2004

She wasn’t like any other girl. Of course not. Liu Eunyoung could run as quick as any boy her age and had wicked basketball skills. She was fast and every boy wanted her on his team.

Growing up in the countryside meant that youngsters spend time outside in the fresh air and not holed up, hunched over electronic gadgets, like their urban peers. The summer before he packed up to go to university in the city, Seunghyun was watching the kids play ball as they did every evening.

Choi Seunghyun was the star of the local high school – and the town. Everyone knew him. Be it walking through the school hallway like a king or picking up groceries for his mother at the market, everyone greeted him by name.

Every girl – and her mother – had their eye on the 19-year-old. Besides intellect, a certain magnetic quality drew people towards him. The top student was destined for great things, way beyond the sleepy small town.

The long figure sat a distance away on the grassy slope, unnoticed by the motley bunch scrambling over the ball. Eunyoung was shorter than the boy guarding her and quick reflexes allowed her to dribble past him and make a three-pointer. Before falling.

Her teammates surged towards Eunyoung as she got up without much fuss about her bleeding knee to return the high fives. For three days in a row, the girl had made the winning basket – she was on a roll.

The sun was setting when the group of teenagers finally scattered. Throwing the duffel bag onto her shoulder, the only girl whistled as she started on the way home, alone.

“You are injured.”

Seunghyun came out from nowhere, to fall into step with Eunyoung.

“Jesus, you scared me. Where did you come from?”

Not one to answer when he didn’t like the question, the older boy observed, “Your mother’s going to scream when she sees how dirty you are.”

Finally realising the scuff marks all over her clothes, Eunyoung reckoned it had not been a wise choice to wear white that day.

“And your knee is bleeding.”

“What are you? Captain Obvious?” retorted the girl, wondering how to wash away the bloody parts before her mother noticed.

The youngest Liu had to be the only female that wasn’t starry-eyed around Seunghyun.

“Come on, let me clean you up,” Seunghyun attempted to dab her knee with his handkerchief, of all things.

“Now your mother is going to mad,” noted Eunyoung as she ran away from him – Mrs Choi had a reputation to be