Kim Dong-Hyub had missed a call from an unknown number.  It was rare enough.  He called the number.

“Hello, I had a missed call from this number”

He did not want to share his name.  He had no idea who it was.

“Kim Dong-Hyub?  Hello, I am Lee Pil-suk.  How are you?”

How did she get his number?

“Your friend Colin gave me your number.  I hope it is okay” She immediately said as if she was reading his thoughts.

“Hi, How are you?  Yeah, it is okay.  I had asked him to do that if was able to meet you.  I heard you were looking for me.”  Kim Dong-Hyub was very polite.  He had no idea what this was about.  He wanted to be as careful as he could be.  ‘That rascal could have warned me’ he thought about Colin.

“You must be surprised why I was looking for you.  Han Tae-sun told me you guys were going out and I wanted to….”  ‘oh dear.  What do I tell him?  That I wanted to see if he was a psycho?’  Suddenly Pil-suk panicked.  “Hmmm… You know, he is my friend.  Not in any other way.  I have a boyfriend.  You know he is just my friend and you know, like I wanted …..” She trailed completely lost for words.

Kim Dong-Hyub had just registered ‘Han Tae-sun told me you guys were going out’ Rest of it was noise.  “Ah, did he say that we were going out?”  The girl was saying something but he interrupted. 

“You are, right?” Lee Pil-suk asked.

“If he said we are, then yes, we are” Kim Dong-Hyub said.  He felt ecstatic.  He almost wanted to raise his fist and say ‘Yey yey” but he restrained himself.  Han Tae-sun had told his friend they were going out!  Despite his confidence that he would get Han Tae-sun back, hearing this made him his heart rest.  He felt happy, content and also warm all over his body.   His heart was beating faster. 

Lee PIl-suk really had no idea what to say next.  “Hmm.. I thought I would introduce myself you know..  That was why I was looking for you.”

“I really appreciate that.  Hmmmm… Does he know you are calling me?” Kim Dong-Hyub asked.  

“No.  He would be very upset” Lee Pil-suk said honestly.

“I don’t want to sound weird.  But I have known Han Tae-sun since he was 6 years old.  And…. Hmmm…when he said, he was going out with you, I was hmmmm, like, hmmm, wanted to know who you are…  I love him you know… oh but not that way…..but, you know…”

It was the most awkward conversation Lee Pil-suk had had in her life.  ‘What was she doing?’

Kim Dong-Hyub sensed he was going through a vetting process.  It was clear that Han Tae-sun was very close to Lee Pil-suk.  She loved him and anyone who loved Han Tae-sun who was not his competition would be very dear to his heart.  And he wanted to make her comfortable.  “I get it.  Should we may be get some coffee together?”.  It felt awkward but he was not really sure how else to go about it.

Lee Pil-suk brightened at that.  “Hmmm.. Han Tae-sun would not like that we are talking about him behind his back.  He will forgive me but you know, you are just starting….”  She wanted to protect whatever they had.

“I will not tell him” Kim Dong-Hyub promised.  He felt slightly guilty.  But they were not in contact anyway and one day, when they get back together, he would tell him.  It was really not such a big deal.  Both of them had his interest in their hearts.  He still felt slightly guilty. 

So, they fixed a time and place.  It was going to be tomorrow.  After they got off their classes. 

Lee Pil-suk told her boyfriend.  “Don’t you think this is too much?  If I were Han Tae-sun, I would hate this”. 

She agreed that Han Tae-sun would hate this.  “But, he has no one looking out for him.  He does not talk to anyone.  Someone has to do this, don’t you think?” 

“He is an adult sweety.  No one likes this kind of interference.  Even if it is family.”  He tried to reason with her.  He knew it was a losing battle but the whole thing just did not sound right.  

But she was not listening.  She was too excited.  She also seemed to be enjoying herself.  He loved her and if this made her this cheerful, who was he to say anything.  He never really felt any competition with Han Tae-sun.  They were like brother and sister.  He had seen their interactions.  There was nothing threatening about it.  She had told him Han Tae-sun had gone through very difficult times.  She was trying to bring happiness in his life.  He could not tell her that Han Tae-sun had to do it for himself in the end.  No matter how much she tried, it was really about what two people felt for each other.  When he had tried telling her that, she had said “Sometimes, someone else could bring clarity.  It could avoid a long learning curve and accelerate things”. 

…..

It had been almost couple of weeks since they had interacted.  After the way Kim Dong-Hyub had behaved about Park Hyun-ki, Han Tae-sun was surprised Kim Dong-Hyub had kept himself away for this long.  ‘Did I push too much?’  But Kim Dong-Hyub had made it clear that it was Han Tae-sun’s turn.  He could call him whenever he was ready.  Han Tae-sun did not feel he was ready for the Kim Dong-Hyub who was possessive and all consuming.  But he was ready for Kim Dong-Hyub who had looked unsure, had asked him out and had confessed his feelings too quickly without worrying about pride or consequences.  May be it was time. 

KDH’s phone vibrated.  He had a text.  The text was from Han Tae-sun.

“What are you doing today?”

