The walk to my apartment was short and quiet and I like it that way. Maybe we can reserve all the talking once we’ve settled in to save us from the possibility of making a scene in public. Once I was in front of my apartment door, I searched my bag for my keys when I heard the door open all of a sudden.

In front of me stood my roommate and bestfriend, Sica Unnie.

“Yoong!”

“Unnie!”

We hugged each other immediately after we saw each other. It’s not like we don’t see each other every day, it’s just that we have been inseparable from the day we met till now that hours apart feels like days. Honestly, I owe a lot to this Unnie of mine. My life wouldn’t be as great as it is now if not for her.

“Oh My God Yoong! You’re finally home. She was driving me crazy. I don’t know what’s with this day but she was extremely hyper that I can’t even keep up with her. Where does she even get all that energy?” She reported exhaustedly.

“Really? Hmmm… She’s not usually like that.” I wondered.

“Exactly my sentiments!” she agreed.

“Where is she anyway?” I asked.

“At your room sleeping soundly.” She answered.

I was about to walk inside the place to take a look when Sica Unnie suddenly turned her ‘Ice Princess’ mode on.

“And who are you?” Sica Unnie asked coldly at Jiyong Oppa. “What are you doing with my Yoongie?”

Surprised with how Sica Unnie was talking to Jiyong Oppa, I tugged at her hand but she just whisked it away. What is she doing?! It’s not like she doesn’t know who Jiyong Oppa is! Aish!

“So are you going to answer or are you going to leave?” She asked with her arms folded over her chest and a glare.

Even I got intimidated with Sica Unnie’s attitude. I’m lucky she adores me too much that I’m never at the receiving end of those sharp glares and cold tone. Remind me never to get on her nerves.

Another shocking thing is Jiyong Oppa just smirked at Sica Unnie unfazed. Wow! He’s changed from the always panicky boy to a composed young man. Guess you have to be one to be a successful lawyer.

“Atty. Kwon Jiyong-imnida.” He introduced himself with a slight bow. “I’m Yoona’s ex-boyfriend.”

After his introduction, which I know Sica Unnie didn’t even need in the beginning, she just shrugged and walked out of the house. Before she did, she whispered to me, “Do what you need to do and what is right.”

When she was out of sight, I opened the door wider for Jiyong Oppa to welcome him inside. I made him sit on the dining table and brought out a pitcher of cold water and glasses for the both of us. As part of the hospitality that I bragged about earlier, I started rummaging the fridge to see if there is anything that I can offer but there’s none. I tried the pantry and only a bag of Jalapeno Cheetos is available. I’ll make sure to go grocery shopping later or tomorrow.

“Sorry but it seems that our stock is all gone and only a bag of Cheetos is left. Would you mind if I just open this one up while we talk?” I offered embarrassingly.

“No need. Water is just fine.” He said.

I happily returned the bag of chips since it is kept on stock to prevent one episode of tantrums coming from a person called Jessica Jung.

I took a seat opposite him and drank some water before I start talking. I’m too nervous about what’s going to happen that I feel like my throat is as dry as the desert. After drinking the water in one shot, I placed the glass down and forced a small smile while looking at him.

“So what do you want to talk about?” I started cutting to the chase.

“I’m doing fine Yoong, thanks for asking.” He said sarcastically making me laugh at how impolite I was. “Same old Im Yoona. Never beating around the bush and just straightforward. It’s like you’re always in a rush.”

“Well I do apologize Atty. Kwon for valuing time like that.” I answered teasing him back making him laugh as well.

Honestly, I’m thankful that he didn’t get down to the serious topic from the start. With doing this I became less tense and so did he, making it easier for us to talk comfortably later. Such a gentleman Kwon Jiyong.

“It’s been a long time Atty. Kwon Jiyong.” I purposely mention his title not just to but because I’m also proud of him. This has always been something that I wanted him to achieve for it was his life-long dream and I’m so happy to know that he was able to fulfill it. “So how’s life as one of the most successful and might I add, young, Corporate Lawyer’s in the whole country?”

“It’s very busy but I love what I’m doing so I don’t mind.” He smiled brightly and it’s pretty obvious that he is very proud and happy of what he achieved as well. “After all, I promised someone that I will become one and that’s why I made it no matter how hard and painful it was to get there.”

