"Why are you awake so early?" Ki's mother shuffled into the kitchen to find her daughter busy preparing a meal.

"You made breakfast yesterday. I thought I would return the favor."

Ki's mother walked up to her and placed the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Are you ill? Have you been body snatched? What have you done with my daughter?"

"Omma! I make breakfast all of the time!"

"Eating cold rice as you rush out the door doesn't count."

Her mother began to set the table for two and help with the last minute preparations. Mothers were annoying like that. Helping out even when they weren't asked.

"Going to the park again today?"

"Mm."

"It's going to be hot. Make sure you wear a hat."

"Mm."

"Are you really going to the park? Something seems fishy."

"I swear. I literally just sit there and read my book."

Her mother didn't look convinced.

"Tell me more about your brave Knight."

Ki nearly spat out her food. "That was just a joke. There is no Prince Charming. No mystery suitor. I don't even know his name."

"So he exists!"

"No!. I mean, yes. But no. No, there's just a guy I like to stare at," she paused to contemplate her choice of words, "Wow. I sound so creepy. I don't even stare at him. We just both exist in the same space."

"You are so weird. This is why boys don't date you."

"One of many reasons."

Ki's mom gave a playful slap on the shoulder.

"You are perfect. Don't talk about yourself like that!"

She feigned a hurt shoulder and they both laughed.

"I'm going to go get ready."

She headed to the bedroom to get dressed for the day. Normally, she didn't care too much about what she wore, especially on a day off from work, but today a strange excitement made her fret over her choices. She ended up trying on 6 different outfits before going back the first choice. And at the last minute decided on some lip gloss and mascara too. She headed back to the kitchen to see her mother had packed her an afternoon meal.

"Don't come home unless you find out his name. If he decides to murder you, I need to have a name for the police officers."

"I love you too."

She headed for the door,

"What will you give me if I ask him his name?"

"Mochi."

"Deal!"

Ki set out with a new determination. She was going to find out his name and come home to mochi. Today was going to be a good day.

Ki couldn't keep still on the bus. She felt like a secret spy with a very important mission.

Find out book guy's name. She imagined she was living in her own story as she moved towards her destination. It was like a storyline from a book unfolding in real life. She imagined herself as the main character, under cover, trying to find out the identify of a master criminal.

Despite the bus ride being quite short, it felt like eternity when she finally arrived at the park. She had to calm herself down so she didn't start running to her table. She looked down at her phone. In all her excitement, she had arrived nearly 40 minutes early. She pouted in disappointment and with her head down headed to her spot.

He'd been late the day before. If he was late again, it meant she had nearly an hour and a half before he'd show up. The thought irritated her and she didn't know why.

She looked up as she neared the table and stopped in her tracks.

He was there. She glanced down at her phone again. She was definitely early. Why was he early? She pushed out the thought that he had been equally excited to see her. The thought was actually insane. Why would he need to be punctual? It's not like it was a date. They'd never actually said what time to meet.

He was sitting at the table. With a book and two insulated paper cups.

She was equal parts wanting to skip to the table and turn and run away. This was literally a stranger. She had no idea what she was feeling, but she was certain her heart was in her throat, strangling her. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave him a small bow. She slid into her side of the table and began unpacking her things.

He waited until all of her tools were perfectly aligned and then picked up one of the cups and very gently put it down next to her water bottle. She looked up at him. Same hat. Same mask. Same dark eyes staring at her.

"Is this for me?"

He nodded.

"Did you poison it so you could take my unconscious body to a remote location and murder me?"

He choked and shook his head.

"Should a nice young lady such as myself really accept a drink from a stranger that won't even show his face or say hello. I've heard your voice, so I know you have one. Why won't you speak to me?"

He sighed and put his head down. She couldn't see his face at all, hidden under the bill of his cap.

"Because I don't want to ruin it."

His voice sounded smooth and forlorn. It was comforting and familiar. She imagined him reading her a bedtime story, that voice lully her to sleep. She also heard a hint of pain, somehow  resigned.

She reached for the cup and took a sip.

"You got me hot chocolate?"

He looked up optimistically.

