The park was quiet.
The good kind.
The kind where sounds soften.
Lamp posts glowed yellow.
Warm against the cold.
Wind pushed leaves across the path.
Soft.
Dry.
Mochi and Laddu walked slowly.
No rush.
Until they reached a bench.
Wooden.
Empty.
Under a maple tree.
They sat.
At first—
Space.
Careful.
Polite.
Then—
Words.
Small ones.
The gap shrank.
Little by little.
For a while—
Nothing.
Just breathing.
Night air.
Mochi hugged her scarf.
Stared at her hands.
Laddu leaned back.
Looked at the sky.
Then—
He spoke.
"You know," he said,"I was the clown of my class."
Mochi glanced up.
Quiet.
Curious.
"They called me joker," he continued."My job was simple.""Make everyone laugh."
A small laugh escaped him.
"From one to eighteen," he said,"I only knew two things.""Eat.""Play."
Mochi smiled.
Soft.
"But then I turned nineteen," he went on."And I realized something."
Pause.
"I'd done nothing."
His voice dropped.
"So I studied like hell."
Another pause.
"But after school…"
He exhaled.
"I didn't have a single real friend."
Mochi's chest tightened.
"Not one person," he said,"I wanted to talk to."
He smiled.
But it didn't reach his eyes.
"I made everyone laugh," he finished."But I didn't connect."
Silence.
Heavy.
Mochi spoke.
Slow.
"I… was tall," she said."From the beginning."
Her fingers played with her scarf.
"People laughed," she continued."School.""Park.""Relatives."
She looked down.
"My height was a joke."
Laddu didn't interrupt.
Didn't joke.
Didn't fix.
He listened.
"But Mira…" Mochi said.
Her voice wavered.
"She always stood beside me."
A breath.
"Every time."
Another.
"If not for her…""I don't think I'd survive school."
Laddu nudged her shoulder.
Gentle.
"You're strong," he said.
Mochi shook her head.
"No.""I just had Mira."
"And now," Laddu said quietly,"you have me."
Silence.
Mochi turned red.
Instant.
She hid her face.
Deep in her scarf.
Laddu smiled.
The night stretched.
Stories.
Jokes.
Secrets.
Pieces they never shared.
Time slipped.
11 PM.12 AM.2 AM.4 AM.
Voices slowed.
Breaths deeper.
Mochi leaned.
Head tilted.
Eyes closed.
Sleep claimed her.
She curled on the bench.
Like a giant cat.
Peaceful.
Bunny gloves resting in her lap.
Laddu watched her.
Just a moment.
"Goodnight, Mochi," he whispered.
He removed his jacket.
Careful.
Placed it over her shoulders.
Then leaned back.
Sleep followed.
Elsewhere—
Panic.
Candy cried.
Maya paced.
Mochi didn't come home.
They searched.
Parks.
Stops.
Streets.
Names called into cold air.
Hours passed.
Then—
Dawn.
Candy stopped.
Pointed.
"There…"
Maya looked.
Froze.
Under the maple tree—
The bench.
Mochi slept.
Curled.
Wrapped in Laddu's jacket.
Another jacket beneath her.
The one he bought.
Like furniture.
Like protection.
Laddu slept beside her.
Calm.
Still.
Candy whispered,"Unnie… your boyfriend is sweet."
Maya sighed.
Long.
"I hate this," she muttered."But he's… nice."
They didn't move.
They watched.
Mochi slept—
Safe.
Warm.
Peaceful.
Like someone who had just lived—
Her first truly happy night.