Seunghyun was tapping his pencil impatiently against his desk, oblivious of the loud noise it was creating enough to gain himself some stares and glances from his classmates. He was staring blankly at the huge wall clock above the black board, his chin resting on his palm as his elbow was leaning on his wooden desk. He was staring at the second’s arm of the clock tick slowly, making its way to the huge twelve. He heaved his nth sigh leaning his back on his chair with his eyes still fixed on the clock as if it could make it move faster, as if the five more minutes before 3 in the afternoon will be lessen somehow and become a minute. He never thought that he was capable of getting impatient like what he was experiencing that very moment. He had always been patient, a characteristic that he inherited through his mother and strengthen through the studies about business and finance.

His professor was discussing them things, things that he had been waiting to be discussed, things he prepared himself and studied for, yet it were all left unheard by him, as the loud beating of his heart, the loud impatient complains of his brain took over his system. The thought of seeing her filled him to the brink pushing things out of his mind as those thoughts manifested it without her knowing, without him knowing.

As soon as the long arm struck twelve indicating three in the afternoon the bell rang with him quickly pushing himself up, sliding his bag pack on his arm walking his way out of the room before everyone was able to step out of it which quite shock them. He gripped his bag’s strap tightly fetching his phone out of his pocket, staring at the huge 3:00 in its screen, not contented with the clock nailed inside their classroom. He heaved a frustrated sigh as he saw the metal tag on his phone, cursing himself on how he didn’t get her number. He increased his pace, barely caring about the people he was bumping into as he walked in such fast rate. Unsatisfied with his speed he soon broke into a quick jog which left him unsatisfied more with that damn feeling that he was wasting his damn time and soon he broke into sprint, running his way in the school hallways to the school parking lot.

Upon reaching his car he wasted no time and opened the passenger seat practically throwing his things and slamming the door close with him jogging his way across the car to the door of his driver’s seat. He opened the door, stepping inside in great hasty as he slumped himself on his leather seat, banging the door close. He pulled the keys out of his pocket inserting it to the key hole and starting up his engine. Wasting no time he pulled his seatbelt locking it as he sped away.

He doesn’t know why he was acting like that. He was actually asking himself questions as why he was doing those idiotic stuffs. Why does it felt like when it comes to her he couldn’t simply afford to waste even a goddamn seconds. Why does he was always this eager, this excited, this anxious like all ing emotions inside him was skyrocketing and was too much to bear to the point that it was already a great idiocy!

How the hell was she able to do all this things to him?

He heaved a sigh pulling his car into a complete stop as he stared at the traffic light ahead of him, tapping his fingers on his steering wheel begging in his head to just turn green already. He grabbed his iPad, unlocking it and checking the map to the HOPE Children’s Foundation, where the charity concert will be held at exactly five in the afternoon. He bit his lips as he stared at the map yet nothing seems to sink inside his head as the only thing he could think was he was going to see her, she will be there, they will meet. She will sing. He shut his eyes tightly in frustration throwing the iPad on the leather seat next to him. He pressed his forehead against the steering wheel of his car. Come on Seunghyun get this straight, he told himself over and over again until the traffic light finally went green earning him loud honks from the cars behind his.

He took a deep breath as he drove his way to the place.

It took him just 20 minutes to find the place as it was pretty much crowded and festival like with huge banners, posters and tarpaulins of tonight’s charity concert plastered in every wall of the vicinity. He parked his car on the available parking lot, few blocks away from the vicinity. He inhaled deeply as he grabbed his camera hanging it on his neck. He stepped out of the car and looked at the huge crowd building up and waiting to enter the place. He clenched his jaws tightly, closing his eyes for a moment and start chanting some mantra inside his head. He hated crowds, he hated noise it all felt chaotic to him, it all felt too much for him. That’s the reason why he bought a spot on an isolated highland not just because of the breathtaking view of the city of Seoul but because it gives him privacy, silence and that peace of just being alone.

