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“I swear you don’t understand, this girl is so freaking smart yet she doesn’t apply herself!” a young blonde woman exclaimed, walking into an apartment building, nodding a hello to the security guard. “She knows she’s smart and I know she is, but her work and grades don’t reflect that. But I’ve been tutoring her these past few days, and I’m basically being paid for nothing because she knows all the material. This girl is in the tenth grade, yet she’s doing the work I give my seniors with no help at all! I swear, it’s the friends that she hangs out with that influence her to act like this,” she continued to rant to her best friend, Haeyoung, as she entered the elevator.

 

“Have you tried talking to this girl, Saemi?” her best friend asked.

 

“I have, but all she does is sass me back and show me an attitude,” Saemi pouted.

 

“Sounds like someone I used to know back in high school,” Haeyoung muttered.

 

“Excuse yourself, I was a pleasant young girl who just spoke her opinion and kept dying her hair and getting ear piercings and tattoos,” Saemi shot back.

 

“I’m surprised that your hair didn’t fall out or that you never got an infection considering you have a thousand piercings and tattoos,”

 

“Only 7 in each ear,” Saemi corrected her. “And the tattoos each represent a special time in my life,” she added.

 

“Whatever, Saemi. Just talk to this girl or some of those kids she hangs out with that you think are bad for her, and see why she’s acting the way she is. Let me know if you have a breakthrough with this girl,” Haeyoung said.

 

“I will, don’t worry. Hey Haeyoung, I’m going into my apartment so I’ll text or call you later, arraso? Bye, love you,” she said. She heard a faint I love you too on the other end as she hung up the phone. She pushed the phone in her back pocket as the elevator opened on the 15th floor. She walked out and turned left to her apartment when she noticed the open door across her own and couldn’t help to peek in when she saw empty boxes and no one else. “Hello?” she called, knocking on the open front door, leaning inside. A young man popped out of the next room. 

 

“Oh hello there!” he smiled brightly. The first thing Saemi noticed was his bright smile. He was clad in an deep v neck cut shirt with a warm sweater on top and jeans, probably to keep him warm in the January winter of Seoul. 

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see anyone here and I couldn’t help but look in,” she laughed, slightly embarrassed at herself. “Curiosity killed the cat, I guess,”

 

“But satisfaction brought her back,” the young man finished the ending of the statement. Saemi was quite surprised that he knew the complete phrase. ‘Handsome and smart, not bad,’ she thought to herself, slightly smiling.  “And a pretty beautiful cat,” he added.

 

Saemi laughed out loud, she had to give it to him, he was also funny. “Why thank you, that’s very kind of you. I’m basically breaking into your home and you compliment me,” she flipped her hair slightly. “That’s very generous of you,”

 

“Well, I couldn’t send such a beautiful woman to jail, I was raised much better than that,” he bowed slightly. “My name is Bang Yongguk,”

 

“Hi Yongguk. My name is Yoo Saemi, I live in the apartment just across from you,” she said, turning her upper body around to show him her door. “Feel free to ask me if you need anything,” she smiled.

 

“How about your number?” he asked.

 

Saemi held back a smirk. “Only the first day and you’re already dependent on me,” she said. She faked a sigh and continued on, “I guess you may, who am I to deny such a handsome man who is in need,” she giggled at the end. The two exchanged their phone numbers and Saemi made her way into her apartment, feeling accomplished. She locked her door and immediately called Haeyoung again.

 

“Hey, did something happen?” Haeyoung asked concerned. “It’s only been like 20 minutes,”

 

“YEAH SOMETHING DID HAPPEN,” Saemi exclaimed into the phone. “YA HOMEGIRL JUST GOT THE NUMBER OF THE HOT NEW NEIGHBOR ACROSS FROM HER IN THE FIRST MEETING!” Saemi was elated and Haeyoung could tell.

 

“How, looks, age, and job?” Haeyoung fired at her.

 

“I walked into his apartment without knowing he would be home, super good looking that I could bring him home to my parents and he has a great personality, I don’t know, and I don’t know. But he’s the one that asked for my number so that’s a great sign right?”

