3 years later…

She leaned in tiredly the passenger seat of a cab, even after trying and trying she hadn’t succeed in getting her driving license. Work finished earlier for her that day, as the result of the end of a glorious project and working overtime for the previous days. She sighed, being a junior employee was rather hard. Maybe she should just take her father advice to work on their family company but after graduating she refused right away. She took a pride on her own effort.

Her phone beeped once, indicating a new message. It had been put on a silent mode since she wanted to work in amity. When she rummaged inside her jacket pocket and took the small device, there were six unread messages waiting for her. It made her frown because she was sure she checked it just three hours ago. What was happening and what was so urgent.

She opened it one by one, lips puckering. There was one each coming from Nicole, Kyujong, Gyuri, two from Jinki―a coworker that was trying to hit on her lately―and the last one, that made her pupils grew wider, was from a contact name she hadn’t seen for a while.

Unnie, he is back.

***

The cab stopped right in front of the destine building and she literally ran out of it after paying. Her fatigue had flied away somewhere else and what remained inside her at the moment was desire to prove the content of the message she received earlier. Was it true or did someone play a joke on her.

She dashed off inside the elevator that was just about to close and impatiently pressed the floor number she remembered clearly, and dearly. The short trip felt so long as the pound inside her heart became harder and harder. She suddenly felt really nervous and anxious. What if someone really played a joke on her while she had been keeping her hopes high? The pain would be unbearable again.

As the elevator arrived with a ‘ding’ sound, she lost all the impatience she had earlier. She thought, maybe she should just go back home instead of being here. Because she was afraid of what would happen, the probability of experiencing a disappointment and hurt was not small.

Even if the message is true, what if I came here for nothing?

She thought, doubting.

But then, I’ve spent these years waiting in uncertainty. I need a precision, I need to know where I’m standing.

In the end she walked out of the elevator toward a room that number she knew by the heart. She pressed the bell once and placed her palm in the camera, shielding it, afraid that he wouldn’t open the door if he saw her face in the intercom.

She waited and got no response. She pressed it once again and then heard a movement from inside. She could feel he was nearing the door and her heart wanted to jump out of its place.

Taking a step backward, she stood properly in front the door that was being opened. A familiar face appeared before her, shock written all over it.

She inhaled. “How long do you intend to run away?”

***

Seungyeon used to think she would never be back inside the same room again. But there she was, after three years―two years of waiting and one year of a hide and seek game. It was pretty much the same, everything she remembered was perfectly placed in the exact spot as before.

The feeling was what different. It was like the one she felt when she was there for the first time, even distance away from that. There was a tension flying in the air as she sat in the old couch waiting for him who had gone to take some drink from the kitchen. From his expression earlier, she knew she wasn’t welcomed there.

He came back with two mugs in hands, and she smiled a little at the sight. It reminded her of the old days when she did all the silly things everytime she went over to his place. He put one in the coffee table in front of her, she peeked over and just as expected it was filled with yellow liquid. He hadn’t changed much, at least in that aspect of keeping orange juice in his fridge.

When he sat down in the far end of the couch, she boldly turned around and took a thorough look at him. He lost some weight and his hair was cut shorter. His skin was a bit tan than it was before, the result of all trainings she supposed.

“Where have you been?” She asked, though she knew the answer. She kept the contact with Jiyoung all this time he wasn’t around, updating if there was even a slight new from him. About the courage she had to talk to him after worrying and everything, she thought she had the right to know. Because it was not completely her fault he ran away on his own without demanding her for explanation.

“Army.” He answered, sipping some drink and put the mug over the table.

“And then?”

Army usually took two years and he disappeared for three years. Of course she got the truth about him enlisting after threatening Jiyoung days by days after she found his letter. Jiyoung literally fed her every single thing that came from him when he was at the military: letters, phone calls, day offs. The younger girl told her too when he was discharged but she was on a business trip to Beijing for a week at that time while he only stayed over his parent’s house for three days before disappearing away to who knew where.

Since then, she couldn’t catch a glimpse of his existence. Even Jiyoung couldn’t help her as she too didn’t know where he was while his parent kept their mouth shut no matter what she did and said.

“Well, just here and there.”

For a while, the silence took over them and it made them realize how much they missed each other’s presence in both life. But everything was a blur vision of misunderstanding and it had been a while since they met each other. It was not impossible that he was seeing someone else at the moment, she thought. While on the other hand, he believed she was progressing well with Kyujong after the last time.

