The sun is already setting, but the weather is still warm. Birds are soaring home across the orange evening sky. The tall trees dance in the warm breeze. Villagers chitchat as they return to their respective homes, some giving me strange glances and avoiding eye-contact.

I stand rooted in front of a familiar house. The place looks different than the last time I saw it. It was raining that one particular night, so I never noticed the nooks and crannies. But the feelings I felt that night is still fresh in my memories.

“Excuse me,” a croaky voice catches my attention, “can I help you?”

I turn to see a slouching old lady with kind eyes. I remember her from the last time I came here. She was the one who helped us. I smile and bow, “Good evening, halmeoni. Do you remember me? I came here a few months ago. On a rainy night.”

She squints at me for a solid couple of minutes with her bushy eyebrows furrowed before breaking into a wrinkly smile, “Ah, yes, you! With your girlfriend that day,” she lets out a croaky yet cheeky laugh, “Yes, I remember. What brings you here today?”

“Ah…this…um,” I rub the nape of my neck, with my other hand clenching a plastic bag full of takeaway McDonald’s, “my…girlfriend and I…promised…to meet here today. So, um, have you seen her around?”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, I just got back from the mountains,” she holds up some herbal roots, “I wasn’t home since dawn.”

I guess she has forgotten.

I’m such an idiot.

“Would you like to come in for tea?”

“Oh, no, no, it’s okay, I just—”

“Come in for tea. I haven’t had a guest for so long,” her crooked smile makes it impossible for me to say no.

I walk after her inside the familiar, petite home. I make myself comfortable at a wooden dining table as the old lady excused herself to the kitchen.

I guess Kim Haejin moved on.

Or maybe she’ll come.

Maybe she’ll just suddenly walk down the stairs, with her smile that I’ve missed so much, and present herself as a surprise. We’ll hug so tightly and she’ll tell me that she missed me as much as I missed her these past 3 months. Everything’s been going downhill for me lately, and all I want is to hold her. I know that the moment she assures me that everything will be alright, everything will be alright.   

I can’t believe I lost track of the date and almost didn’t come here. I put the McDonald’s takeaway on the table. Should I set the table? Maybe she’ll come by soon.

The moment I stand up, I got startled by a man standing across of the room. His hair is disheveled, with a 5 o’clock shade on his worn-out face. His eyes droop with stress, his clothes shabby. My shoulders drop at my own unkempt appearance in the mirror. Is this how I want to present myself to her after our 3 months of separation?

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” the old lady snaps me out of my trance as she peeks from the kitchen, “it’ll be ready in a minute.”

“It’s okay,” I try to smile and sit back down.

I close my eyes with my hands balled to my lips. If I pray and count to 10, will she appear in front of me the moment I open my eyes?

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

Five…

Six…

Seven…

Eight…

I hear the sound of footsteps running down the stairs.

Nine…

Ten.

I open my eyes to see a small boy staring intensely at me with his doe eyes. I believe he’s the old lady’s grandchild she mentioned about the last time. He sits across of me at the table, his mouth stuffed with food. My gaze drops to a McDonald’s French fries package in his hands. I look at the takeaway I brought. It is still untouched.

“Where’d you get that from?” I ask; astonished to see the little boy eating something he can’t possibly find anywhere in this area.

“A lady came by and gave it to me,” he replies nonchalantly, now eyeing my takeaway.

My heart skips a beat. “What lady?”

He stays silent and continues to stare at my takeaway. I inwardly curse and push the whole plastic bag to him.

He smiles smugly and pulls the whole thing to himself.

It must’ve been Haejin.

My heart picked up its pace.

She hasn’t forgotten our promise.

“Hmm she’s probably waaay younger than you, ahjussi.”

Shut it, boy, it’s just the beard. “What did she look like? Was she pretty?”

“Straight hair, tied in a ponytail,” he singsongs, tearing the plastic apart and taking out Haejin’s favorite double-cheese-burger, “she was wearing all black; black pants, black shirt. Pretty? Hmmmm. So-so.”

I am already feeling agitated by this kid. I’m pretty sure it’s Haejin he’s describing but this kid has no idea how prett—beautiful Kim Haejin is.

Could she still be around here? “When was she here?”

“She sat outside of our house for a couple hours just now.”

My legs start to shake, my heart thumping in my ears. “Ju-just now??”

“Yeah,” he takes a big bite out of the burger, “She left about an hour ago.”

An hour ago. I scurry to my feet, too driven to even think straight. The old lady enters