When he first sees her, the early morning sun sets the world on fire.

Taeyang looks up to wipe the sweat off his brow and notices her, bathed in the orange and yellow glow of dawn. He watches her until she disappears from sight over a hill, never seeing her face, only the black mantilla covering her hair. Her silhouette leaves an impression as if burned into his memory.

A few hours later and he’s hauling bags of rice over his back. The sun casts its rays over the neighborhood, making everything hot to the touch. It’s a sultry summer heat that surrounds and embraces him, the air thick and suffocating. He’s taken his shirt off and tucked it into his belt to mop the endless stream of sweat, making his tattoos visible as he works. It’s been a week since he was released from prison. His mother was too sick to pick him up so he walked out alone, calling a taxi to take him home. He immediately went to work pounding rice for his mother’s business, taking care of all the household chores too strenuous for the older woman.

Each day he lifts the heavy bags of rice, rising with the sun to begin his work. He was cold and alone for so long that he enjoys the summer. He enjoys being out in the street surrounded by people. Most people in the neighborhood avert their eyes from him but he craves the bustle and urgency of everyday life.

The click of heels on pavement interrupts him from his revelry and he sees her again. There’s a confidence in her strong legs and powerful stride, revealed to him as her dress flutters in the gentle breeze. Her cat-like eyes flicker toward him but it feels like she sees through him. Now that he sees her face he’s struck by her soft and serene features contrasted by her determined walk. She seems as if she’s searching for something, like she’s on a mission. He watches as she passes by again, the whole world suspended. Only his pounding heart, and that beautiful girl, exist.

A sudden wind blows, picking up her delicate mantilla. The dainty piece of black lace flies into the air like a butterfly, only to land on the ground by his feet. He silently thanks God as he picks it up, seeing her quickly walking toward him. Meeting her halfway, he silently gives her the mantilla, careful not to brush her hand with his own.

“Thank you so much.” She looks him in the eye, her beautiful full lips smiling.

He brushes a sticky piece of hair from his forehead with his tattooed arm and shrugs.

“Don’t worry about it.” He says quickly and hates himself for not being able to communicate. She’s first the woman he’s spoken to in over five years, other than his mother and the handful of female prison guards. He expects her to quickly walk away but she lingers.

He expects her to be afraid of him but she isn’t.

She calmly adjusts her mantilla atop her caramel colored hair, her long eyelashes casting shadows over her cheeks.

“Have you ever been to the bookstore at the end of the street?” She asks suddenly.

“I might have when I was younger, but I don’t remember.” He’s taken aback by her question, still wondering why she hasn’t left. She hesitates as if to rethink whatever she was about to say. She purses her lips and he knows she’s about to walk away and never look back.

But she doesn’t.

“I recently bought the store and live above it now.” She tells him. “I just finished renovations, you should come visit the shop sometime.”

He nods without saying anything and she smiles before waving and turning around.

He leans against a wall, the brick rough on the skin of his neck and arms. Taking a deep breath, he slowly peers around the corner. The bookstore has dull and peeling paint like the other buildings in the neighborhood. There are dead flowers in cracked pots outside next to rolling carts sparsely filled with books. Above the dusty windows hangs the faded remnant of an old sign, now home to a nest of birds.

Taeyang has been trying to find the courage to go into the bookstore for the past three days. Finally, he takes a step around the corner and walks toward the store. He glances at the window but he can’t see anyone. His legs keep going until he’s walked past the shop. He kicks himself for being like this, he knows he should just go in.

“Oh, it’s you!” A surprised voice calls out from behind him.

He turns around slowly to see the girl holding bags of groceries. His cheeks turn red in embarrassment as he looks down at his treacherous feet.

“Yeah, I had some free time so I thought I might check out the shop.”

She gives him a knowing smile, fumbling with the keys on her keychain. One of the bags rips open and Taeyang rushes to pick up the escaped groceries.

“I’ll take this, too.” He takes the other bags from her, freeing up both her hands.

