Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She gently hums along to the song playing through her earphones, as her eyes trail around the reflections of the lamp posts in the water of the Han River and the majestic glass buildings on the other side of the lake. This part of the trail around the river is always mostly empty and she loves walking here ever since she has been allowed to go outside by herself.
She glances at the home screen of her phone to check the time, as she naturally does every few minutes so that she's not lost in the vibe of this walk.
11:42pm. It's almost time for her to go home. Well, she should have been home a long time ago now, but thankfully no one cares about her and whatever she does all that much anymore, ever since her brother has moved out. Ugh, why are things like this...
Haeun doesn't have much time to keep on wondering what it would be like to have the undivided attention of her parents, because when she looks ahead of her, she sees a man limping and a young boy holding onto him coming in her direction. She can't see the boy's face too well because he is leaning forward so his black hair is cascading over his eyes, but he looks around her age from his height and posture. She is also slightly concerned for the older man. Is he hurt? Or is he just really drunk...?
"Look Jungwon!" The older man stops walking about a meter away from Haeun and is now pointing at her, almost tumbling over himself as he does so, making his son grab ahold of him tighter. Haeun stops too to let them pass. "Look at that lady's beautiful eyes and shiny hair. She looks like an angel! This would be the perfect girl for you..." He slurs his words, dazed. So he is drunk.
"Dad please." The boy pleads with the said man, whilst Haeun tries to hide the fact that she is growing increasingly pink at the unexpected and random compliments from this random man. Plus, at this point she is getting second hand embarrassment for the poor boy.
Haeun sighs and continues to walk but then stops again as her brain processes what the man accompanying the boy had really just said. Jungwon? Isn't that the guy who is going to be sitting next to her in class for as long as the seating plan isn't changed?
"Jungwon," The man sternly repeats the boy's name, yet his woozy voice is too soft to in any way sound strict. "Stop, i wanted to show you this girl..." The old man smiles at her brightly, the smile lifting up his rosy cheeks.
Haeun just smiles back awkwardly and bows to the elder, not really knowing what else to do. She then finally takes a proper look at the boy, who has given up on trying to nudge this older man to encourage him to keep walking forward. He just gives her a tired smile, but after staring at her for the longest two seconds of Haeun's life, his smile turns upside down.
"It's...you?" He questions, realising that he doesn't even know her name. she must be new or something, because until today he had never really taken any notice of her.
Haeun just shrugs at him before plastering another one of those awkward smiles on her face. What is she supposed to answer to that? He could be talking about absolutely anyone.
"Well uh," Jungwon frees the old man for a second to scratch his nape, but quickly grabs hold of him again as he almost falls asleep whilst standing. "I'm sorry you had to see this. But please, please don't tell anyone..."
Who knew that the popular, kind, admired kid in the school had such a devastating background life? Being seen out with his alcoholic father (or whatever this is) who is supposed to be a well respected owner of a large company, must be such an embarrassment to him.
"I won't, don't worry about it." Haeun says a little skeptically, but to prove her point she walks a few steps closer to him and reaches out her pinky finger in his direction.
He just stares at her for a few good seconds, first at her hand and then into her eyes. She gulps silently. Had she done the wrong thing? Would he leave her hanging like that? No, he can't possibly right...?
Her face is now beet red, probably noticeable even when it's this dark. Just as she is about to take her hand back, the boy's small finger locks around hers and they stay like that for what seems like a while. It suddenly feels as if everything is going on in slow motion right now.
When she slips her hand away, it is suddenly grabbed tightly by a hand much bigger and rougher than hers. She is frightened for a moment, but then she realises that the old man had suddenly decided to snatch her hand.
"Be my daughter in law, please?" The man says quietly, making her flinch slightly and take her hand away, the awkward smile returning to her face.
"I am so sorry..." Jungwon tiredly sighs and hoists his father's arm around his shoulders, before attempting to drag him away.
"Do you need help?" Haeun asks politely, just out of instinct. She herself is shocked by the words that had come out of her mouth, like she often finds herself to be. Not being polite really isn't one of her strong points. And perhaps that's a good thing. Usually...
"Nah, this happens more often than you think. He just decided to take a more public route today—" He gives her another smile before his father slaps his back quite suddenly, making him bulge forward. Haeun winces at the sight.
"Jungwon, stop being lazy! Why did you stop walking?!"
Jungwon just lets out a pained chuckle and then gets ready to attempt a decent walk again. The old man is finally moving along with him, as they walk right by Haeun, who smiles subtly as a goodbye. And perhaps a good luck for poor Jungwon.
After they pass by, Haeun just stands there for a moment, dumbstruck and not really knowing how to react after seeing all of that. The smile she gave Jungwon slowly but surely fades away as she delves deep into her thoughts, beginning to walk again. Of course, she won't be telling anyone about what she saw, but she has to admit that she is rather shocked.
People are right when they say you never really know what goes on in other people's lives, no matter how perfect they seem.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
