⇜ one ⇝

 

"Jae, you're not touching your food."

I blinked once, twice and thrice before I realized I was staring into space and my mother called me out of my trance.

"Sorry, I just—I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Because of your case study am I right?" I heard my father retorted, his tone smug. He had always been against me pursuing the medical field and I couldn't count how many times we argued about it.

"If only you took up business in college and followed my advice, you would've been done studying and earning your own money by now."

Here we go again.

"We've been through this dad I'm not quitting med school." I replied bluntly as I picked a piece of beef from the serving plate and scooped a spoonful of rice to my mouth.

I saw him shake his head from my peripheral view before he wiped his mouth and dragged his chair backwards. I must've pissed him off again or he was really done eating, but either way I couldn't care less.

You see, I was never really in good terms with my father ever since I was young; his authoritarian manner of upbringing deprived me of the moral support I needed from a father. He had always wanted me to take over our wine business but the idea of having to speak with several high status men and foreigners just to talk about wines, build ties and have negotiations with them that involves a lot of sugarcoated conversations never appealed to me. My mother and grandmother were the only ones who showed me their support the moment I realized what I really wanted to become in the future. And before my grandmother died, she made me promise that I will continue to pursue my dream despite how much my father would oppose to it.

At the very least, my father still funded my tuition fee with the help of my mother's persuasion. Other than that, he barely showed me support in other forms. I was able to live through that for 6 years ever since I started college.

I would normally feel unfazed by his presence, but at that moment, I felt like I was suffocating. I finished the rest of my food and stood up, grabbed my scarf and coat and kissed my mother's temple.

"You're done? But you barely ate anything." I heard her say.

"I'm just going to drop by Johnny's house to get some papers." I lied. I didn't look at her direction, but if I did I knew she would see through me and know I wasn't in my best mood. She worries too much and I didn't want her to worry about anything at all.

"I'm taking Coco with me by the way. I'll be back before twilight."
 

 

 

 

It was quite sunny when I came out, and the air was still and it wasn't raining snow. I breathed a sigh of relief the moment I reached my destination as I found peace at the sight of the city below me; the soft sound of cars honking at the distance filled my ears.

This place had always been my favorite spot to go to whenever I want to have momentary peace alone.

Eventually, it became my safe haven ever since my family transferred to live in this city. Like a tree house for kids. It's not extremely hidden but no one really comes here and stays, especially during wintertime. A few trees surround this spot too, which somehow kept me hidden from any passerby.

I sat on the huge flat stone and patted the space beside me, which Coco immediately perched on, the space enough to cover more than half of his long body.

Everything for a moment felt so peaceful.

Really just for a moment.

Approximately about 5 minutes?

And then I heard a sound.

A very distinct one.

Who would have known that the events that would take place after I sat on that stone with my dog would become a huge turning point in my life?

I was busy scrolling through my phone to pick a song to play when I heard someone clear his throat, and I almost threw my phone away from shock, the stranger's sudden presence also triggered Coco to start barking.

I swerved to look behind my back and saw a boy standing just a few feet away from me, his hair black and skin pale. I found it strange that he was only wearing a short sleeved dress shirt and a pair of jeans, although that wasn't what caught my attention the most.

I would have to admit his features struck me the most when he is probably the most beautiful male I have ever seen in my entire life. It was one thing to hear someone clear his throat out of nowhere and one more thing to actually see who made the sound.

And a very handsome stranger at that.

He was eyeing me as if he just saw an anomaly before him, the crease in between his eyes hinting the confusion he felt.

Confusion because of what? I didn't really know. I might have been equally confused to find someone else in that spot, and more so when I didn't hear the crunching sound of footsteps beforehand.

"How did you hear that?" I heard the stranger say, his voice too soft I barely got to pick it up.

I gulped before I replied to him. "Uh... you mean when you cleared your throat?"

The question sounded so stupid to me but I felt relieved when he actually nodded slowly, yet he was still looking at me suspiciously.

"Um. Why would I not?"

He hesitantly took a few steps towards my direction until he was directly in front of me, his advances making me slowly tilt my body away from him as far as my position could allow me.

He's really, really very strange.

"Can you see me?" Weird boy waved his hands in front of my face frantically, and I was afraid that at any second he would hit my face.

"Of course I could! Are you crazy?"

At that, he stood up straight again and tilted his head to the side. I really did think he's cute but my initial thought was that if this man just escaped from a mental institution I wouldn't have second thoughts of handing him back to where he came from.

"Sorry. It's just my first time seeing someone here." He muttered sheepishly. It surprised me how high-pitched and chirpy his voice sounded, and he had this certain accent that I couldn't exactly identify.

He's really odd. But maybe not crazy odd like I initially thought.

"Do you live near here?" He asked while glancing at me sideways.

"Me?"

"No I was asking your dog." He rolled his eyes and a small laugh sli