"Tell me how you met him."

THE YOUNG LADY felt the latter's eyes on her back as she stepped on her way, walking towards the old wooden piano. She held her hand up, slowly tracing invisible lines on top of the short upright piano with her thin fingers. Then she halted and remained standing still.

How did I met him, Jia queried herself as well.

Good question.

It was a sunny day, she recalls. It was the day after spending two nights without her father returning home, but mainly because of his duty as a police. It was afternoon and plenty of students have headed to the school's canteen, including her. Jia was having a pleasant meal. It seemed pleasant since the school served jajangmyeon; her favorite dish. Notwithstanding, it would never beat her mother's cooking. If it wasn't for the surgery, her mother could have happily made the dish for her.

Jia has always been a silent kid. She only talks when she needed to the point that an individual would be surprised to know that she can sing. She's a singer that could have been an excellent student in college of music. It's just that she chose money over passion.

The young lady was quieter that day. Although way back in high school Jia had numbers of friends to sit with in lunch, she decided to be a strong individual in college. She's not the type to cling onto someone. Perhaps it is the reason why she can still go to school despite what happened a week ago. She remained strong. She wouldn't careless about getting prestige in school too, popularity wasn't her thing. But then they were all looking at her that day.

They weren't just looking. Jia witnessed how people from two individuals to groups lean to each other, chattering, as they fixed their eyes on her. Some would look at her from their seats, and some would check on her while walking as they hold their trays. She was instant popular that day, she could tell, and to say that she felt uncomfortable was an understatement.

What else could go wrong after her mom's death?

Confusion increased when few of them sat on the same table as hers.

"You're Yoon Jia, right?" A girl asked right after placing her tray on the flat surface.

"From business department?" Another girl added. They kept pestering her with continuous questions that she never got the chance to answer. "Do you know what happened the night before yesterday?"

Night before yesterday? She finished her homework, then she slept, and her father stopped going home. That's what she only knows. That's it. Their sudden appearance filled her with annoyance. "I'm going. Excuse me." Jia wasn't able to finish her jajangmyeon. With hint of anger, she slammed her both palms on the table to support herself in standing. She then held her tray with both hands. But before she could make a step, the next words she had heard made her heart sunk even more.

"I guess she doesn't know about her father's killings yet."

"But it's all over the news. The poor doctor and his ex-coworkers."

"She's a murderer's daughter."

The dishes sprawled all over the floor and students winced in pain after hearing the load clanking noise of the metallic tray hitting the ground. "W-what did you say?" She became motionless as their words knocked every wisp of air from her lungs. She struggled to breathe.

"What?" The fourth person, with the name Hongbin printed in his tag, simpered. "You're a murderer's daughter. A murderer!" He chuckled.

Her chest rose and fell with heavier breaths. They become the stars of the afternoon as people watch them intently. With her arms glued on her sides, Jia's hands squeezed into fists. "Take . . . that . . . back." She spoke calmly.

Hongbin snickered. "You can't kill me here, I've got a lot of witnesses."

"You son of a bitch—" Jia was halted from bolting when someone grabbed her wrist and turned her around. She saw how his eyes looked like. It was filled with both anger and pity.

"Violence will not solve anything." The young man— whose father died the night before yesterday— said in serenity before dropping her arm and stepped away. Those were the first words she heard from Jeongguk, a batchmate.

And that's how their real first meeting went.

And with one snap of Yoonki's fingers, she was pulled back to reality. Yoonki is already standing behind her torso to her surprise. She faced the latter with a sheepish smile on her face.

"Zoned out?" Yoonki questioned with his one brow rose. He leaned closer to the piano and rested his elbow on top of it, and then he stroked his chin. "How can I be sure you're Jeongguk's girlfriend?"

Jia cleared her mind together with her throat, remembering her memorized dialogue before she starts speaking. "We met at a coffee shop, a full one. Then I noticed a guy with a vacant seat in front of him. He was drawing on a sketchbook, thus I became more intrigued to sit with him. That guy was Jeongguk." She sticks with the last night's plan.

"To put it simply; we talked and got to know each other, we learned that we go to the same university, and then we formed this relationship." The crescent shape on her lips indicates how satisfied she is with her own answer.

"At a coffee shop, huh?" Yoonki let out a muffled snort as he turned his face away. He then wonders what makes Jeongguk change his ideal girl. The young man averted his gaze back to the latter. He eyed the difference between the girl in front of him and the other girl he has on his mind.

What makes him like this person when the other seemed more decent? I thought he likes older women?

He continues to query himself. What's the need of the eyeliner when she has round eyes already? Where are her parents? Why in all of part time jobs she insists working to play piano?

Nevertheless, he doesn't completely know these young ladies personally, especially Jia. Hence, he can't make the right judgment.

"It's my turn." Jia crossed her arms. "How did you guys met?" That indeed interests her to know someone. Why would Yoonki teach her just because she's the Jeongguk's girlfriend?

The sudden question overwhelmed him on the other hand. "Why are you asking me that? Ask him."

"That's unfair."

Yoonki faked his cough as he shifted his position and sat on the left side of the piano bench. "Do you want to learn or not?" Thereupon he gently lifted the fallboard.

"Fine."

─────────✧──────────

Minjun never minds being too early for work. He calls it a habit, but there's more than that. Other people may call it a waste of time, but for him it is a getaway from exhaustion each day.

