It was about 2 years ago, to the day when he met that mysterious girl on the roof of the company building. He would never forget that day, nor would he ever be able to forget the look of her eyes on that cold November night.
The sun was slowly setting on the city of Seoul and the city lights were slowly coming on one by one to turn the night into a makeshift day. Chansung loved these moments when he was able to be by himself. Left alone with his own thoughts without the constant bantering and nagging of his fellow trainee/housemates/friends; it was a wonderful feeling.
He breathed in the cold November air. The smell of car exhaust mixed with the musty smell of wet concrete. It was the end of fall and the rain had just stopped falling. It was nice, but the rain had made it a little extra cold. A precursor to the cold winter months ahead. Chansung tightened his thick woolen scarf around his neck and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He should get back to practice, they might be waiting for him.
As he turned around to head back to the practice room, he was stopped by a faint sniffling sound. Apart from the sound of the wind blowing in his ears, the zooming of cars down below and the honking of angry drivers, he pinpointed the source of the sound. Chansung crept quietly towards the sound, unsure and cautious.
His ears brought him to a large air vent that was venting excess hot air from the heaters throughout the building. He took some of the heat gratefully with his hands before he noticed a red sneaker poking out from behind the heater.
He stuffed his hands back into his jacket pockets and walked towards the back of the vent. He poked his head out from the corner and found a figure huddled behind the heater. Chansung figured that it must’ve been another trainee that was having a hard time. He smiled to himself as he remembered his younger self who used to come up to the roof to bawl his eyes out whenever he got scolded for not being able to get a new set of routines right or being bullied for being the youngest in his batch.
“Yah…” he said.
The figure froze and stopped sniffling.
“Don’t cry…” he said, trying to act like a cool senior although he’s never seen the kid before. “I know it’s hard in the beginning and the trainers give you a hard time… But it gets better… You’ll get better… So stop crying and take it like a man…” Chansung beamed after finishing his speech. It sounded like good advice and seemed like an appropriate thing to say during times like this.
He looked down at figure that was still motionless at this point. It was hard for Chansung to see who it was with the hood of his red jumper pulled over his head and with his face buried in his knees. But slowly, the figure lifted his head and turned it to consider Chansung.
The first thing that struck Chansung was how long the boy’s eyelashes were, how pale his lips were from the cold and how red his cheeks were from crying. Then it struck him; it wasn’t a boy. He was a she. Chansung took a step back and considered the girl. He’s definitely never seen her before. That’s for sure.
“Er… Hi…” he said awkwardly. “Sorry… I thought you were someone else…”
The girl blinked at him and slowly got up to her feet. It was absolutely clear then to Chansung that she was female. He bowed and apologized again.
“I-I’m so so-”
“Thank you…” she said in a small voice at first, stopping Chansung in mid-sentence. Then with an even louder voice than before she bowed and said, “Thank you!”
Chansung didn’t know what came over him at that moment. He barely even knew the girl and had barely said anything to her and yet, he unraveled his scarf from around his neck and slowly wrapped it around her. The girl looked up at him with curious eyes and all he could do was smile, turn around and headed back to practice.
A grossed out chill ran over Chansung as he recalled the incident. At the time it seemed like the most natural thing to do, but thinking back, it was the cheesiest thing he’s done for anyone.
Hours later, he went door to door on every floor of the building asking about the girl he met on the roof. He needed his scarf back. Look as he might, he never found her. It was like she had never existed. Of course, he knew better.
The sun was slowly setting on the city of Seoul and the city lights were slowly coming on one by one to turn the night into a makeshift day. Chansung loved these moments when he was able to be by himself. Left alone with his own thoughts without the constant bantering and nagging of his fellow trainee/housemates/friends; it was a wonderful feeling.
He breathed in the cold November air. The smell of car exhaust mixed with the musty smell of wet concrete. It was the end of fall and the rain had just stopped falling. It was nice, but the rain had made it a little extra cold. A precursor to the cold winter months ahead. Chansung tightened his thick woolen scarf around his neck and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He should get back to practice, they might be waiting for him.
As he turned around to head back to the practice room, he was stopped by a faint sniffling sound. Apart from the sound of the wind blowing in his ears, the zooming of cars down below and the honking of angry drivers, he pinpointed the source of the sound. Chansung crept quietly towards the sound, unsure and cautious.
His ears brought him to a large air vent that was venting excess hot air from the heaters throughout the building. He took some of the heat gratefully with his hands before he noticed a red sneaker poking out from behind the heater.
He stuffed his hands back into his jacket pockets and walked towards the back of the vent. He poked his head out from the corner and found a figure huddled behind the heater. Chansung figured that it must’ve been another trainee that was having a hard time. He smiled to himself as he remembered his younger self who used to come up to the roof to bawl his eyes out whenever he got scolded for not being able to get a new set of routines right or being bullied for being the youngest in his batch.
“Yah…” he said.
The figure froze and stopped sniffling.
“Don’t cry…” he said, trying to act like a cool senior although he’s never seen the kid before. “I know it’s hard in the beginning and the trainers give you a hard time… But it gets better… You’ll get better… So stop crying and take it like a man…” Chansung beamed after finishing his speech. It sounded like good advice and seemed like an appropriate thing to say during times like this.
He looked down at figure that was still motionless at this point. It was hard for Chansung to see who it was with the hood of his red jumper pulled over his head and with his face buried in his knees. But slowly, the figure lifted his head and turned it to consider Chansung.
The first thing that struck Chansung was how long the boy’s eyelashes were, how pale his lips were from the cold and how red his cheeks were from crying. Then it struck him; it wasn’t a boy. He was a she. Chansung took a step back and considered the girl. He’s definitely never seen her before. That’s for sure.
“Er… Hi…” he said awkwardly. “Sorry… I thought you were someone else…”
The girl blinked at him and slowly got up to her feet. It was absolutely clear then to Chansung that she was female. He bowed and apologized again.
“I-I’m so so-”
“Thank you…” she said in a small voice at first, stopping Chansung in mid-sentence. Then with an even louder voice than before she bowed and said, “Thank you!”
Chansung didn’t know what came over him at that moment. He barely even knew the girl and had barely said anything to her and yet, he unraveled his scarf from around his neck and slowly wrapped it around her. The girl looked up at him with curious eyes and all he could do was smile, turn around and headed back to practice.
A grossed out chill ran over Chansung as he recalled the incident. At the time it seemed like the most natural thing to do, but thinking back, it was the cheesiest thing he’s done for anyone.
Hours later, he went door to door on every floor of the building asking about the girl he met on the roof. He needed his scarf back. Look as he might, he never found her. It was like she had never existed. Of course, he knew better.
