“Each meeting occurs at the precise moment for which it was meant. Usually, when it will have the greatest impact on our lives.” 

― Nadia Scrieva, Fathoms of Forgiveness

Spring

Do you have anything for me?” Alex asked the landlord. He grumbled and entered his apartment bringing a small package that he offered to her.

She stared at the brown card box reading the address and name on it.

“Here says that it’s for Mister Jinki.”

“Yeah. So?”

“I’m Alex from the 2B. This is for the 2A!”

“Alex…isn’t that a boy name?”

Alex shook her head slowly.

“Can you give it to him? I never see that man and its really bad for my health to climb the stairs.”

Then you can repair the elevator!

“Sure!” Alex answered instead slowly climbing the stairs.

“Isn’t Alex a boy name?” Alex repeated with a scorn looking at the package in her hand. She was tired of people asking that. Alex was also a girl name. It was her name and she was a girl.

She shook the package trying to listen to the noise it made with no avail.

Once she got to the weird neighbor door she stopped looking at it.

This was an interesting opportunity to see him; the mysterious man from 2A.

People said he was young but Alex wasn’t sure about it. Why would he hide in his apartment not leaving?! Maybe he was sick and had a phobia. How do they call it?!

She looked upwards thinking about it. Agoraphobia was the name!

Slowly she raised her fist and knocked on the door softly and hesitantly. No sound came from the other side. She waited with her fist raised and knocked again, this time more powerfully.

A weird noise of something falling and breaking was heard and she backed away from the door afraid.

“Who is it?” an upset voice came from the other side. It wasn’t the kind of voice she was expecting though.

“a-a I’m from 2B, your neighbor. I have something for you. It’s a package.”

“I have neighbors already?” he asked with a soft voice, seeming a little lost.

“Well…”

“That explains the noise…”

Alex frowned. How rude of him!

“I’m sorry…”

A chuckle coming from the other side of the door surprised her. He sounded like a crazy rude man, but his voice was so soft.

It was ridiculous how she was talking with a door.

“Can you leave the package on the floor and go away please?”

His request was as strange as all their conversation.

“o-ok!” Alex placed the small box on the floor and walked away to her own door, just in front.

She inserted the code, SHINee debut day, and closed her door quickly peeking through the peep hole.

For a few seconds nothing happened and she held her breath. Maybe he knows she is trying to see him. However suddenly the door opens a little and a man covered with a blue blanket steps outside. He crouches and picks up the package running inside and closing the door again.

Alex didn’t see much, since he was hiding below a blanket, but there was something that made her hold her laughter; his slippers were bunnies.

Summer

The foreigner girl stared at the notice board.

“Special International Students Activities Week”

That looked promising. It was a way to make new friends and do interesting activities.

If Mia wants to be part of the college life she needs to be a part of the clubs too.

That’s why she walked to the room mentioned on the board and sat on the chair just beside a Japanese girl who was listening to music with her earphones on.

There was also the French girl she met before; Mia greeted her; and the Spanish girl she once talked with in the library.

A man sat by Mia side and she looked at him smiling.

He looked back at her grinning and she recognized him; the rude man from the cafeteria.

“Why are you here?” she asked not filtering her thoughts.

“Why?” he arrogantly asked.

“You are Korean!”

“I am!”

“Then?”

“I like to know other countries and cultures make new friends….things like that…”

He looked elsewhere and she made an effort to stop staring at him.

He seemed so rude but he was absolutely stunning.

The reunion started and she pretended he wasn’t siting right next to her. Although Mia tried with all her might to not look at him, her eyes would always drift to her right side, where he was staring to the front completely ignoring her existence.

The senior responsible for the group introduced the objectives and the ideas they had for that semester.

Mia tried to listen carefully to what he was saying, mentally taking notes but the arrogant guy next to her wasn’t quiet on his chair, always moving his legs.

“Anyone has an idea of projects we could do to improve the college surroundings and at the same time get to know each other better?”

Mia bit her lip, her eyes set in no one special, lost in thought, not noticing that the man next to her was staring at her as if she was out of this world.

Mia turned her head quickly on his direction startling him and making him look away.

She smiled because she had one idea, not noticing the confused expression on the arrogant guy face.

Mia raised her arm and the senior let her speak.

“I have one idea. There is a wall next to the campus, on the way to the subway station, completely abandoned, maybe we could restore it; paint it or draw something on it.”

The other students complained, they were on that special class for credits, not to work and paint walls.

“That’s an interesting idea…”

“Mia! My name is Mia!”

