"I win again," Jin proudly said as he put the last red piece into the slot he needed to win the game.

"Ahh, I give up. You're too good Jin, you should teach me the trick," I said in a frustrated tone.

Jin and I have been playing Connect Four for the past three hours and he's won every single time. I just don't understand how that boy has the patience and skill to keep beating me. I'm honestly starting to believe that he's an alien from a different planet who has the ability to read minds.

"There is no trick Joohee, sorry to burst your bubble. It's just that, I'm much better than you anyway," he proclaimed.

"Uh-huh, yeah, okay sure." I rolled my eyes but chuckled afterwards.

As I promised yesterday, I came back afterschool so that I could spend time with him after visiting my mother. She was the one who encouraged me to leave early so that I could see Jin which confused me at first, but I decided it best not to bother her.

I wasn't too excited to see him, since I was still hesitant due to his pessimistic demeanor. I was still interested however, to see how this would all play out and to find out what kind of person he really was.
Turns out, I've discovered that he's the best Connect Four opponent a person will ever encounter and this mere fact drove me nuts.

"Don't worry about it, you'll get it soon enough," he mocked.

I dropped the subject and asked him if he wanted to go out for some fresh air and walk around the garden.

He agreed and we walked towards the gate of the garden, with him leading me while I stared around at the flowers. They were beautiful and there were assortments of all kinds. They ranged from daffodils to pansies, orchids to peonies.

I felt like I was in a reverie, the scenery seemed dreamlike until I snapped back to reality when Jin's hand shifted across my face.

"I know it's breathtaking and all but you could at least pretend to hear what I'm saying," remarked Jin.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention. I was so caught up in this view but as you were saying?" I patiently said as waited for him to reply.

He shrugged and told me to forget about it as he changed the subject. We kept strolling around the garden and soon I realized that it was in the shape of a maze. It was clever but I couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed it until now. I guess the assortment of flowers just distracts the eye from seeing much of anything else.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" he inquired.

"Me?" I was astounded by the shift in gears. How could he ask this so casually? I literally met this guy yesterday. But, then again, there wouldn't be much else to talk about since I don't know him well. "Well, I'm not really sure yet. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I have a couple ideas in mind but none of them interest me enough to pursue it and keep doing it for the rest of my life."

"I think if you just think about it in a more simpler way, the answer just comes easier, you know?"

"Oh yeah, and what way is that exactly Mr. Sherlock?"

"Just do something that you would do, even if you weren't paid to do it. For example, an artist becomes an artist not because he wants to get paid millions of dollars for his painting, he'd probably do it even if he wasn't getting paid at all."

"Wow, you are SO deep," I replied.

"No, I'm actually being serious. If you look at it that way, the career that interests you most will come naturally."

"Easier said than done," I retaliated. "What's your dream then?"

"Mine? I've always wanted to become a doctor, a surgeon to be exact. I want to be the reason why people can wake up every day, at peace, knowing that they don't have to deal with troublesome diseases or broken bones. I want to become a source of light for those who feel they've lost it, such as myself. But I know someone like me can never become that. I'm merely a pest to society. Why would I even bother trying if I know that someone like me can't possibly achieve it."

With that, the day ended and I went home thinking to myself about Jin's mysterious ways. So I returned as soon as I could, which was next week. It was a Wednesday afternoon as I sat on the chair closest to his hospital bed. We had been talking about the most random of things, when the topic of careers came up once more, this time brought up by me.

I frowned at his comment the last time we had the conversation and I wanted to set things right. I liked his purpose for wanting to become a surgeon but whenever he talked about himself in a deteriorating way, I just wanted to shove his face in a plate full of lies and show him that that's what he's been feeding himself this entire time. I decided not to show my anger but I did want to make him feel better, even if it helped slightly.

"Can I show you something? It's this new painting I'm working on in class and I really want to show it to you, so you know, maybe you can give me some feedback?"

Jin nodded his head and asked me to show him.

I pulled out the painting from my bag and placed it carefully on his hands.

"It's obviously not finished yet but I tried to make the concept as prominent as possible. At least, I hope I did. If not, I'd be really embarrassed and-"

"No, it's beautiful. I really like it," Jin said as he cut me off from my proclamation of discomfiture. "Truthfully, I see a spitting image of myself."

I sighed in relief and thought to myself that I was content with his thoughts because I honestly thought about him while painting this particular portrait. The concept was supposed to be an object shrouded by mystery and portrayed using mysterious colors on an object that wouldn't normally have that effect.

In this case, I chose a rose. It was a simple theory to me; a rose symbolized love and radiated warmth but if you contrasted those warm colors using cold mixtures, the opposite would be achieved- a mystified, withdrawn, and introverted thing of the contradictory of a regular rose. I saw Jin in this way and that's what basically inspired me to keep the idea.

I was pretty fond of that portrait and gleefully giggled when he proposed his thoughts about it. I saw Jin as this rose.  A beautiful entity that survived in this world despite its fragile appearance and thorny defense. It got me thinking that maybe Jin wasn't as negative as I thought he was. That just like a rose, hard and bitter, deep inside was someone frail and warm.