Time

Time -(n.) the indefinite continued process of existence and events in the past, the future and the present.

[ New Year's Eve 2012 ]

It was a lively evening as that time of the year –other than Christmas- had approached, it was also known to be New Year's Eve.

Everyone was in a great mood, all waiting for the clock to strike twelve and maybe share a kiss with someone, some gathered downtown to share the moment with other people, enjoy the live performances and party along. Well, everyone except for one guy who didn't feel like celebrating the end of the year.

Kris.

It's not that he didn't like the certain event, in fact he's partied hard every New Year's Eve as far as he can remember, it was always the best for him but for this particular year, he felt... different.

Music stopped playing on his earphones, he took out his phone and saw an incoming call –the reason for the sudden stoppage of his tunes; he picks up the call “Hello?”

“Where are you, man? You're missing all the fun!” came Chanyeol's voice, party music in the background.

Kris stops walking, sitting himself down on a bench by the sidewalk, watching people walk by. He was alone, unlike others who were either in pairs or in groups but it didn't bother him much “I don't think I can make it” he tells Chanyeol. The guy on the other line snorts a sarcastic laugh “You're not serious, right?”

He sighs “I don't feel like partying”

“Pfft! That's crazy talk... look, it's only nine o'clock, a few more hours until New Year, get your here before the clock hits twelve, okay?”

“I'll see...” he mumbles and ends the call.

He pockets his hands in his trench coat and puffs out a breath, the air visible because of the cold. He doesn't know where to go but all he knew was that he didn't want to go home to his apartment nor did he want to go partying. He felt very different, as if there was something he wanted to do but didn't know what it was exactly.

It was frustrating him.

Grumble. He looks down on his stomach and frowns. Well... he stands up; Might aswell get some food. He thinks to himself before moving along, looking for a place to eat. So many shops were open but the problem was that he couldn't find anything there that his stomach craved for, so he kept looking.

He walked past chicken restaurants and food stalls, his feet continued to move, walking on the cold pavement of the sidewalk while his eyes wandered around here and there, hoping that somehow he could find a place. Just as he stops beside the bus stop, he sets his attention on a particular place just across the street.

A pizza place.

Grumble. His stomach growls and with a convinced look on his face, he crosses the street and enters the small parlour. There weren't much people inside, just a few customers here and there who enjoyed eating their pizza; he looks around the place and saw an empty chair by the window. As soon as he sits down, a waiter takes his order and leaves him to fulfill it.

He looks out the window, observing passers by, occasionally amusing himself watching drunkards fall or do some other silly things; from the corner of his eye, he catches sight of a girl. He watched as she walked past the window and eventually entered the place aswell.

She looks around and meets his eyes for a brief moment; she smiles at him, taking him by surprise. To add to his shock and confusion, she began to walk towards him.

What the – just as he was about to finish his thoughts, she ended up sitting on the table next to him and it turned out that it wasn't him whom she was looking at but the guy on the other table. He swallowed his embarrassment and looks somewhere else, ignoring the two people beside him. He casually runs a hand through his blonde hair, puffing out a quiet breath and goes back to looking out of the window.

His food arrives and he begins to eat.

What to do, what to do, what to do? He thoughtfully chants taking a bite of the slice of pizza in his hand every now and then. Time drags by and he continues to eat, some of the customers already leaving to go catch a spot downtown; Kris didn't have plans of moving just yet, he found his loneliness quite peaceful.

For once, he wasn't in a loud place, drinking to his heart's content.

“Excuse me?” he hears a voice making him turn his head. He found a girl smiling down at him, a tray in hand; he blinks his eyes at her for a moment before plucking off his earphones “Yes?”

“Can I sit with you?” she asks

Kris looks around him and saw dozens of empty tables which was why he then turned to her with a confused face “Why?” “I kinda hate eating alone... so, can I?”

Might aswell have someone to talk to. He gives a small awkward smile and his hand gestures to the seat across him; the girl smiles and sits down.

“Snow's pouring outside...” she mumbles as she looks out of the window. Kris chews his pizza slowly and looks at her for a moment before diverting his attention outside. It is... hm... I wonder if I should still go to Chanyeol's party. She turns to Kris “How was your year, so far?” she asks out of the blues.

Kris turns to her, unsure of how to answer “What?” “You look like someone who's had a pretty rough year” she smiles at him. Technically, she was sort of right. He didn't have the best year, his business didn't do well compared to last year, he was having difficulties with new policies in his father's company, his girlfriend of four years broke up with him for another guy, his dog died and to add that he got robbed twice.

