Youngsaeng refused to tell her what his wish was that night.

“I’ll tell you later. Just make sure to clear your schedule for this Saturday.” That was what he said when Seungyeon for umpteenth time trying to make him telling her his wish right away.

“Are we going somewhere?” She asked. And again, Youngsaeng only gave her a “We’ll see later,” making that girl frustrated.

They spent the rest of the time waiting for Jiyoung while listening to Seungyeon’s whining.

“Hey, don’t do this to me. You’re making me really curious that I think I’m gonna die. Can’t you just tell me right now? Or at least give me a hint, just a little hint will be okay. Please.”

The girl tried again. Her face was already like a lost puppy that was begging to be taken home. It made Youngsaeng felt weak somehow, losing the heart to do that but what could he do, he enjoyed making that girl curious more than anything. So he shook his head again, making the gesture as if he was closing a zipper on his lips as the sign that he won’t spoil anything, whatever the girl did.

And it made Seungyeon puckered her lips, getting more frustrated because of that guy.

“I hate you!” She said angrily. Here hands were folded across the chest while he mouth was pouting like a sulking little kid. Youngsang chuckled to see that sight in front of him.

Can we stay this close, like this for a long time?

*****

A courier came to her house with a package on Wednesday night when she was enjoying the dinner with her father, mother and sister at the dining room. The package was a big a box of a soft peach-colored. There was no identity of the sender and the courier said that he also didn’t know who the sender was. Confused, she gave her sign on the receipt then put the package on her room without opening it and she continued to feast on her dinner with anxiety.

She dragged Gyuri with her to her room after the dinner was done and forces that woman to accompany her opening that random package that she didn’t even know from where the source was. Nervous, they watched carefully over the package that was placed in middle of Seungyeon’s bed.

“Unnie, what do you think is inside this?” asked that girl to Gyuri who was sitting beside her. Her head tilted, eyes focused on the box in front of her.

“Dunno.” Gyuri mumbled, her index finger was on her chin.

“It can be just anything. But it seems like it’s not dangerous.” Said the older girl, continuing her previous answer.

She turned first to Gyuri before firmly saying, “Then, let’s open it!” Gyuri nodded encouraging her.

That girl then edging forward a few inches from her original place, enough to reach the box with her hand. She hit the top part of the box. There was no reaction, no sound or any move at all. Seems like it’s quite safe, she thought.

She paused for a while to pray before opening that box. Dear Lord, please keep us safe, she begged. Next she put her both hands on the two sides of the box lid, turning her head and shutting her eyes down but peeking once in a while.

It’s not a bomb, right? She thought.

She lifted the lid slowly and carefully. Gyuri counted in whisper beside her, one, two, three, and…

Gyuri stunned. Seungyeon froze in her place.

“*Ige mwoya?!” Gyuri yelled, annoyed. “And I thought our house would blow up because of this.” She cluck then crossed her arms as she changed her sitting style into a more comfortable one.

Unlike what they thought, the package only contained a dress covered with a clear wrapping paper. Right above it was placed a light blue envelope that was most likely containing the identity of the sender. Seungyeon took the envelope, put it on her bad and then got rid of the wrapping paper and lifted the dress to air.

The dress was a simple sleeveless dress but looked really lovable with the small flowers pattern that was printed on the surface. The neckline was quite high reaching the crook of the neck, that kind of turtleneck that would wrap around the neck itself. The basic color was beige with the floral pattern of black and brown flowers. Next to it was a leather belt with matching color. Gyuri directly urged Seungyeon to try it on.

Gyuri was amazed when that girl came out of the bathroom after changing her clothes and stood up in front of her sheepishly.

“It suits you, perfectly. Whoever sent this, that person chose a smart choice.” She said as she looked at the dress that hung gracefully just right above her knee.

“But, who is the person that sent this?”

Seungyeon suddenly remembered the blue envelope that she placed on her bed earlier. Hastily she walked toward her bed and picked the envelope then opened it in an impatient manner. She found a card inside.

Hey Hamster! It’s me, Youngsaeng. You must be surprised right? Haha. Send me a message after you received this package and I’ll call you, okay?

Ps: you have your schedule empty on this Saturday already, right?

Seungyeon smiled after reading the content of the card. She immediately turned around walking toward the desk where she put her cell phone.

“Who is the person?” Gyuri asked.

“Just read this and you’ll find out.” That girl answered as she held out the card that was previously hidden inside the blue envelope with her left hand. While her hand was busy pressing several numbers that she had memorized inside her mind.

