. He didn't know how to reply. He was surrounded by people who were all either married, engaged, or in a very committed relationship. He hadn't met one person that night that bragged that they were living a single life at the age of twenty-eight. Hoya coughed and did what he did to attract women at the bars: he lied.

"They are fine! They're back in Seoul!" Hoya simply lied. It was an easy lie to get his schoolmates off of his back. 

It worked. 

His friends congratulated him and changed the topic. They were soon bragging about their own children and families. 

"My wife is a model for the Lotte Department Stores!"

"My son is having formal piano lessons from Yiruma!"

"My daughter is planning on to go to Seoul University!"

"My husband is a friend of Yoo Jaesuk." 

Hoya couldn't help but laugh, because he knew that most of these statements were lies. They usually were. 

Time: 11:55pm

Location: Haeundae /Busan/ Korea

Date: 4/17/2012

Hoya said goodbye to his friends and got into his car. He the radio then sped off towards home. 

At that time, a late night radio show named "Pulling at the Roots" played. It was on that night, and Hoya was one of the few that was tuned in to listen. Hoya was about to change the station, but the DJ host said something interesting that caught his attention. 

"I met some old friends tonight," the female DJ said, "They all seemed the same, but for some odd reason I know that they changed. People rarely stay the same in this decade. We change as often as they change the IPhone or the Samsung phones. I met my crush from my high school years, and he especially seemed to change. It seems like life shaped him into someone new. He seemed to be shaped into someone unknown to him. It was obvious on his face. I remember how his face scrunched up whenever he lied.

Life does that. Strange, isn't it? Well, that was my night. Listeners, call me and tell me how your night is going!"

Hoya scoffed. How could this lady know if people changed? She doesn't know these people's lives! "This lady doesn't know," Hoya mumbled as he shut off the radio and rushed home.