“Mia! We have some paint left from previous projects that you can use. But you need at least one more person to help you. Anyone?”

Mia looked around her; her hands on the chair below her knees, slowly the smile leaving her face when no one raised their hand and avoided her gaze.

Suddenly someone next to her raised his hand. She stared at the arrogant guy who was looking at her.

“I’ll help her!”

The Japanese girl gasped and even the senior looked shocked. Mia couldn’t understand their reactions but she was thankful to him.

After the meeting ended she followed after him.

“Hey…”

He stopped making her almost collide with his perfect back.

“I’m sorry I don’t know your name.”

“I know!” he said smiling. If she did know who he was she wouldn’t talk with him that way. “I’m Ondrew. Just call me that…”

“Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m Mia!”

“I know!” The way he said it send chills down her spine.

“Thank you. Let’s work well together.”

Mia raised her hand waiting for him to shake it.

Foreigners are weird people!

Ondrew stared at her hand and then at her face, making her cheeks pink. A smirk appeared on his face noticing the effect he had on her.

He grabbed her hand softly and she tried to look at him expressionless as if her heart wasn’t beating faster, while his soft fingers touched her hand.

Mia stared at him until he released her hand and turned around, walking to the end of the corridor.

“See you later, Mia…”

Fall

“Oh No!” Lucy screamed quickly running to the other side of the kitchen to pick up the mop. Once again her clumsy ways made her kick the bucket with weather. After cleaning the remaining water from the floor she spent the next half an hour tidying up Max apartment.

She jumped on the couch with her favorite idol socks on and lied down in the middle of the pillows pretending she was Max’s wife, waiting for his return.

She giggled raising her arms that were hurting since she spent all her free day from work cleaning his entire apartment.

Lucy couldn’t understand how an intelligent, handsome man like him could leave an apartment messy has he did.

Lucy stared at the clock on the wall and wondered how long it will take for Max to arrive. He promised to take her out for a special romantic dinner and she couldn’t wait.

And maybe if she was lucky he would kiss her.

Lucy closed her eyes and imagined Max telling her he loved her. She knew he would tell her that someday, she was confident about it.

Soon she was sleeping, lost in a dream.

Lucy was in a big dark room. The lights suddenly and she stared around her. The room was empty, and only a man was inside it. O., her idol from SHINee.

She squealed covering and called his name. He looked at her, but suddenly he wasn’t O. anymore, he was a big cat.

“Kimchi!”

What was the cat doing in her dreams? She walked in his direction, the cat now with a normal size.

“Cat fairy….” Someone called her. She turned around but couldn’t see his face.

The cat ran to his owner arms.

“I’m not…” she started to say only to be interrupted.

“I know. You are just a normal fairy…”

Lucy woke up with the sound of the door opening and Max entered the apartment rubbing his temple. He threw his bag to the couch and widened his eyes when he saw her there.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t I ask you to not come without telling me?”

“And I did. Remember? I came clean the apartment and we have a dinn…”

“Leave please!”

Lucy stared sadly at him. He probably had a bad day and wanted to be alone.

“What’s wrong?” she asked caressing his shoulder.

“Nothing. I have friends coming over!” he said moving away and sating on the couch with his arms spread over it.

“Can’t I meet them?” Lucy asked playing with her fingers.

“I told you. It’s too soon.” He rose up again and pushed her on the direction of the door.

“Just go please….”

Lucy left back home whining. He didn’t even notice that she cleaned all his apartment.

Max sometimes was an idiot!

She climbed the stairs upset and almost didn’t notice the cat staring at her from above.

“Kimchi!”

He meowed staring back at her and she quickly climbed the remaining of the stairs grabbing the cat up in her arms.

“Finally I can touch you kimchi!” Lucy said happily, moving her hand on his fur.

“But why are you here alone?” she asked staring around, noticing the door of 1B slightly open.

“You can’t run away Kimchi! Did you fight with your daddy? Are you hungry?”

The cat stared at her with his big green eyes and Lucy kissed the top of his head.

“Kimchi…” A man called appearing at the door.

Lucy stared at Lee for the first time, a little surprised to see that he was actually cute and at the same time a little scared that he would find out she was the one feeding his cat without him knowing for months.

“Oh. Good afternoon.”

Lucy greeted him back putting the cat back on the floor.

The animal stared at her for a few seconds, and Lucy almost could swear that he smiled at her before running inside his home.

“Do cat smiles?” she asked quietly.

“What?” Lee asked, not being able to hear what she said.

“I said I’m Lucy, your neighbor!”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee….”

