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The day I met you was the brightest day of all the seasons.
The sun was shining so bright and the sky was so clear blue. The seasonal wind was trying to invite me to run with them, dancing together with lush leaves, feeling the cool breeze, the adrenaline of the season. The plum blossoms showed their buds, saying hello to the world, whispering the secret of the spring. It was coming.
People paced at a leisure pace, trying to reach the last drop of morning dew. Walking while talking together with their beloved ones. The children were giggling gleefully as they saw their parents bring a big cotton candy. The dogs were excitedly wagging their tails, barking happily to their owner to hurriedly come to the garden. The tree trunk danced as the gentle breeze came, flying the colorful balloons into the sky. Such wonderful scenery, a sign of happiness.
How about me? Not really doing anything. I was just standing there, enchanted by a magical spell.
You turned around with that beautiful smile, effortlessly capturing my heart. Turning me into a poet of the spring.
It felt like someone took half of my soul and imprisoned it somewhere. Because I was so sure that an angel had fallen from the sky with his graceful wings only to meet me. The doves flew, leaving the feather on your shoulder and deciding you as the last option of my heart. Snatching away my freedom to love because you are the only one who makes it work.
Your delicate fingers strummed the acoustic guitar, turning it into the most beautiful sound I ever heard. I put my cheek on the palm, leaning myself on the bridge fence waiting to be tamed by you. You just didn’t know how amazing you were when your cutie mouth opened up only to sing the most melodic voice I ever knew.
I was smiling, not wide, but genuinely in awe. You sang the unknown song but I needed to add it to my daily playlist right away because it was you who was singing it. I never knew that someone could make a song better than anyone else. I shook my head, giggling to myself, when you reached that incredible high note I never expected. But what could I do? Falling harder for you.
Everyone clapped their hands as you bowed your head respectfully to the audience. I could see your hands trembling as if you were afraid of fakeness. They said ‘you are amazing’, ‘you are talented’ and ‘you are the best’. But there was no one who came to you like me, saying that ‘you are the prettiest thing I have ever seen’. You were silent, looking at me with those sparkling eyes. I seemed to be in the depth of the sea when I saw them, drowning me to the bottom of the darkest place but I surrendered myself.
The universe seemed to be smiling when you let out a small laugh. Your laugh made the world marvelous. How you covered your smallmouth while laughing was so elegant while your other hand was busy holding on to your precious guitar. People around chuckled seeing us, one of them let out a teasing whistle. I was overwhelmed when finally your beautiful obs was staring back at me and you said, “Thank you,” to me.
I could hear the church bell ringing. I am heartily in love.
The day I accidentally bumped into you is the luckiest day I ever have.
I regret not asking about you more before your friend pulled out your existence from my sight. He just did it too fast, I couldn’t follow the plot. I didn’t know your name and you didn’t know my name. I kept coming every day to the same place, only to search for my only one longed existence but you never came again. I wondered why, thinking what if we were not destined to be met once again. But there we were, widening eyes to each other as my hand brushed your hand.
I was trying to take your scattered music sheets and you did the same. Yes, I did not purposely touch your hand. It was destiny that played its role.
I smile, you smile, like the lovebird we are.
I said sorry, you said okay, that’s when we were, sitting side by side.
I am Hyunwoo and you are Kihyun, being together like it should be.
The cafe was crowded, it made me take closer to hear your beautiful voice. But sorry, I did it on purpose, only to adore your ethereal beauty. No one could shift my attention even the best singer in the cafe. The white lily on the small ceramic pots on our table became the silent witness of our beginning story.
I love coffee, you love tea. I am strength, you are beauty.
I was looking at you when you were looking at the street. Your rosy lips told a story of your life to me. Your tender fingers cupped the cup of pink flamingo, feeling the heat of brewed earl grey tea. How great it feels if I could hold those fingers, wrapping you under my guard.
“I make music. I want to be a singer someday. It’s my dream.” You said with a smile to me, a stranger who fell harder for you. I smiled back and was about to faint because of your blushed cheeks. “I am not confident with myself lately. People also change so fast. They say they love me but in the next second, they say they hate me. But your compliment that day made me happy.”
I am quiet, you are talkative. Being such a good composite.
You went around to show your music to the world. Building confidence, breaking fear. You strum your guitar to fill the world with the musical scale. Showering yourself with applause to tear apart irresolution.
