Dear Jonghyun,

I am your new pen pal~ my name is Park Eun Jae and I am 9 years old! Let’s become new friends?! What is your favorite color and animal!? Mine is white and I love tigers! I think that they are the coolest thing ever!

From,

Eun Jae

“Eun you’re mail came!” Eun Jae’s mother yelled once she walked through the door. “Momma!” she giggled and hugged her tightly. “Did Jonghyun actually write back?!” she laughed and handed her the letter. “Do you need help reading it?” Eun Jae’s mother asked her. Eun shook her head vigorously. “No, momma! I’m a big girl I can do it!” she laughed and went to sit down by the warm stove.

Dear Eun Jae,

Hi! I like the color black and my favorite animal is a dinosaur! Dinosaurs are huge and are the best! What is your favorite thing to eat? I love eating ramen noodles and pizza! Oh, I am 10 years old! So I am older than you and that means you have to listen to me!

Jonghyun.

Eun Jae and Jonghyun corresponded back and forth like best friends. They only met once when Eun Jae turned 11 but never did they meet again since he had moved farther away from her. In one letter when she was 16 he wrote,

Eun,

Do you feel like there is someone out there for you? Like a special someone, a soul mate perhaps? I don’t know but, I just recently broke up with my girlfriend. She kissed another guy so even though I liked her a lot, I had to break up with her cause I couldn’t trust her anymore. Eun, how are you? And have you even found a boyfriend yet? Haha, I’m coming back to Seoul soon so we should meet up for the first time in 5 years. Oh, I finally got a cell phone. You should call me sometimes or text. I forgot how you sound like. Unless, you want to just keep writing letters like this? Haha, I don’t mind.

Jonghyun.

She smiled and held the note to her heart. The reason why she didn’t have a boyfriend is because her heart already belonged to Jonghyun. From his first kiss to his first time watching , he has told her everything. Eun Jae grabbed a piece of paper and wrote back.

Jonghyun Oppa,

I’m glad that you broke up with her. Have the strength to move on cause she cheated on you. I am doing good oppa, are you? And you’re coming back to Seoul?! Haha we should meet up, I forgot how you look like. Its been too long and I don’t have a cell phone yet. Oppa, my mother is in the hospital again. The doctors say that she’s probably not gonna make it. Oppa, I don’t know what to do anymore. Since my dad died when I was born, I don’t know what to do without my mother. Jonghyun, I feel sad. But it’s alright, I can make it through this. I am 16 and I can live independently. See you soon then!

Eun Jae

She folded the letter and sent it in the mail. The meet up between Jonghyun and Eun Jae never happened. He never received her letter since he moved back to Seoul and she didn’t have the guts to call him. 3 days after sending the letter, Eun Jae’s mother died. Eun Jae dropped out of school and got a job to support her living costs. After not receiving a letter from Jonghyun for a month now, she gave up hopes of her childhood love and focused on working at the bakery.