You had built yourself quite the penetrative bubble. The distance to get to you had elongated in as many directions as you could set them with the exception of those who had special places or passes to stay near you. It wasn’t anything to brag about but yet you wouldn’t have it any other way. You still had a lot you had to work on as far as letting people in and you were unwilling to do so. Not to mention your stubbornness about it. But that was one that ran deep, long before you heart had ever been broken. So you left well enough alone until you were ever motivated to change things.

When you met up with Suho once more, he only asked how you had been feeling lately. When your answering shrug was enough for him to move on to other topics, you felt satisfied. And so your weekly outings with him resumed.

The weeks passed one by one and then it was your school break. Nunji griped about the traffic but now with the addition of Jimri in the backseat as a new audience member. The two of them had no problem discussing you and your life all throughout the ride and you were not at all surprised. But you found it odd that Jimri didn’t disclose your time with Suho. However, when the topic of the newspaper was breached, they gave each other a high five. Well, Nunji held out a hand expectantly to your friend who had no choice but to give her what she wanted. They then went into detail about your reaction and whatnot.

It was only after dropping Jimri off at her house did you receive a text of apology from her. Your sister, on the other hand, is one you would never expect to receive such a courtesy like that from her.

Mieun was ecstatic to see you come through the door and even more elated to know you would be staying home longer than the usual weekend. Your mother shared much of the same sentiment as her granddaughter and even Hwangin. It was only Nunji who gave you the reality check of the fact that not everyone loves you.

Your beautiful niece was happy to follow you around the house wherever you went much to the distaste of her mother but that only made it all the more satisfying. The toddler had persistence in her insistence that she had to be carried and it was only when you got a particular threatening evil eye from Nunji that you decided to appease your sister and pretended to be weak to carry around Mieun. The girl took offense to this like only the daughter of Nunji could. But she had learned not to whine about it by the end of your break.

Your dad also had made his appearance in the length of your time home for almost a whole weekend. He was as snappy looking as ever with more gray at the temples traveling to the top of his head but also sporting an added star gleaming on his chest.

He asked about your life at your apartment, your classes and whatnot. Much like your mother and Hwangin had. You know, like how normal people were. Your sister however, with the ammunition Jimri had innocently given away, was pushy and giving lectures about your deteriorating social life. Like she had room to talk. You couldn’t even remember a time she had a friend over since she graduated high school. But there was no way you would ever say something like that to her because you knew she had inner demons of her own. The circulation of the news of her pregnancy had really impacted her and the way she was not to mention her own social life. It was a topic to never be breached.

Besides that, you mostly kept to home except when your mother sent you on errands or you took Mieun to the park where you hoped no one had the gall to approach you. It wasn’t too bad of a break except you had to cook more than you were used to but it was a welcome embrace especially when it was just you and your mother in the kitchen.

There was no fear of unwanted run-ins with any of the people you didn’t want to face compared to your last visit so you had no problems acquiescing to your niece’s almost daily wishes of going to the park. It was the same park your mom had taken you and Nunji often in your much younger years and there was an odd fulfillment to know you were taking your niece there as well. You wanted that feeling to last a bit more but things couldn’t always be that simple.

It must have been the third or fourth visit to the park did you notice that the visitors were more abundant than usual. Thinking there was a holiday festival of some sort, you brushed it aside as Mieun had taken off as soon as the playground was in sight. You jogged a little to catch up to her but knew she would go straight to her favorite slide.

Mieun was on a full battery as she darted throughout the playground while you were helpless to her whims as you followed after her.

“Choi Mikyung.”

Dammit. You should have expected something like this. There really was no way you could have an easy life. You had gotten too comfortable.

Knowing after so many encounters with him you had to give him some sort of attention, you met the eyes of the nuisance of your high school years.

“No.”

“Auntie!”

The unwanted presence was easy to disregard as your attention immediately went to Mieun. You held your arms out just at the right time to catch her.

“I want to go to the swings!” Direct to the point, like always. And she knew what she wanted. You smiled at her, the two of you knowing full well you would steal a car for her if she asked you to.

