There are many types of love. But as happy, painful or even confusing as it seems, love is something we all wish to experience. 

          There’s the platonic love, the kind that you have for your family and friends; it’s the love you experience from a very innocent age when you still have no idea what’s in your underwear.

          The one-sided, unrequited love. What gives you the tingling butterflies and sudden jolts in the stomach. The love where you love a person, even though you already know they'll never love you back. She herself tried listing all the types of love before, but all it did was make her lightheaded. There were so many. 

          Love had always been a luxury, it didn’t come by easily and when it did pass by, it would go as fast as it came. When you make eye-contact with the person you like; when you accidentally brush your hand against theirs; when they smile at you for the first time…

          As years passed by, she lost hope on finding that one love that we all sought after: the unconditional one. Of course, she wanted to get married, find the one someday. But that kind of love was just way beyond her reach. Some people just weren't that lucky.

          It's when you love a person even more than yourself and they love you back,  it’s a leap of faith; a gamble, but it’s something so many people desire. But reality hits you hard. That kind of love is definitely something rare; definitely not something that just appears out of nowhere. How was she supposed to know who that mister or miss right is? It wasn't as if it would be pointed out to her with a big neon arrow or multi-coloured sign.

Jaehwa sighed in frustration and slammed the book shut. She was only a couple of pages in and she already didn't like the protagonist. Of course she herself wanted to get married someday too, but she thought it wasn't necessary for love to be portrayed as overcomplicated as that. You fall in love with someone, it either works out or it doesn't. Or perhaps that was just her own inexperience talking. 

Though slamming her book shut probably wasn’t a good idea. She was in a library and her sudden action had gained irritated looks from the people nearby. She bowed her head at them as an apology.

“Sorry,” she whispered and sunk down even lower in her seat, hoping that they’d divert their attention away from her. It seemed to work, because as soon as she looked away they already had their eyes back to their own books. But there was one person who was sat on the same table as her that had caught her attention. The stranger had an assortment of different coloured origami paper scattered out in front of him on the table and he was making what looked to Jaehwa like some sort of bird - a crane even. His slender fingers intricately folded the paper with such delicate precision that she found herself staring in admiration. 

“That’s beautiful,” she said and kept her voice low so that no one else other than the person beside her could hear.

He looked up and her eyes met with another pair of dark, mesmerising ones. “Thank you.” 

There was something entrancing about his stare that wavered her. She savagely tore her gaze away from his and hastily opened her book again. She got swayed way too easily, even her older sister would about it while she was in Middle School and High School, and she could almost hear her laughing at her right now. She tried concentrating on the book she was reading. It was her day off work today and all she wanted was to go somewhere quiet, and for her the ideal place was the public library. Out of curiosity, she would sneak glances at him and every time, his attention was totally immersed on the origami paper he was folding.

*  *  *

It felt like an hour had passed by the time she had finished the book she was reading and the stranger had already finished folding all of the paper into more than a dozen paper cranes. With care, he put them in glass jars and screwed the lids tightly shut before putting them in a bag. Jaehwa pretended to continue reading her book as he stood up from his seat. 

“Bye,” he said when he walked past her.

It took Jaehwa a few seconds to free her words. “Good—uh, see you.” He looked back and his lips etched into a smile. Jaehwa suddenly felt awkward, demure and coy, and she very quickly covered her face with the book. She heard him let out a breathy chuckle before his footsteps began to get more distant.

After she sensed he was gone, she looked up and in front of her on the table was a paper crane. She picked it up and carefully turned it round in her fingers, examining it. Under the wing of the crane, she saw that he wrote something.

‘My name is Taehyung.'          

Taehyung? Taehyung. So that was his name.

It had been a couple of weeks after Jaehwa met Taehyung in the library. She could no longer remember his smile or recollect much elaborate detail of what he looked like. Call her forgetful, but they only just met that day and were merely strangers to each other. And no, she didn’t feel any butterflies or jolts in the stomach… she just thought his looks were above average than the usual person, that was all.

But if you were someone like her and have been single for the last couple of years, anyone, specifically someone good-looking who makes eye contact with you for more than a couple of measly seconds is some kind of miracle from the heavens. Surely everyone has come across some attractive stranger when they go out, but it’s not anything special. Who knows, you even could’ve even met the most god-like looking person you’ve ever come across in your entire lifetime and it could still not compete with those special people you’ve always cared for. It doesn’t have to be someone you like, it could even be that loud, meddlesome best friend you have that barges into your apartment at eight o’clock in the morning and drags you out of bed because they want to take you to the mall. At least, that’s what Jaehwa's does.

