November 21, 2015.

 

    There were so many people walking across the crosswalk, some were walking in group, some others had their phone and earphone plugged in their ears. It was another yet busy hour of Apgujeong, a district where all prominent businesses in the state take place, despite the cold weather and the fact that it was Friday. Every living person would probably choose to snuggle up in bed with their warm blankets rather than being outside in this kind of weather. Unexceptionally the woman who settled herself on a chair at the corner of one novelty café in Apgujeong. Exactly two hours ago she was still enjoying her resting time in the softness of her bedding. Until one particular woman around her age barged into her room and literally pulled her up and dragged her to the bathroom.

     It will be fun, she said, thought she.

Her eyes roamed around the café, for the umpteenth time. The interiors actually impressed her once she set her eyes to them a while ago. This café, Ziferblat, is one of those cafes which have unique decorations and theme, and this café was vintage-themed. Everything about this café speaks vintage, even the waiters and waitress. Literally and figuratively. The waiters and waitress in Ziferblat are foreigners, and they are at least in their late 30s already, not to mention their demeanor are like those you see in 1940’s movies about Great Britain’s Royal Family. It was enchanting for her to be in such ambience she likes. She has always been a hardcore fan of classic stuff, after all. Those things were not the only thing that she likes about this café.

     The idea for Ziferblat is brilliant. It’s a ‘treehouse for adults’, as they say – a Russian concept that encourages creativity and collaboration. “Think of Ziferblat as an extension of your own home;” they say, “a place to relax, meet new friends, discover new experiences”. Thus explains the bookshelves with hundreds of secondhand books, billiard table, classic piano, and even a large vintage television in the middle of the café. The idea is that everything inside the café is free – except for your time. You’re given an alarm clock as you enter, and hand it back as you leave; your only charge being how much time you spent in the café.

     She turned her head to where her friend who, forcefully, brought her to the place and forthwith her lips upturned into a smile. One that was so genuine and happy for she could see how happy her friend was at the moment.

     Her friend—or to be more precise, her very best friend and also her roommate, Bom, brought to this place because she was a total nervewreck. Who wouldn’t though? She just tried her luck when she threw a joke about inviting her boss to dinner, which probably was answered by The Cupid himself because her boss agreed without hesitation. Bom said she was half hoping her boss wouldn’t say yes because she wasn’t ready, not when she was only joking and was actually hoping that he would be the one to ask firsthand. Bom has been working as his Design Editor from months ago. He’s the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Korea. Bom has mused her admiration and keenness for her boss ever since three months ago to her roommate, which her roommate responded with protests each time. Bom was never the type to blabber about love and stuff, she was one of those logical beings out there, who actually uses her brain a lot more than the times she relies on her feelings.

     Damn Choi Seunghyun and his sweet gentle smile, deep dark orbs which seem like he could see through you, his baritone voice which triggers this phenomenon called eargasm each time, and… And what were the other things she told me about this man, again? Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she tried to recall everything that Bom has elaborated very very clearly to her.

     “Sandara-ssi?” A voice of a man brought her back from trance. She slowly turned her head to the man who was sitting opposite her across the rounded wooden table. She let out a small hum, giving a sign that she grants the man to proceed with his words. They have been sitting technically together for a while now, yet their conversation was always put on halt. Or rather, one of the involved parties didn’t want to be involved at all.

     “You love your best friend so much, don’t you?” he asked, his dark brown eyes dancing with amusement. Sandara could only nod before shifting her gaze to the red-haired woman sitting across a manly looking man, seeming to be engaged in an animated conversation.

     “She’s my only stone. When all is shaken, she becomes my safety. I’d literally take a bullet for her because she deserves all the best things in life,” she said, unconsciously curling another smile. Then she sifted her gaze back to the man. After minutes which felt like decades, it was the very first time she actually looked at him. She did see him, but she didn’t bother to look at him. She noticed a friendly smile on the latter’s countenance, one that could make you mirror his smile because it is really contagious. She noticed how young he looks despite that he’s reaching his 30s soon, his face gives you the impression that he was sent to earth by Gabriel himself because this man right here looks so pure, so innocent, so naïve, so that Sandara felt slight guilt at the thought of ever getting rid of him in any way possible. She noticed his face was poised in a crescent smile, his eyes fixed above him, envisioning her.

