I was 12 the first time I saw him. He was tall and slim, and he didn´t look much older than I was. His hair, darker than night, wasn't really styled and fell without grace, covering his eyes and making him having to continuously fix it. The long trench coat in which he was wrapped waved at his pace's rhythm and the cold wind, way too cold to be August. The way he walked was too solemn for the age he seemed to have, and his direction? my house. 
Peeking from the window in my room on the upper floor, I observed that mysterious character as he approached my home, debating with myself between an irrational fear to be discovered and an even more irrational curiosity. What could be doing that boy in front of my house's door, alone, this late at night?
While I was trying to find a logical answer to this question, the strange boy crossed the garden and stopped just a few steps away from the inner door. In that same instant, he turned his head to face my window. Due to the shock, I jumped back, falling on my bed. Did he saw me? Who was he? My heart was beating really fast and a myriad of wild ideas crossed my mind, mixed with the memory of his eyes. For some reason, they reminded me of a cat. I couldn't sleep that night, nor the next ones, but those for a new chain of events that made me set aside that strange boy from my thoughts and, eventually, made him fall into oblivion. But not for too long.
Throughout the following years, I saw him a few times more. Sometimes I saw him clearly, others I had to intuit his figure between the shadows in the corners and nooks of the old orphanage. In some of those occasions, we crossed our gaze, and he always smiled at me. After that, chaos unchained in the institution.
The night before my 18 birthday was the first time we talked to each other. I was laying in bed, painfully scared of what my future was going to be. Most people are excited when they finally reach adulthood but, for me, it meant having to leave the only home I've known for the past 6 years. I had nowhere to go, no family to stay with, no money. I was alone.
-That's not true- a voice said behind my back. My bewilderment only increased when, turning my head, I saw him standing by the door frame.
-Sorry, what?- I asked him while getting up from between the blankets and sitting on the border of the bed. I was sure that my internal monologue was precisely that, internal.
-It's not true that you're alone- he answered, coming closer and sitting by my side- My alarms ringed all at the same time in my head, unleashing my survival instinct and making me jump a litter further from him.
-Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!- he apologized with a worried voice while getting up and moving back to the room's wall. His face reflected the insecurity that trapped his heart and, for some reason, that awoke in my chest some kind of softness for that cute boy. "Well", I thought, "if he'd wanted to hurt me he could've done it before".
-It's okay- I answered him, smiling. He smiled back, a smile so pure and bright that reflected in his cat-like eyes. It was one of those rare moments in which the hidden beauty in his features surfaced. He turned his face, and I could've bet that he was blushing.
-It's the second time that you think that- he told me, coming closer again. I tapped twice the spot by my side in the bed, gesturing him to sit there again.
-What are you talking about?- I asked him once he was sitting with me. Everything about him was so mysterious that the fact that he could hear my thoughts (a thing that by then I've figured by myself) did not catch me off-guard.
-That I look like a cat. You also thought that the first time you saw me, from your old house's window- he answered, and smiled again, this time slightly more awkwardly.
-So you saw me back then- I said, sighing. That doubt had always been haunting me from my subconsciousness, reappearing each time I saw him. He nodded. -Well, that explain things- I said, making him chuckle.
-How do you do it? To read my mind?- I asked him.
-Oh, that, please don't think that I spy on you or anything- he hurriedly said, the alarm in his voice giving me the clue that he probably had said more than he should, or initially was planning to say.
-It's okay- I assured him, placing my hand on his knee and giving him what I thought could be interpreted as reassuring pats.
-I can only make it when I look someone in the eyes. It's like a sudden bridge appeared between your mind and mine, but I know how to cross it and you don't. I don't know, it's hard to explain- he told me while making a lot of gestures with his hands. He was really cute, and you couldn't help but chuckle. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and I nodded with my head, believing that I had understood at least the most part of what he was trying to explain me. A sudden thought crossed my mind.
-Then, how is it possible that you knew what I was thinking when you entered the room? I was facing the other side-.
-Yeah, that... well, I didn't know it. I mean, not at a 100%, but I could figure it. I guess when you have known somebody from so long, it's easy to guess how they think-.
-And you think you know me from that long? But this is the first time we conversate- I told him.
-True, but I never could avoid hearing your thoughts every time we saw each other over the years. Your eyes always seemed to cross with mines. By the way - he added in a softer tone, almost a whisper- your eyes are really pretty -. Now it was my turn to blush.
The bells on the church started to ring, and he hurriedly got up. My hand, that was still resting on his leg, fell onto the bed. When he reached the door frame, he turned back and looked me in the eyes.
-You are not alone- he said - because I'm with you. I'll always be-.
He had already left the room when I remembered something.
-Wait!- I screamed, getting up from the bed and ready to run down the corridor to catch him. His face popped again in the door frame, a question painted in his eyes.
-I still don't know your name- I told him, feeling slightly stupid. Isn't the name like the first thing you ask when you meet somebody?
-People call me a lot of things- he said, his head running through his head.
-I wanna know what you call yourself. What you want me to call you- I firmly answered. He smiled.
-Yongguk, or Longguo, both are okay- he answered, and disappeared.
The sad feeling that trapped my soul every time I see him go away didn't take long to appear and make my heart ache. Sighing, I came closer to the window. The street was silent, and the night was bright. On the background, disturbing the silence of the night, I could still hear the ringing of the bells, announcing the end of another life.