{Sunhee}

           The bus ride to our destination was short, it took us a little over eight minutes to get to our destination. 

       "Careful," he said and without my permission he grabbed my hand and held on to it. "Puddle," he pointed at it and if it wasn't for him, I would of soaked my shoes. 

        I hoped off the last step of the bus and smiled gratefully at him. I slipped my hand away from his to avoid myself from blushing more. "Gamsahabnida," I mumbled and he just smiled. 

       "Come on," he walks forward and I follow him, walking beside him. 

       We were at a quiet area near the Han River. I remembered this place, I used to come here all the time with Eunjae. And when we were kids and still neighbors, Jongdae and I came down here too.

       There were stores everywhere, a few houses here and there. But what I like about this place is that it's quiet, peaceful and not that crowded unlike most of the places in Seoul. 

     People only came here to job or bike or take a walk, enjoying the scenery of the river. But I had a guess that Jongdae didn't really want to do either of those.

     "Why are we here?" I asked him as we just walked on and on. 

     "There," he said and pointed towards a stone table and bench by the bank of the river. "Let's go," he jogged over to it, leaving me there at the sidewalk. 

     Sighing, I followed after him and nearly got myself in an accident with a biker. After I bowed him my apology, I walked over to the stone bench he pointed out. 

    Then, I realized something. The blue and pink paint at the side of the side of the table, the yellow sun painted messily on the side of the bench . . . . 

    "Is this-" I looked at him. He was sitting at the other bench and was facing the river with a dreamy look on his face. 

    "Ne, it's our bench," he turned his head and looked back at me, a small smile in his face. "Come on, sit," he patted the space next to him. 

    Hesitantly and slowly, I sat next to him, leaving half a meter as a distance between us. I placed my backpack in the space and sighed to myself. 

   The two of us just looked at the river the next few minutes. Other might think it's boring, but it's not. 

   Staring at the Han River and at the buildings by it's banks was relaxing and calming. It brought back a lot of memories. We used to do this when we were still friends, when we were probably 8 or 10 years old. 

   We would bring our mothers and we would paint in this very bench. That's why there was this big blue and pink spot on the table because it was him who knocked off the paint in one of those days. 

    I was the one who drew the sun in the bench. He and I wanted to mark this table and bench, and so we did. We didn't really know it was considered 'vandalizing' back then. 

    The sun was slowly setting down and the sky was getting darker and more violet in color. For what seemed like an eternity, he broke the silence; "Do you remember now?" he said simply. 

   I looked at the side of his face before looking back at the scenery in front of me. Now I wishes I had brought my camera. "If you mean by the things we did here, then . . . ne. I remember them well," I said honestly. 

  "So, do you still paint?" 

   A little taken aback, I stammered. "I-um, I-yeah, I still do," 

  He smiled and looked at me before turning his head away. "That's good," he nodded and made a popping sound through his lips. 

   I wanted to keep the conversation going, I wanted to make him talk again and make the good feeling of being with him come back. 

  "Is it?" I said in a teasing voice. "But, as a matter of fact, I just finished a painting I've bene working on since summer," 

  "Ah, jinjja?" Jondae said and turned to me, a smile on his face. 

   I smiled too and nodded. "Ne," I said simply. 

  "You should submit it to an art gallery or something," he then said, again, taking me a little off-guard. "I'm sure people might buy it or would want it," 

   "I wish . . ." I mumbled and then sighed afterwards. "You never even seen my paintings yet, Jongdae," I added, smirking a little as I faced him. 

    He looked at me too and he had a weird expression on. "Why not try? I mean, wishes can come true you know," he said, making me snort. Pfft, what does he know? 

    "Hey," he nudged me, making him sit a little closer to me. "And besides, I don't really need to see your paintings. I know they're already good anyway, you were really gifted from the start you know. You're really talented, Sunnie," 

     His comment made me blush a little and I was feeling all jittery inside. "Ah gamsahabnida," I mumbled, making him laugh at how shy my voice sounded. 

       I cleared my throat and spoke again; "But, speaking of talents, how are you and your vocal chords, hm?" 

     Jongdae actually laughed at that. "Mwoya? Ha ha, that's so corny! But, the answer to your question is; my vocal chords and I are good," 

    I giggled lightly and shook my head. "Aniyo, it was a metaphor saying; are you still singing?" 

   His smile dropped a little and he immediately shook his head. "Not . . . not anymore," he said with a dramatic sigh in the end. He frowned when he looked back at me. 

   "Mwoya? Wae?" 

  He shrugged. "I just stopped participating in competitions when I was 13, since then, I just  . . . I just stopped, yeah," 

  He seemed a little sad and he was frowning right now instead of smiling. Seeing him frown also made me want to frown. "Too bad, you were really good at singing. You had a good voice," 

   Jongdae snorted. "Had? Good? What, I'm not as good in singing now as I was before? And good? I was amazing!" he laughed. 

   I laughed too and I pushed him. "Yah! Stop being cocky. And to prove your point, why don't you sing for me right now?" 

   "Sing? For you?" he said as he raised an eyebrow. 

  Blushing, I immediately explained to him. "I-I didn't mean it-I-wasn't saying that-I-I-ugh, Jongdae!" I whined and slapped his arm two times. 

  "Ouch! Yah! Don't hit me!" he rubbed the spot where I had slapped him and he pouted. "Don't hit your oppa," 

   I snorted. "Pfft, you're only a day older than me," 

  "Still, I'm older than you," he insisted. "You used to call me 'oppa' all the time when we were younger," 

  "That's the thing, we were younger back then," I muttered, but he heard it and from the corner of my eye, I saw him smile there a little. 

  I looked at the view in front of me and I sighed. It was so beautiful. The sky was splashed with violet, blue and orange. The buildings began to turn on their lights, making them reveal Seoul's city night lights. 

  I wanted to stay here, and capture this scenery before me. I scolded myself again for not brining my camera. If I captured this through my phone, it would be to embarrassing since Jongdae is here. I'm too shy to even do it. 

  So, I have no choice than just to savor this moment and just remember this beautiful and peaceful scenery through my eyes and hopefully remember this well enough to paint it. 

  "Sunhee, I can sing for you next time," Jongdae said, breaking the comfortable silence we just had. "Just not now, not with this beautiful scenery," 

   I smirked and nodded. "Alright," I said. 

    Even though it was getting late and I might probably be scolded when I get home. It seemed like my legs didn't want to move. And deep inside, I really didn't want to go yet. 

  If it was possible, can I just stay here forever? With Kim Jongdae? With him? Even though it's not Yixing. . .

   I found myself sitting on the bench a few minutes longer, with him right beside me, our arms almost brushing. Together, we watched Seoul's city nightlife awake.