I've been driving for an hour, Just talking to the rain

As I waited for my gas tank to finish filling, I hummed along with the song tune playing above my head. Michelle Branch's breathe was the song of choice at the moment. I couldn't help glance over and watch a really young couple squabble over something most people would consider insignificant.

You say I've been driving you crazy
and its keeping you away
 

The two couldn't have been no older then sixteen and at their age every little tif seemed dramatic, like the world would end if it wasn't solved right then and there. Seeing the glazed look in the boy's eyes as the girl pondered asking him which color skittle was the best since her's was orange made me think of myself at his age.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Personally I lost count on how many times I must of heard those words come out of Bom's mouth.

"Of course I was. Um...you said you hated skittles?"

"Um....no!" she scoffed walking away.

So just give me one good reason
Tell me why I should stay 

Abruptly she turned in a scowl "And one more thing. How are you and I going to survive if you can't even listen to me."

Ahhhhhh.....the memories. I used to hear that all the time too.

Snickering I knew that was my cue to look away. I've been in the boy's shoes one to many times, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him even if it was pretty funny. He looked so frustrated as the girl walked away in a huff. Exasperated he followed behind her The funny thing is in five minutes, I can guaranty they'll make up and in ten minutes, then find something new to fight about. As I stated I've been there, done that. that's why I can smile at other people's displeasure.

Hmmm... wait, does that sound a little wrong?

I don't know about anyone else but I always found it kind of ironic, how certain songs play and seem fitting for the situation at hand. I love how much music can also bring back memories about things you may not have thought of for years. Listening to the lyrics and watching the two fight made me think of my first real fight with Bom.

 It happened the week she came to visit. It also marked the beginning of an end. 

And now I leave you with a story about a up of a boy, in case you haven't picked up on that yet, who became a man.

Sunlight poured through the open window after a long night of pouring rain, bringing the fresh smell of damp earth. There was something intoxicating and soothing about the scent.

Seunghyun yawned finding the spot next to him empty. Instinctively his hand reached out, touching the now cold spot where Bom had once laid. For a split second his heart felt heavy thinking she had left him, until he heard the unmistakable sound of playful laughter and clanking of pot's.

Stepping into the kitchen Bom grinned at him like nothing at all happened the night before. Maybe that was a good thing. After all he wasn't ready for her confession and knew damn well he wasn't good enough for someone like her.

"Morning sleepy head."

All he could muster up was a muffled garble that was suppose to represent words. He glanced over watching his mother stir whatever was in the pot. Seunghyun always wondered how she could do all of that. Didn't it bother her that she couldn't even see?

"Seunghyun honey, be a dear and set the table."

After a few gruff sounding garbles, he somehow managed to get up before getting knocked back down by Bom.

"It's okay Tabi. I've got this you stay and be grumpy." she grinned walking off making his mother laugh.

Ignoring them both he somehow managed to make it to the coffee an back, tuning in and out, half awake, half alert only semi listening as Bom yapped on and on animatedly about school. She went on and on about some girl named Dara, wondering if it was the same girl from years ago. Whomever she was used to date some boy named Jiyong, who then dumped her for some girl named Chaerin. But it was okay because half the school liked her and she was now being chased by two different guys. Then there was Minzy who dumped Daesung for some boy named Kia, and Siwon something, something, something.

Just hearing his name first thing in the morning instantly made him groan under his breath.

Bom went silent staring at him catching him.

"What?" he asked a mouth full of cereal.

A wide grin formed on her face "Jealous?"

"Of what?" sarcastically answering sounding more cross then he wanted.

She gave him that busted look "Did you even hear a word I said or just what you wanted to hear?"

All Seunghyun could think of responding was in the most childish way, opening his mouth wide still with food and stuck out his tongue just like a five year old before looking away.

"So what I was going to say about Siwon was," she continued still grinning away.

