A lot of people will mention Jung Jin Woon to be an archetypal individual if only he is not one who bears an extreme peculiarity. His grades are considerable, his manners couth, but this particular twenty three year old has a queer mindset. The male is one who enjoys having a well-planned schedule to execute, with the probability of merely a quarter and less to relocate his activities. He will cycle to his university, partially listening to the lecturer’s voice whilst another part of him drifts away to a faraway land. Sometimes Jin Woon gets reprimanded for his dreamy behaviour, to which he will sincerely nod in understanding before repeating the offense unwittingly.

Most find him to be especially unreasonable when it came to important or obligatory issues. It is exceedingly difficult when one tries to make a request during the evening. The older brother asks the younger to assist him in car repair, and certainly the reply will be a flat no. Prime reason being his need to walk along a nearby grove which leads to a waterfall. Then his father will drop by another day, requesting his younger son to cycle over to the tailor’s for his work clothes. Yet, in spite of acknowledging his father’s authority, Jin Woon answers with a simple denial of the initial statement. Blinking passively, the boy will explain patiently that he wants to take his evening stroll. Even his mother’s attempt to coax him into meeting new people that are shifting into their neighbourhood is useless because Jin Woon’s just like, “Hey, I need to get to the grove,” or something along those lines.

Rain or shine, Jung Jin Woon does not steer from his favourite part of the day. Perhaps one should know that the rest of his family are not nature lovers. Thus, it is at times like these that Jin Woon vexed the aforementioned people so badly that would have to drag him to his designated position. By then, the boy did not even utter a word of complaint. He will just visit this beloved space that belongs to their neighbourhood a little later than usual — to which his mother once remarked that her son could have done that in the first place. Nevertheless, in spite of Jung Jin Woon’s great unawareness of the world’s ways and his poor prioritizing skills, he is a good child overall.

Still, if one happens to be present when this university student steps into the moist, lean path of the verdant grove, one will witness an astounding change. The smile on his face will reach his eyes, the shaking hands that depict his excitement and the aberrantly quick mien in which he dons that would amaze the others, for it is a trait they have never seen in Jin Woon. He would be able to catch a special beetle without harming it, find the first flower that indicated the coming of springtime, fall silent at the beauty of a winter butterfly. Here, he is the ace; the top scorer, one who shares his knowledge of nature willingly. He knows whether there is a change in the environment or not, denoting his refined ability of observation and careful decision making. Unfortunately, the word if means that it has never happened before, and so none has ever seen Jung Jin Woon’s potential beyond his seemingly dim and harmlessly weird demeanour.

And sometimes, just sometimes, Jung Jin Woon actually sings softly to himself in the heart of this secluded thicket, inadvertently earning an audience of grey songbirds who realize that they have a human counterpart whose melodies reach several notes lower than they could ever possibly achieve. The birds, why — sometimes they too, will sing, maybe to remind the boy that he is not going to be alone for a little while.

One day, Jin Woon notices that the grove is slightly different. “What could it be…?” mumbles Jin Woon incoherently, but even as the words leave his mouth, a chill runs up his spine. His eyes dilate, his feet running hurriedly towards a certain spot that is a few feet away from the cascading waterfall. Then he stops upon arrival. Taking in a deep breath, Jin Woon’s curiousity bubbles up from within his chest for he spots a simple black book leaning against a sturdy rock. In fact, the boy is surprised to have discovered something substantial.

"A blacklist?" concludes his mind immediately, but he dismisses it. Instead, he is aware that he needs to make a decision right now. He could not be acting partial now, noting that this is another’s property. To pry would be morally wrong, of that Jin Woon is sure. Nonetheless, certainly this unparalleled incident will not happen again — right? If that is the case, it will be best if he read something about it instead of torturing himself about unresolved matters. With an erratic heartbeat, Jung Jin Woon handles the book and his eyes land on the wordings written on the first page.

They say that it’s my last chance.

They tell me that it won’t work.

And maybe they are right.

But even if it’s a hopeless chance, I have to take it.

Jin Woon’s interest in this item increases dramatically. It is handwritten, one so delicate and frail that he bets that this book belongs to a girl. Even though his mind warns him to back off on people’s property — more so a girl’s! — the twenty three year old reasons obstinately that it is the girl’s fault for losing it in the first place. Thus, he resumes his perusal.

I’m living in a nightmare.

Someone, anyone — won’t you take me away?

He reads the next few as well.

People don’t understand that once a line is drawn, you aren’t meant to cross it.

Why can’t they just leave me alone?

Jin Woon’s eyebrow lifts in mild speculation at that. It sounds like a dangerous analogy.

Maybe I should just disappear. No more me, plus one for them.

His breath catches at his throat. Is the book turning out to be the entries of a suicidal person? Wait — is she gone? Hastily, Jin Woon peers at the waterfall area and hopes against hope that this stranger is still alive. Returning his gaze towards the questionable entries, he feels stupid and relieved at the same time for spotting a more recent entry. Her succinctness is rather lethal, in the twenty three year old’s opinion. Most worryingly, however, this penned entry is smirched by human blood. It actually stains his fingers. The boy is rendered wordless.

They caught me with this book and saw what I have been writing… They say that they would keep this book safely for me but I know that they are lying.

Lying because they themselves can’t accept reality.

I know I fought them to get this back. That’s why there’s so much blood on the pages. I will not let them take my sanity away.

Jin Woon skips a few more pages, thinking that there are no longer any more entries when he discovers the last one.