You told me more than enough I could ask. Your soft hair, your pointy nose, your glossy lips, your gleaming eyes, I love them more than anything. I was under hypnosis. Thinking of your voice like a lullaby. I sipped my black coffee, grimacing as I felt the bitterness of life but your laugh cured me as if you were the medicine.
I am addicted, you are the addiction.
My world brightens up when you are here but my world is dim without you here. The time you bid me goodbye, I was falling into madness. Thinking about why this should happen. I was eager to meet you once again, spending time listening to your story.
The day I sat alone in the garden was the most unexpected day of the year.
The sky was laughing at me, I couldn’t see it but I could feel it. Because I always think about you every time I see the sky. A sprig of magnolia fell and caught in my hand. Looking at it made the memories of you growing stronger. The petals were white but pink in the middle, the same as you wrapping your talent with your innocence. It smelled exactly like you, encompassing all beauty in one bud.
A guitar was strummed, making me turn my head towards it. Oh my goodness, it was you, sitting alone on the opposite bench strumming guitar and then writing notes on your sheet. My heart was filled with all the joy that exists in the world. You might be calling me exaggerated but it was the only one I could explain how it felt inside. You only brought the guitar but I could hear the piano playing along. You could call me crazy but it was me.
The way you warm up your vocal cords is the loveliest thing I adore the most. Your eyes flickered in spark as your mouth agape opened. I knew it, I knew that something awesome would come next. I smiled to myself, seeing you working hard from afar, watching you love nothing but music. Your voice is the tenor of my heart, it made me fly to the high.
People were passing by, while you sang that incomplete song, with swayed cherry blossoms as your back sound. I felt like a superhero, wanting to be your inspiration also.
Our eyes met as should be. I was caught staring at you, you were caught smiling at me. Your knitted eyebrows turned to the aesthetic curve as you laughed to yourself but I did nothing about that. We were sitting apart but our hearts were side by side.
I accompanied you from afar until I became your revelation. You grew tired of the distance, choosing to overcome them. You talked like the cool breeze, whispering melodic rhymes. “I spot someone looking at me but he sits like a stupid. I am sulky. I hope I can get ice cream as a treat.” That’s how we finally walked together around the garden while licking at our ice cream cones.
I love chocolate, you love vanilla. I am a victim, you are a killa.
Your body language cornered me to the edge, making me the victim of violence. The way you are happy, the way you smile, almost made me die. I never knew someone could kill me only by smiling all the time. Your white teeth, your stretched lips, and your whisker cheeks. If only I could buy the ice cream factory then I would do everything. That’s when you call me, “Funny.”
The day I asked for your time was the hottest day of all year.
The season passed so fast, I didn’t realize it. The flowers changed color. The plum blossoms were falling down and the cosmos flowers were blossoming. People started to gather at the beach. Because suddenly everything seemed so hot and moist. The air, the breeze, the water droplets, the sun.
Most of the time, we always played around with destiny when you met me and I met you, by chance too much. I didn’t know what happened but I was sure there was something luring between us.
I love staring, you love blinking. The sun was peeking, we were playing.
I found myself standing in front of your house, waiting for an angel to color my day. Your fairy skin was shining under the hot sun. Although it almost blinded me, I never looked away. You came to me with joy, skipping around avoiding water spray in the neighbor’s garden. So much water soaking your hair. You laughed, I was stupefied.
“Let’s go to the beach!” You sang out, bringing me to the hottest version of you.
The water beach reflected your silhouette when you splashed water on me. The splash deprived my vision so I didn’t know when you were becoming such a tease. With your hand on your neck and your wet white shirt, you were the perfect model of my future.
You looked at me and I looked at you. You ran away from me, trying to play me. The scenery that I kept chasing away until I could hold you and you giggled in my arms. You splashed water once again, trying to blind me but it didn’t work so you did deception.
Among the water droplets, I saw you blinking your left eye and then right eye, again and again. Creating those whisker cheeks as an adorable view I kept looking at. “I’m not flirting,” you said before you pushed me away and then ran while giggling. I could see your flushed face as you sang a love song.
I love kissing, you love hugging. The sky’s tinkling when we were burning.
The beach and the night, the paradise of summer. We sat side by side on the wood bench, listening to the waves crashing. People gathered in the center of paradise while we were enjoying our loneliness. You played with the sand, burying your feet and then kicking on it. I loved it, you loved it. I was laughing and you were laughing.
