5^th April 2009

Today, I wake up to a silent morning, and an empty presence within the house. Seems like appa had already set off long before I had gotten up, leaving only a short note with my simply prepared breakfast…not even a proper goodbye.

With next week marking the first of his piano concerto tour dates, I surely won’t be seeing him for a good few months.

Appa really is gaining a lot of recognition for his compositions these days. And of course I’m happy for him. I really am. I'm so proud to see him be so successful in what he does, what he enjoys doing.

 …it’s just that, sometimes, I wish I could seem him more often. I miss him already. I wish I could spend more time with him.  But how could I bear to voice out such selfish thoughts when appa is just trying his best to support the family, to support me? 

Admittedly, I do feel a bit lonely at times, but at least I have Jinhee unnie with me! At least I’m not completely alone in this big house.

To be honest, I originally thought that appa’s lack of presence at home would leave me completely bored out of my mind.

Thankfully, unnie's always there for me to talk to, despite her being busy taking care of the house. We actually have some really interesting conversations! Of course, with unnie being the more knowledgeable and experienced one, there are always some fascinating stories for her to share.

Other than that...well...

Actually, there's been something else that has been occupying my mind..

The thing is, I just don’t understand why I can’t stop thinking back to it. It's been sticking to my mind all day!

- ahh! So embarassing! I need to stop thinking about it!

That boy I saw this morning...

“Jinhee unnie, I’m going out for a bit!”

In the kitchen, the older girl stopped scrubbing the dishes and peered over her shoulder.

“Eo~! Be careful!”

“Neh!”

Eunmi steps out and breathes in the salty sea breeze. Having kept herself cooped indoors all day and night, it surely felt refreshingly great to finally get out.  

The morning sun generously showered upon the peaceful town, filling it with warmth. And Eunmi, who was wholeheartedly enjoying the peacefulness, happily wanders downhill from her house into the empty streets.

Within five minutes, her white flip flops steadily sunk into the sand, a deep tone of beige that spread along the coastal line.

A content smile lights up her face as she feels the cold, soft minerals surround her feet, her hair messily blown back by the strong wind.

If there was anything Eunmi loved about her usual morning strolls, it had to be the feeling of having the whole beach to herself whilst all the other townspeople prefer to lazily lay in bed.  

…the feeling of being able to completely immerse herself in such a beautiful place, with the accompaniment of the calming breeze and the sound of soothing waves. 

Only this time, something seemed a bit off.

Distracting her view of the aesthetics of the landscape was some form of foreign object.

Eunmi squints her eyes as she tries to take a better look at the prominent blotch of navy blue and white in the middle of the pure blanket of beige, only to realise that that so called object was in actual fact a human, a boy to be exact.

Eunmi tilts her head, wondering if she’s seeing right – well it’s not every day she gets to see someone else out here so early in the morning.

What confused her even more as she hesitantly walked towards the...erm, boy…was that, he appeared to just be casually lying there.

Stopping just a step away from him, she cautiously took a brief look at his face.

And boy did he look like he sure knows how to enjoy life. Carelessly resting here in what appears to be blissful peace. The edges of his lips slightly turned up, head cushioned by his interlaced hands.

“Is he sleeping?” Eunmi mumbles to no one in particular.

But as she took a longer look at him, taking note of his lack of movement, her brows pinched together, her breath hitched in as a dreadful thought crosses her mind, quite a worrying one at that.

Slowly squatting down, she leaned her upper body into her thighs, unconsciously retracting herself into a ball. 

Her left hand gripped onto the material of her white summer dress whilst her right hand shakily reached out towards the boy’s nose.

Hovering her index finger just above his philtrum.

Soft, warm air comes in contact with her finger and a heavy sigh of relief is immediately released.

Quickly withdrawing her hand, she rested them on her knees and pondered.

“Why is he sleeping out here? He might catch a cold”

Her eyes travelled down to his attire, pinpointing the local high school emblem sewn onto the top pocket of his short sleeved shirt.

“A student? But why would- maybe he’s new around here”

Eyes travelling back up to the boy’s face, she absentmindedly settled her eyes there and took a better look at his features.

...glowing skin that looked so smooth, just like a baby’s with a crystal clear complexion. An adorable little nose, along with those cutely rounded cheeks that were pushed up by that content smile which looked permanent on the boy’s face.

Eunmi tilts her head as she continues observing, her feet inching in a bit closer.

She herself, was completely unaware of this little action. But for some unexplainable reason, she felt strangely fascinated – if that’s the correct word to use – by the sudden appearance of this stranger.

The way the edges of his lips were tilted up, gave the impression of a cheeky child. And despite being out here for God knows how long, his lips remained a healthy shade of pink. His cupid’s bow finely shaped...speaking of which, the impression she got of him slightly, only slightly, reminded her of the Roman God (minus the fact that Cupid is usually depicted as a small chubby kid).

Realising what nonsense she was thinking, Eunmi found herself giggling at her own crazy thought. Whilst doing so, she was unable to catch the twitchy movement from the boy's body. And it was not til she heard a muffled groan did she freeze on the spot, both hands clamped over .

Uneasily looking back down at him, her pupils dilated as his brows scrunched up.  The boy brought his right arm up, laying it over his eyes to cover the light.

Eunmi silently watched as he exhaled, not knowing what to do- *Eeek!*

The boy suddenly started fidgeting around, His arm slowly lifting from his eyes.

*Oh my God, he's gonna find out I’ve been staring at him like a creep whilst he was sleeping!!* Struck by the embarrassing realisation, Eunmi’s body immediately shot up in fight or flight mode and hurriedly paced away, knocking herself in the head a few times whilst at it. *What was I even thinking?!* She quickly took one last glance back, worried that the boy had seen her.

Lucky for her, the boy was having trouble adjusting to the light, only managing to catch a blurred image of a long haired girl looking down at him. And by the time he had rubbed away the majority of the blurriness she had already gone too far.

Sitting up from his position, he scratched his head in confusion. Eyes lazily squinted as he stared at the hurriedly retreating back view of a girl in a white summer dress paired with a baby yellow cardigan.

“What was that all about?”