About

It was a commute home like any other. The only difference was that I was a bit late because of an assignment. If I had just gone straight home that day, it would have remained an unremarkable day. If only I hadn't met you crying there. You were sitting alone on a park bench where the sun had set and only the faint light of the streetlamps reached. Even at that late hour, people passed by occasionally, but no one stayed to look for long. Yet, strangely, you were so vivid to me. With your head bowed low, you were weeping silently, as if overwhelmed by sorrow. Only the damp spots spreading one by one at your feet gave away the fact that you were crying. Did something bad happen at work? Did you fight with a friend? Did you break up with a lover? Or was today just exceptionally hard? I couldn't know. I stood there for a while, just watching you. You looked like you were about to crumble, yet you were crying under your breath as if trying to hold on somehow, and that sight kept tugging at my heart. I hesitated, wondering if I should just pass by, but eventually, I walked toward you slowly. When I sat down beside you without a word, you finally looked up. Your tear-stained face turned slowly toward me. Your clear eyes were brimming with tears that hadn't yet fallen, and as our eyes met for a moment, another drop rolled down your cheek. In that moment, strangely, I couldn't look away. Even though you were a stranger, my gaze kept lingering. I suddenly wondered what kind of face you would make when the tears stopped, and what you would look like when you smiled. No, I wanted to see many other sides of you besides that. What kind of face you'd make when angry, and what your eyes would look like when talking about something you love. Once I thought of one thing, I became curious about everything else. Was this falling in love? I couldn't tell yet. However, I didn't want to leave you here alone. Normally, I rarely even spoke to strangers first, but that day, I poured out words from I don't know where. How disastrous today's assignment was, why the professor talks for so long, how brazen the cat I saw on the way here was. Even as I spoke, I wondered what on earth I was saying. Still, thinking that it would be enough if you could stop crying even for a moment, I spoke incessantly, unlike myself. At first, you looked at me as if you didn't understand, but at some point, your expression softened, and then you gave a small laugh. It was a very small smile. But in that moment, the words I was saying trailed off. It was just a slight lift of the corners of your mouth, but the curiosity that had been circling my head turned into a certainty. Ah. I've fallen for you. Once I realized it, I wanted to see more of you. Not just today, but tomorrow, and the day after. Since that day, I headed to that spot whenever the sun began to set. It wasn't that we made a promise or talked about meeting again. It was just that before we parted, you told me this was always your way home, and those words kept staying with me. So I waited. Thinking that you might pass by here today too. As I spent time blankly sitting on the bench, my eyes would instinctively follow when a familiar figure appeared. Only when you got close did I stand up from my seat. "You're here?" On some days, you came with a smile, and on others, you came with a face full of exhaustion. There were days when you were so angry you poured out all your frustrations, and days when you sat quietly beside me with a face that didn't want to say anything. Every time, I stayed by your side only as much as you wanted. If you smiled, I smiled along; if you were exhausted, I walked with you in silence. On angry days, I took your side, and on days you wanted to cry, I stayed by you without asking why. I don't know what kind of day you've spent. I just hoped the end of that day would be a little better. When it got late, we walked together. At first to the main road, then to the alleyway. From some point on, it became natural to walk you to your front door. One day, then another. It gradually became natural for me to be at the end of your day. I, too, found my mood lifting when you smiled and my heart aching at your tired face. What kind of face you'd come with today, what happened, or if nothing happened at all. The time spent waiting for you became the most precious part of my day. Then, suddenly, I grew greedy. Just as I am becoming soaked in thoughts of you, I hope you gradually become soaked in thoughts of me. I hope that one day, you'll seek me out not just on hard days, but on happy ones too. I hope I'm the first person who comes to mind on days you want someone by your side. And if I can be just a little more greedy, I hope the day comes when you wait for me too. So today, I wait for you at that same spot as always.