It is past noon, about 3.00 in the evening. My education had ended an hour ago. Now, I’m standing in front of a big and well-developed academy building of a high school; Ren’s school is co-ed type. As promised, he picked me up a few minutes ago or likely fifteen minutes ago. So, here I am, anchored on a brick way to the building. There is a piece of quite massive land surrounding me with several leaves-free trees decorated the way. Having this new outdoor sight is slightly brightening my mood.

        There are a lot of stalls with a lot of students in this lot. But, the amount of visitors is getting smaller, I think. Maybe it is about time to close or they are automatically being depleted. However, the bright face still glued on each students that welcoming them with their stuffs. They might be worn out right now since the festival began in the morning.

        “This way, Master Hi.” Ren chirps and keeps leading the way, stomping his feet on the red brick. We pass a few of cheerful stalls with girls uniformed in maid costume, like the Japanese anime cosplay. He stops in front of a decent stall with a couple of boys takes care the customers while the others are working on something behind, but they are more likely slouching and slacking off when I come nearer.

        Ren takes two sticks of balls that looked deliciously covered with brown oily liquid from a box on the counter and hands one to me. “Want some?”

        “Thanks.” I mouth and receive his giving. He smiles and turns back to the boys, swaying his bangs amazingly while paying a note to the open palm. He turns to me again as he eats his ball and beckons me to follow him. Apparently, he simply motions his eyes in that tender way that is somehow affecting me. It’s neither banal nor mundane.

       He waits as I’m approaching his side. Bit by bit, I eat the delish snack treated by this beautiful boy abreast my right arm. The munched ball feels warm inside my mouth as the spice liquid melted down my tongue. Simply, it’s reducing the bit cold that I feel right now. A puff of white steam released from my mouth with a sigh of relief as I succeed finished the whole balls on my stick.

        “You like it?” He suddenly asks, ducking his head a bit towards me.

        “Yummy.” Muttering, I avert under his gaze as a green bin comes magically to my side. I throw the unwanted stick and look again at him who has retrieved his head back to its normal position.

        The windy ambience never fails to block my eyes as both of hair at the side of my head comes forward and smack the areas around my eyes to my cheeks. It’s bothering my view especially when they get into my eyes. I think my hair will never grow longer since white hue matches the dead hair. Ren confronts the difficulty too since his hair seems longer than mine. But, it isn’t that much because his got tied neatly and his blonde bangs look as if it flows aside

        We are still walking, making a way along the depleted crowd and he eventually shifts back to me. No, it’s suddenly or he feels it. “Hm?” He hums or it means another word for ‘what’. It buzzes between my earshot and I slowly whip aside the white strands with my eyes squinted in quite pain. It brings me to a halt.

        I can hear a chuckle that is clearly rung in my ear. “Is it that hurt?” An exact same voice chimes really close to me. Without answering the first and the second question from him, I stop rubbing my sore eyes and eyes to eyes with him. He retreats from bending down and reaches out to my white top, sliding his fingers at the messy strands off of my face and a sensation feeling of refreshing cold air breezes on my skin.

        It’s wrong. I never let any boys touch my hair including my brother since he made my day going bad to worse by messing with my hair. I just don’t like them to touch me. But now is different. The urge to shove his hand and stop him is growing bigger. But I can’t when I feel this comfortable. In other way, he helps me to feel this.

       “Hey you know, I used to suffer this too. It’s a long time ago. Don’t you think it felt like needles injected your eyes?” He tells and keeps his palm on my head, grabbing a fistful of my hair a throws them behind.

        His action, how he can be so nonchalant and used to? It’s not just me, isn’t it? He treats me like a friend, best friend and seems even family. Does he the type who’s taking touching people around him some kind of his norm that he grew accustomed with? Or maybe habit? Does he usually this bold to make move like this? And, does he always do this to only...girls?

        Because, he sends me confused.

        I keep silent as we stop near the edge of the academy building. There is a field besides me where the crowd of students seems slacking around. “Uh...think so...”

       An amused chuckle hits right on my forehead when I feel his hand skilfully gather the whole of my hair into his grasp and after a while, he slowly lets go of them. Strangely, it feels like dangling, and free and comfortable. He comes around to my view, again, with his heart-melting beam. “Feeling better?”

       I lay the tip of my fingers onto a bunch of a simple hairstyle—tied hair  --  at the centre, back side of my head, moving upwards only to caress a fabric string. It feels neat. A sprang of appreciation blasts inside my heart, making it flutter into thousands pieces of stars. I to him, trying so hard to hold back smile that I’ve used to keep safe without letting it spreads. “Thank you.”

        “Look at you, I like your cut. It’s as cute as always!” He holds up a thumb-up and smiles in satisfy. For a moment, this ending autumn only gives me a sense of warm and hot lingers around. There’s no cold, not alone and be alone. I feel like a normal people.

        I duck my face even lower, without meeting his penetrating, excited gaze that is digging a hole on me. “D-Don’t compliment too much...” Stammering, I feel like everything is burning including my voice.

        “It’s a fact about Master Hi that I like, really.” He speaks the point too fast. Or, it’s me who thinks ridiculous and has a symptom of deafness. I shot upwards, confronting a rare face of him. It can possibly be light red or pink like, he’s blushing? Quickly, he brings his face lower.

        I don’t think he’s that bold.

        “Huh? Um...” He looks up again, slightly sheepish although he tries to form crinkles on either side of his eyes. I simply blink at him, tilting aside to hear the rest of his words.

        “Oh, I just remember that all students of this school are required in this festival, especially the seniors. Come on...let’s pay a visit to another student of yours.” He grabs my left shoulder and drags together across the field. “Hyun Seung must be having a blast to see you.”

        I see. He’s good at changing the current atmosphere.