He folded his arms behind his head and looked at the wide expanse of the dark sky open up before him. The cloudless sky tonight looked like a black velvet cloth that was spread across a huge table with gems scattered on it glittering in hues of bright reds, blues, silvers, yellows, as specks of light passed through each precious stone. 

“Yah, you like this don’t you? You enjoy serene nights like this, right?” he said loudly talking to the photograph he was clutching in his hand. 

“I actually do, but your loud voice ruined it for me,” somebody spoke a few feet beyond him. He was startled to hear someone answer back, especially since he wasn’t aware anyone else was there. For a split second he felt his heart jumped out of his ribcage, thinking the photo talked back at him. He stood and brushed the blades of grass off his pants. He placed the photo on his pocket and went in the direction of the voice. 

A young woman was lying on a picnic mat, with a light blanket covering her. She covered her head with a black beanie that resembled a skunk skinned alive and placed on top of her, well, minus the white streak. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know someone else was here,” he said coming closer observing the array of items on her mat: a thermos, iPod, a telescope, a camera and weird looking tripod, “Isn’t it too late to do some photography at this time?”

“Nope, it’s the perfect timing,” she replied.

“Night photography?”

“Er not quite, star tracking. What brought you to my spot?” she said, not bothering to even sit up and greet the other man as per custom. 

“In case you didn’t hear, I said sorry because I wasn’t aware someone else would be here at this time of the night,” he said. 

She slightly turned to him and nodded. As if remembering her manners, she sat up and reached out her hand. Jiyong, thinking she was asking to help her get up, grabbed her hand and started to pull up. 

“No, dimwit,” she said, slapping him, laughter cracking her voice, “I was trying to offer you a handshake.”

Dimwit? NO ONE ever dared call him that. 

“Huh? Then you should have stood up, it would have been the right thing to do,” he countered, piqued at him being called a dimwit.

“Ah, I would have if I could. Sorry, pal, this is the most I can do, for now,” she said offering him a smile that could disarm even Scrooge himself.

Jiyong’s brows furrowed. He looked around and for the first time saw the wheelchair neatly folded by the end of her blanket. She saw how his eyes moved from her to the chair. 

He stammered and pointed to the area beside her, “May I… may I sit here? I am Jiyong, by the way.”

Chae rin saw his eyes moved from her to the chair and noticed how his tone and manner changed when he saw the wheelchair. 

“Sure you can, but you have to forget you saw the chair and treat me like you did a couple of minutes ago. I am still quite normal you know,” she winked and cleared a spot for Jiyong to sit on. 

If only I held back on my temper even for just a second, I wouldn’t be embarrassing myself like this! Jiyong was silently berating himself and sat down, not sure whether to look at her. 

“My name’s Chae rin. Stop scolding yourself, it was quite refreshing to be treated just like a normal person would an irritating stranger, well at least for a moment,” she said. 

He looked at her and gave her a smile that spoke of his apologies and sheepishly scratched his head, “Sorry, again.”

“No harm done,” she said and went back to lying down and staring at the evening sky. 

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Jiyong cleared his throat and asked, “So, who brought you here? And why are you alone?”

“Ah, I bribed my cousin. I set her up on a date with the guy she really liked and asked them to drop me off here. They’ll come pick me up when they’re done,” she beamed, proud at what she has done. 

Jiyong looked at her beaming face and noticed a tiny dimple appear on the right side of her cheek. 

“You’re sneaky. What if something happened to you while you’re alone here? Would you have wanted for your cousin to have it in her conscience?”

“Oh, that? But I knew you’d be here,” she said looking at him with her innocent round eyes as if it was a given that he would be here tonight and meet her. 

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Think you've read this story before? Yes, in SDK! :)