“I’m leaving.”

In a cold winter morning, she decided to head in a nearby book café to enjoy a hot cup of coffee with her favorite book. She’s almost done with the story and ending it in a solemn place would be the best way to pack it up. Her experience with the story’s character had been one of the happiest moments in her life. She temporarily lived the story even in her dreams; apparently, it will be hard for her to get out of the world that welcomed her like she’s a part of it.

The book café has few tables and she chose to sit at the longest table; the center piece of the café. The table wasn’t specifically special, it’s just a normal wooden table made of the cheapest wood in the market, varnished and placed to cater several people at a time. It’s like a long library table where groups of student sit around and discuss whatever stuffs they need to talk about.

She opened the book but didn’t start reading. Instead, she thought how beautiful it would be if the person she loves more than her life loves to read a book too. They would spend their mornings at the balcony discussing about their newly finished book. It wouldn’t be boring because they both liked it. They would have their dates searching for books in the library and bookstores; and would later exchange them for the other to read. Though it seems boring for normal people, they wouldn’t find it lame, instead they would treasure every moment and remember it until the day they vanish from Earth

Though it’s hard to look for a man who likes to read book that fits her standards, she knows one and she vowed to love him despite the fact that she can never be with him.

She closed the book, sighed and raised her attention on the space in front of her. She wished he’s sitting in front of her, it would have been a priceless moment, and she would give anything to experience it. But it’s far from happening. Moreover, it will never happen.

However, when a man holding a large cup of coffee sat in front of her, her views in life changed. In a fleeting moment, she believed in destiny, that chance encounter.

“I can sit here, right?” The man asked, “You’re not waiting for anyone?”

It must have been her stare that made him think she’s expecting someone. She shook her head, still flabbergasted and lost for words.

He smiled and she wished her eyes had a built in camera to capture the moment. Taking a seat, he proclaimed, “I’ll just sit here, then.”

She nodded. “Hi.” The two-letter word was everything she managed to say.

“Do you…” he paused probably thinking twice, “…recognize me?”

She nodded again, trying to act normal, as if he’s not some stranger and she’s just entertaining his questions out of courtesy. “Looking at you is like reading my favorite book.” Somehow she managed to utter out, slowly, in a way that he can understand every word, it wasn’t intentional, and she just can’t find ordinary words to respond.

“In layman’s term?”

“You’re my favorite person, someone I’ve been reading over and over again without getting fed up of.” She sighed, “Like a fairytale that I’ve liked since I was a kid, I know it can never happen but I just believe in it.”

She watched him turn red as he closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, he smiled. “I don’t think that’s in layman’s term.”

“I like you. But I don’t expect anything back. If you find it weird I can leave now. I can disappear and never show my face again. I can vanish. I promise to do that if you don’t like my existence.” She paused and took a deep breath. “But always remember that as I live, I live liking you.”

“No, it’s not like… I just sat here and you’re telling me you like me?”

“I guess you don’t remember.” She briefly smiled while grabbing her planner from the bag she had been carrying. She opened the planner and pulled off a picture from the back slip. She laid it on the table in front of him.

“I was five when we shared the same classroom as preschool students. In an activity, our teacher asked me if there’s someone I’d like to meet again after twenty years. Of course you don’t know that I answered her with your name because I never told anyone. I kept it for myself.” She turned her back, “It was nice seeing you again, Lee Kiseop. At least the fairytale happened somehow, even if it has a different ending. I’m glad it happened.”

Kiseop looked at the picture and saw his young self, standing beside a girl that he recognized in an instant. It was the girl that dragged her as the both of them walk through a pedestrian lane, the girl that held his hand on the way home from school every day. “Wait a minute…” He looked at the picture one more time and then turned his attention to the girl’s back. “I know you.”

“I’m glad you remember. I can live on by just knowing that even now, if only you were reminded of your past, you can still remember. At least you didn’t bury them completely.”

“… Song Norae.” He said her name, remembering, as if he dug it from the depth of his mind.

She tilted her head, looked at him in the eye and smiled. Knowing that her name still remains in him is enough to live a lifetime. “I’m leaving.” She faced front and started walking away, wishing Kiseop wouldn’t call her again to hold him back.