There he was, walking beside me with a smile on his face. It was like a dream came true. It had been a while since I had someone picking me up after work, waiting for me to get off work. That unexplainable feeling as I stepped out of the office building and saw that someone standing right there, smiling and waving at me the moment he spotted me. ‘Wherever you will go’ he said. I silently smiled while looking at my own shoes as we walked.

“Suddenly it feels so refreshing.” He smiled. He closed his eyes and spread his arms, feeling the wind blowing.

I could just look at him in amazement. He was still wearing the same clothes and slippers he wore last night. However, it was so picturesque. The way he stood still, spreading his arms and feeling the night breeze. His tall height and well built figure made it look like a photoshoot. I wondered would it be freaky if I took out my phone and took a picture. Okay, I was joking of course. “What is?” I asked curiously as we resumed walking.

“Walking together like this, having someone I can talk to.” He looked up at the night sky. “Don’t you think so?”

I nodded slowly, confused. What made this kind of guy can’t walk together with someone and have a conversation? I pondered. Beep. I heard my text alert. I checked it and saw a text message from my mom. “Go home quick you need to find Jaebeom’s birth certificate you lost. He needs it for his job interview.” I read the message in disbelief. What? When did I lose his stupid birth certificate? Well, it was nothing new for me. Whatever went wrong at home, I must be the cause.

“Did something wrong?” He asked right after I put my phone in my bag.

“Wrong? With me, everything is always wrong.” I smirked sarcastically, not at him of course.

He didn’t reply.

“Oh! I found a perfect name for you that is not hard to pronounce.” I turned to him, grinning. “Seung Hyun. Hyunie.” I giggled. He didn’t like cute nicknames like kitty or bunny, but I still liked to call him Hyunie. I’d always liked to call my friends with cute name, like Wookie for Dong Wook.

“Hunny?” His eyes popped out.

I chuckled lightly. “Hyoo-nie not hunny.” I corrected. “It’s short and cute, right? I like it.”

“I liked hunny though, but hyunie is not so bad. Though I have a feeling it sounds like a little kid’s nickname.” He commented. “But what’s your name?”

“Oh,” I realized I hadn’t really introduced myself to him last night. I interrogated him instead. “My name is Park Bom Lee. In Korean Lee is pronounced as ‘ee’ so you can call me Bomi.”

Seung Hyun nodded. “Okay, Bommie. You have a cute name.” He chuckled, patting my head.

“Just because I’m shorter you can’t treat me like a kid.” I grumbled childishly. “How old are you? You look young.”

“Me? Well, I bet I’m way older than you. You must be nineteen or early twenty, huh? So I have every right to pat your head like this.” He smiled and patted my head softly again, making my heart go thump thump.

I shook my head. “You’re wrong. I am twenty-five.” I grinned cheerfully. “You can’t tell, right? Some people tell me I look younger than my age.” That was one of the few things I could be proud of.

“Well, I have to agree with them. You look like nineteen to me.” He observed my face as if he was studying and memorizing my facial features with his eyes.

“So how old are you?” I asked again, still curious.

He gave me a light smile. “I was twenty-five.” His gaze wandered to the far road and suddenly he felt so distant from me even though he was beside me.

“Was?” I tilted my head, looking at him. I didn’t understand what he meant. “Oh so you’re now twenty six, right right?” I attempted to guess.

He remained silent for a while, searching for memory he had left behind. He was about to answer when he heard me gasping loudly. “What’s wrong?”

“My mom is calling again. I really need to go home right now.” I didn’t answer the calls and put the phone back into my bag and was ready to run home but I paused. “Hyunie… Where do you live now?”

But he was just smiling while shaking his head slightly. “Don’t worry about me, you’ll see me again soon. Just go back home first. I’ll see you later.” He waved, still smiling.

***

As I predicted before I came home, I would get yelled at. Sure, my brother’s future would be brighter than mine so he was so important and such a first priority. I loved my brother, I didn’t mind sacrificing my time and future for him as I already did. However, how did my mom expect me to find something I’d never seen before? I had no idea. She claimed I had it couple years ago along with other important family documents to be copied. Yes I remembered. But I also remembered I had returned all of them because the other documents were in the same drawer. If they couldn’t find it, all he had to do was reporting for lost document and everything would be settled. Why she blew it out of proportion as if I had burnt the house or something? I was so mad and annoyed.

And as always, I sulked in my room, crying. Yes I was a crybaby. I couldn’t handle criticism and people’s nasty comments about me. I didn’t have the courage to fight back most of the times either. All I could do was crying silently under my pillow. It had always been like this. If only my dad was around, he would know what to do. But of course, he wasn’t here.

I grabbed my phone, reading the missed messages I hadn’t read. It was all from Dara. She was still living in Sydney with her boyfriend. It was amazing how she had never had a boyfriend during school days but couple years after she moved to Sydney, she decided to accept the guy who had been trying to get her heart as her first boyfriend. It was cute how she had been with Youngbae for five years now while my longest relationship was only a year and half. Now Dara stayed in Youngbae and his brother’s house ever since some people robbed her previous house while she was at the university. Her parents were so protective over Dara and asked her long time boyfriend to take care of her.

“Bomi ah… I’m so annoyed. I argued with Youngbae again and I hated myself. I threw pillows to him because he irked me. But I felt bad now… What to do? What to do?” I read the message and chuckled. “Dara ya… If only I could live life like you.” I smiled bitterly as I typed a reply.

“What kind of life would you like to have?”

I gasped. There he was, sitting on the chair with folded arms, eyes on me. He really knew how to get in and out of my house without getting caught. “Hyun! Since when you’re here?” I was surprised but I couldn’t hide my excitement upon seeing him.

“I just got here.” He rose and seated on my bed. He grabbed my chin and stared at my eyes. “Good, you’re not crying again.” He removed his hand after he checked on me.

“D-did you see?” I could not be more embarrassed. He must thought of me as an old crybaby. I pouted.

But he just smiled as he scooted closer to me, putting away the pillow that was between us. He then caressed my head. “It’s not your fault, okay? Don’t take it to heart. It’ll be alright.” He continued caressing me, letting my head lean on his shoulder.

I had never heard someone other than my dad told me it wasn’t my fault, convincing me everything would be alright. I didn’t know what he had heard but it was really comfortable to have someone by my side at time like this, understanding me. If I told my friends they would just brush it off, saying it was just simple matter and I didn’t need to make a ruckus about this. But having someone like him, like Hyun, who appeared out of the blue and consoled me like this was really comfortable. Tears began flowing on my cheeks. I cried again. I wish he wouldn’t go anywhere and stay here with me.