He opened his eyes as he started walking his way to the crowd. As much as he wanted to just stay inside his car or just go home straight he rather endure the crowd and the chaotic lines just to see her. I’m going totally insane, he breathed to himself as he felt himself merge in the sea of people pushing himself through in order to see her, in order to hear her, and it was all about her. It’s idiotic and amazing all at the same time on how everything seems to be all about her. He kept pushing in the crowd protecting his camera but it was as if he was stuck in the middle, unmoving with the incredible amount of people. It was actually amazing on how a charity concert got such crowd to the point of disbelieving.

He sighed frustrated and angry at the same time. He was about to keep pushing himself through when he felt someone grabbing his hand. He looked at the one who grabbed it and he was welcomed by her smiling face. She was smiling at him holding his hand, her face still beautiful as always as she was clad in a blue loose dress of some shapes and patterns paired with brown leather high cut shoes. ‘Seunghyun I’ve been looking for you,’ she said her voice standing out from the noise the crowd as it blended with the wind making its way to his ears and down to his pounding heart as he held her hand back. ‘This way,’ she said as she pushed to the crowd with him pushing his way following her. He held her soft hand tighter as they walked out of the crowd. He kept his eyes on her, she was so small against the crowd and it made him want to protect her from all of this, from everyone, from that crowd.

They finally made it out of the crowd entering inside the vicinity, hands still on each other. He was walking yet it felt like he couldn’t sense his feet nor hear those heavy steps of his as his eyes focused on his hand holding hers tightly. Their complexion was never far from each other but it gave him a little insecurity inside as he kept his eyes on her hand, on her arm, on her glittery smooth white skin. He somehow felt the mixing feeling of both being unworthy and honored.

Dara stopped in front of a brown wooden door at the end of the corridor of the building they went into. She knocked on the door before turning the metal knob and pushing it open. The loud shouts of the children welcomed them as soon as they went inside the room. Dara smiled at them as she let go of his hand and hugged the rushing children towards her. He looked at her as she was bending down talking to the children with that kind and beautiful smile on her lips, eyes that were both sincere and lovely, laugh that was more beautiful than any songs sang, laughs that moved not only his heart and soul but definitely changed something inside him.

If you were going to ask him, he never wanted to let go of her hand. Crazy on how he wished time would stop and everything could just pass them by as long as he can feel her hand perfect against his he could not care at all. It’s funny on how he wished that he can hold her tiny hand for eternity and felt the warmth of being home, being appreciated and needed in just those lingering touches of her warm hand against his. He was not asking for anything more, he just wanted to feel her hand on his, how perfect it was against his and how much he needed it.

‘Noona is he your boyfriend?’ one child asked as he snapped off his reverie, blood rushing to his cheeks. ‘Aigoo! Woohyun!’ Dara exclaimed burning red as she fanned herself. ‘He’s not okay, don’t say that,’ she denied stuttering as she looked up to Seunghyun who was coughing. She stood up. ‘Sorry about that, I kept telling them that one day I’ll bring my boyfriend with me,’ she chuckled awkwardly to him. He looked at her, his face washed by fear hidden in a serious façade. ‘You have a boyfriend?’ he asked words coming out of his mouth, uncontrolled and it was too late when he realized he had released the words. He quickly regretted it as he drifted his eyes off somewhere.

What is it to him if she has a boyfriend? What is it to him? They were just friends, not even, they just knew each other and he doesn’t have any right to feel those damn stinging emotions swirling inside his chest in a maddening pace.

Dara smiled at him timidly. ‘I don’t have,’ she said in soft chuckles as he looked at her in relief and obvious delight. ‘Ohh,’ he managed to say nodding as the children started teasing them which made them both blushed and flushed like they were your common high school couple who were just starting out. ‘Aigoo, just prepare yourself, the concert will be in a while,’ she chuckled to them lightly pushing them all away to get dress and prepare for the concert.