Jaehwa groaned when she saw Hana already dressed and looked down at her Pororo pyjamas. Why did she even bother giving Hana that spare key in the first place?

“Are you serious Hana? It’s my day off, you need to stop coming to my apartment at such an ungodly hour in the morning. The mall doesn’t even open until ten,” Jaehwa said, and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.

“But Jaehwa, it’s been ages since we went shopping together,” Hana whined, yanking the blanket off Jaehwa's body. She sighed and rolled her eyes when she saw her pyjamas. Sitting up, Jaehwa glared at her and Hana looked at her disapprovingly with her hands on her hips, as if she was evaluating her. “Why are you wearing Pororo pyjamas?”

Jaehwa frowned. “My parents bought them for me, it’s a waste of money if I don’t use them. Plus, they’re actually really comfortable to sleep in.”

Hana sighed and jerked an eyebrow at her. “Jaehwa, come with me to the mall today.”

Jaehwa tried to mumble an excuse. “But I have other things to do.” Truth was, she didn’t feel like going. Whenever Jaehwa goes to the mall she looks at everything, but she doesn't actually buy anything. Last time she went shopping with Hana, Hana wandered off to who knows where and when Jaehwa found her about three hours later, Hana already had bags of clothes and other items carried under her arms and guess who had to help her take them back to her apartment? Obviously the only other companion she took with her - which was Jaehwa. 

Hana inspected her manicured fingernails.  “You don’t even go out with friends much anymore, you just stay cooped up in your apartment.”

Jaehwa plopped back down on the bed and covered her hands over her eyes. “That’s because I have no friends,” she said groggily.

Hana paused and looked up from her nails, blinking at her. “Did you just say you had no friends?”

Jaehwa forgot that Hana took a lot of things to heart. She tried to think of something that could steer the conversation to something else. “Uh…”

Hell, now I'm in trouble.

Hana stalked over to the sofa and grabbed the jumbo sized teddy bear Jaehwa's parents got her as a house gift, and marched over to Jaehwa. “No friends? No friends!? Then what does that make me then huh?”

Jaehwa's eyes widened and before she could process what was happening, Hana practically straddled her while using the teddy bear to repeatedly hit Jaehwa in the face.

Hana was now yelling, “What does that make me? A ing potato?” 

Jaehwa flailed her arms in the air, attempting to push Hana off but the damn woman wasn’t listening to any of her muffled protests and it didn’t seem she was going to back down anytime soon. Jaehwa tried speaking between the contact with the teddy bear and her face. “But - you're - my - best - friend."

Hana held the bear in mid-air. “What did you say?”

Taking this chance, Jaehwa shoved her off and Hana fell clumsily to the floor. She had the bear to cushion her fall anyway, so she presumed she was fine. Jaehwa sat up, swinging her legs onto the edge of the bed. “I said that you’re my best friend which means that you’re not just any normal friend of mine, right?”

From the floor, Hana brushed her hair away from her face and looked up, giving Jaehwa probably the most contagious smile that she ever saw. Jaehwa couldn’t help but smile back and Hana stood up, dusting off her clothes. “You’re still going to the mall with me.”

That girl was just too stubborn. It wasn't like Jaehwa had anything productive to do anyway. She hesitantly stood up from the bed and trudged to the bathroom. “Fine Hana, I’ll go.”

*  *  * 

Hana dragged her through the automatic doors of the entrance of the mall. As much as Jaehwa hated shopping, seeing Hana smile like she did right then made Jaehwa glad she her best friend.

Crowds of people were all over the place; tourists, families, groups of teenagers with their friends, you name them, they were all here. It was the weekend and the mall was the prime place if you wanted to go somewhere that was swarming with activity. Hana let go of Jaehwa's arm and looked at the window displays as they walked along the rows of stores together. “My cousin came back from Busan. We met up the other day and I told him all about you.”

Jehwa raised an eyebrow at her, unconvinced. “Really now?”

Hana nodded unreservedly. “I told him about how you don’t really know very many people and he said that he could introduce a friend of his that lives around here to you. Isn’t that great?”

“Yeah, ‘cause you know how much I just love social activity,” Jaehwa said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile that flashed obvious sarcasm.

Hana ignored her and took her mobile out of her pocket, scrolling through her new messages. “He says to meet him near the food court. His friend will be late.”

Jaehwa sighed and followed closely behind her as they tried meandering their way out of the sea of people. “So where’s the food court again?” Jaehwa asked and turned to face Hana except, she was no longer beside her. “Hana?”

