it's a chilly day in the middle of spring and jonghyun notices the clouds slowly retreating as he steps out of the bus. he clutches onto his gig bag as he makes his way to the big park, smiling at the sight of his usual spot being empty.

every weekend lee jonghyun could be found at that spot, sitting on a high chair with a guitar in his hands and a microphone stand before him. he liked that spot, he would usually be the center of attention once he started singing and from there he could see each and every pair of eyes wherein he could read the strong emotion of the song he tried to convey.

and it wasn't any different that day, he was only setting up but people had already stopped walking, curious as to what he was about to do. sometimes he saw familiar faces, and he'd smile at them gratefully.

that place was his own stage. being a street musician allowed him to let the people hear his own music, his own creation. each and every note and word that started off as a small scribble in the corners of the pages in his notebook at some point would turn into a full-fledged song, but he'd only let out a satisfied sigh after seeing the expressions of the people after having performed it.

it was during his third song that he noticed a pair of eyes that displayed an expression that worried him. a frown played on her eyebrows, and she looked lost as she sat down on a bench, pulling her suitcase closer to her. his eyes stayed focused on the stranger—even though she had barely spared him a glance up to now.

he ended his song and bowed gratefully as the crowd applauded and cheered. he had actually planned to sing another ballad next, but he decided to go with a more upbeat one. a simple but subtle move to get a certain person to smile.

his fingers grazed the cords of his guitar as he closed his eyes and started off with a soft but long note. he started with the first words rolling off his tongue smoothly and his soothing voice filling the air. the tempo slowly built up until he got to the chorus—and that's when she finally looked up.

their gazes met, and slowly one side of curled up; yet her eyes still displayed a tint of sadness. he continued on with the second chorus as he glanced down at his guitar and the rest of the crowd for a second, but just as quickly his eyes focused on her again.

she swayed her body along with the music, a more sincere smile grazing her red lips. he was at the bridge and long and high notes left his lips, his eyes having closed in the process. his fingers slowed down and his voice softened, falling into whispers. he opened his eyes and as if it was a habit he looked at her again, her head was tilted a bit and she seemed entranced by his voice, still swaying along.

he ended the song with the last chorus, and he received a great round of applause and cheering from the crowd. he bowed in gratitude and looked up to see the woman on the bench clapping too. he smiled and winked at her—jonghyun couldn't be any happier about the fact that he got to cheer her up. she, though, widened her eyes in surprise as a pink shade crept up her cheeks.

she looked around her. me? she mouthed and pointed at herself.

jonghyun nodded at her, and found himself to be very amused by her shy fiddling with her fingers as she looked down. she wasn't close enough to be sure but he swore to see her smiling to herself as she tucked her caramel brown colored hair behind her ear.

jonghyun didn't know what it was but he was curious; before he knew it he was on his knees and packing his bag.

he wasn't going to deny it—she was beautiful, he had decided so since the first second his eyes met hers. her beauty was foreign and the suitcase she was holding confirmed jonghyun's suspicions. but suitcases meant travelling; which meant that he might never see her again.

every step he took closer towards her made his heart pump the blood through his veins a little faster, until—

"hey."

she looked up with wide eyes and stared at him for a couple of seconds until it hit her,

"h-hello."

jonghyun sat down next to her and smiled, dimples and all. he held out his hand,

"lee jonghyun."

her eyes shifted from his hand to his face hesitantly, but nonetheless took hold of it.

"wang fei fei."

"ah, you're chinese, right?" he knew it.

she just nodded in response. he tried to read her face but he could only decide that his straightforward approach might have been a little overwhelming for her ways.

"uhm—" her eyes glanced down at the grip his hand still had on hers.

"ah—i'm sorry," he didn't realize he was still holding onto her hand.

they fell into an awkward silence, they were still strangers after all. a soft breeze blew her hair in her face, but she tucked it back behind her ear calmly. the soft wind also caused some cherry blossoms to fall, one softly falling on her hair.

"why are you carrying around with a suitcase if i may ask? did you just arrive; or are you departing already?"

she opened to respond but hesitated before speaking, "my korean—i don't understand."

he smiled, "oh, that's alright." he reached out to pick the petal off of her hair; causing her to blush furiously.

"where are you going?" he tried to speak a little slower.

"home." she simply stated.

jonghyun could see the subtle change of emotion in her eyes and glanced at his watch before he got up. she looked up at him, wondering why he would suddenly—

"come."

he held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. she just stared at him incredulously. he knew what she was thinking, why would she accept the hand of a stranger?

"trust me," he took hold of her wrist and pulled her up, moving forward almost immediately. he heard her mumbling some chinese phrases he couldn't understand at all; but by the sound of it he thought it may be better if he didn't.

he was running as he held her hand firmly, the sound of the little wheels of the suitcase resounding loudly against the ground.

"where are we?"

her words carried a thick accent. jonghyun just squeezed her hand as they had finally stopped running. she pulled her hand back, a little embarrassed.

"this, fei fei, is a view of korea you must see before leaving."

she looked around, taking in the environment of the park, of which they were standing in the middle. she blinked a couple of times but said nothing.

"look," he pointed into the direction of a long path that showed the setting sun at the end of the road, the warm colors being surrounded by cherry blossom trees. her eyes followed the direction in which he was pointing and she let out a soft gasp in amazement.

she pulled her bag to the front before pulling a small object out of it, mumbling a phrase in what jonghyun assumed to be chinese.

"what did you say?" he asked her curiously as he observed her using the camera on her phone to capture the view before them.

"beautiful." she breathed.

it was enough for a smile to form on his lips as he was still glancing at her. he decided she had a lovely smile.

"give me that a second." jonghyun took fei fei's phone before she knew it and he turned around pulling her closer.

"what—"

"kimchi!"

jonghyun clicked on the capture button, capturing fei fei's widened eyes staring at him. he had to chuckle and showed her,

"look at your face,"

she took her phone back searching for the korean words,

"once more, once more!"

with the faint sound of a click an unforgettable moment was captured in less of a second.

two wide smiles against a beautiful background—and fei fei found it strange; because their eyes were telling a whole other story; while in fact at that moment they had been just that: strangers.