“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering” –Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

It was eight o’clock at night. Young people stayed out to enjoy their lives while the older people went back home to enjoy the warmth and comfort. And then there was Seungyoon and Minji who stayed out on that balcony in silence.

Minji sat there, hugging her knees as if they could comfort her. She stared ahead of her, hoping that she could keep those thoughts that pulled her down and held her down like tar out of her mind.

“Did something bad happen today?” Seungyoon sat there with his legs stretched out in front of him. He played with the hem of his shirt as he waited for her to respond.

A bitter grin was etched onto her face. “No, today was good. But I just enjoy it like everyone else.” She scoffed, thinking of herself as a pitiful and sad being.

Seungyoon grew confused. “Why?”

She blinked mindlessly. She hadn’t expected him to ask for a reason. She couldn’t comprehend that he was actually willing to listen, maybe even care.

Minji turned her head and Seungyoon also faced her. They stared at each other, befuddled and curious.

“Why?” He repeated.

“Because I thought I was getting. But it turns out that I’m not even close.”

He searched her eyes, looking for an explanation but they were too dark to find what he was looking for.

“Do you know what it’s like to hate everything about yourself? Waking up for no particular reason? Just eating, breathing, and sleeping because it’s human nature? Opening your eyes in the morning and wanting to hang yourself knowing that no one will care or look for you? Going to sleep and praying that you won’t wake up the next morning so that you won’t have to feel that hollowing pain that just swallows you whole?”

Minji’s voice grew smaller as she reached her last question. She stared into his eyes, unsure what she expected from him.

“Is this how you feel every day?” He felt apologetic for some odd reason, not sympathetic. He didn’t feel sorry for her. He just felt sorry.

“Surprisingly, no. Some days, I wake up and I feel happy, if that’s the right word for it. Actually, I think it’s more of a nervous feeling. A good one. You know, butterflies in your stomach. I wake up and I feel relieved. Yeah, that’s the right word. Relieved.” Unknowingly, a small smile glided across her face.

Seungyoon smiled with her. He wasn’t sure why but he felt overjoyed seeing her smile Maybe it was because it was radiant. Or maybe it was because she looked even more beautiful.

“Do you like music?” Out of the blue, she burst into a short round of laughter.

Upon hearing her quirky and genuine merriment, he felt as though he had gone to Heaven and back. It was like taking a drag from his first cigarette. He wasn’t quite sure what to do but he was addicted.

Once Minji had composed herself, she looked at him as if to ask him if he were being serious.

“That was really random. But yeah, I guess I do. It’s the only thing that kind of keeps me sane.” For a second, she had forgotten the feeling that she had carried with her the whole day. For a sliver of a moment, she felt relieved.

“Let’s find some beautiful place to get lost”

Seungyoon quickly took his guitar back out. He carefully tuned it, not saying a word to Minji. He wanted things to be perfect.

Minji sat there patiently, watching him caress his instrument as if it were a delicate diamond. And for a moment, she wished that she were his guitar. She wanted to know what it felt like to be held and touched with a special kind of love.

“I can't see me loving nobody
But you for all my life
When you're with me, baby
The skies will be blue for all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they tossed the dice, it had to be
The only one for me is you and you for me
So happy together" (Happy Together by The Turtles)

At the sudden song, Minji couldn’t help but smile and laugh.

Hearing her laugh, Seungyoon was drugged once more. And warmth spread across his body.

As she continued to laugh, he sang louder and sillier.

It was past eight o’clock and young people were having the time of their lives. Their night was only beginning. Older people were at home, relaxing. All the while, Seungyoon and Minji sat on that balcony, singing and laughing. They sat there drowning in their own ocean of happiness.