MIRA'S POV:

Why is the moon not square? 
Where are the dinosaurs now?
When will South and North Korea reconcile?

Plenty of similarly mind stirring questions were popping in and out of my head as I mindlessly sat by the entrance of that karaoke center. And honestly, I don't even understand why. I tried to shake away the constant urge to keep laughing like a lunatic but I failed in doing that too. Every passing person appeared beautiful and I wanted to hug each one of them and say how precious they were. I watched families getting in and out of the restaurants and marts as they giggled happily.

"I want to have a family too..." I chuckled, pleased by my own ridiculous wish. I turned towards the older man who just walked out of the Karaoke center.

"Ahjussi... jamkkanman... I have something to ask?" Surprisingly the man stopped to pay attention to me, unlike the few others who didn't bother at all.

"Oy yeppeun agassi... what can I do for you?" His tall figure was leaning against the shiny glass door while his hands fished inside his jacket pockets for something.

"How should I get a happy family like that?" My eyes bored heartily at another happy family. They were having delightful dinner in the restaurant across from where I was. The man scooted nearer and began grinning to himself before crouching on the pavement beside me.

"Aigoo... you're pretty wasted, aren't you? Are you sure you're even old enough to be drinking yet?" His concern was amusing but his question annoyed me.

"Ahjussi! Who's wasted? I only had a few glasses of apricot juice!" I whined, hugging myself in defense. He laughed shaking his head in disbelief as he stuffed his lighter and untouched cigarette back inside his pockets.

"Oh, jinja? From my experience, apricot juice doesn't make you question things as such. I bet you even wondered about even weirder stuffs. World peace? Past life? Mammoths?" I chortled, recalling my earlier grief over the extinction of dinosaurs.

"About family you asked..." He took a deep breath. "I bet you don't have one, considering your question." I nodded, completely turning my attention on to him.

"Tips to have a family. Yes, I know. Tips to have a 'happy' family. No, I don't. First, you'll need to find a man. Then, you marry him and have children and ta-dah! You have a family." I scrunched my nose in displease at his plain elaboration. Even the man himself, sighed in discontent.

"Ahjussi... I think I know enough about how to have a 'family' like that too. They teach that in school, you see." He laughed at my statement. "Even if what you just said was the way, then why do people divorce or abandon babies?" An unpleasant reminder of my own life flashed through my blurry vision.

"Okay, that didn't go well... honestly, family is not about having a spouse, or children or relatives. Family means having people who make it feel like home. You know you'll always feel belonged and safe with them." His tone was pretty warm. I slowly absorbed his words while we both sat there in silence until he voiced out again.

"But you're still so young... why do you have to wonder about such twisted things already?" Honestly, I wasn't sure either.

"I was just wondering..." He laughed a little.

"Agassi... will you mind if I say something?" Concern was pretty clear in that stranger's voice. I shook my head, gesturing him to continue.

"No one can predict the beginning or the end of romance. It happens when you least expect it. That's why we call it 'falling in love' and not 'floating towards love'. However, falling out of love is not that abrupt though. You can slowly start to see the romance fading out until there's nothing left to hold on to. And mostly, the one who realizes that first will walk out. The worst scenario would be, having to be the one that's left behind because you held on. My advice is, you better run far away if you feel like your partner is starting to fall out of love. Saves you tons of heartbreaks, trust me..." He sounded very wise, as though he'd gone through several heartbreaks before.

"The truth is... you can never really predict the end of romance. All you can do is, hold on tighter and love even harder while you know it's still there." Both of us sighed in unison.

"Ahjussi... you got dumped, weren't you?" He began laughing at my sudden verdict, drawing the attention of few pedestrians, who casted weird glances at the two lunatics on the pavement. I bet we looked like homeless drug addicts to them.

"Oy agassi! First of all I'm not ahjussi. And no women from either sides of this country can dump me." He laughed pompously.

"So, you dumped her then?" The amusement faded from his face at an instant. For a moment, he seemed utterly broken.

