Woohyun can tell it’s almost winter despite not being out most of the time. He can feel it. The way the winds would greet him coldly, the way the glass on his window would cause him to shiver slightly. He could tell by the smell of the crisp winter air approaching, the smell of musky leaves slowly bidding him farewell. 

It’s sad for him to say goodbye to autumn because it is so dear to him. So many things happened to him during that particular season. Many expected him to hate autumn however, Woohyun just embraced it even more. 

Two years back, Woohyun lost his sight. He understood what it meant to go under the knife to remove his tumour and he was willing to go on with the plan. “I’d rather lose my sight than to lose my life.” 

The journey itself was not easy for Woohyun. Many pitied him. His face is beautiful, heart so kind and gentle, everyone loved him. He never wanted their pity, he just wants to ease his parents’ worries. He doesn’t want his hardworking parents to worry about losing their son. ‘It’s never easy to bury your son first’ that he learnt when his brother died when Woohyun was about to enter high school. 

He couldn’t bear to let his parents go through the same pain again. ‘My life is so precious to my parents, I can’t lose it,’ Woohyun had said to his doctor as they went through his options. He had accepted his fate when he woke up from the surgery and seeing nothing.

This all happened in autumn yet Woohyun doesn’t hate autumn. He cherished the season more as it had given him hope, it gave him the reassurance of life, it had told him that his parents won’t have to suffer the pain of losing another child. 

It was also during last autumn that he managed to convince his parents that he is capable of living a normal life like a normal person. Sure he had to walk around with the help of a walking stick and wear a pair of sunglasses that hides his beautiful eyes but that wouldn’t stop him from living like a normal person. That had allowed Woohyun to be at ease because his mom doesn’t have to accompany him everywhere he went. He is proud to say he is now completely independent for daily chores and routines. 

He knows that when he walks people will give him looks, he doesn’t need his sight to tell him that. He can feel it, he can feel their stares on him. Woohyun doesn’t mind the stares, not anymore. It used to bug him, made him self conscious to the point that it worries his mother. But as time passes, he got used to all that. ‘It’s funny how when you lost your sight that you realise people are always watching you.’

And now, autumn got more meaningful.

He was sitting on the park bench, taking in the smell of the fallen leaves, listening to the crunch of the leaves as they were stepped on. He closed his eyes and took of his sunglasses. He imagined how the park would look like. He pictured the clear autumn sky, the brown leaves ready to fall off its tree, the park floor filled with scattered leaves. 

People asked if he ever wished for his sight back. He would always say the same answer, “No. I prefer life like this. I can picture life just as I want to with my own imagination, my own sight.” But if you ask him now, he might change his answer. The slight melancholy in his voice is enough to let everyone know that he now wished for his sight back. 

“You’re already here?” Woohyun had heard the person walk towards him. He just nodded his head, all too familiar with the person’s scent. It is like a routine for the both of them to sit on the exact bench since spring of this year. 

He had imagined how the person next to him looked. He imagined the person with a beautiful pair of eyes, eyes as deep as his words. Together with the amazing pair of eyes were a pair of beautiful hands that sometimes held onto Woohyun as people pushed past him as they walked. 

“How would you describe the day today?” the honey toned voice asked Woohyun. At first Woohyun thought it was weird to ask a blind person to describe the day since the other could see perfectly well but once the other explains that he understood the reason. 

Woohyun did as requested, describing the day as he hears it, as he feels it, as he smells it. Once he was done telling the other what the day looked like to him, he sense something different. A wave of uncertainty, it has nervousness hanging all around it. 

He puts on his sunglasses and looked at the other, head tilting a little. “Is everything okay? I sense something different from you today,” Woohyun asked the person sitting still next to him. The air was stiff, the silence getting heavy. 

The other hesitates a little before answering Woohyun’s question. Woohyun can tell the other was trying to plan things in his head to say to him. 

“Do you ever wish you can have your sight again?” 