Annoyed Seunghyun grabbed his headphones and tuned both of them out. Yes, he was being childish but so. He studied there faces as they chatted away, laughing away making faces at both of them. Either Bom ignored him or just never noticed him whenever he did it. He safely assumed she chose to ignore him. With her blabbing away he did notice one thing, his mother smiling and laughing. She never smiled like she did in her presence. It was a nice to see her happy. 

By late afternoon the sun shone brightly against the clear blue sky. Seunghyun remained quiet as Bom lead the way, skipping as she hummed. Not once did she let go of his hand as they made their way down to the beach. This was the week of his hometown's fair and the reason Bom came to visit.

The fair was and was probably the only thing that he enjoyed. It was nice seeing everyone come together and just having a good time. Whether it be to sell fruits freshly harvested, fish just caught and served, homemade crafts, all of it made for a remarkable time. It also marked the end of summer for everyone.

As with every fair, there were contests. Best in show, best produce, best dish, beauty contest, you name it, it was probably there. And like any good fair there was a carnival.

"Wow. This is so cool." Bom grinned.

"You act like you've never been to a carnival." he teased.

"I haven't."

Embarrassed for her Seunghyun looked away.

He eased his eye's around the corner and peeked onto the main street. Filled with families and teenagers, the small town fair bustled with people. And every year his mother had a table filled with lotions, bathsoap's basically the same stuff she sold at n her little shop. This year was a little different though. Instead of selling her usual stuff Bom had convinced her to sell smoothies, telling her that they were all the rage. Thanks to her enthusiasm his mother agreed.

“Seunghyun what's wrong with you?” Bom called grabbing his arm. “Come on! We have customers to help. After all these smoothies aren't going to sell themselves."

And just like that Seunghyun groaned watching a smirk appear on his mother's face as he got back to work.

“I know it’s blue, but which flavor is it?” he asked.

"What?""

"Which blue, blueberry, blue raspberry?"

"Oh, um raspberry."

Quickly Bom rushed up with her order and slid the cup to the customer.

“Thank you!” She smiled.

He ignored her and turned to face two approaching girls. Tiffany Hwang and Jessica Jung, the two most popular and prettiest girls in his school as they walked up. He held his breath.

“What would you like?” he asked before they even looked at the glowing menu above his head. He wanted them to hurry and wanted them gone.

"Isn't your name Seunghyun or something?" Jessica asked snickering.

"Maybe?" he answered glancing down.

“It's Pretty cool you got a job at the fair,” Tiffany said, looking around snickering just like Jessica.

“I think it's pretty cool especially if you get to help your mother out."

He remained quiet."Sadly this was something he was used to.

 “Well, hey, if you ever need any help here’s my number. This looks like fun,” Jessica said.

Bom grabbed it before he had a chance stunning Jessica as she crumbled it up in front of her, dropping it to the ground.

"I'm sorry. I don't believe we'll be needed your help anytime soon."

Seunghyun smirked at the two flabbergasted girls, very unaware of what they just stepped into. He may have been very used to their behavior, ineptly Bom wasn't and as long as he had known her he had never been a coward like him. He almost felt a little sorry for the two.

"Well it looks like somebody pissed in your cheerios. Do you even know who I am? Who are you to be so rude to me?" Jessica huffed.

"I wasn't being rude. You're just insignificant." Bom grinned.

"I'd slap you but that would be animal abuse, so I'll let you off this time." Jessica huffed.

"Oh, I'm sorry was that suppose to offend me? Because they only thing I find offensive is your ugly face. Now are you going to buy something or are you going to keep offending me by having to look at you?"

"I guess I'll have a chocolate drip." Jessica whispered.

"Me too." Tiffany echoed.

Stunned silent and still grinning like an idiot, this was the first time he had ever seen those two stunned silent. It was truly a pleasant moment. He turned around to grab the cups and handed to them.

"Here you go." he said and held out his hand for money. They punched a straw through the lid watched them quietly leave. He could of sworn as they left he heard them mumble, she matches him, in a weird sort of way."

