Jongin knew how many times he begged for time to stop, it wouldn’t listen to him.

Time waits for no one. It will never stop. It will always exist, and it will always run away.

Fast.

Too fast.

Kai sighed for the up tenth time as he was sitting there inside the train, beside Krystal who was still listening to the music inside her phone.

Kai closed his eyes, tried to let go of heavy weight that kept on dragging his heart down into bottom pit.

Why was it hurting there? Inside his chest?

It’s only six days passed, why he felt like he couldn’t even wiggle out free from the memories he suddenly made? From the unexpected first meeting with Krystal, to all the times they spent together from Tokyo to Kyoto.

No, Kai couldn’t let him go.

He just… couldn’t.

Kai turned to look at the blonde girl sitting beside him.

Krystal didn’t look troubled at all with this separation. She even nodded her head along with the music, putting on expressionless face as usual.

Kai bit his lower lip and looked away.

Perhaps… he’s the only one who couldn’t let those memories go?

But no matter how hard Kai tried to look away, at the end he found himself looking back at Krystal.

Now he had already known her name, but the rest still remained a mystery for Kai.

Who is him for Krystal? What would happen to them once they separated?

Would they still keep in touch with another, or would they forget each other just like a dust memories in the summer?

Because if that’s what Krystal wished, Kai couldn’t do it.

The girl beside him, suddenly-, just really suddenly…

…had filled the gaps in Kai’s heart that he never even realized exist. And no one had ever been to that gap before.

Not even Irene.

Krystal, finally, turned to look back at Kai when she sensed the burning gaze of the other. She smiled a little, pulling one of her earphone. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Kai was startled to hear the question. He blinked a few times, and looked away. “…no. Nothing’s wrong.”

The blonde rose her eyebrows, but didn’t ask more question. She then looked at the information board when the next stop was announced.

“Ah, I should get off on the next station.”

Kai looked up sharply, to the name of the station Krystal meant. “What? Aren’t we supposed to get off on the same station together?”

Krystal shook her head. “I have some business to finish first before I could go to Kyoto station. You go ahead.”

“W-why I couldn’t tag along?” Kai asked. “I c-could accompany you first.”

Krystal smiled and shook her head. “This is a private matter, I can’t take you with me. You should go ahead first.”

Kai felt a pang on his heart when he heard that.

So that’s how it is.

In the end, Kai was the only person who think Krystal’s special.

Kai was the only one who wanted to get hold to the relationship.

For Krystal, he means nothing so important.

Kai felt a choke on his throat, and he bit his lower lip.

“Ah, I should buy more matcha mochi for my sister.” Krystal said to herself. “She loves green tea. Perhaps that way she would give me extra pocket mone-,”

“Are we just going to separate like this?”

Kai suddenly cut Krystal’s words, making the blonde looked at him with puzzled expression. “…hm?”

“Are we,” Kai repeated again, this time looking at Krystal dead in the eyes. “Gonna separate like this, by only knowing names of each other?”

Krystal furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head.

“I-…, I want to know more about you, Krystal.” Kai said, eyes wavered as he fisted his hands together. “It sounds really weird that we… we just knew each other for six days but I already…”

Kai’s voice weakened at the end, and his eyes shone in desperation.

“…I grew fond of you.”

Maybe he would get another heartbreak.

Maybe love hadn’t been on his side yet.

But that time, Kai couldn’t hold his own feeling inside. He didn’t keep quite anymore, like the days where all decisions and choices were given to Irene. Throughout the six days with Krystal, he learned to act more impulsively. To say what he wanted to say. To do what he wanted to do.

He wouldn’t regret it.

No matter what would turn out to be...

He wouldn’t-, definitely wouldn’t regret it.

“Krystal, I think…” Kai could feel his chest tightened. “…I am interested in you.”

Krystal didn’t say anything.

She just sat there and looked at Kai with unreadable expression.

Kai hates how Krystal always shows that expression every time, no matter what happens. He hates how she always wait for a while before answer, as if she studies and enjoys the tortured look of her opponent who is dying to know her answer.

“Dear guest, we are now arriving at Tofukuji station. Tofukuji station. For the way out, please use the door on the left.”

The announcement was heard again, and the train slowly came to a stop. People started to get up and headed to the door appointed to, and the sound of their footsteps was nothing compared to Kai’s heartbeat.

Kai could feel the cold sweat formed on his forehead, and he knew he had been his hands too tight. He knew all, but he didn’t care.

He was waiting for Krystal’s reaction, and he couldn’t care any less with the other.

Krystal stared at Kai for a long time, before curved the corner of her lips into a smile. “…I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling that way.”

Kai’s eyes widened as big as possible when he heard that.

…what?

“Of course I don’t want to separate like this.” Krystal said before opening her bag and took out a red box. He placed it on Kai’s laps and smiled. “For you.”

Kai looked down at the box and rose his head again. “W-what is this?”

Krystal smiled. She didn’t answer, but instead leaned forward and suddenly placed a small peck on Kai’s cheek.

She pulled away and met a frozen Kai. The boy’s lips parted open and his eyes widened so big it could almost popped out of their socket.

“See you soon.” Krystal smiled as she got up and grabbed her suitcase. “I will be waiting for you in Seoul.”

With that she jumped out of the train, followed by the train’s door that closed right behind her.

Krystal turned around and looked at Kai who was still keeping his puzzled expression on, before smiled and waved her hand.