Kim Dong-Hyub had to control his heartbeat.  He did not want to show he was more affected by this.  He would use the tone Han Tae-sun was using.

“I have a date with a possible friend”

It was actually Lee Pil-suk.  Kim Dong-Hyub felt it was more important to keep his date with Lee Pil-suk than get carried away with Han Tae-sun’s message.  He felt guilty about it.  ‘Should I tell Pil-suk and cancel?’ he thought to himself.

Han Tae-sun did not like it said ‘date’.  ‘If he wanted space, he was going to give some’

“May be we should talk.  Let me know when.” Han Tae-sun texted back.  Texting was easier than having conversations and revealing what it felt.

“I should be done by 7”  Kim Dong-Hyub texted back. 

“You said it was a date” Han Tae-sun texted back.

For some reason Kim Dong-Hyub felt erse pleasure.  But, nothing was more important.

“Not that kind.  7.30?  Where?”

Han Tae-sun answered.  “Let’s meet tomorrow.  I will call you.”

Kim Dong-Hyub felt extremely frustrated.  He wanted Han Tae-sun to say, ‘my apartment’ or ‘your apartment’.  But that was not going to happen.  He sounded determined that he wanted to talk and actually that was good.  ‘Why was he always thinking with his ?’  “Okay.  I know a really good park swing.  There are two” Kim Dong-Hyub said.

“Park swing sounds good” Han Tai-sun texted back.  Kim Dong-Hyub imagined Han Tae-sun smiling.

So, they decided to meet tomorrow at the park.  Well, it was the safest place Kim Dong-Hyub thought.  Pubs were loud, restaurants too corny and apartments too .  Park was the safest.  They could just talk.  That was what they needed.  Han Tae-sun had decided finally to reach out to him and Kim Dong-Hyub was going to make it as comfortable as possible.

But, he might learn something from Lee Pil-suk that would help him and he was  determined to whatever to get Han Tae-sun back. 

….

Kim Dong-Hyub waved at Lee Pil-suk as she came in.  She looked bubbly as ever.  Kim Dong-Hyub hoped she would lead the conversation.  He was not sure what the conversation was about.

After all the pleasantries, she finally blurted out.

“Han Tae-sun said he was going out with you but he was not talking to you right now because you were crowding him.”

Kim Dong-Hyub sighed.  Well, he had already known that. 

“Hmmm.. I was kind of crowding him” Kim Dong-Hyub said.  Lee Pil-suk was surprised by that honest admission.

“I heard you are just coming out.  I am sorry I am too personal” Lee Pil-suk said.  “Han Tae-sun has had a hard time in his life.  I, you know, miss him the way he was.  He was so care free.  He had this laugh.”  Suddenly, Lee Pil-suk was teary eyed.  ‘Why was this emotional?’

“He has not been happy for a long time.  And, you know, I want him to be happy.  I love him so much” It was definitely the beers.  She always got emotional when she got buzzed especially if it was about Han Tae-sun.

Kim Dong-Hyub said “I love him.  I am just waiting for him”.

“I think he likes you.  I don’t know but you are the only one he has talked about since Oska.  So…”

“Who is Oska?” Kim Dong-Hyub asked.  That name did not register. 

“You don’t know who is Oska?  The singer?”

“The Singer?  Isn’t he married?  What is his connection with Han Tae-sun?”

Lee Pil-suk did not feel it was right to tell him about this.  She was too buzzed.  Oska was too personal to Han Tae-sun and she was not going to be the one who would tell Kim Dong-Hyub about this.  She already felt she had gone beyond what was acceptable.  Her intention was to find out if the guy was psycho and it definitely did not look like it.  Kim Dong-Hyub seemed to care for Han Tae-sun and so far as he was not a deviant, she was okay with it.  Han Tae-sun cared for him.  If Kim Dong-Hyub’s only fault was caring more, then, she was fine.  Han Tae-sun will figure it out and work this out. 

“Oh… Sorry.  I think I am a little buzzed.  If you want help with anything, let me know.  I think Han Tae-sun likes you.  So, persist okay?  Don’t crowd him.”

She got up too quickly and held her head while swaying a little.  “Let me drop you”.  She gave him the address.  Her boyfriend was waiting for her and Kim Dong-Hyub did not look dangerous.

…..

“What does Oska have anything to do with Han Tae-sun?” That was the only thought Kim Dong-Hyub had after he dropped Lee Pil-suk off.  He suddenly realized how little he knew about Han Tae-sun.  He had felt too attracted to Han Tae-sun physically and he had not yet taken his time to really get to know him.  He also felt emotionally connected but he really did not know Han Tae-sun.  Lee Pil-suk said he had had a hard time.  He had something with this Oska guy.  ‘I am saying I love him but I don’t really know anything about him.  What does that say about me?’ KDH thought with regret.  He needed to learn more.  He was not doing this right.  ‘No matter his past, I love him.’  But he has to love me back.  And I don’t know enough about him and I have acted like an idiot. 

Kim Dong-Hyub could not wait for tomorrow.  They were going to talk.  Kim Dong-Hyub would make sure of that.  He would not think about .  He wanted to know Han Tae-sun. Everything about him.  Even if it took all night on that swing.