He stared at me expectantly as if gauging if I remember the promise that I made him take. As an answer, I gave him a bitter smile. Of course I remember the promise and I clearly remember what happened during the day that we made that promise. It never left my mind for a single day and it still feels so fresh that it’s like it happened only yesterday, when years have in fact already passed.

“I’m sure that person was so proud when she saw your name on the newspaper after the bar exams, when she saw you on television representing one of the biggest companies in the country and even just seeing your name being mentioned in the news probably made her heart jump out of joy for what you reached.”

Tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered all of these things. It’s true. I kept myself updated with the things that happened in his life through the news, and I’m lucky that he was extremely popular not only for his work but also for his visual, that I see and hear about him often on the news.

Not wanting to let my emotions get the best of me, I blinked back my tears and smiled at him adoringly. He looked surprised. Maybe he didn’t expect me to keep tabs on him. After all, I just left him without even giving a proper explanation. He probably thought I don’t want anything to do with him anymore and it was true, but not entirely.

“Don’t act so surprised.” I pointed out. “How do you expect me to see if you’re fulfilling your promise if I didn’t check on you from time to time. And it’s hard not to get news about you since you appear on the news like at least once a week.” I further making him smile shyly and rub his nape.

“Well, I’ll be lying if I tell you that I didn’t expect you to know about me because I did. I purposely wanted to let you know that I’m doing my best to keep my promise to you and also…” He paused and sullenly looked at me. “…to let you know that I never forgot about you by keeping my promise.”

I didn’t know what to say. Hearing him say this makes my heart flutter but at the same time hurt. I’ve broken his heart without any valid reason and I left him without even a single word of goodbye, yet here he is showing me how much he still cares and values me. What did I do to deserve this kind of affection from this wonderful person? What’s worse is that all I did in return is turn my back and leave him. My chest feels so heavy with all of this emotions coming to me at once. I’m no longer used to this feeling that it feels like I can’t breathe. To stop my tears from falling and to try to calm myself, I took another glass of water and drank it thirstily.

As if he sensed the discomfort that I was feeling, he diverted the topic and started a new one; something light and conventional.

“How about you? What have you been up to this past couple of years? I never thought an accountant would have spare time to even run a café.” He chuckled lightly.

I gave him a shy smile since it seems like he doesn’t have any clue on what happened to me. Well, that was the purpose of hiding and I’m glad it worked out perfectly.

“I also don’t think an accountant would have the time, luckily I’m not one.” I confessed lightly trying to sound like it wasn’t that big of a deal when it actually is for me. I just don’t want him to feel sorry for me. This was my choice and I’m doing fine with how I turned out.

The look of shock is evident on his face and even his tone was of disbelief.

“What are you talking about? You were supposed to graduate after a year when we broke up right?”

“That’s right.” I answered.

“Then what happened? I thought when you disappeared you went to a different university to avoid me but I never thought you’d shift courses.” He said incredulously. “It was your dream to become an accountant. Why did you give up on it after telling me to chase after mine?”

“I never changed my course.” I paused not knowing how to explain what happened. “I dropped out and stopped studying after that.”

“You what?!” He stood up abruptly in utter shock with the news.

I on the other hand, already expected this from him. He knew all of my goals and dreams in life and I have always been vocal about how important getting a diploma and becoming an accountant is for me. I have always been so confident that nothing would stop me from getting those two but I guess the universe was mocking my confidence and that brought me to where I am right now. Though I’ve already accepted what happened, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t devastated at first.

“Things came up and plans change.” I looked at him contently as if assuring him that I’m happy even after what happened. “More importantly, priorities change.”

He went back to his seat after thinking that he gets what I mean. A deep sigh came out of him to release his frustration but he continued talking nonetheless.

“If that’s the case then what were you doing with your life after disappearing on me? Were you travelling and enjoying life with parties and other ‘YOLO’ activities?”

I laughed at what he said and how he said it.

“Seriously Atty. Kwon? Where did you even get that term ‘YOLO activities’.” I laughed hysterically at him while he just looked at me questioningly but after a few seconds, he seemed to have realized the hilarity of what he said as he placed his hands to cover his face laughing at himself and said, “What the heck did I just say?!”

After the laughter died down, he turned serious and started once again with the interrogation. “Seriously though Yoong, what did you do that even your sister Taeyeon can’t give me an answer when I ask for you. She looked so depressed. Even your parents can’t give me any information and they looked extremely miserable as if they haven’t seen you in ages.”