With your nod, you followed her hoping beyond life that Annoying Boy would have learned his lesson by now to mind his own business.

“Come on Choi Mikyung. I don’t bite. Anymore, at least.”

Of course, there was no way he would just give up. You took to ignoring him like fish to water. And he followed.

“Aww, auntie. Someone is on my favorite swing!”

You patted her cheek tenderly. “Wait just a little longer and then it will be your turn.”

She pouted before shrugging. That one she learned from you and you were damn proud of it. “Okay.” She took off and you were tempted to stop her so she wouldn’t leave you behind with a bug from your past.

“Damn, she’s just as cute as you,” he walked right into your line of vision so you had no choice but to look at his smug little face. “But don’t worry Kyungie,” he winked, “You’re still the cutest girl I’ve ever seen.”

You snorted before pushing past him to follow your niece.

“So, how are things?” he asked followed by an accompanying bark from inside his jacket. “Don’t get jealous Mimo. You’re the number one in my heart. You’re just not as hot as her.”

You rolled your eyes, something you always had to do at least once in such company.

“Just how do you do it, Choi Mikyung?” he asked as you did your best to maneuver around many kids who were running amuck throughout the playground. Your eyes zeroed in on Mieun as she waited her turn to climb up a funny looking ladder. “You’re still as gorgeous as the last time I saw you. Which was when? Graduation day? When you ignored me?”

You ducked down under the bridge to get closer to her and he followed.

“Like you’re ignoring me now?”

He always followed.

“Come on Choi Mikyung. I got done with serving the country for you not too long ago so cut me some slack, huh?” You made a face at him and thanks to his constant staring, he caught your expression. “Yeah, I just got home yesterday from Busan for the holidays. So imagine my surprise to see you here the very day I am taking the other love of my life to the park.” He looked down at the head of his dog peeking out of his jacket. “Say hello to Mimo, at least. My new dog.”

You’d been keeping your eye on Mieun as she carefully climbed up the ladder and when she made it, you thought that at least his dog deserved some of your attention. You remembered his dog as there had been a couple of times when your past classmates had decided to bring all of their pets together for a day out. But as you turned to face him and the dog, you frowned. Because his dog was no longer the white one you remembered.

He chuckled, “Yeah, I was wondering if you caught the name change. This is Mimo, my new dog.” You met his eyes once again and he looked away. “My other dog passed away while I was serving.”

You dropped your eyes before also looking away to check for Mieun.

“So this is one of my welcome home presents from Eunkwang, actually. Kinda funny story to go along with that too,” he smiled at you. “See, my family picked me up from the pick up point and Eunkwang comes barreling to me with his hair still growing out,” he points at his head where his hat was covering his own growing hair. “Then he drops his phone as he hugs me and he must have been on the phone before I showed up because his speaker comes on confirming the time to pick up a new dog.” He laughed here as Mieun came down one of the higher slides with a smile that never got tired of the same slide. “The look on his face was one to remember! That’s where I came from too. We just went by to pick up my new girl.” He added an unnecessary smirk. “But like I said, you’re still the only girl for me.”

“We?” you couldn’t help but ask and the sudden question caught him by surprise too.

“We? Oh yeah. I forgot he was here too. Eunkwang.” He looked away from you. Finally. “I kinda left him somewhere in the crowd over by the volleyball courts. I got distracted.”

“Hmm,” you were looking for the other boy but with more interest as he was one you could actually get along with.

And Annoying Boy knew it. “Come on, Choi Mikyung. You don’t have to see him right now.” He was frowning.

You spotted Eunkwang and he was talking to someone else but Mieun called out to you. “Auntie! Let’s go! No one is on my swing now!” She trotted up to you and grabbed your hand and with that firm hold, she immediately pulled you after her.

As you went along with her, you sighed. It had nothing to do with your precious niece but more with the added company. It was just to be expected that this had to happen and with these two nonetheless.

You went through the familiar process of getting your niece situated on her swing before she was quickly waving you away while showing off her newly acquired self-propelling skills. You stepped to the side and it was only then did you notice Annoying Boy hadn’t followed you here. You shrugged before leaning against one of the swing set’s posts but your moment of serenity didn’t survive long before you heard shuffling feet headed toward you.

