Ahn Ailee

We wanted to give Joon a proper funeral, but he had no family, so there wasn’t much we could do. Cheundong called up a hoobae of his and Joon’s from high school, a kid named Mir, to help us sort everything out.

The poor kid was a mess when he heard the news because Joon had been like a brother to him. Hearing this made me realize how little I actually had known about the man that I had loved, despite our months of happy memories.

Mir decided that it was best if we just buried Joon quietly, without telling the other mafia people in case they decided to come for me or Cheundong. Apparently, G.O. had already severed all ties with Joon, and to him and the rest of the “family,” Lee Joon never existed.

There were only the three of us at his grave on the last day. We all stood side by side: the little brother, the best friend, the ex-girlfriend, and we just looked down at laying on next to the tombstone. There was just silence as each person remembered the different fond memories that they had shared with Joon in the past.

I was reminded of a trip to the beach one summer, and the fun we had on the carnival on the boardwalk. It had been a perfect day in every way, and he had even won me a big teddy bear that I no longer had. It was just one of the many objects that I had left at him place that I had never gotten back and now never will get back.

Cheundong and I both lost somebody important to us that night in the junk yard. It was as if we were missing a part of ourselves. They say that you never really forget your first love, because that is the only person you give your whole heart to, and they may be right. Lee Joon will always have a piece of my heart. 

I knew that Cheundong blamed himself for Joon’s death partly, and for a day, he wouldn’t even look at me. For maybe he blamed me for the loss of his best friend, I wasn’t sure. Then he broke down one night, and just cried. He cried until his voice was hoarse, and then he fell asleep, dried tears covering his cheek.

We managed to find solace in each other.

Neither of us could understand why Joon had done exactly what he did, but we were glad that we at least had each other. I settled affairs with my work, and they arranged for my job transfer to Tokyo.

I told my mother that I was leaving for Japan, probably permanently, and she freaked. When I told her that I was going with a man, one who was not one of Asia’s 50 most eligible bachelors, she freaked out even more. I ironically noted how the only two men that I had ever loved in my love were both so different from the entrepreneur/lawyer/doctor type that she was always trying to have me marry. For once, I didn’t even care. Her petty complaints seemed insignificant after everything I had just gone through.

We stepped off of the plane in Tokyo at half past two, ready to put the past behind us. Cheundong and I were ready to start our new lives, and to live them fully, just like Joon would have wanted.

When the Japanese cherry blossoms start to bloom in March, and the streets of Tokyo gets covered with pretty, pink trees, we will be reminded of Joon, the best friend, the first love.

He had always wanted to see the Tokyo cherry blossoms. 

[A/N]: I lost this chapter when AFF went down, and I thought I had lost these chapters forever because I had already deleted the file and had not backed anything up. I was able to find an older version in my recycle bin, so there are some wording differences from this and the original version because I had to re-write parts of this. Plus, I'm pretty sure I had a more classy title last time. 

Like I said last time, I still wish Joon had shot the girl, and then eloped with Thunder.