They grew up as neighbours, he was one of his brother’s best friends. They played hide and seek together when they were young, since she was younger, she always hid from the older boys. She hated it most when it was his turn to seek, he was sharp and always managed to find all the children quickly. She used to get nightmare about him catching her. It was then she made a pact with him, she would join in the seeking part if it was his turn to seek. The older boys let her had her way, anyway, it didn’t make a difference whether it was one person seeking or two, he was too sharp.

When the boys grew older, the game was no longer fun. She was left to play it with other children. She sometimes would miss the time they seek together. She was the best seeker among the other children, it couldn’t be help, she was taught by the best. When she grew older, she too lost interest in the game, her interest turned to other things.

They still saw each other around, he would sometimes visit her brother at their house, they will say hi. Sometimes, while waiting for her brother to get ready, they would engage in small talks. Then they started this silly game, he would start to hide something at their house, she was supposed to find it and kept it. It all started when she saw this pencil that he had, and she liked it. The game grew more complicated when they got older, he was sure to left something for her, it sometimes took her several days to find it, with no clue whatsoever.

When she did find the item, she would take cute pictures with it and send to him, that would start a series of teasing which would grew into conversation. Somehow, both of them were not sick of the silly game. Even when both of them were with someone else, they continued the silly game. Each year, the highlight was at Christmas. The Christmas gift couldn’t be a small object, it had to be something significant, he often had problem hiding it. Her family was immune to the game, they let him came freely to hide the present. They had much fun playing the silly game.

They shared a common problem, their relationships always ended quite fast, it never get past the half year mark. They had started to keep track of each other relationship, trying to see who held the record of the longest relationship, they had even tracked to days, hours and even minutes. To them, it was something fun they had shared.

One day, she had a dream, she dreamt that they were both the seekers, looking for the people who hide. They were looking for people behind the bush, when suddenly he gave her a peck on her lips. She was too shock to react and he ran away, pretending to look for others. She followed him, they were too young. She woke up, remembering the dream and she blushed, it was a sweet dream but she wondered why he kissed her. Should she about it?

The next day when she got home from university, she heard he had come to visit, she rushed to living room to say hi. It was the first time, she saw one of his girlfriends, he usually didn’t bring one along with him. It was a shock to her.

“Hi Seong-Im, this is Seo-Ja” he introduced her.

“Seo-Ja, this is the sister of Seong-Kwang.” Both women say Hi, she could felt Seo-Ja tensed up.

He left Seo-Ja side and pull her aside, “Today I didn’t leave anything, it was sort of inconvenient.”

“I understood, you must be serious with her to bring her here.” She . His eyes grew cloudy, and she could tell it reflected some reluctance of his part.

“Tell you later”, he said. Her mum called her and she went to help her mum leaving them in the living room.

He left their house quickly this time, she and her brother sent them off, he gave her a pat on her shoulder and she heard something dropped. She looked on the ground and saw a butterfly clip. She picked it up and noticed he gave her a grin, one that disappeared when he looked at Seo-Ja. Later that day, a message came from him.

“Seo-Ja is not my girlfriend. She is just a friend but she sticks to be everywhere. I am getting irritated by her but I didn’t know what to do.” He wrote.

“You must have given her some wrong ideas. She looks so possessive of you, I sure she thinks she thinks she is your girlfriend. Did you actually tell her she is not?” she asked.

“How to tell her?” he replied.

“As is? Or not, maybe you should drop hint that your girlfriend is jealous?” she suggested.

“Maybe that is a good idea. Let me drop her a message now” he quickly actioned. He needed to get rid of this woman.

“Oh no!! She say I am mistaken, she is my girlfriend and refused to acknowledge that I have a girlfriend.”

“Find someone pose as your girlfriend and show her?” she proposed.

“Who? Whoever i ask might get the wrong idea as well. You must remember I am actually a popular guy” he countered. That is truth, he was really a popular guy and girls would kill themselves to be his girlfriend.

“How about me?” she blunted out. She immediately regretted her words.

“I think it might actually work! Anyway, you also are not attached now. Please say you will help me? I am so afraid of her, she stalk me!” he plead.

“What if I become the target?” she disputed. That might happened.

“I will protect you I promise. Please please help me.” As if writing cute was not enough, he sent her a cute video message.

“Ok ok, but remember you will need to protect me. So what’s the plan?” she agreed. He thought they should start “dating” immediately as of tomorrow. He will pick her up from her university and they can go watch a show. Since she had a movie, she had been dying to go, it sound good.

