𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎

🅒🅗🅐🅟🅣🅔🅡 ➍

"Gone from our sight, but never from our hearts."

A month had passed, and I'd settled into a new routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, walk home, stopping occasionally to check out a store, eat dinner, and head to bed.

The guy I had met, Min-jun? After our walk, I hadn't seen him again.

Not that I wanted to. We had fun walking around; we went to stores to try on glasses and clothes; we ate ice cream by a river; and we talked about silly little things about ourselves, like how his favorite color was dark green; his favorite food was kimbap; and how his free time included drawing buildings he saw all over Incheon or had researched online. I had forgotten how fun getting to know new people can be, and it was good while it lasted.

Or so I thought, because there he was on a Friday evening, at the gates of the school I was teaching, waiting. Part of me was glad I got to see him again, glad he was waiting for me, but the other part of me wished I never saw him.

Despite my obvious attempts to keep him at a distance, he was persistent. He didn't even have my number; what if I had left already? He was being an idiot and if I wasn't one myself, I'd hate him for it.

He saw me when he looked up from his phone, easing up from where he was leaning against the concrete post of the gate. Slipped his phone into his pocket and started walking towards me with an amused grin on his face. I decided to meet him halfway there.

"This could count as stalking, you know; I didn't tell you where I worked so you could show up and wait on me." Was the first thing that popped out of my mouth once he was within earshot.

He smiled even wider and took my tote bag that was hanging on my arm and slung it over his shoulder."Well, I'm already here, so might as well go grab something to eat?" He tucked his hands into his jeans pocket and jerked his head in a "let's go" gesture.I furrowed my eyebrows, shook my head, and started walking in the direction of my loft.I don't want to encourage him, but I also wanted food. Who could say no to food?

"It has to be somewhere near my place." I said aloud.

He didn't indicate having heard me, but he caught up to me quickly and started to walk by my side in silence. Occasionally, I glance up at him, and I can't deny that this little stalker of mine, was quite handsome. His brown eyes stood out in a subtle way against his monolids, his jawline sharp but not overly so, his hair slightly curly, lips plump but thin and his ears, his ears weren't big but they were protruding and frames his face well. I liked guys with protruding ears, I don't know why, I just did.

As we walked, he started to apologize, and then he began to tell me about what he had been up to in the past month. He was getting adjusted to college, he said. Since it was his third year, he was a lot more busy than he had expected. Remembering my years of studying architecture, I could understand, but I just nodded instead, telling him that he didn't owe me any excuses.

He was undeterred by my lack of responses and enthusiasm because he continued on about random stuff he did over the past month, then he even shared why he was interested in buildings, and I've come to realize that he was much smarter than me in that regard for I had done Architecture because I had liked Art and because my mother didn't like the school I would have to study it at, I chose a different school and decided to pursue something similar in name "ARTchitecture".

I told him that before I could catch my tongue and he laughed, It was deep and hearty, a dimple on his left cheek popping in to say hello ever so often, I couldn't help laugh along with him, drawn in to his rhythm, and lost in his sincerity, no where I had planned to be.

We were a couple blocks from my loft when he pulled my arm gently, steering me in the direction of a small restaurant hidden in an alley. When we stepped in, shouts of Korean greetings targeted at Min-jun flew around and continued while we took a seat around the back, in the far corner. The restaurant was dimly lit, making the red brick walls of the place seem darked than they usually would, the floor was clean and seemed to be polished concrete, the tables made for four, were in the center of the place and to the walls, few tables mades for two were lined off. Almost all the tables to the front were filled.

"You're a regular?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, one of the best restaurants around here; I'll choose something for you."I jutted out my bottom lip and nodded, and he laughed."You can order for yourself if that's what you'd prefer." He was shrugging off his grey hoodie, leaving behind a white undershirt that went well with this lightly washed blue denim jeans, he was placing it over the back of his chair, along with my bag.

I leaned back in my chair."I'm a picky eater, but go ahead." He grinned, and order he did. He didn't order a single thing I did not like. Either we have the same taste or he guessed what I liked correctly.I was on the more flatter side of life, barely any boobs, barely any waist, and barely any ass. I could eat for hours and hours and still not even a pound would be added if I stepped on a scale a second after.So I tend to eat a lot, he didn't see to mind though because when we were finished, though he was surprised by how much I had eaten, he paid and we continue to walk towards my home.

The walk from then on was silent, but not awkward.When we arrived, he handed me back my tote bag and leaned down to my height, directly in front of me to say, "Goodnight." A lot more seductively than he should have. I mumbled it back before scurrying off, painfully aware of how I was walking.

The rest of my weekend was spent watching K-drama after Thai drama after Taiwanese Drama, on the couch, eating ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was perfectly peaceful, to be honest. 

But I should have known, Like the saying goes, "Give someone an inch, and they will take a mile." A Jamaican proverb that could apply to Min-Jun.

That dinner we went on? Must have been a sign to Min-jun, because flowers showed up on my desk that Monday during lunch with a note. All the teachers in the office giving me smirks and looks of envy. The note wasn't long, and it wasn't cheesy. It simply said, "I bet you're smiling." I hate to admit it, but I had smiled—not from the flowers, but from the stupidness of the note.

Before my lunch break was up, I went up to the roof, shooing the kids that were idling up there, taking their chairs, and sitting up there to think myself. I'd seen this guy three times, yet every time I saw him, I felt like I was losing myself in him. His attention was unwavering, and the way he stuck around me reminded me of her. Thiah. I saw her in him, and every time I saw him, I used him to fill her space, take me out of solitude, drag me around, and keep me company despite my reluctance. She did it because she could see how lonely I was. I was sure he could see it, too. Was that a good thing?

The bell rang, dragging me out of my trance and down the stairs I went back to class and time after that flew, and before I knew it, it was after school.

With books to mark, I decided to go back to the roof to watch the sunset before I got started.

I had sat down, straddling the same chair from earlier, staring out into the sunset, when the chemistry teacher, Mr. Nam, whom I had mistaken for a driver, joined me. I bowed my head slightly, assuming he would leave or sit a distance away, but he chose the chair closest to me, and it was fine. Until he decided to pull his chair even closer—a little too close for comfort. Our legs were less than an inch away from touching, and I tried my best to tuck my legs in to prevent that from happening.

"Adjusting okay?" His accent was heavy, and so was his breathing. His blue shirt was a little tight on his dad-like-built body. That must be suffocating him.

"Yes." I smiled politely and moved to get up when he grabbed my hand. Instinctively, I jerked my hand back out of his hold and put it behind my back, looking down at him wide-eyed.

"Sorry, get dinner? To say sorry." He was struggling to find the English words he wanted to say. I didn't bother reply, just bowed and left.

He could take a hint, right? I was not interested.

In the staff room, I packed my stuff back into my bag, decided to mark the books another day, and started on my route home. Saying goodbye to the few teachers that had stayed behind.

The walk home usually took twenty-five minutes, but for some reason, it seemed longer.

I was a block away when I stopped, looked up at the sky, and sighed. The walk didn't seem this long when Min-Jun was beside me, and it wasn't this quiet either.

Last Friday, his presence seemed to fill the silence, and that comforted me.

I was a lot of things and selfish was one of them, because, I needed that comfort right now, so where was he?