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Where did I fall love?

Where I fell in love was in the city of Los Angeles.

It’s a difficult place not to fall in love with. There’s so much going on. There’s so much life, an abundance of adventures, so many places to go on and explore. It is a place where the curious ones can discover every gem that goes unseen by the untrained eye.

This was the first place I chose when I left Korea.

And this large—seemingly endless city—was where I found him.

It was just one of those days where nothing seemed to have been going right. I woke up half past eight, meaning that I was last for work. My boss didn’t scream at me or yell at me, but I knew he was disappointed in me for not showing up on time.

“You’re my best employee.” He’d told me before leaving me to my mundane computer work.

That really was worse than any scolding I’d ever gotten from anyone.

I’d always been that sort of person that hangs on to someone’s words for hours and hours on end, constantly analyzing and twisting ways I could have done better.

Although I’d hated choosing work at that office; confining myself in the tight space that was my cubicle, having to type up the same thing day in and day out, being leered at by my erted floor mate just across from me, sitting for eight hours… it was something that paid well and made my mom and dad happy after I’d fled from their grasps.

After leaving the glass building and heading home to change out of my work clothes, I decided to take a drive around the city. The drive was a bit more relaxing, traffic didn’t get my nerves any better, but it wasn’t like they got any worse either.

Outside of my car was better.

I walked through downtown leisurely. I wasn’t expected to be anywhere that night. No fancy dinners, no late night conference, no assigned work to take home and finish up for the following day. It was a stress-free night.

Especially once I came across a lone boy dancing on the corner of the main street. The lights from overhead and all along the buildings gave him this otherworldly glow as his body moved to the beat, ticks, and voice of the song playing on his phone. People watched as they waited for the light to turn green or to allow them to walk to the other side of the busy street. Some would leave him a couple of bills beside his backpack resting on the side of the Starbucks structure, others would leave without telling him much.

Me?

I ordered myself a frappucino and watched him dance. He went on and on through different songs for over an hour. I couldn’t take my eyes off of this man. The way his body moved and rocked with the music, how everything just seemed to flow effortlessly, the look in his wild eyes as he stared right back at me.

“So, what’d you think?” he asked me with a bright smile overtaking his serious expression.

I dropped my gaze from his, embarrassed that I’d been staring at him for so long.

“You were pretty good, well better than good—you were amazing!” I babbled.

Internally, I was slapping myself for not have left earlier. But how could I? Watching him dance was the stress-reliever I needed.

“Oh? Thanks!” he laughed.

As the boy picked his things up, I decided that it was my time to leave. But I heard him call me.

“Don’t you want to go grab something to eat?” he asked, running to my side.

I stared at him, speechless. He smacked his forehead before reaching for my hand and shaking it.

“I forgot to introduce myself!” he laughed again before giving me his name.

I introduced myself to him, albeit being taken aback, and before I knew it he and I were at a sushi restaurant laughing, drinking sake, and sharing small tidbits of ourselves.

The dancer and I began officially dating a few more dates after, then after a month he asked me to be his girlfriend after he took me on a spontaneous trip to Disneyland, three months after he and I were living with each other in our own apartment downtown.

Remember when you asked me what city I loved?

I told you Los Angeles.

I guess, I’ll always unconsciously love it because of him.

Because he was the adventure, the vitality, the life that I needed during that mundane point in my life.

He was where I fell in love.