I lean my head against the cool glass of the train window, watching the busyness of Tokyo fade into the sprawl suburbs before finally giving way to the blessed tranquility of the countryside. Feeling a smile tugging at my lips, I let it lift a single corner. I’m not in the mood yet to let it fully spread. My heart is still too heavy with Yoochun’s rejection...
  

 Going to work the next day had been horrible. At least I hadn’t had any clients, but I knew I looked like hell with my face bloated from crying. I ended up holing up in my office, trying and failing not to replay every minute of it whenever I thought of something that reminded me of him. Ayako’s gift of sympathy chocolate helped a little, but I literally flew out the door as soon as I could, stuffed some clothes in a suitcase, and left.

    I hadn’t been able to bring myself to go the day I got here, but it was now or never. As the train brings me closer to Araihama, my fingers find their way up to the slender chain around my neck and the stone heart. If I’m going to get over Yoochun, I’ll need to get rid of this. Returning it to the place where he’d first found it had a fitting feeling of closure to it. A little extreme maybe, but I’m beyond caring.

    When I finally arrive, I make my way to the too familiar beach, slipping my shoes off to feel the shifting sand beneath my feet. Our sandcastle is long gone, but I can still see it in my mind’s eye. I remember how carefree the two of us were that day, running around and playing like two kids. Loving him hadn’t been a question then; it’d still been the innocent love of a friend. If only it had stayed that way.

As I approach the darkened sand and lapping water, I stop to roll up my jeans&drop my bag. “All right. You can do this, girl.”

    I close my eyes as I take off the heart necklace. With the cool stone against my palm I can almost hear Yoochun calling my name. Can’t he leave me alone? Feeling involuntary tears slip down my face, I wipe them away. Taking another breath, I walk so the tide tickles my feet and raise my hand, ready to throw the necklace into the waves.

A hand suddenly grabs my wrist and twists me around.

My breath catches in my throat as I find myself face to face with a furious looking Yoochun. “Y-...Yoochun,” I stutter, barely believing my eyes.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, _____?” he asks, glaring at me. “Who do you think you are, just leaving without telling anyone?!”

I can only stare at him.

“Did you even think about us? What about Jaejoong? Junsu and Yejin? Yunho? Changmin? How could just leave without telling them? How could you leave me?”

“I-”

Jerking on my arm, Yoochun makes me fall into him and crushes me to his chest. “Damn it, _____. I know it’s my fault. I was the one who pushed you away, but-...but you can’t leave. You can’t do that to me.”

“Why not?” I ask, pushing against him as the surprise of him actually being there gives way to the built up pain. Unbidden, angry tears suddenly start burning my eyes. “You’re so selfish, Yoochun! Do you know how much and how often you hurt me? Don’t talk about what I can and can’t do to you! You have no right!”

He holds me tighter so my arms are trapped against our bodies. “I know I don’t. You’re absolutely right. I didn’t realize what I was doing to do, but I am sorry. So sor-.”

“Please stop saying that! What’re you even doing here?” I cry, struggling a little longer before giving up. “Just let me go. Just-”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” I demand softly, letting my head fall onto my clenched fists.

“Because I was wrong. I shouldn’t have let you walk away with the words that I said because, when I found out that you were gone...I realized something else too.”

Underneath my hands, I feel his heart beat faster.

“I was too surprised after you first kissed me,” Yoochun admits, his breath grazing my ear. “I couldn’t believe that of all the people in the world, it was me that you loved. Then, when you left...”

I wait, frozen.

“It all hit me at once. Every step of the way, you’ve been right beside me, whether I needed you or not, giving me everything and putting me even before yourself. I depend on you more than I ever knew and now, I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I’d started realizing this a while ago, but I just buried it because I was stupid. I’m stupid and selfish, I know, but please, _____. Come back to me. Give me another chance. Let me make it up to you a thousand times over.”