Every morning, the young man would go to work forty five minutes before time. He would look for a machine and punch his time card once he stepped in the building. Thereupon he goes to the rooftop for sightseeing.

He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Perhaps it is the reason why he got used to keeping his wealth. If only he looked into it, then he would have known that he has enough money to travel and see other places. Yet he still fits himself into a cheaper and chaotic view of the city below him.

A trail of dark smoke roared out of his gaping mouth before he lowered his arm and tapped his cigarette downward. What an escape. Nobody questions what he does on top of the building since only few people are as early as him, even Manager Cheung is still busy with stomping her gas.

The young man never complained how messy and noisy the horizon was for in fact it represents how life works. He observes the people's action day by day, from pickpockets to impatient drivers, neglecting his own. It helps him understand why people act the way are and it establishes him as a wiser street person, he believes. It makes him friendlier too.

Other than that, there are times he only zones out whilst finishing his cancer stick. Like a rebooting robot, he empties his mind for a moment like sleeping wasn't enough. It refreshes his mind from the yesterday's hardwork nevertheless.

But today is different.

"What took you so long to answer my call!"

Minjun was startled to hear sudden noises. He wasn't alone as he thought. Consequently, he found out that the loud voice was coming from behind the small storage on the rooftop. The young man followed the voice as he lightened his footsteps. Pinning his back against the wall, he slowly moves his one foot to another, taking steps sideways.

Then he stopped.

Is it alright for me to listen?

He was too late in retreating from the wrong doing when the latter speaks abruptly again.

"Where's my report? I have to hand it over to the office before the manager arrives!"

Minjun furrowed his eyebrows as confusion takes over his head. Why would a person in hiding looks for her report from other person when it is her report? There's no turning back now that he finds it very interesting. He leaned sideward, drawing himself nearer to the latter as he turned around in a slow manner. Thereupon he slightly tilted his head and took a quick peek to discover who it is.

His eyes got widened in surprise before he shifted himself back to his old position.

It's the office's It Girl; Mara.

"But before you send the file, make sure there's no grammatical error. I'm paying you money, so you better not embarrass me!"

Mara continued to talk loudly.

Seoyeon is going to love this, the young man thought.

Minjun smiled in amusement, clasping his cigarette between his lips as he took his phone from his pocket. Steathlike, he immediately stepped on his feet and walks away while typing.

Pulling out the cancer stick from his mouth, Minjun placed the thin material beside his ear as the other line answered his call.

"Good morning, Minjun." Seoyeon greeted.

"Ah. Yes." Minjun looks over his shoulder before proceeding to exit the rooftop. "Where are you?"

─────────✧──────────

Seoyeon immediately reaches for the computer's button as soon as she sat in front of her desk. She is twenty nine minutes late and still has to do some revisions on her report. The young lady placed her bag on her lap as she searches for her flash drive. I should have sent it to my email instead. Additional four minutes to her computed late time.

In the midst of her cramming, a rolling chair hits her own, disrupting her attention from her goal. Minjun is now sitting so close to her.

"Hi." He chirped.

"Oh. Hi." Seoyeon expressed her greeting halfheartedly, dividing her attention as she continuously look for the said thing. "What is it that you want to tell me?" She asked. She grew a smile once she took a hold of the flash drive, putting it in the computer desk then and there.

"Right." Minjun slumped his shoulders and thinks in a thorough manner. Is it right to tell his co-worker about the wrong doing of his other co-worker? Is it wrong to tell the story without knowing it all? All of it points to negativity. He then averted his gaze from Seoyeon to Mara who's sitting on the other side of the room. He witnessed the joy in her eyes as she talks with their co-workers. Will that joy disappear if he tells the story? And maybe she has her own reasons. He wouldn't have known that Mara pays a person to do her written documents if he wasn't peeking in the first place.

"Hey. I'm almost done here, yet you still haven't told me anything." Seoyeon talks whilst typing in a vigorous mode of action.

"Well . . ." Minjun paused for a moment, collecting right words to disperse before he talks. A pang of guilt made him internally sigh and decide to take a different path. "Our senior high school batch is having a reunion. Are you going to join?" He wasn't lying though.

Her fingertips stopped typing as she froze and stare at him with wide eyes. "R-really?"

"Yeah. A batchmate contacted me through email." Minjun felt itchiness on his nape. "I forgot the exact date but it should be next month. I'll just forward you the email."

Seoyeon lost it for a while, she even forgot about the report. Ergo, continuous line of thoughts entered the void in her head. For years that passed, she finally got the chance see her close friends again, setting aside video call. Though she can't call them close friends anymore since they contact each other rarely, she can't miss this. She can't miss to see how everyone is doing.

She also wants to know if there's anyone she can relate to; anyone that's having it hard too.

"You know . . ." Minjun interrupted her thoughts as he spoke sheepishly. "It would be less nerve wrecking if you attend with a partner, right?" He kidded with a hint.

"Yeah."

"Cool! Then let's go together."

Seoyeon was taken aback for in reality she has another guy to go with.

Seeing the look on her eyes, Minjun laughed as he slowly turns around his rolling chair and pushes the floor with his feet, putting himself back to his place. "It's okay, go with that person instead." He said, finally facing his own computer.

"Well, we can go altogether."

"Is it okay though?"

But the real question is, will that person go?