"You're...." a few moments of silence trickled by as his gaze nailed at the lady clad in a fuschia apron and wore her hair in plaits.

Her face lit up and a smile was etched on her lips. "Kim Jiyeob," her dulcet voice chanted his name out, and heaved a sigh of relief.

"You do remember me, Pyo Hyemi. I'm glad,"

"Jiyeob, your ice-cream...." she gasped, pointing at the ice-cream he was holding- which has almost completely melted.

"It's my treat," she handed him a small cup of ice-cream, and he breathed shallowly as the cup changed hands.

"Thanks. So what are you doing here?" he questioned her in a warm, pleased tone.

"Me? I work here, of course,"

Jiyeob's smile flatlined upon listening to her answer, feeling slightly shocked. Hyemi laughed, aware that her current job wasn't something that anyone would look up to.

"Why? No, I mean...."

"Hmm...perhaps I didn't do really well in my university days," she shrugged, but she had expected that question from him. There was no hesitation concealed in her voice, and Jiyeob reluctantly nodded.

"It's been a while. 9 years, no? Fancy meeting you here, Jiyeob. How's life? You seem....shagged out. Are you okay?" it was her turn to ask- Jiyeob's eyes were losing the power of holding a powerful steady gaze. Slowly, his gaze dropped at the brown brogues he was wearing. He was actually waiting for someone to ask him that sole question- "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm nowhere near fine," he stared into the air as he uttered those words.

Hyemi blinked twice, failed to unravel the subtle streak of pain that was laced in between his words. "What happened?" this time she noticed something off about him. He looked rather untidy, as if he had just escaped some kind of natural disaster. She thought he looked a little bit like a refugee.

"Nah. I just lost my job. Then my car got stolen- not to mention, my girlfriend even cheated on me. Pffft- and all of these happened within a few hours. This is absurd. I don't even know what should I do now," he said plaintively. His heart felt like it was caving in, because the pain was too much to bear.

All he ever wished for the time being was someone to listen to his problems, and the encounter with his former classmate 9 years ago seemed to bring a thin ray of happiness into his crumbling life.

"Yeowch...must've been a whole lot worse than failing your Add Maths paper," she cringed, trying to comprehend the loss he was dealing with.

"Yeah, talk is cheap. Good thing I'm still unmarried,"

"So you're still single..." she lifted one brow. "You were beyond famous back then,"

"But that doesn't mean I'm always lucky," he protested, only to be laughed at.

"Well, at least you can marry someone anytime you want! Up until now, not a single man dares to go near me. My mom used to hate me and my job so much, adding in the hatred she kept the moment I gave up on my studies...and my obsession towards bubbles....grr. At this point, I think only Samsam Bubbleman wants to marry me. Blehh," she stuck out her tongue, and Jiyeob's eyes widened upon hearing the unfamiliar name she uttered.

"Samsam....what?"

"Pffft, that is sooo expected. Samsam Bubbleman, he's a bubbleologist- and my dream guy! Hahaha, I need to save up a lot, travel around the world, meet and work with him in person- and make the world go around in bubbles!"

Silent. Even Jiyeob was clueless on what should he respond. Hyemi broke the awkward silence with a soft smile, reflecting internal serenity despite living in utter uncertainty.

"But my life now....is no different than a bubble," she said, throwing her gaze at the vast blue sky. A group of cloud hovered around the field of blue, adding to the beauty of the calm evening.

Hyemi pulled out a blower out of the bubble solution bottle, puckered her lips and blew a huge bubble.

"You see that? A bubble- being blown to the far reaches of the sky, floating aimlessly with the help of the wind. Not to mention, it doesn't last long. Before you could even admire its beauty; its cuteness....it pops. Sounds funny, but bubbles are so like me. We all share a vague future," she chuckled, but the pain in her words was visible somehow. Jiyeob snatched the bubble solution from her and examined it, his eyes displaying utter interest.

"Hmmm? Wait...you made this yourself? The solution?" inquired Jiyeob, and Hyemi nodded gleefully.

