Beep, beep, beep.

I took my cellphone and stared at the blinking screen.

Meeting with Joonmyeon at 3.

Sighing, I deactivated the alarm, sliding it into my pocket. As I got up from my bed, I glanced to the mirror across the room. It took a while for me to stare at my own reflection there. My hair was neatly set, my outfit was good already. Aside of the black pouch on my eyes and the tired, exhausted expression, I was ready to go. However, deep inside, I didn't want to. I knew there was something bad would happen, call it an instinct. I wanted to stay, not wanting to face him and hear something bad that I knew would hear directly from him. Still, I had no choice. It's him that asked me to meet and I had said yes. I would never break a promise if I were not forced to.

It's time to meet him. Come on, just go Ando.

I air into my lungs and exhausted it again, grabbing the keys on the table and locked to the door; devastation and longing mingled together at the same time.

I walked out of my flat.

Silently.

I liked rain.

No, that was an understatement. I loved rain. The water droplets coming down from the sky were always magical to me. They were sacred, like the tears of a thousand angels who were crying for the misery of the human in the world. They weeped out, sympathy and regret filling after them, after their ancestors, the first man and woman were banished from heaven.

That's what people say though. In my perspective, rain was not sad, not at all. They were simply beautiful. They are magical because they conveyed a feeling for me, mixture of emotions that blended perfectly with the serene, heartfelt ambience whenever the spray of drizzle or fine drop of water happened to touch the skin of my face. In the midst of its coolness, I felt reality and fantasy intertwined into one, the one that my heart with happiness and, well, perhaps a bit somberness too.

Rain was my friend. It witnessed some of life-changing moments in my life.

I looked up to the sky. Rain was just yet to pour, though up there was transparent gray already, with cumulonimbus clouds screaming a warning to people, that in a moment would come a washover with such a power to cleanse the world. Oddly, instead of staying at my flat, making myself a cup of hot chocolate while reviewing the thesis I was supposed to submit to my thesis advisor next week, I was here sitting on a bench in the park, waiting for someone.

I glanced at my watch. 3.13.

He still hadn't come yet.

/,"/ /,"/ /,"/ /,"/ /,"/

"Sorry, is this seat taken?"

I lifted my head and caught a pair of brown, glistening orbs looking at mine. He had a smile on his face, books were tightly held between his arms.

"No. It isn't."

"May I sit here?" he once again gave me that hopeful side smile. I nodded, sliding my body aside a little bit.

"Sure, please."

"Thank you," he huffed a sigh, this time smile fully stretched into his face. "A lot of people came to this park and I found nowhere else to rest a bit."

"Yeah, it's unusually crowded."

I  returned to the book I was reading, but somehow my mind was no longer attached to it anymore. Instead, I felt like looking at the stranger who had just occupied the empty space on the bench I was sitting on. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed that he was as well staring at me.

"Yes?" I closed my books, blinking. He gulped, seeming to muster all his might.

"My name is Joonmyeon."

His voice was so soft that it sent a shiver on my spine, along with some sort of strange happiness that glided right through my heart.

"Hello, Joonmyeon-ssi," I bowed before I lifted my hand, "I am Aliando."

"Al-lee-ahn-do," he tilted his head. He bowed and shook my hand, it was really warm. "Nice to meet you, Alleeahndo"

"Just Ando, I know it's hard to pronounce, right?"

He chuckled, producing a voice sounding like a tingling windchimes in my ears.

"Okay, then, Ando-ssi."

I smiled.

There was a strange feeling that started throbbing in my heart.

"I have to go, Ando-ssi," Joonmyeon gathered all his books and stood up. I suddenly felt a rush of emptiness and longing that screamed to make him stay there. However, the last thing I was able to do was to dumbfoundedly ask him a more dumbfounded question.

"Will we... meet again?"

I could lie to myself but I seemed to see a smile red on the tip of his cheeks.

"Sure, let's meet again tomorrow. Here. At this bench, at the same time."

He smiled before he left.

And the strange feeling was now swirling an intoxicating effect of drug, as his flowery smell lingered in my nose, flapping a butterfly in my stomach.

I missed him already.

/,"/ /,"/ /,"/ /,"/ /,"/

"Your name is a bit hard to pronounce. You're not Korean, are you?"

I chuckled as I scratched my hair. I was hardly able to contain my ecstacy to see him again at this bench, finally coming after what felt like an ever eternal thirteen minutes of waiting. Right after beating around the bush, his first question was all about my nationality.

"Can't it be more obvious?"

