Date – February 22

Time – 5:00 PM

Place – Naeunnie’s Apartment

I barged through the door with multiple grocery bags on my arms and a huge grin on my face.

Today is Naeun’s eighteenth birthday!.

I turned that age last year, but I had celebrated it with all of my friends. Unfortunately, I knew no one related to Naeun, and I doubted that anyone was going to come by to throw her a party. So I decided that I was the one who would make her day even more significant.

Time – 5:05 PM

She raised an eyebrow.

“What?” I shrugged. “I wasn’t the one who drew a morbid birthday cake on the calendar.”

Time – 5:15 PM

I laid out the ingredients for our dinner. Seaweed, rice, water and vegetables were only a few things that I had bought. Hopefully, I would be able to make proper kimchi, bibimbap, and seaweed soup in the cramped, ware-lacking kitchen of hers.

As I put on my apron, I heard a short and soft voice which sounded almost like a cough. Surprise engulfed me as I turned to see Naeun's lips pulled upward to form an unbelievably bright smile.

"Why is your apron so prink and frilly?" she laughed.

"Hey, this was the first one I saw at home! Don't make fun of it!"

Today, I saw her first grin and heard her first chuckle.

Time - One Thousand Eight Hundred Seconds Later

We (Naeun surprised me even further when she voluntarily started to help in the cooking) were half-way finished cooking.

I endlessly chattered about random topics which I thought she might be interested in. Naeun spoke no words, but I could tell that she was listening very closely to every word that I let out of my mouth.

"Do you want me to introduce my other friends to you?" I suggested. "Anyways, wouldn’t it be a great change to be around more people?"

Naeun bit her lower lip as she looked up from what she was mixing on the single stove.

Time - Two Seconds Later

"Naeun, there's no need to be afraid," I tried coaxing her. "I'll introduce my best friend to you. His name is Chen, and he's already been helping you since the start." She stopped mixing completely as she stared at me in extreme confusion.

"The first time I met you, I was supposed to attend the party which he threw for me in this very same building," I explained. "Chen is also the one who helped me schedule your check up, and he's the one who paid for our Gag Concert tickets."

I scratched the back of my neck as I looked down in shame. "I'm sorry I told someone about you even though you did not give me the permission to. I promise he'll be a gentle and helpful friend, though!"

I expected her to frown and look away, but she actually did the opposite.

Naeun smiled sweetly and nodded.

She agreed with me.

Time - 6:15 PM

Dinner was finally prepared.

"You're too thin, eat up!" I told her firmly as I piled mountains of food on her plate. She looked at me uncertainly, but I merely shook my head. "Your past enemies wouldn't care about your weight today.”

Time - 6:45

After we both finished, I secretly brought out the decorated cake topped with a included a bright lighted candle. The fact that her eyes lit up a thousand notches and the immediate reaction of covering  due to shock, pleased me to no end.

I even sang for her.

(Well, it sounded more like rapping, but she enjoyed it anyway.)

Time - 6:48 PM

But something wrong was bound to happen.

As I was about to cut the cake, the wet, slippery handle of the knife unexpectedly flew out of my grasp.

And to my complete horror, it landed directly in front of Naeun's feet.

Time - Tensed Seconds Later

We both stared at the knife, and then at each other.

The knife.

Each other. 

The knife.

Each other.

Tension filled the air completely. Neither of us dared to breath or move an inch.

Would she pick it up? Would she lay it near her skin?

Time - 6: 49 PM

"I'm scared of sharp objects."

That was the first time she had ever spoken to me out loud.

But strangely enough, those were the exact words that I had wanted to hear since the start.

Naeun was no longer going to self harm.