Please don't tell me I lost her. Frantically, Jaehwa tried calling out to her but the chatter from the people in the crowds overlapped with the music playing and the noise was too overpowering that she doubted Hana would’ve been able to hear her. , I lost her. Putting a hand over her brow, she came up with the solution to just look for signs with directions and find some way to the food court by herself.

As she walked along the shops she felt like a lost child who got separated from their parents in the supermarket. She had to admit though, the shopping environment here was unmatched. She could see why Hana loved to frequently go here when she wasn’t busy. Jaehwa walked past a shop and heard the generic theme song repeating the same lines over and over.

But one thing she saw in common while she wandered round was the people. Teenagers walking while texting on their Samsung, kids running to Toyland while their parents tried to keep up with them, couples with intertwined hands whilst they admired the window displays of overpriced tee-shirts and other designer brand clothing.

She retreated to a less crowded area. Looking up, she spotted someone just ahead walking the opposite direction coming towards her, at least one step in front of her obscuring her path. Before Jaehwa could change her route, her feet stumbled over his and their bodies collided.

“Whoa, I’m so sorr -” The person in front of her rushed into an apology as she felt his arms wrap around her waist and held her there, saving her from her fall. Their eyes met and Jaehwa suddenly realised how close her face was from his. Bewildered, she pushed him away and his grip slipped from her waist.

Her body made contact with the floor and she winced when slight pain lingered on her backside. Jaehwa's eyes travelled up to his face; she could recognise his distinct features instantly despite how she had almost forgotten what he looked like since the other day - it was Taehyung.

He offered a hand out to help her up. “I’m really sorry, I should’ve watched where I was going.”

Jaehwa shook her head and readjusted her sweater. “No I’m sorry,” she murmured hastily, and fiddled with the frayed ends of her sleeves to distract herself from his gaze.

“Hey…” His eyes glinted with realisation when he saw her face. “You’re that person I saw at the library on Monday.”

She blinked. “Uh, yeah. And you’re Taehyung aren’t you?”

His lips slowly crept into a crooked line. “That’s me.”

How could someone smile so sweetly at one point and then contort it into something else so easily? She didn’t care how angelic or charming he looked, she was so embarrassed that she tried to imagine what would happen if she suddenly dashed off. Running away wasn’t such a bad option for her at that moment. He looked over at her and she strained a forced smile. “Uh, y’know I really need to go now, so um…” She turned and sped away from him without taking another glance. Jaehwa hurriedly s her way through the crowds as she neared the automatic doors of the exit and went out through the transparent doors.

She took her mobile out of her pocket and texted Hana: 

Maybe we can go to the mall together some other time. I’m sure you’ll still have fun without me… I’ll call you later… sorry

Hana would understand, she always did. But even Jaehwa herself thought that doing that was selfish.

But hey, aren’t we all?

The Next Day

“Excuse me, may I ask where I can find a good book to read with psychological horror? I'm a big fan of it these days.”

“Right this way.” Jaehwa led the customer along the aisles of book shelves and stopped when they reached the horror section.

The customer smiled and began browsing through the books. “Thank you.”

Jaehwa returned the smile and went back to the romance section. Her eyes scanned over the titles as she sorted out the misplaced books; she made sure they were all stacked in neat rows, all orderly arranged and alined back-to-back so their insides could not be judged by their covers. As much as she tried to forget the embarrassing encounter yesterday, her mind kept drifting back to it. She bumped into Taehyung once, but she doubted it was likely that they’d come across each other again among the total population of the people in Seoul. 

She turned round at the sound of the doors of the store sliding open. Recognising the figure that just entered she gasped and instantaneously crouched down to her hands and knees. Why her immediate reaction was to hide? Encountering the same person again after bumping into them and then running away the previous day doesn’t exactly leave the best impression. She set her eyes onto the checkout desk and with haste began to crawl her way over there with the intention to hide behind it until Taehyung was gone. She managed to successfully pass the YA section and only needed to crawl to the new box of classics until she reached the checkout desk.

Come on, nearly there. Fighting! Just a couple more metres...

She continued in the direction she planned to go, until a pair of shoes stepped in front of her and blocked her way.

No, no, no, no! 

Jaehwa gulped, and slowly trailed her eyes up to the person’s face - Taehyung. Yet again. His eyes shone with mirth and his lips broke out into a smile. “Hello, beautiful.”

For a few seconds Jaehwa's mind went blank and she registered over and over in her mind what he just said.

What the heck?