He looked at her confused and Lucy realized that maybe he was recognizing her voice.

She cleared and disguised her voice.

“I have to go. Nice to meet you…and the cat.”

“Nice to meet you too!” He smiled so prettily that Lucy couldn’t help but compare him with O., the man with the most beautiful smile in the world; at least in her opinion.

She fastened her pace and climbed the stairs while he stared at her retreating form.

Winter

Charlotte finished her cup of coffee and threw it into the trash bin. She was nervous; more than nervous. All her body was a big ball of nerves and she was making a huge effort to breathe and not trip on her heels.

It was her first day at school, her first day with her first grade class teaching English. She dressed nicely and ate a good breakfast with her roommates before traveling to school.

Charlotte took a deep breath before entering the classroom, her students quickly siting on their chairs, silence filling the room.

She stared at them before introducing herself. In the end she let the kids make her questions. Some were simple like her favorite color; others were a little weirder, like how many times she brushed her teeth every day.

However the weirdest question didn’t come from the little boy with glasses, but from a little girl with black hair caught on a ponytail that was staring at her from the farthest seat, near the window.

Charlotte noticed that she didn’t laugh like the other kids, her small bright eyes watching her teacher every move. When she raised her small hand in the air Charlotte let her talk right away.

“What will you do if someone behaves badly?” she asked with a sweet girly voice, yet strong.

“Well then I guess we will have to talk about it…”

“Will you burn us?”

The other kids stared at the girl and Charlotte was confused.

“Burn?”

“…with cigarettes…”

That was a first for charlotte.

“No. I don’t smoke and I would never do that to anyone.”

The little girl nodded and opened her notebook.

“What’s your name sweetie?” Charlotte asked watching the girl play with her pencil satisfied.

“Eun Sun.”

It was lunch time and Charlotte was sitting at one of the tables at the teacher room, finishing her food. Most teachers were avoiding her, still not feeling comfortable being around.

Charlotte noticed a group of teachers eating on a table closer to the window. They were laughing at something. On the other side of the small room, a man was eating and a group of female teachers surrounded him. He was handsome, still very young, maybe her age, and had a beautiful smile.

That wasn’t much different from High school and Charlotte decided to grab a cup of coffee so she would be filled with energy for the afternoon class.

She stood up and approached the coffee machine confused, not knowing where to start.

“You are the new teacher, right?” the handsome teacher she saw at the table with his harem of women asked her, a red mug on his hand.

“Yes. I’m Charlotte!”

“I’m Onew. Do you need help?” she stepped away and watched him turning on the coffe machine.

Teaching her how to make coffee was like giving her the password for the secret mine filled with gold.

He asked her how it was her day going and she tried not to make a mistake talking in Korean with him.

They talked for a while, waiting for the coffee and he served her, a smile lightning his features. It was a very beautiful smile, but it seemed somehow fake.

Charlotte was always known for having a beautiful smile that would reach her eyes and make them sparkle. At least that was what people around her always told her; so she was able to recognize a fake smile if she saw one.

Charlotte saw the little girl right away.

Eun Sun was sitting at the stone bench, her arms around her knees hugging them.

She noticed the teacher approaching and looked at her pink sneakers.

Charlotte sat by her side and didn’t say anything for a while, waiting for any kind of reaction coming from the girl.

“I heard you had a fight with Joon.”

“He is stupid…”

Charlotte tried not to smile at the little girl remark.

“You can’t hit other kids just because you think they are stupid.”

“It’s not fair…”

“What is?”

“Boys can hit us and we can’t hit them…”

Charlotte watched Eun Sun put her feet back on the floor, her expression showing how tense she was.

“Boys can’t hit girls too!”

“They can! Man are mean…the only good man in the world is my dad!”

Charlotte didn’t know what to say, the girl seemed so sure of her opinion.

“Why did you talk about burning during class today?”

Eun Sun looked at the adult by her side, evaluating her with her small black eyes, trying to decide if she could trust that foreigner woman.

“Because that was what my dad used to do to me when I was a bad girl.”

“But you said…”

“Not my dad now…the other one…”

“What do you mean the other one?”

The little girl looked away and Charlotte knew she wouldn’t get anything else from her.

She needed to ask the director if she wanted to know more about her.

Charlotte looked back to the front releasing a deep breathe; that’s when she noticed Onew, the teacher she just meet, staring at her from the window of the teachers’ lounge.

He seemed upset and Charlotte couldn’t take her eyes away from his face.

A world without even a sound

It can't be healed

So its here~

bye~