As soon as the children went to prepare Dara turned to him and in that instant their eyes met. She smiled as Seunghyun felt himself frozen for some unknown reason. And that moment he wondered to himself on how she was able to do that to him, to stop his world like it was just like breathing for her.  ‘,’ he hissed in a low voice that was quickly taken by the wind to nothingness as soon as it was released. Dara didn’t say anything as she just walked closely to him and gently fixed the collar of his white polo, straightening the kink on it as he stood there staring at her, not breathing, heart pounding and hands trembling. He can feel her presence, he can smell her shampoo, her scent, her everything. She was so good to his nose that it was intoxicating. ‘There,’ she smiled looking up to him snatching his senses for seconds, seconds that was awfully long for him, seconds that seemed to take his lifetime. ‘T-thanks,’ he said stuttering.

Dara bit her lips distancing herself a bit away from him finally realizing what she just did on how she seemed to act naturally in front of him. She felt unknown emotions on her chest as she remembered Jiyong and how she always does things like that to him. ‘I’m glad you came,’ she breathed out in honesty trying to distract herself from her growing thinking realm that was threatening to engulf her as Seunghyun rubbed his palm on his nape. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ he said in a low voice that was enough for her to hear. She looked at him as silence consumed them. ‘I like your voice,’ she smiled sincerely at him. ‘I think I like many things about you, Seunghyun. Isn’t that weird?’ she asked chuckling. Seunghyun stared at her, lips pursed; pressing on a thin line before breaking into a faint smile which took her by surprised and stunned her. ‘Quite,’ he answered honestly, eyes meeting hers. ‘I mean what would you like about me?’ he asked.

Dara was about to answer him when someone dashed to her clinging on his arm. ‘Unnie!’ a girl in the age of 17 called her in great anxiousness. ‘Neh, what is it Minzy?’ she asked turning all her attention to her. ‘The photographer who will cover the whole event back out in the last minute! Aigoo where would we find a photographer!?’ Minzy asked close to hysterics as she was in her full panic mode. ‘Aigoo, relax Mingkki!’ Dara said calming her down caressing her back moving her palm up and down. ‘But unnie! We all know we need photos for the article and letter we will write in order to get approval and be one of the beneficiaries of Mr. Kwon’s foundation!’ she answered back now in helpless tone. Dara froze for a moment as she smiled. ‘Aigoo don’t worry we will be able to be one of the beneficiaries of that foundation,’ she smiled assuring her for she knew they would. It’s actually scary that she knew and was sure that once she called and ask Jiyong for such thing he will quickly give it to him, like she was a queen that he vowed to serve for the rest of her life. ‘Unnie!’ Minzy sighed in great disappointment.

‘I’m a photographer,’ Seunghyun said as he finally became visible once more to the two with them looking at him as he just showed the camera around his neck. ‘Omo! Is he your boyfriend?’ Minzy turned to Dara completely forgetting about the problem she was facing awhile ago. Dara ran her palm over her face before letting out a small chuckle. ‘No,’ she answered and somehow it brought an unfamiliar pain in his chest that he felt himself rigid on his spot. Dara turned to Seunghyun with an apologetic smile on her lips with him just nodding at her. ‘So, what will I do?’ Seunghyun asked turning his attention to Minzy with the young lady clapping her hands in happiness and relief.

‘Unnie you get dress now! Me and the photographer will talk about his task,’ Minzy said placing both hands on Dara’s shoulder and giving her light push to her dressing room. ‘Are you sure you’re okay with this Seunghyun?’ Dara asked him worried as Seunghyun just gave her a nod. ‘Just get dress,’ he said timidly making her smile. ‘Thank you for this,’ she muttered before she walked away entering one room as he let go a heave of sigh.

‘Give it up,’ Minzy said to him as he turned his head looking at her with the girl standing beside him eyes still on the closed door of the room Dara entered. ‘You’re obviously crushing on unnie,’ she smiled at him as Seunghyun blushed a bit clearing his throat while drifting his eyes away of her. Crushing? Wouldn’t that be an understatement? ‘But in fairness this is the first time I saw her entertain someone,’ she chuckled looking at him. ‘Well, you’re an eye candy I must admit.’

