Chapter 1: Two Men

Jong Hyun stepped into the cafe which had an unique name.

Until You Return.

That was the name of the cafe.

Inside the brightly lit cafe, there were round tables with four to five seats around them each. Each table was painted a different colour. There was red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, gray, pink and white.

It was like entering into a world full of colours. It was as if Jong Hyun had sauntered onto one big rainbow walkway. The seats were painted correspondingly to the table they surrounded. The walls were painted a light shade of gray which seemed to be tinged with sorrow. However, the orangey light shone against the gray walls appeared to show cheerful signs of hope.

The ambience in the cafe was romantic in a bittersweet way. Jong Hyun loved it. He felt as if the cafe was built for him and his feelings.

A slightly husky, masculine and mellow voice spoke. Jong Hyun turned his attention to the young man on stage.

“This song I am singing next is title ‘Don’t Love’. Though I had no regrets loving, I had felt that maybe, just maybe, that if I did not love her, things would turn out better. I am able to sing because of her, and I shall continue singing for her. She gave me my voice. She was my love. I will sing until the day she returns to me. I will keep singing for her.” The young man affectionately confessed as he pointed to a big picture hanging on the wall behind the counter.

The band began playing. Jong Hyun’s eyes were fixed on the picture. He let out a gasp. Questions ran through his mind but he could not focus. The singer’s melodious voice was masked with sorrow, and the lyrics of the song were so true. Jong Hyun could understand the song totally.

“I have to leave, I have to hurry and leave
Affection will soon turn to tears
So that I can’t see the one I left behind
I have to hurry a bit more and leave
She is crying, the love that I leave
The overwhelming sadness is flowing
It is so difficult to take a step
With her back to me
She stands, crying

Don’t ever love
Heartbreak will surely come
It hurts to even breathe
I thought that this would only hurt
as much as I loved
But I was wrong.
It hurts a thousand times more

I’m afraid of living with my eyes open
Because I know if I look for you I won’t see you
It seems better to fall asleep exhausted
After longing for you

Don’t ever love
Heartbreak will surely come
It hurts to even breathe
I thought that this would only hurt
as much as I loved
But I was wrong.
It hurts a thousand times more

Just once, one more time, can’t we try it?
Can’t we?
I cry out like an idiot to myself

Don’t ever love
It hurts enough to die
You will cry every day
I told myself that when love comes again
that it would be easier and that it would last
But I was wrong. Not for my love
Not for me”

When the song ended, there was applause. The singer bowed and left the stage, leaving his band to continue playing. Jong Hyun approached him.

“Good day, mister. I am Kim Jong Hyun. Can you please tell me where you have met that lady in the picture?”

“Sorry, I can’t say anything.” The singer seemed annoyed.

“Please, this is really important to me. I have been searching for her for about two years now. Can you please just tell me where I can find her? I just want to know that she is alive. That’s all.” Jong Hyun pleaded.

For two years, he had been searching for her. His mind could not stop thinking about her. His heart could not stop thumping whenever he heard the news that she might be alive. Afterall, her body was never found.

“Of course, she is alive! Wait, who are you?” The singer was not annoyed now, but was instead, very interested. He grabbed Jong Hyun by the shoulders tightly.

“Kim Jong Hyun is my name. Ga Tong is my one and only love. She has been missing for two years. I just cannot accept the fact that she is gone. I mean her body has never been found and I…”

“Ga Tong? Her name is Ga Tong? Please do tell me what had happened between you and her. I want to know everything about her. I need to know.” The singer was flustered now.

Worry and trepidation were spreading in his body wildly and his stomach twisted into knots of anxiety. He had been waiting for someone who really knew her, to tell him all about her. He had finally learnt her real name – Ga Tong.

“Who are you to her then?” Jong Hyun questioned.

“Lee Hong Ki is my name. She is my love as well. I mean… She was my love until I made an exchange. I lost her and I could not find her. There was totally no trace of the cafe and her existence anymore. I am waiting for her return. This sketch was the last gift I received from her.” Hong Ki replied in melancholy.

“Alright, I will tell you our story. You will tell me your story afterwards.” Jong Hyun inhaled a deep breath as he steadied himself to relate his story to Hong Ki. His fingers subconsciously went to the little glass bottle, in his pocket, which acted as his lucky charm. That was Ga Tong’s last gift to him too.

Inside the little glass bottle was a dried specimen of a firefly. Ga Tong had caught one firefly and did all she could to preserve it in its best shape. She had carefully and meticulously prepared it for Jong Hyun, for no special reason, before she disappeared without a trace. Jong Hyun really hated himself for being retarded and slow at that point of time. He should have sensed that something was wrong, but, it was all too late now.

Somehow, Jong Hyun knew that Ga Tong had brought them together, though he did not understand why and how.

“Ga Tong and I have been childhood friends. We grew up together. She is my little firefly, the one who lights up my life…” Jong Hyun began relating his story as the passage of memories swallowed him.

Hong Ki stared hard at the picture as he listened intently.

In the picture, there was a coloured sketch of a beautiful woman in her early twenties. Her smile was bright and dazzling. Two neat rows of white teeth were revealed confidently. Her eyes were small and appeared like two thin lines, since her smile was really beaming and big. On this young and chubby face, there were rosy lips and cheeks. She was like an angel or a cherub. Long, sleek and black hair fell on her shoulders. There were little curls at the ends of her hair. Elegance, youthfulness and radiance were evident.

The woman in the picture was Yuk Ga Tong. She was the woman who was missing, and the woman whom Jong Hyun and Hong Ki loved unconditionally and deeply.

In the cafe, as Jong Hyun was recalling his past with Ga Tong, a serene lady was singing a song title “Can You Hear Me”…

-

Acknowledgement (for the English Translations of the song “Don’t Love” by F.T. Island):
http://www.yeeun2grace.com/2009/01/02/ft-island-%ec%82%ac%eb%9e%91-%ed%95%98%ec%a7%80-%eb%a7%88%ec%9a%94sarang-haji-mayodont-ever-love-lyrics-and-translation/

ONCE AGAIN, CREDITS TO xherodbskx from Lonesome Sprint for the poster and bg! =]

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