Never in his life had Sungjae felt so dumbfounded, he honestly didn't know what to think.

Sungjae never expected anything when he wrote something down, but now that he received a reply…or was it even a reply? He couldn’t help but feel stumped. The easily irritable part of him had already screamed ‘What the hell is this?!’ inside his head the moment he saw what she wrote in response, while the rational, more mature part of him had calmed himself down and started deliberating on what it possibly meant.

Coming up with nothing he decided to try his luck again:

“You’re always taking care of other people. Thank you.

Please take care of yourself too.

—6”

When dismissal came rolling around, he discretely checked the announcement board to see if there was any reply, which wasn’t that unusual since he was part of the student council, moreover, he was the student head of the disciplinary committee, hence, keeping up to date was part of his job.

He, however, couldn’t deny the thrill and excitement that he felt inside, though his face showed none of it except for the faint, ghost of a smile that graced his lips. It was almost kind of funny how eager he was to look at the announcement board when on usual days, he had to drag himself there so that he could have something to report (some students use that board to post for a ‘lost item’ or a ‘found item’). Though a part of him had been cautioning himself to not hope too much, seeing as that she might have not replied or that she might not even ever reply, it didn’t cease his steps to slow down.

To his utter delight, she did:

“You cheered me up. Thank you.

Sincerely, Joy.”

Simple words. He thought.

Those were only simple words, but he could feel the sincerity in them. He felt oddly elated, blissful even, to be reading it. It made him feel proud of himself to have made a move because it made him feel as though he was getting closer to knowing her.

That day, he left school with a big smile on his face even if he had gotten scolded by Wendy, their SC vice-president, for being late, because he knew that it was the start of something new.

And he was right, from then on, they started having this odd pen pal arrangement. He would see her writing, he would reply, she would reply back and then they would talk about all sorts of things. Of course, they only talked about things that were not too deep nor too shallow.

Neither of them knew of each other’s name but they knew the other’s likes and dislikes, thoughts, opinions and beliefs.

One could say that they were friends…sort of. Well, they were, are, strangers, but friends…in a way.

And for Sungjae, that was enough, at least, for back then it was.

Because as the days passed, he started feeling greedy. He wanted to know more.

I wanted to know how you look like, how your voice sounds, the mannerisms in which you speak—I just wanted to know you. To meet you at least once. Because you intrigue me.

You intrigue me so much.

But I never knew how we were traipsing around each other, passing each other so frequently; had never known that I’ve already seen your face, heard your voice and knew what your laugh sounded like.

I’ve seen you, but I’ve never met you.

And when I learned of the face behind the writings…

…I realized that you were everywhere

It was all serendipitous happenstance, or in simpler terms, a of good luck, when he finally found out who the person behind ‘Joy’ was.

He was just about to enter a family restaurant famous for their delicious shaved-ice when he saw a familiar student from his school wear a sheepish yet unapologetic smile. The daughter of the owner of the store could be seen blatantly scolding her, yet it was obvious that the two shared a bond a together.

They were close, he was sure of it, if the boldness of his schoolmate’s actions meant anything.

By the time Sungjae pushed the glass door open, he had no time to admire the restaruant’s Japanese Zen-themed interior when Choi Sooyoung-ssi, as that was the name of the owner’s daughter, repeatedly hit the female student’s arm.  “Go out now you shameless woman. How can we share the same name and yet be so different?” He could faintly hear her exclaim with an exhausted sigh, one hand resting firmly on her hip as the other massaged her temples.

“You’re right.” His schoolmate agreed, even nodding her head, eyes twinkling playfully and lips curled into a teasing smile, “You were way worst, unnie. You kept doing the opposite of what your mom says that she chases you out with a broomstick. At least Choi-ahjumma is fond of me.” She winked.

Now Sungjae wasn’t one to eavesdrop, but what his schoolmate had said was right. It almost made him laugh that he resorted to discretely covering his mouth with the back of his hand to cover his smile. He could still remember how that noona and her mom frequently held their squabbles in public, often ending up with Mrs. Choi going back inside the kitchen to retrieve a broomstick. That was when he was still in elementary and in his first year of middle school. When Sooyoung went to college, the entire fiasco stopped, and she continued on finding success in becoming both a TV and music producer, as well as in being a song lyricist.

“Aish!” Sooyoung raised her hand as if to spank her but tucked it inside her apron’s pocket instead, “Just go. Don’t forget to tell your cousin what I said.”

The younger girl nodded, motioning as if she was about to leave, before stopping. Forming a heart shape with her fingers and winking at the older woman, “I love you, unnie.” She said.

Even though the action wasn’t directed at him (it almost felt like it was because he was situated behind Sooyoung’s back), it glued him to his place, his cheeks warming up at the realization that he liked it and that a small part of him almost wished that it was directed at him.

