It was that time of the year.

I was 18 years old. Kids my age were spending more hours studying than sleeping as the final exam to enter college was in two weeks. But I knew I was not like other kids my age. College was not in my near future. Living a stable, comfortable, so-called an ordinary life wasn’t in my near future either.

I was ten years old and my younger brother, Park Chanhee, was eight when our mother took us from our hometown Jeonju to Seoul for the first time. Simply put, our mother abandoned us at a restaurant few blocks down from the Seoul train station. And around the time the restaurant was about to close, a man showed up and came straight to me and asked if I was Park Chanyeol, and if that was my brother Chanhee. I answered, and he told us that he was a friend of our mother’s. He took us to his house. But no matter what I did, he never answered a single question regarding my mother.

He was a man living by himself. We called him Mr. Jung. Mr. Jung was an okay man. Every week he gave Chanhee and me minimal allowance. With that allowance, we had to take care of our meals, clothes, supplies, and everything else. Mr. Jung left early in the morning for work and came in late at night so I wouldn’t say he and my brother and I ever had any connection or built any relationship. But we were always thankful we had him.

When I moved up to High School, Mr. Jung came up to me one day and offered me a cigarette as he spoke to me solemnly.

“You’re almost an adult now, Chanyeol. When you become 18, and Chanhee becomes 16 years old, I perceive that to be the time when I bid farewell to you both.”

I coughed and choked at the first puff of cigarette I ever smoked. I felt as if a heavy stone was suddenly pressed against my chest. Maybe it was because of the cigarette. Maybe because I realized the great responsibility that would lie ahead of me. Mr. Jung continued,

“I don’t think graduating High School means that much for you and Chanhee. Middle School is enough education. I think.. instead of continuing to attend High School, you should start working and saving up money. As soon as Chanhee graduates from Middle School, I’ll give you adequate amount of money for leasing a small house. You two will be off on your own. Do you understand?”

I did understand. But I didn’t want to accept the reality. I was scared. But that’s when I learned to man up. I nodded quietly and the next day, I quit school and started to look for work.

For the next two years, I worked as the delivery man for the local restaurants and also worked at a car center. Days went by relatively fast and Chanhee finally graduated Middle School.

Few days after Chanhee’s graduation, we were ready to leave the house and the town. I had already found a place to lease in the other side of the city— the cheapest I could find in Seoul. I had told Mr. Jung that we were going to leave that night but he told me that he would be at work so he wouldn’t see us leave. He did leave us a note that said, “Take care, good luck. Bye.” Reading that note, I realized I would probably never see him again or return to the place I have stayed for 8 years.

It was that night.

Chanhee and I both had a bulky backpack on and we waited for the bus that would take us to our new home. I heard light footsteps approach near me and I turned to see that it was a girl. She was wearing the local high school uniform. And I looked at her twice because I had never seen any girl with eyes so shiny. She was pretty. Really pretty. After realizing I had been staring and she was looking back at me with a confused look, I quickly turned my head to face forward. She chuckled lightly. It was super quiet, but I heard her. I wanted to say something to her. I wanted to get to know her. I wanted to see if she was as perfect as she looked. I quickly glanced down at the nametag on her uniform. ‘Son Naeun’. I repeated that name silently in my head several times and tried to think of my first words to her. I cleared my throat awkwardly and opened my mouth to say hi when BOOM. Chanhee fell forward, face first into the ground. I was so surprised that I froze for a second but that girl, Naeun, she ran up to Chanhee and quickly knelt down and pulled him up. He seemed to have fainted. She shook Chanhee softly and repeated, “Excuse me? Are you okay? Hello?” I could tell by her voice that she was shocked, worried, nervous, but at the same time it was calm. I then realized what was going on. I picked Chanhee up, carrying him in my arms. “Can you please call the ambulance?” I said to the girl, and that ended up being the first words I have ever said to the first girl I have ever fell in love with.