and we're lucky

i got you

2016

the winds are changing as august comes to a close; the summer solstice in exchange for the autumnal equinox. two wandering souls have not grasped the summer heat in their fingers for too long having been stuck in hotel rooms, dance halls, and airports for the duration of the season, so they decide to go out and see the last week of summer together over beer cans and a bucket of chicken.

it's not the first time they head over to yeouido park to catch up on life matters. the same way they haven't been friends the first time around. they've spent the first half of the year casually keeping in touch with each other already, but unexpected meetings on park walks after a long day led to more than one coincidental meetings after that.

by the third time, at dusk on one spring day, it's no longer coincidence that led their feet to the same place with the same burdens behind their backs, both coming to a point to be accountable with each other from then on.

the boy breathes in the scene before him: people of all generations doing all sorts of recreational activity out in the open as they unwind the last of their summer nights. he too was a part of the scene as he sat under a quilt on top of the grass plain with a warm bucket of chicken beside him.

by his left, a group of youth gather over a pair of girls busking with soft acoustic music that set the tone of the atmosphere.

by his right, children and their parents fly kites with tiny led lights attached to them, lighting up the surface of the dark sky with flashing colors. friends and couples of all ages were scattered all over the park, having picnics and bringing their dogs along. food carts littered around some parts of the park, the smell of soondae and street foods of all kinds linger in the air.

and finally, the serene han river fronting the park with an array of lights reflecting from the cityscape before it.

the large and fast life he's living in is a harsh contrast to what he's experiencing with all five of his senses right now. he's thankful more than anything that he's living both a comfortable and uncomfortable life with music as the soul of it all, but nights like this out in the carefree open with no one really paying attention to him are a special kind of healing for him.

and he can't wait to share another night with her like this as all the other nights they've shared the past two months after too much coincidences.

two lost souls stripping off the toxicity that clung to them for days and months on end. maybe years even.

he takes out his phone from his pocket with the intent of capturing the view before him and hums to one of the tunes he's heard a while ago from the buskers at the park.

he was simply wearing a hoodie, sweats, and a pair of slide slippers in the colors of grey and black clothing him. he contently smiled to himself as he swiped it to video mode instead to record the comforting experience of yeouido park while he waits for his friend to make an appearance.

shortly after, a girl clad in the same fashion as he is, enters the frame of his video—her long black hair softly whipped by the summer breeze in all sorts of directions.

seeing her on nights like this after a long day is like a person coming home from a tiring day being greeted with the unfailing comforting and happy presence of their pet dogs and puppies as soon as they step one foot inside their doors. or even cats. but her, she can be a puppy.

he doesn't stop recording but grins harder at the soft sight of her from afar.

but as she comes closer every second, he notices the funny look on her face and the dreaded object on her hands.