Hearing this made me lower my head in guilt.

“When was the last time that you went to visit them?”

“I only stopped coming after 4 years when we…” He stopped for a while and closed his eyes. “…after we broke up.”

Even mentioning the break up after all this years is hard for him. I sunk lower on my seat as I felt guiltier.

“Thank you for visiting them when I wasn’t able to do it myself. Truth is, I ran away from home after what happened. I just sent them emails or text messages to inform them that I’m doing fine. It was only 2 years ago that I’ve finally got the guts to show my face to them again.”

This time, I let my tears escape. Talking about my family and what I did to them is my weakest point. The guilt and shame that I feel towards my family is something that always breaks my walls that I can’t ever control my tears when I get reminded of how much I made them go through. I was adored and loved by my family and yet here I am continuously disappointing and hurting them. With everything that happened, I guess it’s safe to say that that is all I’m good at; disappoint and hurt the people that love me. Luckily for me, they are people who don’t hold grudges. They always take me back and accept me whenever I fall, only to carry my higher and stronger than before.

“Yoong.” Jiyong called my name softly. I guess he doesn’t know what to say with this new information as well.

I collected myself and quickly wiped my tears to show him a small smile of reassurance.

“It was actually funny how Taeng Unnie tackled me with her hug when she finally saw me after so many years. We fell on the floor and she was literally rolling in happiness.” I laughed at the memory. “She’s really such a dork.”

“She wouldn’t be Taeyeon if she wasn’t.” He laughed with me in agreement since he met her frequently before, enough to know how much of a dork my Unnie can be.

“Of course I heard her never ending sermon about running away, not telling them about my whereabouts, only showing up after years and many more. My parents were just letting her rant for hours and when she was through it was her turn to get scolded by our parents for saying everything already, leaving them with nothing to say.” I continued laughing as I reminisced on the scene.

“I guess I would’ve found you earlier if I didn’t stop visiting due to work.” He sighed in regret.

I stuck my tongue out at him and teased, “Wrong!”

He looked up at me with a very confused face.

“Even if you continued visiting, you wouldn’t have found me since I never told them where I was. All I do is give them a visit every 3 months.” I informed him.

“So they don’t know about this place?” He asked wide eyed and I nodded in reply. “You’re such a bad girl Im Yoona.” He chuckled.

“No I’m not!” I protested with a pout. “I did send them gifts for every occasion; Christmas, birthdays, and even anniversaries every year besides the first 1 year and a half of my disappearance. I had to save up that time to live so I lacked within that year.”

He reached over to my side and pinched my cheeks. “Stop pouting. You look too cute.” He said making my face heat up in embarrassment. After all, it has been a long time since someone said something like that to me.

I brushed his hands away to hide the blush on my face and he just laughed at my actions.

“I missed making the always cool Im Yoona shy.” He teased.

After sitting back on his chair, he continued asking about my life within those 7 years. “Why did you run away Yoong? Was it because of me?”

“Nope. It was my choice. I had to deal with important things on my own like what I told you back then.” I defended. “And don’t start with the YOLO reason again ‘cause I didn’t. I didn’t even have time to party or do other fun things. The most fun I had back then was taking my morning walks and reading.”

I was thinking of any moments that were close to what he implied but I thought of none. Well except for one.

“Aha! There are parties that I did attend. Though they are not the party that you were referring to they are still the most fun that I had back then and they’re all thanks to Sica Unnie.” I stated. “She was the one that organized all those parties for me even if I asked her not to, she still went through with it saying that I need to get a breather from time to time.”

It’s true. All the parties that I attended back then were all parties that Sica Unnie prepared. If not for her I wouldn’t even have a social life. All my friends right now were all met through Sica Unnie and I would probably have lived as one of those ‘forever alone’ people without Sica Unnie’s constant nagging.

“This Sica Unnie is the one at the door earlier right? The cold chick.” Jiyong asked curiously as I laughed my alligator laugh at how he described my bestfriend.

It is true though. She always pulls off that cold chick attitude when we’re with other people but she’s as good as a dork as my Taeng Unnie behind closed doors.

“Yeah, the cold chick that cries at the mention of cucumbers.” I revealed as I remember how crazy it gets when cucumbers are involved.

I failed to notice the way he was looking at me since I was too stuck in the thought of Sica Unnie’s epic reactions. It was only after he spoke up that I returned to the moment.