When I feel his fingers slowly slide under my chin to lift it, I screw my eyes shut. I can’t do it. I can’t.

“_____, you’re my best friend and so much more. You’re the sun who’s always there to warm me, the song that comforts me, the hand that steadies me. Let me be that for you. Let me prove that I can be the man who deserves you,” Yoochun pleads. “Let me show you...that I love you too.”

    I feel his breath on my mouth seconds before his lips ghost over mine. As much as I’d told myself I wouldn’t react, my body has other ideas. My eyes fly open to meet the very thing they’d been avoiding, Yoochun’s. What I see looking back at me leaves me absolutely lost, unable to do a thing as his lips return. My fingers slowly uncurl and spread out to tentatively slide their way up to around his neck. The tension in my face relaxes as my eyes flutter shut again, not needing to see to feel.

    Of all the times I’d imagined kissing Yoochun, none of them came close to the real deal. It’s like he’s pouring every gesture he hadn’t made, every word he hadn’t said into this one action. Feeling the sincerity and pure emotion in his kiss breaks down that last, weak barrier around my heart. I kiss him back, my own lips echoing the quiet fervency of his until I can’t even tell where one of us begins and the other ends.

With a shaky breath after who knows how long, Yoochun pulls back just enough to be able to see at my face.

Reluctantly, I open my eyes to look back at him.

“I’m going to take that as a ‘yes’” he says, intensely searching my gaze. “You’ll come back to Seoul with me and give me- ...us a chance?”

I nod and clear my throat. “Well, it’s not like I can stay in Japan.”

“Why? Did you not get the job or something? Yejin’ll probably put you up until you find a new apartment and I’m sure you can get your old job back.”

“My old job? New apartment? What’re you talking about?”

“C’mon, ____. Even I can put two and two together. The empty apartment, the empty office. You quit your job, left Seoul, and moved here so you could never see me again,” Yoochun explains with a roll of his eyes.

After staring at him in bewilderment for a few seconds, I burst into laughter, dropping my head back onto my hands.

“Yah!” He pulls back on my shoulders so he can see my face. “This is serious! I just spilled my heart out and you’re laughing!”

“It’s not that...” I giggle, covering my mouth as I try to stop. “It’s just...do you really not know me at all?”

“Huh?”

“I was never going to leave Seoul.”

“What? What about-”

“There was a burst pipe in the apartment above mine so I had to move to one down the hall. They’re doing cleaning at the office so I had to move my things out so they could do it on my days off.” Smiling, I step closer again and hug him, still giddy from the roller coaster of emotions I’d experienced in a matter minutes.

“Then why did you come all the way here?” he asks, sounding confused.

    I freeze when I realize the necklace isn’t in my hand anymore and break away, frantically scanning the sand around us. A faint glittering catches my eye and I breathe an internal sigh of relief as I reach for it. However, another hand wraps the chain and rescues it from the sand before I can.

“I was going to throw it back into the ocean,” I explain somewhat embarrassedly, keeping my eyes on my feet. “Melodramatic, I know, but-”

“So it would be like nothing from that day had changed?”

“Yes.”

“Good thing I stopped you then.”

I look up when his feet join mine.

“_____, when I gave you this the first time, I didn’t think anything of it. It was just a trinket given to a dear friend. This time, I’m giving it you as my heart, if you’ll have it.” Carefully, Yoochun lifts my hand, turns it palm up, and lets the necklace fall into it. Although his hand cups mine, he makes no move to force my fingers to close. He just watches me, trying to look calm but I can see the storm of emotions behind his eyes, as always.

My hesitation lasts less than a heartbeat before I fold my fingers over the stone and slowly fasten the chain around my neck, smiling shyly.

Yoochun’s resulting smile rivals the sun and it’s still there as his lips come crashing down on mine again.

I half laugh and respond enthusiastically, curling the fingers of my free hand through his hair. Before I completely lose my mind, I pull back a breath. “We’re going to take this slow though, all right? You have a lot of up to do.”

