It was chilly outside and colder than usual that morning. The streets were packed with people of course, and it was noisier than ever on that day. Shouting could be heard from every side of the street; vendors trying to have a profit. The honking of cars was echoing through the air; drivers wanting to get to their destination as quickly as possible. People shoving and pushing other people; busy people who also want to get to their destinations.

            You could say that it was a very busy, and slightly chaotic, day. But, she was used to it. Jung Sooyeon got used to all of it. The city, the chaos, the people, the cars, and the beauty in them all – they were actually her inspiration.

            Sooyeon was brilliant with a brush, but even more brilliant when she used a pencil. She was like Picasso with a pencil, only she was a girl of course.

            She’s earned many awards and won numerous competitions to prove her talent and skills, but even without the certificates, medals and awards she won over the past 15 years since she was 6, you can tell Sooyeon was gifted.

            The way her delicate fingers would hold on a pencil, and the way she would ‘maneuver’ it to trace the lines of buildings, smiling faces of children, the rays of the sunset and many more objects that became her subject of inspiration.

            And, for today, she found someone interesting. It was her new inspiration for the week.

            He had striking handsome features. His golden brown hair was swept to the side, his plump lips pursed as his eyes flickered right and left as he read the morning’s newspaper. His eyebrows would crease as he read through, and he would occasionally tap his foot to the ground as if listening to music, one that only he could hear.

            He was an interesting person for Sooyeon. He didn’t look like a New Yorker, much less an American. He looked Asian. But his style was somewhat European, somewhat of an Italian model.

            Maybe he is a model. For now though, he could be Sooyeon’s model. Even though he was a stranger, he was a beautiful one - an exotic, handsome one. She couldn’t resist the temptation of drawing that fine face of his.

            This was the third time she saw him now. He was seated on the same bench, under the same tree in the same area of Central Park.

            Probably like many other girls, Sooyeon was awe-struck when she first laid eyes on the guy. He was just so handsome. Maybe ‘handsome’ was an understatement. Even the phrase ‘drop-dead gorgeous’ couldn’t describe him.

            “Oh,” she muttered and shook her hand when she realized she had been staring at him, at the handsome guy and her art inspiration, for almost over a minute now and she wasn’t even half finished with her drawing of him. “Oh,” she sighed.

            Sooyeon looked up, but he was gone. Her eyes immediately looked to the sides, and there he already was. Close to almost being like a dot in the distance, he was walking away now. He was also tall, probably over 180cm, and he had long legs.

The following day, it was still as cold and chilly as ever. It was almost the middle of December and snow was falling slowly this year. But even so, the streets had little piles of snow on the sides and near the roads, the trees here covered with it and children were playing on it.

            Just like the children in Central Park was doing at that moment.

            He smiled as he looked at them, the smile reaching his eyes and ears. He was so fond of watching people play and interact, he just enjoyed it and he didn’t know why. It was like a habit already, watching people.

            Like how he was watching her. That girl, with that blondish hair, but she wasn’t American. He was sure of it, she looked Asian and she looked quite beautiful if you asked him.

            This was the fourth time he saw her at that same bench in that same spot, and every time he does see her, he just stares at her longer and longer before she could catch him. But, they were curios stares and glances, because he would really wonder why she always had her head bent and she always seemed to be drawing or sketching whenever he saw her.

            “Tsk,” Sooyeon clicked her tongue in irritation and erased the spot where she wasn’t satisfied with. Whenever she was annoyed at herself or at anyone else, she would furrow her eyebrows together and click her tongue. It was her habit.

            She looked up, and was a little glad to see that he didn’t move yet. She looked back at her drawing and blew away the erasures. Before she could continue, she rubbed her shoulder’s sides, crossing her arms in the process.

            “Should’ve wore a thin sweater inside,” she muttered and clicked her tongue again. “Oh, well,” slightly shivering now, she picked up her pencil and glanced up at the handsome boy she has observed that just grew more handsome with each passing day.

            Two minutes turned into twenty and she was surprised that he hasn’t left yet, but he usually did go when he finished the newspaper he was reading.

            Squinting her eyes, Sooyeon could see that he was almost finished. She just sighed to herself and looked down on her almost half finished drawing. Just a little bit more.

