I sat at my desk and watched the clock tick. Tick Tock, tick tock. 11 months, 364 days, 12 hours, 9 minutes and 24 seconds until I finally meet you… After that, I won't be alone on my birthdays any longer..

Today was my birthday, but yet again, I had no one to spend it with. For as long as I remember, I have been living  in my grandfather's workshop. Having no friends of my own, I spend the days locked up in here.... But I’m never bored. After all, I have all those gadgets and gears from my grandfather's collection to play with.

I peek across the hall to the room where a young man laid sleeping. I quietly tiptoes there, a little goose following my steps. I plop myself on the chair next to him.

"Hyun Woo oppa.... Wake up soon... I want to see you..." I took out a pen and started drawing a clock on his wrist, his soft skin pressed against my palm as I drew.  “Hyun Woo oppa, you know, we’ve never actually talked… but I think I’m in love with you….” I glance at him, turning my head toward him slightly. His eyes were lightly closed, his pink lips naturally open. My heart beat at a rate of a million beats a minute.

“Oppa, today is my 19^th birthday… One more year until we’re together!” I sit up. “You know, sometimes I wonder what kind of future we’ll share. Sometimes I’m scared that when you wake up, you won’t be the same guy I always hoped you’d be…”

When my grandfather had passed on, he left me a note and the key to his room. I took the neatly folded letter out of my pocket and read it for the millionth time since he passed away 3 years ago.

Dear Jieun,

My dear sweet Jiji…. If you are reading this, I assume I have already passed on, and things did not go as I hoped.

You know the room I never let you in? Yes, the key is for that room. In there, you will find a sleeping young boy and a goose. The boy is named Lee Hyunwoo. I created him so you would not be lonely when I leave this Earth… but something has gone wrong, and he will not wake up until the day you turn 20…

My beautiful Jieun, I am sorry for keeping you in for your whole life.  I am sorry that you were never able to go out into the magnificent world and meet more people, making me have to resort to creating a companion for you….

But remember, you create your own future. What your relationship will Hyunwoo will become is up to you. Good luck.

Love,

Grandfather

Is it funny that for all those years that I lived with my grandfather, I’ve never known his real name? Yet, he doesn’t even sign this letter…

Jinmin, my dear goose, starts to quack. I turn my head toward her to find her sitting on the very top shelf of the bookshelf. “Jinmin! No, come down!” She quacks some more, spinning around in the meager space the shelf had to offer. Her little webbed feet stepped on Grandfather’s valuable scrolls and I cringed. I hope the scrolls are okay… Those contain my grandfather’s notes!

Suddenly, she slips, falling off the tall shelf, bringing the scrolls along. I catch the little bird in my hands, the scrolls hitting the top of my head. With a crash, a glass bottle containing a little toy train falls, smashing into pieced right before my eyes. I am overcome by a warm light, blinding me before everything starts to grow larger. And Larger. I shut my eyes, scared. Otteoke!?

When I open my eyes again, everything seems so large. I look up to see the toy train, now bigger than myself. What was happening? I do a 360 degree turn. All around were lost gears and gadgets, dusty and rusted. I took another look at the train. It was shiny and bright, painted green with a gold trim. The windows were crystal clear and perfect. In my grandfather’s writing, the words Fantasy Express were scrawled in gold. I stepped inside quietly, greeted by a warm blast of air and the sound of a ticking clock. I wonder how much longer I will be this small?

I took a seat in one of the cushiony green seats and stared out the window. I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep.