Byulyi kneeled down to tie her running shoes, spending a little longer time than usual to do so as her mind wandered through the previous night’s series of events.

So she woke up very late at 2 PM, after the usual Friday night she spent at her favorite downtown bar. She then took a shower, taking a sweet one hour to soak her body in warm water. Ate two cups of instant ramen. Played with her dogs.

Went to Seoul Arts Center.

Byulyi set her gaze on her tied shoelaces, remaining in her kneeling position as she rewind the concert in more details. She never knew she would ever watch a piano recital, but the moment she did, she wondered why she hadn’t given it a thought beforehand.

Wheein wore a long white dress, almost like a bridal dress and it matched with the grand piano at the center of the stage. Byulyi remembered the smile Wheein flashed to the audience before she bowed down and made her way to the piano, and she swore she could hear the silent collective gasp from the audience when the first tune was heard as Wheein gently pressed a finger against a piano key.

When she played the first song – La Valse d'Amélie, according to the brochure – Byulyi was surprised at the sudden rush of warmth that spread through her spine. She leaned forward, watching Wheein closing her eyes with her fingers moving against each key, so lightly and effortlessly.

Maybe it was the atmosphere of the song. Or maybe it was just the way Wheein played the piano, but Byulyi was reminded of how the breeze brushed against the surface of the ocean, or how it ever so slightly bumped against the leaves, causing it to rustle just very softly.

The piano recital lasted for almost two hours, ended with another bow and smile from Wheein and Byulyi remembered the cheer and applause that resonated through the concert hall. Byulyi had contemplated to visit Wheein at the backstage right after, but she doubted. What would she say if she was asked who she was? A friend? Not quite, they only met once. An airport staff who once assisted her? Honest, but unconvincing. After debating for five minutes, Byulyi decided – just like she did to every other thing in her life – to walk away and go home.

Byulyi’s train of thoughts was cut by a bark of protest and a nudge at her arm. She blinked and turned toward her right side, where her two corgis had their tails wagged in excitement. Byulyi flashed a small smile, getting up and taking the leashes of her two dogs, one in her right hand and one in her left, before kicking the front door opened.

“Let’s get you both working out for a while, shall we?”

-----

A mile away was Jung Wheein, sitting down on a bench as she heaved a long sigh. She had decided to take a quick stroll along the nearby park, getting a fresh air and hunting for her favorite popsicle. There was this man selling popsicles in an ice box and he would ride his bike around the neighborhood, ringing a loud bell that was attached to his bike. Not until two weeks ago Wheein found out he did it to notify Wheein for his arrival.

That day though, the bell wasn’t heard anywhere. Wheein had waited on the bench for half an hour until she decided to get an ice cream at a nearby convenience store instead, before she suddenly felt a weight pushing her down, successfully making her land on the ground. She squealed in surprise and fright, until a small bark was heard and she noticed the culprit that her attacker was a puppy.

“Bruno! No! Stop!”

Wheein could hear a panic voice of a boy, probably still in his teenage years, as the puppy was pulled away from her, only for it to scramble back to her, and got pulled away again. Wheein laughed, imagining the adorable view in her head.

When the puppy – named Bruno, Wheein believed – was eventually yanked away from her with a loud grunt, Wheein got up, dusting the dirt away from her palms.

“I’m so- ugh. Sorry…” the boy said, grunting as he tried his best to keep the beagle at his side.

“Bruno is a very- Bruno, no! Stop! Ugh, Bruno is very- excited.”

“Oh, it’s really okay. Bruno is a good boy,” Wheein smiled, carefully making her way back toward the bench as she moved her hand to where she had placed her walking cane at, but to no avail, as the wood piece was nowhere to be found.

“Ah-right…” the boy mumbled, no longer grunting as his puppy seemed to be pleased with his new toy.