“I’ll try to submit my song and I will join an audition.” You said while pursing your lips. I could see a drop of sweat falling along your jaw while your hands clenched. I could tell that you were nervous. I was staring because I loved to. I was smiling because I needed to.
“I know you can do it,” I replied, raising his confidence. You were smiling because you were forced to. Because I knew that you were working hard to overcome your fear. “I’ll always support you no matter what. I am your fan. Always.”
The forced smile turned to a genuine one. You hid your face under your palms, wiping away the trace of nervousness. “I can do this because of your support. Thank you for listening to my songs.”
The summer’s fireworks were playing before us but its burst couldn’t make us look at them. Your face was showered with twinkling light and became more splendid. I stared at your face and you blinked slowly. The time slowed down as I came closer. The time fastened as your eyes closed down. I became the hot of summer as I enjoyed the moistness of your lips. You became the paradise of summer as you hugged me.
We burned and then melted in the summer night.
The day I saw you crying was the day I hated the most.
My hand stretched out, catching a maple leaf. It made me realize that our days were showered by their red yellowish color. You turned around the same as the first time, effortlessly capturing my heart with your bright smile. Shooting arrows to my soul.
Your brown scarf was the sign of your anxiety. The leaves were falling, decorating your melancholy. I kissed your reddened nose and you giggled along. You inhaled deeply while I hooked my fingers on yours. We were walking together to our faith.
I love it raining, you love it snowing. I hate myself when you are crying.
It had been ten times the reality played with our hearts. But I always remember that I am the strength and you are the beauty. I am born to hold you. I am born to protect you.
It was pouring so hard outside. The usual thing I waited for the most in the autumn. But that day, the harder it became, the harder I hated it. You were there and I was there. I was hugging you but you were not hugging me. Your body was shaking hard while your tears were falling down. Those sparkling eyes were overcast. Your melodic voice turned to a shrill scream. I hated it, I hated it. I hated it raining because I loved it before. I hated it raining harder as your cry harder.
“I failed. It won’t happen. They said I don’t have talent. I am not worthy of singing.” You said with your shaking voice, seeking approval. The way you said it made me angry but I couldn’t tell you. Your confidence found a crack on the side because you are always nervous when you are under pressure.
My love for you became an illusion when you left me alone. But my love became reality when I held you in my arms. Day by day I kept hugging you on the bed. Day by day I kept kissing you on the head. Day by day I kept praising you for your great. Day by day I did everything I love, everything you love. The rain took your happiness and I would make it back.
Your guitar was left alone in the corner of the room while you were busy watching the rain. Your music sheets were torn apart around the floor, neglected. I took them with me, sitting behind you as I strummed the guitar the way you taught me. You turned around, radiating sadness in your eyes. I loved it when you smiled with your teary eyes as I wrongly rocked the guitar.
I took your hand to touch your beloved guitar, I held your hand together with you feeling the string. I said to you, “You smile the brightest when you are singing. I love it when you are smiling.”
“Thank you.”
A drop of tear fell down at the same time the rain stopped. I held your hands, you held me back. I kissed your pain, you kissed my love.
The leaves of autumn fell along with your sorrow.
The day I was ignored by you is the coldest day of the year.
Your spirit grew back as the first snow fell but you still won’t sing. You giggled as your feet drowned in the snow mound. I held your hand and you pushed me away. You were sulking when I carried you up.
“I am not short! You are just tall! Put me down now!” You yelled while your body was floating in the air. I was reaching the last leaf on the tree trunk, teasing you while carrying you in my arms. Your legs became short, drowning in the snow. Your legs were stuck but you were stubborn enough, trying to take the leaf yourself.
You are adorable when you are sulking. I love to see it more. I rubbed your nose against my nose, creating warmth on our faces. The heat filled your cheeks, I could see the red of those. You cupped my face, brushing your cold fingers on my cheeks. Finding comfort within our locked gaze. I got closer to peck your lips.
Day by day the snow got heavier. I needed warmth by my arms but no one could make it. The night felt colder without you by my side. I missed you so much.
I went out of the bedroom, peeking through the small gap in the door of your study room. You fell asleep on the table. Your face paled to meet the cold air. I carried you to our bedroom and then hugged you all night. But in the next second, I got up without you. I was lonely, I missed you, I needed you. I felt like a mess without you.