His head was bad, because despite everything that he believed was going on with her, deep down he would give anything to go back in time. To claim her as his, to make her his and never let her go. He wished they were still in that fake relationship, because that lie was better than having the thought she was someone else’s woman.

But then, what, he wanted her to be happy. As platonic as it sounded, he was willing to let her go to another guy’s side as long as she was happy.

She cleared he looked at her direction, only to meet her ring finger that was adorned by a silver ring. He swallowed a lump, feeling his heart squeezed tightly. What did he expect actually, for Kyujong to waste the chance and not proposing to her when both of them obviously loved each other?

Stupid.

“I…”

“I think you have to leave now. I have an appointment in ten minutes.” He lied, cutting her sentence off.

What was the use of letting her there if all that she would give him was a concern of an old good friend? Just like what she used to call him, a good guy friend.

He was standing up, about to her to the front door when her question stopped him at his track.

“Are you seeing someone at the moment?”

There was bitterness in her tone and he convinced himself he was imagining it.

“Why?” He asked back, staying still in his place because the courage to see her had fled away somewhere.

He heard a movement, she was moving up from the couch.

“Because if you are, I’ll stay away and stop trying.”

Her sentence made his head spun around in dizziness. If he was not wrong, if he interpreted it in the right way, if what she was saying was what he thought she was saying, it only meant one thing.

He turned around sharply and found tears were forming in the edge of her eyes. He wanted to run over and did all the images in his head, but he needed to be sure of what he was doing.

“Trying for what?”

She smiled sadly at his question and she failed, as the tears finally ran down her face.

“To start over and make you love me again.”

And that was all that he needed to run to her, taking her inside his arms as she cried harder and sobbed, overflowing with all the suppressed emotions. He hugged her tightly, just the way he wanted to all this time when he was around her, in his dream when they were distances away and that day when she appeared at his doorstep.

“You liar.” She sobbed. “You said you will wait for me, you told me not to kick you out of my life but then you left.”

He closed his eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

She cried even harder at that and started hitting his chest. “Do you know how desperate I searched for you? You jerk! You didn’t even believe in me and left without hearing my explanation.”

He pulled her away and cupped her cheeks. “Please forgive me,” he said, pecking her lips once. He ran his thumbs over her cheek, erasing the strain of the flowing tears and pecked her lips once again. “I’m really sorry,” he whispered, “I did wrong.” He put a soft kisses on her both eyelids. She stopped crying by then, leaving small sobs and uneven breath. He continued to leave kisses on her forehead, cheeks and nose while uttering words of apology.

“I love you, then and now.” He whispered at last before crushing their lips together. He kissed her intensely, heatedly, conveying all the longings, feelings and emotions he had for her. He kissed her until she gasped desperately for air and grabbed his collar for support because her mind was light and had stopped functioning and her feet turned into jelly.

He took her left hand and brought it higher before breaking their kisses. “I have one question though,” he said, staring right into her clouded eyes and she produced a weak sound of affirmation. “Whose ring is this?” He asked, the shiny thing in hurry.

It took her two seconds to realize he was doubting and worrying over his own assumption again. Somehow, her heart bloomed at that, because it only indicated of how he felt about her. Yes, he still love her, he loved her. And she grabbed his neck, kissing him hard. “No one,” she said in between their kisses. “Bought it myself.” She nibbled his lower lips and he sneaked his arms in her waist, letting her took the control. Suddenly all his concerns were proved to be nothing and he felt relief, because finally he was sure that she was his and he was hers. They were meant to be, he believed now, right from the start at that parking lot in that winter.

“Marry me.” He asked when she finally let go.

She didn’t say anything but her eyes sparkled in the most beautiful way he ever saw since the first time they met and her lips curled up delicately, giving him the most sincere smile he ever had from her.

“I’m choosing your wedding dress.” He said, lifting her up from the floor.

“I’m choosing our honeymoon destination. Oh, no, we will decide it together.”

She managed to say before he swoop her into a series of kisses again.

3 years later…

She leaned in tiredly the passenger seat of a cab, even after trying and trying she hadn’t succeed in getting her driving license. Work finished earlier for her that day, as the result of the end of a glorious project and working overtime for the previous days. She sighed, being a junior employee was rather hard. Maybe she should just take her father advice to work on their family company but after graduating she refused right away. She took a pride on her own effort.

Her phone beeped once, indicating a new message. It had been put on a silent mode since she wanted to work in amity. When she rummaged inside her jacket pocket and took the small device, there were six unread messages waiting for her. It made her frown because she was sure she checked it just three hours ago. What was happening and what was so urgent.