            Her fingers moved faster than before, but it was still careful and delicate as she drew, especially the details. Her fingertips would move ever-so slightly as she darkened some areas and put some shade into them.

            At last, she had finished the top part of the drawing, the view behind him. The bench he was sitting on was also completed and so were the rest. She just had to finish him now, his bottom half to be exact. God knows when she can perfect drawing his long legs and that perfectly chiseled face of his.

            Sooyeon frowned instantly when she found that he wasn’t there anymore. “I can’t keep this up,” she sighed again and looked down sadly at her almost-finished drawing; a drawing of him crossing his legs boyishly as he looked at the newspaper, wearing that intense gaze of his as he read it. “I have to see him more to finish this,”

            “Is that me?” a voice said, making Sooyeon’s heart skip a beat and jump in fright.

            “Oh my-“ she clutched her heart and bolted up from the bench, making her pencil case and its contents fall to the ground. “Oh-oh-I-“ she stuttered, unable to form words as she realized who it was.

            It was him. Her art inspiration.

            He looked at her with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry,” he said in clear English, no funny accents or anything like that. He bent down and started picking up the pencils, sharpeners and erasers that had fallen. “Didn’t mean to scare you,”

            “I-it’s alright,” she said, surprising him with her clear English. “I know you didn’t,” she muttered.

            “Was that me?” he asked suddenly as he handed her her pencil case. “Did you draw it?”

            “I-wha-oh,” Sooyeon’s face flushed ten shades of red as she took a step back after taking her pencil case from his hands, their fingers almost blushing. “Um-I-uh-“

            The guy chuckled, and Sooyeon in her breathe as she widened her eyes a little. He was so handsome. “They’re all ‘yes-and-no’ questions, miss,” he said.

            “Y-yes,” she managed, saying it in English too. “That-that was you . . . and yes, I-I was-err, yeah,” she bit her bottom lip and nodded. All she wanted to do now was just turn around and run away as fast as she could, but unfortunately, that isn’t an option.

            But, she was a little thankful that she didn’t dash away just yet, because then she wouldn’t see that breath-taking smile on his face. Gosh, she didn’t even know his name yet.

            “Wow, you’re so good.” He said, eyeing the drawing book on the bench. Jessica quickly snatched It and hugged it against her chest, making him chuckle once again. “Whoa, relax. You don’t have to be embarrassed, miss,”

            That did not help Sooyeon at all, especially with the look he was giving him. It just made her even more embarrassed. “I-err-“

            “You’re an amazing drawer, were you really the one who drew me?” he sat down on the bench, legs crossed in a manly manner almost immediately when his buttocks touched the bench.

            Sooyeon sighed and nodded. “Yes,” she said clearly, and obviously annoyed.

            “Don’t be afraid or shy, come,” he patted on the space beside him. But, seeing as how Jessica couldn’t even move her legs to make a run for it, she just sat at the far edge. He just slid closer to her, making the one meter space almost vanish.

            Her breath was caught in as she nervously glanced at him. He was smiling directly at her. “I’m Kris,” he said as he leaned back and extended his big hand. “But, If you’d like, you can call me YiFan,”

            Sooyeon eyes widened as she glanced around, hoping nobody was staring at them. “Umm-“her eyes traveled down his large hand and she nodded slowly. “I-I-I’m Je-Jessica,” she stuttered and gulped before she cleared . “Jung Sooyeon is-err-it’s my-err . . .” she stopped, seeing as how it was quite difficult to actually not stutter or stammer in front of this beautiful stranger.

            “I’m sorry, but,” Kris cut her off and paused as he pursed his lips, staring deeply into her brown eyes. “Jung Sooyeon . . .hm, that’s Korean. You’re a Korean?”

            She nodded. “Ye-yes. And, YiFan is err-Chi-Chinese, right? Or-or is it Taiwanese?”

            Kris smiled softly, almost making Sooyeon’s heart melt when he did. “It’s Chinese. You’re not half-American?”

            She shook her head. “You?” Sooyeon was starting to get a little comfortable, despite his intimidatingly handsome face and that angel smile on it.

            He shook his head. “No. I’m part Canadian actually,”

            “Oh,” was all Sooyeon could say. And then, silence followed them after. Like a blanket covering them, it stayed there for a few minutes. Sooyeon could hear her won heart beating while Kris was just calm and collected. He had no idea Sooyeon was having a battle in her head.

