The two of us had just celebrated a year together and the very next day, Woohyun had to leave for Busan for work. He handed me a piece of paper with ten digits written down on it.

“He’s the only person I can trust you with,” Woohyun had sighed. “Call him NO MATTER WHAT. Any trouble is disaster for you. Get it?”

I smiled and after closing the door, bounced to the kitchen table. I dialled the number and was greeted by a husky voice.

“Helloo…” it grumbled.

“Um, I’m sorry but, I was given this number by Woohyun? I’m Saya…”

“GIVE ME A SEC! I’LL BE THERE!”

Before I could explain anything else, the man hung up. I shrugged to myself and sat down to eat my breakfast. Exactly fifteen minutes later, I found myself face-to-face with Hoya, Woohyun’s childhood friend.

“I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly and bowed to him. Hoya simply gave me a wide grin. “It’s alright,” he said. “Woohyun said to keep you safe whenever he wasn’t around.” He then asked if he could have some coffee.

“So, how do you know Woohyun? I mean, since when….”

“Oh.” Hoya perked up and I assumed him to be someone who loved telling stories. “Long before we were born.”

“Really?”

Hoya nodded, the Chesire cat grin intact. “Our grandfathers had fought during the Korean War together and had promised to continue their friendship down the line. So after them were our fathers and eventually, both of us became as close as  brothers. I was born a little more than a month after Woohyun and despite many distances like school, cities, etc. we’ve never really drifted apart.”

I remember smiling, thinking how easily Woohyun’s life history was slowly unravelling before me. Always curious about his family and his school life, I then proceeded to ask Hoya about how Woohyun used to be in school.

“In school?” Hoya got off his seat and started waving his arms above his head, laughing. “CRAAAZYY!!”

Seeing my expression, he burst into laughter again and sat back down. “Sorry if I scared you,” he said. “No seriously! Woohyun was the mood-maker! During class trips, he was always the one leading us to unplanned sites, getting us into trouble then justifying our disobedience as ‘child’s curiosity’.”

I looked at my coffee and then posed a question that had forever been circling in my head.

“Hoya.. Has Woohyun always been so… I don’t know… Selfless?”

Hoya nodded, pride evident on his face. “I knew you were gonna ask that. There were small childhood memories that could prove that but the biggest one was caught by the whole nation. It was at Haeundae beach, a class picnic. Everybody had been waiting for the bus to leave only to realize that my friend Woohyun was missing.

“Because it was the first time that Woohyun had ever arrived beyond the given time, all of us had been sick worried. Thirty minutes later, we found him running towards the bus, his face red with exhaustion. Woohyun should have argued with the furious teacher, said something back. Instead, he just stood there quiet, taking in everything that idiot was saying. It was only when we reached the school did we realize what had taken Woohyun so long.”

Hoya then blinked up at the ceiling and asked if I could open up the internet. Few minutes later, both of us were staring at a teenage Woohyun, modestly smiling at the camera with an old man on a wheelchair, who looked far more excited.

“It was all over the news! Fifteen year-old high school kid saves entrepreneur from death! The old man was a rich businessman and even today, he has many corporations under him. Woohyun was obviously lucky to have saved HIS life!”

“What exactly happened?” Even though the newspaper article was right in front of me, I wanted to hear it all from the man who had been with Woohyun way before I had entered his life.

“When we had passed by a tidal pool,” Hoya started. “I saw Woohyun talking to that man, exchanging greetings and all. Woohyun had always felt empathetic towards old people. Probably because he himself was raised by his grandparents.”

My stomach lurched and I decided to save that question for later.

“Anyway, I remember calling Woohyun, saying we were leaving. But Woohyun stayed frozen, saying that the man was sick. I reassured him saying that the old man was fine, who himself told Woohyun that everything was alright. But Woohyun always had this sixth sense thing going on. Finally, I told Woohyun to reach the bus in fifteen minutes.

“Woohyun was right. A few minutes after I had left, the man had a cardiac arrest and Woohyun immediately ran to the nearest road, stopping an ice-cream truck and asking for a lift to the nearest hospital. It was the details that Woohyun noted down in the hospital that helped the authorities to trace him. By the time we reached school, there were hundreds of reporters waiting for him. Despite the odd choice of profession, Woohyun loves taking care of old people and making sure that he can give as much company he can to them during their last days. Right now, he’s at Busan…”

“…to help at the medical camp. I know.”

Both Hoya and I then got lost in our own worlds, thinking how lucky we both were to be in Woohyun’s life, to have him as a close friend, a boyfriend. Five minutes later, I realized something and slapped my forehead.

“You’re the guy who helped Woohyun at our first date, right?” When Hoya smiled, I meekly nodded and stared out of the window.

“Which reminds me,” Hoya said, getting up from his seat. “I need to leave for work. If you ever feel like you need company, jump in, alright?”

I nodded and before waving goodbye to him, asked him a question that seemed absurd until I received the answer.

“My blood type?” Hoya repeated. “AB. You?”

When I replied, Hoya ran to me and gave me a hug. “YOU TOO?? NO WONDER WE GOT ALONG SO WELL! See ya!”

It was while watching him run down the road did I have a fleeting vision of Hoya wearing a tuxedo, with a ring box in his hand. I smiled, knowing fully well the indirect meaning behind such an image.