‘What do you mean?’ he asked not being able to hide his curiosity. ‘Well as you can see, Dara unnie’s beautiful. Very beautiful. And she’s so kind, so sweet, so lovely that she was like an angel. And of course that beauty and kindness got tons of admirer right, a lot of guys, handsome, rich and some were even like perfect, all go to her and try to win her but no one could ever. It’s like she never look to anyone or want anyone for her,’ Minzy said ending in a heavy sigh. She looked at him with a smile across her lips. ‘But,’ she sighed with a small chuckle coming out of her lips as she brought her fist in front of . ‘Maybe someone might win this time, don’t you think?’ she chuckled at him as Seunghyun stood looking at her before drifting her eyes back on the closed wooden door finding himself asking things, things that somehow he regretted asking himself as he felt his heart’s hope was skyrocketing at an impossible speed that everything was moving fast in his head.

Too fast that he doesn’t know how to keep up anymore. He hated it.

…

Chance. He wanted a chance. A chance to be with her, a chance to hold her hand, hear her voice, hear story and her life and that ultimate chance to be part of her life, her world. He wanted that chance. He sighed as he stood up looking at his camera checking at the pictures after getting one last shot of the children and all over the place. He pressed his lips on a thin line. He wasn’t there for work or anything he was supposed to be there to talk to her or just be with her yet he doesn’t even know why he said that he was a photographer, on why he agreed on some job that will earn him money not inch close to what he was earning from all the contracts he had. It was not inch close yet he was there doing his job professionally and on his best.

He sighed as he turned around and looked at the lens of the camera and was prepared to take another shot when he froze on his spot slowly lowering his camera leveling it to his chest as his eyes looked at her as she stood smiling in front of him. Dara gave an awkward smile before biting her lips. ‘I guess they overdid it, don’t you think?’ she asked him in a low embarrassed voice that sounded beyond adorable to his ears. There, she stood clad in a white, flowy tube dress that has a huge thin cloth skirt that was dancing together with the evening breeze. It was two inch above her knees as she was wearing a red ballerina flats with ribbons wrapping around her legs. Her wrist has a flower bracelet around her and so was her head, which has a fresh flower ring around it which complimented her short highlighted with different shades of brown hair. Her face was free of those heavy makeups aside from a little help from liquid eyeliner and a lip gloss that made her lips shine against the twilight sky. She was holding in her hand her white guitar as she walked close to him.

As soon as she was standing foot away from him he felt his heart fell out of his chest, the very moment he realized he no longer own anything in himself as he was prepared to lay it all to her, all for her, all for a stranger he barely knew and called herself Dara. ‘How do I look?’ she asked nervous as she started fiddling with her necklace. He opened his mouth trying to say something but his brain can’t come up with the right words to tell her how beautiful she was, how she kept on stealing his senses away, making him stop breathing and making him lay everything of his to her. Worst, his voice was nowhere to be found, it disappeared together with his courage making him feel helpless and all things negative all at the same time. It was crazy how she makes and breaks him when all she did was exists, be known by him and stood there in front of him looking like an angel coming straight from heaven.   

Dara looked down as she kept fiddling with her necklace that it soon caught his attention. He stared at the necklace as it was a gold necklace with an emerald for leaf clover as a pendent and a sapphire star pendent dangling beside it. He froze for a moment as an almost forgotten memory played inside his head making him drift his eyes away from her as he looked at the orange sky at the corridor’s open side.

‘Whose that for?’ he asked him as the younger guy was walking with him fiddling with a necklace he bought right after they won tonight’s match. ‘Don’t tell me you got a girl now?’ he chuckled wrapping his arm around him head locking him as he ruffled his hair. They were walking their way to the convience store to buy cans of beer for their winning celebration. ‘Hyung!’ the younger guy laughed playfully pushing him away.

