“One day I will become your happiness.”

  -Tablo

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Day 1:

  I wake up with the sound of my dad yelling at my mom. I’m not sure what the cause of it was, but I could tell they were both mad. I didn’t want to stay in there or else my dad would let out his anger on me.

  I grab my jacket and gloves from my closet and slip it on over my shirt. I change into thick pants and head outside. I would never want to start off my morning in the middle of an argument like that, but in the end, they both won’t win and my mom would be the one saying sorry. But then my dad says he’s sorry, and so on. It’s basically a love hate relationship with them.

  The moment, I step out of my house, a blast of cool air hit my uncovered face. I shiver and start walking down the street. I don’t know where I want to go, but as long as it’s away from my parents, I’ll be fine.

  I hum to myself and look around. It was so white outside all because of the snow. The ground was covered with snow and the sidewalk was wet from the melted ice. I look ahead of me and spot a space that still had ice. I sigh to myself as I remember what happened yesterday. I slowly walk forward, hoping I wouldn’t slip, but in the end I did. I fall right on my .

  A few moments later, I hear a gruff, “Oof!” and turn around. To my surprise, I see Jung Daehyun on the ground beside me, face twisted in an annoyed look. He tries getting up.

  I couldn’t help, but shout, “You!” I turn on my stomach and push myself up. I was up on my knees and hands as I stare at the boy in front of me. He was wearing thinner clothes than me and a mask, concealing the lower half of his face. I always wonder why he wears it so much and yet no one asks him why he wears it.

  He tilts his head and points at himself. Me? He asks in sign language.

  “Yes you! You’re Jung Daehyun! You go to my school! You’re my neighbor!” I shout in excitement. Phew! I’m so glad my mom taught me sign language or else I would be staring at him like an idiot, wondering what he’s trying to tell me.

  I’m he, but what do you want?

  I decide to introduce myself since I don’t know if he knows who I am. “Uhm… I’m Yoo Youngjae.” Man, it’s usually easy for me to introduce myself to someone, but it’s hard with this guy because I feel like he could beat me up!

  He glares at me and rolls his eyes. I’m not asking who you are!

  “Well, don’t people always start with an introduction?” I ask. I always do that with people I just meet. I mean, there’s nothing wrong knowing each others’ name first!

  His eyes widen. You understand me?

  “Yes.” I nod my head and laugh at him inside my head. I bet he’s really shocked about this. Maybe there’s not a lot of people he knows that can do sign language! I’m just one of those rare ones who do. I could tell he was getting freaked out by this because his eyes kept shifting side to side. “You must be wondering how I know what you’re saying…”

  His eyes trail even farther.

  I smile, ready to give him a full explanation. “I’ve learned some of the basics from my mom because she works at the hospital and works with deaf patients. I’m kind of glad I asked her to teach me because now I know what you’re thinking.” I laugh, “Oh, and I can tell by your face that you’re very shocked about it.” Ugh. It’s getting really cold here.

  Why are you still on the ground?

  Huh? Oh, right! I’m still on the ground while he’s standing right in front of me. “Oh! Yeah…” I try standing up, but slip. Out of instinct, I reach out for something to grab and the first thing that was there was Daehyun. I take him with me on the fall.

  What was that for?!

  I laugh nervously and scratch the back of my head. I hope he’s not going to beat me now. “Sorry, it’s reflexes.” I bite my his bottom lip before asking, “Where are you heading?” Maybe I can tag along since I have no idea where to go.

  To the café.

  “Me too! Let’s go together!” There’s nothing wrong with lying for a little bit. I get up and hold out a hand for him to take. Might as well help him since I pulled him down earlier.

  He just stares at my hand and gets up himself. Without another wait, he walks pass me, not even making eye contact.

  Does he want me to come or not? Oh well, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me being with him. I follow him and start asking questions. I want to get to know him since we could be best of friends one day. “So, how long have you been living here? I just moved here a year ago, but it feels like I’ve been here my whole life! The people here are really nice and warm unlike the weather.” I chuckle. “And the school is really nice, too. I found some clubs to join and things to do. Yeah, I really like this place.” I keep going and going even though he hasn’t said a word. I don’t mind because I feel like talking for now.

  Soon, we hit the café and step in. This was the first time I’ve been in the café. I always see it but never had the chance to go in since my dad tells me time is money. He wants everything to be on schedule. There’s no time for relaxing.

  I take off my jacket as it was getting hot in here. I find Daehyun walking towards the counter to a guy with dark black hair and eyes.

  He smiles at him. “Table for one right, Daehyun?”

  I step in and shout. “Nope! Table for two for him today!” I hold out two fingers.