Now Woohyun understood why the other was being careful with his words. He had never asked Woohyun about his sight and knows only how Woohyun had lost his sight. Woohyun thought about it long and hard. For some reasons, he couldn’t give the same answer to the other like he did with everyone else. 

He faced the other, taking his sunglasses off as if trying to make eye contact with the other. Woohyun smiled, eyes turning into little crescents. 

“I will be honest with you. Back then, I never wished to have my sight back but now, there’s this little nudge wishing that I have my sight back,” he answered the other truthfully, voice laced with regret and melancholy. He never thought he’d miss his eye sight after accepting the painful truth.

But now that he had met the other, he wished, he hoped that he could see the other’s face, the owner of the beautiful honey voice. 

“Why?” the other asked carefully. 

Woohyun thinks he might be seen as someone very pathetic, seen as someone very hopeless but his mother never taught him to lie. 

“My own imagination is not enough to see your face. I’m afraid I have become greedy,” he said with a sad chuckle. He has been wanting to see the face of the owner of such melodic voice ever since he asked Woohyun if he could sit next to Woohyun earlier this spring. 

His head was hung low, cheeks hot from embarrassment. The other grabbed his slightly cold hands and brought it close to his face. 

“You don’t have to imagine anymore,” he said as he moved Woohyun’s hands around his face before letting go of Woohyun’s hands. 

“It’s okay. Feel as much as you’d like.” 

Woohyun roamed his hands on the outer of the latter’s face trying to figure out the shape of his face. Then he moved his hand on top of the other’s forehead. 

‘It’s smooth and narrow,’ he thought to himself and moved down to look for his eyes. 

He had never imagined the latter’s eyes being small but he thinks that it is charming. ‘It would still be a treat to look into them.’

His nose was high and sharp with soft cheeks. ‘He’s absolutely stunning.’

His fingers then roamed to the other’s lips and felt the pair quiver. 

“Did I hurt you?” Woohyun asked voice filled with worry, his hands now resting on the other’s broad shoulders. His beautiful face fell into a frown as he wondered if he had accidentally hurt the other. 

The other took Woohyun’s hand and placed it on his chest, over his beating heart. Woohyun was shocked to have felt the other’s fast beating heart, face showing he was panicking. 

“I was just nervous.” 

“Why?”

“To have you this close, to have you feel my flaws.”

He brought his hands to the other’s face again, finger tips ghosting over the other’s jaw to his cheeks. 

“To have someone I like to see me for the first time. It’s nerve wracking.” Woohyun felt the other’s cheeks growing warm. ‘He’s blushing.’ 

Seeing the small shy smile on Woohyun’s face, the slightly reddened cheeks, had assured the other that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t the only one feeling like that. Woohyun could feel the other moving closer towards him as his hands fall on the other’s chest. 

The kiss was innocent and soft. Woohyun would love to get used to the feeling. 

“You’re not toying with me are you?” Nervousness written all over his face. 

“I’d be dead if I ever toyed with your feelings, Woohyun.” And to that, Woohyun smiled. 

This all happened earlier when the autumn wind greeted them. Now the autumn wind is bidding them goodbye. 

“Are you ready?” They have agreed to introduce the latter to Woohyun’s parents. The other squeezed his hand and stood up. They walked towards the cafe Woohyun had set. 

“Don’t be nervous. They just want to see who has been taking good care of their son’s heart,” Woohyun brought their intertwined hand and kissed the other’s hand. As they walked closer to the cafe, Woohyun was filled with happiness, his heart feeling light while the other walked with full determination, to make the one so dear to his heart his forever. 

Woohyun’s smile grew wider as the other said his parents were in front of them. Finally, he gets to introduce the one who he holds dear to him to his parents. 

“Mom, dad, this is Kim Sunggyu,” he said, heart bursting with happiness, face glowing with love.

“My forever,” he continued with a smile so bright, eyes turning into little crescents.