“Ya!”

Right when Gyuri just read Youngsaeng’s name written on the card, in the same time Seungyeon’s call connected and that girl yelled immediately while holding her laughter. Gyuri smiled warmly at the scene in front of her eyes. Lying down on the bed, she let that girl sank into her pleasant conversation.

Hey, what the heck is this? Am I not the one who supposed to grant a wish of yours? I shouldn’t be receiving a gift like this.” The girls said complaining. She glanced at Gyuri who was pretending to be asleep on her bed while Youngsaeng giggled from the end of the line.

“Do you like it?” the guy asked.

“Hmmm, I don’t know. I have to hear your reason first before deciding whether I should like this gift or not.” She answered. Youngsaeng could imagine her cheeks went rounder on the both sides.

“Really. I know you like it. Would it kill you if say, ‘Yes, I really like it. Thank you’? You’re really too much.”

This time Seungyeon was the one who laughed. “**Ahrasseo.” She said. “I reallyyyyyyy like the dress. Thank you so much. Are you satisfied now?”

Youngsaeng only replied her with an irritated clucked, a fake one of course. They both laughed in rhymes afterward.

“Ah right, you haven’t answered my question.” Seungyeon said, bringing him out of his own joy. “Why did you give me this dress?” the girls asked again. She heard Youngsaeng getting silent for a while also his small sigh, making her wondering in her mind.

“Hmmm, I don’t know how to say this, but I need your help.” Youngsaeng started. Seungyeon leaned her back to the chair where she seated.

“A senior of mine who just graduated last winter will hold a farewell party this Saturday because he’s going to the State later on Monday.” He continued. Seungyeon listened carefully. Her other hand, the one that wasn’t holding her cell phone, played with the blue envelope that was previously where the card that came along the dress was placed.

“I know you don’t really like being in a crowded place such as a party, me too usually didn’t go to this kind of event. But because he is a senior that I respect a lot, I’ll feel bad if I don’t come. So, can you please go with me?” that guy asked in the end of his explanation. Tensing, whether Seungyeon would refuse or not.

There was a quite long pause before Seungyeon talked.

“Is that why you bought me a dress? Because you feel sorry to me?” that girls asked back. Somehow she felt like asking that question. Though it’s clear already, she thought.

“Err, maybe. Just think of it in that way.” Youngsaeng replied doubtfully. He himself also didn’t know why he even bought a dress for her.

Out of sudden, he remembered the words that Jiyoung said to him a few days ago when they were waiting for the food that they ordered in an Italian restaurant after Youngsaeng dragged her for the whole day from one shop to the another one to search for a suitable dress for Seungyeon. At that time Jiyoung got really annoyed at Youngsaeng because she had to try several clothes that were not even bought for her and afterward she had to guess the correct size of Seungyeon who had a smaller figure than her.

 “Oppa, come to see you like this for the whole day, troubling me and moreover troubling yourself just because a piece of dress, it seems like you really have fallen over head for Seungyeon unnie. Ah, I hope someday a guy would take care of me and treat me just as nice as how you treat Seungyeon unnie. Minus the part when you dumped her back then in the mall, of course.”

Youngsaeng came into a realization inside his self. Did he really have falling for that girl? Was it really love?

“Otter-nim! Are you still there?”

He got startled for his reverie when he caught Seungyeon’s voice flew threw the wire. He was daydreaming, not realizing that he was still on the phone with her.

“N-ne?”

“You’re castling in the air again, aren’t you?” Seungyeon asked. She was marveled at how many times already she caught him daydreaming lately in the middle of their conversation.

He didn’t even complain at the ‘Otter-nim’. Is there a problem? Anxiously, she thought.

“O-oh no. ***Geunyang…well. What did you say just now?”

He changed the subject again.

Seungyeon sighed. To be honest, she really wanted to ask further to him about whatever the problem that he had, but she knew he was even more stubborn than her about things like that.

“I just said that I’m willing to go with you.” Halfheartedly, she answered. That was the effect of her being curious and worried in the same time. But she realized she had no right to force him telling her everything.

While on the other side, the happiness that Youngsaeng felt was turning into confusion because his mind was too immersed with what Jiyoung said to him. He wasn’t sure whether to just let his self experiencing that kind of feeling or not.

“Okay then. See you later on Saturday. I’ll pick you up at 7 pm. Err, then, goodnight.”

