I was about five years old then. I was playing in the backyard of our house, and my mother was watching me from the kitchen window and cooking dinner.
I didn't have a father, Mom didn't tell me much about him then, I was too young to ask any questions.
I was very curious, and when a bright car drove past our yard, she got my attention. I got up and ran out through the gate into the street and watched the car. It was so bright, and in the sun its color was shining beautifully, so I ran after it.
The adult couldn't catch up with the car, and what about the little child, and very soon he disappeared from my sight.
I was far away from home, but because of my young age I didn't understand the gravity of the situation and I wasn't scared at all. I had never been alone outside the house before. I wasn't in a hurry to walk along the tall buildings and my attention was captured by the bright windows. I was squeezing through a crowd of people in a hurry, a child who was alone, no one was paying attention.
After long wanderings between these huge buildings, my little mind began to realize that I was alone, that I didn't know where to go, that my mother was far away. And I was scared, very scared...
I cried so loudly and so much as I had the strength to do. But nobody noticed me. Someone was wearing headphones, someone wasn't taking his phone off, and someone was in a hurry and didn't see anything around him.
There were so many people around me, but I was all alone. Weeping, white and trembling with fear.
I got to the park and sat down on the bench. I didn't know what to do next. I didn't know what to do. All I could do was sit there and cry.
My attention was drawn to the rustle and bustle from the bushes that were near the shop. I got scared and moved to the other side, but I couldn't take my eyes off the bush.
A little rabbit jumped out of there in a flash. It was snow-white and very beautiful. The rabbit was standing right in front of me, and I immediately calmed down, even the fear vanished.
- Are you all alone here? - I asked him to hold him in my arms.
Of course, the answer was silence. But he wasn't afraid of me, he wasn't trying to get away, he was just sitting there, taking my light strokes on his soft coat.
But a few minutes later, he jumped off my knees and jumped somewhere.
- Where are you going? - I followed him right away.
Sometimes he'd stop and look back like he was checking to see if I was following him. And I'd walk and try to keep up. And we ran for so long until I saw the fence, the police car, and my mother crying.
- Mommy! - I took a rabbit in my arms and ran to her.
- Taehyong... - Mom fell to her knees and started crying even harder.
It's been years since then.
I told my mother many times that it was the rabbit that helped me get back, that it took me back to my house. But she didn't believe me, and she was just joking around.
Now that I was an adult, I wouldn't believe in that little kid's story either. But this story happened to me, and most amazingly, this rabbit still lives with me.
Mom let me keep it with us. We built him a small aviary in my room, but most of the time he was free to move around my room and even home. Mom said he could run away like that, but the rabbit wouldn't run away and would always come back to his corner when it was time for me to go to bed.
I spent all my free time with him, telling the rabbit about how my day went. I'd share my childhood secrets and experiences. And he seemed to listen to me carefully. And when I was telling him something sad, it was like he was cuddling up to me and trying to calm me down.
When I was older, I woke up in the middle of the night thirsty. I walked to the door and looked at the aviary where the rabbit always slept. I never gave him a name, so I called him "the rabbit," and I don't know why. And the rabbit wasn't there, so I was scared because he always woke up with me in the morning and now he'd run away?
I started looking all over the house for him, looking in every corner, but he was nowhere to be found. And when I walked into the kitchen, I wanted to scream, but I lost my voice. In total darkness, there was a boy standing by the open fridge. The light from the fridge let me see it. He looked a little younger than me, twelve or thirteen years old. Black hair and face, it reminded me of a rabbit. And my eyes, that look... He looked at me with a frightened but familiar look.
- A rabbit? - I whispered.
- I'm sorry, Tae Hyun. - He looked at me with such a confused and frightened look.
It was hard to believe, but now I had my rabbit in front of me. He was holding a bowl of chicken in one hand where Mom was cooking for lunch. And in the other hand, the same chicken, only half eaten.
- I just love meat. - It was the guy's fault. - And you only feed me vegetables.
When I got out of my little numbness, my curiosity overwhelmed my fear. I took a bowl of chicken out of his hands and warmed it up in a microwave oven. We sat down at the table and I started asking him a lot of questions.
He was two years younger than me and his name was Chongguk. He was born to ordinary people, but with such an incredible gift. He didn't show it when he was a baby, but when he got older he turned into a rabbit for the first time, than he scared his parents to death. They could not accept such miracles and after long hesitation left him on the street.
Then he stayed in the image of a rabbit and wandered the streets of the city. Until he met me.
- I saw you coming out of your yard. - Chongguk said. - Even though we were very young, I felt a connection and followed you, and when you got lost, I decided to help you.
I didn't tell my mom anything then. It was my secret with Chongguk. When she was at home, he was like a rabbit, and as soon as he left, he became a human being. Nothing changed in our relationship, I also told him everything, shared the most intimate things, only now he could answer me and support me with words, and tell me more about himself and his experiences.
When I became an adult and left my parents' home, Chongguk moved in with me. Living alone, he no longer had to hide, and most of the time he was in human form. And then I felt something strange about being tortured when we were still living with my mother. But I didn't think much of it, but now that Chongguk was around me as a human being, that strange feeling was consuming me.
- Chongguk. - One night, we were sitting in the kitchen sharing the most intimate of things, as usual. - I don't understand what is happening to me.
- What happened?
- I feel something strange. - I was very uncomfortable, but I couldn't keep it to myself anymore. - To you...
- When you look at me, is your heart ready to break out of your chest? - Do you want to touch, even briefly, or do you want to come up and hold me tight?
- How do you know? - I was surprised.
- I feel the same way about you, Tae-young. - Chongguk was clearly embarrassed, but he spoke with confidence.
- Did I fall in love?
- And I fell in love...