I discovered a nearby grove today and decided to hide this book here.

… I wonder what if someone found it?

And what would they think of me?

At that, a kind tear rolls down his left cheek. Before he is aware of it himself, Jin Woon plucks a peach-coloured flower and leaves it beside the closed notebook. “It’s time to play pretend, Jin Woon,” he quietly whispers to himself. For he did not want to share with anyone as to what he discovered that day.

But that did not mean that Jin Woon will stop going to the grove. In fact, it proves to have an opposite effect.

Today, I saw a pretty flower next to my book. I wonder if that’s a sign?

Maybe luck’s going to be on my side this time.

Jung Jin Woon, who returns periodically to his apparent hideout that evening, wears a huge, uncontrollable grin. His tiny gesture managed to lift the author’s spirit. The subject of luck also amuses him. Well then, did she indirectly imply him to be her leprechaun? Then he is definitely going to be splendid at the job. He must.

Unfortunately, the favourable response did not last long. Those entries were so ephemeral.

I think we should stop blaming society for its vices when it is ours to begin with. But even with that notion in mind, I find myself exasperated because I feel trapped in this glass coffin in which I see everyone and they pretend that I am not there. They just focus on the space behind me, wear fake smiles and act like nothing ever changed when truthfully, everything did.

First, it was you.

Then it was me.

And then in the most nonsensical way — I bet nothing equals to everything now.

Jin Woon wonders why he feels like crying. Is it for her, or him? Before he could stay away, Jin Woon realizes that he is drawing much too close to this nameless girl.

After three long weeks, he discovers the them that the girl was continuously writing about.

Mom, dad — I played by your rules. I did everything you guys wanted me to do. I became someone else that was not me for you two. So why is it that you guys won’t let me have a choice for once? Just once?

Please don’t let them bring me into that room again.

His eyes read the most recent entry, and he begins to feel deathly numb.

I don’t believe in coincidences.

All those things next to my book are definitely intentional.

So who is the creep that is reading my entries?

Jin Woon stares, the question mark taunting him. Actually, he has a pen in his pocket, which means that he could admit his unfair ways on paper. But even as he considers the possibility, Jin Woon leaves the book behind instantly like a scared rabbit. Too timid, too afraid, too curious — perhaps he is going to get what he deserved. Shot. The boy does not leave any memento for the girl that evening.

The next day, in the midst of an afternoon lecture session, the rainclouds gather together and actively wept on his neighbourhood. Normally, that would be the perfect weather for Jin Woon to sleep in but this time, he freaks out in secrecy. Unable to take his mind off a certain book, he excuses himself from class and cycles wildly towards the place he cherishes. He gets off the bicycle and rushes to the book’s location. In general, the book would not be spoiled by the rain if one places it at a strategically shady spot but he had not done that for once, and so he would be most depressed if it got— Jin Woon smiles in satisfaction albeit the fact that he is getting drenched in the downpour. It appears that the owner had arrived and saved her item first. “Smart girl,” muses Jin Woon before returning to his university in his peculiar state, earning many of his classmates’ bewildered expressions. Oblivious, he just ambles peacefully to his seat, knowing that he will still visit the green thicket in the evening.

He visits, and he smiles effortlessly at the leaves coated with a layer of water before opening the book, almost forgetting the previous entry that left him smarting.

I wonder if the one reading my book left after I reacted like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

But, well, maybe if the person is reading this entry… I want to ask why.

Why did you care enough to try to make a change in a stranger’s life?

… And I guess I should at least thank you.

In the flesh.

Jin Woon’s heart skips a beat, parched throat.

If I have done my research correctly, this person visits in the evening. Plus… if I calculated things properly, I should be standing behind him by the time he reads this sentence.

Holding the book in his hands, Jin Woon turns around to meet a girl — but one not so ordinary. They both seem to be stunned, registering each other’s facial features and whatnot. The university student recognizes her to be formerly successful as a beautiful teenage model, apt in every field of knowledge, until the scandals came about. The reporters accused that her natural beauty was superficial, stating that plastic surgery had been done prior to her career, and it was in the middle of this mess that a chemical accident at the workplace caused the horrible disfigured countenance she now owned — peeling skin, corroding eyebrows, crooked nose and sinking eyes.

Justice had not been served dutifully afterwards. The reason behind the chemical explosion was never discovered and her career obviously took a nosedive. In a world so materialistic, the damaged girl is falling apart because of the way people avoid her, the fact that her parents are forcing her to undergo the surgery she did not want. They are living a place that no longer saw beyond surface value. It is no wonder at all that the saddened female often believes that she is a humiliation, thus undeserving of normal attention.

Even as she opens to say something, with her eyes looking all shiny and glassy and dismal, Jin Woon is able to stop her first. No longer is he the boy everyone found to be weird and inattentive, but the one who has been waiting to be discovered all along in the heart of this lonesome place by the lullabying waterfall. For this is the place in which he finds the first person to have ever seen him purely for himself, and why — the same goes for her. And so he doesn’t find it to be a surprise when his fingers allow the book to fall, even the words that escape his loosen tongue.

"You’re beautiful.”

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This one's dedicated for the people who are forgotten or placed second-best for not possessing the surface value that people wished they had. This is a story that depicts the great difference between being superbly attractive and being reduced to nothingness.

I just want to say that out there, you're going to find friends who will love you for who you are, and not for the things you have.

Thank you for reading this. If you may permit me the honour, do leave a comment. If not, it's alright. I'm grateful, c: