I walked passed the open park in a rush to go to a meeting. I glanced at the usual seat. There he is again. I frowned upon seeing him but kept on walking.

As I got in my car and waited for the car to warm up, my mind went to the boy that I saw everyday without fail at the same spot. At the park, sitting on the gray ceramic bench. He was just there- either staring out into space or fiddling with whatever that he brought with him.

Of course there’s nothing weird about sitting there. But the fact that he’s there everyday, at any time that I passed the park, it just rose the curiosity out of me. I started my car and started driving to work.

The next day was a Saturday and I was on my way back from having breakfast at a nearby café. I passed the park. There he is. This time, I decided to act upon my curiosity and approached him. He seemed harmless.

As I stood infront of him, he didn’t look up. He was too focused on drawing something in his book.

“Hi?” I spoke. The boy looked up slowly as he stopped drawing. He smiled widely and returned my greeting.

“Can I sit here?” I asked, pointing to the seat across him. He nodded happily.

As I sat, he went back to his drawing. He looked about my age. I noticed the color pencils lying on the table messily infront of him. There was also a child’s type of bottle, where there is a ‘pop-out’ straw along with cartoon designs on it, on the table and a container filled with biscuits.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Yoseob!” he answered cheerfully without looking up as he was concentrating on his drawing. He had straight brown hair with bangs that almost covered his eyes. His cheeks were chubby which matches well with his small face.

He finally finished drawing and seemed happy about the finishing product as he looked at it. His actions are really similar to a 5-year old child.

“I’m Junhyung,” I introduced myself.

He looked up and smiled wider since his smile never really did leave his face. “Hello!” he said waving his hands to me enthusiastically.

I smiled slightly. So many questions were in my mind but I don’t want to scare him by asking all in one go.

“What did you draw?” I asked, peeking at his drawing.

“A cat!” he said simply and showed my his art proudly. Even his drawing is like a child’s. Its not ugly. Its just very child-like.

“Its very nice,” I said with a smile and he giggled cutely and went about to color it.

“What time are you going home Yoseob?” I asked curiously.

“When my father comes and fetch me!” he said while colouring. I frowned slightly, starting to wonder a lot more than I already did about this boy.

“What time are you going home Junhyung?” he asked.

“Erm.. any time?” I answered. He just nodded.

“Do you want to be my friend?” he looked up and stopped his coloring abruptly.

“Uh.. Sure,” I said, not prepared for the sudden question. He smiled and went back to his work.

“Are you here everyday Yoseob?”

“Yup!”

“Why?”

He pouted slightly, feeling a little confused. “Um.. I don’t know. Every morning my father would send me here and told me not to go anywhere until he comes back.”

“You can’t go anywhere?” He shook his head, looking at me.

“What if you want to go to the bathroom?”

“My father said to either hold it in or go to some bushes by the side. I’m shy to do that so I just hold it in until I’m back home,” he chuckled.

What? What kind of father would do this?

I just remembered that I needed to get back home to clean up the house since my friends were coming over at night. But I was quite worried to leave him alone.

“Um Yoseob?” He looked up. “I have to go now. Are you okay being here on your own?” He just smiled and nodded.

“Do you have a phone? You know, in case of emergencies,” I asked.

“I don’t have one. My father said if anything bad happens, just shout for help,” he said innocently. I was getting more and more irritated but curious why the father was doing this. I know he’s not a child anymore but why leave him here? Even if he doesn’t have a job, why can’t he be at home where its much more safe and comfortable for Yoseob?

I sighed softly and nodded. “I’ll come back here tomorrow okay?” I told him. He smiled wider and nodded.

The next day I went to the park with a few things. I decided to stay with him until his father came to fetch him.

This time he was holding a rubics cube. He was just turning it around and around without any hint of solving it.

“You’re not drawing today?” I asked.

He stopped turning the cube and his lips started to quiver. He sobbed softly at first which already made me panicked.

“Yoseob? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” I asked as I quickly went over to his side, trying to comfort him.

His cries got louder and I placed his head to rest on my shoulder. I put my arm across his shoulder, bringing him closer to me. I patted his arm and his hair in an attempt to calm him. He cried sadly like a child and clinged his arms around my neck.

Some people that walked passed out table, turned to look at him in confusion and furrowed eyebrows but I just ignored them. Eventually he stopped crying and I wiped his tears with my thumb.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He sobbed a little bit more before talking. “My father.. he.. he tore up my drawing book yesterday,” he said sadly, sobbing in between his words. I frowned while listening to him.

“Why?” I managed to ask. There must be a reason.

“I don’t know.. I just wanted to show him my drawing.. and.. and then.. and then he tore my book.” His eyes started to get watery and started crying again. I hugged him tightly, trying to comfort him.

“Shh.. shh.. Its okay. I’ll buy you another book okay?” I said, his back.

“Really?” he sobbed, looking at me.