“Thank you,” She expresses her gratitude, looking at him over her shoulder as she unlocks the doors. She tries to take back at least one bag and he reluctantly allows her to, giving her the lightest of the load.

“Where would you like these?”

“Ah, up in the apartment.” She tells him, starting to walk toward the staircase leading to the upper level living area. He hesitates and she notices with a frown. “Have I made you uncomfortable? I’m sorry if it’s too much.”  

He can’t find the words and only stares at her. Has she not seen the scars? Has she not heard the rumors? He wonders if she’s stupid or just over confident.

“I’ll get it,” She tries to take the bags from him but he pulls back slightly.

“It’s fine.” Taeyang says, surprised by the happy smile she gives him before she turns around. He follows after her up the stairs, focusing on the floor boards so he won’t see up her skirt. They take their shoes off and he takes a moment to look at her dainty heels next to his muddy work boots.

He follows her into the musty apartment, wondering how someone like her could live in a place like this. He wonders how she could even live in a neighborhood like this. He puts her groceries onto the kitchen counter as she busily puts everything away. She turns to look at him with a worried expression and he wonders if she realized she made a mistake in letting him inside.

“I forgot to ask if you wanted some tea.” Her voice is full of concern and he stares at her blankly before bursting into laughter. She looks confused but he shakes his head.

“No, that’s okay. Don’t worry yourself.” He tells her and she slowly smiles.

“I’m happy I got to hear you laugh. It really shocked me, you seem so quiet.” Her smile turns devious, sending a jolt of electricity down his spine. “You really wanted to see the bookstore, right? You were walking around outside the past few days, I shouldn’t keep you waiting.”

He coughs in embarrassment and the girl grins, her eyes turning into pretty crescent moons. They go back down the stairs and into the bookstore that’s been in the neighborhood for as long as he can remember. It was a place he never really paid attention to but knew was always there, quietly situated between the other businesses and restaurants.

From floor to ceiling is lined with books of all shapes and sizes. He looks on in amazement, bombarded with the powerful scent of aged paper and ink. Taeyang picks up a book and looks at the title before putting it back in its place again. He watches as the girl transforms into a child full of wonder. She owns the shop but looks as if she’s seeing it for the first time. She’s forgotten him now, enamored with volumes of books. Most of the books are translations but some are originally Korean. He picks up a foreign author and skims through the pages, occasionally peeking up at her and watching as she handles the books. She holds each book so tenderly, like a rare artifact.

“Did all of these books come with the store or did you stock them?” He asks curiously.

“They came with the shop, most of them I’ve never even seen before.” She answers him honestly, her voice breathy and full of excitement. Her eyes are bright, full of emotions he’s only ever watched others enjoy. She holds a book out to him, her lips parted in a smile. “Feel the book, it’s just incredible.”

He takes the book from her and moves his hand across its cover.

“No, not like that. Feel it. Really feel it.” She urges him and he looks at her strangely.

Taeyang sighs before turning his attention back to the book. He holds it in his rough hands, his fingers brushing over the textures on the binding. The smell of paper and old glue and even a hint of spilled coffee wafts to his nose. And suddenly, he can feel it. All of the work that’s gone into creating this one book causes his fingers to tingle.

Not only the author, but the binder, the publisher. The workers who made the paper in some far away factory. All of the readers who flipped through the pages, reliving the story over and over again. He can feel the slight indentations in the hard cover where other fingers held onto the book as they got lost in its pages. Love. He feels the love that this book contains.

And as he handles the fragile old book, he knows with each reader who loves this book and continuously flips each page, the book will wear down and eventually fall apart. It will be destroyed by all of the love.

“I need to go.” He tells the girl suddenly and she looks at him with sad eyes.

“What? Why?”

“Work.” He answers gruffly, pausing before turning toward her again. “You never told me your name.”

“Chaerin, it’s Lee Chaerin.” She’s quiet, her expression thoughtful. “And what about yours?”

“They call me Taeyang.”

“I didn’t ask what they call you.” She says gently.

