They walked down the coastline side by side while witnessing the beautiful scenery of sunset. Jihoon glanced at Yubin beside him.

*Yubin, why are you making me this crazy? I just can’t stop thinking about you lately* he thought. *I love you, Yubin. But did you feel the same towards me too?*

His hand accidentally brushed against the back of her hand. The two were surprised but pretended nothing happened. Jihoon bit his lips and purposely knocked her hand again.

*What is he doing?* Yubin pretended nothing had happened. *Yubin* Jihoon slowly entwined their hand. Yubin looked at him but he looked at the sea. Slowly, he looked at her in her eyes. He smiled without a word. Yubin gazed down to their entwined hand and slowly looked at him in the eye. To his surprise, she replied his smile. They walked hand in hand.

*I guess I really did fall for him!*

 

 

Jihoon and Yubin settled down on the sandy beach facing the sunset and the red coloured sea. He placed his hand aside as he let out a sigh.

"I wish I can sail on a boat one day" he voiced. "Sail?" "Yes. Don’t you want to?" "Well that sounds fun. Maybe we can do that together sometimes" she glanced at him. "As for me, I wish I can drive a train" As he heard it, Jihoon broke into laughter.

"Don’t laugh at me like that" she punched on his shoulder lightly. "I know that sounds weird. But that's what I dream of"

"Okay okay. That's a unique dream" he chuckled. "I dreamt about it when I ride the train for the first time here" 

Yubin played with the sand in front of her. "I wonder" she caught his attention. "Do you remember when we went to the beach with our family? I wonder how you can know about my blue bandana”

"You bring that bandana everywhere you go. Naturally people will notice it" "No I’m not. I only keep it in my locker if I ever bring it to school" her toe played with sand. *Wait* Yubin froze and her eyes that was watching the movement of her feet traced to his bare feet. A scar was seen on his ankle.

"Jihoon, you" Yubin was about to ask but Jihoon already spoke. "I don’t know if you remember this but I fell into your room one night. And you helped me" he confessed. "I had a big wound across my ankle and you tied your blue bandana there. I'm in debt with you for your help that night"

As Jihoon unveiled the truth, Yubin remembered the incident where an unknown person fell into her room one night and she helped the person. Then the person left her clueless.

"So it was you. But why? I mean. How can you run on rooftop of houses in the middle of night?" "I know this is weird and I don’t know if you still want to talk to me after you know about this" "It's okay. Just tell me" Jihoon heaved a sigh before continued. "I'm not a good person. I skip school, steal and I don’t know what else had I done" he paused. "I pity my parents for having a brat like me. They helped me out from the prison for numerous times and I still yell at them. Now I realized I had done wrong"

"Prison?!" she faced him in shock. "Yes. Sounds ridiculous but it's real. I was a member of a street gang. So we usually steal and trash people. I helped them to collect their borrowed money. In the hard way but as the junior member, they didn’t allow me to kill" "You wouldn’t kill right?" "I will not. But then I requested to leave the gang but they didn’t allow me. They threaten to hurt me if I ever leave the gang but I ignored them. I just left them but on that night they managed to find me. So I ran away" he explained.

 

 

 

"They wouldn’t hurt you, will they?" she was concerned. "I don’t know. I hope not. If they ever find me, I know how to protect myself, Yubin" he smiled.

She stared at the sea in silent. “So that was your past that I learnt today. I wish to learn more about you, day by day” “Me too” he gave her a smile.

 

They enjoyed the scenery and chatted.

"Yubin, let's head home. Grandma will be worried" Jihoon stood. "Wait just a bit long. I want to see something" she replied. "Please" she took his hand and pulled him to sit beside her again.

The sky turned darker a few minutes later and millions of bright stars can be seen in the sky.

"Whoa!" his mouth gapped. "Beautiful isn’t it?" "Yes" "Look!" she pointed to a constellation. "That's Orion constellation"

"You know its’ name? I never even bother about the sky. And I don’t know the night sky can be this beautiful" "Sometimes you just need time to notice what you never see all this while. I always watch the star from the skylight in my room. The stars have a beauty of its own. You can't see this much stars in the town because there too much light pollution. So enjoy your time watching the stars while you can" she focused to the sky. He glanced at Yubin then back to the sky.

*I notice a new beautify of nature thanks to you, Yubin. And I'll treasure this moment with you, my one and only shining star, Yubin* he thought with smile.

*             *             *

"I'm going to read this outside" Yubin picked a book from the shelf. "Okay.  Help me with dinner later" Grandma replied. "Sure" Yubin smiled palely and walked weakly out from the living room.

