It was the 25^th of August when silence was broken down by the sound of keys hitting the solid concrete. She opened her door and saw her new neighbor picking his keys carefully. When he has finally retrieved his keys, he glanced at her location and saw her looking at him. Her jaw dropped when she saw the man. His hair was pitch-black, his eyes were pure dark brown, his cheekbones so adorably enticing, his jaw line was perfectly structured, and his lips can make any woman swoon. He waved at her and raised his brows.

“Hi?” he greeted her shyly

Her heart swerved at the sweetness of his voice.

He chuckled at the girl.

“Hey!” he playfully said as he smiled at her.

“Oh! Sorry” She said as her senses finally went back to her, making her blush at the improper gestures and thought.

He chuckled softly as he put his fingers in his pocket.

“You know, with the way you were looking at me just a few seconds ago, I think I might have melted” he joked, smiling shyly at her.

She smiled as well.

“I’m Daehyun” he said as he reaches out for a handshake.

“Emma” she responded as she shook his hand.

“Well then, Emma” he said playfully by emphasizing her name.

“It’s nice to meet you and everything but I have to go fix my apartment, boxes are all over the place”

He said as he unlocks the door.

“Oh, okay then, see yah!” she said waving at him as he finally went inside.

When he was out of sight, she covered her faced and bit her lip as she silently squealed.

She didn’t expect her neighbor to be that handsome.

She went to her bedroom and rolled happily, knowing that her room is next to his.

Unknowingly, she fell asleep.

It was around noon when she got up. A muffled voice woke her, a man’s voice to be exact. She sat on her bed and closed the distance between her ear and the wall.

“She’s dancing with strangers, falling apart. Waiting for Superman to pick her up in his arms, yeah”

It was Daehyun, singing her favorite song of Daughtry out loud. She smiled from ear to ear and sang along.

“In his arms, yeah, waiting for Superman”

She was about to sing the next verse when a loud thud baffled her. She knocked on the wall, waiting for him to respond, but he didn’t. She knocked once more yet there was still no response. She panicked; she ran out her room and opened his door, running straight to his room. He was there, picking up his books from the shelf.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Well, my book shelf wasn’t that secure so they all fell haha” he laughed softly.

She kneeled down next to him and helped him pick up the books.

“Miss Peregrine? You know this book?”

“Know it? I love that book” he said, excited as he can be.

They burst into a conversation about their favorite book; how the plot was amazing, the arrangement of events was spectacular, and how high their expectations are on the movie.

That’s how their friendship bloomed; from a simple book, to the sweet cake they ate in his apartment, to the countless days they were together, talking about the most random things.

They became the best of friend in no time; telling funny stories, some stupid mistakes, idiotic jokes, and sharing secrets. Every morning, they would knock on the wall to see if the other one’s awake, every noon one of them will blast Daughtry from either apartments, at around 3 pm, they visit one another to watch a movie, tell stories, or just slack off, and at night, before they go to sleep, they’ll knock on the wall 3 times and then fall asleep at the same time.

It was like that for months, and slowly, Emma was falling for him. She never considered that feeling at first, but when he told her another secret about his family, she was sure of it; she fell for him. But she swore to herself to never tell him.

One silent evening while they were lazily plopped on the sofa; Emma lying on his arm.

4861. Emma?” he said softly as he played with her hair.

“Yeah?” She responded

“What do you usually do when you’re sad?” he asked out of the blue

She was silent for a while and answered sarcastically

“Cry”

“Then what do you do when you cry?” he said, still playing with her soft brown hair.

“I go to the park, look for my favorite tree, and hang upside down.”

“Upside down?”

“Yeah, so tears won’t have to flow and I get to turn my frown, upside down” she said wittily.

“Are you serious?” he asked with a stern tone.

She nodded.

“I usually go deep in that part of the park, that way no one can see me.”

He hummed in response.

The apartment then became silent, he wasn’t talking and neither was she. They were busy minding their own business.