"Awesome. This'd produce millions of bubbles in a mere blow, am I wrong?" he guessed, and she couldn't help smiling. That was the very first time a person would respond to her craze for bubbles. She grabbed the bottle back from him, her eyes sparkled with genuine happiness.

"Let me show you," she dipped the blower into the solution, pulled it out and started blowing bubbles. Indeed, the bubbles wouldn't stop coming out for as long as Hyemi didn't stop blowing. Jiyeob watched the crystal clear spheres float carelessly in delight, pausing to glance at Hyemi's glowing visage as she continued to blow the bubbles.

"Pyo Hyemi....do you have any dream? Other than to work with Samsam Bubbleman?"

She stopped and shifted her gaze at him. She pondered for a few seconds and finally nodded ungainly.

"Well...I do thought of meeting a man who loves bubbles just like I do, get married, and live in Iceland together- just the two of us. When September comes, I'd lie on a vast grass field with him, gazing at the aurora in the sky- and of course, blowing bubbles! And live bubbly ever after, blahblahblahblahblah I sound ridiculous. Hahaha,"

He was 26 this year, and he could have sworn that he had never met someone (an adult, ahem) who was avidly in love with bubbles.

"You're crazy, Hyemi. How come I never knew how addicted you were with bubbles when we were in high school?"

"I tried so hard to stop myself from blowing bubbles back then. Duh, like you don't know how our homeroom teacher hated bubbles to death. Plus....we rarely chatted. You used to be so famous among the girls. You wouldn't look at a midget like me,"

Subconsciously reminiscing the past, Jiyeob guffawed heartily. He was surprised himself on how Hyemi had grown tremendously tall in these 9 years- but her beauty remained still. The youthful shimmer in her eyes was left intact, and her facial features didn't change much since the last day Jiyeob saw her in high school.

"Time sure flies,"

"Whatever happens, we can't give up. At the end of a tunnel there is a light, right? You'll be seeing a radiant light, and I'll be seeing bubbles. Yes, lots of bubbles," uttered her in sheer confidence, and silly grins spread across their faces which eventually burst into a choking laughter.

"Pyo Hyemi! We're closing the stall!" the other worker called, and Hyemi knew it was about time she had to go.

"Ooops. Looks like I have to ruin the moment," she abruptly stood, fixing a few strands of hair that got stuck out at the back of her head.

"Before I leave for real, can I have your number?" she added, and it almost sounded like a plea. Jiyeob grinned as he took out a piece of card from his wallet.

"Take this. Fired I may be, but the researcher title will always be mine. Hahahaha,"

Hyemi's mouth curved to the shape of an 'O' as she examined the card. "Oh boy. Oh maaaaaaan, I never expected this, Jiyeob! This is no joke! A microchip researcher? This---wait. You even have an English name! How should I pronounce this? Kebin? Cabin?" her Korean lisp sounded obvious as she uttered his English name.

"Silly, it's Kevin. KEVIN! Tch, what's so great about that? I'm already fired," he corrected her, but the enthusiasm in his voice faded away wholly as he uttered the word 'fired'.

"I see. I thought the head boy Kim Jiyeob that I knew 9 years ago used to be so persistent in all ways. You know what, Mister Cabin the Great Microchip Researcher? You just made yourself sound so pathetic. Well, it couldn't be helped that I'm pathetic too, but I tried so hard not to feel inferior,"

"You shouldn't let these little things shatter your life. With that high education of yours, I doubt I'd see you jobless the next time we ever meet again," she blurted out without even pausing to catch her breath, making him ponder about his situation.

"Hyemi, can you lend me a hand?" her fellow worker's crystal-clear voice hit her eardrums again, and she hastily took a few steps backward.

"I bid you adieu, old friend. By the way....if you can't accept what I said, then be a rememberer. Well, only if you think my words are worthy to be remembered,"

She ran away as soon as she spoke- but from afar, he heard a yell from her, "Live bubbly!"

"Arrivederci, Pyo Hyemi," a clear sigh escaped his pale lips, and he turned away from the place where they sat a few minutes ago.

For some reason he found himself being rejuvenated in an odd way. He was starting to feel a whole lot better.

Perhaps the Lady Luck was starting to smile at him.