Every night, Hyunwoo had dreamed of him. The problem was, he wasn't exactly sure who the /him/ was. He was always floating in the deepest corners of Hyunwoo's subconscious, just barely out of reach. He'd always called this entity his Lost Boy.

Growing up, Hyunwoo's favorite book and movie both had always been Peter Pan. Something about the idea of running far away on the adventure of a life time without a care in the world appealed to him, and he desperately wanted a taste of it in reality. Each night at bedtime, without fail, he would bring his mother the tattered copy of J.M. Barrie's classic when she asked what story he'd wanted her to read. By the time he was old enough to speak in full sentences, he was able to recite it with her. His mother never grew tired of reading it, though; she found her son's infatuation to be rather endearing.

The dreams had started when he was 5 or so, and every night it was the same. He's met with a small boy in a green coat and glasses, with reddish brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. They flew off to Neverland together and had adventures every night, and every morning at breakfast Hyunwoo recounted his fantastical tales of his Lost Boy to his mother and father at the breakfast table. His father was less than impressed by their son's overactive imagination, but Mrs. Son thought it enchanting. Hyunwoo was a bit awkward with other children, and so she was grateful that he'd found a friend (nevermind whether this friend existed or not).

Normally when a child grows up their imaginary friends fade and disappear into the abyss of their mind. This wasn’t the case with the Lost Boy. To the dismay of Hyunwoo’s father, Hyunwoo kept this dream friend throughout middle school and on into high school as well. If his parents didn’t know better, they’d think their son was in love with this figment of his imagination. He did gain a few real friends, but through it all Lost Boy remained his best friend and his first love.

Childhood can’t last forever, though, and eventually we all must grow up.

Halls and classes become jobs and taxes, and carefree free time become 9-5 daily routines. His little friend group split up, his parents got divorced, and Hyunwoo was left to drift. Years came and went, and yet he still waited. He was in his 20’s now, and still everyday the only thing he really looked forward to was meeting his Lost Boy.

For a time it had felt like everything in his world was crumbling down around him. Hyunwoo didn’t want to grow up, not at all, and at every twist and turn in the road he fought it with all his might. All Mrs. Son could do was watch as her only son moved from job to meaningless job, offering encouragement wherever she could.

His father, on the other hand, was not quite as supportive. Every time Hyunwoo saw him after the divorce, Mr. Son berated his son and gave him hell for deciding not to go to college and for not knowing what he wanted to do in life. Unfortunately, these dark thoughts began to take root in Hyunwoo’s mind as they often do. Life as an adult suddenly seemed to hold no wonder and all misery, and the sooner Hyunwoo learned to accept that the sooner he could be a properly functioning member of society. His mother tried to break through this cloud of negativity, but it was no use. Hyunwoo’s mind had been poisoned. He was slipping away.

Dreams faded, and it seemed the Lost Boy was truly lost once and for all.

Hyunwoo landed a mundane job as the manager of a little coffee shop in the heart of the downtown area. At first he’d allowed himself to imagine that he could possibly wind up as a main character in some awfully cliché coffee shop love story trope but as weeks turned to months and months faded into years he lost faith. It wasn’t like those kinds of things actually happened in real life anyway. That was silly. Over time he turned into the grumpy manager that everyone tolerated and no one really liked. They avoided him as much as possible. He was just a general buzzkill to be around. He never showed any leniency, and it was like he had no compassion whatsoever left.

The day after his 24th birthday started in remarkably ordinary fashion. Hyunwoo woke up at 5 am to his usual breakfast of bland oatmeal and apple juice before he headed to open the cafe. Ironically, it was called Cafe Neverland.

The day was unseasonably cold and dreary. Normally at that time of year it was warm and sunny, with the first breaths of summer creeping through the air. Winter didn’t seem willing to release its grip on them this year though, and so the rain came pouring down as the temperatures continually dipped down below freezing. The ove and the coffee machines caused the windows to fog up, giving the whole place the impression of being cozily locked away inside of a snow globe.

Customer traffic was definitely slow that day, and since all of his staff for the morning had called out, Hyunwoo found himself completely alone. He’d scrubbed the tables and floors multiple times in the first hours, but it didn’t take long for him to grow bored of that and stop all together. With nothing better to do, he retreated back behind the counter to make himself a hot chocolate and watch Netflix on his phone. The clock on the wall ticked quietly, declaring each passing second to the otherwise silent cafe.

Hyunwoo was so distracted by his movie that he was watching that he didn’t bother to look up when the doorbell chirped merrily, announcing his first customer of the day. In a bored monotone, he gave his generic greeting with his eyes still glued to the screen.

“Welcome to Cafe Neverland, located second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning. How may I take your order?”

Oddly, the customer didn’t bark out his order immediately. He didn’t say anything for nearly a full minute. It was nothing but radio silence. This struck Hyunwoo as unusual, and finally his focus is drawn to the young man in front of him. His heart suddenly skipped a beat.

The boy was diminutive in stature, the fact reinforced by the oversized green sweater that seemed to swallow him whole. Behind owlish glasses were warm brown eyes that were almost puppylike in nature. His coppery hair fell into his face messily, which he brushed away with absentminded annoyance.

It was Lost Boy.

“You look....familiar. Have we met somewhere before?”

The other smiled at him, a boyish smile that was somehow innocent and mischievous all at once.

“I think maybe we have, Hyunwoo. It must have been somewhere in Neverland.”