 

“Saemi, his good looks aren’t as important. What if he’s like a 19 year old that sees how hot you are and make a lot of money and is deciding to take his chance?”

 

“Okay, he definitely looked older than 25, which isn’t a problem. I’m 26 so I’m not worried about the . And he would have to have a good income job to afford the rent at my apartment building. You’re just overthinking this. I’ll show you, he’s an amazing guy. I bet in two weeks time, we may actually be something,”

 

“Okay we’ll see Saemi,” Haeyoung said unconvinced.

 

Two weeks passed and well, she was right.

 

“I told you! Yet you didn’t listen to me!” the young woman, now a lighter brunnette, said to her best friend next to her. The other young woman simply rolled her eyes, yet pouted slightly. They both stood up and walked across the hair salon, careful not to drip much water from their hair as they waited for a hair stylist. “Saemi, you just met him two weeks ago. You couldn’t expect to be crazy in love with him just yet,” Haeyoung said.

 

Saemi, now sporting pink roots with purple ends, pouted even deeper. “He made the first move, yet not one text or phone call. I haven’t even seen him once since the first day. What if he’s a vampire!” she gasped, eyes widened at her best friend. 

 

“You need some serious help,” Haeyoung said, ignoring her best friend now. The girls were finally being serviced by two hair stylists. While Haeyoung was cutting 5 inches off, Saemi only got a slight trim, too attached to her long hair. The girls walked out about 30 minutes later, arms linked as they explored the rest of the mall. 

 

“I’ve been thinking about getting another tattoo,” Saemi blurt out. Haeyoung gave her a questioning look, but it wasn’t judgemental. 

 

“What kind of tattoo would you get this time?” she asked the pink and purple haired girl.

 

“I’ve been thinking of getting something right over here,” Saemi answered, pointing to her left wrist. “I would like to get two birds,”

 

“For them?” Haeyoung asked.

 

“Yeah, I mean it’s been almost six years since this thing happened, but I can’t forget about it. Don’t you think about it everyday?” she asked. 

 

“I do...I may want to get a tattoo too,” Haeyoung confessed. “Do you seriously want to? I saw a tattoo shop a little back,”

 

“Really?” Saemi asked. Haeyoung nodded. “Well, what are we waiting for then, let’s go,” she smiled. The two girls turned around to search for the shop Haeyoung mentioned before. When they finally found it, they walked in together. Thankfully, it wasn’t too busy as the girls did notice a few people sitting and chatting together. Luckily for them, the workers were available to create their templates for them right away. They waited for about 45 minutes until they were finally ready. They showed their ID cards to the man at the front of the shop who also charged them right away. The girls paid and were led to the back where they sat side by side, ready to get their tattoos.

 

They walked out of the rooms a little over an hour later, the areas where they received the tattoos were wrapped in bandages. Saemi, used to this process knew what she was to do and didn’t mind explaining to her best friend. “I wonder how I would cover this tattoo at work,” she said out loud.

 

“Does the school seriously have a problem with your tattoos? I mean, it’s not like they’re anything inappropriate or something or something that huge,” Haeyoung asked.

 

“It kinda , but it’s not that bad. Most of my tattoos are covered no matter what anyways, and I don’t think they would mind this.If they do, then I’ll just need to buy more concealer,” she said shrugging her shoulders. And plus, it’s winter right now, so they won’t find out right now,” 

 