I smiled and nodded. “I’ll buy you as many books as you want and you can draw all you want. Is that good?”

Finally I got a smile and he nodded.

I brought some heavier snacks and drinks for the both of us that day. Yoseob seemed happy to eat a different kind of food other than the plain biscuits that I assumed his father packed for him.

“Are you coming tomorrow too?” he asked.

“Um.. I have work tomorrow. But if you’re still here when I get back from work, I’ll stop by okay?” I said sweetly. He just smiled and nodded.

I played some simple games with him and got to know about him more. But since he’s like a child, he don’t know anything much. He doesn’t know what his father work as. Only knows that he goes to work. He doesn’t know where he lives. Only said that his house is small. His answers were brief and simple, just like his thoughts.

“How old are you Yoseob?” I asked curiously. If he’s like a child, does it mean he doesn’t know that he had grown older?

“24!” he grinned. Its interesting to see a grown up guy saying his own age in a very child-like way.

“Ahh.. Really? I’m just 1 year older than you then,” I smiled. His lips formed an ‘o’ and he nodded.

Time passes slowly and it was already night time. Yoseob was yawning continously, indicating that he was already sleepy.

“You can sleep if you want,” I said.

He beamed at me with his eyes half opened. He nodded and rest his head on the table with his arms crossed under it.

I looked at him sleeping soundly, thoughts filling in my mind every second. I can’t decide which question I want to ask his father. I’m still a stranger although I agreed to be friends with Yoseob. There is no way his father would just spill everything about his son.

I went on to do my own work while waiting for Yoseob’s father to come and fetch him. Yoseob seemed really tired that he sleep soundly despite the uncomfortable place. I glanced at my wrist watch and its already half past 10. Where is his father?

I waited and waited, still no signs of any man that could be his father.

It was about to struck midnight when a man dressed in formal wear walked passed me and woke Yoseob. I was totally ignored as if I wasn’t there.

“Yoseob.. Yoseob wake up,” he said, tapping the boy’s arm gently. Yoseob woke up sleepily, looking at the man.

“Pack up. Let’s go home,” the man said. Yoseob smiled slightly, glad his father was there and started packing up.

As he was busy looking at Yoseob packing up, I decided to make my presence known.

“Erm hello.. sir,” I said, standing up. The man turned and looked at me judgingly.

“You are?” he asked.

“I’m Yong Junhyung. Yoseob’s friend,” I introduced myself and offered a handshake which he accepted half heartedly. He turned back to Yoseob.

“Erm you must be Yoseob’s father right? Can I ask.. why-“ Before I could even finish my sentence, Yoseob was done packing and his father walked away, leaving Yoseob to follow him.

Yoseob hurriedly followed, not wanting to be left behind. He glanced at me and waved a little, mouthing ‘bye’ and I just smiled at him in response. And then I was alone. His father… has issues.

“You look tired,” Yoseob said with a pout. I smiled tiredly and just nodded. Its been weeks maybe months that I spent my time there with Yoseob. During weekends I would be there from morning till night when his father picks him up. On weekdays I would drop by the park and stay with him until his father comes. His father still ignored me no matter how many times I tried to talk to him. Eventually I got tired of it and just kept quiet when he took Yoseob away. At least he didn’t stop me from talking to Yoseob.

“Do you want to sleep?” he asked innocently. I sighed tiredly and went to sit beside him. Without saying anything, I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I heard him giggle softly but he didn’t push me away. I just smiled and within seconds, I fell asleep.

I felt a few quick taps on my shoulder and I opened my eyes slowly. My eyebrows furrowed in the middle as I looked up at Yoseob.

“What is it?” I asked.

He looked scared. Terrified even. He was holding his rubics cube closely to his body, looking down. Then he pointed as if secretly to something. I followed his finger to where he was pointing and saw a group of guys, eyeing on Yoseob. They looked like thugs just waiting to pounce on the innocent boy. I sat up and placed my arm around Yoseob, pulling him close to me.

I just stared and glared at the group with Yoseob close to me. They stopped eyeing on Yoseob and walked away knowing that if they even tried to do anything to him, they would regret it for sure.

I looked down at Yoseob. “Hey.. They are gone,” I said softly. He looked up at me slowly.

“Really?” he asked. I smiled and nodded.

“Don’t worry okay. I’m here,” I said, caressing his soft cheek with my thumb.

Yoseob smiled. “Thank you. Sorry for waking you up,” he said with a pout.

“It’s okay. I’m not sleepy anymore,” I said, reassuring him. “Do you know how to solve this?” I asked about the rubics cube, changing the topic. I didn’t move my arm that was around him after the small incident. It felt really comfortable with him being close to me.

He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m just turning it around and around. And I like colorful things!” he grinned. I’m not good at solving the rubics cube but at least I know how to go along solving it. I smiled and taught him how to actually ‘play’ the cube.