I'll be your light

He doesn’t dream of her running away anymore. She is not overcome by fear or drowning in sweat and tears. No. Not anymore.

Melinda is in a field full of sunflowers. She’s running away from him, but not in fear, she’s teasing him. He chases after her, a burning sensation fills his lungs but he keeps running after her. He catches up to her and puts his arms around her waist, hauling her off her feet and spinning her around. She squeals in delight and begs him to put her down. Her skin glows in the sunlight and her smile shines just as bright as the sun. “I – I think I like you.” Yukwon says. “I think I like you too.” Melinda says while blushing. He leans into her, aiming for a kiss.

Yukwon’s eyelids spring open and he shoots up in bed. His heartbeat beats like a drum in his ears. Sitting in complete darkness, Yukwon back tracks to his dream. He shakily brings his hand to his lips and gently traces them. In his dream, they kissed. Melinda and Yukwon kissed. He blushes and makes an embarrassed noise. He folds the blanket over his head and lies like a ball under the sheets. ‘This can’t be happening.’ He thinks. ‘Why am I dreaming of her?’ He rolls around in his bed, trying to get her out of his mind. ‘First I dream of her running away from me, now, I dream of her kissing me.’ He grabs his hair. “What’s wrong with me?” he demands in a hush tone.

He hears a thud right out side his apartment door and freezes, letting the silence be his friend. A familiar voice scolds herself. Melinda? Yukwon jumps out of bed and rushes to his door. He opens it to find Melinda bending over to pick up a fallen lamp but dropping the whole cardboard box instead. “Hello Melinda.” He says. “Hello.” She says in Hangul. She smiles at him and continues to pack her fallen belongings, he crouches down to help her. “What are you doing up at this time?” He asks her, forgetting that she is weak in the Korean language. She cocks her head to the side. She knows a little bit of Hangul, so she tries to piece the words she does know together; What, are, you, at, this. “Moving.” She replies in English. She taps her cardboard box and then points to her apartment. When everything is gathered into her box, they stand. Melinda suddenly runs her fingers along Yukwon’s skin, making him flinch. He forgot he goes to sleep without a shirt on. As he looks closely, he realises she isn’t touching any random place, her fingers gently stroke the scars he got from Junhoo. Where her fingers touch his skin, he feels a trail of warmth as she moves on to the next scar. Eventually her hands find his injured right hand and tears well up in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She says in Hangul. “I’m sorry, Yukwon.” His muscles at on their own, and his arms wrap around her, making the cardboard box fall out of her arms once again. He gives her a reassuring hug to make her stop crying. But she doesn’t stop, so he keeps holding on to her.

He helps her back to her apartment. “Goodnight.” He says to her. “Goodnight.” She replies in English. A smile spreads on Yukwon’s face. “Goodniet.” He repeats. She clasps her hands together and smiles. Before she closes the door, she hugs him tightly and whispers in his ear, “Thank you.” In Hangul. His ears tingle with the sound of her voice. “Goodnight.” She says and she closes the door. Yukwon is left stunned and dazed.

Yukwon somehow finds his way back to his bed. He is staring into the darkness at what he thinks is the ceiling. ‘What just happened to me?’ he wonders. ‘Are these signs telling me to go for it? To go for her?’ He gets embarrassed like a teenage boy and rolls around in his bed. “Signs?” He whispers to himself. Now he cannot sleep, he thinks about the ‘signs’ and wonders what to do.

Notes