What was funnier was Jessica's response. "What's even more surprising was that Seunghyun could even get a girlfriend as pretty as she was.

Looking back down at the ground he avoided Bom's glaring stare.

"Why do you put up with girls like that? You know what never mind, They're not worth it.' Bom giggled.

Truth be told, making friends wasn’t that easy for him. Unlike Bom, putting himself out there for others, wasn’t on the top of his list of things to do. After all, people were mean. He learned that long ago from kids in my class. It was a lesson he learned that again and again including tonight from Tiffany and Jessica.

twitched like she wanted to say something but for once nothing came out, not even a breath.

The rest of the day passes in a haze and before they knew it the bright lights of the fair loomed before them. The fair was all ablaze with bright lights and loud music blaring in the background, Even he had to admit to himself it was a sight to behold.

Seunghyun's noticed her hair kept falling in her face and snickered every time she growled in annoyance. Without thinking he brushed her hair from her face as she reached for a lid and for a split second our eyes met. What was more surprising was the amount of hair that fell when he did that. He never imaged her hair or any part of her being fragile. Bom turned away embarrassed at the amount of hair in the palm of his hand. Now that he thought of it, she had been coughing alot since she had arrived. Was she somehow sick and he was to dumb to notice?

"Bom is everything alright?"

Bom snapped on the lid and handed it to the customer. “Of course why wouldn't it be."

Maybe she was right, maybe he was overreacting. Something nagged at him in the back of his mind as he watched her work. He had noticed it when she first arrived but didn't think twice about it after he got yelled at.

"Holy crap Bom, you lost a lot of weight. Looking good, looking good." he teased hugging her as she arrived. Her happy face furrowed like she smelled something foul.

"Are you indicating I was fat before?"

Crap! That was not at all what he meant. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Oh Tabi, you should know better then to call a woman fat." his mother giggled.

Now even she was in on it. Sometimes he swore he could never win with those two. Bom giggled sticking her tongue out as they both headed inside yapping away like they haven't seen each other in years. He carried in her bags and didn't think about it until now, her skin had grown duller and she had looked like she had lost a good twenty pounds. But her bubbly bright personality was still in tact so he dismissed the thought almost instantly without giving it a second thought.

"Bom?"

"Don't even think about asking me, I came here to be with you and be happy, so don't spoil it by getting all girly and emotional on me."

"Well I think I'm going to leave you two alone. If that's okay with you?"

"Of course it is. You should go home and rest, Tabi and I can finish the night up together. Right?"

Though it came out like a question he knew it was more of a silent demand as she batted her eye's at him.

"Yeah sure, but give me a moment."

Seunghyun ran off before they had a chance to even respond. It didn't take him long before he found a booth suitable for his needs. He bought one of those cheap hair pin and brought it back with him. By the time he arrived his mother had already left.

"You're back." she grinned.

"Well duh." did she think he would actually run away?

He pulled an apron from the hook and slipped it on.

"First you need to fix your apron." she pointed to the stings dangling. "Here, let me help."

"Right," he laughed.

Raising his hands he waited for her to wrap his arms around him, then slipped the hair pin in her hair. Instantly her hand rose up to her hair feeling the little surprise in her hair. He tried his hardest not to laugh at her reaction. In fact he was waited for a fly to land like they did n the movies whenever people hung their mouths wide open.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked.

All she could do was blink as she blushed.

"So which flavor is your hair?"

"What!?" the shock worn off. "What kind of senseless, cuckoo question is that?"

"I think we create one that matches your red hair, don't you think?"

"I think you've officially lost your mind sir."

Seunghyun found the cranberry flavored syrup from the rack, added strawberries, and mixed it.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Designing a flavor to match your hair. Now let's see f this matches."

Shyly Bom stepped a little closer.

"Nope, not yet," he added some raspberries and another shot of cranberry and swirled it.