I was angry but I didn’t know why. The falling snow gave you vision. You didn’t need me anymore. The winter was colder than I ever imagined before.
You locked yourself, alone together with your guitar and music sheets. The room was somber, adding your desolation. I could see your eyes adoring the snowy night while you were humming. Your body was exhausted, leaning against nothing but a cold wall. It looked miserable but you were still as beautiful as an angel.
I talked to you, you didn’t respond. I hugged you, you were frozen. I kissed you, you were silent. It was cold. It was so cold. It was too cold. I couldn’t stand this coldness. But I knew your heart was colder than my heart.
That room was messed up. There were a lot of scribbled sheets scattered around on the floor. The guitar string almost broke off while your fingers were scratched. I picked them up and was mesmerized by those written. I looked at you and you looked at me. I smiled along with that glamor. I knew it was wrong but I still felt angry. I am supposed to be your strength but you proved yourself you are the strongest.
I love warmth, you love icy. Together we were building intimacy.
I lifted you up gently as light as a feather. You hugged me as tight as a fetter. I kissed those scratched fingers, worshiping their hard work. I whispered love words when you finally said, “Hyunwoo, I’m sorry.” I kissed your bare shoulder as I said it’s okay. And then we were there, mixing warmth and icy under the blanket while our bodies tangled without restrain. I would tame your cold breath with my warm touch. Fingers twirling in the sheet, curving body as we kissed and chanting the name as we depth. The lowest degree of winter has never been felt again.
The day you showed me the thing is the most grateful day of my life.
The season always changes so fast. The snow had melted, leaving behind a cold wind still. The buds were starting to grow, decorating our way home. We got new strings for your guitar and you were so happy with it walking around the street holding my hand. The winter had been so cold but I knew you did your best.
I sat there, you sat there. You were coughing to catch my attention only to you. The coffee and the tea were placed side by side while you were trying to rock the string.
I love listening, you love singing. That’s the reason this story’s happening.
It was a wonderful song. I was fascinated by its melody. It was spectacular but calming. The warmth enveloped our bodies when listening to it. That guitar and your voice, creating the harmony of fondness. The togetherness, the admiration, the love, and thank you became the one existence. There was no climax but it touched me so much. I nearly cried, I was so proud.
“I made this song while thinking about you. Watching the snow outside, imagining your warmth.” You muttered in a soft tone after the song. I love staring but you love blinking. You always look at me with love while blinking your eyes slowly. I knew that you love me. “You make me realize that I love music more than anything. I don’t need the others, I just need you. I will sing for me, for you, for us.”
You smiled so pretty and I fell for it. Finally, you understood. Even if the world is against you, I’ll stay by your side. Even if there is no one listening to you then I’ll stay listen. You love singing more than anything. Please do it with fun. It doesn’t have to be famous. It doesn’t have to be priceless. Do it because you love it.
That’s when you showed me everything. All the songs you made as you locked yourself to overcome your hesitation. Only to show me that you won’t give up.
The plum blossoms show their beauty once again. You shake your head as the petals are falling atop your head. The wood bench is your stage with the blossom tree behind it. You are sitting there alone, strumming your guitar, humming your melodic songs. People are filled with joy looking for the brightness of the season. They turn around to see your performance. Clapping their hands as the song met the ending.
You smile the brightest when you are singing. I am the witness of the charming. Together with the pinkish of the spring, you become the highlight of the staging.
I have always stood here since the first time we met. From afar yet feel like side by side. If only you know it.
“Hyunwoo!” I love it when you call my name. It makes my heart swell. You run so fast towards me, leaving your guitar there. You hug me so tight as you smile so wide. “They say they love my songs. They love my voice.”
“Of course they are.”
The beauty of spring has been defeated by your happiness the same as the first time we met. I can’t take my eyes off it. I hope it will stay forever with you.
“Someone gave me his name card. He said he is interested in my songs.” I can see your face shining under the sun as you show me the card. You are the prettiest when you are happy and I will bring happiness to your side. “Thank you, Hyunwoo. Thank you. I love you so much.”
“I love you too. Everything in you.”
I smile, you smile. So happy, we are.
I take your hand, holding it like a treasure. Bringing you back to my side.
So many things happen in our days. Changing along with the season. There is happiness, there is sadness. But still, I have to admit that...
The days I spent with you are the most precious thing of my life.