Jihoon rinsed the washed plates in the kitchen alone. "Done" he washed his hand with smile. He turned the tap and dried his hand with paper towel. He threw the used paper towel into the rubbish can. He was about to walk out from the kitchen but caught a familiar bottle in the rubbish can.

*That is Yubin's supplement bottle. She finished it I guess* he shrugged and walked out from the kitchen.

Suddenly, Jihoon's phone rang. He took his phone out from his pocket and sat on the stairs beside him. He answered the call.

"Hello, mom" Jihoon smiled. "Jihoon! How are you?" Mrs. Park replied from the other line. "I'm fine. How are you? Is that dad fine?" "We both fine. I'm glad you pick up your phone. I couldn't get your phone" "Sorry, mom. It just that, something came up" "It's okay, dear" "Mom" Jihoon called and paused.

"What is it? You have a problem?" "Well, I told Yubin about my past" "So how did she respond? I'm sure she's shocked" "I freak her out of course but it's great that she didn't hate me" 

Minutes later, thunder rumbled and lightning could be seen through the sky that was getting darker. Not long after that, tiny droplets fell from the dark cloud. Jihoon glanced at the nearest window before bid his mother on the line good bye. He held his phone with a wide smile. He stood and walked up the stairs to the room. He put his phone on the dresser.

"Arrggh!" Jihoon let himself fell onto his bed. He looked outside. "It's raining heavily" He turned around to face Yubin's bed.

"Where's Yubin? I thought she's in here" he paused. "Wait!" he quickly sat up. "She went outside just now right?!" He got off from his comfy bed and grabbed his cap. He wore it as he darted out from the room and down the stairs.

"Jihoon, what's the big hurry?" Grandma stood as he heard he stomped down the stairs. "Yubin went out just now right?" he asked Grandma. She gasped and nodded. "Quick! Go find her!" she ordered but Jihoon already dashed out from the cottage. He ran into the heavy rain and his t-shirt drenched.

*Yubin!* he gritted his teeth and looked for Yubin around the cottage and stable. He remembered what Grandma told him earlier that morning.

'Yubin seems sick. Maybe because she hasn’t take those supplement pills for days. She ran out of them'

*Darn it! I should have taken care of her! You're stupid, Jihoon!* he thought and suddenly stopped. *Don’t tell me she's there* he turned to the direction of the hill. He sprinted to the top of hill. Jihoon's eyes widened at the sight of Yubin under the tree, already flat on the grass.

"Yubin!" Jihoon called between his panting and ran to her. She opened her eyes a tad and saw him. She mouthed his name weakly. "You okay?" he went on his knees and held her hand. "You're burning! Let's go in!" he took off his cap and wore it to her head. Jihoon lifted her on his back. Yubin was shivering badly.

"Hang in there, Yubin" he voiced as he carried her down the hill. His hair fell over his eyes as the rain fell. Yubin eyes glued to his face although she only opened her eyes a little. She almost lost cautious. Her arm was cling to his neck. "Thanks, Jihoon" she mumbled.

 

 

 

"Quick, bring her up" Grandma instructed as Jihoon brought Yubin into the cottage. He brought her to the room. "I can take care from here" Grandma told Jihoon and nodded him to the door. "Sure" he exited the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door.

*I hope you're fine, Yubin* he shut his eyes. 

 

 

 

"Is she okay?" Jihoon asked Grandma as he entered the room half an hour later. Yubin was in her bed with her wet clothes already changed and a small towel placed over her forehead. "She fainted but she'll be okay. Now, let's just let her rest" Grandma smiled. "That's relieve" he let out a sigh of relieve. "I should get change now. And I wiped the wet floor" he grabbed his towel. "Thank you, Jihoon. I'll make you some hot soup. Come down when you're ready" Grandma said before exited the room. Jihoon glanced at Yubin before got changed.

 

 

 

 

Jihoon sat at the dining table. He stared at the bowl of hot mushroom soup in front of him.

 

"Jihoon, why aren't you eating?" Grandma woke him from his day dream. Jihoon blinked his eyes a few times and stared at the bowl and Grandma after one another. "Oh, sorry. I was thinking" he picked up the spoon and paused. Slowly, he ate the soup.

"What should I do, Grandma? I should be protecting and take care of Yubin but now, she's sick. She's sick because of me" he stopped from eating and faced the soup. He looked at his reflection on the soup surface.

"Jihoon" Grandma stood and walked to him. "It's not your fault. Things happen. We can’t do anything against the fate. Let's just live with it" Grandma patted his head lightly and walked to the living room leaving him alone. Jihoon lifted his head and stared into empty space.