“Dong Youngbae.” He tells her with a strange catch in his throat. He turns around and walks out the shop before starting to run home, unable to contain the giddiness and elation bubbling through him.

He watches patiently as his mother irons his father’s dress shirt. Her hands shake occasionally, making him want to take the iron from her. She pauses every so often but then resumes her work. When he had asked to wear one of his father’s shirts she insisted on ironing it. She carefully brings the shirt to him and he buttons it up over his undershirt. His mother’s wrinkled hands lovingly brush away dust from his shoulders.

“Let me, yeobo.” She takes the necktie out of his hand and pulls it around his collar, slowly but neatly tying it for him. Her eyes are far away with her lips curled into a small smile. Taeyang kisses her gently on the forehead before making his way out the door.

He feels silly in the stiff shoes, the slightly too long trousers, and the tight dress shirt. He convinces himself to turn around and then turn back twice before he finally gets to the tiny church on top of the hill. The old wooden doors loudly creak as he enters and he can feel the heat of judging eyes. He searches for her in the sea of bowed heads before awkwardly kneeling and seating himself in a pew towards the back.

“Youngbae-ssi.” He hears someone quietly call his name and raises his head to see her. Chaerin stands before him in a flared black dress with her mantilla prettily atop her head. She waves him over to her and he clumsily makes his way out of the pew. “Sit with me.”

He quietly follows her closer to the altar, sitting a few pews away from the front. From their seat he’s given a perfect view of the large crucifix hanging from the ceiling. He looks at the gold statue in awe, everything melting away away in blur of organ music and hymns. The reason he went to the church was to see Chaerin but his gaze is transfixed on the solemn man in gold. He rises and kneels mechanically with the rest of the congregation but he never takes his eyes away from the floating Savior.

In prison many of the inmates came to rely on their faith, on their God. Taeyang always felt he was beyond saving, the cries for help sounding foreign to his hopeless heart. He looks at the carved eyes of the man on the cross and he swears he can see tears.

At the end of service Chaerin gently whispers his name, breaking him free of his moment of reverence. She shakes the priest’s hand as he stands behind her, feeling like an outsider in his own neighborhood. He regrets his plan to spend more time with her. He was curious to feel what she felt every Sunday but he just feels like an idiot.

Chaerin cautiously touches his shoulder and he glances up to see the priest looking at him expectantly.

“Ah, hello.” He greets politely, shaking his hand as the priest nods at him solemnly.

Outside the church he follows behind her with his hands in his pockets. She pivots on her heel to face him, her hair fluttering in the wind.

“Were you uncomfortable?” She asks and he simply shrugs. She purses her lips as she slows to walk beside him.

“Does it hurt to wear those heels all of the time?” He asks suddenly and she laughs in surprise.

“I’m used to it but it depends on the shoe.”

“Oh.” He says, confused by her mysterious smile.

“Do you not like when I wear high heels?” She asks him teasingly.

“I don’t care, do what you want.” He frowns, his cheeks heating up.

The girl laughs at his response and he reluctantly smiles. She acts so comfortable around him and he doesn’t understand it. No one has ever treated him this way. Her laughter is interrupted by the sound of barking and the two look down to see a honey colored dog wagging its tail as it tries to join them. Chaerin leans down to greet the dog as it comes up to her, slowly holding out her hand for the dog to sniff at apprehensively. Taeyang can’t help but join her in petting the strange dog’s fluffy coat.

“Oh, you only have three legs.” He notices in surprise. The dog his hand as he searches for a collar under the fur. “He doesn’t have any tags.”

“I’ve never seen a dog like this around the neighborhood.” Chaerin tells him.

“Do you have a name?” Taeyang asks as he scratches behind the dog’s ears. The dog barks at him happily and the young man pets his wiggling back.

“What are we going to do with him?” She wonders out loud. “We should probably bring him back to my apartment for food and water.”

“Yeah, that sounds like the best idea.” He looks the dog in the eye and its hair back on its face. “Hachiko, we’re going to take care of you.”

