Following your college graduation, you had decided – upon extensive reflection – that the possibility of a future in your hometown vanished ever since your older brother had left to get lost in the craziest of all cities. Jay was, after all, a daredevil; a boy who could never stay still, a nanny nerve-wrecker and a son every mom always feared to have. His little adventures first started by mere journeys on a rusty bike but soon turned into midnight escapes and late morning returns, and as he grew older, he had completely turned into a ghost. Incidentally, during the time he still lived in your family’s house, you always considered yourself to be quite lucky on the rare occasions you’d find your brother at home.

That being said, Jay adored you; so much that he’d always refuse to let you come with him on his little trips and even though you wished your company would’ve sufficed, you knew all too well that his happiness couldn’t be found at one place only. Nevertheless, even if your brother were to be gone for a long time, he’d always make sure to come back when the leaves turn orange to give you your birthday present; a postcard of the place he had recently been to.

It took you quite a couple of lonely birthdays to accept that your big brother was gone for good and that it was your turn to come find him. Thus, after having gained your parents’ trust over the years and after having given them what they desired the most from you – a diploma – you bought a train ticket and packed your bags to go find Jay. Never in your life had you climbed on board of such terrifying adventure to the unknown but the adrenaline that pumped your heart made you realize why your brother craved such kind of escape.

. . .

Moon Side Avenue  – 9 p.m

It was approximately 9 p.m when the wind whistled for the first time, a Saturday that had been dull and lazy. Now hidden by the night and by the shadows of tall buildings turned into dark shapes, the streets were roaring and shinning brighter than the moon; cars honking through the veins of the city, streetlights putting the stars to sleep and laughter ringing at every corner of the venue.

The crowd that had settled in the neighborhood of the Moon Side Avenue was livelier than it had been in a while; familiar voices sharing familiar humour and familiar smiles reflecting the shimmers of the street. They were mainly from young men and young women who, by casual misfortune, had gotten their shift done later than usual, from friends ready to bet their pay-check on a youthful evening and, more often than not, from miserable people who weren’t so miserable at night. The type mattered not, for at approximately 9 p.m on a Saturday that had been dull and lazy, everyone mingled perfectly into a cocktail of sugar and tonic.

On the craziest night of the craziest week and during the wildest hours of the day, you flew in like a new bird from calmer lands. You were the new girl in town – still unknown and mysterious – and even though you had three maps of the city in your possession, you had gotten lost on the street parallel to the legendary Moon Side Avenue.

Under the blanket of noise that escaped from the youthful neighboring street, different kinds of sounds pierced through the thick silence of the dreadful Sunday Avenue; often of malicious snickers occasionally accompanied by the clatter of cans being kicked around.

As chills ran down your spine, the voices behind you kept getting more audible by the step and you heard yourself curse under your breath for the nth time.

Crap! These guys have been following me for a while now. Should I start to run or should I simply stop being paranoid?

With nervous glances, you tried to concentrate on reading the streets' name right and looked once more at the piece of paper on which the address of a restaurant was written. Reaching for your phone that was lost somewhere in the abyss of your bag, you also took the care of fishing out Jay’s last postcard in hope to reassure yourself from the gang of boys lurking behind.

The picture on the front of the dog-eared postcard was a breathtaking shot of the Moon Side Avenue glowing at night by its million of lights and at the back, a handwritten message in blue ink.

“Come here if ever you get lost,

Come here if ever you get bored,

Come here if ever you miss me.

Find me where the lights are.

Jay x”

Though it had been years since Jay had given you the postcard, you had a feeling – or to the least, a desperate hope – that he was still somewhere around, roaming the streets of the ‘Moon Side Avenue’ he seemed so fond of. Perhaps caught by a sudden mix of fear and nostalgia, you let unexpected tears roll down your cheeks and land onto Jay’s blue words.

How am I even going to find you, Jay? Why don’t you have a phone? What am I suppose to do here? I’m lost and I miss you. Stupid brother.

Before the ink would be smudged out from your salty tears, you wiped your face with the back of your hand and put your brother’s gift away. As the wind whistled again and came to dance with your hair, you noticed that the voices behind you had disappeared as if they were instantly swept away by the breeze. Curious, you turned around only to come face to face with a gang of six boys who had a mischievous smirk shaping their lips. From the corner of your eyes, you discerned with faint horror a glimmer in the dark that seemed to come from a knife held by one of the scary youngsters.

“Good evening sw-”

The leader of the gang was cut off in his sentence by your purse that you had swung to his face with a loud shriek before leaving in a sprint. With your heart in your throat and a hand busy holding onto the strap of your bag, you quickly sent a prayer to God and ran faster than you never thought you ever could.

Lord I can’t believe I just hit a boy in the face!!! Have I gone mad?? They were six for heaven’s sake!! I’ve got to get rid of these reflexes!!