He picked her up on time, in front of the university. She was really happy to see him and gave him a hug, he give her a peck on her cheeks. She blushed, this was the first time he had kissed her since they grew up. He held her hand tightly and whispered into her ears. “Seo Ja is trailing behind me”

She hugged his arms, and they really looked like a couple. They took the subway to the cinema. In the crowded train, he circled his arms protective around her while she leaned on him, they were happily conversing. She found that she liked to be a couple with him, even though, she had done some of the acts with her previous boyfriends, it felt right when it was with him.

He couldn’t help but think she was his girlfriend, even more real than the girlfriends he had before her. Her hands fitted his, they were in sync, it was just so comfortable for her to be beside him. They saw it had rained when they reached their destination, there was no shelter between the subway and the cinema. He took of his jacket and asked her to hide under it, then they dashed towards the subway.

She was giggling when they reached the cinema, she didn’t know she could perform the romantic act, it was as if she was in a drama. He quickly put  his jacket back on when they reached the cinema, her arms wrapped around him, “Oppa, you made my day” she said. He chuckled, he wanted to try that move but he couldn’t find a chance, it was fun when it was with her.

“Don’t be naughty, come that’s get the movie ticket.” They quickly picked up the tickets, they had skipped the popcorns and soft drinks, she knew he didn’t fancy all these and she wasn’t a great fan as well. They picked up some fruits instead, she saw Seo-Ja wondering around aimless behind them, she must be trying to guess which movie they were going for. They quickly entered the theatre and hid in the midst of darkness.

The movie was a good one, they had a lot of fun and laughter. They exited the movie theatre and the rain had stopped, they had decided to go for dinner before going back home. Seo-Ja was still following them, she found Seo-Ja quite pitiful, loving someone who didn’t love her back. He gave her a peck on her cheeks when she reached her house, they waved good bye. She quickly entered the house, and went to her window, she saw Seo-Ja was still trailing him and she shook her head.

“She was still behind you,” she messaged him.

“Yeah, better me than you right? Anyway, helped me a few more times, I think she will realise that my girlfriend is not her.”

They went out for a few more dates, he couldn’t agree more that the dates really felt like dates and he was behaving more and more intimate with her, even after he realised that Seo-Ja had given up on him, he still asked her out, under the impression that Seo-Ja was still obsessed with him. Without Seo-Ja, he was even closer to her, he didn’t need to worry someone take photos or whatever.

He knew he had fallen for her, but wondered did she feel the same, he wasn’t sure. From the way she behaved, it seemed that she fallen for him too. Would she end up like his stream of girlfriends, it had felt so different with her. He decided to chance it.

He went to her house one day, and started the hide and seek game. He hid this question around the house and informed her he had started the hide and seek game. They will only meet up after she had completed. She was very excited about the game, but she started to miss him already, they had been together for two weeks and she found him an excellent boyfriend, pity he was not hers to begin with and stared feeling jealous of his ex and future girlfriends. She was startled by her thoughts but she knew she had fallen for him, that’s why even when she knew Seo-Ja had already given up him, she still continued to date him.

She searched the entire house for two days, she had found word like “you”, “please” “Would” , “be”, it looked like she was still missing a piece. She found the final piece under her bed, and she took a picture of the words to show him. She rearranged the words and it formed “Would you be please my girlfriend?” she was stunned at his request, she gave it a hard thought, she was worried that their curse of their relationships would continue, and they would not stay as friends afterwards. But it had felt so good that she wanted to give it a go, she took a video and answered yes.

When he received the message, he immediately rushed to her house. She opened the door and he asked her whether they can take a stroll at the nearby park. They sat down on a bench. “The last two weeks had been amazing for me, I didn’t know it could feel so good as a couple, I never had such a feeling before but with you it had felt special. I knew I had fallen in love for you, even when Seo Ja had quitted on me, I couldn’t quit on us, I wanted us to continue, thank you for agreeing to be my girlfriend” he declared.

“It was the same for me, these two weeks were simply wonderful. I think I had fallen for you and I was so happy that you asked me to be your girlfriend.” She said. They gave each other a hug, and he took her home.

He found a more secluded spot and he gave his new girlfriend a kiss, one that promises of more to come. “I love you, Seong-Im” he professed.

“I love you, Jong Kook oppa” she vowed.

Somehow their relationships didnt end up been cursed, they went past the half year mark and it ended up going strong after 4 years. Today, she was going to be his bride. He had been thankful that even when their relationship get tough, she didnt give up. Maybe she was his all along, they were playing hide and seek with each other until Seo-Ja came along to make them discover their true feelings for each other.