.  I arrived nearby the cafe that Ban Yeo Ryung’s uncle owned; it was also where we had been lounging during every summer and winter break.

  Why was the world leading me here, of all places, which reminded me of Ban Yeo Ryung amid this situation? Heaving a sigh, I observed the cafe more carefully.

  Something looked strange. The street was quite a commercial area, having many coffee shops and people around. However, I never saw this much crowd streaming into this area and surrounding the cafes in several layers.

  No matter how tasty their beverages were, the part-timers were actually making them, not the professionals. Besides, they weren’t famous restaurants, so was it necessary to wait in that long queues? Questioning to myself, I bent my steps for now.

  Although there were so many people around, I could still walk through them. And now I was at the street I knew––walking across from here to there was the way back home.

  “Excuse me,” I uttered, making my way through the crowds.

  They meekly stepped aside. Most of them were young people or students. I wondered, ‘Why are these people standing in a line here?’ Then I recalled that a police station was nearby.

  ‘Oh, are they here to attend a protest? But no, since most of the rallies are held in Gwanghwamun……’ I thought.

  All of a sudden, bright lights poured into my sight. Squinting my eyes, I quickly took one or two steps back.

  After blinking swiftly, I raised my head and found electric signs, huge lightings, and vehicles busily coming and going. They were so many that I even felt curious why they had not come into my view until now.

  I fell back into thought. Were they shooting something? However, this area wasn’t a captivating filming location unless they were shooting in the gopchang street across here.

  My jaws then dropped to the ground as the story I heard a couple of months ago flashed through my head.

  “Oh……”


  Well, it was actually one or two months ago that I heard the news. How could I utterly forget about it?

  Ban Yeo Ryung’s cafe––actually her uncle’s––was offering their location to the crime thriller TV drama that starred Yoo Chun Young.

  ‘Wow, so that’s how they shoot a drama, huh?’ I observed the situation inside, flickering my eyes.

  Taking a closer look, the people inside the cafe through the glass door looked slightly different from the general public. Were they actors and actresses pretending to look ordinary like most people?

  Among them, Lee Nara stood out, sitting at the table with the best view. She was talking to someone who looked very handsome. Based on his appearance, the guy seemed to be a famous actor, but his name didn’t come to my mind.

  Lee Nara stopped talking, then suddenly splashed a cup of water at the actor in anger.

  ‘Whoa, this is like a soap opera,’ I exclaimed.

  Meanwhile, Lee Nara, carrying her purse on her shoulder, walked aggressively toward the door, then flung open it to leave the space.

  At that moment, a guy approached the door. Lee Nara and the guy strongly bumped into each other. That was when she removed the furious look from her face and became surprised.

  She uttered, “Ah, sorry…… Eh? Why are you here?”


  After a short pause, the guy replied, “Did something happen?”


  The moment I tried to find another way out to return home, a familiar voice pierced through my ears. I turned around.

  That was when the black hair came into my view. The camera was blocking it earlier, so I wasn’t able to see it until now. His particularly tall figure caught my eyes too.

  ‘Geez, why on earth didn’t I recognize him earlier?’ I wondered self-mockingly.

  When he slowly lifted his head, the glare from the lighting slipped down his chiseled nose.

  It was Yoo Chun Young.

  Blinking my eyes a couple of times, I stared at him. No matter how many times I tried to look over and over, he was the real Yoo Chun Young.

  My mind felt spaced out for a second. I was, of course, aware that Yoo Chun Young was too busy shooting the drama to join our getaway. However, it was sincerely different to see him acting in front of the camera in person.

  On all occasions, I was standing against the setting sun. The sky and surroundings were turning purplish-blue. Watching Yoo Chun Young in that mood blew away my mind since he looked more surreal.

  His face used to look cold, almost like a ghost, but the light glares kept spreading and forming some halos above his face that he even looked paler.

  Suddenly, something that happened a long time ago came to my mind for no reason.

  During my elementary school days, when I had no cellphones, one night I was having a hard time going to bed, suffering from some bad creepy thoughts. Instead of going to my parent’s room, I stepped out to the living room and turned on the TV. None of my parents, thankfully, noticed me sitting outside maybe because I had quickly turned down the volume.

  Pulling my knees into my arms, I watched the screen for quite a while until the space around it also brightened. The actors and actresses on the TV were just silently pouting their lips in the fade light like goldfishes.

  That’s the way I was viewing Yoo Chun Young right now. Even the showering noise and busily working staff between us couldn’t return my sense of reality.

  I was there standing inside the crowds, watching Yoo Chun Young from a distance. I even forgot where I was heading to.

  Back in the days, at some point, I felt left out due to his splendid and surreal appearance; from the thought that we’re growing apart, I also felt empty and a bit lost.

  However, not anymore right now.

  Instead, he was standing under the spotlight when I was just one of the crowds of people. That feeling of distance satisfied me. That’s because I could look at him as much as possible without being concerned that we would possibly have eye contact.

  Although he was always at a reachable distance, I wasn’t supposed to grab his hand. Another thing flashed through my head. The conversation we had on a summer day, sitting under the shade in the schoolyard.

  At that moment, I couldn’t help but murmur, “Why does it have to be you, of all people?”


  Whenever I felt the urge to give my heart to this world, his words appeared like a watchman and blocked me from doing it.

  ‘You…… you seemed to have no interest in me…… That’s why I like you.’


  Stay beside me but not too close––the meaning behind his remark clarified that he wasn’t allowed to me. After that moment, all I could do was just grab his hand even in my dreams.

  However, he was my safety strap at the same time.

  Whenever I was about to lose myself inside the people who’re all cut from the same mold, Yoo Chun Young found me without wandering around and just pulled me out of them at once as if he was clearly aware of where I was. That way, he brought me under the light, holding my hand.

  Tightly closing my eyes, I murmured again––Why does it have to be you?

  I truly wanted to ask him if he had the capability to find me when I was staying helpless and troubled.

  Meanwhile, the sun went down. The shooting equipment and lightings emitted brighter radiance in the darkness; the cafe also looked warmer yellow at night.

  The actors, actresses, and staff gathered to discuss something, then they split into groups and hopped into the cars. Yoo Chun Young was talking to some folks grabbing him.

  Well, he was the youngest and dearest son of the Balhae Group. I exclaimed when his famous background that I had been forgotten popped into my head. Thus, it was understandable that so many people were queuing around the area, willing to see him in curiosity. Well, of course, some would be just his fans.

  A guy and a girl were standing beside him on both sides and talking enthusiastically. The girl looked quite familiar whereas the guy was still undetectable. Both of them seemed quite young, probably in their early twenties. At some point, they looked the same age as me.

  The girl let her bright wavy blond hair down under her chest and revealed a gorgeous smile on her small, white face. There wasn’t enough light around, but her eyes surrounded by her long lashes seemed to twinkle like stars in the sky.

  Maybe because it was summer in the drama, she was exposing her long white limbs under her short outfit. Considering her job as a celebrity, she was still very slim. Was she an idol?

  That was when I realized the thing that Yoon Jung In asked me to get for him before.