Tears were just about to pool in your eyes again as you dashed around a corner and met the blinding lights of the shiniest of all streets. Struck by the drastic change of filter, you slowed down your pace and allowed your jaw to drop in awe.

That’s....that’s exactly what’s on Jay’s postcard! This is Moon Side Avenue!! I’m not lost anymore!

While your gaze roamed the busy street – your older brother being the only thing in your mind – you suddenly caught the name of the restaurant where you were supposed to meet your old friend. A sudden wave of joy and relief crashed through your whole body and made your accelerate towards your destination.

The doors of the Late Night Wonders restaurant swung open and let you rush in with strong wind, your hair still waving in the air and your face reflecting the paleness of the moon. Soon enough, your heartbeat eased to the warmth of the room and to hearty laughter, to the sound of clattering utensils and of old news being exchanged, and to dim light confronting candle sparks. The restaurant was cozy and garnished by a generous amount of mirrors on its walls, waiters here and there to serve people in a nice dress shirt.

“Jihyun! Over here!”

A voice emerged from a crowd of Bright Young Things and you immediately felt relived upon recognizing a familiar tall girl who shined brighter than the sun.

“Hyomin!” you exclaimed out of joy.

“Gosh, you look lovely,” she pulled you in a hug and you tried your best not to look exhausted from your run, “But quite pale, I must say. What happen to you?”

Still in shock by the terrifying encounter on the Sunday Avenue, your mind was in a mess, “Oh God, I don’t know where to start...”

“Well, how about we sit you down and get you something to drink before catching up on that?” Hyomin suggested with the comforting smile of a mother.

Finally safe and at ease, you nodded and followed the tall girl to a table situated at the back of the room. To your surprise, you were greeted by many pairs of eyes and a couple of bright smiles from a group of people you had never seen before.

“Here she is; the new girl in town!” a boy with a white smile raised his glass.

A couple of laughs were exchanged and your eyes subtly threw a glance at your old friend who stood by you.

“These are a bunch of friends who are attending the same university as us!” she proceeded to explain, “I thought that a couple of familiar faces would be useful for a new girl like you.”

Although unexpected, you found the idea to be quite brilliant since you hadn’t been able to make many friends throughout your years in college. Incidentally, you had been putting all of your free time at use and studied as much as you could in order to be allowed to move out after graduating.

“That’s very nice of you all for coming here tonight,” you offered them a warm smile in return while taking an empty seat.

“You kidding? We’re always trying to find an excuse to come out here at night!” another girl exclaimed, “Thank you for being here.”

She was sitting across of you and even though she had been leaning on the table, you could easily tell that she was much taller than you were. However, her height didn’t attract your attention as much as the tattoos covering her arms which left you amazed by the amount.

Woah, I’ve never seen that many before. They look so nice.

“Scary?” she asked after noticing you staring.

“Beautiful,” you quickly corrected with blushing cheeks from being caught.

“Alright alright,” Hyomin came to sit beside you, “So how have you been? Oh, wait! You still got to tell me what on earth had gotten you pale like a ghost! Did you get lost or something?”

“Actually, yes,” you admitted and a wave of laughter went off, “Above that, I got lost in the most terrifying street; the street parallel to this one.”

“Oh God! I should’ve warned you about the Sunday Avenue,” your friend brought her hand to .

“And all of it was very frightening not only because I was lost but I also heard voices behind me,” you started to feel nervous upon thinking about it, “So I turned around and came face to face with a group of boys who had been following me the entire time! One of them even had a knife.”

“Then what??” some boy asked out of anticipation.

“Well then my instincts kicked in so I hit one of the guys with my purse and ran away,” you paused for a second before running out of breath, “You should’ve seen them; they each had a teardrop tattoo under their eye and-”

The sound of a bell abruptly interrupted you to announce newcomers in the restaurant and as if a star had stepped into the room, everyone at the table brightened up and cheered loudly.

“Gosh, this is the best timing ever marked in history!!” Hyomin shouted and stood up as if your story had been a bore to her this entire time.

Utterly confused, your attention darted towards the source of your friend’s distraction only to be taken aback. At the entrance of the restaurant were standing the six boys that you had met less than ten minutes ago, their wicked smirks now turned into the widest smiles but their mischievous aura still lingering around. As Hyomin ran towards them and jumped into the arms of the boy you remembered to have hit with your bag, your head turned into a mess.

What are they doing here!? Have they been following me to this restaurant?? Does Hyomin know that these guys may be dangerous?? What in the world is happening!?

You felt your heart pound faster and the desire of getting up and leaving made you hang onto the strap of your purse. All smiles, Hyomin and her six guests took their designated seats following a couple of high fives and fist bumps exchanged between friends. Speechless, you looked at them as if you had been emptied of your soul.

