He woke up to the blaring sound of his alarm clock. Another day, another hassle, another waste of time. As he sat up on his bed from his peaceful slumber, he was welcomed by the light that seeped through the bedroom curtains. Just then, his cellphone began to vibrate. The day I don't have to answer this phone will be the day I die, he told himself as he rolled his eyes at the name that appeared on the screen.

“What do you want, Richard?” he said as he answered the call with a yawn.

“Siwon, where the hell are you?!” Richard shouted out loud with a hint of panic.

“I'm on my bed,” Siwon answered, “Why?”

“Eric has been waiting for you to get your down here 2 hours ago! That's why! So you better hurry ---”

As Siwon stood up, he turned off his phone without bidding Richard farewell. He then tossed his phone on his bed as he stretched and prepared himself for work.

He has been working as an accountant for one of the most prominent banks in the city for 4 years. And, for four, long and agonizing years, Siwon had developed a sort of dull routine. He woke up every morning, got himself ready for work, drove in his over-priced car to work, met up with other accountants in the morning for a small conference, sat in his cubicle doing an unnecessary amount of paperwork and repeated this very routine daily. He had grown tired of his job and, more recently, his life. It's as if life had become a job within itself for Siwon. Nothing was ever the same but nothing was ever different either. He was a dead man inside walking amongst the living as if he were alive.

***

Once Siwon arrived at the bank, an hour later, Richard was the first to welcome him in at the entrance. The sound of desperation he heard earlier that morning was similar to the look of fear that Richard had plastered on his face at that moment. They continued to quickly walk along a corridor together. “Eric's not in a very good mood today,” Richard informed Siwon, “So, I'll explain to him why you're late and your job is just to stand there and pretend to be happy to be here, alright?”

“Whatever you say,” he replied bluntly.

Richard is a stout, chubby man in his early 30s who was responsible for giving Siwon his “big break” into the accounting profession. They had met at an annual job fair held at the university Siwon attended and, before he graduated, he landed the job all thanks to Richard.

Once they had reached the conference room, Richard led Siwon inside where their colleagues sat around a large roundtable talking amongst themselves. Eric Choi, a tall man in his mid-50s with sleek, defined features, stood near a window overlooking the scenery outside the bank. “Good morning, Mr. Choi,” Richard greeted with forceful joy as he walked towards the man, “I'd like to apologize on behalf of my partner, Siwon, here. He... got carried away with the time and---”

“If he would like to explain the reason for his tardiness, I'm sure Mr. Siwon Choi is more than capable of explaining that himself, Mr. Lee,” Eric replied in a straightforward, matter-of-fact tone.

“Right...” Richard said as he slowly backed away and grabbed Siwon's arm, motioning for him to talk to Eric.

“I thought...” Siwon whispered to Richard, “I thought you said ---”

“Forget what I said. Talk,” Richard whispered back as he hurried off to his seat.

As Siwon approached Eric, he cleared his throat and stood with his back straight. “Listen, Mr. Choi, I apologize for ---”

“Step outside for a minute, will you?” Eric replied as he began to walk out of the conference room. Their colleagues had stopped their conversations and looked on at the situation unfolding in front of them. Siwon hesitantly followed him out to the hallway and closed the door behind him.

“Dad...” Siwon began, “Look, I'm sorry.”

“How many times are you going to embarass yourself, huh, Siwon?” Eric asked with an exasperated tone, “Because, honestly, I've stopped counting and I'm starting to wonder if I should stop caring too.”

“I slept in late. That happens,” he reasoned calmly.

“People sleep in late sometimes. You, on the other hand, sleep in late everyday. If I were to follow protocol right now, you would be fired.”

“So what's stopping you?”

Eric's eyes grew in shock at the words that slipped out of Siwon's mouth. With an angry tone to his voice, he stepped closer to his son, “What... did you just say to me?”

“If you want to get rid of me so badly, why don't you just fire me?”

“And what?” Eric asked with a sarcastic laugh, “Make me look like the villain here?!”

“No one ever said you were a hero... Dad.”

The tone of disdain in Siwon's voice infuriated Eric further. Thus, as the anger inside him built up, Eric grabbed the collar of Siwon's dress shirt and pulled his son violently closer to him. “If you weren't my son, I would have punched you by now,” he stated slowly but firmly, “I'm going to give you the day off to get yourself together. I do not want to hear that you've returned to your apartment. I don't want to hear that you've wasted today on being a waste of space. I need you to think about the choices that you've made so far or, so help me God, I will make sure you never work in this city again.” Eric then released Siwon and pushed him out of the way as he went back inside the conference room leaving his son behind.

***

Opting to leave his car at the bank, Siwon walked along the busy streets of the city with others just like him. Citizens who were walking to and from places without a single hint of happiness written on their faces. Just existing and never really living, he noted. Though he grew up in a moderately peaceful suburban neighbourhood, Siwon never wished to live in the city. In fact, he hated the noise and pollution of the city. Siwon was only 17 years old when his father urged him to move in to the city when his mother passed away.

