Nayoung was going for a jog near her apartment, the crisp air of early winter biting against her face. That was, until a flurry of movement slammed into her side, effectively cutting off the rhythm of her run and sending her sprawling in the thin icy sheets that coated the ground of the park.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”

Nayoung groaned in pain, and turned over to see the face of a stranger looking extremely disheveled and worried. It was a cute look, she’d admit, but this was probably the culprit to the earlier accident, so Nayoung held off from forming compliments in her head.

“I’m so sorry, I slipped on the ice and I couldn’t stop myself,” The stranger said, trying to explain herself as she helped Nayoung up, “And- Oh my god, your arm!”

Nayoung looked down at the arm she had landed on, and was surprised to see what looked to be an ice burn, but was steadily bleeding down her forearm.

“Oh.”

“I’m so sorry! Please let me make it up to you, I have a first aid kit at the café I work at, it’s just a block away!” The girl frantically apologizes, grabbing Nayoung’s hand and leading her off before she had a say in the matter.

By the time they had gotten to the café that the stranger worked at, Nayoung had left a sinister looking trail consisting of blotches of blood on the pavements they had walked on. As the stranger ran behind the counter to find her first aid kit, Nayoung took a seat on one of the high backed sofa chairs that adorned the interior of the café. The girl ran back to where Nayoung was sitting, clutching a white box whilst apologizing profusely. After about the tenth apology, silence hung in the air, before the girl decided to break it.

“I’m Kyulkyung, by the way.”

It’s nicer to hear her name and not the eleventh apology.

“I’m Im Nayoung.”

-

Nayoung had never been one to express herself well. Sure, she had been the first to ask Kyulkyung out on a date, and liked her more and more after each time the duo had decided to meet, but to ask her to be her girlfriend? This was something that required thought.

She had asked all her friends for advice on how to properly ask the younger girl to be her girlfriend, none of which were helpful to Nayoung as they all suggested the generic act of presenting flowers or chocolates to the girl. While Nayoung acknowledged that they were cute ways to ask someone, she felt like Kyulkyung deserved better, she deserved more than the movie stereotype.

After much deliberation, she settled for something she had thought of herself, and hoped it was good enough. It certainly was original, and something only Nayoung could pull off. Excited at the prospect of being able to finally ask Kyulkyung, she texted Siyeon and Minkyung, two of Kyulkyung’s coworkers she had managed to befriend, and asked for their help.

Hours later, Nayoung’s phone buzzed with three texts, all of which were from Kyulkyung. The first message was a picture of the locker which Kyulkyung used at work, which was filled to the brim with small pebbles.

Kyul <3, 6:07: Nayoung, you did not just fill my locker with pebbles and write “I’m known as ‘Stone Nayoung’, and it would ‘rock’ if you would be my ‘stone girl’?

Kyul <3, 6:08: Nayoung, come to the café. Right now.

Worried sick that she might’ve moved too fast, or it wasn’t original enough, she grabbed a coat and ran downstairs. Knowing it would’ve been traffic hours, she ditched the idea of driving to PRISTIN’s café and practically jogged through the light snowfall.

When Nayoung arrived at Kyulkyung’s workplace, slightly disheveled with a light layer of snow covering her shoulders and head, she was attacked with a tight hug and a kiss.

“Yes!”

-

The pair were curled up on Nayoung’s couch, watching old Disney films as per Kyulkyung’s request. The older girl had her arm comfortably wrapped around the Kyulkyung’s shoulders, whilst the younger girl had her head leaned against the arm wrapped around her, comfortably curling up next to her.

Suddenly getting a phone call, Kyulkyung excused herself, forcibly ending the soft harmony that they had created on the couch. She walked down the hallway to take the call in privacy, and Nayoung sat patiently, waiting for her girlfriend to come back.

After twenty minutes, and no sign of Kyulkyung returning to the couch, Nayoung peered curiously into the hallway, where the other girl was speaking rapidly in mandarin. Abruptly ending the call, Kyulkyung walked over to the couch in a serious manner before explaining.

“Something happened to my parents. I need to go to back to China, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Completely shocked, Nayoung had nearly nothing to say.

“Are we still going to be okay?”

“I’ll wait for you.”

-

Weeks went by, and nothing was returned by Kyulkyung.

Nayoung’s calls never went through.

Kyulkyung’s sns accounts had all disappeared.

Minkyung and Siyeon didn’t know how to contact her either.

The last text she had gotten from her girlfriend was a picture of the crossing at the park where they had first met, first collided. The shot was next to the path, with a wooden bench in the foreground.

What else could Nayoung do, but take that as a cue to wait there for her?

What else could Nayoung do, but go there whenever she could, whenever time allowed?

What else could Nayoung do, when that picture was her last hope of seeing Kyulkyung?

-

It was almost 11, the time of night after work where Nayoung would deem it too late and head home. Or at least, that’s what she’d try to tell herself, that it was too late, she wouldn’t show.

But what if in the five minutes that Nayoung could’ve waited, she showed?

She couldn’t take that risk.

Although it was late, there was some sort of festival going on in the park, some hundred meters away from the bench that Nayoung sat on. Small crowds of people flocked towards the bright lights accompanied with the loud bass.

Nayoung didn’t think much of it, but she still searched, ever digilent, for the all too familiar eyes of the girl she still loved. It didn’t matter to Nayoung that it had been years since she saw Kyulkyung last, she knew that she loved her. She was willing to wait for much longer than a few years.

Then, someone caught her eye.

The same dark locks of hair.

The familiar slope of her nose.

The brown eyes that could make Nayoung melt in a heartbeat.

It had to be her.

Nayoung stood up from her bench, trying to get a better look , although it was hard with the night sky and the lights flashing everywhere. But there was no denying it. She would recognize her anywhere.

She had started to make her way towards the other girl, a grin spreading across her face, until she realized who she was with.

A shorter girl was holding Kyulkyung’s hand loosely, laughing brightly. Her eye smile was addictive; Kyulkyung was smiling ear to ear, her nose scrunching up in the same way it would do when Nayoung used to be around.

Nayoung could only watch as Kyulkyung leaned down to kiss the other girl, causing the duo to erupt in more laughs as they made their way towards the festival.

-

So that’s why.

Kyulkyung, you could've told me instead of letting me wait.

Every day, on that park bench.