The girls continued their small talk as they walked around the mall. When it was 7 PM, Saemi decided that she was too tired and Haeyoung had to get ready for her date with her boyfriend soon anyways, so the two girls got back into Saemi’s car where she then drove Haeyoung home before driving to the parking lot for her apartment. She walked tiredly into the building towards the elevator that would take her to her floor. She walked out and towards her door, unlocking it. Before she closed the door behind her, she looked at the door across the hall. She could see the light from the space under the door and she pouted. ‘You can watch T.V. but you can’t send me one damn text message,’ she thought. She hung her jacket up, placed her keys and wallet on the counter, and her purse in the closet as she entered the bathroom. She wrapped the bandage with a plastic bag to make sure it wouldn’t get wet and removed her makeup with baby oil before washing her face. She then changed out of her sweater and jeans and into a pair of shorts and a tank top as the heating in the apartment was always at 26° Celsius for some reason. She exited the bathroom, ruffling her soft and long pink and purple hair, and entered the kitchen to look for some food. She was too lazy to actually cook something and almost felt slightly guilty as she boiled some water to make ramyun for herself. ‘It’s literally only one meal Saemi, chill out. Plus, your arm is in pain and Yongguk hasn’t talked to you yet,’ she convinced herself it was alright and indulged the noodles whole heartedly, trying to ignore the pain. She heard that getting tattoos near her veins would be painful, but she didn’t think it would be this much. “You’re the first tattoo giving me issues you know,” she said, looking at the bandage. She washed her dishes and looked in the cabinet only to find an empty bottle of painkillers. She didn’t know any of her neighbors well enough…

 

Well, there was one neighbor. She sighed and thought for a minute. “Do you really need painkillers, Saemi? You’ve gone through worse pain before,” she thought out loud. “Yes, but this is also an excuse to see Yongguk,” she stood for a minute, thinking. “What I need is to stop talking to myself,” she muttered before making up her mind. She walked into her living room, throwing herself on the couch, turning on the T.V. to a random channel where they were playing music. ‘I can’t even call Haeyoung because she’s on a date with Himchan…,’ she thought to herself. She felt her eyes closing slowly, and decided that the sleep would be better than feeling the pain. She gave into the drowsiness and the last thing she remembered turning off the T.V.

 

She woke up hours later with a sudden start, eyes wide awake, and a light layer of sweat on the back of her neck and face to show that she woke up from an unpleasant nightmare. Her breathing was heavy and she talked herself out of what could have been a panic attack. “You’re okay,” she said, saying the words Haeyoung would tell her when she first had these nightmares. She sat for a few moments before grabbing her phone from the coffee table in front of her. It was only 3:36 A.M. and now officially Saturday, so she had nowhere to be. She tried falling asleep again, but failed. Her wrist was flaming up in pain and she didn’t have any painkillers. She decided to visit the 24/7 medical dispensary the apartment manager had built on the first floor instead of going out in the cold. She slipped into a long cardigan that was lying around and stepped into the hallway when she noticed that the door across from her still had light from underneath. ‘Is he still awake?’ she thought. She wanted to see for herself and she even had the excuse, so she knocked on his door three times and stepped back, waiting. Just when she thought he wasn’t going to open the door, she turned around slightly to walk away but luck was on her side this time. 

 

“Saemi?” his deep voice asked in a husky voice, indicating that he probably was sleeping. 

 

“Hey sorry to be bothering you so late,” she started, slightly blushing at the sound of his voice, “but I was wondering if you had any painkillers?” she asked.

 

“Um, yeah, sure. Come in,” he opened the door further for her so she could enter. She came through the entrance where she inspected his home. It was all very somber, everything was either black or white, and the only pop of color was the artwork that was hanging on the wall. His home was very neat for the most part, except his coffee table that was covered in papers with light from the T.V. reflecting off it.

 

“I’m really sorry for waking you up this late. Or early in this case,” she said, slightly guilty for knocking at his door.

 

“It’s fine. I’m actually thankful that you woke me up. I’ve had this project for work and I’ve spent the last two weeks working on it, basically locking myself so I could concentrate and work,” 

 

“But getting some rest isn’t that bad,” she explained. ‘Who am I to tell him, I’m the one with insomnia who spends half the night on her phone instead of sleeping,’ she thought to herself. 

 

“Why are you standing over there, come in,” he called from the kitchen. She took off her slippers, walking in with her socks over the wood flooring to where he was. He pointed at the chair that was at the island, indicating to her to sit. She sat, slipping her sweater off only to reveal her shoulders because if she thought her apartment was too warm, his was almost a sauna. He brought over a bottle and a glass of water and stood across from her at the island. He placed the glass in front of her and opened the bottle, taking out one pill. 

 

“Give me two please,” she said. 

 

“These are 250 MG,” he explained.