“I guess you could say that...” he sighs before picking up his can of cola and pops it open then sips. She starts to eat her slice of pizza “I had a pretty rough year too”

“I can't tell... you seem pretty happy” he tells her. She chuckles “Well, happiness is a choice after all... it isn't defined by what happens, it's just something we choose to do”

Kris looked at her for a moment, observing her as she ate. Her eyes focused on the food. She wasn't pretty, she looked average. Black hair, brown eyes, unhealthy-looking pale skin, but she did have a nice set of lips. I'll give her that... but on the scale of one to ten, three.

“Are you going downtown?” she asks. Kris shook his head “Nah, I don't like crowded places...” he props an elbow on the table and rests his chin on the back of his hand “Are you?” “Nope” she shook her head.

“Why?”

“I just don't want to... you know how it feels like to be surrounded by couples kissing when the clock strikes twelve? Or worst case scenario, be kissed by some random stranger” she shudders.

Kris chuckles in amusement. This girl may not be attractive but she made pretty good company; she smiles at him “But you look like someone who has a pretty girlfriend to kiss on New Year” he shook his head “Nah, I broke up with her months ago... she'll be kissing someone else this New Year”

“Oh... sorry” she apologizes, suddenly feeling awkward for having brought it up. For all she knows, the guy could still be in the process of moving on. Kris raises a brow at her “Yeah, sure...”

Silence fell for a moment. Neither spoke, they just looked out of the window, watching the snow flakes drop and coat the city in white. It was nice though, having some quiet time despite them being complete strangers to each other.

“You know...” she starts off, Kris turns to her again “Hm?” “New Year is pretty special to me” he doesn't know why she was telling him that but he listened. She smiled brightly “This year, atleast”

“Why is that?” he questions

“Well, it's the first time in a long time that I didn't spend it alone”

Kris, for some reason, smiled at her “You're welcome then...”

She smiles back at him. Conversations followed after that, she asked him a lot of things, regarding his job, his year, his life and though it seemed strange, he opened up to her. He told her how he works for a big company, how he dislikes these things and that and every now and then she would slip in a few jokes here and there and they'd both laugh.

If it were to be seen by a stranger outside, they would look like a couple who were having a good time.

“What about you?” he asks, taking a bite on another slice of pizza. She thinks for a moment then broke to speak “I don't know, I'm average... I work on a daily basis, I used to share an apartment with a friend but then she moved to her boyfriend's place and now I'm alone”

Ah right, she's single. “What do you do?”

“Financing stuff, eh, summing up numbers and such. Pretty boring job” she chuckles “For an interesting person, it is a boring job” he mumbles and catches her fluster; she looks away.

Silence.

Just as she was about to say something, his phone rang. He looked at the screen and saw Chanyeol's name flashing “I gotta take this, excuse me” he said before getting up from the table and left for the bathroom.

“Yeol” “Where are you? Geez, it's an hour and a half until twelve! People are saving kisses for you here!”

He leans against the wall and puffs out a sigh; truth was, he didn't want to go anymore. He just wanted to stay and chat with this girl he just met “It's snowing right now, I'm stuck somewhere”

“Take a cab”

“Roads are blocked downtown, you idiot. Look, I'll go as soon as the snow stops falling, okay?”

“Aish... fine, get more beer on the way, if you can, okay?”

“Sure, bye” and he hangs up. He takes a deep breath before walking out of the restroom;

He didn't know why he wanted to stay but for whatever reason it may be, he was sure that he'd be spending New Year differently this year. He takes a turn and sets his eyes on his table... it was empty.

Where'd she go? He looks around the small place before walking towards his place; as he approaches, he found his wallet on top of the table, beside his can of coke and a tissue tucked underneath it. He picks it up and reads

To the guy who treated me for pizza tonight; I'll pay you back, I promise, meet you here at midnight, same place, next year on New Year's Eve :)

P.S.

Smile more, it suits you!

Kris's brows knit together for a moment as he picks up his wallet and see his cards and cash still in there, only a few bills missing which he assumed that she paid for the pizza. The receipt was on the table, he picked it up. She paid for mine aswell... tch.

A small amused smile creeps on his face as he pocketed his wallet and shook his head.

“Weird girl...”

[ New Year's Eve 2013 ]

He puffed out a breath, the air visible because of the coldness of the night. His fingers were close to freezing but he ignored it and instead busied himself with his glass of white wine. Who the hell throws a party on the rooftop when it's freaking winter? Tch. He sips on his drink.

“Kris!” a hand lands on his shoulder; He turns around and saw Chanyeol with a huge grin on his face “It's almost midnight; the girls are wondering who you're gonna share a kiss with” he points his thumb over his shoulder and Kris's eyes follow.

