The first thing Minhyuk hears once he places the kettle on the stove is a series of rather rhythmic knocks on his door. Wondering who could it be this early in the morning, he shuffles to the door while drying his wet hands by rubbing them against the back of his shirt. It is Sunday, barely eight in the morning, but for some reason today his eyes shot open easily hours before he usually wakes up on Sundays.

A young, thin girl is standing facing him when he opens the door, wearing a floral dress underneath a navy green long coat that somehow are slightly too fancy for someone is just paying her neighbour a visit, and a smile that brings sunshine to his heart. “Good morning!” she greets him cheerfully. “You’re up early.”

“Good morning,” he returns, pausing for a second before adding, “Joohee.”

Her eyebrows tilt up and her jaw swings open to let out a gasp. A thousand questions come flooding her mind, but when she sees his journal lying open on the table in the living room, they all vanish in an instant. Her shoulders relax and she breathes out a sigh that is a mixture of relief and disappointment. “You read your notes.”

“I read my notes,” he nods. “And what brings you here so early in the morning?”

She puts her hands on her hips and her head to a side, a grin adorning her lips. “Well, get dressed.”

“Get dressed?”

“We’re going somewhere.”

His face forms a frown when he hears her answer because he didn’t see any note about this. “Where to?”

She smiles at him, warm and kind. “Making memories.”

--

Joohee takes him to a small diner two blocks away first. She lets him to pick their seats and he chooses the table at the corner that faces the window.

“We could’ve had breakfast at home,” Minhyuk complains after she says their orders.

“There’s nothing wrong with eating fancy once in a while.”

Their food arrives a little while later – a set of egg sandwich and fries for her and pancakes with syrup for him, but after a few bites they have a mutual agreement without actually saying anything to exchange their meals.

She brings him to a barber shop afterwards. “You need a haircut,” she tells him. Before he could even (dis)agree she forces him down on one of the vacant seats, gives the barber the instructions of how it should be cut and styled without discussing it ahead with him. It’s bright outside and a little cold inside, so she sits huddled together at the back and watches him as she waits.

She’s the one who pays for the haircut although he insists on paying it himself, and drags him out when he complains.

“You complain too much.”

“It’s my hair. You didn’t even let me decide what style I wanted.”

“What style did you want then, Mohawk?”

“No.”

Crossing her arms, she rolls her eyes and nods away half-heartedly. “Alright then. The next time I’m getting a haircut I’ll let you decide and pay for it. Satisfied?”

He doesn’t get enough time to think about it when Joohee stops abruptly and faces him with a grin.

“Hey, is there anywhere you want to go?”

“Why?”

She shrugs. “Just because. I took you to the place where I want to eat breakfast at and I took you to the barber to cut your hair. Now I’ll let you decide where you want to go,” she explains, before adding. “Anywhere besides home… or outside the country because I can’t afford that.”

This time she gives him enough time to ponder on her question but he just shrugs it off. “Not really.”

“Not even one?” she raises her brows quizzically. “You can’t be serious! There must a place you’ve always wanted to go at least as a child?”

The traffic is clear that morning. It is after all Sunday; the day of conflicts whether to stay home or to go out. For a moment Minhyuk travels back in time as he recalls a certain memory. His gaze seems distant but his eyes aren’t empty. At last he smiles at her before he speaks. “There is somewhere I want to go.”

--

“Why do you do this to me?” she whines at the sight of the enormous machines around them.

“No offense but you see, in my head I don’t know you that well to do anything to you.”

Minhyuk has taken her to the amusement park which turns out to be a place that she hates. She questions his choice but he only responds with a smile.

“Are you scared?” he asks rather amusingly upon seeing her somewhat disgusted face when he drags her to queue at another rollercoaster. He has had his share of fun when they were on the previous one and she was holding on to him for dear life especially at the dropping points, and he wouldn’t miss out on another chance.

“I’m not scared. I’m just… not good with speed. And height. And both of them combined. Especially both of them combined.”