Youngsaeng was ready to end the call. One side of him wanted to talk a little bit longer with her, just about anything. But he thought he had to get a hold of himself firstwhile trying to find out all the reasons of everything that he did for that girl all this time. Was it really love or just a normal liking feeling.

But Seungyeon hold him off.

“Wait!”

“Yes? Why?”

“You…” Seungyeon was hesitating.

“Can’t you…” She talked again but then stopped again.

“What?”

“Never mind. Just forget it. Good night.” And she hung up, ended the call right away.

Can’t you trust me and tell me what’s going on with you lately? Just like how I trust you? That was what she wanted to say but ended up as wasn’t able to say it. That night none of them could sleep soundly.

Is it really love? Is it love? Then if it is, am I allowed to have this kind of feeling for you, Seungyeon-ah?

Otter-nim, what’s going on with you actually? You’re making me worried.

*****

Saturday came, accompanied by the light rain in the morning that made the weather became even colder though it was spring. But luckily the rain stopped right before afternoon and not getting carried on again until the twilight came along with the arrival of Youngsaeng who pressed their house bell. He asked for he parents’ permission and talked with them for a while before they set off together walking down the wet stairway of the front yard of Seungyeon’s house after being washed by the rain for almost the whole day.

There was nothing that was too special from Seungyeon’s look that night even though Gyuri had spent the whole afternoon to doll up that girl; forcing to doll her up to be more precise. But since Seungyeon kept warned her to make her look too excessive, so the result was indeed not excessive. But for Youngsaeng, whose the first time to see her to ‘really wear’ some make up, it was just amusing.

She matched the dress that was given by Youngsaeng with a pair of black suede strapped wedges and a black clutch with a ribbon ornament on its end. A small silver vintage bracelet dangled gracefully on her right wrist. She only let Gyuri to put some, a really small amount of powder on her face, not too obvious crimson blush-on and a small amount of mascara. Her black-colored hair was flowing down a few inches below her shoulder.

But Youngsaeng; who walked closely beside her, who wore a black polo t-shirt along with a black casual blazer; noticed that there was something different, really different from the usual Seungyeon. It took some time for him to think that it was only when they got in front of his car that he could figure it out. The scent, it wasn’t the same scent that he smell whenever that girl was around him.

“Did you change your perfume?”

It was just too late already when he became conscious of what he was asking. It was a question that shouldn’t be asked because it was just awkward. They stared at each other with the same expression printed over their faces, shocked. For a while, their eyes met and it made the situation became more awkward that it had already.

Seungyeon immediately looked down and turned to other direction.

“N-ne. H-how could you-know?”

Her face got reddens in the dim of the street lamp that lighted up the front part of Seungyeon’s house. It was for the first time in her life a guy asked her that kind of question. An ordinary thing maybe for some people, but it made her wondering whether she had got too close to him as physically too for him to be aware of that small kind of changes like she changed her perfume.

“I-it’s just..a little bit different. The scent. You know. P-please don’t misunderstand- it’s just… Please just forget it. Let-let’s go!” Youngsaeng answered her question with a failed calm manner. In the end he decided to just put the topic off and started walking to the driver side. But his paces stopped when she spoke.

“Actually-this is Gyuri unnie’s perfume. She a-accidentally sprayed it on me earlier. So…” Seungyeon paused, sighed while her cheeks rounded.

“Is-is it that weird? The scent? To be honest, my style is slightly different Gyuri unnie’s-”

“No, it’s not weird at all. It’s just that I like the one that you use usually more.”

Youngsaeng felt like slapping his self for replying without putting much thought on his words. It seemed like his heart and mouth were working together against him, betraying him, the owner. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fist tightly as he walked in hurry into the car, leaving Seungyeon stood frozen outside. It was cold that day, but her cheeks were burnt.

They spent the drive to where the party was held in an awkward silence because of the conversation that they shared earlier. The digital clock on the dashboard showed 7:32 pm when they arrived at the parking lot of a cozy looking café around Gangnam.

Getting off from the car, they walked side by side to the café but still with a well-maintained distance. However when they got in front of the entrance, Youngsaeng immediately pulled that girl close to him and held her hand.

“Stay close to me.”

And she did.

She followed Youngsaeng anywhere. To the place where the party owner stood, to the corner where his guy friends got together, to the buffet, just simply anywhere. And along the process, she could feel the stares that people gave her and all the curious whispers behind her back.