"I'm 24 years old. I have a real job you know. I work for a big company. We do important things. I said goodbye to the sippy cup a long time ago. "

He laughed softly.

It sounded like music.

"But it's good. Thank you. Unless, of course, it really is poisoned, in which case, may my ghost haunt you." She raised her cup in a mock cursing.

He laughed again and picked up his book, but before he could open it, she blurted out,

"Hi, I'm Ki." She kept her gaze on his expectantly.

He clutched the book in his hands. She could see his knuckles going white. After an extremely awkward silence, he replied,

"I'm Joon."

Ki smiled.

"Nice to meet you Joon."

She took another sip of her hot chocolate. He stared at her as if he expected her to say something, but when she didn't, he simply gave a small nod and began reading his book.

Satisfied with her triumph, she wasn't going to push him any further.

His name was Joon and he brought her hot chocolate.

It was difficult to read about the Scottish Highlands and the 100 year old curse with her newly named friend sitting at the end of bench. He seemed like a much more interesting story to read. Was he a CEO's son? Is that why he had so much free time to read during the day? Why wasn't he in school? Was he finished with school? Did he have a job? Did he often bring hot chocolate to the park for strange girls he just met? The sun was blazing down on her. She finally had to put the book down.

"It's too hot. I think we should move under that tree over there. Care to join me?"

He nodded and replied, "Shall we?"

He watched as she meticulously picked up each of her tools and put them in her backpack.  She walked to the big shaded tree and he walked a few steps behind. When they reached the grass she reached into her bag and pulled out a very thin, but very large blanket. "It's big, but it's so thin it takes up such little space. I got it when I travelled to Europe once. Have you ever been to Europe?" He fumbled out an "Uh, yeah."

She unfolded the blanket and laid it on the grass. She pointed to the diagonal corner from where she was standing.

"That corner is yours." She sat on her corner and immediately began unpacking her items once again. He looked at her and looked at his assigned corner.

"Please stop standing over me like that," she pointed towards his corner again, "Sit."

He walked to his corner and gingerly sat down. He looks so awkward.

"And here I was thinking I was the one worried about being poisoned," she muttered.

He relaxed a little and they both opened their books. She couldn't help, but glance over every now and again. What was happening? How was she sitting on this blanket under a tree in the park with this guy? Who was he and what on earth was she doing? Whatever it was, it wasn't normal. This is not how people meet. And definitely not a normal thing do to. She'd never seen his face. All she knew was that his name was Joon and he'd been to Europe. Hardly, a normal amount of information for spending three full days with someone.

As time went by, Ki was sucked back in her book. A tragic accident and a heroic rescue. A handsome man nursing the heroine back to health. It was dreamy. It was totally a K drama moment. Ki clutched the book to her chest and fell back, laying on her back, looking up into the trees.

She rolled to her side to tell Joon all about it and found herself staring into the face of her masked gentleman friend. She was so close she felt the heat from his skin. She smelled the scent of his soap. His eyes were closed.

He was sleeping.

She had been so absorbed in her book, she hadn't noticed he'd laid down. Her impulse told her to get up immediately, but she couldn't move. She was so close she felt she could count his eyelashes. She listened to the soft rhythm of his breath. He looked so peaceful. She wondered if this is what it felt like to wake up next to the person you loved. This feeling of not wanting to move for the rest of your life. Content to simply be. And watch someone else exist. She was tempted to pull away the mask and see whatever it was hiding, but she didn't want to risk waking him up. The heat of the sun was warming her body and making her drowsy. Her eyes began to dip and she fell asleep.

Ki had a habit. It was rather unfortunate that this habit chose to show up at this moment. You see, she was raised by her mother. Just the two of them. And they shared the same bed. Ever since she was little she would reach out for her mother's hand as she slept and hold it through the night. Ki was never aware of this happening, she just knew she often woke up clutching her mother's hand in hers.  There in the heat, she reached out for a hand, and slept in the shade of the tree.

