It was like any other day. Eun Ji walked home from school, which wasn’t a significant distance away, with her backpack and books in tow. Two years ago, before she met Jiyong, this was her only form of exercise. Making it a habit to transport to and from school with just her own two little feet, Eun Ji was able to make friends with the kind elders she always saw on her way.

“Good afternoon, Eun Ji. How was school?” An elderly woman, who was outside her front porch sweeping, asked her.

Eun Ji bowed politely. “It was fine. Thank you for asking, ahjumma. Have a nice day.”

The elder Korean woman waved goodbye as Eun Ji walked onwards. She said hi to several other neighborhood kids on her way, and stopped to chat with the local produce seller, who had just asked her about her ex, Jiyong.

“Where is that good looking boyfriend of yours?” The lady produce seller asked her. “I thought he would always drop you off home after school. It’s too cold for you to be walking alone. Aish… Don’t tell me he left you to be with his guy friends.”

Eun Ji blushed, feeling awkward that she was still referring to Jiyong as her “boyfriend”. “Oh, ahjumma, he’s no longer with me.”

“Mwoh?” She asked with shock. “You two look so perfect together.”

Eun Ji shrugged. “I guess sometimes perfection isn’t an option.”

“Don’t tell me he broke up with you. If he did, then omo, that would be such a shame. With a beautiful face like yours – “

“No,” Eun Ji chuckled uncomfortably. “I was the one who initiated our break up.”

“Aigoo! Have you gone mental? He was a very handsome young man. Let me tell you, if I were your age, I’d steal him away from you in an instant. Why did you end it with him?” The produce seller asked her.

Eun Ji looked down, trying to formulate a reasonable answer to that question, because, without a doubt, there was no reasonable answer for her actions.

“I… I wasn’t thinking.” Eun Ji said, then began to walk on, before the seller could inquire even more about her relationships. “Goodbye, ahjumma. It was nice talking to you.”

“Yah! Eun Ji! Make sure you find a new boyfriend the next time I see you! Don’t put that beautiful face to waste!” The seller called back to Eun Ji who was already far ahead from her.

Eun Ji smiled to herself at that statement. It seemed as if that was a certain possibility.

She walked a few more meters, until she finally reached her beloved home, which was tucked away in between two other residences. Though it was two stories and big enough for a family of six, only Eun Ji and her young umma lived there. It was big home for just the two of them, making Eun Ji feel even more lonely as she was the only child and her mother was always away for work. Growing up, she had been used to coming home from school on her own, only to find a quiet household.

Eun Ji walked up the steps leading to her front door, absentmindedly pulling her house key from her pocket. Just as she reached onto the door knob, she heard laughter. That wasn’t a familiar sound she would hear coming home, especially if that laughter came from inside her own house. She stopped for a moment, listening to the sounds coming from inside the house.

There was laughter, and then it died. She then heard a woman talking, automatically ruling out that that woman was her own mother. But who was she talking to? Eun Ji slowly opened the door, anticipating her mother’s visitor. It was seldom that she would come home to find her mother with a guest. She was usually working around this time.

Stepping inside, she saw her mother, in the foyer, hugging a taller man.

“Ahh, jagiya, I’m so happy to see you again.” She heard her mother say to the man.

Eun Ji froze by the door way, unintentionally dropping her books and letting her bag slowly slide off her shoulders. Hearing the loud thud of her fallen books, her mother and the man let go of each other and looked up at the stricken girl standing by the doorway.

“Oh, Eun Ji, you’re home,” Her umma said, coming up to her. She smiled, as she took her daughter’s hands and kissed it lovingly. Eun Ji’s stare remained fixed on the man her mother was just talking to. The man smiled at her, but her stare suddenly turned into a glare. Eun Ji glowered at him, but her eyes flickered towards the suitcases sitting on the stairs.

Eun Ji’s mother pulled her to come inside, but she remained glued to her spot, several feet away from the man. “Eun Ji, come in. Say hello to your father…”

Eun Ji forcefully grabbed her hands away from her mother. An angry expression swept over her face as she turned to her mother and said, “I have no father.”

And with that, she darted out the front door, down the steps, and onto the sidewalk, where she ran.

She ran, and she ran, and she ran…

She had no distinctive destination in mind, nor had she any idea when she would stop running, but that’s what she continued to do. Eun Ji made it an objective to go as far away from his presence as possible.

And as she zoomed past house after house, tears began to well up in her eyes. Her lips quavered and her heart beat even faster, as anger, pain, and all sorts of profound emotion swelled deep inside her.

Eun Ji finally stopped running, her heart not able to take any more of it. She bent over, clutching her chest as she began to heave in and out uneasily. Her sobbing made it even harder for her to breath, but that didn’t stop her from letting it all out. She cried out loud; her tears streaming down profusely with no intentions to stop flowing.

She didn’t know where she was, nor could she tell because of her blurry vision from all that crying, yet she couldn’t stop crying. She hated that man she saw in her foyer, and she was even angrier at her mother for allowing him inside their household.

As she sobbed, Eun Ji felt someone s their hand around her arm, pulling her close. They held her, letting her tearful face stain their own shirt, not seeming to mind that it turned out to be soaking wet with her tears. Eun Ji continued crying, feeling even more emotional now that someone was kind enough to comfort her, but her sobbing slowly stopped, as a familiar scent of cologne filled her nose. Eun Ji had always loved that scent, and her heart had always skipped a beat when she got a whiff of that aroma.

The one holding her continued to comfort her, rubbing her back and smoothing her hair. Eun Ji held onto her comfort, certain with who she was holding onto.

They stood there, for a few minutes, trying to calm her down and let all her emotions subside to a reasonable state. When she was calm enough, her solace led her into the passenger seat of his car, buckled her in himself, got into the driver’s seat, and drove off with her.

 “You didn’t have to take me here.” Eun Ji spoke, breaking the silence between them. She stood by the handrails of a certain boardwalk, looking out onto the ocean. Her tears had diminished, leaving her with red, puffy eyes and a stuffy nose.

Jiyong didn’t reply immediately. He continued looking ahead towards the ocean, leaning on the handrails. Sighing, Eun Ji also leaned on them too.

“I didn’t have to, but I promised that I would.” He finally said, after a few more minutes of silences.

Eun Ji looked up at Jiyong incredulously.

Jiyong continued again, though, still not looking at Eun Ji. “I promised you that if that man who claims to be your father ever comes by, I’d take you away. I told you that I’d never want to see you get hurt by that man again. I’m the only one who knows, apart from your mother, about the pain you’ve gone through because of him, so it’s my duty to save you from it all.”

Eun Ji had gone quiet. Despite all the drama that they’ve brought upon themselves because of their breakup, Jiyong still didn’t stop himself from keeping promise to save her from her absentee father. A twinge of emotion began to overflow in her once again, but this time, it was good.

As tears began to flow from her eyes again, Jiyong threw his arm around her, pulling her close. Eun Ji buried her face around his neck, letting herself express her feelings through her tears.

Without thinking, Jiyong placed a kiss on her head as he held her tightly, taking in the sweet fragrance of her hair that he had grown to love.

“I’m always here for you, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Even when we’re far apart, I can still tell when you’re hurting.” He whispered to her. “I just want you to be safe.”