"Ani... I wouldn't do that either. Not to her, at least..." He made a contemplative pause. "I guess... romance was over between us." A sad smile slipped from his eyes while he fought back visible army of tears with bare hands.

"YAH, CHOI MIRA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Both of us whipped up in the direction of that dangerously deep voice. And my face instantly lit up like a freaking Christmas tree.

"Oh... wasseo?" I cooed happily in my singsong voice as he took off his jacket and covered my cold body in a hurry.

"Jinja? 'Wasseo'? Is that all you got to say?" He seemed rather angry but the warmth in his concerned voice was still soothing enough though.

"Agassi... who is this?" The stranger whispered, not taking his eyes off the guy before us. To which the latter immediately crouched before me and eyed the stranger warily.

"Who is this?" His grip on my wrists tightened.

"Oh... this ahjussi is my new friend. We were chatting when he came out for a smoking break."

"What? Smoking break?" His whole body tensed as he threw a deadly glare to the man beside me. Moving away from him a little, I scooted closer to the stranger and whispered back.

"Ahjussi... it's him... he is my family..." We both began giggling like idiots as he gave what seemed like a look of approval.

"Okay, that's it. We're leaving now. Come, get on my back, Mira-yah." He turned around and hastily pulled my arms over his shoulders. Wrapping my legs weakly around his waist, I held on to him tighter while he began to walk away without waiting.

"Oy yeppeun agassi!" The man called after us. Although the boy was unwilling, he still stopped for my sake. We turned around to find my new friend's smiling face.

"Yours isn't over yet." He smiled sincerely. "So, you better hold on tight. Just like that." He winked smilingly before walking in the opposite direction. After a long deafening silence throughout our whole walk, he finally spoke.

"What the hell was that about, Choi Mira?" He demanded. His tone came out pretty low but scarily calm at the same time.

"My classmates were celebrating the end of school..."

"And you had alcohol with them? You're all still underage." He scolded in concern.

"I didn't. She said it was apricot juice..." I whined, fiddling with his collar.

"She?" He sighed almost immediately. "Did Lee San Ha give you that 'apricot juice'?" He was clearly gritting his teeth. But before I could answer, he set me on my feet and I collapsed right away. He caught me just in time and a sudden but severe throb began pulsing in my temples.

"Ouch... that was so not apricot juice..." I whined again.

"It definitely was not." He chuckled a little while dragging my half asleep body to our usual bench. I snuggled closer to him when the chillness of the night hit me from nowhere.

"Mira-yah..." He softly called my name, checking if I was still awake or knocked out already. But for a person who drank seven glasses of so called 'apricot juice' I was strangely still sober.

"Wae..." I asked, glancing up at his handsome face. His gorgeous features were glowing in moonlight and no matter how many million times I gaze at him, the sight still catches my breath effortlessly.

"What did that man mean by 'Yours is not over yet'?" His question reminded me of my earlier conversation with that stranger.

Family means having people who make it feel like home. People with whom we feel belonged and safe. Family can be one person who means everything to us. And to me, this guy beside me is that person but he doesn't know that. Not yet at least because I haven't actually said what I truly felt for him yet. But why?

Maybe I was afraid that he wouldn't feel the same.
Maybe I was sad that I wasn't his priority.
Maybe I was worried that he too, might fall out of love someday.

Maybe this was all temporary and one day, we will have to part ways. Even our epic romance will be over then. Of course it'll be sad but it wouldn't be anyone's fault though. Just as that stranger from the karaoke center said, no one can predict the beginning or end of romance after all.

"Mira-yah... why aren't you saying anything?" He caressed my face with eyes dripping with clean concern.

"Won-ah..."

"Wae..." His thumb gently brushed across my cheeks as I leaned in to his caress.

"That ahjussi broke up with his girlfriend because romance was over between them, it seems. What does that mean?" For a fleeting second, he seemed confused. As if I've spoken in an unknown language, he seemed sincerely at loss for words but he shook it off instantly before answering.