“I didn’t think you’d be someone who is scared of rides.”

“What do you think I’d be then?”

He takes his time before answering the question. “Fearless, I think? From what I read in my notes, you always tag along with me to Eunkwang’s bar and help with things although he never specifically hired you. Like this morning, you just came knocking on my door and said “Hey, let’s make some memories” and suddenly dragged me around without me even realizing it even though to me we’re as good as strangers. I don’t know how to put it well, but you just look so energetic and lively, like just by your touch a wilted flower can bloom again.”

Joohee looks away so he can’t see her watery eyes, but she can’t hide the lump in as she speaks. “Thanks, Minhyuk. That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

--

It is already near dusk when they finally leave the place. They take a rest at a playground after getting off the bus to watch the sunset, sitting side by side at the swings while eating the fish breads they bought along the way. There’s stillness in the air between them that neither of them feels burdened by.

“Aren’t you going to ask me again why did I choose to go to the park out of all places?” Minhyuk breaks the silence after a while.

“I didn’t want to force you to speak about things you don’t want to.”

The cold wind brushes past his face, so he hides his hands in the pockets of his coat to keep warm. “There’s this memory that I remember vividly. I was six, and it was Christmas. My parents had promised to take me to the park but you know how crowded it is on holidays, so they said we’d go on my next birthday instead. But then the following spring they got divorced, and I never brought it up again so we never did go.”

The sun is sinking now in the horizon; only bits of it can be sighted. The sky is a palette of crimson and orange and violet, and as much as the panorama is more beautiful than words can explain she’s grateful for his company, because twilight is the saddest time of the day. She waits in case he has more to say, and he does.

“She started playing Clementine that year’s summer. You know that much, don’t you?”

“Do you miss her?”

“It’s not that long since I last met her for me, but I think I do.”

“Whenever you miss her, you can ask me to play that song for you. I might not be as good, but I can do at least that much,” she then tells him.

“You’ve already done so much,” he smiles. “Like today. Thanks for the memories, Joohee.”

--

Minhyuk invites her in for tea to warm themselves up when they reach their doors. “We haven’t had dinner, anyway. I can make something for you.”

“How did you know I was hoping that you’d say that?” she grins.

“‘Song Joohee, 25 years old, likes to pester me for food’” he recites. “It’s in the book.”

“You seriously wrote that?”

There’s mischief written all over his face when he shrugs with a smile. He takes her coat when they enter his home and gives her the extra pair of slippers he doesn’t remember buying.

She heads straight to the couch and lays out the Polaroids they took that day while he makes his way to the bedroom to change after reheating the same kettle he used that morning. He asks her if there is anything specific that she would like to eat, and when he doesn’t hear any answer he checks up on her and realizes that she has fallen asleep. Smiling to himself at the sight of her, he takes a blanket and gently covers her.

He sits down facing her and releases a sigh. “Why are you so nice to me?” he wonders out loud despite knowing that she wouldn’t hear him. There are a lot of questions that he has for her, and a lot more he can’t understand even by reading each and every note there is about her ― like how easily he can trust her and tells her things that he normally wouldn’t tell to someone as good as a stranger like her.

Seconds tick away and, slowly and very gently, he leans in. The distance between them soon is only centimetres away. He stops right then and scoffs at himself before getting up. But before he could leave he feels a hand tugging his fingers. “Finish what you started,” she tells him.

She still has her eyes closed when he turns around.  “I’ll forget this tomorrow.”

“That’s alright,” she says, shaking her head and opening her eyes at last. “What’s important is right now ― there’s a reason it’s called present, you see? A gift.”

Minhyuk seats himself carefully next to her while she gets up. “But, Joohee-ya…” he trails off, not knowing what’s the right thing to say or if there’s anything that should be said at all.

“Do you believe me?”

“Strangely I do.” He smiles a little, and she does the same.

Again he repeats the process, and as their lips meet, he quietly says a prayer in his heart for his mind to never erase this moment away, and he echoes it over and over until he eventually forgets what he is wishing for.