     Staring at him felt like having yourself in a pool of cool water on a hot day.

     He tilted his head slightly to one side, like a puppy, only that this puppy happens to be a hottie as well, despite that he has a youthful looks. He expected Sandara to say something more since he had noticed her voice was hanging in the air.

     “What about you, Kiyong-ssi? I heard you’re Seunghyun-ssi’s Managing Director.” Kiyong gave her a confident nod.

    “And also his friend from when he couldn’t even say anything but crying.” Dara found herself copied what he just did earlier, tilting her head.

    “He’s my cousin. We grew up together in the same block. We fought a lot but we stuck to each other almost all the time, courtesy to our mothers,” he said and emitted a feeble chuckle after. Sandara smiled upon seeing his eyes not only curved into crescent, but they also are almost closed when he laughs.

    “What’s your hobby, Kiyong-ssi?” she asked out of the blue, surprising the latter and also herself. She seemed like she would do anything only to run away from here few minutes ago, but now she just made herself sound like she actually wanted to be here, to actually talk with him. Kiyong looked down as he tried to stifle a smile and met her awaiting gaze before he spoke.

    “Nothing in particular. I’m fond of doing nothing and just savor the situation I’m in. The sounds that other creatures make, the snippets of people’s conversations, the weather, the ambience. Watching people do their thing,” he paused and looked around, “Have you ever found yourself wondering what other’s thinking when you see them in the street, in the hallway, or when you see them sitting on a park bench? You will unconsciously feel something when you see a frown on their forehead, or a face stoic of expression, or a smile that wasn’t even directed to you. I find myself at peace whenever I spare my time to do that. It’s calming, it makes me feel everybody is fighting their own battle, and my life is actually pretty alright. We’re all in this together and we’re all going to make it together.”

    One edge of Sandara lips upturned, forming a crooked smile. This man isn’t only gifted his good looks, but also his extraordinary mind. She noticed his cheeks take on a reddish hue that rivals their dinner tomatoes, a grin wrinkled his cheeks. She cleared for he looked at her asking the same question, which sounded like it was the second time he asked. She has been staring at him for God knows how long.

    “I like books and movies, classics in particular. I like picturing myself as the story’s main character, I like the feeling of living someone else’s life for a moment because it feels like I’m infinite. I can be anyone I want without worrying about the future. Most authors don’t kill their main character, you know. If I happen to read a book which has the main character killed, it’s fine. I still have other books to read and I come back alive as someone else. Over and over again.”

    “Madame, all stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you. Any man's life, told truly, is a novel,” he curtly said. She emitted a soft chortle as amusement tickled her sense. He likes to listen. He has learned a great deal from listening carefully. The tingling of her laughter was probably his favorite sound so far, alongside the sound of rain battering roof like a hail of bullets and hammered down on the ground. In fact, her laughter reminds him of rain. It gives him peace, and solace.

    “Did you know you just quoted one of my favourite writers?” Kiyong arched his eyebrows, feigning surprise. Dara let out another chortle.

    “Sir Hemingway is indeed an amazing writer. Brevity is the soul of wit, and he always succeeds in writing beautiful stories with simple words,” Kiyong declared.

    “And you just yet to quote my other favorite writer.”

    “Shakespeare has sass. The very first moment I beheld him, my heart was irrevocably gone.” Dara laughed instantly. She was truly fascinated of the fact that he just quoted Hemingway, Shakespeare, and Austen. Her three favorite writers of all time. Kiyong found himself smiling too. Who wouldn’t when her laughter itself sounds like a blessing? Her laughter was clear, it’s like a lozenge you eat to relieve your throat, only that this time it’s his ears which were relieved.

     “Kiyong-ssi, I’m afraid I will not stop talking to you if you can guess my last, but not least, favorite author. I’ve been looking for someone who share the same interests as I do, but I’ve found none.” Kiyong’s face lit up upon the offer she just made.

     “Clue?” Sandara shook her head, however she opened her naturally rosy red lips to speak.

     “The secret was such an old one now, had so grown into me and become a part of myself, that I could not tear it away.” She curled an impish grin and he furrowed his eyebrows. He brainstormed, trying to recall where he had read that sentence before.