“Oh my God, you guys literally arrived at the most perfect time ever,” your old friend seemed like she was about to burst out laughing, “I can’t believe you went out of your ways with the fake teardrop tattoo!”

“Honestly, pulling a prank on this little bird wasn’t supposed to get me slapped by a purse,” the leader of the group – who spoke with an incredibly deep voice – threw a glance at you and smirked, “But just to see this lovely face utterly dumbfounded sure was worth it.”

“I didn’t know a prank could turn out so well,” another boy said while leaning back on his chair.

A... prank?

“C’mon, help the poor girl out a bit,” the tattoo girl spoke before taking a sip from her bottle of beer.

Hyomin, having a hard time taking her eyes away from the boy with the husky voice, finally turned to you and grabbed both of your hands, “Don’t be angry Jihyun but I actually asked them to come scare you a little. They’re not really dangerous. It’s all just fun!”

You looked at your friend without displaying any hint of emotion before mouthing a very subtle “Oh”.

“Good! Now that it’s done, let’s all have drinks while I introduce you to everyone!” she exclaimed with a pair of bright eyes you knew all too well.

Left to pretend that you weren’t as affected by the prank as you actually were, you threw on a weak smile and recognized the feeling of social discomfort you didn’t know was possible to feel around friends. Taking a deep breath, you swallowed down every negative thoughts and replaced them with the optimism Jay had influenced you with.

Okay Jihyun, you can do this. These people want to be your friends, so let them. It was a funny joke. You’re safe. It’s all fun.

Seeking for comfort, you ordered a glass of grape juice because you liked having your tongue turned purple. As Jay once said when you were younger, a purple tongue can scare mean kids away.

. . .

Following an evening full of new faces and new humor to get used to, you found yourself in the ladies’ room to freshen up. Throughout the past hours, you had delighted in talking to quite a few people from Hyomin’s group of friends while most of them were busy laughing loudly and paying for drinks like any other youngster out on a Saturday night. To your surprise, Hyomin wasn’t even part of the people you held conversation with, had she been too busy swooning over the boy you wrongly hit in the face with your purse.

I really should apologize. But I haven’t talked to him all night, how should I approach him?

“Taking a break from Daehyun’s lame jokes?” a voice suddenly erupted behind you.

Alarmed by the unexpected manly voice, you quickly turned around with your fist ready to be used. Like a new habit, the boy whose name you remembered to be Yongguk was standing in front of you, his hands lost in denim pockets. 

“Feisty, are we?” he said with a spark of amusement in his eyes.

“This is the ladies’ restroom!” you exclaimed.

“My mistake.”

Uncomfortable with your present position, you looked away from him and bit the tip of your tongue. 

This has got to be the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. What is he doing here??

“Not talkative, are we?” Yongguk leaned against a ceramic wall.

You shot him a quick glance, “Not in restrooms, no.”

Yongguk smiled and nodded in agreement. For a brief moment, silence settled in and you started debating with yourself whether it was too rude to attempt an escape or not.

“Jihyun,” his deep voice caught your attention before you could decide on anything, “I’m sorry we made you cry. Honest. We only did it because Hyomin told us that you were the kind of person who could tolerate that kind of prank.”

Oh right. I cried. But because of Jay’s postcard.

“I wasn’t crying because of you,” you corrected him.

“Can I ask why?”

“No.”

Yongguk chuckled in response to your dry answer and you could hear him take his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms loosely, "Alright."

Taking a quick peek at his figure, you came to admit to yourself that his intimidating aura didn’t stop him from being a fairly decent person which made you feel even guiltier for attacking him. Yongguk detained some of the most striking features you have seen to this day; a pair of kind eyes that were rather intimidating, dark messy hair, plump lips and an aura of confidence he could surely tone down a notch.

Nonetheless, he apologied.

I have to apology too.

“Uhm,” you took the time to find the right words and, perhaps, a bit of courage, “I’m sorry for hitting you earlier. I really thought that you were going to hurt me.”

“No worries,” he smirked, “I can live with a scar or two.”

Relieved that your mere apology was well received, you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding and gave him a bright genuine smile, “Great!”

Taken aback by the gleam in your eyes, Yongguk suddenly pushed his back off the wall and took a step closer to you, “Alright, how about this: you tell me what made you cry and I teach you how to punch properly.”

Puzzled by the sudden change of topic, you furrowed your eyebrows and answered, “No. Why do you care so much about that?”

“Because I still feel guilty about the prank,” he explained and added, “Moreover, even kids have to talk about what makes them sad. It’s only healthy that you do, too.”

Kids? Why is he talking about kids?

Conflicted and fairly confused by such odd proposition, you stared at Yongguk as if he went mad.

“C’mon, you won’t always have your little purse to protect you,” he insisted.

