He kept it a secret. Minhyuk avoided telling the other perfects about his first encounter with a human.

He didn’t know her name or who she was, but he did know she was probably cold and sad, hence she was crying alone.

Minhyuk never stopped wondering what happened to the girl he saw outside. He recalled seeing her sitting out in the snow alone with a jacket that didn’t fit her very well.

Kind

That was one of the traits his parents had picked out for him. Something had flashed in his mind when he first saw the human and that was the incentive to go up to her so he could show her he cared.

Thoughtful

Minhyuk was beyond thoughtful. He always thought of others before himself. He wasn’t exactly sure why he did this, but he made his way towards her by crossing the field; something probably no one’s ever done before, just to help her. He had noticed the sleeves on her jacket were too long and decided to roll them up for her.

He knew that humans got sick easily and that hospital bills on the other side costed thousands; with a soft glaze and gentle voice, he looked at the crying human and said, “Go inside.”

She looked up at him in silence.

 “It’s cold.”

Minhyuk didn’t see her again for a long time after that incident; he didn’t catch her outside for a while and thought he’d never lay his eyes on a flawed being ever again.

Taehee’s story was different; she retreated back to her house and stood in the middle of the living room with shivers running down her spine.

Her mother sighed when she came into the living room.

“Oh Taehee…you made a mess,” she muttered wearily. Mrs. Kim looked up at her daughter. “Kim Taehee!” she said loudly.

Taehee looked downed and nodded as she hastily took her brother’s coat off. Flakes of snow flew everywhere as she threw it on the hook.

Mrs. Kim sighed again and shook her head.

“Mom, aren’t you sad?”

Her mother looked up from the floor then continued to wipe up the water from the melted ice crystals.

“People come and go…this village is just...hopeless. For every child that is born, it seems as though someone passes away as that infant is being brought out into the world. Taehee-ah, I lost my entire family… Your aunt and I are the only ones left in the Kim family. Some of your dad’s family are still around, but it’s a shame Jihoon passed,” she whispered.

Taehee frowned and nodded. “At least he’s not suffering,” she said softly.

Mrs. Kim glanced at her daughter. “People go so quickly here…I’ve lost so many family members that it doesn’t even hurt me anymore. Crying doesn’t help because I can only cry so much.” She shook her head. “I hope my Jihoon is resting in peace.”

Taehee wiped her eyes and nodded. “Suho is at peace now; he doesn’t have to suffer anymore.”

Mrs. Kim nodded and walked over to the altar she had set up while Taehee was outside. “It’s not much…Jihoon didn’t have much, so we don’t have a lot to remember him by.” She picked up a photo frame of her son and held it close to her chest.

Taehee wrapped her arms around her mother and closed her eyes. “Do you think Suho is looking over us?”

“He is, he most definitely is…our angel Jihoon.”

Then she pulled away. “Mom…I met someone,” she said.

Her mother placed the photo back in its place and eyed her daughter. “Who? When? Just now?”

Taehee nodded. “I was sitting outside by myself in the cold…and he…this person just appeared before me. He rolled up my sleeves and told me to go inside.” She pointed to Suho’s jacket. “That’s why the sleeves look like that,” she said softly.

“Who was it?” Mrs. Kim asked. “Which house did he come from? Do we know them? Is it Hyunmin?” She asked. The Byun residence was just a few houses down and Mrs. Kim couldn’t think of any other people Taehee wasn’t friendly with in this small town. “He doesn’t speak much; you said he was a quiet kid.”

She shook her head. “It’s not Hyunmin,” Taehee said. “I don’t know his name.”

“Are there any new comers in this town? Someone I haven’t met yet?”

Taehee shook her head again. “When he rolled my sleeves up for me and wiped my tears away, it stayed with me up until now. I spent minutes with him but…it was the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me, and I really want to see him again.”

“Where did he come from? Which family? I can talk to them for you,” her mother said eagerly. “Is it the Songs? The Chois?”

“He was a perfect.”

Silence.

“Mom…He was a perfect, he came from the other side,” Taehee said.

Mrs. Kim stood up and shook her head. “No…way…” she whispered. “Honey…you can’t.”

Taehee got up as well. “But mom––he’s not what you think he is. Everyone says that perfects are cocky and rude, but…he was anything but that. He was so nice to me.”

“You spent minutes with him! You don’t know anything about him!”

“Mom! I know I don’t have that many good features or good points about me but one of the things I do have is knowing if someone is genuine or not. That perfect was different…he’s not like the others,” Taehee said.

Her mother put her hands on Taehee’s arms. “You’re not going to meet him again anyway. Perfects are supposed to stay on the other side and we’re supposed to stay here. It was just by chance you met him. Taehee, please...can it be someone else? How about Hyunmin? Just...anyone else but a perfect… Even if that perfect were to fall for you, you’d be ridiculed.”

Taehee pressed her lips into a firm line because it was most likely true––she would never see that perfect ever again. “Mom…”

“He’s not the one for you…” Mrs. Kim said. “Don’t even think about it.”

Taehee stood there, defeated by her mother’s words. Mrs. Kim was more than right, but Taehee couldn’t help it. She desperately wanted to meet that perfect once more.

And she did.