She was crouching with her knees touching her chest as she slowly tilted her head up to look up. It was a tall and gorgeous man with all black clothing glaring back at her with glowing brown cat eyes. Han Seo Jun?

"Hi", she said.

"Uhm, Joo Seok Kyung?", he murmured. He was not expecting to see her this way.

"Yeah, hi", she said again with a feeble voice. 

Seojun's eyes quickly softened listening to her sloppy sound. "Are you crying, Seok Kyung?"

"Kind of?", she replied unsure.

"Why?" he asked.

"No nothing.", she lied. But what she meant instead was, "I just got fired from my job and I'll be soon back to streets. I don't particularly want to live, and also the sky looks so depressing today and I haven't wash my hair for a week." But those words remained capsuled in her mind. No one has to know.

Exhaling a deep sigh, she got up. Then brushing the dust off her, she left, giving a cheeky smile to him. Seojun tilted his head quizzically. He didn't quite get hold of her. He stood there as he slipped his hand in his pocket, taking out a cigarette and placing in his mouth. He lit the tip of his cigarette whilst watching her leave.  

"What!? are you sure that Seok Kyung-  I mean, the girl who was hunching outside over there sometime ago was fired? And because of me?", Seojun shrieked with wide eyes to another girl at the counter.

"Yes. The money you owe to the store was also cut off from her wage. She seemed so miserable.", The girl answered while her face dropped down to a frown. He didn't reply.

He immediately barged outside to find her. It was grey mid-day with a dull sky. The wind was sighing and thrashing in the tree tops. Her sad and troubled face flashed in his mind and he couldn't do anything but to feel extremely sorry for her. It wasn't even the money that he somehow owed her that made him feel guilty. He couldn't explain but he just simply didn't wanted to see her sad. 

He had seen her smile and how her entire face brightened when she ate tteokbokki whole heartedly. He still remembered how she twirled around to prove her point. "Why can't I let go of Seok Kyung already? Why am I still thinking about her this way?", he thought to himself as he continued to look for her. 

Usually, Seojun could shake off something like this. He was a total no-strings-attached type of person. But... he wanted to see her again. He hadn't felt like this in a while. He liked being next to her. It's just that, he couldn't admit it. He just...wanted to see her one last time.

"It's not like I'll ever see her again after paying her back, right? Isn't this perfect then?", he thought loudly.

Even after looking for her at the bus stop, nearby stores and every where else he could think of, he couldn't turn up to her. The weather was getting worse. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning tore across the sky and a peal of thunder followed. His legs grew tired and he went over to a bench on the park. And then finally, he spotted her. 

As always she was crouching on the bench. He had never seen her in any other position except when she was standing. She was tall in general but when she sat like this, she looked so tiny. She was so dainty and adorable. He could stare at her like this for hours and still not get enough of her.

He approached the ash- colored rusty metal bench she was sitting on. He brought his face closer and softly asked, "Hey, are you okay?" She was clearly not. Sitting there alone, misery was written all over her face.

Still, he slowly sat beside her and gently patted her head. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. She lurched her face towards him. At once, he noticed her tearstained face and her cheeks were puffy and swollen.

He felt a lump in his throat seeing her in such condition. "Do you want me to give you a hug? Or a back rub?" he asked politely with worry in his voice. She tried to speak, but she was choked with tears.

Joo Seok Kyung POV

I stopped and turned around. I couldn't utter a single word. I felt Seojun leaning towards me. I wondered for a moment that I was hallucinating, but as he grew closer I knew he was real. He caught up to me, and clasped me tightly in his arms . And... hugged me. It was what I would have expected a hug from someone to feel like, if I'd ever thought such a thing were possible.

I felt so blissful that I broke down, right in his arms. Lightning and thunder raged with fury. Then suddenly, heavy rain-swept down and pleasantly chilly wind gusted against our skin. I could hold the heartbreak no longer as I poured out my heart in his embrace. My vivid crying noises were inaudible with the sound that the harsh rain was making every time it hit the grass in the park. 

"I feel so betrayed. By everyone. I don't want to exist anymore. I want to disappear somewhere far away where there is no grief. I just- want to be happy. Is it too much to ask?", I softly murmured to him as a sob escaped my lips with every word I spoke. I was trembling. Not sure whether it was the cold or was it the pain that I has buried inside me. 

"Don't worry. I'm here. I'll protect you." , he mumbled in my ears as he held me even tighter. At that moment, his hug was stronger than anything I've ever known, as if holding me wasn't quite enough. I urged to feel every ounce that I was pressed into every ounce that was him.  Streams of tears flowed faster than my heartbeat. 

Then I pulled way, still sniffling quietly. Both of us were drenched in the rain. He reached over and touched my cheek. "You'll be fine." He assured me as he gently circled his thumb over my temples. My body suddenly tensed up. I looked at his amber brown eyes. He had beautiful eyes, the kind you could get lost in. And guess I did. His graze froze me literally and physically. 

Then my gaze slowly moved from his eyes to his lips. I kept looking at his pouty lips which had slight pinkish hue. He had a piercing on his bottom lip. It was kind of hot. 

The surrounding was quiet but not dead. I felt we were together in some invisible and tenuous third space that was out of this world. I couldn't understand the things I was feeling.

I slowly heeled over him. I pecked him on the lips. The whole world might have turned upside down. I looked at him. He wasn't surprised at all. Then came the most exquisite moment of my whole life. 

He leaned in, so carefully. Breathing and not breathing and hearts beating between us and he was so close. So close that I couldn't feel my legs anymore. I couldn't feel my fingers or the cold or the emptiness of the park because all I felt was him, everywhere, filling everything. Then he gently brushed his lips against mine and looked at me. I slightly nodded to him.

He held my paled out face with both hands and inclined his face toward mine. Laying his lips on mine,  he kissed me. His lips were softer than anything I've ever known, soft like a first snowfall, like biting into cotton candy, like melting and floating and being weightless in water. It was sweet and simply so effortless. I closed my eyes shut, giving myself in the kiss as a drop of tear rolled down my cheek.

 He whispered, "I'm sorry are you sure you-"

Cutting him off, I pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. His hand slowly slid down, holding my hand as he intertwined our pinkies. 

I finally felt home.

(let's pretend its SEOK KYUNG & SEO JUN)

thankyou everyone. - seokyung