All friends of Youngsaeng that they approached would definitely look at her with curiosity then tried to get some detail information from Youngsaeng about her identity and her relationship with Youngsaeng. But as expected, he just wouldn’t say anything. He just gave them a slight smile, tightened his grip on her hand and changed the topic of the conversation.

To the senior, the one who held the party, Youngsaeng only said that Seungyeon was a friend on him, a special friend he said. That senior laughed after hearing it and said something weird.

“Seems that the winter has ended for real. The snow had completely melted.”

*****

Seungyeon had just walked out of the toilet when she saw two figures that she knew were standing in the end of the alley.

“Aren’t they…”

She stared intensely at the woman using black dress with a silver clutch on her hand. She knew that dress well, also the clutch and the silver heels she wore and more than that, the owner. But it was just too impossible she thought if that woman there was true the person that she knew. Especially, since she was with that guy, the familiar guy that was standing in front of her. They seemed to be drowning in a deep conversation.

There’s no way that’s her. I must be dreaming...

She kept watching over them as they kept talking not noticing that she was there. But out of sudden they walked away and disappeared from her sight after turning into a corridor. She started moving from her place with bog steps, trying to run over them. Forgetting that she had to go back to the main hall where Youngsaeng waited for her.

Seungyeon could hear her own heartbeats as she walked faster. She needed to make sure that the couple or whatever they were that she saw earlier weren’t the person she thought they were. She reached the end of the alley and all set to turn into the corridor when she bumped into someone.

Her clutch fell to the floor while she bounced a few inches backward. Hurriedly bending down to take her fallen clutch, she held her sore shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” She said and ready to leave. She had no intention to see who the person that she bumped into because the longer the time that she spent there, the lesser the chance that she got to find out about those people earlier.

But she was being pulled and cornered to the wall that she couldn’t walk on.

“Where are you going?”

She looked up, meeting the stare of the guy that she bumped into and got shocked.

Kyujong oppa!

Her eyes went really wide as she realized who was it and how close they were standing to each other. More than that, there was one more thing that scared her to death, Kyujong wasn’t sober. He was drunk. She could smell the alcohol smell coming from him.

“What do you think are you doing? Let go of me!” Seungyeon tried to pull her hand out in anger. But Kyujong’s grasp was just too strong and tight that she failed.

“Seungyeon-ah. Is it really you? Seems that it’s really you, our Seungyeonnie.”

She got alarmed as Kyujong started to talk again. The fear was taking over her, for some reason that she didn’t know, the drunken Kyujong made her scared

“You’re really bad Seungyeon-ah.” Kyujong barely said. “Really bad. Now that you have a boyfriend, you don’t even want to stay for a while and give a greeting to your oppa.”

Kyujong smiled sarcastically as he finished his words.

“How could you be so cruel to me?!” Kyujong’s voice rose higher as he went closer to her, bringing his face closer to hers. She could feel his breathing on her face also the strong alcohol smell.

She got panicked, she was scared, she was confused. A lot of things spun around on her mind. She needed to go looking for the woman and the guy that she saw earlier. She needed to escape from Kyujong. And she thought of Youngsaeng, she needed him to save her. She was afraid and she needed him to be there. A single tear drop when she shut her eyes closed, she thought she might as well die.

The next thing that she knew was a hand pulled her from the wall, bringing her into her/his warm embrace. And the sound of someone was being punched hazily came into her earshot.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.”

*****************************************************************************

*Ige Mwoya = What the heck is this?

**Ahrasseo = I got it.

***Geunyang = just.

AUthor's note:

Kyujong is back! Slightly! :)

This is the update. Sorry that it took a longer time than I expected. Don't forget to leave comments and hit the subscribe button :) Thank you for reading this :) I love you guys.

Anyway, thank you so much to shiawase  for helping me chose the clothes for Seungyeon. I'm not really good at fashion, so it's really a big help. Thank you so much baby :)

And just in case if you guys want to know the look of Seungyeon's dress just click http://www.google.co.id/imgres?q=floral+dress&hl=id&biw=1024&bih=392&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=MsMOZZMlSZfnFM:&imgrefurl=http://www.stylehive.com/bookmark/1950s-vintage-floral-dress-beaut-vintage-900961&docid=pxEztsHA9HugHM&w=300&h=500&ei=kCwxTrv8CvDRiALs97WYBg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=15&page=4&tbnh=135&tbnw=101&start=45&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:45&tx=75&ty=110 :)