TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO -- IN THE HIDDEN AREAS WITHIN THE MYEONGDONG CATHEDRAL

The girl clad in a formal dress that reached just past her knees stopped when she heard a loud man's wailing. She scanned the place, searching for where that sobbing was coming from but she didn't find a single person on sight. They were pretty far away from where the wedding was still happening but she could still hear some faint murmuring of people. She doesn't even know if they were allowed in here since there was no people from where sh stood. As far as she knew, she maybe in a secret place exclusive for the church people. 

The girl who was now forming beads of sweat from anxiousness was taking cautious steps, trying not to make a sound, scared that she'll get caught for potentially trespassing. People would tell her that she looked like she was from elementary so if she did get caught, they might just let her off with a warning. Church people are supposed to be nice to kids, aren't they? Well, not if you're a 22 year old posing to be an innocent grade schooler. 

The crying started to subside and it just made her more frantic. How was she going to find him now? She bit her lip and mentally scolded herself. Why did she even follow him? She was never the kind of person to act so rashly. Heck, she didn't even know why they invited her here despite the fact that she slapped the bride during their high school days. She admits that she let her emotions get the best of her then but she just wanted the best for him. The him that she had an eye on ever since he stepped at the foot of their school. If she wasn't a part of the orchestra that was playing, she would've just stayed at home and wallowed in grief. 

She flinched when she heard footsteps. She covered her face in hopes of not getting seen even though she stood there trembling in the middle of the big, empty hall. The footsteps started to get louder and she widened her eyes underneath her hands. She walked in hurried steps with her face still covered. The footsteps just got more and more prominent and that's when she knew that she was being followed. She started counting to 10 in her head to try and calm herself down but that seemed to do her more harm than good. It only made her worries even bigger as their footsteps got louder every time she counted. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.... Oh god. Oh god. They're coming.. Oh god. 

She felt a rough hand grip her left arm and that's when her nerves broke loose.

"OH MY GOD! 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, OH GOD, PLEASE! I'M ONLY IN ELEMENTAR--- mmmffffhh!!!!!!!"

She felt another rough hand cover , muffling her pleads and screams. 

Oh god, this is where I'm going to die. At least I'm already in a church. Darn, I haven't even paid all my bills yet. Why do I have to have this cursed life!!!

She felt the hand that was on her arm pull her behind a pillar. The arm moved to circle her waist, locking her in place. She kept producing muffled screams in hopes to not be murdered in such a holy place but all she heard again was the faint talks from where the wedding was being held. 

"Shut up. I hear someone." Her soon-to-be murderer mumbled under her ear. 

She shut her eyes and let her tears fall. Oh god, she repeated. She was going to be murdered by an English-speaking person. Couldn't she at least be murdered by a person who she could understand and maybe bargain with for her body? Yeah, like her child-like body was worth it for bargaining for her lif--- Oh no! What is this guy was a e and that's why they're pinning themselves to her. This is really the end for her. 

"Damn, stop crying, Ji-eun! We'll get caught!" they hissed. 

She looked up and saw Donghae's busted up, tear-stained face, glancing behind the pillar they were hiding behind. He looked down at her and roughly wiped his face clean when he saw her looking at him almost disgustedly. He glanced back to the hall and sighed in relief when the coast was clear. He immediately let go of her and tiredly slumped down to the floor. Ji-eun just stood there watching him. Donghae couldn't hold back and started crying again while forcing a smile. She sat down in front of him and offered her handkerchief which he then defiled. They just sat there in silence with Donghae mostly hiccuping and Ji-eun silently watching him. 

"W-why are y-oo-ou here?" he stuttered, trying to look away from her. 

"Why are you making yourself smile?" she asked back. 

Donghae weakly punched her in the shoulder and smiled wider which made her pity him even more. "I asked you first." he said breathlessly. 

"Looking for the washroom and I got lost." she lied. 

He saw her looking down and fumbling with the hem of her dress. He chuckled, mirthless, and ruffled her hair and she just bowed her head down more not wanting him to see her eyes welling up. "Aigoo, how are you going to survive on your own? If I didn't see you, you might still be wandering out here until dawn. You should really pay attention to where you're going." he murmured and messed his own hair. 

"Answer my question." she ordered weakly, sinking underneath her hair. 

There was silence for a while and she completely understood. She was about to let her tears fall but he suddenly laughed heartily making her stop. She slowly looked up and saw him chuckling to himself while covering his eyes. She could see tears spilling out from his hands while a bright smile played on his lips. She hesitantly took his hands away and found that the smile on his lips reached his eyes too. She grabbed her snot-stained hanky from his hand and wiped the sadness off his face. She hugged him by the neck while he weakly hugged her back by the waist. Her tears pooled and erupted making the both of them bawl and cry even more. 

They were the same. They fell in love to the people that they knew wasn't theirs in the first place but still, they fell in love with them. However, she did give props to Donghae for trying to fight for his unrequited love when all she did was fight back in a cowardly way and to disappear from her love's life entirely. She had always been scared of people but she knew them well but she just doesn't know how to handle it. She knew Jiyong wasn't the type of person everyone percieves him to be but she was too scared for herself. She was a coward. She just stood behind and admired from afar unlike Donghae who confessed his feelings endlessly. 

At the end one has to choose if you would rather stay behind and not get hurt but live with the burning thoughts of what could have been, or run ahead only to be pierced with the unforgiving truth but still get a chance to stay by their side. These were the two options that either one had to take and each one felt like it was a bigger burden than the other. But at the end of the day, the person who stays behind eventually leaves and the person who runs ahead does the same.

No one can stay running or standing in the same race forever...

"I'm happy." he cried on her shoulder.

"Me too." She wiped her face on his suit.

They already know that how much they'll try, they will always end up on the losing end... 

TWO YEARS LATER -- IN AN EMPTY CAFÉ IN THE SEOUL ARTS CENTER

"Here." Donghae gave her his phone with a picture of Mino in it. She squealed and thrashed around while gushing over how cute 'mini Jiyong' was. 

She wasn't always like this. The first time he met her, she was rather shy and timid. True to her words, she was always mistaken as an elementary student even though she was in university. The both of them were auditioning for a spot in the renowned Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He was playing with a graceful and pleasant violin while she was playing with a fun and boisterous trumpet. The other players said that they should switch since both their instruments didn't coincide with their selves but that didn't stop them from playing their desired instruments. They eventually got in although they didn't have permanent positions but it was well worth it knowing that they were a part of the nation's orchestra. 

Back to them, Donghae noticed this change with her after their little crying fest in a remote area in that church. That was when he also knew that the both of them were crushing on either Dara or Jiyong and Ji-eun called him slow for only figuring it after that. 

"Well how was I supposed to know?! I didn't even know you were connected with him. It looked like you were just strangers." Donghae defended. 

Ji-eun smiled sadly and lied on the floor. "Yeah, I guess we're just strangers now."

"But you got a personal invitation that had your name on it, didn't you?" He hovered over her. 

"Yeah?" 

"That means you were never a stranger." He grinned. "And like hell am I too. Stop rubbing your negativity on me