“That won’t earn you a free shaved-ice when you come here next time.” Sooyoung deadpanned, both hands now on her hips.

“Ah,” She pouted cutely, eyes still sparkling, as if she knew that what came out of Sooyoung’s mouth were all lies and that she will still get a free bing-soo out of her, “At least I tried.” She said with a careless shrug, “See you tomorrow, unnie!” She waved her hands before skipping out of the restaurant, humming like a child, passing by him without much of a thought and leaving behind a trail of fresh floral scent.

His eyes unconsciously followed her back, unsure about what drew him to her, before his line of thoughts were interrupted by Sooyoung herself, “Yook Sungjae-ah!” She motioned for him to come closer. “How’s Soojinnie?” She asked before gathering the used plates from the table.

“Hello, noona.” He greeted back, stepping closer towards with a curt smile, “My noona’s fine. Still grumbling about handling the family company though.” He replied, “Especially since our appa told her to choose between having an arranged marriage or becoming a CEO of our new hotel.”

At this, Sooyoung stopped what she was doing to give him the stink-eye, “Yah, you brat, are you bragging right now?”

His eyes widened, realizing how he sounded like, “Ani. It’s not like that.” He awkwardly scratched his neck as he looked around for a diversion while Sooyoung cradled the tray with one arm. “Who was that girl? She looks familiar.”

She snorted, “Of course she’s familiar, you, fool. She goes to your school.”

His face dropped, “You know what I mean.” He, almost, whined.

She chuckled, noting the stark similarities the boy had with his older sister, “She’s Park Sooyoung. A friend of Wendy’s and Chanyeol’s cousin. Aren’t you a part of the student council? Doesn’t she drop by from time to time in your meeting room to fetch your senior?”

He shook his head.

She nodded understandingly at his response, “What’s your order for today?” She asked him instead, motioning for him to sit, “The usual?”

He did as told and nodded.

She shot him a look, “There’s more to the store than just bing-soo, you know.” She frowned.

“I know.” He smiled playfully, “Your bing-soo is still the best. It would be nice if I could get it for free.”

“Yah!” She flicked his forehead, feeling slightly annoyed for having been told that twice, “How can the two of you remind me of each other so much, huh? Do you secretly know each other and are actually cavorting to make my life miserable? The free stuff I gave aren’t for free, you know. My mom takes it out of my salary. My salary.” She stressed.

Sungjae laughed, “Of course we don’t know each—” he accidentally glanced down and saw a freshly written quote signed by Joy, “—other.” He blinked, “Was the reason why you were scolding Sooyoung-ssi because of this?” He pointed at the vandal.

She heaved a sigh and nodded, having been reminded that she still had a mess to clean, “That girl always leaves vandals. They’re sweet and all, and really makes the person reading it feel happy, cleaning it isn’t the fun part.” She glared at the writing, “It was all cute and nice until she started scratching the table and used permanent markers. My mom took everything out of my salary to replace all the damaged furniture. I had to starve for half a month.”

Sungjae laughed, though it was more because of glee for having finally known who Joy was rather than of amusement caused by her circumstance. That didn’t stop the older of the two to hit his arm to shut him up though.

He hissed then pouted.

Oh well, at least he now knew who she was and could further stop imagining who she could be and how she might've looked like.

Knowing that she was extremely attractive was a bonus too. Not only did she have a pretty face, she had a pretty heart.

Just like him.

And he also liked the fact that they were connected indirectly through the people they both knew because it almost felt like…fate…?

In school,

He must be crazy for intentionally seeking her out.

He never pegged himself for a stalker but…well…some things really do happen that brings out aspects of oneself, one never knew they had. For one, he already knew he was persistent as he was the kind of person that doesn’t stop until he got what he wanted, but he never knew he was this persistent. This level of extremity was actually beyond him because he was used to being sought out rather than the one seeking out.

“Oppa!” He stopped shortly at the familiar voice and looked over his shoulder to see the one that called out to him. To his pleasant surprise, he saw Kim Yerim, a student from the middle school division and the daughter of his aunt’s best friend, approach him. He used to tutor her before when her anime addiction caused her to drop her overall GPA and flunk her math and science subjects, but he had gotten too busy because of school activities that he quit. On the bright side, they got her another tutor, a female one.

As far as he knew, she was doing a whole lot better now even if she was still technically into anime.

He turned to face her, “Kim Yerim-ssi, what are you doing here?”

She smiled at him, “I came here to look for, Sooyoung-unnie.” She said.

The name perked him up even though he knew that ‘Sooyoung’ was a common and frequently used name in Korea, “Sooyoung...?”

She nodded, “Yeah. Park