Kai was only got taken back to reality when the train started to move. He rose from his seat and ran to the closed door. He placed his hands on it as he saw how Krystal slowly got far away because of the moving train. The girl was still smiling, before she turned around and walked away. Her figure slowly disappeared and got replaced by the rails.

Kai’s body trembled.

What did the other girl mean by that? Why did she kiss him? Why did she say she felt the same way?

Kai looked up and saw the next stop. It’s Kyoto Station. Kai turned to look at a high school girl who was sitting beside the door, looking at him with weird look.

“H-how long will it takes until we reach Kyoto Station?” he asked in English.

“E-eh?” the girl seemed taken a back with the sudden question, then panicked looked around. “K-kyoto station-, ano…”

“Twenty minutes.” The boy sitting beside her replied.

Kai widened his eyes. “That long?”

He nodded.

Kai felt his energy got drained away from him. There’s no way he could chase Krystal again, and it’s not like the train would stop like those in romantic dramas just because Kai wanted to.

Kai groaned and laid his head on the door.

If only he moved a little faster…

Then, his eyes accidentally saw the box Krystal left for him. He blinked, then  returned back to his seat with fastened pace.

He sat down, opened the small box and greeted with the mini whale shark doll Krystal used to annoy him with back then in Kayukan.

“Ah, this…”

Kai whispered as he took the doll, looked at it. He suddenly remembered the time when Krystal excused herself to buy something even after he prevented Kai to buy anything in Kaiyukan.

So she bought this…

Kai couldn’t help but smile. He looked back to the box and found many polaroid pictures of him there.

The pictures that Krystal took along their journey.

Kai took the pictures and looked at them one by one. There’s picture of him with the lolita girls in Harajuku, with Hachiko in Shinjuku, picture of him and Krystal holding 8 layered ice cream in Nakano…

Kai looked at them thoroughly as the memories behind the pictures flashed through his mind.

“I don’t ask to be photographed. Besides, you already have my photographs. What are you collecting them for?”

“I will give it to you before we separated since you never take any picture of yourself.”

Kai smiled when he remembered their conversations inside the Tempozan Ferris wheel a few days ago.

“You really give them to me…” He said before smiled.

Then, his attention was caught by a picture where he was holding a camera with red vibrant gates of Fushimi Inari as the background.

It was taken just before, when Krystal took his picture as well.

Kai smiled again, before sighed.

“How would I meet you again, in the middle of thousands people in Seoul?” He asked to himself, as he put the picture back to the box.

But as he did so, the picture of him holding camera in Fushimi Inari fell to the floor. Kai bowed down to pick it up as it laid face-down on the floor, but then he froze.

There’s a handwritten behind that picture.

486, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-guSeogyoPrugio Apartment store B121, Seoul, South Korea. If you come again next time, I will make you a more delicious iced macchiato.

Kai frowned when he read it.

That’s…

Krystal’s address?

He could feel his heartbeat increased again, and his trembled hand fished out his phone from his pocket. He typed the address on the google with shaky finger, and once he pressed enter the picture of the café popped out on the screen.

“…café?”

Kai frowned.

…why café?

 “Seriously? You call me Bubblegum girl while you don’t know why I call you Macchiato?”

“I called you bubblegum because you gave me that on our first meeting.”

“Same goes to me.”

“But… I didn’t remember we had any macchiato  at all?”

“You didn’t?”

The conversation he had with Krystal rang again inside his mind.

Kai looked again at the café picture, before enlarging it. Now that he could see the entrance door of that café clearly, he widened his eyes as a flashback hit him.

He remembered this café, a small and almost unnoticed café with slightly rustic cozy atmosphere inside.

He remembered how he almost knocked his head over the wooden sign of the café as he stepped in because his attention was too taken by the phone he was holding.

He remembered how bland the taste of iced macchiato he had that day, and he didn’t know whether it was because of his bad mood or the barista just couldn’t make a good iced macchiato.

Kai frowned again Kai gasped as he looked up from his phone.

He remembered it.

He remembered when he got out of the shop and turned back to look at the café. He locked eyes with the barista. She had those long black hair with a cold expressionless look on her face.

It’s exactly the same.

It’s…

It’s Krystal.

Kai felt his breath raged as he finally found the place where he could search his bubblegum girl, the one that keep pestered his mind like a real gum.

That afternoon, Kai almost swore that the noisy sound of the running train…

…was nothing compared to his heart which almost jumped out of his ribcage.

A/n

Ohohohohohohohoho

We are here at the final chapter, finally! Wait I have been writing this story since like... July 15! And now that it's coming to an end, I am really happy hahaha. So I make this story based on my personal experiences when I went to Japan this January 2016. Well of course there was totally NO such dramas like what KaiStal experienced happened to me (go cries in the corner) but I am a person with wide scale imaginations so I ended up imagining romantic things as I travel.

And there after-globe goes for you guys. Hehehe.

I didn't expect I would gain this much readers, more likely because this is my very first story ever in this account. This may be not the best story that you would read, but I did my best to write all my emotions and imaginations down.

So~ I hope you like this story!

...and well yeah, there will be an epilogue of course. Shouldn't we like let them meet each other first? Because the sweet Lanhudiee demands them to do so, I will leave one more chapter soon <3

Thanks so much for spending your time reading, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

See you soon!

*for the love of writing, onerusticpen*