"Ehmm... what does that mean, huh?" His brows creased in contemplation while he puckered his lips along. "I guess they fell out of love... maybe..." He arched an unsure eyebrow.

"How is that even possible?" It sounded rather ridiculous to me.

"Well... It is possible when two people have been together for quite a long time, I guess..." He guessed with an equally clueless expression but his words shook the hell out of me and I panicked with no sane reasons.

"Then, will we fall out of love one day too, Won-ah?" I blurted out before inducing my brain cells and honestly, I have no idea what I just blabbered. If I'm not mistaken, then it wasn't me but the 'apricot juice' talking. His eyes widened in a thrilled surprise, and there was a delightful smile dancing from the tip of his lips till the corner of his eyes.

"What did you just say, Choi Mira?" he held me at arm's length and examined my face. The delighted glow was still dancing gracefully on his face but I was plain dumbstruck. Words failed me while I simply stared at his starry eyes like a stupid seagull.

"Mira-yah..." He called ardently again.

"Aniya... nothing!" I got up right away in defense. Suddenly, my senses were so much more sober and were already plotting numerous escape routes. However, my limbs were still asleep and they failed me once again. Having predicted my graceful fall, he jolted up from his seat just in time to catch me. And in no time I was secured in his safe embrace.

"Lie to me again, and this is what will happen." He teased adoringly before continuing. "Now, answer me. What did you just say?" That earlier grin was back on his face but I was too embarrassed to even face him. Detaching my body from his, I tried to stumble away.

"It's late. I need to go back to the dorm..." Suddenly, the floor was much more fascinating than his face. Chuckling to himself, he tugged me closer before offering me another piggy back ride. I sighed in relief and crashed onto his back, glad that I'll be spared from seeing his face that way. It was the second quiet ride in the same night and I couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"Won-ah... my graduation is around the corner. Have you gotten my gift yet?" He shook his head slowly.

"Wae..." I hugged him tighter, expecting the usual 'practice' reason but he took me by surprise.

"Even though I want to buy you a pretty necklace
Even though I want to take you out on a ride in a nice car
Even though I want to dress you in nice clothes
Even though I want to take you to nice places..."

He hummed the sweet melody in his husky voice and the addictive sound had my heart racing in no time. Smiling to myself in delight, I buried my face in the crook of his neck as his skin tensed a little under the contact.

"I see... then what?" I nudged his head with mine playfully as he chuckled like music before continuing with the pre-chorus of that pretty song.

"This hand that I put inside my pocket grabs nothing
How can I get you?
My position doesn't suit you
Regardless, can you stay by my side?"

The question he laid out through the lyrics of that song lingered in the air for a while. As though expecting for an answer, his grip on me tightened. Reassuring me that he'll make sure that I wouldn't fall. Fall out of his hold. Fall out of this love. I wasn't sure which one it was either. To weave back my wavering thoughts, I gathered all my focus and placed a gentle kiss on his shoulders.

"I'll always stay by your side, Kim Wonshik..." I whispered sincerely. Repeating the words in my head like a chant, hoping that the romance to never be over between us by the power of it. Ever. Smiling in satisfaction, the boy kept on singing heartily with his hollow voice echoing ardently through the quiet night.

"The only thing I can give is This Song
All I have is this voice
Even if this makes you laugh
But I still sing
I hope you accept it..."

★

I woke up to the sensation of warm stream of teardrops stinging my face. I sighed, realizing how it's been a long while since I last cried while dreaming. Scanning the strange new space, I spotted both Sorim and Jiwon passed out in weird positions around me and a sudden throb began pulsing through my cranial nerves while I tried to stumble my way out of the bed. I kept knocking my temples a few times, as I desperately tried to remember things that happened from few hours ago. Anything at all but none came to my memory. Shaking the drowsiness off, I probed the sheets for my phone.

The time showed 3:40am. It was like any usual early dawn. Utterly q