It was dripping all over. The droplets made me so melancholic. The people came rushing in to this shop ordering cups of coffee. The sweet scent of the air filled the emptiness. The coldness through my spines made me shiver. It was naught for my sweater that I would suddenly crumble apart. I saw this amazing girl that might have fallen from the sky. She was wearing thick make up with her red stilettos marching in place of that cold shop where I am doing my shift.

                She was dripping all over. Her still-wet brunette hair made customers glance back at her, without her even averting her eyes. She did not look around and went straight to me. I was gawking for a while and I promised she had that worn out look on her face.

                “Espresso.” She called out. The tone of her voice looked devastatingly sad. I nodded, serving her quickly. She did not smile as I gave it to her. She looked out for an empty seat and there she nested, waiting for someone with that attire. She fiddled on her phone as I side-glanced at her direction. I could still remember the scent of a woman to her.

                Another man came. He was dripping all over.

                He bowed. She nodded. They both sat down, opposite of each other. They looked at each other’s eyes. The woman could not do anything, but to become persistent. She tried to wipe her make up at the sight of her man.

                A smile crept into my face. She was not only an angel, but a daring one. Her fuchsia-colored lips that glistened slightly curved, making a bright grin on her face. I slowly discovered who that person was. I never thought that she was really this good-looking.

                The man had an empathetic gaze. He held her hand. He gave something. It was a ring. She accepted it as the man commanded her to. It was already the closing hour. The girl gave a lopsided smile as she tried to hide what she was feeling. She stood up, wobbling. The man supported her as she said, “I’m fine.”

                I came home late. The rain soaked me. I could even catch a cold. I came to my apartment complex. I rested at the sofa and tried to turn on the television. I heard knocks at the door. It was my drunken noona. She had a bottle of soju at her right hand. She had a horrid face that came with the very thick and odd make-up she was wearing. “Chanyeol-ah…” She hugged me. We stumbled down in the process.

                I tried to rest her at the sofa. She looked really annoyed as I tried to take off her boots. She never really called me if she would be drinking for the night. She just gave me a crooked smile while saying, “Sorry.”

                I gulped as she said that. Those were the words she always spoke off. I was not blaming her for anything. The drought just got over me on a hard way.

                Twelve o’clock midnight. The rain stopped. I went out for a walk. It was an odd place but I tried to keep my bearings. I couldn’t sleep or even force myself to. I heard someone’s shoes hitting the gravel road on the way to the apartment complex. I saw a woman’s silhouette passing by me. With my hands on the pockets of my sweater, I heard her hitting the puddle passing by me. It made a splash sound. She bowed saying, “Sorry” to me.

                I sniffed due to the cold. I went back to the apartment, checking out for my noona. Two doors away from me, I saw a woman trying to look for her keys. She had a worried look on her face. Looking at her for the second time, she was definitely the same woman who made me stoned at the coffee shop. She tried to take out trashes on her bag and successfully found the keys. Before finding out that I was looking at her, she already closed the door. Maybe, she would sleep tight for the night without me running on her head.

                The next day, I went out early for my college. I prepared breakfast for noona. She slept peacefully on my bed, cuddling my pillow.

                I saw her running again. She was wearing casual attire with pants and a plain tee shirt. I tried to say ‘hi’ to her, hitting a conversation.

“Annyeonghaseyo,  Chanyeol-ssi.”

I grimaced. How did she know my name? “How did you know me?”

“Of course, your apartment is just two doors away from mine. With this kind of cramped and small place, who would not know who’s who?” Saying that, she was pretty cool.

Yeah, she was the girl. The girl at the café, the running girl at the middle of the night, the same girl looking for the keys and the same girl with a woman’s scent.

“What’s your name?” I bluntly said. I was also shocked at myself. “I mean…auh…” It felt awkward.

“I’m Kim Yenim.” She smiled. I never thought that she could be such a goddess.

“Where are you going?”

“At the same place you are going.”

“Are you also going to ride the bus?”

“Neh, for every day.”

“Really?” It looked suspicious. “Why are you not visible to me?”

“I get that a lot.”

“I understand.”

That was the last word I could say until we arrived at the bus stop. We rode off together.

I never thought we had many things in common. Kim Yenim, you were never really someone I would assume to be this type of person.

I slept next to the window of the bus. She went beside me. I did not notice her at all. She was a manifestation of mystery herself.

As we arrived at our destination, she did not wake me up. I just woke myself when I saw a classmate of mine trying to say that I’m only already at this university.

I tried to catch up to her but she was of nowhere. She was part of the darkness, I believe.

                I always saw her at the same coffee shop, same hour and at the same table where I saw her with that man. She was observing everything; unbeknownst to her was my existence. I felt something strange about her glossy lips making a slight curve.  Her posture while burying her face to the books laid flat on the table was definitely a sight to see. She peeped through the glass door as she slightly smiled while seeing busy couples making a tour inside.

                When it was not my shift and I was getting bored not seeing her, I snuck out of the apartment without my noona knowing. I did not see her there. She was not at the same table she always occupied. This puzzled me. I greeted my co-workers and tried to ask if where the hell she had gone to. They just brushed it off saying, “She did not come here today.”

