Suzy stood behind the sofa, leaned forward and looked at Myungsoo with a spark of mischief in her eyes. It was a peaceful afternoon for the both of them, as neither had a class nor a job to attend to. The presence of spring was at its peak. The street outside of their house was paved with fallen cherry petals. “Hey,” she began. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you having a difficult time cutting your nails?”

   Myungsoo looked away, and this sent the girl into an outburst of laughter. She then remarked, “This is a new side I never expected.”

   “My hands are just shaky,” he defended. “Because I was playing the guitar.”

   “All right, let’s go with that,” she replied, clearly unconvinced. The light tone in her voice caused Myungsoo to smile at the slightest. “Do you want me to help you?”

   Carefully, he handed her the clipper. Suzy went around the chair and took the space beside him. She easily took his hand, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and gently, Suzy proceeded on clipping his nails. Her long hair brushed against a portion of Myungsoo’s arm and thigh. Suddenly feeling shy because of the close proximity, he looked the other way.

   There was the sound of his nails being trimmed, along with the rhythmic pulse of the clock. At that moment, he was able to know what Suzy’s hand was like. It was warm, and it wasn’t that soft. He wouldn’t have it any other way. Suzy didn’t speak, but she could feel the calluses on Myungsoo’s fingertips because he kept on playing the guitar. His hands were rougher than Sunggyu's.

   “Suzy, after this, do you want to take a walk together?”

   She paused to look at him. Beaming, she answered, “Okay.”

<:>

   Jieun quickly yanked her hand back, and it was Sunggyu who noticed. He looked at her, and asked, “Are you all right?”

   “I just pierced my finger with a staple wire,” she replied.

   With a hopeless smile on his face, Sunggyu reached for his drawer to take a piece of plaster. He removed its seal and carefully wrapped it around Jieun’s finger.

   “You’re good,” she remarked.

   “My younger sister is very accident-prone,” he explained. “I need to always have a box of plaster with me whenever I’m with her.”

   “Then it’s only right that she has you as an older brother.”

   “Perhaps,” he replied ambiguously, before returning to his task. “Have that stapler of yours replaced. Call Woohyun over. He knows where the spares are.”

   “I don’t want anything to do with that jerk, thank you very much,” she shot back.

   “Did he do something again?”

   Jieun pouted, and took the stapler from Sunggyu’s desk. “He’s irritating.”

   “He is,” Sunggyu agreed. “But that’s his charm.”

   Moments later, Woohyun stormed into the office, his eyes wide with anticipation. “Hey, I just heard that we’re going to have a seminar and it’s going to be held in Belfast.”

   “Belfast?” Jieun asked. “That was where I used to live.”

   “It’s two hours away from Dublin, too. Maybe we can go there if we have the time,” Woohyun suggested. “I suppose you’ll have your birthday celebration outside of London, hyung.”

   Sunggyu merely chuckled at the younger one’s remark. “Please get some stapler for Jieun. Hers seems to be broken.”

<:>

   Myungsoo and Suzy left a note on the kitchen table, telling the reader about their whereabouts. Afterwards, they exited the house, and walked side by side.

   “Do you miss Sunggyu hyung?” Myungsoo asked.

   “I do,” she answered. “Especially now. His birthday’s only a few days away.”

   “What do you usually do, when it’s his birthday?”

   Suzy looked up at the pastel blue sky, where soft clouds idly rolled by. “We usually walk together like this while the others prepare.”

   Myungsoo managed to nod his head, before blurting out, “When you’re with me, Suzy, do you imagine Sunggyu hyung, instead?”

   She paused to pick up a bundle of Baby’s Breath. “At times,” she admitted.

   “At times,” he repeated.

   Suzy nodded. “It’s something that needs to be stopped, though.”

   “Whatever happened to making new memories?” Myungsoo stared at the flowers in her hands. There was this tiny prickling in his heart, and he had a difficult time identifying what that pain was associated with.

   She took a dandelion planted on the ground, and she blew on it, sending the seeds flying lightly like tiny parachutes, with the gentle wind dictating its course. “We’re making one now.”

   “Is it that difficult to forget?”

   Suzy looked at the ground sadly. “Ask yourself. By then, you’ll know my answer.”

   “I don’t have to,” he replied. She brushed some imaginary dust off her shirt, and they proceeded on walking once again.

   “Myungsoo?”

   “Hm?”

   “Do you still receive love letters?”

