“- Watch out, loser !”

I walked aside, used to those insults and warnings. Every one in my major was treated this way, as we were seen as the nerdy people with no experience about or relationships. To them, we didn’t know how to have fun.
But we knew. We just had a different idea of what fun meant.

We never really minded. We were all too preoccupied by our technology projects, and we had no desire to fight whatsoever. Besides, we knew ourselves that we weren’t losers. We were intelligent people who just happened to be less confident regarding social interactions. That was all.

It was already my second year of college, and everything was going well. It was our last day before summer break, which meant no school for about two months. I loved my classes, but a break wouldn’t hurt. I needed it, after all this time working on my project, which was a little video game we created, my friend Hyunwoo and I. We loved our little baby, and we were really proud of it. We received an A, which we appreciated, after all those nights without sleeping.

“- Hyungwon !”

It was one of my friends in my major, Minhyuk.

“- Hey !

- I just wanted to know if Hyunwoo and you had something planned for tomorrow night ? I’m doing a little party on the beach within our major to celebrate the end of the year.

- It’s such a nice idea ! I don’t have anything, so I’ll just check with Hyunwoo and tell you if we can make it.

- Great ! See you later then !”

Parties didn’t scare me as much as they used to, but I still wasn’t used to them. Until the summer before my first college year, I hadn’t been invited to any, so I was pretty new to them. Going to college made me go to more and more parties, but my major’s parties were quite chill and not very overwhelming. Only a bit of alcohol, and a lot of conversations, which I could handle more than dancing and drunk people. Minhyuk was used to organizing parties, so I trusted him.

I continued walking in the hallway to meet Hyunwoo as soon as his last class ended. He joined me three minutes later, a smile on his face, immediately agreeing to the party as soon as he heard Minhyuk’s name. I knew something was up between Hyungwoo and one of Minhyuk’s friend, but I never dared say anything, because we never talked about those things. The last time we did, we both ended up being rejected, so we kind of agreed that talking about it would only curse our relationships. At least she was very nice and simple, and they got along well. I really wanted my best friend to be happy, and I hoped she could make him less worried about being in love. After his last rejection, he told me he would never want to fall for someone again.

Guess that was old news now.

We walked towards our bus stop in silence. We weren’t much talkers. We arrived a few minutes later, shivering from the breeze, unusual of this time of the year.

“- Eh, I hope it won’t rain tomorrow.”

I nodded silently, and breathed in the fresh air of a new summer. My mind went to him, out of habit. I always did when the summer approached. The fact that our love story only lasted one summer made me believe it wouldn’t have lasted the school year. We were two really different people. He was the popular one, I was the nerd. He had always picked on us, so our story would have been inappropriate. I knew he was too sensitive to have endured his friends’ mockery.

But he wasn’t here. He had left two summer ago, making me enter college alone. Except for Hyunwoo, I only knew our bullies there. And he left them as well. No one knew where he was, for he had left abruptly, with no sign beforehand. From what I heard, I was the last one he saw that night, before vanishing into the dark.

“- Hey, said Hyungwoo softly, snapping me back to reality. Your bus is here.”

I knew from his eyes that he knew the object of my thoughts. Waving him goodbye, I dived back into his eyes that I was picturing in my brain.

I still remembered the taste of his lips. I remembered how sweet my name sounded when he called me gently. And the way his eyes stole every star when we were out during the night. It would have been a lie to say I didn’t fall in love with him back then. I was obsessed with him, just the way he said he was with me.

But I was a fool, obviously. Hyunwoo collected my heart patiently after his departure. We never talked about him, and I knew he heard the news from someone else. But I couldn’t bare saying his name. It was something we never did, between Hyunwoo and I. Saying his name.

But this summer was different from the last one. Last summer, it was my first one without him. It was really hard, and Hyunwoo had to collect me while I was crying several times. But I knew it was different this time. I was determined to not let this jerk ruin my summer. I was a new person, and my heart had been healed.

That’s why I quickly brushed off the thought of him, and the image of his smile in my head. The bus trip home wasn’t long, only a few minutes. I tried to concentrate on the landscapes, the sea, the beach, and the fields on the other side. I loved this neighbourhood.

I arrived home ten minutes after saying bye to Hyunwoo. Turning my keys in the door, unlocking it, I decided to kill the time before the next day's party. I my favourite game and played until late in the night, only pausing to get myself some snacks.

I woke up pretty late the next morning, exhausted from the semester we just had. A few drinks wouldn’t hurt, after all, so I was looking forward to the party. I occupied myself with games, and movies, before taking a shower and changing into decent clothes one hour before the party. I had to pick Hyunwoo up because he didn’t have his license yet. His home was on the way of the beach where Minhyuk told us to come to, so I didn’t mind. We went silent as soon as we finished greeting each other, and he only interrupted it a few minutes later.

“- Are you okay ?

- Yeah, I said, startled. Why do you ask ?

- I… I don’t know. Wanted to check.”

I knew it was about last summer.

“- Don’t worry. I decided not to let it ruin my summer with you”, I said, smiling.

He smiled back, and this concluded our conversation. His favourite song was playing on the radio, so he turned the volume up and started to whistle, following the tune.

Minhyuk welcomed us with a hug for each of us, putting in our hands the two bottles of beer he had in his hands. We thanked him and joined a group of mutual friends that were talking about their projects. We discussed for what seemed to be more than one hour, changing subjects to our plans for the summer. Most of them were like us, and didn’t have anything planned, but some had gotten summer jobs to make a little bit of money, and one boy even paid himself a trip to France.

In the mean time, Minhyuk and some of his friends had lit up a fire, to keep us warm from the cold breeze that was still going on since the day before, and we all gathered around it. Hyunwoo and I had separated, even though I didn’t reckon going away from him. I still had my half-finished beer in my hand, and I was starting to get pretty sleepy. It was a nice party, but it lacked of something. We were all just talking and enjoying the fire.

“- Hyungwon ?”

I jumped, not recognizing the voice. I my feet, but I couldn’t see anyone except a group of teenagers far in the distance. I concluded I had dreamt the voice, and turned back to my friend.

“- Hyungwon ?” the voice called again, making me jump again. This time, when I turned, I was welcomed by a pair of eyes I had seen somewhere. “I knew it was you ! It’s been so long, do you remember me ?”

After a few seconds, it finally clicked.

“- Hee ? murmuring her nickname, making her eyes sparkle with joy. What are you doing here ?

- The same thing as you, apparently. How are you doing ?”

And we started chatting, like nothing happened. She was a friend of him, of my ex-boyfriend, that I met during our summer together. I painted a wall with her during one night, and that was the last time I ever saw her. It had then been two years. I couldn’t believe the fact that she was here, right in front of me.

At one point, I caught the excitement in her eyes turning to worry.

“- Wait, you don’t know about Wonho ? I winced at the name of my ex-boyfriend.

- No… What about him ?

- He’s… He’s back.

- What do you mean by that ?

- He’s here, Hyungwon. Wonho is here.”