Daehyun loved it when autumn began to kick in. He loved the way the occasional lulling breeze would sweep foliage of leaves across the ground, sometimes bumping faintly against his legs. It made his heart flutter with joy. The faint warmth of the sunlight seeping on his face reminded him of the warmness of the world.

Tiny rustling sounds of the autumn leaves as he stepped on them and the chirping of the birds let Daehyun knew he was part of the ground he was stepping on, amidst the sound of indifferent chatterers. There weren’t many of them, Daehyun thought, as the voices around him, as he identified, were only that of the grandmother and her cats, somewhere distant from him but nonetheless audible, and the giggling of little children as they basked in the enjoyment of blissful ignorance. It was one of the few small wonders of the nature drowned by waves of modernity, the sound of crackling leaves, Daehyun thought, as his fortuitous little steps landed his foot on the dried leaves, emitting from them nature’s beautiful sound. Daehyun walked on, accompanied by the little music boxes and the light tracing of his cane at the front.

Sometimes between the couple shouting at each other’s throat and the dog’s barking, Daehyun was stripped off the security that was his precious white cane, together with his balance, losing his footing in no time when something bumped onto him.

Sighing as he recollected and sat himself on two knees, he eyed the two blurry little figures stood frigid not far from him, brushing them off as he maneuvered his hands around to find his cane, silently cursing  the greyness of the pavement camouflaging it. The crunching of the leaves at his right side stopped Daehyun in his track, curiosity rendering him to tilt his head to the right, his eyes met with the vague sight of a body sat rigid beside him. Before he could question that someone’s motive, he felt his wrist being lifted by callous fingers, gently at that, dismissing the initial hostility that that person might have, and Daehyun felt something solid and lean being placed to his palm, something Daehyun was quick to register as his cane.

“Umm, I think you were looking for this,” said that person, voice guttural and low, which might have come across as intimidating had not been of his awkward tone. 

That man spoke again, this time with sternness to his voice, and from the slight loudness, Daehyun knew the words were not directed to him.

“Junhong, Jongup, apologize.”

One of the boys was quick to apologize, repeatedly saying ‘sorry’, but the other one seemed to have something else in his mind.

“Hyung, why does he walk with a cane?”

The fingers still holding Daehyun’s wrist tensed, alerting their presence there to Daehyun who quickly retracted his hand back, bringing his cane closer to him.

“Junhong, apologize,” the man with deep voice reiterated with a tone more stoic than before. It seemed to work as the boy was quick to mutter his apology, despite the hesitation heavy in his voice.

The man helped Daehyun up and brushed the dust off his knees. “I’m sorry about my brothers,” he said, the awkward tone returning. “Can I … can I make it up to you by, at least, walking you to your destination?” the man asked hesitantly.

It felt uncanny to Daehyun how such a voice could speak in such manner. “It’s okay. They’re just little kids,” Daehyun replied, putting on a reassuring smile hoping to brush aside that’s man needless guilt. He was used to the questioning anyway.

Not wanting the awkwardness to prolong, he grabbed the hem of the man’s shirt, giving it a feeble pull. “And, a walk home would be nice. Just look for the blue house.”

The man did nothing but stood there for a while, as if he were contemplating something, but before long, after a brief command to the kids that he would be picking them up there later, Daehyun felt a warm hand envelop his clothed forearm, tight but loose enough to be comforting.  His folded cane, clutched between his left hand and his chest, was forgotten at the moment. He lets go of the hold on the man’s shirt, letting himself be guided by the firm hand on his forearm.

Every step closer to the large blur of blue rendered Daehyun’s heart heavier. The imminent eventually happened as their walk came to a stop, vague blue looming over them. Daehyun’s heart sinked when he felt the grip on him loosened, and when the hand was completely removed, already he missed the warmth emanating from it.

It was sad, really, how he yearned for human contact.

Nevertheless, Daehyun forced a smile on his face, muttering his gratitude before turning on his heel and walking away to the steps he had familiarized himself with throughout the years. His steps were heavy.

With curiosity and impending chagrin clawing at his heart at the thought of how uncommon such occurrence was in his life, Daehyun found his body subconsciously turning around as if an invisible force was moving his body accordantly to the wish of his heart. He gritted his teeth, mentally praying to the god he remembered his mother talking about in his youth, hoping he would not utter something stupid, and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, that man was quicker.

 “Yongguk,” the man uttered brusquely, voice laced with nervousness. “The name is Bang Yongguk. I-I, I’ve seen you performing at the club before… I think you have a really beautiful voice.”

Well that was a bit unexpected. 

“I, umm…. Thank you.” Daehyun was unsure on how to react to that compliment.

“I guess … I guess I’ll see you around?” Bang spoke, words hesitant yet tinted with hope.

“Daehyun. My name is Daehyun. Jung Daehyun.”