I looked to my left, there was no sign of him. I looked to my right, there was still no sign of him.

“Why is he still not here yet?” I muttered to myself. It was unlike him to be late to anything, he was always the punctual one. I checked my phone once again and unsurprisingly there was no message from him. No message from anyone.

I was beyond frustrated, he was the one who made me promise him to wait outside my door everyday so we could walk to school together, and no he’s the one almost half an hour late. The wind was blowing my hair around and it kept going to my face. I was mad this time.

“MINJI! LEAVE NOW OR YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE TO SCHOOL!” I heard my mum scream for the tenth time this morning.

“JUST ONE MORE MINUTE MUM!” Just one more minute, Byun Baekhyun. Just one more minute.

It was silent for a few seconds before I heard the window slam shut. The screeching of the window reaching my ears in a matter of seconds. I knew she was pissed, for the many years I had been friends with Baekhyun my mum had never supported it. She knew what was going to happen, that I would fall in love with him and get my heart broken. But I didn’t care, because Baekhyun was the only person who had been by my side all these years, he was the only one I wanted in my life.

I counted to 60 seconds, 58.. 59.. 60.. but there was still no sign of him. I heard the window slide up, but I had no energy to look up, no energy to reply.

“I know. I know. I’m going to school now. Bye ..Mum.” I knew it was wrong of me to choose Baekhyun over my mum, but she gave me no choice. Ever since I had been a kid she had busied herself with work. When was I ever a priority in her life? It was always work over me.

And that was when Baekhyun came in. I remember that day clearly.

Silly old me, just sitting on the swings crying. I was sad, my mum had left to work and had forgotten my birthday. I was sobbing uncontrollably and my eyes were starting to hurt. I thought I was going to have to spend my birthday alone, but when someone sat on the swing next to mine I thought it was destiny.

“Hi my name’s Baekhyun. I just moved here.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you Baekhyun.” Great I’m here crying and I have to help a new kid.

“Why are you crying? Do you want to talk about it?”

And little did I know that that new kid would become such an important part of my life.

I arrived to school 3 minutes late. I knew it wasn’t Baekhyun’s fault, it was mine for believing he would come pick me up every morning just because he said he would 10 years ago. I thought it was a promise made between us. Something that hadn’t been broken for the past few years

“Minji I want you to promise me from now on you will wait for me outside your house so we will go to school together. Okay?”

“Okay” How could I ever reject him.

“Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise.”

Until he met her.

“Minji, I want you to meet someone.” He said to me. He looked shy, almost embarrassed.

“Who is it?” I was curious. Who have I not met before?

“I can’t tell you yet. But she’s someone special to me and I want you to meet her tomorrow. Would that be okay with you?” So it is a girl.

“Sure.” But was I really okay with it?

I walked into the classroom, the teacher wasn’t in yet. When I entered I felt all eyes staring at me, and then they looked towards my seat. The one I had been sitting in for the past few years, the one no one dared to take. The one next to my one and only friend, best friend and lover. Byun Baekhyun.

I looked around, what was wrong? And that was when it struck me. The seat no longer belonged to me, Baekhyun was no longer my best friend. And someone else was on my seat. Kim Taeyeon.

“MINJIII!!” I turned around. It was definitely Baekhyun’s voice.

“Hi Baek.” I looked up from the book I was reading and instead of seeing Baekhyun, I saw a girl next to him. To be precise, a girl who sits three tables in front of Baekhyun. She was staring at me, and I was staring back.

“Minji, meet my girlfriend Taeyeon.”

“Taeyeon, meet my best friend Minji.”

I was staring directly at the girl on my seat, she looked up at the same moment and gave me an evil glare. I understood what that meant and quietly made my way towards the back corner of my room. I walked past the millions of eyes which were staring at me and as I sat down the teacher came in, saving me from the embarrassment.

I was no longer mad at Baekhyun, I felt scared. He was my only friend, and now he’s gone. He didn’t even look up once, he didn’t check to see if I arrived to school, he didn’t even message me to tell me he was no longer going to walk to school with me anymore. He had changed.

“Baek, you’ve changed.” I was staring at the huge slump sitting next to me. He had started going to clubs with Taeyeon and arrived to school late every day with a hangover.

“That’s nonsense!” He suddenly got up and screamed into my ears. “Just because I no longer hang out with you and spend more time with Taeyeon you’re going to blame everything on her? Well let me tell you now. THIS IS MY LIFE. MY RULES. DON’T TELL ME THAT I’VE CHANGED BECAUSE THE ONLY THING THAT’S GOING TO CHANGE NOW IS OUR FRIENDSHIP. Jung Minji, we are no longer friends.” And with that he had walked out of the classroom. I had tears in my eyes and I knew everyone heard the conversation. I even heard a few snickers.

I looked over at the couple. Tears started welling up in my eyes again and as much as I hoped it was a dream, I knew it was time to face reality. When our fight had first started, he still came to walk to school with me. But he wouldn’t talk to me. No matter how many times I messaged and called to apologise, he would just ignore them. Then he stopped coming completely. He stopped waiting for me after class. And he just stopped being in my life altogether. And I could do nothing about it because I had fallen for him. For my best friend who now has a girlfriend.

I was laying in my bed thinking about the things that had happened. I had hoped Baekhyun would have gotten over it. I had hoped it was all just a joke. But the more I hoped, the more I got let down. Baekhyun and I had never been in a fight like this before, he had never ignored me for so long. I got out of my bed and walked over to the photo frame of us from when we were younger.

“Baek” I looked around for the boy with the newly dyed blonde hair, it was hard not to spot him. “Baekhyun.” I called again. I was waiting for him to reply me, but instead all I got was the sound of the camera flashin. That was when I realised he had taken a photo of me.

“BAEK. I wasn’t even ready.” I looked at him and he just had his normal grin on his face. How was I meant to not fall in love with him.

“Sorry, here let’s take one together?” I nodded and waited for him to bring the camera up.

“Okay 1..2..3 Cheese” I smiled and waited for the flash of his camera to signal that it was over. I tried to take the camera off him when I saw him looking at the photo we just took.

“Minji, I have a really pretty best friend. I’m keeping this photo.” My heart was racing, this was the first time he had called me pretty. I could feel my face heating up. But like he said, we were only best friends.

Best friends. How I wished we could’ve been like those love stories where the best friends fall in love and marry. Not a one sided love like us. I got out of the house, and as much as I wanted to forget him I found myself standing outside the house waiting for him. I had still had hope in him, in us.

But after around 5 minutes of standing in the cold, my feet went numb. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to turn up, just like the past week. With a half broken heart, I walked out of my house and turned towards the direction of the school.