His relationship with his father was never the same after his mother's death. They rarely spoke and, whenever they did, Eric would lecture Siwon regarding his future. “Life is defined by the amount of money you have, son,” he would tell him, which then became engrained in Siwon's mind. Money, apparently, bought his father's happiness and so, in an attempt to fall into his father's good graces, Siwon applied at the same university his father attended to become an accountant just like his father. Unfortunately, no matter how much the young man tried, he was never good enough.

Siwon's thoughts were interrupted by a man in a track suit who had bumped into him. The man apologized several times before continuing to jog. It was then that Siwon realized that he had been walking along a sidewalk. He was at a man-made park that was newly built in the middle of the city. He had never visited the place before and, quite frankly, never bothered to take a stroll around it. However, since he was asked to reflect, Siwon thought that this may be the only place to do so.

A few steps ahead of him was a park bench, which was stationed by itself along the park's pathway. He sat on the bench and closed his eyes. He then took a deep breath in and exhaled. The first time he had ever done so in years. Also, for the first time since living in the city, he felt peace. Just then, Siwon heard a loud but gentle whimper nearby. It was the voice of a woman in pain and, as he opened his eyes, he saw a woman with long, wavy hair wearing a white tank top and short shorts sitting on the pavement. She was massaging her right ankle with her right hand while her left hand held a leash. Siwon also noticed that she was on the verge of tears.

Almost as if it were a reflex, Siwon stood up from his seat and approached the young woman in a hurry. He crouched down to her level and examined the situation. “A-Are you okay, miss?” he asked her. As the woman began to cry in pain, he suddenly felt responsible for the woman somehow. “Just try not to make any sudden movement, alright?”

“Why? Are you a doctor?” the woman asked him as she sobbed quietly.

“No, but I've broken my ankle before, so, I know what I'm talking about,” he informed her, “Listen, do you feel that it's dislocated?”

“No...”

“That's good! Let's try to get you up on the bench, okay?”

The woman examined Siwon's eyes and stared at him before nodding her head in agreement. Immediately after being given permission, Siwon then placed his arms underneath the woman's knees and her back. He then lifted her up off of the ground and placed her gently on the bench to sit. “Thank you,” the woman said with her soft, gentle voice. Just then, a Golden Retriever approached them on the bench and nudged the woman's hand with its nose. “Hey, Zoey,” the woman greeted the dog.

“That's your dog?” Siwon asked.

“Yeah, she is.”

“Hi, Zoey,” he greeted the dog with a slight smile.

The dog barked and, for the first time that day, Siwon laughed. “Now, I wonder,” he said aloud as he looked at the dog, “If your name is Zoey, what's your owner's name?”

“It's Sooyoung,” the woman said with a laugh, “My name's Sooyoung.”

“Nice to meet you,” Siwon said with a smile.

The woman had a strikingly unique look to her, he thought. She wasn't someone he would normally see around the bank nor around the bars he would frequently go to after work. Her eyes and her smile were so bright that he could not help but smile along with her. As the two of them continued to stare at one another, Zoey barked aloud once again causing her to startle both Siwon and Sooyoung.

“I think I'm okay,” Sooyoung told Siwon, “I was walking Zoey here and I guess I tripped on a rock or something.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

“Yeah, right,” she said with a laugh, “I'm a klutz. Always have been. Always tripping on things and bumping into things. My older sister, Soojin, would always joke around and say that, if I'm not going to be careful, our parents might as well put me in a plastic bubble like a hamster on a wheel. But, honestly, I --- Oh, dear. I'm sorry. Too much information, huh?”

“No, not at all,” he assured her, “Want to try standing up to see if you're really okay?” Sooyoung nodded with a smile. She then stood up from the bench as Zoey looked on. “Looks good so far,” Siwon told her, “Try walking now.” Slowly but surely, Sooyoung began to walk and, before she knew it, she comfortably shifted her feet along the pathway comfortably.

She took a deep sigh of relief and looked at Siwon. “Thank you again,” she told him with another hearty smile, “That was very kind of you to help me up.” She offered her hand to shake his.

“You're welcome,” he smiled back as he shook her hand.

“I should be going,” she informed him, “Zoey's probably really thirsty. We've been out for hours.”

“Nice to meet you, Sooyoung.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she replied back. After shaking Siwon's hand one more time, she signaled Zoey over and walked away from Siwon.

As he watched her walk away from him, Siwon sat back down on the bench and looked far into the distance. It was then that he realized that Sooyoung never asked him for his name. She's not interested in you after all. That smile was fake, he told himself.

Thus, he was alone again. The sadness and frustration was beginning to return into his system. What was he to do with his life exactly? Should he let his father know how he really felt about his position in the bank? Should he face the demons that have been bothering him for the past few years? After what felt like an eternity, Siwon looked down on the bench and began to run his hand over the newly painted bench. He then began to scratch the paint off with his pointer finger and began to create letters. Then words. Before he knew it, he had a whole sentence written out on the bench.

My life is a mess.