Sungmin looked up and heaved a heavy sigh. The azure sky was empty and cloudless today. Sungmin’s thoughts strayed as he stared at the endless expanse of heavens. His mind wandered to the faces of the people who always left him. No one ever stayed by his side long enough to be considered anything but an acquaintance. They always left him when he needed them most. He was always alone.

         Sungmin sighed again, a forlorn sound, and decided to start walking. He wandered through the well-worn paths of the park in the middle of his town. The squeals of children playing could be heard in the air, but Sungmin didn’t care. He didn’t even look up as he walked. He only stared at the ground in front of him.

         On one of the paths in the far corner of the park, Sungmin heard some shuffling in the leaves that littered the cold ground. He looked around, but no one was in sight. Shrugging, the boy continued wallowing in his sadness. After a few more steps, Sungmin heard the shuffling sound again. This time Sungmin stopped and looked around the ground. In a pile of leaves, Sungmin spotted a little turtle that was stuck on his back. His legs flailed around in a futile attempt to right himself.

         “Poor thing,” Sungmin mumbled as he walked toward the helpless animal. Sungmin grabbed the turtle’s shell and flipped him over so he was right side up again. “There you go.”

         As Sungmin started walking away, he heard more shuffling in the leaves scattered on the ground. He looked back to see the little turtle following him, struggling to keep up with his pace.

         “Are you wanting to come with me?” he asked the turtle, his frown melting into a smile. Sungmin knelt down and picked up the turtle carefully. “Then let’s go home.”

         It had been a few months since Sungmin had found the turtle in the park that day. He decided that he would name the turtle Yesung. He took care of him and loved him as much as if he was a person, but Sungmin was still lonely. His only friend wasn’t even human.

         One morning, Sungmin woke up feeling odd. He went to feed his turtle to find that it was gone. After hours of frantically searching his entire house, Sungmin sank to the couch in defeat. His only companion was nowhere to be found.

         The next morning, after an extremely fitful couple hours of sleep, Sungmin woke up to someone knocking on his door. Rubbing his eyes in confusion, Sungmin threw on a shirt and shuffled slowly to the door.

         “Nugusaeyo?” he called before he even reached the door. No answer. Sungmin cautiously opened the door and was surprised to see a man that he didn’t recognize at doorstep. The stranger smiled at Sungmin’s confused expression.

         “Hi, Sungmin,” the man said in a familiar tone. “My name is Yesung.”