The hour of midnight is at hand, for Chaeyoung, it has been a tough day and now the cold breeze comes around from tree to tree and gently waving. He stands leaning on the balcony rail, seemingly watching the shining bright stars---it is so brilliant that the plain lay like a phosphorescent sea beneath him. He has just finished writing a worth four pages story inside the colourful book then goes outside with the intention to breath some fresh air, and lucky him to be awarded by a clean and newly gentle wind.
 

Unlike usual there's no thought surging or clouding his mind. He has no worries. Maybe it's the satisfaction of confessing? To finally stop watching there at the sidelines, admiring silently and step forward to announce that hidden love. He could have just kept his feeling but the urge to tell the girl is pumping in his organ because, he always wonders, questioning that maybe, maybe she feels the same way. It's all about one single thing---Hope. But since those hopes are crushed completely, he can also stop thinking and ponder himself as he already has the answer for those question. In the end, he is in ease.
 

Chaeyoung flinch when he heard his cell phone ring. He reaches into his pocket and digs out the phone. A small smile curve across his face as he looks at the caller.
 

[Hi]
 

He chuckles hearing the awkwardness in her voice with an apology for bothering him, she's always like that without any knowledge that the guy has come to value her presence although they don't talk much. He then back to tilt his head upward, gazing at the blinking fairy lights in the night.
 

"Hi"
 

[So...how are you doing?]
 

"Fi---I'm not fine"
 

[I appreciate your honesty.] She is smiling though her tone sounds concerned.
 

"Anyway, thank you for persuading me to confess. I've been thinking about it but I keep procrastinate until you give me words of encouragement. I owe you something,"
 

[.....]
 

"Irene-sii?"
 

[Oh yeah...Umm it looks like it didn't turn out well]
 

"Yeah"
 

Chaeyoung sigh, long and slow. Releasing his grip on the rail and looks down on the floor before he sits and hugs his knees. Still facing the canopy above. The latter arc an eyebrow when there's no reply from the other side, he opens his mouth to say something but got interrupted.
 

[.....Chaeyoung sii, I was hoping that she'll finally see the light in your eyes when you gaze at her and appreciates you for the kind of person you are. Because you're more than enough. Hoping that she'll hold your hands when you feel cold or anxious, tells you goodnight, letting you sleep without feeling unwanted, checks on you when you feel lonely and no one is around to give your warmth, makes times for you and include you in her list of priorities, and understand you. I genuinely hope she'll love you exactly just the way you are.].......Because I would have loved you.
 

It caught him by surprise that he has to take a second or two registering her statement. He let out an awkward laugh and clear his throat.
 

".....Haha now it's my turn to be speechless"
 

[For your happiness, you need to surround yourself with people who respect you and accept you for your virtues and flaws. You deserve someone better]
 

And that strikes him, hitting him hard.
 

"I know..but I don't want better, I want her and I can't help it..... And she said that she still needs me"
 

[You're blind and stupid. Stop treating yourself like a toy]
 

Although she comes out calm and expressionless, he could sense the sharpness in her voice and how serious the conversation is.
 

Silence.
 

"I'm sorry"
 

[I have to go]
 

"Ah, okay good night Iren----" He heard a beeping sound, indicating that the call has ended. He doesn't finish his talking when she just cut him off. Chaeyoung breathes out and stands, then goes inside his room. He cleans himself and changes into his pyjamas, preparing to sleep. Lying in bed and, just as he's about to turn his bedside lamp off, his phone rings again. He reaches for it and answers without looking at the caller.
 

"Hello?"
 

[.....I'm sorry for earlier. And goodnight too Chaeyoung sii]
 

Hearing her voice, the guy knows exactly who she is. As if in instant, her calls bring a small joy to him. He smiles unknowingly and nods though she can't see him. The call between them ends for the second time, both bring different outcomes, at least for him. He falls asleep without that heavy feelings he felt after the first call but allowing his lips to turn into a slight smile of gratitude.








 

*  *  *  *

Irene put her phone down the table, she works the night shift at the convenience store. Since there's rarely someone will stop an hour past midnight so, she decides to sit outside where there are two sets of plastic folding table and chairs. Though it's a bit cold, she likes it better than standing inside the convenience store, with the warm mugginess of the room. On a certain level, she knows to work the night shift is a dangerous job but it pays more. She's been lying about it to her mom, knowing that her mother will not allow it because it was never a question of if she will ever get robbed, but when. That's the reason for the existence of the pepper spray that has been always inside her pocket. Just in case.
 

She wraps her hands around the plastic coffee cup, trying to soak up the weak heat leaching through the sides. Now, she is thankful by the warmth and the coffee, even if it does tastes like stale pencil shavings. She looks over her phone when there is a message arrives, without opening it, she reads it by pulling down the notification bar.
 

Again it's him, commanding her to get back to her work and finish it once and for all as soon as they back from Jeju Island. She is on the verge of giving up, surrender, forget her feelings and move on without any notice. That's why she persuade Chaeyoung to confess his love for Mina, after she has convinced that Mina will take care of him and love him just as much as he does. Then, she'll gladly leave, refusing the offer, face the consequences and find another alternative to support her mother and herself. And let them live happily.
 

But it isn't the case.
 

By her conversation with Chaeyoung, she learns to know that Mina takes him for granted and in fact, she does not even have any feeling for him. Irene made up her mind, that she'll do it. Those sinful things