Chaerin looks at him strangely as they start to walk, the happy little dog following along.

“Why ‘Hachiko?’”

“Because she’s a Hachiko,” He says simply but the girl still doesn’t understand.

Hachiko follows them happily with Taeyang teasing her every so often. When they get to the bookstore they try to go upstairs but Hachiko pauses in fear.

“I don’t think she’s seen stairs before.” She starts to say as Taeyang easily picks up the large dog and carries her in his arms as he walks up the stairs. Chaerin squeezes past him to open the door and looks at him in awe. “You’re much nicer to Hachiko than you are to me. Are blondes your type?”

Chaerin goes to the kitchen with an amused smile on her lips. She gets a bowl down from the cabinet and filling it with water, setting it down for the dog to drink.

“Do you have anything for her to eat?”

“Ah,” She thinks aloud as she opens up the refrigerator. “I have some pork ribs…”

“Dogs can’t eat that, anything with bones can shatter into tiny pieces and hurt their stomachs.” Taeyang says casually, walking closer to where she stands in the kitchen.

“Oh, wow, I had no idea. I’m not sure what to feed her, then.”

“Let me see.” Taeyang looks into the refrigerator, peeking into a few different containers. “Are you going to eat this rice?”

She shakes her head and he puts some of the rice into a bowl, pouring some of the grease from the pork onto it. He puts the bowl onto the ground and Hachiko eats hungrily.

“Dogs can eat rice?” She asks him in shock.

“Yeah, it’s good for their stomachs and it’s filling so she should be good until we can get her some food from the store.”

“Do you like dogs, Taeyang-ssi? You seem to know so much about them.”

“I like them a lot but I’ve never had one of my own.” He answers honestly.

“I’m really happy you’re here, without your help I wouldn’t know what to do.” Chaerin tells him sincerely and he looks away.

“It’s not a big deal.” He scratches the back of his head nervously, looking at the clock on the wall. “I gotta get going. I need to check on my mother.”

He starts to walk toward the door but Chaerin stops him.

“Wait! Don’t you hear that? It’s started to rain, you can see it out the window.” She motions toward the lone window in the room and she’s right: it is raining. “I’ll go get an umbrella for you.”

“It’s alright, you don’t have to.”

“I insist.” She smiles, going to another room to get the umbrella and leaving him with Hachi before he can protest.

Hachiko wags her tail energetically as Taeyang scratches all over her body. Her long fluffy hits a desk by the door.

“Be careful, Hachiko-ya.” He tells her sternly. Her tail continues to wag and she knocks a notebook off of the desk. “I told you to be careful…”

He leans down to pick it up but a loose piece of paper and a photograph fall out onto the floor. He picks up the piece of paper and notices the strangely familiar handwriting. The note reads that “on the second week of July you will find a stray three legged dog, you must take the dog home.”

He reads the note again in confusion and then looks at the photograph. He notices in shock that it’s a picture of him but the photograph looks old and worn down by several years. Thinking it could a relative, he nearly drops the photo in confused horror when he sees his tattoos and piercings are all there. His finger traces along the edge of the photo, realizing that there was another person originally in the picture. It looks like half of the photograph was torn off.

“Sorry about making you wait, I forgot where I put it.” Chaerin enters the room and he looks up at her, the notebook and photograph in hand. She notices what he’s holding and drops the umbrella as it loudly clatters to the ground.

-&-

Author's Note: I thought it might take a few weeks to write this chapter - it took exactly three months... This chapter is a lot longer than I anticipated and the other chapters won't be as long. I was so exciting about finishing that I didn't really edit it so I'll probably go back and more seriously edit it later. Thank you to all of my subscribers and a special thanks to chaefamri, lsdragon, JLLX2001, and gunseed before upvoting this story before I even updated it. I hope this first chapter lived up to your expectations!

Also, this story is an entry into msvickie's RISE writing contest, which you should check out if you're a fan of Taeyang!