"I want you to be well...
Distance doesn't matter we will meet again,
And you'll be mine!"
He opens his eyes
the dark rifle in his hands standing tall like rain soaked trees,
the downpour never ceasing, not for a moment.
He straightens, his long black hair
tousled past his ear, that is pierced by dark‑silver earrings.
He brushes the lower edge of his lips,
adorned too with that same silver stud
nestled in the corner of his bottom lip.
He tosses the empty whiskey bottles across the bed, scatters the sheets in chaotic disarray, searching frantically for something.
His thick brows knit together as he shouts,
"Damn you, Jon! You're late! It's already half past seven at night!
The store's gonna close!"
He jerks upright, sliding into his sleeveless white T‑shirt,
then into his loose olive‑green pants,
glances up at himself in the mirror,
lights a cigarette
the smell of smoke and liquor clinging to him like a second skin.
He dashes into the middle of the street, panting,
as honking cars and impatient pedestrians murmur around him.
"Jon, hurry up, you idiot, or you'll never see her!"
he scolds himself under his breath.
He leans against the store's glass wall, breath ragged,
pulls another cigarette, exhales a plume of smoke in front of the drunken man
about to enter.
He hears the man bellow, grumbling:
"You, you stupid woman...
I don't care if it's actually eight o'clock, we're not closing
or I'll smash this place over your head! Got that?!"
"Sir, I'm sorry, I can't serve you now...
It is eight, and the store's already switched to the pay-only register!"
"Then I don't care! I'll take what I want even if this place burns down on your head, you...!"
I didn't hear the rest he was interrupted by a punch, landed by one of the other customers.
He was a man in his late twenties,
wheat‑skinned, dark‑brown eyes sharp...
Thick brows, silver earrings adorning his ears and lower lip,
and scars and fresh cuts etched across his face.
He grabbed the drunk man, shoved him down,
punched again and again until the blood started flowing,
his hand dripping with it...
I rushed forward, trying to pull the drunk away,
"Please, sir... step back, he's gonna die!"
I added the plea and he turned toward me,
my heart thundered in my chest as he dragged the man
out of the store, vanished from sight...
I flung myself on the bed after showering and changing,
crying out, "Kenji!"
"Bon‑gyeon! Come on, get up and eat your dinner
you can't sleep with an empty stomach!"
I grumbled
"Kenji, enough! This is my fifth meal
I'm sick of eating!"
"Shut up or I swear I'll kill you! Come on, Bon‑gyeon, move!"
I sat up, heading toward the wooden dining table
under the dim lamp...
"Kenji?"
"Yes?"
I asked,
"Did the landlady come in to yell at us about rent again?"
"No, she didn't come today... she came yesterday.
I think she's fed up with us,"
he laughed at the end of his sentence
dramatically maternal, tone full of warmth and reproach
"Did I raise you to yell at your mother, you rude girl?!"
"I'm sorry, Mom... I'll eat and then go to my room."
I sit on my bed, recalling the day's events,
thinking to myself
Who is he... I mean, he appeared out of nowhere!
After deep thought he looks like gang guys!
Yes, he even has tattoos on his arm...
I hum, turning my head to see who entered the room
who else but my childhood friend...
We've been together since we were three.
"Bonbon?" I hum back.
She continues
"Did anyone stir trouble today because Seiji and I didn't come?"
"No, nothing happened. It was a normal day like any other."
"Alright then... let's sleep."
I nod and close my eyes...
He throws himself onto the bed, wiping the blood from his hands, smiling...
I haven't seen him this close in a long time...
Her honey‑colored eyes gazed into mine,
her trembling lips were so near...
Her voice, quivering after all these years,
and the beating of her heart...
I listened to her heartbeat...
"Damn... damn it Jon, calm down!
You'll have her soon... just calm yourself!"
my inner voice echoed.
I stepped out onto that abandoned apartment's balcony
in that tall, old building.
I slipped my hand into my pocket, pulled out that poison,breathed it into my lungs
then exhaled smoke...
I never left you.
And I never will.
I will always be by your side...