Reasonably suspicious about the boy who had agreed to frighten you for poor humour, you took the time to think about the not-so-tempting offer.

I don’t really want to talk about Jay to anyone. Not to him. He’s a stranger. But he’s being kind. I have no reason to be rude. But what's really in it for me?...Just lie.

“Fine. You first.”

“That’s more like it,” his face lit up and he stepped back, “Punch me.”

“What??!” you nearly shouted.

“Go for it,” Yongguk stood still and seemed way too relaxed to your liking.

“But-“

“Would you hesitate if I were a murderer?”

Giving up under pressure, you threw your fist towards Yongguk’s face and before you had the time to realize it, he deviated your hit with the strength of his wrist.

“When you punch, you tend to throw your whole body into it. That’s a waste of energy and strength,” Yongguk grabbed your hand that was still curled into a fist and placed it beside your waist, the bottom of it facing the ceiling, “Try to twist your fist right before the impact and channel your strength there.”

Very much serious and concentrated on remembering what he had just said, you threw your fist to Yongguk’s face once again but this time while applying new techniques. Anew, his movements were quicker than yours.

He’s so fast.

“You know, I’m not made of glass,” he smirked to mock you, “You can hit harder.”

“I already hit you pretty hard with my purse,” you said to , “I wouldn’t dare to leave another mark.”

Yongguk chuckled and took a step too close, his eyes never leaving your face, “Smart, are we?”

Looking up at him, you were suddenly emptied of words by his towering figure and felt your heart beat faster from the unexpected approach.

“Uhm, this is very incongruous,” a third voice suddenly intruded.

Surprised, you turned your head and remembered with embarrassment that you were still in the ladies’ room with some boy you didn’t quite know. At the entrance was standing Hyomin who displayed an expression of both disbelief and bewilderment in reaction to the odd scene she was exposed to.

“What the hell is happening here?” her voice came out as harsh as you had ever known and you noticed that the sun had set in her eyes.

“Shenanigans,” Yongguk, who didn’t look as uneasy as you – if not at all – spoke lighthearted and threw a smile at your old friend.

“Well I wouldn’t describe it as such!” you tried to prevent the situation to turn into a misunderstanding and shot a glare at the boy with the husky voice, “He was just teaching me how to punch better.”

Very much not amused, Hyomin looked at you as if you were crazy and you could instantly notice the tension thickening in the air. Suddenly feeling unknown guilt travel through your whole body, you lowered your eyes and said no more.

Is she not going to believe me? How am I supposed to make her trust my words? How am I supposed to make this better? It’s all my fault; of course she wouldn’t believe what I tell her. I wish I knew exactly why she is upset.

“I don’t know if this kind of ‘thing’ was alright to do back in your hometown but I could teach you a thing or two about my city, Jihyun,” Hyomin's jaw was tense.

No, I swear we didn’t do anything! You're jumping to the wrong conclusions!

“Come on Hyo, your friend is a saint. Don’t you know that I’m always the one to blame?” Yongguk walked to the tall girl and slid his arm around her shoulders to drag her out of the restrooms, “I bet the party’s already a bore since you’ve been gone. Let’s head back.”

Following the sound of the door shutting in front of your face, you were left alone and still greatly nervous from the situation. With a knot in your throat and a heavy stomach, you turned to the sink and grabbed both sides of it in case your legs would fail you. As per usual, tears started to blur your sight but this time you refused to let them escape because ‘a person who did wrong does not deserve the comfort of tears’.

What’s wrong with me? How did I let this happen? I need to go apologies to Hyomin as soon as I get to be alone with her. I hope she’ll have forgiven me by then.

As you closed you eyes and wished to be invisible, only one person was able to clear your mind through the huge mess that had settled there. This time, well-deserved tears rolled down your flushed cheeks as the thought of a world without Jay felt much bigger and frightening when unaccompanied.

Like a habit, you looked through your purse for yet another one of Jay’s postcard that felt much older under the touch. With a lighter heart, you admired the view of the dazzling Time Square before turning the card over to read the message in red.

“Happy Birthday! You’re finally sixteen ~

Mom told me that you still cry a lot, though.

Aigoo, you’re a big girl now;

Don’t you let the world be heavy on your shoulders.

But if ever you’re tired to bear it, do cry,

And come find me where the lights are.

Jay x”

By the time you were done reading the warm message left for you to remember, your cheeks were dry again and a weak smile started to brighten up your face. Even though Jay was still hidden somewhere between the city's sparks of light, you could feel that he had left you his postcards to make you brave even while on your own. It was your turn to join him in his adventure and to finally face the world he always wanted to show you.

This is all new, I still have time. Don’t mess it up. Be brave. Be kind.

Looking up at the mirror in front of you, you let out a sigh and stuck your purple tongue out before cracking a smile that had been your brightest through the whole evening.