"Perfect." he punched a straw through the center of it and took a big drink, before giving her a thumbs up.

Bom took a small sip. "Mmmm, it is good. What should we name it?"

He remained quiet for a moment "How about the Bominator." he teased.

"Why the Bominator?" she asked rather angered.

"Because not only does it remind me of your hair but your ever lovely fire eating personality." he laughed getting lightly punched in the arm.

"Just kidding." No he wasn't.  "But I am keeping the name."

Just then Tiffany and Jessica walked by and stared daggers at us.

“So what’s with them?” she asked.

He shook his head. “They’re jealous that I’m hanging out with the prettiest girl in the world.” He glanced at her.

“Whatever liar."

Besides being so pretty, you’re independant and have never been one to follow a crowd, that's why I've alway's lik...." Seunghyun stopped midsentance looking away.

"Go on," she encouraged him."

"It looks like we have more customers." he answered walking away.

The next couple of hours  were filled and served the orders and tripped over each other more than a few times. Seunghyun bumped into her near the cash register and accidentally sloshed some onto her apron.

“Sorry about that,” he laughed.

She scooped it off and threatened to fling it at him, but he ducked and slipped on the floor.

“Nice landing,” she teased and reached out his hand.

“Nice aiming,” he teased said and looked behind me. She helped pull him up and held his hand even after he was on my feet.

“Ten o’clock is closing time,” he said shrugged his shoulders, and tried to act casual but the warmth of her hand in his made him feel fuzzy.

“Bommie, when we’re done here, I want to show you something?” he asked without looking her way.

“Sure.”

At the end of the night they hung the apron's and headed out.

“Thanks for helping out,” he said. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

Seunghyun waited for her.  The night air caught hold of her making her shiver. “I’m ready,” she said folding her arms in front of her.

“Here,” he said and slipped off his jacket. He held out the coat and let her slid her arms inside. He smirked watching her smile as she sniffed his jacket. "Where are we going?"

“You’ll see,” he said and waited for me to catch up. I hiked up a few paces while he stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked up at the clear night sky. A mass of bright stars spread as far as the eye could see. A few more steps and he stopped. “This is it,” he said and placed his hands on my shoulders. He turned her around to see. The fair was about a half mile below us, glowing and brilliant and vibrant. “Want to sit down?”

He pointed to an old log off to the side. The view was splendid, magical even. Glowing neon signs lit the night a hazy golden color, brilliant Ferris wheels spinning against a black sky, and twinkling strands of rainbow lights danced in the wind and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore made the night seem just perfect.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered awestruck.

She watched the pirate ship swing high into the air. “Like you,” he said under his breath his heart beat faster touching a few strands of her hair. “

What did you just say?” she asked.

"Nothing." he said and slid his hand in hers.

For the life of him he couldn't understand where his courage was coming from tonight. It was like an alien invaded his body after the whole hair incident and was making him do things he never would of had the courage to do normally. Something in him told him to make this night count and for once, he listened to his gut.

"Do you like me?" she asked.

Now if only he could find the courage. He couldn't do it last night during the storm.

"Of course I do, you're my best friend."

"Jerk, you know exactly what I mean." she frowned.

She squeezed his hand and looked away back at the lights.

"Seunghyun, Before you say anything let me just say I admit it, I love you Seunghyun. I think of you almost every second of the day. You're my favorite subject to talk about to my friends. When you hug me I never want to let go. I'm always excited to see you and to receive your letters. I know you like me just as much as I like you, so why is it that you can't tell me?"

In his stomach and the goosebumps on my arms faded away at the sight of her tears.

"Why?" You really want to know why?" he quizzed.

"Yes." she answered almost frantic sounding.

"Because let's face it, I'm no Siwon. He's handsome. He's funny and kind and a good match for you and most of all he's your boyfriend."

"Your so stupid." she mumbled.

"How am I stupid, when it's the true?"