“Could you do me a favor?” he asked silently

“Sure” she said

“I’m going to surprise this girl I like and I need your help planning this” he said without any stop.

She gulped, hearing her heart shatter silently on the inside.

“Sure! No problem” she responded cheerfully.

No, it was a problem. She said in her mind as she inhaled deeply and sighed. She looked at the clock and told Daehyun that she was going back to her apartment since it was a bit late. She stood up, but was pulled back down into Daehyun’s arms. He hugged her tightly from behind and inhaled her feminine scent.

“Thank you” he softly whispered into her ears

The next few days went on by a rush. The plan was simple yet sweet. On the rooftop of their apartment, a simple picnic was to be set up and they will wait until sunset. When the exact time comes, Emma and Amber will walk from the other side of the rooftop with a banner, a bouquet, a necklace, and stuffed rabbit.

“Must it be a rabbit?” she asked herself as she hit her head on the wooden board of her room.

“It’s almost time” Amber said as she read his message.

She looked at Emma with pity filling her eyes.

“Are you sure you can do this?” she asked carefully

“Yeah” she said nonchalant as she stood up and walked to the door.

5:57. it’s almost time, just 7 more minutes and the sun will finally set.

She composed herself, breathed deeply and decided to hold back her tears.

2 minutes.

“Let’s go Emma” Amber said gleefully

3 2 1

They went to where the couple was and gave the gift to her.

Emma looked at the girl and saw how beautiful she was; her rosy cheeks, her thin lips, her dark brown hair, and her eyes that perfectly match his.

When Daehyun stood up to put on the necklace, she smiled bitterly and left with Amber next to her.

Tears started to form so she started to run, making Amber chase her.

“Where are you going?” she half asked half yelled

“My spot” she said as she wiped the few droplets on her cheeks.

It wasn’t long until she arrived at her usual spot. She climbed the oak tree with her name engraved to its trunk, and hang upside down like she used to when she was young.

“Little do you know, how I’m breaking while you fall asleep”

She sung quietly.

“Little do you know, I’m still haunted by the memories, little do you know I’m trying to pick myself up piece by piece, little do you know, I need a little more time.”

She sung as her tears were forming and dropping to the ground, one by one. It took a while, but she managed to calm herself down and sat on the branch.

“Think you could hide from me didn’t you?” Daehyun said, surprising Emma.

She didn’t respond, rather, she bit her lip once more and hung herself upside down.

He sighed, and knocked on the wood, implying that he was on the other side of the tree, hidden from her point of view.

“Ask me whatever you want and I promise to answer” he said as he inhaled deeply.

With a hoarse voice, she spoke softly.

“Who am I to you?”

“You’re my best friend” he answered with a slightly shaky voice

She clenched her chest and sighed.

“Did you like me?” she asked as she dared not release her breath.

“Yes"

With his response, tears came rushing back to her eyes, trying once more to escape.

"I just didn’t pursue you because I was in love with her.” he continued as he crossed his fingers behind his back.

“Love?” she repeated.

“Yeah, love. I fell in love with her long ago, before we even met”

He lied, clenching his fist tightly as his conscience began to kill him.

He was never in love with that woman, no. He was in love with her, with Emma, but due to his parents’ word and debt, he was forced to marry that woman to pay it off.

He began to wipe his tears as he remembers every bit of detail he and his parents’ experienced because of that accursed debt.

“How about you?” he asked, as he finally mustered enough strength to talk.

“I –“ she choked

“Loved you.” She said softly, her voice trembling as she spoke.

Tears began to flow as the clouds dropped the well earned water from the sky. It was pouring, but they didn’t mind.

He sighed deeply and stood up from his spot.

“Emma” he said softly as he approached the girl hanging upside down.

“I’m sorry” he said, his voice shaky from the tears forming in his eyes.

He carefully closed the distance between them with a soft and tender kiss.

“Please forget everything about me” he whispered to her as their lips parted gently.