 

“I know, but I have a lot of pain. I’ll be fine with two, trust me,” she explained. He was slightly hesitant, but complied anyways.

 

“So what did you do that you came knocking on your oh-so-handsome neighbor’s door at a quarter to 4 in the morning for some painkillers?” Yongguk asked the girl.

 

“I actually got a tattoo, and I underestimated the pain I would feel,” she explained, chuckling slightly, rolling up her sweater sleeve to show him the bandage that covered the ink.

 

“Oh, that’s cool,” he said, sitting next to her with his own glass of water. “Is this your first tattoo?” he asked.

 

“Nope, this is my sixth one, but it’s the first tattoo to have given me this much pain,” she chuckled.

 

“Really?” he asked. “I would have never imagined you have so many tattoos. What are the others?”

 

“All these tattoos I have are to represent things in my life, so they may sound slightly silly, but whatever,” she chuckled. “Growing up, I didn’t really know my mother’s side of the family because my mother left her home land, Beijing, to come be here with my father after they got married. She always talked about the Chinese culture and I came to love it as well, but I have never visited China,” she gathered her hair to one side so she could show him the tattoo she had on the back of her neck. “That was the first tattoo I got. I was 17 and it was for Mother’s Day. It’s weird because it was a gift more for myself but it’s a way to honor my mother and I way I personally connect with my Chinese background,”

 

“Do you talk to your mother often, or her side of the family?” Yongguk asked.

 

“Not as much as I would like to,” Saemi said softly. “Both of my parents moved to China to take care of my sick grandmother about three years ago. I wish I could talk to them all the time, but I don’t want to keep bothering them, you know?” 

 

“I know how you feel. Growing up, it was just my older sister, twin brother, and my grandparents. My parents made some really bad choices but I’m glad my grandparents took us in. They always encouraged us to do what we wanted, and I always worked hard for them. They did everything for me when I was growing up, so I want to do everything for them now that they’re growing old,” he explained. ‘How are you so perfect? I just like, I wanna kiss you? Is that weird, this is only the second time we’ve talked?’ she was lost in her thoughts. “So your other tattoos?” he asked.

 

Saemi went on to explain her four other tattoos and the meaning to Yongguk, and he did the same with his own three tattoos. He has a massive tattoo on his chest that said Vive La Revolution, a shoulder tattoo that read Do what you love and love what you do, and an arm tattoo that said Make art not war. He had explained the meaning behind each of his tattoos and it was that moment that Saemi believed she had some romantic feelings for the man in front of her. The two didn’t even realize that it was nearing 6 in the morning and they were next to each other on his couch, her head on his shoulder, his head on top of hers.

 

“Did you know you have this weird ability to make people fall in love with you with just your voice and your words?” Saemi sleepily mentioned. 

 

“That’s the first time mentioned that, but I feel bad for all the hearts I have broken in my life up to now,” he chuckled before yawning loudly. “Let’s sleep,” he said, shifting into a more comfortable position with the girl still leaning on him. She nodded and moments later, the two were in dreamland.

 

Saemi woke up first when rays of light hit her eyes. She didn’t move at first, only opened her eyes. She didn’t wake up to see the purple walls of her room, but rather a white wall with a huge painting. She was leaning on something hard rather than cuddling with her pillow. She then remembered last night’s events and smiled softly. She removed Yongguk’s arm that was around her waist and got off the couch. She left a quick note for him on his coffee table and went back to her apartment. She picked up her phone that she left on the table and rather than seeing her homescreen that was a picture of Haeyoung and her, she had multiple notifications, all from Haeyoung. She called the girl quickly, worrying over what happened.

 

“Dude, what happened to you?” was the first thing Saemi heard from her best friend.

 

“Yeah sorry, something came up last night…” she started. “Anyways, what’s up? You left like four missed calls,”

 

“I got a call from the lawyer early this morning,” Haeyoung said, instantly grabbing Saemi’s attention. “She was saying that the other side wants to reopen the case, in hopes to decrease the sentence,” she said slowly.

 

“Oh,” Saemi answered. She didn’t know what to say. She was confused and angry and upset.