She opened it one by one, lips puckering. There was one each coming from Nicole, Kyujong, Gyuri, two from Jinki―a coworker that was trying to hit on her lately―and the last one, that made her pupils grew wider, was from a contact name she hadn’t seen for a while.

Unnie, he is back.

***

The cab stopped right in front of the destine building and she literally ran out of it after paying. Her fatigue had flied away somewhere else and what remained inside her at the moment was desire to prove the content of the message she received earlier. Was it true or did someone play a joke on her.

She dashed off inside the elevator that was just about to close and impatiently pressed the floor number she remembered clearly, and dearly. The short trip felt so long as the pound inside her heart became harder and harder. She suddenly felt really nervous and anxious. What if someone really played a joke on her while she had been keeping her hopes high? The pain would be unbearable again.

As the elevator arrived with a ‘ding’ sound, she lost all the impatience she had earlier. She thought, maybe she should just go back home instead of being here. Because she was afraid of what would happen, the probability of experiencing a disappointment and hurt was not small.

Even if the message is true, what if I came here for nothing?

She thought, doubting.

But then, I’ve spent these years waiting in uncertainty. I need a precision, I need to know where I’m standing.

In the end she walked out of the elevator toward a room that number she knew by the heart. She pressed the bell once and placed her palm in the camera, shielding it, afraid that he wouldn’t open the door if he saw her face in the intercom.

She waited and got no response. She pressed it once again and then heard a movement from inside. She could feel he was nearing the door and her heart wanted to jump out of its place.

Taking a step backward, she stood properly in front the door that was being opened. A familiar face appeared before her, shock written all over it.

She inhaled. “How long do you intend to run away?”

***

Seungyeon used to think she would never be back inside the same room again. But there she was, after three years―two years of waiting and one year of a hide and seek game. It was pretty much the same, everything she remembered was perfectly placed in the exact spot as before.

The feeling was what different. It was like the one she felt when she was there for the first time, even distance away from that. There was a tension flying in the air as she sat in the old couch waiting for him who had gone to take some drink from the kitchen. From his expression earlier, she knew she wasn’t welcomed there.

He came back with two mugs in hands, and she smiled a little at the sight. It reminded her of the old days when she did all the silly things everytime she went over to his place. He put one in the coffee table in front of her, she peeked over and just as expected it was filled with yellow liquid. He hadn’t changed much, at least in that aspect of keeping orange juice in his fridge.

When he sat down in the far end of the couch, she boldly turned around and took a thorough look at him. He lost some weight and his hair was cut shorter. His skin was a bit tan than it was before, the result of all trainings she supposed.

“Where have you been?” She asked, though she knew the answer. She kept the contact with Jiyoung all this time he wasn’t around, updating if there was even a slight new from him. About the courage she had to talk to him after worrying and everything, she thought she had the right to know. Because it was not completely her fault he ran away on his own without demanding her for explanation.

“Army.” He answered, sipping some drink and put the mug over the table.

“And then?”

Army usually took two years and he disappeared for three years. Of course she got the truth about him enlisting after threatening Jiyoung days by days after she found his letter. Jiyoung literally fed her every single thing that came from him when he was at the military: letters, phone calls, day offs. The younger girl told her too when he was discharged but she was on a business trip to Beijing for a week at that time while he only stayed over his parent’s house for three days before disappearing away to who knew where.

Since then, she couldn’t catch a glimpse of his existence. Even Jiyoung couldn’t help her as she too didn’t know where he was while his parent kept their mouth shut no matter what she did and said.

“Well, just here and there.”

For a while, the silence took over them and it made them realize how much they missed each other’s presence in both life. But everything was a blur vision of misunderstanding and it had been a while since they met each other. It was not impossible that he was seeing someone else at the moment, she thought. While on the other hand, he believed she was progressing well with Kyujong after the last time.

His head was bad, because despite everything that he believed was going on with her, deep down he would give anything to go back in time. To claim her as his, to make her his and never let her go. He wished they were still in that fake relationship, because that lie was better than having the thought she was someone else’s woman.

But then, what, he wanted her to be happy. As platonic as it sounded, he was willing to let her go to another guy’s side as long as she was happy.

She cleared he looked at her direction, only to meet her ring finger that was adorned by a silver ring. He swallowed a lump, feeling his heart squeezed tightly. What did he expect actually, for Kyujong to waste the chance and not proposing to her when both of them obviously loved each other?

Stupid.