“Bruno broke your cane. I’m terribly sorry-“

Wheein furrowed her eyebrows, her palm eventually came in contact with the sharp edge of her cane, suspecting it must’ve been broken into two. She was suddenly aware of the voice the puppy made as he chewed on a wooden stick. Wheein bet all of her 2,000 Won that it was the other part of her cane.

“I’m so sorry- how do I-“

Wheein’s small frown instantly turned into a gentle smile. “Oh, it’s alright. I’ll be fine. I’ve memorized the walk to my home.”

The boy was relieved but not convinced. “Do you want me to walk you home?”

“No, no, please. I’m fine,” Wheein said. Bruno let out another bark and Wheein extended her arm to the right side, which was immediately welcome by the soft fur of the puppy as he nuzzled against Wheein’s palm.

The boy and his puppy went home after a while, leaving Wheein on the bench by herself. Truth was, she at navigating. She had never gone out alone without her walking cane before. Maybe she should’ve accepted the boy’s kind offer to walk her home, or maybe she should’ve chosen a walking cane made out of metal.

Wheein leaned against the bench and closed her eyes, feeling the early autumn air tickling her cheek. If she concentrated hard enough, she could still feel the slight humidity left by summer. And concentrating wasn’t that hard for her. Not after she lost her sight. The first few months was chaos, though. She didn’t have the courage to go out at all. She would just lock herself in the room, detached herself away from the life around her and there were days when she was completely oblivious to time. Didn’t matter anyway, it would always be dark.

Wheein’s reminiscence of years ago didn’t last long. She felt a light nudge against the shin of her leg, followed with a small bark.

What’s with puppies and her today? Did they mistake her as one of their allies or some sort?

“Hi there, little buddy.” Wheein slowly bent down, her fingers brushing against the puppy’s ear as it barked one more time. Wheein smiled, the puppy was just as small as she expected when she lifted it up to her lap. It almost immediately nuzzled against Wheein’s thigh and she had to bite on her lower lip, overwhelmed by the cuteness.

“Where’s your owner?” Wheein hummed, her fingers tracing against the back of the puppy’s ear, down to her neck, to find a leather collar there. She found a round pendant and traced her index finger against the surface, pleasant to find it embossed so that she could read it.

“Haeng... Woon? Ah, Haengwoon? Is that your name?”

The puppy answered with a bark, as if affirmatively confirming Wheein’s guess. The woman giggled, her concern about not being able to go home was soon lifted up with the surprise little companion she got. Wheein secretly hoped the owner took a while to get their puppy back.

And indeed, the owner did take a while.

Byulyi had circled around the park twice, her right hand tightly clasped around the leash of her dog, while her left hand holding onto the leash – but without her other dog.

“Where’s your sister, Daebakie?” Byulyi mumbled in concern. Daebak responded by stopping on his track to sniff on a flower. Byulyi could only sigh, tugging on the leash to get him going – almost to no avail, but at the second try, Daebak finally complied.

Byulyi had jogged at the nearby park, a part of her Sunday morning routine not to keep her fit, but to keep her dogs fit, especially after the vet told her Daebak might be obese. Understandable, remembering how Daebak was the homebody-dog type, more often than not too lazy to move. Her other dog, however, was a curious ball of energy. It shouldn’t surprise her when Haengwoon escaped from her leash and stormed away.

Just when Byulyi was about to go for her third lap, her eyes caught a very familiar figure on the bench across her. Raising her eyebrows in pleasant surprise, she saw a very familiar dog on her lap.

“And, there she is.” Byulyi mumbled, tugging on Daebak’s leash again – as the dog had decided to be sprawled on the ground, giving up on his legs – and half-dragged Daebak toward the bench.

------

Byulyi’s scent came first before her voice. Wheein looked up from her lap, feeling a presence right in front of her as her fingers brushed against Haengwoon’s soft fur.

“Moon Byulyi?” She mumbled, to which Byulyi responded with another raise of eyebrows.

“I am.” She answered. “How do you know?”