‘This necklace,’ he said proudly with a smug smile on his lips showing the necklace to him. ‘This is for the only girl that I love the most in the whole wide world!’ he added as he clamped the necklace around his neck though obviously it was a woman’s necklace. ‘Your girlfriend?’ he asked chuckling, shaking his head lightly at his cheesiness. The younger guy shook his head as he started fiddling with the necklace’s pendant while shoving his free hand inside his cargo shorts.

‘It’s for my sister.’ He smiled.

‘Seunghyun?’ Dara called to him as he snapped out of his realm of thoughts looking at her. Dara stared at him waiting for just anything that he will say as the guy looked at her necklace before lifting his gaze meeting her eyes. They probably bought it from the same store, he said to himself freeing himself from thinking unnecessary things. ‘You’re beautiful, breathtaking,’ he said in a slow pace, in an almost whisper that his low voice quickly synchronized with the cold breeze that blew on their way. ‘And I wish I could came up with words that would really describe how you look to me,’ he unconsciously blurted out inhaling deeply with her staring at him in disbelief. ‘But right now I felt like no words can and will be able.’

 Dara smiled at him. ‘You think so?’ she asked doubt and lack of confidence present in her every word. He nodded to her. ‘You’re sweet,’ she chuckled to him as he quickly flushed red and somehow thankful how the sun was already illuminating strong colors of orange slowly falling to night for it somehow hide how she can make him blush easily. ‘I guess you added another thing on my list of things I like about you,’ she chuckled softly, melodically. ‘I wanted to see the list,’ he breathed out in honesty, shoving his both hands inside his jean’s pocket. Dara smiled to him and was about to say something when someone called their attention telling them that the concert was about to start.

…

Being the official photographer gave him the advantages, like being able to walk in and out of the backstage and dressing room and having the best spot in the audience area where he could snap photos perfectly. He took photos of every performance and enjoyed watching it at the same time until her name was called out and it made him feel things like he was the one who will walk on the stage and stand in front of that microphone stand decorated and surrounded by different kinds of flower. He felt his heart knocking against his chest as cold sweat formed on her forehead. His insides were twisting with the unfamiliar sensation brought by anxiousness and he wondered why he was that nervous.

The lights went off for seconds before it slowly revealing her standing in front of everyone with her guitar strapped around her. Everyone looked at her in admiration and delighted yet him, he looked at her as he witnessed her steal his heart once more and he couldn’t do anything but to stand there and let her. She glanced at Seunghyun for seconds as their eyes met. Seunghyun let out a small proud smile for her as she chuckled softly before drifting her eyes back to the audience. Seunghyun lifted his camera and started snapping out photos of her. ‘I would like to thank everyone for attending in our little charity concert,’ she breathed out together with the world’s most beautiful smile. ‘Thank you for being kindhearted enough to help us and our little angels, I hope you enjoyed tonight’s concert,’ she added as she held her guitar and strummed her hand on it.

She soon started playing her guitar making it sing to her melody as she moved closer to the mic stand with her eyes closed feeling the cold night breeze against her skin allowing it to bring shivers to her spine and kiss her with goose bumps, wishing it will take the anxiousness in her chest away from her. She inhaled deeply before fluttering her eyes open and parted her lips and soon started singing.

When the warm and scented wind passes by my cheeks
I think of your face that i used to love
Oh, when the wild, unknown flowers bloom hidden on the streets
I think of you, whom i hide away in my memories

My baby illa illa illa, baby illa illa illa, baby illa illa illa
Never forget love

Because first love is beautiful, a first love is a flower
Blooming widely when spring comes – dazzling like a flower
Like a young child, a first love is inexperienced
Because you can’t unconditionally give and take love

Illa illa illa, illa illa illa, illa illa illa,
My love, good-bye

the used song above is illa illa by juniel haha XD if you will see how juniel dress that's how dara dress in the story haha :))