*I want to take care of her* he looked at his soup then his eyes widened. *Right!* Jihoon stood and walked to the hot soup in the pot. He took an empty bowl and slowly filled the bowl with the soup using a ladle. "Ouch!" he winced as his hand hit the hot pot. "It's okay, Jihoon. That's just a bit" he continued to fill the bowl. Jihoon took a clean tray nearby and placed the bowl onto the tray with the spoon beside the bowl.

"You can do this, Jihoon" he picked up the tray carefully and carried it out from the kitchen. He glanced at Grandma who was already asleep on the rocking chair. He crept up the stairs and entered the room. He kicked the door lightly behind him to close it. His eyes fixed to Yubin's figure on the bed. She suddenly groaned and her eyes opened slightly.

"You okay?" Jihoon quickly put the tray onto the table and knelt beside her bed. Yubin stared at him and slowly she smiled and nodded. "Wait!" he took the already dry towel on her forehead and drenched it again in the warm water near him. He put it back onto her hot forehead. "Thanks" she whispered. "Sure" "Where's Grandma?" "Downstairs. She's asleep. She made us some soup. You want to eat now?" She nodded. Jihoon helped her to sit up and leaned against the bed head.

Jihoon sat on her bed and placed the tray beside him. He picked up the bowl and began to scoop the soup. He blew the soup to cool it. Yubin watched his actions and slowly a smile formed on her pale lips.

"Aahh" he was about to feed her when she gave him a weird look. "I'm your personal health care from now on. So you should listen to me" he said. She chuckled. "Why do you laugh?" "Personal health care? Are you 'Baymax' in 'Big Hero Six' or what?" "Yah. You're sick and you still can tease me?" "Okay okay. Sorry" she smiled and opened . He fed her.

He ran his thumb on her smudgy lips to clean it. Her eyes widened then she looked away. Her face began to change red as she remembered about the other night. "Sorry" he took away his hand. 

"Here" he continued to feed her.

*             *             *

"Yubin" Jihoon called as he entered the room with a tray of food. Yubin was leaning against the wall while thinking. She looked at him and smiled. "I told you to rest right? What are you thinking again?" he commented as he placed the tray on the bed and he sat beside it. "Yeah I know. Don’t you know, I'm getting bored here?" "Bored? Be thankful that I'm here and you're not alone. Here, eat" he nodded to the tray. "I can walk down myself you know? Why bother to bring this food up?"

"Grandma's order. She ordered me to send you food and accompany you while you're eating so you don’t get bored"

"Bored? That thing will never leave me" Yubin pulled the tray and put it on her lap. She began to eat her lunch. "I can’t believe summer is going to end. I'll miss Grandma's delicious cook"

"Yeah. Me too. But we can still visit her" his eyes caught a figure of a book near Yubin. "Reading again?"

"Yes" "Aren’t you tired of reading all the time?" "Nope" "Hey, I'm curious. What do you want to be anyway? You had been reading these detective and horror books" "Doctor" "Doctor? Seriously?! Your hobby doesn’t even suit your ambition" "To me, hobby is a thing that help you escape from the reality and free our mind from daily stress" "So reading is an escape for you?" "Yes" "Well, I don’t like reading. I prefer games over books. I’m easily got bored at reading" "Games?" "Yes. Computer games or games I installed in my phone. As long as it is a virtual game. You know there is this game..." Jihoon continued to tell her about game excitedly.

Both of them talked about many things from the roadside food to favourite TV shows and countries to what they dislike.

"I used to like insect. I followed Moonbin and Jibeom to catch some insects at a hill. But I don’t know how I grew up to be scared of them" Yubin said. She had put her empty bowl on the tray beside her minutes ago. "Catch insect? I miss doing that. My dad used to bring me to forest to catch some insects. And we even fished at a stream there" "Talk about fishing, it had been a while since I fished" "You fished?" "Yes but that was years ago. My Grandpa used to take us to fish on a boat" "We should go fishing sometimes" "Sounds fun"

Grandma entered the room and they stopped talking.

"I had been knocking the door but none of you two heard it?" she said. "You knocked? I didn’t hear it" he replied. "Me neither" Yubin replied. Grandma looked at them after one another.

"You two were busy chatting. That's why you didn’t hear it but that’s fine. I see you're getting better now" Grandma said to Yubin. "Yes I am. So now, you don’t have to ask Jihoon to bring the food up here" "I told him to bring the food up here? He's the one who want to bring the food up himself. I never order him"

Yubin narrowed her eyes at Jihoon for lying to her and he smiled sheepishly. She sighed.

"Anyway, thank you and sorry for troubling you, Jihoon" Yubin said. She looked away as he talked with Grandma.

*I'm grateful that you're around, Jihoon* Yubin smiled.