 

“The lawyer said that’s it’s almost impossible for them to do that,” Haeyoung added quickly, knowing that Saemi would be very upset hearing this. “The evidence is very clear, so don’t worry okay? Himchan and I are going down to the court today, and I just wanted to let you know not to worry, okay? I love you,”

 

“Yeah, love you, too,” Saemi muttered before quickly hanging up, throwing her phone next to her on the couch. It had been almost six years since that day happened but it left a permanent scar in Saemi’s heart and memory. She combed through her hair before ruffling and screaming loudly. She took a couple of deep breaths and realized that she couldn’t do anything to change this. She got up, passing the clock indicating that it was almost 1 o’clock in the afternoon. She wrapped her bandage in plastic again and decided to take a hot shower. She felt the hot water drip down her hair and onto her body, but she remained stoic and still until her fingers started resembling prunes. She got out 20 minutes afterwards and changed into a pair of grey skinny jeans, a tank top, and a long black cardigan. She had just finished drying her hair when she heard a knock on her door. She walked to the door and opened it to see Yongguk with a plate of cookies.

 

“Hey there,” he said, his gummy smile present. Saemi smiled softly, moving behind so he could enter. 

 

“Sorry for the mess,” she apologized, quickly folding the blanket that was on the couch, rearranging the pillows, and the items on the table. He placed the cookies on the table and sat on the couch.

 

“Hope you like sugar cookies,” he said, looking at the girl who was in the kitchen.

 

“My favorite,” she said as she brought over two glasses of warm milk, “especially with milk,” she added. The two quickly dipped a cookie in their respective glass and took a bite. “Oh my gosh!” Saemi exclaimed. “These are so good! Oh man, I could eat these forever,” she complimented the man next to her, indulging in the food. “So what brings you to my humble yet messy apartment? Was my presence so amazing that you couldn’t be so far from me?” she joked.

 

“How’d you find out?” Yongguk joked back. “Did my cookies woo you over?” he asked.

 

“I’ll have to see in a few more weeks after I try more than one batch,” she winked, slowly forgetting about her bad mood. The two had engaged in some small talk before agreeing to watch a movie. They looked online for a movie before agreeing to watch Twenty. They had snuggled together on her couch, the blanket on their waists and below as the plot unfolded. The movie ended almost two hours later, yet the two didn’t want to leave the embrace of each other until Saemi’s phone rang. “I have to get this,” she said to Yongguk seeing the caller ID was Himchan. “Hello?”

 

“Hey Saemi,” he said quietly. 

 

“What happened?” she said, detecting this voice meant bad news.

 

“So our lawyers went over the case with the other side, they’re going to reopen it, and chances are that he’ll get time off his sentence for good behavior,” he said. Saemi’s world stopped for a moment, the events from that night six years ago flashing before her eyes again. “I called instead of Haeyoung because she couldn’t bring herself to believe the lawyer. She was as hurt as you were,” he explained.

 

“Yeah, I understand,” she said, her voice breaking a little, alarming Yongguk next to her. “Hey, Himchan, I’ll call you or Haeyoung later,” she quickly said, hanging up without hearing his reply. She put her head in her hands and she sat silently as her shoulders were shaking and she couldn’t stop the tears that were leaving her eyes.

 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Yongguk exclaimed. He wrapped his arms around the girl, bringing her head to lean against this shoulder as he rubbed her back, trying to soothe and calm her down with her words. “What’s wrong, Sae?”

 

“They’re letting that man go,” she managed to say. “They’re letting that bastard leave early just because he had good behavior,” she bitterly said.

 

“Who?”

 

“Cho Jinho,” she said.

 

“Who’s he?”

 

“The murderer of my fiance and baby,” she quietly. Yongguk pulled back, his hands on her shoulders, suddenly surprised by this new information.

 

“Please elaborate,” he said. “Only if you’re comfortable, of course. I don’t want to force you,” he quickly added.

