It wasn’t like this was his first time coming down this street; quite the opposite actually. Mino had walked this sidewalk more times than he cared to remember, and every time it provided the same sensations to his senses. The air always seemed dull thanks to the cramped houses that lined the streets and blocked the fresh breeze that would be more than welcome in this damp area. Likewise, the sun’s rays seemed to be held back by the height of the buildings, and it was always too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. With what seemed like no fresh breeze and withheld natural lighting, this wasn’t where he would choose to live the rest of his life. Mino wanted to get out of here eventually, but this place always seemed to keep a strong chokehold on him. The memories that he had here and the goodbyes that he had experienced along this narrow and dull street wouldn’t let him go.

            As if to shatter his daily routine, there was a different source of light today as he stopped his feet in confusion. Only a few yards away from him there was a strange sensation that was invading his dulled senses. This strange light took the form of a tall and lanky boy, maybe Mino’s height or maybe taller but he wasn’t so sure. The boy’s cheekbones were high, and resting above them was a set of small eyes that looked like they were stuck in a perpetual smile. His pale skin seemed to stand out against his short brown hair that was messy on top of his head. His clothes were nothing to write home about, simple being the best word to describe them.

            However, none of these things grabbed Mino’s attention as much as the light that seemed to brighten up the dull street as the boy noticed Mino and smiled at him as if they were long lost friends. Mino wasn’t sure how to react, not used to being approached so easily or having something interrupt his daily routine as the boy jogged up to him as his backpack flopped on his back. As the latter stopped in front of him, Mino cold almost feel the warmth coming from his smile. It was something that this street had never experienced before. It was as if the buildings had finally given way to the sunlight that had been trying desperately to break through for so long.

            A voice thick with a Busan dialect reached Mino’s ears as the boy spoke. It was a different sound than he was used to hearing here. It drowned out the sound of the water dripping off of the damp buildings from a rain that had happened days ago. It even broke through the still quietness that the street as a whole possessed from lack of activity and life.

            “Do you live around here?” The boy almost seemed sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck, despite how easily he had approached Mino.

            After Mino simply nodded his head, the boy smiled again, the light feeling warm as it reached Mino. The other seemed excited as he sighed in relief, his reactions large and full of life as he continued to say, “I’m going to be moving around here this week and I had just come to check the area out.” He turned in a circle as if to take everything in, grinning from ear to ear as he stared up at the buildings. “It’s so beautiful here!”

            Mino wanted to correct him, to tell him that it wasn’t usually this warm and bright here, but he was interrupted before he could start as the boy stopped turning and held out his hand to him.

            “Lee Seunghoon! ’92.”

            Mino gave him a confused expression, so Seunghoon quickly elaborated, “I’m born in ’92.” He laughed as if he had just said something terribly funny, “I wanted to know who was the Hyung here.”

            Mino stared at his hand for a moment, almost afraid to take it. If he shook this foreign hand, his daily routine could be shattered. It was almost like the buildings would crumble and the sun would burn everything in sight if he did.

            Looking back up at the smiling face that was waiting patiently for his response, Mino almost wondered if it was possible for the buildings and walls to crumble. It would destroy everything that he had grown accustomed too, but wasn’t that what he had been waiting for all this time? Something to light up this street?

            Taking Seunghoon’s hand, Mino gave him a crooked smile as he replied, “Mino… ’93.” Seunghoon shook his hand with much more force than Mino had been expecting. His Busan dialect seemed so fresh as the lanky boy replied, “Nice to meet you, Mino!” He already spoke informally to him as if they had just reached some sort of agreement to be friends forever.

            That doesn’t sound like such a bad thing, Mino thought as the walls around him began to crumble and the light warmed the formerly dull and damp street.