Shin Yura’s life is a routine.

Although her job allows for flexible hours, she keeps to a strict schedule of working from 9am to 6pm each day. She finishes her research, interviews and articles for the magazine that she is working for during office hours so that she can reach home by 6.45pm. Dinner will take half an hour to prepare and she can dig in while watching the 7.20pm drama on SBS.

Her routine revolves around ‘observing’.

She observes trends for her job. Fashion, lifestyle, entertainment...the list goes on. Depending on what she is tasked to write on, she shifts her focus. People always want to know what trends are popular because this is what people do, they follow and mimic. Yet, this is not the kind of observer Yura is. For her, watching and analysing comes hand in hand. She always has to answer the ‘why’ question. She needs to know why things happen a certain way. This is because her goal is not to mimic but instead, empathize. When she researches and interviews people, she finds herself understanding the world a bit better. She internalizes the different motivations, tastes and opinions people have. By empathizing, it makes her feel like she is living different lives at once.  This also translates into why she loves to watch movies, dramas and read books. She lives her life through these fictional characters. Their pain is her pain. Their happiness is her happiness. Despite how much Yura enjoys all these activities, these are all secondary to her favourite hobby which she indulges in twice a week, over the weekends.

It was a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon.

Yura cycled leisurely on her sky-blue bicycle along the Han River. Her eyes curved into crescents behind her sunglasses as she took in the positive vibes of Hangang Park on a cool spring day. There was so much activity going on – people were rollerblading, flying kites, playing basketball etc. The whole park was just alive with laughter and movement. She decelerated as she reached her destination. It was a small and quiet café situated by the river. She locked her bicycle in one of the bicycle lots and entered the café. The entire structure of the café was made of glass – opaque when you view it from the outside but transparent from the inside. This was why she liked this café so much. It was the perfect place for her to indulge in her favourite hobby – people-watch.

She ordered a green tea Frappuccino and found a seat by the floor to ceiling glass windows. Even though fictional characters were interesting, real people were more complex and fascinating. There was no condescension in Yura’s observing. The glass windows were unlike the ones at the zoo which allow people to look at animals in their ‘natural habitat’. No, these windows formed a fourth wall. She was the audience to hundreds of actors at this moment. Each individual was the main character of their own show. She was glad that she was done with her latest article and could relax in a more peaceful environment instead of people-watching at Myeong-Dong, trying to understand the latest fashion trend. A couple on a tandem bicycle rode past and her eyes wandered to the male at the front who kept turning his head to look at his girlfriend, making sure that she was doing fine. The tender look on his face created a warm feeling in her chest.

I wonder how it would be like to have such a caring boyfriend…

Her eyes then trailed to two teenage boys who had their arms around each other’s shoulders while they rollerbladed slowly together. A pensive smile made its way up Yura’s face as she thought about her own childhood.

If I had not simply focused on studying and working part-time, maybe I would have had made good memories with a best friend…

The two friends came to a stop by a bench where a young toddler was taking shaky steps by herself. was open and her eyes were twinkling with laughter as she took small steps with her parents watching by her side. 1, 2, and she fell on her bottom and began chuckling to herself. Yura could not help but giggle at the adorable little girl before her attention was once again caught by something else outside.

A man lifted his fragrant cup of coffee to his lips and took a sip. His eyebrows creased as he looked through a few interviews he had done for the latest article he was planning to submit to a magazine company on his laptop.

Hmm…Somehow they just feel lacklustre. Maybe if I-

He got distracted by a soft giggle in the quiet café. He looked up and saw a lady with soft brown hair that went past her shoulders, sitting by the windows and smiling by herself. She had pretty features – bright round eyes, a sharp nose and small cherry lips. He traced what she was looking at and followed her gaze out the windows to a little girl trying to stand up by herself but fell back on her bottom instead. He his own chin, tracing his jawline with his finger and thumb, something that he always does when he was deep in thought before resting his fist on his lips and watched the lady.

Hmm…

Yura felt like she had watched over 20 mini-films just by people-watching. She was feeling slightly exhausted from feeling all kinds of emotions – pride when the toddler successfully walked towards her parents without falling; melancholic when she saw a young lady sitting by herself, checking her watch constantly…It was only when she shifted her concentration away from the happenings outside then did she feel that something was off. It was a queer sensation, something which she has never experienced before. Sure, she was used to the casual glances that people would throw at her because she was young and decent looking. However, she was never looked at with such intensity. She brought her gaze to meet that of the man who was sitting a few tables in front of her. He caught her gaze steadily with a teasing glint in his eyes.

She was being observed.

Yura choked on her drink and started coughing, trying to get the liquid out of her air pipes. The man stood up and packed his stuff with a full-blown smile on his face when he saw Yura’s shocked face. He approached her with confidence and a wide smile that showed his gums. He had small black studs on his ear lobes, accentuating his black orbs. His face was handsome and his fringe was swept off his face. He stood before her with his bag slung casually over his shoulder and asked with a baritone voice,

“May I?”

Yura finally got over her coughing and gestured to the seat opposite her politely albeit confused,

“Please.”

Now that he was finally going to talk to her, his ears turned red from shyness. Even though he has done this countless of times, it never gets easier.

I guess this is why I’m an introvert.

“Hi,” he began. “I’m sorry to surprise you like this but I’m a freelance journalist. My name is Bang Yongguk.” He finished before putting his name-card on the table.

“I’m currently preparing an article on the theme ‘Youth’ which I am planning on submitting to the spring edition of ‘Life’ magazine and I would like to interview you.” He finished with a charming smile.

Yura frowned slightly. She was a journalist herself but she had never conducted an impromptu interview with such an unorthodox method. Yet, hearing that this was an article for ‘Life’ magazine, one of the most popular lifestyle magazines, stopped her from rejecting his request immediately. She saw the sincerity in his eyes and decided to give him a chance.

“What is your direction for the article?” she asked. “I’m not so sure if I’m suitable for this interview,” voicing her doubt.

Yongguk broke out into a smile, “If that’s what you’re worried about, just know that it is not necessary. I get inspiration from my interviewees and I like to keep my options open. I find that articles work best with this fluidity.”

Yura silently compared his method to hers. She is a rigid person. She would never go into an interview unprepared and her direction for the piece would always be its foundation. If it shifted then that would mean that her work would crumble. His methodology intrigued her.

“I’ll do my best,” she replied with a nod, confirming her participation.

Upon hearing the answer, he nodded gratefully at her and flipped open his laptop, getting ready to transcribe the conver