                There was emptiness on my part. The road back home wavered at the sight of me not seeing her. I had this disheveled look I had from once in a while. I saw my noona, waving again a bottle of soju as I neared the place. She was not really my noona, but my hyung’s girlfriend.

                She was supposedly to marry him, but my hyung did not come at the party. It was not because he ran away with another woman. It was not because he’s a son of a to do that. But, because he could not walk or even say vows to her anymore. He was dead. My parents advised me to take care of her. I transferred houses and now to my hyung’s apartment, she did become an older sister to me. A noona that was meant for my hyung.

“Chanyeol-ah~” She sang with a messy make-up again.

“Not again, noona.” I tried to drag her inside. “Wait…wait, you have a visitor.” I did not know who it was at first.

A visitor came. She was a petite young girl with brunette-colored hair with matching eyeglasses. She had those same eyes that sparkled as ever and those smiles that came with her dazzling face. I ought not to forget.

“Yenim-ssi.” I rubbed the back of my neck.

“…” She was silent. I served her with tea. “Ah…Chanyeol-ssi, can you please help me?”

I got baffled. I sipped the cup of coffee calmly, making the best out of the conversation.

“What is it?” I wanted to impress her.

“Can you help me make out with a man? I mean, can you help me to repair my previous relationship with him?”

I was astonished. Tears were trying to come out of my eyes. I did not know what to do. But, she wanted me to have the final decision in here.

“Why me?” I answered.

“You were my last resort.” I did not know if she had friends, but this flattered me.

“Fine.” I nodded, oblivious of my current feelings for her.

“Then…can you help me with some love tips?”

She was blunt, REALLY blunt. But, I advised her to approach him.

“I already did.”

“Good.”

“But he thought that I never existed.”

“Then, try to make him see you. Auhm…try to know his favorites.”

“Can you help me with that Chanyeol-ssi?”

“I’d be glad to.” I did not know why but I felt suffocated.

 

                It was another day since that happened. I ran out of the apartment with hurried footsteps. She sprinted out of nowhere towards me. I got pretty shocked as she tagged along with my coat.

“Waeyo?” I put my hands in my pockets.

“Well…I wanted to go with you in the university.”

I nodded. She looked pretty innocent. The intense look on her face made see her in a new light. Maybe, she really fell in love with that guy. Such, a lucky guy, I wanted someone to be like this to me as well.

We rode again. We sat next to each other again. But, something felt different. We weren’t awkward anymore and we chatted until we came to the college.

“When we rode together, you did not take me up.” I felt a little bit disappointed at her at that time. But, she chuckled softly. She brushed it off as a joke. With that hearty laughter of hers, she’s already forgiven.

I went out with my friends to go to dinner. I did not see her anymore. Just after having dinner, I went to the coffee shop and changed my suit. It was another busy day. The snowy nights were just around the corner. I felt like I wanted it to snow here in Seoul. My hyung used to tell me that he met noona at this type of season. Maybe, I could find my destiny as well.

“Oh…it’s that girl again.” My co-worker pointed a young girl whom I really know. She rubbed the back of her neck and unconsciously looked for the empty table she was occupied. She looked upset when someone was sitting at the same chair she nested for a couple of days already.

“Hey…can I take a break?” I tried to ask the manager which I preferred to call informally. He just nodded; I rarely do want break times. I went to her direction.

With a cup of espresso again, she was busy burying herself at the piles of books. She did not notice that I was in front of her. She looked adorable with those thick eyeglasses of hers. She adjusted the bridge of it and suddenly, she finally noticed my existence.

“Chanyeol-ssi…” She looked amused. She took off her eyeglasses.

“Why? I’m just staring at you.” I became comfortable with her again. It just amazed me how she could turn my mood upside-down.

“So, you did take a break.” She smiled softly.

“You knew all along that I’m working here?”

“Neh.” She nodded.

I scratched my head. I never thought that she’d know. I was always absent-mindedly thinking that she never took notice of my existence. But, I was wrong.

“Do you like coffee?” I pointed to the cup she was sipping seconds ago.

“Ahhh…” She was stuttering.

“Tell me. You don’t like it, right?”

“Yeah…” She was sweating all over. I tried to wipe it but she shoved my hand away. She became red all of a sudden and excused herself. She ran out of the coffee shop as I was about to chase her but my break was all over.

She forgot her things as I tried to put those in her small bag.

I went home and tried to look around for her. I tried to knock at her doorsteps but she seemed to not be there. Or if she would, she would not entertain any more of my chatters.

A few days passed and I had not bumped into her. She was away from her apartment. I never saw her at the coffee shop ever again.

Then, the first snow came.  My noona came home with heavy footsteps. She must’ve been waiting for this time. The first snow was the instance my brother coldly said goodbye to noona even to her dreams. She grabbed her suitcase, announcing to go back to the province.

“Waeyo?”

“You cannot take care of me for forever. Also, I don’t want the neighbors to misunderstand the relationship between the two of us.”

“Noona…” I grabbed her hand. “Take care.”

