☆彡 Hanami - The ancient act of enjoying the blossoming cherry blossoms (Sakura)☆彡

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 My eyes opened lazily, my arms stretching upwards as I curled my toes and stretched them the opposite direction, stretching my stomach. I turned to my right and cuddled once again in my heavy white sheets wanting to stay in bed all day.

Then I remembered where I was.

My eyes widened as I shot up from my bed and quickly looked around my room, It was not my room, but Ash's guest room, IT WASN'T A DREAM! I'M ACTUALLY IN JAPAN!

I Jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, quickly took a wash, dressed in a slightly warm outfit (since it was Spring, it wasn't going to be too cold) which consisted of a light pink shirt, black jeans and finished with my favorite pair of light pink converse. I made my way to the kitchen to be met with the scrumptious smell of pancakes.

"Slept well?" Ash greeted me with a smile as she poured me a strong cup of coffee and gave me my breakfast. I sat at the table and we ate quietly.Ash quickly finished, cleaned up and quickly went to her room to change into jeans from the short she was wearing with her white top. She came out wearing a dark blue pair of jeans with her white top, her light blonde hair in a bun and she wore her black coat, finishing her outfit with a black scarf.

I quickly wore my beige coat and my dark blue scarf. My hair loose I was jumping in excitement, I knew where Ash was going to take me.

"Let's go to that sakura festival!!!" she beamed as she opened her door and walked out as I skipped my way out joyfully.

"Hanami here we come!" I cheered just enough for us to hear and raced down the stairs like a child.

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We walked to the nearest park. "Hanami" or sakura/cherry blossom festivals was the simple act of enjoying nature by watching the light pink sakura flowers in full bloom. Ash told me how many people often have picnics and have a drink or two when celebrating. They would bring home -made food or have store brought food and have picnics under the trees. Having a picnic spot during these sakura festivals was quite the challenge since many people like to do it. Ash wanted to have a fun picnic for me to enjoy but I told her that it was okay and that just walking slowly and watching them was wonderful enough.

We finally came to the park in the area and as predicted, it was busy with people. It was April and been about a month since Spring. These flowers had only bloomed a few days ago. The sakura bloom at different times in different places in Japan. For Tokyo, it was between March and May whereas in Osaka, it would be in January.

We walked quietly for about 10 minutes, enjoying the slow walk through pathways of the pink skies. There were a few stalls in the corner which were selling some souvenirs and other pretty things for keep tourists. I was too caught up in enjoying the view I walked right passed them. Ash stopped and turned around to get something from them, she told me to go ahead and that she would catch up. I nodded and continued to walk quietly.

The crowds suddenly started to fade and the pathway was less flocked with people. I took out my phone to take a few pictures. I stood under a tree, its wide branches covered in patches and patches of light pink flowers which made me smile.

"The impermanence of beauty, that's what these wonderful flowers represent." I smiled as I took another picture of the flowers.

"Mono no aware " I whispered, a wonderful concept of realization which meant that nothing lasts forever.

I slid my phone into my coat pocket and looked around standing in my same spot my head turned to my right, my hair flinging around with it as my eyes reflected the hues of pink and glittered with the random petals of old flowers which had started to fall at uneven paces.

I looked at the tops pf the trees and my eye line dropped to look at the crowds. I was met making eye contact with a tall figure who stood under the tree I was previously looking at. He was about 10 feet away from me. He seemed to have been watching me before I noticed him. He was tall, wore a light beige coat which empowered his height, a dark blue scarf like mine wrapped around his coat. His dark black hair fell in front of his innocent and beautiful eyes. His skin was a slight tan which made him even more attractive. I quickly blinked out of my hazed thoughts when I realized that I was looking at him for longer than 3 seconds.

I quickly looked down in embarrassment. Looking down at the grey pavement stones of the park. I continued to walk forward, my pace a bit faster as I set my goal to quickly walk pass the good looking man who looked at me like he had never seen a human before.

"Excuse me?"

I gasped and looked up to meet his gaze. He was standing right in front of me. His voice was so soft and sounded so kind and caring. Something about this stranger made me feel emotions of happiness, shyness and frustration. I didn't say anything, I felt like I was frozen. He looked at my eyes, his lips quivered a bit as his eyes started to get a bit teary. At first I panicked, but without warning, watching him seemed to unearthen my own tears as I quickly looked down and wiped them off. I felt him do the same as he wiped his eyes with the back of his arm, staining his coat with his tears.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know why that happened." he apologized as he bowed slightly, embarrassed. 

"It's okay, I'm sorry too, I have no idea what happened to me." I smiled, equally embarrassed and utterly confused about what just happened. I looked back at him.

"My name's Hakyeon, Cha Hakyeon." he smiled as he lent me his hand to shake. I shook his hand smiling.

"My names Y/N. It's nice to meet you."

"You like the sakuras?" he asked kindly as his eyes quickly did a brief scan of all the pink skies above us.

"Yes I do. It was the first thing I wanted to do." I smiled back and looked at the blossoms again, too shy to look at him.

"Did you come on a visit?" he seemed so eager to know.

"Yeah, I came yesterday actually, staying till Summer. I want to explore this beautiful country and enjoy it to the maximum before I go back."

His soft smile seemed to shatter at my words. I noticed it by seeing his genuinely happy smile being replaced by a sad smile. He looked very hurt, it was hurtful to see him like that. I didn't know what to do, my own heart seemed to ache looking at him. But I didn't know why, I don't know this person.

"Y/N!"

I looked back to see Ash, her hands holding onto some souvenirs and some food she had bought but her mind completely focused on the man behind me. I walked up to her as she broke out of her shocked yet panic stricken gaze, she looked at me.

" Where have you been?" she spoke, trying to bring her happy mode back through a fake smile. I turned my head back to look at him, Cha Hakyeon. He stood still in his same spot, still watching the both of us with an expression of utter sadness and ... happiness, a sad smile.

"Let's go this way Y/N." Ash's tone suddenly became stern as she grabbed my wrist and walked off with me back on the path we came.

"Ash, Ash what's wrong?? Ash!"

She didn't reply, she just wanted to get out of that zone. I looked back to see him look at me one last time before I lost him in the flocking crowds again.

"Ash! What's going on?" I asked again as I wriggled out of her grasp, my anger rising a bit as I stood under the pink sky which no longer seemed to keep me happy.

She took sometime to answer, she hesitated before answering.

"Sorry Y/N, there was a person I didn't want to meet. I don't want him to ruin our plans." she admitted quietly. My heart suddenly felt very heavy at the thought of that man I just met.

"It's okay, I understand. Let's continue on a different route then!" I smiled as I started to walk past her and waved at her to come walking down a different lane on my right, it had less people. She smiled and walked up to me and the both of us continued to enjoy nature.

I had many questions, it was only about two minutes, but I had many questions, I wanted to ask Ash, but maybe later, her mood seemed to have been ruined by whatever happened before. The air around her felt heavy, like she was under a lot of pressure all of a sudden. I decided to keep quiet and to question later.

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