Pursuit of Happiness (Sequel to Pursuit of Fate)

Chapter Twelve

The leaves on the ground crackled with every step she took. Seong Im stopped and looked up at the trees. As the wind blows, the leaves on the trees rustled with some falling onto the brown soil and sidewalks, blanketing the entire area with a mixture of yellow and orange leaves.

Autumn is finally here. She picked up a yellow leaf and kept it in her pocket. Autumn has always been her favorite season. She loved watching the leaves fall off the trees and hearing the crisp crackling sound whenever she steps on the pile of leaves on the ground. Autumn to her was a season that signals the start of a new life as the old leaves falls to make way for new growth.

With two grocery bags in one hand, Hee Gun turned around to see her standing under the tree, staring at the piles of leaves surrounding the tree.

"Step on it if you want to." He walked towards her and said. Seong Im looked at him and then back at the pile of leaves. She wanted to but decided not to since she is no longer a child and she felt that it would be embarrassing.

Seeing that she was hesitating, Hee Gun put the bags on the ground and grabbed her wrist. Before she could even react, he pulled her to the middle of the pile of leaves and put his hands into the leaf pile before thrusting the dried leaves into the air and watched it fall back down on them.

"Try it, " He said.

Seong Im grabbed a bunch of leaves in both hands and tossed them upwards. She jumped and stomp on the leaves a few times. Twigs snapped and the rustling and crackling sound from the dried leaves brought a huge smile to her face. She felt like a child once again.

Hearing a soft chuckle coming from the side, she stopped jumping around and looked at him.

"You're laughing." she mumbled. It was her first time seeing him laugh. Thinking that he was laughing at her because of how childish she was being, she stepped off the leaf pile and told him that they should get going.

"Hold on," Hee Gun said and grabbed her wrist. He lifted his hand to her head and removed the leaf that was stuck in her hair. "Your presence is enough to make me do things that I normally wouldn't do." He said softly as he continued to dust the broken pieces of leaves off her shirt.

Seong Im could feel her cheeks getting warm from his words and she figured that they were probably as red as a ripe tomato. She watched as he bent down to grab the grocery bags.

"Should we go?" He asked with his hand extended. She nodded and placed her hand into his. She love the feeling of holding his hand. The big, warm hand that is able to make her feel secure.

***

Hee Gun lay the bags down on the counter in the kitchen. He made it a point to cook meals for her on days when he wasn't working. He didn't like the idea of her always eating ramyeon.

Seong Im took out the yellow leaf from her pocket and stuck it on the fridge with a small circle magnet. It was something that she always do whenever it's the autumn season. She find it amazing to observe the colour of the leaf changing, little by little, each day.

"I'll go and take a shower." Seong Im told him. Her clothes looked dirty with speckles of soil stuck onto it. She felt it was as though she just rolled herself on the leaf pile. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to play, she thought.

She came out of the shower minutes later and walked to the kitchen but didn't see Hee Gun in there. All she saw was a kimbap that was rolled up halfway on the counter. The ingredients in the kimbap were starting to spill out and it looks like it could unroll any moment. She went to the living room and spotted his phone on the coffee table. His shoes were nowhere to be seen.

She drew up the blinds and looked out through the window and saw him standing at the front gate talking to someone, probably a friend. She draw down the blinds again and went inside her room to dry her hair with the hair dryer.

Hee Gun returned to the house ten minutes later. He walked into the kitchen and stood in front of the sink, and rested both hands on the edge of the sink. In his left hand was a small white envelope that he was gripping onto tightly, a look of uncertainty on his face.

"You're back." Seong Im said, slightly surprised to see him in the kitchen since she didn't hear the sound of the front door opening and closing. Startled, Hee Gun folded the envelope and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Yea, I went to meet a friend just now." He calmly replied and turned on the tap, and pretended to wash his hands. He turned around but didn't lift his head. He didn't want her to see the frustrated expression on his face. He continued to roll up the kimbap and placed it on the chopping board to cut it into bite-sized pieces before transferring it onto a clean plate.

"Sorry for making you wait." He took the plate and finally looked at her. His gaze flicked from her head to her toes - short sleeve and shorts. When his eyes finally met hers, there was a look of apology in her eyes.

"What am I even thinking.. I'll go and change." She mumbled and hurriedly walked back to her room. There was a loud thud as Hee Gun put down the plate and ran after her. He pulled her back just as she stepped into her room.

"No, it's fine." He scrambled to say.

"It's not.. I saw it from your face." Seong Im replied with her head down and her hair falling all over her face.

"Look at me," he whispered and lifted her head up slowly. "I admit I was surprise initially but what came next was a feeling of happiness - that you were willing to take a step out of your comfort zone. You look absolutely beautiful, in and out." He assured her.

"I.." She couldn't think of what to say.

"Trust me." He placed his hand at the back of her head and leaned forward. She closed her eyes as he kissed her on her forehead. In that instant, something flashed across Seong Im's mind. She couldn't make out what it was. It was blurry. It seems like someone was squatting down on one knee, and leaning closer towards her. She couldn't tell who it was. She started to feel a throbbing pain at the right side of her head the more she tried to explore the blurry figure in her mind.

"Seong Im. Seong Im? Are you okay?" Hee Gun's voice rang through her ears. She slowly opened her eyes and saw him staring at her with a pair of concern eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked again. He cupped one side of her face and gently wiped away the tears streaming down her cheek with his thumb.

"I'm.. I'm fine." She said in between sniffs and brought his hand away from her face.

"You really don't mind?" She asked, referring to the scars on her arms and legs.

"I don't. I've never once felt that way." He said to her.

She could see from his eyes that he was being honest. He isn't the type of person who would lie just to make her feel better. She knows that.

"Thank you, Hee Gun ssi." She said softly.

"Hee Gun ssi? Isn't it time for you to address me as 'oppa?' " He asked. They have been dating for two months but Seong Im has yet to call him oppa, not even once.

"I prefer to address you as Hee Gun ssi." She smiled and replied, placing much emphasis on the word, 'ssi.'

"-ssi shall be it then." He let out an amused huff before making their way back into the kitchen to have their lunch.

He's showing it again. His cheerful side.