He took his first step out of the airport, breathing in the air of his hometown. Home.. He could only think of one person, Park Chorong. It has been years since he left home, since he left her. He allowed himself to go for a walk down the memory lane as he say at the back of a cab, heading back to where he lived. The screen of his phone lit up with a memo, the background being a photo he had took of her when they went out on a date, “Happy Anniversary, Rongie~” 

He had known about her from everyone around him, but he never actually knew her either. He met her from their mutual friend, her best friend and his crush, Im Yoona. He had seen how this girl interacts with their friends; they were actually from a similar social circle after all, although he joined the circle later than everyone else. She looked like a fun and cheery girl from what he saw, but when Yoona introduced them to each other, Chorong was undeniably quiet and polite, a total opposite of how she was with their friends. He tried striking conversations but all of them failed or ended up awkward. It made him wonder, was he so different she could not be comfortable around him?

His best friend; Park Chanyeol, was dating another one of her best friend, Yoon Bomi. Chanyeol was close to Chorong, they were like actual siblings. He would’ve mistook them as real siblings seeing that they share even the last name if he hadn’t known better. Chanyeol had noticed his struggles with Chorong and answered his silent questions,

“She was broken and hurt. Her insecurities won’t let new people into her life so easily. Give her time..”

That answer was enough for him to keep trying, because it had him hooked, how did a girl who looked so pure and cheerful broke? Who would hurt such innocence? He remained patient, taking in Chanyeol’s advice and soon enough he was able to see through the girl’s wall little by little. Chorong too, became more comfortable with him as time passed, talking ever so freely, unlike the stuck up sentences coming from her when they first met. He learnt more about her along the way of their blossoming friendship. He learnt about her favorite colors which are red and pink. He learnt that she had a third degree black belt in hapkido. He learnt about her obsession, towards chicken feet which led him to calling her “chicken feet noona”. He even gave her a pair of heels looking like chicken feet he saw at a market someday as a commemoration for her love towards chicken feet.

Days passed and they grew closer, one could call them close friends. The way their friendship worked was so weird their friends find it cute.  As Chorong became friendlier, she had also became playful and he gotten along with the change just well. She would always nitpick on everything he said, twist and contradict his words and him being a stubborn and competitive guy he was, wouldn’t back off and fire back at her equally. They would bicker all day long about absolutely anything, then most of the times violence would come in, with her punching his guts and him abusing her forehead and cheeks with flicks and pinches. At the end of the end, they would laugh at their own silliness and everything turned normal once again, it was the way of communication solely reserved for them.

He didn’t know when or how it happened, nor did he see it coming. It was just another day when they were bickering as usual and today he felt different, he as usual with him being mean and such, but it seemed that he went too far because Chorong seemed upset this time. He didn’t know what to do, all he knew was that he didn’t want her to stop smiling, he wanted to continue protecting the smile, and deep inside, he wanted, even just a tiny fraction of him, wanted to be the reason of her smiles. He had noticed she had seemed off from usual earlier today, yes, he always notice every little thing about her. So he apologized. Even if he didn’t know what he did wrong or was it even his fault to begin with, he apologized.

Things had been slightly different since that day. He didn’t know what he was feeling and Chorong doesn’t seem to be in any better shape. He asked her over and over again, worried if something’s bothering her. If there was any, he would do his best and solve it for her and she told him after some time, she liked him all these while. His heart swelled in