~FIND ME A HAPPY PLACE?~
"Summer"

She came in my life when I was 16, just like the summer breeze in my cold winter life. We met because we both noticed each other, buying groceries without any supervisions of an adult. I remembered how she wore that green jacket that felt old and worn too much. She wore clothes that looked second hand and used before. Everything about her was as normal as any other girl in her age. She's holding a regular bag of groceries as she noticed me. But the different thing about her is her smile. She has these lips that curved into perfection and her eyes glinted with innocence and sincerity as her smile.

She smiled to me even if she doesn't know me.

I couldn't remember that time who was the last person who truly smiled at me. All I could remember were different person who gave me fake smiles with pity in their eyes. They made me remember about my mother. Their smiles made me sad and bad to myself but hers?

Her smile made me feel all warm and tingly inside. I even looked at my back just to check if I was the one who she is smiling. No one was behind me back then. I looked back at her and she was gone. The girl holding a bag of groceries was gone in an instant. I felt sad even though I didn't know why. I was ready to move on but I got shocked when I felt a hand grab my left leg as I heard a bark from behind me.

I thought a dog bit me and I gasped as I saw a familiar looking girl laugh at me.

"Hey!" I screamed at her, "You scared me to death!".

I guess my face was blushing at that time as I find her laugh very compelling. Even her laughing face made my eyes stuck at the view. She laughed like she has no problems in the world. I kind of envy her for laughing like that. I can't even remember that time, I laughed like that. 

"HAHAHA you scream like a girl!" she said.

With a blushing face, I defended myself. "I do not!".

"Yes, you did" she chuckled.

"Why did you do that, anyway?" I asked.

She shrugged and answered, "I find you're grumpy face like an old grandpa."

I thought about how crazy this girl that I'm talking. I do not look like an old man. I'm 16 years old for crying out loud. 

"You're crazy!" I said.

"And you're grumpy" she laughed again. 

I don't know why but her laugh made me chuckle. That chuckled turned into laughter as time went by. Every time I see her in the market, she always walks towards me and we would buy grocery with each other. We would laugh until we're both done.

That was the first time I truly felt like a kid and just laugh ever since my mother died. She was the first person to save me from the hell that I'm living. Only to find out that she's also living in her own hellhole. She was an outside daughter. Meaning, she was the offspring of a married man to another woman outside their family. She told me how her real mother gave her when she was just a baby. Her father treated her like and her stepmom and stepsister made her do really hard works in their home. I felt bad for her. I want to help her but what can I do, I'm just a 16 year old teen with only one job for him to eat and study. I also told her about my life, How my mother died, How my father succumbed himself in his addiction to alcohol.

Somehow, I believed that faith brought us together for us to share and be with each other's side when the world abandoned us. We were both having problems in our families; both faced the cruel world in an early age and felt the need for an escape but just don’t know how. The only thing we differ is how we face the monster we come to our home.

I face mine by hating him and resenting him. While her? Because of her being innocent and forgiving girl, she still loved her family even though they didn't love her. I wanted to tell her she's being a fool but all I can do is be amazed at her pure heart as she smile and say that children like us would someday find a place that would be our home.

I believed her. I truly did...

~END OF FLASHBACK~

As I stood at the counter waiting for the clock to turn 12:30 so that I could eat my lunch, I heard the door moved. I instantly said, "Welcome, new customer!". At first I thought it was just an old customer but when I recognized her face, I smiled. I smiled for the first time in the morning.

She's the reason why I felt the hope that someday I could escape this sad story of mine and create a happier one.

"Good afternoon, Joon Myeon" she said, "Want to eat?"

She's the only person that calls me by my true name. She doesn't find my real name funny or weird. She said it's a lovely name for me. I'm happy that she finds it lovely. She's the only person I love seeing. When I'm drowning at my own hellhole, she's the first person who would help me get out of it. In return, I try to save her in her own troubles just like how she saved me.

She keeps my heart warm just like how she came to my life, warm, vibrant, beautiful, and as radiant as the sun. She became the person I hoped to see more, and more to each day.

"Good afternoon, Ji Eun" I say back with happiness in my voice, "I would love to eat with you".

Truly I did.....