  The guy tilts his head in confusion and leads us to our booth and sets up the menu. “You like the usual right, Daehyun?”

  Daehyun nods.

  “I would like the same thing!” I exclaim since I have never been in here and I’m sure I wouldn’t pick anything good. I mean, I rarely drink coffee since I dislike bitter things, but I don’t like too much sweet since I don’t really have a sweet tooth.

  The guy nods his head and walks away. He didn’t even write anything! Daehyun must’ve gone here trillions of times for that guy to know!

  I smile at him and continue to wonder why he wears the mask. I finally was brave enough to ask him. “Why do you always wear that mask?” I ask, reaching over. I wonder what he looks like under that mask.

  He pulls back with fear. It was just a glimpse, but I could tell he was afraid of people knowing what he looks like. I don’t know why, but it seems like it.

  I purse my lips and continue to question him. “Uhm… What do you usually get?”

  You’ll see. I feel like that’s a bad thing. After all, he’s giving me such a creepy look right now.

  “Do you always eat here for breakfast?”

  Do you always ask questions?

  I nod. The reason why I ask is because I want to get to know people! There’s nothing wrong with that right?

  He rolls his eyes and sighs deeply.

  I constantly ask questions, wanting to know what he’s like, but soon the guy comes back with two caramel lattes and two huge chocolate chip cookies.

  I eye the two items, but was slightly disappointed. I wish I ordered a blueberry muffin and hot chocolate rather than agreeing with Daehyun’s decision. However, I should appreciate what I get. “Wow, you sure have a sweet tooth!” I take a sip of the latte, but wasn’t feeling it. It wasn’t to my taste buds. Oh well, I’ll have to drink it and tell myself that it’s good. “Mm! It tastes good!”

  He pulls his mask slightly, but not enough for me to see his face and drinks his latte with ease and then takes a bite of his cookie.

   I lean forward to see his face, but I would just be wasting my time. I sit straight and slowly eat and drink my order, regretting every moment of it. Yeah, I’m definitely not in the mood for eating or drinking this stuff. Maybe if I get my mind off of it, I’ll be able to finish it. “So… I know you can talk, but why are you not talking?”

  He doesn’t say anything.

  I pout and drink my latte in one gulp. It was a mistake, but I wanted it gone! Not only that, but it was super hot! I keep a poker face, hoping he wouldn’t notice I was in pain.

  Daehyun blinks a couple of times.

  I smile and stuff the cookie in my mouth. “Okay! I’m done!” I shout with some of the cookie in my mouth.

  He puts his cup down and sign language, What do you want from me?

  I smile. “I want to take you somewhere.” I’m not sure where, but I’ll take him somewhere!

  Why?

  “I want to get to know you more. I mean, I always see you at school, but we never really got the chance to talk or hang out. We’re even neighbors, so we should be close and have some bonding time. I’m thinking we could just walk around. It’s cold, but once we go in somewhere, it won’t be. And maybe you can meet new people.”

  You know, you’re paying for your order. I’m not going to pay for you because I don’t have enough money for both of us. He changes the subject suddenly. It was kind of hurtful because I was trying to be nice to him.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it! I’ll pay for both of us!” I call for the guy and ask for the check. Once received, I pay for it and tell him the keep the change. That’ll be his tip. I turn to Daehyun and find his empty cup and plate. “Hey look! You’re done!” I get up and pull him outside the café. I puff out a breath of air. It’s really cold, so I need to find a place warm, but where? “So, let’s go somewhere warm and talk some more! We really should get to know each other.”

  No thanks. He tries escaping from me, but I grab his arm.

  “Nope! You’re not going anywhere until I take you somewhere!”

  He jerks away and walks pass me again without turning back. I didn’t dare to chase after him since I know he would just ignore me. I shrug. Oh well, maybe I could try again next time. I mean, he’s in my neighborhood anyways.

  I walk around town for a bit before returning home. I silently step inside and find my dad on the couch, reading a book. I’m not sure if he’s calm from the argument this morning, but I definitely didn’t want to bother him from reading.

  “Where have you been?” He asks without looking up from his book.

  I was halfway to the stairs when he catches me. “I just got breakfast.”

  He looks up. “How much did you spend?” My dad doesn’t like the idea of me spending so much money even though my mom has a well paying job.

  “Not much. I just went to the café and bought a drink and a snack.”

  He doesn’t say anymore and shoos me off.

  I walk to my room, letting out a sigh of relief. Okay, at least I know he’s not too mad about today. Maybe my mom calmed him down somehow, but I have no idea how. It doesn’t matter since he’s not yelling at me.

  I sit on my bed and grab my laptop. It’s time for me to play some games.