Joon woke up suddenly to his phone buzzing in his pocket. At first he couldn't figure out where he was. He was hot and sticky and on the hard ground, he felt the breeze, and his phone...... and a hand wrapped in his own. He put the pieces together and remembered the hot chocolate, telling her his name, and thinking he would just lay down for one second.... His phone continued to buzz. He slowly pulled his hand away from hers, as if she was a bomb that could detonate at any moment. She stirred and rolled over. He quietly got up and walked away so he could answer his phone without waking her.

"Hey."

"Why are you whispering?"

"Because I'm at the park."

"Why do you have to be quiet at the park?"

"Because I do. What's up?"

"It's 2:00 pm dude. We were supposed to meet at 1:30 to go over the lyrics for the collab."

Joon looked down at his watch stunned. "I'm so sorry man. I will come over right now. Give me 30 minutes to get there." He hung up the phone.

2:00 pm! They'd been at the park for hours. How long had he been asleep? He felt like an idiot, leaving himself vulnerable like that. This was not a story he was every going to tell the boys. He  turned to look at Ki, still asleep under the tree. He didn't feel right leaving her alone and sleeping. He walked over to her and stared at her. She wasn't a small girl, he guessed she was as tall as Jimin. But curled on her side, she looked so fragile. He could see that since she was no longer holding his hand, she was holding her own hand. What a funny habit she had.

He didn't quite know how to wake her up. Tap her on the back? Call her name? He tried nudging the bottom of her shoe with his foot, but she didn't budge. Finally he bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Ki, I need to leave. You gotta wake up."

Ki heard his voice calling her from her fever dream. She rolled over, turning towards the sound of his voice.  She was sweating and her hair was clinging to her forehead. She opened her eyes to see Joon kneeling next to her.

She bolted up right and quickly began straightening her hair.

"What the! I fell asleep?" The alarm in her voice, even startled Joon. She reached for her phone to check the time. "Are you kidding me!! How could you let me sleep like this? It's past 2!"

"Whoa, I didn't let you sleep. I was asleep too."

"We SLEPT together?" Ki instinctively pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself.

"No! What? No. We just both fell asleep."

Ki looked up at him. "This goes to the grave, you understand me."

She collected herself, stood up, straightening her clothes and fixing her hair.

He looked at her bewildered. Somehow, he thought he would be the one more worried about his reputation.

"Well, uh... I'm late for work. I just didn't want to leave you asleep on your own."

She muttered to herself, "So he does have a job, good to know."

"What?"

"Nothing, just happy to hear you are gainfully employed, that's all. Run along. Get to work, my boy." She waved her hand, still too embarrassed to maintain eye contact.

He paused, "So....... I can't come tomorrow. I have things for work. But...... Friday..... I could...." His voice trailed off. What was he saying. How were these words coming out of his mouth?

She looked up at him now.

"Friday's good. No naps, of course, strictly for book reading purposed only."

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, yes, of course, go ahead, I'll just clean up and head home. I'm going to meet up with some friends later tonight so I should get back and get ready."

He didn't know why, but the thought of her being with others irritated him. Friends. Hanging out. He bet they didn't wear masks either. She probably laughed at their jokes too. Was she interested in one of them? Was she going to start dating them?

"Oh, well... um have fun then. Don't stay out too late."

Ki raised an eyebrow, "Ok....dad."

She was already putting away her things. He awkwardly turned and began walking away.

Ki's face was burning. She was trying to blame it on the heat, but she knew it wasn't heat. This was unreal. How was she falling for someone she'd never even seen? She concentrated on putting her things away, hoping it was hiding her blushing cheeks. She sighed in relief as she saw out of the corner of her eye, that he was walking away.

Suddenly, Joon turned around, "Who's hand do you hold when you fall asleep?"

Ki looked up stunned. Oh. Dear. Heavens. Please, no. She wanted to crawl under the blanket and die.

"I didn't? Did I? Oh, heaven help me. I'm so sorry. I didn't... I wasn't... I wouldn't hit on an unconscious person." She looked around helplessly, as if that would somehow provide an escape from her current situation.

Resigned to her fate she sighed and confessed, "My mom. I hold my mom's hand."

He nodded and she heard him say, "Good."

She couldn't quite tell, but she thought he was smiling under his mask.