“I know and I will,” he says, trying to kiss me again.

“I’m serious,” I tell him, moving my face just out of reach.

“I kow. I’ll be your prince for real this time, ______,” Yoochun promises sincerely before smiling and leaning forward. Unfortunately, he leans too far, sending us both tumbling to the sand. At least he makes sure I land on top of him.

“Way. To. Go,” I giggle, pecking his lips. “Pabo Prince.”

“Pabo Prince...” Smiling up at me, he pushes my hair away from my face and tucks it behind my ear. “Sounds about right. At least I got one thing right.”

“And what’s that?”

“I came after you,” Yoochun says softly, his smile becoming softer and thoughtful. “And this time, I’m not going to let you go, no matter what.”

“Took you long enough,” I scoff teasingly, resting my chin on his chest.

“True, but I won’t make you wait as long ever again.”

“Good.”

“Hey, _____.”

“Hmm?”

“Saranghae.”

I close my eyes to savor those words I’d longed to hear for so long. Opening them, I lean to kiss him softly. “Nado saranghae.”

Yoochun gives me another sweet smile before cupping the back of my head to bring me closer for another, longer kiss.

    After all the hiding, all the pain, it feels so good just to be kissing him. Not only good, but right. Luck and love have finally aligned on my side. We rarely get chances to meet someone, lose them, fall in love, only to lose them and find them again. I intend to full advantage of it, from this day till ever more.

=================================

Annyeong, lovelies! Sorry this update is so delayed; it was a combination of stress and the chapter itself just not wanting to be written. Maybe it's because this story's at an end. I know you all will probably not like hearing that, but I feel it's almost done running its course. There's probably one or two more chapters to go, but that's it. Thank you for sticking with me through it all. Saranghae.

WhiteAutumn_x: 特别好！！Yup, our boy finally got it. Yes,I do live in the States, but...it's kind of a dumb story why I study Chinese.I took 6 years of Spanish,but when I got to university, none of the Spanish classes on my level fit my schedule. I still wanted to take a language, but I wasn't interested in French or German so I chose Chinese because it would be cool and heck, I wanted a challenge. Now, I absolutely love it and want it to be my career. ^^ (I'm actually going to Beijing this summer).

nar12345: I think the guys made sure he didn't do that, but I think Chunnie can be smart when he wants to. XD It would be interesting to see.

minnie6002: ke ke. Sorry for not updating soon. tichiharahara: yes, yes he does.

Mionyu: He can be smart when he wants to be.Junsu's absolutely hilarious (I'd love to just have him as a friend). You really think so? Aw, thank you! That's what I strive for. ^^

Jun_KOI_Min: Kinda...but no, not too late.

ankeaenkeli: ke ke. Well, you see, she wasn't exactly moving...It's probably because he's in a relationship with his best friend so he knows it's possible and he cares deeply for both Yoochun&the reader.

ljolson: Nah, he deserves it. Thanks! ^^

ChinkyKayla: Your wish is his command. leejinkioppa: Very good! And yes, thank goodness he did.

MivlaShun: XD That was actually taken from my freshman year roommate. I got her hooked on 'You're Beautiful' last year and she yelled that at ShinWoo when he let MiNyu walk away after he was about to reveal himself&confess after he helped her have her 'girl' day. It stuck and I finally found a place to use this piece of genius! ke ke.

hazel_marie13: He didn't. ^^

turtle_chan: At least she kinda put up a fight...but I agree, he really is a great guy and now she's going to be his entire world&one of the luckiest girls in the world in my opinion.

Woouforever: ke ke, don't we all feel that way?

chunnie_bunnie: ke ke, thank you. ^^ Glad you like it.

miyah16: Aw, thank you. ^^ I'll try. I'm sorry you're going through a rough patch and I hope it all works out soon. In the mean time, I hope this chapter makes you smile.