“I…”

“I think you have to leave now. I have an appointment in ten minutes.” He lied, cutting her sentence off.

What was the use of letting her there if all that she would give him was a concern of an old good friend? Just like what she used to call him, a good guy friend.

He was standing up, about to her to the front door when her question stopped him at his track.

“Are you seeing someone at the moment?”

There was bitterness in her tone and he convinced himself he was imagining it.

“Why?” He asked back, staying still in his place because the courage to see her had fled away somewhere.

He heard a movement, she was moving up from the couch.

“Because if you are, I’ll stay away and stop trying.”

Her sentence made his head spun around in dizziness. If he was not wrong, if he interpreted it in the right way, if what she was saying was what he thought she was saying, it only meant one thing.

He turned around sharply and found tears were forming in the edge of her eyes. He wanted to run over and did all the images in his head, but he needed to be sure of what he was doing.

“Trying for what?”

She smiled sadly at his question and she failed, as the tears finally ran down her face.

“To start over and make you love me again.”

And that was all that he needed to run to her, taking her inside his arms as she cried harder and sobbed, overflowing with all the suppressed emotions. He hugged her tightly, just the way he wanted to all this time when he was around her, in his dream when they were distances away and that day when she appeared at his doorstep.

“You liar.” She sobbed. “You said you will wait for me, you told me not to kick you out of my life but then you left.”

He closed his eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

She cried even harder at that and started hitting his chest. “Do you know how desperate I searched for you? You jerk! You didn’t even believe in me and left without hearing my explanation.”

He pulled her away and cupped her cheeks. “Please forgive me,” he said, pecking her lips once. He ran his thumbs over her cheek, erasing the strain of the flowing tears and pecked her lips once again. “I’m really sorry,” he whispered, “I did wrong.” He put a soft kisses on her both eyelids. She stopped crying by then, leaving small sobs and uneven breath. He continued to leave kisses on her forehead, cheeks and nose while uttering words of apology.

“I love you, then and now.” He whispered at last before crushing their lips together. He kissed her intensely, heatedly, conveying all the longings, feelings and emotions he had for her. He kissed her until she gasped desperately for air and grabbed his collar for support because her mind was light and had stopped functioning and her feet turned into jelly.

He took her left hand and brought it higher before breaking their kisses. “I have one question though,” he said, staring right into her clouded eyes and she produced a weak sound of affirmation. “Whose ring is this?” He asked, the shiny thing in hurry.

It took her two seconds to realize he was doubting and worrying over his own assumption again. Somehow, her heart bloomed at that, because it only indicated of how he felt about her. Yes, he still love her, he loved her. And she grabbed his neck, kissing him hard. “No one,” she said in between their kisses. “Bought it myself.” She nibbled his lower lips and he sneaked his arms in her waist, letting her took the control. Suddenly all his concerns were proved to be nothing and he felt relief, because finally he was sure that she was his and he was hers. They were meant to be, he believed now, right from the start at that parking lot in that winter.

“Marry me.” He asked when she finally let go.

She didn’t say anything but her eyes sparkled in the most beautiful way he ever saw since the first time they met and her lips curled up delicately, giving him the most sincere smile he ever had from her.

“I’m choosing your wedding dress.” He said, lifting her up from the floor.

“I’m choosing our honeymoon destination. Oh, no, we will decide it together.”

She managed to say before he swoop her into a series of kisses again.

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

Author's note:

Hello, it's been almost one year since the last time I updated. Time does fly so fast without us realizing. This story finally comes to and end. After a phase of writing-deleting-rewriting-deleting-rewriting, I decided to end it this way, with this plot in this chapter. This story is the first fanfiction that I ever show to public. When I re-read it again from the first chapter, it lacks a lot in many aspects that consist a story. I facepalmed at some childish and immature plots and conflicts that ever existed in this fiction. And the realization of how bad this story is to me makes me feel more thankful to all of you who are willing to read, subscribed, leaving comments and waited for my shabby updates. Even when I left this story hanging months ago, there were readers who came at me with words of support and encouragement. I sincerely thank everyone of you. We don't know each other in real life, but no matter how small it is, you all have influence with my personal life. You all helped me grow up and develope my writing, even in the smallest way possible. Thank you so much.

I still love writing and I still write non-fiction pieces in real life and some fanfiction for my friends when they requested me to write for them. I'm just not sure whether I will continue to write in this account, but I do intend to finish the other fic and probably write more one-shots. Who knows. Till then, see you around.

Thank you very much <3