Saturdays are my days off. I don’t work, and I don’t have to babysit. I spend them at the coffee shop. I usually read a magazine or bother the manager begging him to let me work Saturday mornings only. I need all the money I can get.

Today, the shop was closed.

I cursed under my breath.

The nearby park seemed like a good alternative place to spend the morning. There was a picnic table underneath a fiery tree, lit from the season of fall and the light of the morning. A good place to rest. I sat down, pulling out a magazine and a bottled water. It was peaceful. Everything operated on its own, the birds kept to their trees, the kids to the playground behind this tree, me to my picnic bench, and the teenagers shooting hoops across the way.

Everything was in its place, peaceful and perfectly in order. I stared off into the distance, watching the teenagers play basketball. The noises of the ball bouncing on the pavement, the birds in the trees, the squeaking swings on the playground, and me flipping pages in my magazine seemed perfectly in sync with nature.

No disruptions.

BOUNCE.

Brought back to reality, I watched the basketball as it rolled right next to my table. I looked around, trying to see whose it was. I bent down to pick it up. When I stood up, I was greeted by a friendly face. His hair was messy, but organized. And it was long and dark, kind of mysterious. The fourth thing I noticed about him.

“Oh, you.” I said.

Minhomotioned to the basketball. “I seem to have…misplaced my ball…”

I handed it over. He took it gently and thanked me. “I’m Minho.” He said.

I stuttered, “Oh, hello…I’m Soyeon.”

He smiled, said “Well it’s nice to meet you, see you around Soyeon”, and ran off again. I watched him leave. He was tall. The fifth thing I noticed about him. He had muscles. I felt myself staring, so I sat down again, focusing on the magazine in front of me. Before long, my simple, lonely world was back in order, with no disruptions.

~*~

“Let’s go try the bike again sweetie.”

“No.”

“Please, hun I promise, you won’t hurt yourself. I’ll guide you along.”

“No.”

“Don’t you want to learn to ride?”

“No.”

“Soyeon….”
“NO!”

“Alright. We’ll try again tomorrow maybe. You should be tired. Let’s go read a story and go to sleep.”

She fakes a smile.

She leads her daughter to the bedroom, tucking her in and reading her a bedtime story.

She quietly closes the door as Soyeon falls asleep.

She sighs. Walking into the kitchen, she grabs a drink and sits down at the dining room table putting her hands on her head and closing her eyes to think.