“The wind told me,” Wheein chuckled.

“’Course it did.” Byulyi smiled.

She was glad to see Wheein. Sunday morning. The park. Her dogs. Jung Wheein. Everything fit perfectly.

“It’s my dog,” Byulyi said, not being able to figure out any other thing to utter.

“Oh?” Wheein gently wrapped her hands around Haengwoon, lifting the puppy up. “Haengwoon is yours?”

“Yes.”

“But you can play with her a little longer if you want,” she quickly added.

So Wheein did. Byulyi took a seat beside her. Daebak was already falling asleep. Haengwoon too, in Wheein’s lap. They didn’t talk, but Byulyi thought again about how perfectly fitting everything was.

Just then, a familiar loud bell rang across the park, waking the dogs up and made Wheein sit up straight in anticipation. Byulyi took a note on that and looked at Wheein in amusement.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been sitting all day long here to wait for that ice cream?”

Wheein replied with a giggle, “Nah, that’s not a very adult-y thing to do.”

Byulyi got up, tying Daebak’s leash to the bench although she doubted he would ever run away.

“Alright, what flavor?”

“Vanilla!” Wheein replied in a heartbeat.

----

They had spent the entire evening together on the bench, talking about everything and nothing. Wheein would tell Byulyi about her earlier days, when she first started to learn how to play the piano. Byulyi told her about her dogs. When it started to get dark, Byulyi offered to walk Wheein home, which the latter accepted almost immediately. Wheein wasn’t fond of asking for other people’s help, especially ever since she lost her sight. But her cane was hopeless and besides, walking home with Byulyi didn’t sound half as bad.

They walked to Wheein’s house, less than a mile away from the park. Daebak trailing lazily behind while Wheein held Haengwoon in her arms. Byulyi commented about how a few months later Wheein wouldn’t bother carrying Haengwoon around anymore, considering the rapid size growth of Corgis. Wheein laughed in response.

“Still amusing how we actually live only a couple blocks away,” Byulyi said when they had reached Wheein’s house. Byulyi took her time to take a thorough look at the building. It was modest in size, painted in creamy white. Very minimalist and simple, but if it was to resemble Wheein, Byulyi was sure she would find magic inside.

“Maybe we’ve bumped into each other but we just haven’t known each other yet.” Wheein hummed, reaching into her pocket to take out her key.

“Yeah, maybe,” Byulyi mumbled. She would say she would definitely remember if she had bumped into Wheein, that it was almost impossible not to recognize her, but she kept it to herself. What was most likely was that Byulyi hadn’t really gone outside of her house. Not until several weeks ago. She had a fair share of period when she had hated to see people, hated the sun and the fresh air, so she imprisoned herself in her room, smelling like beer and cigarettes and leftover pizza.

“Thank you for walking me home,” Wheein uttered, dragging Byulyi back to reality. Haengwoon was already down on the ground, nuzzling against her brother.

“Oh yeah, sure. Take care,” she replied, watching Wheein inserted the key into her knob and pushed her door opened.

“Oh anyway!” Byulyi added, and Wheein stopped in her track, turning around to face Byulyi again.

“I watched your recital yesterday. You’re great.”

Great would be an understatement, but Moon Byulyi was never good at words.

Wheein smiled. But before she could respond, Byulyi had added

“Do you think we can hang out again some other times?”

Wheein raised her eyebrows at this, and Byulyi was as just taken aback as Wheein. Where the hell did that come from, Moon Byulyi?

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Wheein asked, half-jokingly, and Byulyi was almost grateful she couldn’t see the blush creeping on her cheeks.

“If... I am, will you say yes?”

Wheein laughed, amused.

“If we meet one more time, I’ll consider.”

-----

So, when Wheein caught a scent of mint and citrus while she was sitting down at the waiting lounge of Incheon Airport, her first response was to laugh.

Byulyi didn’t have to tell her she had begged her co-worker to exchange shifts.