 

“Six years ago, when I was 20 years old, my boyfriend and I found out that I was pregnant. We obviously didn’t have any plans then to settle down, but we were incredibly in love with each other and happy. He proposed to me two months later, and we were to get married after the baby was born,” Saemi spoke with a smile, the memories with her past lover coming back to her. “But our happiness didn’t last forever,” she said quietly. “It was a winter day like the one today. I was in my sixth month of pregnancy and we were walking together at night from the park. We took a shortcut in an alleyway, and we usually just stick the normal streets but we were so tired. The next thing I knew, some man came up behind us with a knife, demanding for all of our cash. My fiance was quick to comply but I don’t know why the man wasn’t. He pushed me to the side and stabbed us both before running away. Luckily, someone noticed us and called the cops. They caught the man, but it was too late for us. In one night in a matter of minutes, I lost my baby and my Daehyun,” she broke down once again in his arms. “And now he gets to get out jail because he behaved. Do they not care that he killed two people in one night just so he can get a wallet of money?” she cried, looking at Yongguk. Yongguk didn’t know the girl for too long yet he could tell that she was at one of her weakest points of life and he didn’t want to leave her right now. “How is that fair? He gets out because he has good behavior, but I’ve been behaving good too, why can’t I get my loved ones back, huh?” her sobs were overpowering her words and she was reduced to a small ball in Yongguk’s arms. 

 

Her cries eventually died down, but her face had dried streaks of tears, her eyes were red and puffy, her face bearing no emotion. “My son would have been 6 years old. He would be starting school. But no,” she harshly said. “I sometimes think that I’m over their death, that I can openly talking about the accident, but every single time, I fail,” she said, her voice getting softer and weaker. “Haeyoung got over it and that was her older brother that she lost, a man that she knew her entire life. Just gone in one moment because I wasn’t strong enough that night to do something. Then I was, and even now, I’m still someone weak, someone who can’t do anything,”

 

“Don’t say that about yourself,” Yongguk spoke up. “Never call yourself weak, because you’re not a weak person. I have only known you for two weeks, heck this is only our third conversation, but I can tell that you are someone so strong. I mean, you had the perseverance to move on in life instead mope around after losing your child and the love of your life. Many people would’ve given up, but you kept going. You didn’t let it hold you back in life. You took that accident, grew from it, and let it help you in life. So never call yourself weak. Because that is not who you are,” he paused, looking at her wrist. “The tattoos you got yesterday, the two birds flying,  that’s for them right?”

 

She nodded. “We were going to name him Hoseok. Jung Hoseok. He would always kick when we would see the birds, so I thought what better way to think of my two angels up in heaven now,”

 

The two sat in silence next to each other, not a word exchanged. They sat for hours in the same position, the sky was a pink winter hue was coming about and clouds were seen as small little snowflakes fell to the ground. 

 

“How do you feel?” Yongguk asked her softly, shaking her shoulder slightly to get her attention. She shrugged, no clear emotion present on her face. Yongguk sighed, knowing how emotionally tired the girl was feeling. “I have an idea. Go change into sweatpants or something comfortable and warm with boots, and meet me outside your door in ten minutes, alright?” he said quickly, smiling at her and running to his own apartment. Saemi sighed, but nevertheless, got up and went into her room, changing into black leggings and an oversized white hoodie. She wore a black winter vest on top of the hoodie, and slipped into her black ugg boots. She braided her hair into two french braids, and grabbed a black beanie with a pompom attached to it and placed it on her head. She placed her keys, wallet, and phone into her purse and turned off all the lights before exiting and locking her apartment. She saw Yongguk was already waiting, clad in a pair of joggers, a pair of Timbs, a black Northface, and a grey beanie on his head. “Ready to go?” he asked. Saemi nodded, and he held her cold hand in his warm one as they walked to the elevator. 

 

“Where are we going?” Saemi spoke for the first time in hours once they settled into his car, the heat on full blast. 

 

“Surprise,” he winked at her, turning up the radio to hear I Need U playing by BTS. Yongguk rapped along to the song and even with her warm clothes, Saemi couldn’t help but feel goosebumps at Yongguk’s voice. However, it didn’t last long because he tried hitting the high note in the chorus and his voice cracked, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the man. ‘I don’t care that you’re laughing at me,’ Yongguk thought, ‘as long as you are laughing,’ Saemi’s head was against the window, looking at the snow falling as he drove further and further away from the city.