He bit his lips, brows slightly raised. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Nah. Relax. I'm indeed not a Korean."

He chewed his inner cheeks, squinting his eyes.

"Arabic?"

I scoffed. "Are we still talking about me?"

"Yes," he smiled. "If you don't mind."

I scratched my hair once again, feeling a bit shy to talk about myself in front of this cute little guy.
"Indonesian.  But my ancestor were Arabic."

"Wow. So... you're from...."

"Indonesia."

"Indonesia," he grinned but then frowned. "I think I have heard that before.  Where is it?"

"It is a country in South East Asia. Close to Australia. Ever heard of Bali?"

He nodded excitedly. "Yes! I was there three years ago! Beautiful island, gorgeous temples, and the beaches and sunsets you would kill for."

"Well, you were in my country then. Bali is a part of Indonesia, even though I don't exactly live there."

Both his mouth and eyes turned round, earning him another chukle from me.

"It's very cool, you know! I wanna go there again! It was awesome!"

"Glad to know you liked being in my country."

"Anyway, what are you doing here in Korea?"

"Uhm.... I am joining a terrorist club to detonate a bomb in the center of Seoul."

His face dropped. "What?!"

"Gotcha!" I laughed, shaking my head.

Joonmyeon squinted his eyes, pouting his lips. "Hey! You're fooling me."

"You are asking too many questions, gentleman. I feel like being investigated."

I smiled widely at him, starting him to laugh at his own stupidity. His shoulder was shaking, so was his waving hair. The smile on his face stretched more and more widely. It again induced a strange feeling in my heart, like there was something inflating that made me a bit hard to breathe, but it was also nice and thrilling. I blinked, just to find myself more attracted to the boy who was still cackling slowly as he was straightening his hair with his hands.

"Sorry if I sound too demanding. I am just curious."

"Well, I got a scholarship to continue my education here. This is actually my first year here."

"Really? So you're a freshman too? Where were you accepted?"

"Korea University."

He couldn't contain his awe and somehow it made me more shy.

"Wow! That's huge! You must be a very smart student to be accepted there! Let alone by full schlarship. What is your major?"

"I enter Korean Language Education department, as well as Art and Design department."

"Double major? You're a hot shot, you know!"

I tried so hard not to look so snobbish in front of him, but my heart was so flattered to hear him speaking like that. Scratching my nose, I struggled to find anything that would distract the kid off topic from my descent achievement.

"Alright, enough talking about me. Let's talk about you. What about you? Where is your campus? What major are you taking?"

"At Yonsei. Taking a music major."

I whistled. "And you made me look like I was a genius while you clearly are one there! Yonsei is more competitive than KU."

"Yeah. And you know, our campuses are actually enemies in reality. Which means, we're not supposed to hangout together."

"I know that. I think we should be careful of each other, we could just kill each other for the sake of our own campus, right?"

Joonmyeon grinned and I swore it just radiated light from his face. I looked down for a while, trying to contain my own feeling. I should have had more control of myself but here in front of this person, almost a stranger to me, I found myself smitten with him. I had had a fair share of crushes here and there in my country but never had I felt a very intense one like this before. This kid was just alluring in too many ways.

"So, Ando-ssi, how long have you been in Seoul?"

"Just a couple of weeks.Almost three weeks to be exact. Why?"

He sent me half an amused look.

"Have you managed to get through the center of Seoul already? To find a perfect destination to plant your bomb?"

I shook my head, smirking. "Nope. All the places I know are my dorm, my campus, and this park. Plus the market where I could buy some food to stay alive. That wouldn't make a great news."

"Alright," Joonmyeon nodded. "As a nice host country citizen, I have an obligation to introduce you to Korea generally and Seoul especially. I will be your guide to immerse you with this city and this country."

"You don't really have to do that. I could go by my own. Moreover, are you not afraid of me? I am a stranger to you, what if I attack you or take advantage from you?"

Joonmyeon nodded.

"Makes sense. But I can see that you are a good person."

"How can you?"

"I don't know. Instinct? And I am very capable of protecting myself. I have black belt in taekwondo."

That made me smirk. "And I do karate every day. Black belt as well."

"That's great. We could be sparing partners then.

We both laughed, crispy in the middle of chilly weather.

"Welcome to Korea, Ando-ssi. I hope you are happy here."

/,"/ /,"/ /,"/ /,"/ /,"/

January 24, 2015

I am really glad to finally be able to update this story. Thanks for reading and waiting. Waiting for your comment. :)

Schandelierre