Day 1
We had met at the subway station in Mangwondong; he was going somewhere unknown, I was trying to get away from home. The train was late, and as we stood side by side, as strangers that knew not one another, something strange had happened.

It was late at night, the fluorescent lights flickering bitterly and the stench of alcohol and urine strong in the air. The station was empty, not one person in sight, for some odd reason.

I had been about to pop open my can of warm coffee, when it had slipped from my grip. I watched it roll idly across the the distance, backpack lazily falling from my lap, until the can softly nudged his foot.

His shoe shifted, and I looked up to see him gazing down quietly at the can before reaching down and picking it up, examining it, then looking up to meet my eyes.

Melted chocolate brown stared right back at me, and I felt my breath halt for a short moment. He looked around silently before standing up and striding over to stand beside me. Looking towards the rails, he dropped his body into the seat beside mine, casually handing the can back. And as I carefully grabbed it out of his hands, fingers brushing against that warm palm, he looked up and smiled, eyes crinkling and teeth shining. I felt myself blush the slightest bit.

“So where are you off to this cold evening?”

Honey-like and smooth. His voice nestled within the confines my mind, as I parted my lips, a small, “I'm not quite sure...”

His smile slowly faded, “Is that so? Don't tell my you're running from home?”

I shrugged in response, looking down at my feet and pushing my backpack side to side.

“You should really go home, it's unsafe and unfair for you to run away. If you don't mind me asking, why are you leaving, anyhow?”

I shrugged once again, I didn't feel the need to explain my situation. Silence settled around us, an awkward air of nothingness. I leaned down and placed the coffee into my backpack. A few minutes later, he pierced through the silence like a needle.

“I'm going somewhere far away.”

I turned to look at him in question; had he not just told me not to run?

A smile graces his lips once again, as he spoke, “No, I'm not running away. I just... I just need a bit of time away from here. Some time for myself.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but he so rudely turned away, shuffling around in his own backpack. I tilted my head a little as he made a small, “Aha!”, before turning back to me with a large grin that stretched from ear to ear. In his hands was a thick, woollen maroon scarf. He carefully draped it around my neck.

Wind began to dance into the station, and he turned to see the flashing lights coming from the other end of the tunnel, hear the rattling that was quickly approaching; The train is here.

Tightening the scarf around my neck, he stood up, the smile still painted across his features as he looked down at me.

“Make sure to get home safely. And you better start heading back soon, it's already late.”

And then he turned, disappearing into the train carriage, leaving me sitting in the station alone.

And as my fingers melded themselves into the warmth of the wool that was wound around my neck, I decided I would stay, because maybe then I'd chance upon seeing that smiling face once more.