 

“Now can you tell me where we’re going?” she asked, looking at him from the corners of her eyes.

 

“A place that’s very special to me. Growing up, I didn’t have many friends because the other kids found me scary. That gave me a lot of time to think in silence and alone time,  and one day I found this secret place. I never saw anyone else in that place, so when I turned 18, I had enough money saved up to legally buy the area for myself without worrying about anyone else. You’re the first person that I’m sharing this place with, and you’re welcome to come here anytime you want, with or without me,” he explained as they were close to their destination. They arrived 20 minutes later and Yongguk parked the car. They exited the car and walked to a small building. Yongguk unlocked the door and let Saemi in first. “It’s not much, and it gets cold in here during the winter and hot in the summer, but there’s something calming about this place,” he told her. From the inside of the building, which was actually more like just a room, Saemi realized that the ceiling was a glass dome so you could see all the stars. In the middle of the room was a black futon flat on the ground with blankets, with a mini fridge and a T.V. plugged in in the corner, with a small bathroom in another corner. 

 

“This place is so amazing,” Saemi let out a deep breathe, taking off her shoes to lie down on the futon to see the stars. Yongguk turned off the light so she could see them better and joined her, placing his shoes next to hers. They were next to each other, Saemi staring at the stars while absentmindedly playing with Yongguk’s hand. “Thank you,” she said softly.

 

“I wanted - “ he started off, but was cut off.

 

“Thank you for listening to my story and staying with me,” she said, turning her body so she was half lying on his chest, half hugging the man. Yongguk smiled, and wrapped his arm around her waist so they were more comfortable. She was sniffling slightly, but she wasn’t going to cry. “Do you think Daehyun would be upset if I ever fell in love with someone else?”

 

“I don’t know about Daehyun,” he started off, careful with his words, “but if something ever happened to me in which I would lose my life, I would want my significant other to move on from me. I wouldn’t want her forever stuck on the memory of me if I can’t be with her anymore, but I wouldn’t want her to forget me,”

 

They stayed in the same position for a few more moments before Saemi sat up slightly, pressing her lips against Yongguk’s for a few moments before pulling away and going back to her original position. With her head on her chest, she could hear his heartbeat speeding up slightly.

 

“I don’t think I love you,” she said. “But I really like you. In the two weeks we didn’t talk, I felt so weird for some reason and it didn’t make sense because we only talked once,”

 

“But that first first conversation sparked something in my heart,” he added to her words.

 

“And everyday, I would hope to see you at least once, but I never saw you,” she went on, drawing shapes on his collarbones that was revealed due to his jacket not zipped up all the way. 

 

“I thought of multiple excuses to talk to you, but then I would chicken out, and stay in my apartment,” he was twirling the ends of her braid with his left hand. 

 

“Until I needed those darn painkillers and I decided to knock on your door. It’s funny actually,” she said, looking up at his face, grasping his right hand with her left one. 

 

“What is?” Yongguk asked.

 

“In the end, when it came to pain, you were better medicine to help the pain leave me rather than those pills,” Saemi chuckled.

 

It was almost midnight. Yet the two young people lay with their legs tangled, arms around each other, embraced in the warmth of their clothes and each other as they slept peacefully with the snow continuing to fall slightly outside. 

 

Saemi awoke in the middle of the night, shifting her body so that Yongguk’s chest was against her back now. She looked up at the ceiling, where the glass allowed her to see the stars. She saw two particular stars shine brighter than the rest, and she smiled slightly. ‘Thank you Daehyun and Hoseok,’ she thought before closing her eyes and going back to dreamland. Yongguk opened his eyes when he heard her heavy and even breathe, indicating that Saemi had fallen asleep. He looked up at the same two star and whispered ever so softly, “Thank you,” before going back to sleep.

 

Somewhere in the middle of the night, their hands met and interlocked together. Somewhere in the middle of the night, their foreheads were leaning against each other. And somewhere in the middle of night, Yongguk and Saemi were convinced that they were in love with each other.