Females waved in their direction, Chanyeol waved back at them whereas Kris didn't. He turned back to me “I'll pass” Kris chugs down his drink and hands over the empty glass to a passing waiter.

“Yah, are you still hoping to see that girl?” Chanyeol asks, pocketing his hand while the other holds his wine glass. He doesn't even know what's with him but he's been looking forward to New Year's eve all year. He even kept that note she gave him and almost everytime that he remembers, he takes it out and reads it.

Sometimes I wonder if it all was just an illusion.

To be quite truthful, I haven't had a wink of sleep last night. I just kept pondering if I should or shouldn't go. Sigh. He didn't respond to Chanyeol's answer.

“Geez man, you're inlove with a girl whose name you don't even know” He chuckles; Kris rolls his eyes at him “Well tonight, I'm gonna get her name”

“And if she doesn't show up?”

He swallows the lump in his throat and looks at Chanyeol dead in the eye “She'll show up” I trust her, that much. He walked away.

Luhan and Lay appear beside Chanyeol and the three of them looks at the guy who kept walking off until he reached the exit. Luhan sips on his drink and asks “He's really going?”

“Yep” Chanyeol also sips on his white wine “Damn, I bet she's a beauty for him to act like this” he puffs out a breath. Luhan chuckles “He's been looking forward to this night all year”

Lay thinks for a moment then with a smile turns to the two “You think she'll show up?”

“Yah” Chanyeol starts “Are you gonna make a bet again? You know you at it” “Tsk, it's the New Year, my luck will change” he says confidently. Luhan shook his head “Alright, I'm in... my new Audi says that she won't show up” he digs his pocket and takes out his car alarm's control.

Chanyeol puffs out a breath and names his bet “A ticket to Hawaii, two weeks paid vacation says Kris will go home disappointed” the only reason he was betting such a price was because of Luhan. The guy never loses bets. Lay smirked “My vacation house in Beijing says she will”

Luhan chugs down his glass of drink and gives Lay a playful smile “Get the papers ready then” and walks away. Chanyeol gives Lay a pat on the back before walking away aswell.

Meanwhile...

Kris hurried down the streets, it was nearing twelve in the evening already. The meeting place was still far off and the crowd didn't really help either;

“Excuse me...” he kept repeating it over and over again as he squeezed himself through, it was like going against tides. Freaking difficult.

When he finally managed to get away, he looked left and right. The faint sound of the band playing in the background, the sound of people murmuring and cheering, singing along. Something cold lands on the back of his neck making him flinch

He looks up and saw white flakes falling down. It's snowing.

His feet began to move once more. Past various clothing stores and coffee shops, down the block, taking turns here and there until such time his eyes laid upon the place. The all-too familiar place. He pauses for a moment to regain his breathing “I'm here...” he mumbles before moving on once again.

He enters the crowded place and looks around for the seat that he occupied last year; “Excuse me?” came a voice from behind him. He turned around and saw a waitress smiling at him “Would you like a seat?” she asks. He glances at the table once more but to his dismay, a couple had occupied it.

“Yeah... sure” he mumbles and was shown to a different table.

A few more minutes before New Year and there he waited, his head whipping at every sound of the bell ringing on top of the door. Still, there was no sign of her. He watched outside the window, scanning every face that passed.

Sigh. He glances down at his watch. 11:55 PM

Another tap lands on his shoulder “Sir?” he looks up to see the same waitress from earlier. “We're closing now” he blinks his eyes for a moment before getting up. He pays for the can of cola and makes his way out.

Tch. He stands by the sidewalk and looks up as the snow kept falling; he shook his head at his own ridicule and takes a sip of his cola “Well, this is what you've been looking forward to all year, Kris” he mumbles to himself “Nothing...”

“So you're name is Kris?”

He turns around and his eyes widen.

There she was, standing just a few feet away from him in her white trench coat and a smile on her face. He didn't know what to say; does he go to her or does he wait there in his spot. What now?

“You...” he utters and she chuckles before taking steps towards him. She fishes out something from her coat's pocket and holds it up; Kris looks at it and sees money bills, an amused smile comes across his face and she laughs “I told you I'd pay you back”

“Five!”

They both turn to the direction of where the sound of many voices came from “Four!” “The count down is starting” she mumbles. “Three!” He turns to her “Yeah...”

“Aren't you going down town?” she asks with a smile and he shook his head “Two” “No, it's perfectly fine here”

“One!”

Suddenly, he grabs hold of her hand that held the money, his other hand sliding on her waist and pulls her towards him, his eyes closed and their lips met just as the fireworks went off.

“Happy New Year!”

“Hana” she says with a smile on her face.