    “I know I’ve read that somewhere, but I can’t seem to recall.” Dickens is her most favorite author, and she was sure he would be able to guess. She had great expectations and she was quick to accept a disappointment, even if it was the slightest. At least he still manages to figure out the other three, she thought.

    “You don’t remember or you don’t know, actually?” she asked, her disappointment was clear in her voice.

    “I don’t remember.”

    “Honest?” Dara asked as if she didn’t want to believe that he had missed out on the most important thing of her trivia. Books have been her company all these time, and these particular four authors have taught her a lot, especially Dickens. Kiyong nodded his head once again. He leaned forward to speak with a voice only they can hear.

    “Madame, to conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.”

    Dara felt her heart could have leapt out of its nest if not for her ribs, though she has small body, her ribs were strong enough to prevent her to be heartless, literally. Her hand moved itself to where her heart is and she could feel it beating so fast. She had felt it skipped a beat beforehand when Kiyong smiled at her after saying those words.

    “Bomma, I don’t want to go!” she protested strongly as Bom dragged her to the bathroom. But knowing Bom, she wouldn’t ever let anything or anyone to stop her from going to a date today, not even her very best friend. Not when her date is her very own boss, someone who has never left her mind since three months ago.

    “Who is this Choi Seunghyun man to make you like this, Bomma? Really, you’ve never been this way before.” Bom threw a glance to her and answered her with a smile instead, her hands glided over the steering wheel as she turned her car to the left.

    “Which is exactly why I need you to be there, Dee. You’re the only one who knows everything about me, and I want you to know another thing that makes me blissfully happy.” Sandara had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Bom was being a total fool before the power of Love. She started blabbering cheesy words ever since she confessed to Sandara that she adores her boss. Sandara often finds Bom lost in her own fantasy land, probably a land made of corns with a lot of extraterrestrial creatures living on it, rolling over the rainbow and shower in glitters.

    “Don’t worry, his friend will be there to give you company.” Sandara shot her a are-you-serious-right-now look, which Bom unintentionally ignored because she didn’t see her giving that look.

    “Not only I have to witness how my best friend is taken away from me, I also need to entertain an unknown person? I am not even amused myself, how can I possibly amuse that person?” Bom let out a chortle at Sandara’s response. Exactly how she had imagined it would be. Sandara might has the look of someone so fragile, so ethereal, so pure that you can hardly believe she can kill a damn mosquito. But Bom knows better. Sandara was never a namby-pamby to begin with. She has a petite frame, yes, but she has bigger balls and guts than most of those men out there. Sandara has profound principles which she holds dearly, and Bom respects her for that. A woman with principles like Sandara is quite scarce nowadays.

    “This unknown person’s name is Jang Kiyong. He’s Seunghyun’s Managing Director. Dee, I know you trust me, so I’m going to emphasize this point to you: he’s a good man. You’ll be fine with him.”

    Bom was wrong. Sandara was clearly not fine with him. Her heart was beating so fast, for God’s sake! She didn’t know whether it was the hearth, but she could feel the warmth of her whole body converged on her cheeks. She felt some unknown creatures tickling her stomach, but it didn’t make her uncomfortable at all. In fact, they were the reason why she let out a chortle, so happy it could make the devils smile, too.

    Bom was wrong. Sandara was not fine. She was feeling amazing. Maybe it was his good sense of humor, using Dickens’ words to play with her. Or maybe the way his eyes curved into crescent shape whenever he smiles or laughs. Probably the way he bores his eyes into hers when he talks. Or perhaps, it was because after 28 years of her life, she had never once hoped to find someone so wonderful like him and here he was. Little did she know that she had actually hoped what Kiyong just said was sincere, he was not merely quoting Dickens. She au fond hoped that Kiyong really did open his heart. For her. For them.

    Unknown to her, Kiyong hoped the same. It was enchanting to meet her, he acknowledges. He is always the one to cherish every present moment, and no words could possibly fathom just how much he treasures that very moment when he saw Sandara’s cheeks hued to red. He has conceded that it was probably how ‘love at first sight’ feels like.

    Surely, coming with their best friend to this place wasn’t a bad idea at all.

    Somewhere in the room, suspending in mid-air, were a pair of winged creatures, giggling giddily to themselves as they exchanged a wink. They were holding a bow made of pure gold, the arrows on their quivers have heart-shaped pointy end. The cupids were rejoicing because their mission involving each pairing was a total success.