“Mnmm.” Her smile this time was genuine. She really wanted to be with my hyung but the heavens could not permit it anymore. He was long dead. I didn’t want to admit it but she was seriously grieving.

I bid goodbye to her.

I heard screeching tires hitting the gravel road. It was a Madame maybe sixty to seventy years of age. She had with her bodyguards, totally armed with rifles. She knocked at Yenim’s door. But, there was no reply. She let out her phone, maybe contacting Yenim, but she found it to be hopeless. She then averted her eyes on me.

“Have you seen my granddaughter?”

“Yenim…?”

She nodded. “Are you that boy?”

“That boy….”

I rode her car while chatting with her. Yenim’s grandmother was not the typical Madame of past generations. She was dignified and quite stern, but had this very big heart capable of caring about Yenim as if she couldn’t leave her granddaughter alone.

“Yenim…when did you see her at that cramped apartment?”

“I think…it’s when it’s the second week of November.”

“Yenim’s parents got into a plane crash. They left Yenim with me. Yenim…is sick.”

“What?!” I looked at her with those teary eyes. I tried to calm my nerves and suit myself in the comfy seat but I felt agitated.

“Yenim turned down the engagement with a powerful man here in Seoul. That same man…he gave her a ring, trying to convince her that if she ever changes her mind, he’s still there. But, my stupid granddaughter called me and said has a different reason why she wanted to come here to Seoul.

“Where does she live?”

“She should be in Japan right now. We migrated back when she’s seventeen.”

“So…he’s the same man whom I saw with her.”

“So, he did make a move?” The Madame put her hand on her chin. “Yenim is a very kind person. She only hopes that she could see me on my deathbed. But, maybe, I’d be the one…”

We arrived at the hospital. I did not know why I was here. I just saw a name plate hanging at a hospital room, ‘Kim Yenim’.

I saw her. Maybe, that’s why she always wore make-up so to hide the face that would make everyone turn his back down to her. But, it was of different case to me. She still looked splendid.

“Yenim…” I tried to back away my tears.

“Chanyeol…” She smiled weakly.

“Yenim.. I…I…” Before I could finish my sentence, she put her pointer finger next to my lips.

“Let me tell you a story.”

I nodded.

“Chanyeol-ah, there was once a really ugly girl. She wore thick eyeglasses and had a messy hair to match her nerdy look. She was constantly bullied, at school and outside. Everything felt unreal to her, the constant love her parents showered felt like scams on her part. But, it all changed.

A certain guy tried to make her know what true love was. Even though he didn’t know her name, he would want to sit beside that girl. Even though it was his first time replying to a love letter coming from such an ugly girl, he made it whole-heartedly. When that girl was assigned to clean the whole auditorium, that same guy dazzlingly helped her out without pay.

Yet, the girl still did not say her name.

But, the girl’s parents died. She needed to migrate to Japan.

She left with a heavy heart. She left without even saying goodbye to that man, and without even saying thank you.

That girl changed for him.

But, she found out that she had a terminal chronic heart disease. She had only years to live.

That girl tried to do her best with treatments, and with all those apparatus trying to make her worse than what was at present. Yet, there was nothing she could do.

When she found a defender, that girl rejected him. She came to Seoul with a whole different reason. It was not for seeing her fiancé but to see her first love. She found out that nothing could replace a half-filled love without filling it up.

Even though he didn’t know, she went to the coffee shop he was working in. She did not like coffee or even the sight of it, but she tried to make excuses for her actions.

She tried to approach him. She tried to see him relationship with the older woman he was living with. She tried to make him be a friend to her. That girl tried to disguise herself as someone who would want love tips from the guy. She felt corrupted, because she didn’t want the two of them to be just friends.

She couldn’t answer his questions. Maybe, because…she was too shy for him to discover that it was not fate that brought him to her. But, it was because the girl wanted to change her destiny.

 Chanyeol-ssi, do you know who that person was?”

Unexpectedly, I hugged that girl. She looked at me with an amused face. She patted my back, while consoling me with my tears.

But, she also couldn’t contain it and cried with me.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner that you are that girl? Why didn’t you tell me not to notice your gestures before?”

“I went back here so I could fall in love with you again, Park Chanyeol. You are the only man I love and will always be the one.”

“Kim Yenim…I also…I also love you. Maybe, not when we’re just teens, I don’t f---ng care about it. I just love you and that’s what I really wanted you to know.”

“Park Chanyeol…can you stop your tears?”

“Who is…”

She giggled. Her grandma was just looking at the two of us, crying.

“Can I fall asleep now? Just for sixty seconds?”

That was the last encounter we had. She drifted away. The snow fell and I did not notice that it is Christmas. And, this was the worst Christmas I’ve had.

And, now, I’m starting to remember again that time. I became the heir of her grandma. I am now guarding her as she is already aging. I would promise that I’d keep my word under this snowy night, exactly a year ago, that everything that you couldn’t do, Kim Yenim, I’ll do it all voluntarily.

 

Annyeong~ That's it for the end.

Hopes that you all could comment what you thought of this one-shot.

Kamsahamnida.

I hope you had a great time reading it.