“You seem very close to her. It even looks like you admire her a lot.”

I’m not sure but was that a look of jealousy that I’m seeing from this guy’s eyes? I wasn’t able to stop myself from blurting out, “Are you jealous of Sica Unnie?”

“M-me?” he stuttered with his tone close to yelling as he pointed at himself with eyes almost about to bulge out of their sockets “J-jealous? W-why would I even get j-jealous of her? So what if she’s extremely attractive and that you spent all those years away from me just to be with her and that she’s living with you under the same roof.” He said defensively making me burst out laughing at how he was reacting. No matter how long it’s been it has always been easy for me to read Kwon Jiyong.

“You are jealous!” I announced with certainty earning a strong protest from him. “Of course not!”

“Oh please spare me with your denial Kwon Jiyong. I know you all too well to know what your every move, twitch or even breath means.” I stated proudly. “But seriously though, why be jealous of Sica Unnie?”

He turned his face to his side to avoid my probing eyes.

“You sounded too close for comfort and you’ve always had those girl crushes back then.” He murmured almost inaudibly. Luckily it was quiet enough for me to hear that I almost fell off of the chair as I doubled over at what he was implying. He thinks Sica Unnie and I are together.

He continued by shyly expressing his opinion saying, “I can’t deny though how good you two look together.”     

Hearing him say this made me laugh harder than I already was while he was just looking at me with a troubled expression on his face.

“Why are you laughing like that? It’s not even funny!” He pouted. “You left me for another girl! This hurts more Im Yoona!” He cried out like a kid who wasn’t allowed to buy his favorite ice cream.

“You could have at least told me that you swing that way. I would have understood and let you go. You didn’t have to run away. I’m sure Omonim and Abonim would have accepted you as well if you just told us. Also, I would have helped you explain to them if you just confided in me. I thought I was your bestfriend before being your boyfriend.” He sulked further.

Still laughing my head off, I finally said. “I can’t believe I’m even hearing this.”

“Would you stop laughing? I’m here with a hurting ego and heart and you dare to mock my misery? You should be ashamed of yourself Im Yoona.” Jiyong Oppa grumbled in dismay.

“Okay. Okay.” I relented and tried to stop my laughter though there were still occasional snickers that can’t be helped from coming out. After finally calming myself down, I started clearing things up.

“Yah Kwon Jiyong! How could you think like that!?” I started my assault taking him off guard. “I didn’t leave to be with Sica Unnie! I only met her after 2 months of disappearing. And for your information I like men. It’s not like you didn’t have a glimpse of my love for men.”

“B-but…” he tried explaining but I just cut him off acting all offended when I don’t mind at all. It was even refreshing to laugh out loud like that.

“But what? Did you really think that I left you for Sica Unnie? Though that does sound like a good idea since she is very hot and she adores me a lot.” I was side tracked with the thought when I remembered what I was actually about to say. “I mean even though I occasionally flirted with girls and admired them a lot making everyone think that I do swing that way and earning the title ‘choding’, I never, not even once…” I emphasized. “thought of being in a relationship with another one of my species. I just did those things for the amusement of it besides actually marveling at their beauty.”

His face softened and a look of extreme relief washed over his face after hearing my explanation. Seriously Jiyong Oppa. You should know better that I like guys and not gals.

“So you didn’t leave me for a girl?” He confirmed expectantly.

“Not in a million years Atty. Kwon.” I assured him with an amused smile.

He finally let out the breath that he was holding in as he was waiting for my answer. “Thank God. I thought you really left me for her. It’s not like I wouldn’t accept you if you were biual, of course I would, but it still feels good to know otherwise.”

“You’re really funny Jiyong Oppa.” I admitted with a light chuckle.

After the laughter died down, he continued with his probing about my life. It seems like he really is determined to find out what happened to me during those times that he won’t stop until he gets his answers. It’s surprising how he’s sticking to his goal like this. Back then, he easily gets distracted that he even forgets what he was saying after just a minute or two.

“How did you meet her by the way?” He started.

-----------------------------

a/n: Now everyone also has a short glimpse of what happened to Yoona when she left... MORE THINGS TO COME! And also, I'm not even sure why I made Yoona want to become an accountant in this story... >3< Probably coz I can't think of anything else and just used my own college program hehehehe >.< So what do you guys think about this one? COMMENTS my loves! <3 <3 <3