"A, it  just shows how much you actually listen because if you did, you would of known ages ago Siwon and I have decided to be friends and B, don't you know that self confidence is the most attractive quality a person could have. How is anyone going to see the same cool, funny and sweet person I see if you can't see it for yourself."

"So you really broke up with Siwon?" he couldn't help ask, no longer hiding his smile.

"A long time ago, dork."

"For real?"

Bom turned her head grinning, giving him one of those are you for real looks. Still shaking her head in disbelief she lowered her hand and placed in his.

If I knew that night that would of been the last time I saw going to see her for a year, I would of grabbed her and kissed her with all the happiness and passion I wanted to express. Little did I know trouble would soon follow that night and she would end of terribly hurt. 

Not only was she hurt but so was my mother. That night while we sat and watched the fair talking for a good variety of the night, vandals had broken in to her shop and set it on fire. I think for the first time in my life I was happy she couldn't see. I don't think I've could of handled the suffering of her bleeding heart if she saw any of the graffiti plastered. The saddest part was now of it had to be with her, it was all towards me.

As expressed before I wasn't the most liked person, but I realized thanks in part to Bom, it was because I aloud it to happen. Thoughts drifted over and over in my head. How could I allow this to happen? Why couldn't I be a better son? Would any of this have even happened if I had more confidence in myself. 

Not once had she ever blamed me. She smiled on like nothing was wrong, yet I could see and feel the pain radiate off her. Deep down I didn't know what to do? I knew something had to be done. I just didn't know what? The more I thought about it, the more agony I experienced, like if I didn't do anything soon, I would pop like a balloon. My skin crawled from the anxiety I know longer wanted to be in it. As I sat alone in the darkness of my room, I suddenly remembered a quote I read somewhere. A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them and strong enough to correct them. That's when something snapped inside of me. Don't ask where it came from, because I couldn't even begin to tell you. I just knew it was the first time in a few weeks I found myself smiling.

At first I wasn't sure if I could even do what I had planned. I wasn't confident that anyone would even help, but the more people that agreed, the happier I became.

The rest of that summer instead of hiding away until september, I emerged with the town folks and rebuilt her shop with them.  My confidence grew without me even knowing as I started to really get to know everyone. We would laugh, cry and share stories about themselves or how special my mother was. That was something I've never done before and it made me feel good. I learned things about her that I know she would of never dared to tell me, like the real reason my father ran off. For years I thought he had past away. It turns out I was the one born blind and she sacrificed her eyes just so I could see. My father left shortly afterwards. He just wasn't strong enough to handle it. I never looked at her the same way after that.

All of this made me proud. 

I also found out I was good at building and made it a life goal. I had a direction in life 

In the end. I became a straight A student. Popular, though I was still nice to the misfits, after all I was one of them. I lost weight and even became captain of the varsity football team that year. I became the boy all mothers dream of their daughter's dating. I became everything she told me I could be, becoming the person she saw in me. There was far more to me then meet's the eye and It took losing everything and taking a step backwards to finally see what I had all along. I took a risk, I took a chance and made a change. I learned that confidence doesn't come when you have all the answers., but comes when you are ready to face all the questions.

With summer coming along. I knew I only had one thing left to do and it was something that couldn't wait till the end, it needed to be done as quickly as possible.

It was my turn to go after the girl and confess. Getting the girl that should of been mine right from the start.

Rain poured the day he arrived on the train. It felt like forever since he had seen her last and wondered if she would faint from his appearance. As the train grew closer so did his excitement, until he saw a familar face. One he didn't expect to see standing at the station waiting for him. His forlorn face told him something was wrong.

"Siwon?"

His pathethic attempt to smile didn't do anything to ease the feeling brewing inside.

"It's been a long time, Seunghyun." he quietly answered.

"Why are you here, instead of Bom?"

Siwon sighed looking down at the ground. "Seunghyun, there is something you need to know before you meet Bom."