            To sum it up, the ‘battle’ in her mind was something like: To leave or not to leave?

            “Why did you draw me?” Kris blurted out suddenly, almost making Sooyeon jump in fright again. “Pardon me if I ask, because I tend to get too curious sometimes . . .  but why did you? Sooyeon . . . “

            That was it, Sooyeon couldn’t utter another word. She opened , but only air came out.

            “You don’t know me, and I’m a stranger to you,” he said more to himself than to her. “I’m curious as to why,”

            “You’re. . . you’re just . . .  my art inspiration,” Sooyeon said simply, biting the insides of her cheeks. She had this thing where she sometimes is honest to a fault, no matter who she was speaking to.

            “Oh? Are you sure?” he tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Or . . . are you stalking me?”

            Her face turned red in only two seconds. “No! I’m not stalking you, for your information!”

            “Oh, hey!” Kris suddenly clapped his hands as he laughed lightly. “That’s the longest you’ve said so far without stuttering, Jung Sooyeon. Wow.”

            Her face flushed a deeper red, one that made almost made her look like a tomato. “Oh! Sh-shut up. And . . . a beautiful one at that,”

            “What?” he asked.

            Sooyeon scooted farther and lowered her head down. “You’re right. You’re a stranger to me, but you’re a handsome one, a beautiful one at that,” she said shyly, she could feel the heat tingling in her cheeks.

            Kris broke into an awkward kind of smile. Kris was never awkward or shy or even nervous! But why, just after she said that – that he was handsome and beautiful, why did he feel so shy all of a sudden? He’s heard that comment loads of time, but why did he feel awkward just now? When she said it?

            “Oh, umm-“he cleared his throat and nodded. “Thank you. You are too,”

            Sooyeon immediately reacted. “What?”

            Kris gave her a small smile. “I’m being honest,” he said, his eyes showing his sincerity and honesty. “You’re beautiful too, compared to your drawing of me, you’re more beautiful, Sooyeon,”

            “I-“she turned her head away and looked down on the ground as she let herself mentally squeal. This guy was close to creepy, but . . . in a sweet and romantic kind of way. “You don’t even know me. And . . .it’s-it’s just a drawing, you’re-”

            “Tch. I’m not the only beautiful stranger,” he said and Sooyeon widened her eyes. “But, that’s right. I don’t know you, which is why I’ll ask you if you want to go and get some coffee. So, do you want to, Jung Sooyeon?”

            Sooyeon smiled, she didn’t need to think twice. “I-I . . . I would love to, YiFan,”

            Without hesitating, Kris stood up and held out his hand, helping her stand up. “Come on, I know this cool café in the lower east side,”

Now real grown-ups in this world, Sooyeon and her fiancé, Kris Wu, were seated in the same café they stopped by way back during their first real meeting. They don’t exactly know how they happened, how they’re relationship came into being. But, just after their little chat in the café on that day, they just instantly clicked and eventually fell in love. Despite the hardships and rough obstacles they faced, they still managed to be with each other. And, there was no way for them to be separated now.

Unlike 7 years ago, Kris wouldn’t look at Jessica with curiosity anymore and wonder. His gaze was soft, warm and full of love. Love only directed to her, for his to-be wife. But, he would still steal glances and stare at her when she wasn’t looking at times.

Kris wasn’t just an art inspiration for Jessica anymore, nor was he a beautiful stranger. He was her inspiration in life, and he was her beautiful fiancé. In a matter of weeks, they would be bonded and be with each other for the rest of eternity.

Just a few more days left, Sooyeon thought to herself as she flickered her eyes away from Kris, smiling softly to herself as she did.

            “Baby?”

            “Hm?” she hummed her reply, looking back at him. “Yes?”

             Kris rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. They were seated side by side near the café’s window. “What am I to you?” he asked her out of the blue.

            “My inspiration,” she said, smiling that special smile she only does whenever Kris was around.

            “In art?” he , wanting to her say those words so badly.

            Sooyeon was thinking the same. She pressed her forehead against his, smiling even wider as she said; “And in life. My love, my inspiration, my everything. Saranghaeyo~”

            Kris leaned back and pressed his lips softly against her cheek. Even though it was only for a brief second, Sooyeon could still feel the love and care in his kiss. “Wo ai ni," 

End