“Look who I found, Kwangie.”

“Mikyung!” Eunkwang’s unique voice was enough for you to straighten up and face them to take in his familiar form.

“Hi.”

“I knew it! You only say hi to him but not me!”

“Wow! You look the same like in high school!”

They both exclaimed at the same time but with differing emotions.

You shrugged and Eunkwang walked a little closer while his friend followed with the same frown from earlier.

“You in town for the holidays too, Mikyung?” Eunkwang asked. At your nod, he gave you a bright smile. “We got in from Busan last night visiting one of our friends stationed out there. Do you remember Hyunsik? I think you met him in third year.” His voice had started animatedly but when he mentioned those last two words, his expression turned tentative. “I mean, you probably don’t even remember him since he’s so plain and boring but he was doing fine. Not that you remember him or anything. Or do you remember him?”

You met him square in the eyes with a blank look and he laughed nervously.

“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t know him—.”

“Hyunsik isn’t worth mentioning right now,” Minhyuk elbowed his friend none too gently. “We’re having a get together this weekend for a few of our old classmates.” He took the few steps to stand closer to you so you had to face him fully. “We’re meeting at that pizzeria we always went to. You gonna go, or not?”

Eunkwang gawked at his friend enough for the both of you. “Minhyuk!”

You shook your head with a firmness you felt the situation was lacking.

“Mikyung!” Eunkwang looked at you with a now pleading look.

“Why not?” Annoying Boy demanded. “Still hiding from all of us?”

You didn’t miss or like the challenge in his voice. Something about Annoying Boy always rubbed you the wrong way. “Not you.”

There was a flash in Annoying Boy’s eyes as Eunkwang made a strangled noise in his throat. “Of course not me. But there’s no reason for you to worry about Him. He’s going to be out in Gwangju for a game.”

“Minhyuk!”

Your eyes narrowed even more as you felt a pang in your chest and you knew these two were well aware of it. After all, they had second class seats to the deterioration of your relationship with their friend.

“Auntie!”

You blinked and you did your best to rid yourself of any animosity stirring within you so as to place the front you needed to put on for Mieun. She had strong enough observational skills that could easily make it back to the ears of her mother. And there was no way you needed Nunji on your case if she were ever to know you actually interacted with guys other than your dad and Hwangin.

“Yes, baby?”

She glared at you. “No baby.”

You smirked and her dissatisfied expression melted into one of innocence in just a flash. “I want juice.”

That was enough of a distraction for you to slide off your backpack to give her what she wanted. As you pulled out the juice pouch, you held it just out of her reach when she made a move to grab it. “What do you say?”

Her eyes widened before they narrowed. “Please.”

You eyed her a few seconds more while holding her desired drink just out of her reach a little longer than necessary just because you could. As you held her eyes in a stare off, you nodded and then handed her the juice.

She immediately brightened up before sitting down and went through the task of popping the straw in. It was another one of her independent demands she had going on and it was something you were getting used to since she did get huffy when you didn’t listen to her insistence that she could do it on her own.

“It’s the exact same thing happening.”

“Shut up!”

“It’s just like déjà vu!”

“So? It doesn’t mean anything!”

“Still, Minhyukie. We saw this exact thing happening just a week ago with him and his nephew. Just imagine the soccer field and the soccer ball as the props instead.”

Your head snapped up when you heard that.

No.

The air left through your nose as you straightened up from your kneeling position. You blinked blankly as you threw the bag back on.

But the image was painting itself in your mind of him and his nephew. You could easily picture him and Hyunwoo in a similar scenario just like you and Mieun. It was just too perfect. And that much more unbearable to imagine further.

You kept your eyes on Mieun just like you have been doing this entire time and she rewarded you with a triumphant smile as she succeeded in her self-imposed task. As much as it hurt to think of him, you knew there were just as many reasons not to feel any pain for it. And the number one girl in your heart was just as immeasurable in your thoughts and love.

When the two boys invited you again to that unnecessary outing, you firmly shook your head and that was that.