   He chuckled at her question. “Why ask that of all things, Suzy?”

   “Because it is what intrigues me the most,” she admitted. “Ever since we started talking. Do you still remember what led you to tell me about that?”

   Myungsoo smiled a little. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I asked you if you were happy. Do you remember what you answered?”

   “I still do,” Suzy nodded. “And I asked you the same question.”

   “Do you remember my answer?” he asked.

   “‘It’s freaking cold out here,’” she answered quietly. “‘No matter where I go, it’s always cold. Everything’s so cold it’s frustrating.’”

   He stopped walking, and this caused Suzy to look back at him.

   “You still know every word I said,” he murmured. “It’s almost a year since then.”

   “It’s something I can’t seem to forget,” she briefly touched the back of her neck with her right hand. “It was summer, then. But you said it was cold.”

   It was strange for Myungsoo, hearing the past things he said come out from Suzy’s mouth. Everything seemed so far away. Despite Daehyun’s death several months ago, he still felt warm. The coldness he felt in his heart wasn’t there anymore. He had no idea if it should be a good thing or not; if he was finally moving on or if he was just escaping by consoling himself with new memories.

   “Summer came in late,” Myungsoo sighed, and looked up at the pastel sky. The wind caused the fallen cherry petals to dance on the concrete pavement, and some simply fell from the trees like confetti. “But I think now, it’s coming way too early. Don’t you think so, Sunshine?”

   Suzy laughed shortly, and they continued on with their afternoon stroll. “You still haven’t answered my question, pertaining to your love letters.”

   Myungsoo shrugged. “I still do.”

   “Do you still throw them?”

   He nodded.

   “You really should consider a girl’s feelings. Why don’t you read them?”

   “All they want is my face, and not me as a whole,” Myungsoo said, completely blatant. “I’m nothing but a trophy for them.”

   “What if you’re proven wrong?” Suzy challenged, her eyebrows raised in a playful arc. “What if some girl out there actually likes you, with your shortcomings and all?”

   He crossed his arms, clearly amused. “Chances are I won’t like her.”

   “Why?”

   “Because I like somebody else.”

   Suzy stared at Myungsoo for a while, and remarked, “Men are so complicated.”

   “You’re one to talk,” he shot back, grinning. “I think we’ve walked far enough. Should we head back?”

   “Let’s buy something in the convenience store first,” she urged. “I want ice cream.”

   “Whatever you say, Sunshine,” Myungsoo gave her a two- salute.

   She smirked at his playfulness. She returned the gesture. “Roger that, Summer.”

<:>

   “In Korea,” Woohyun began, while throwing his stress ball up in the air, only to catch it again with one hand. He decided to spend the night in Sunggyu’s apartment, then. “How do you usually celebrate your birthday, hyung?”

   He turned the page of the book he was reading. “My younger sister would ask me to walk around the neighborhood while the others stay at home to prepare.”

   “That’s it?”

   “That’s it,” Sunggyu confirmed. “It’s been always like that, ever since I turned fourteen.”

   “You didn’t get tired of that pattern?”

   “No.”

   “Hyung, why?”

   “It’s something I’m grateful for,” he answered. “I’m not even their biological son, and yet they go through something like that for the likes of me.”

   “Is that all?” Woohyun teased.

   Sunggyu chuckled. “Not entirely.”

   “But of course,” he looked at his friend. “Walking with Suzy during those times was rewarding enough, wasn’t it?”

   “Ah,” the other returned. “You know me so well.”

   Woohyun placed his stress ball on the table in front of him. “You always say that whenever you want the conversation to end.”

   “You think?”

   “You tend to always put the people you talk with in a tight spot,” he remarked. “You make it difficult for them to respond.”

   Sunggyu put his book down, and smiled a little. “So I’ve heard.”

   “See?” Woohyun cried, while pointing at him. “You’re doing it again!”

   He laughed shortly. “Your expressions never fail to amuse me, Woohyun-ah.”

   “But seriously, hyung, why do you do it at times?”

   “Do what?”

   “You act vague on some days, and it’s frustrating me.”

   “But it intrigues you, right?”

   Woohyun didn’t respond, because he knew it was true. Sunggyu’s answers made him ponder. Be it his surprisingly honest responses or just the intricately vague ones—everything had the same effect on him.

   “Let’s get some supper,” Sunggyu finally said. “And this time, you cook.”

"A happy heart makes the face cheerful,
    but heartache crushes the spirit."
- Proverbs 15:13