07.  Birdy - Older  |  Birdy - Dream

Author's Note: So it's almost 2am to where I am and i have this sudden urge to put my stories to 'invitation only'. That would be like erasing all of them and starting all over again, which is probably going to be a pain in the , but i also want to experiment on putting my own conditions and having control on who reads my stories. Should I? My brother said its a move but... if it would make me happy, why not right? Okay, honestly I'm just frustrated that I prioritized updating Coffee Shop right away and out of the 270 readers, only about 9 cared to comment. I don't want that to happen with Silhouette because I've spent crazy hours working on it. Do you get it? I feel like it was so much better when I only had less readers but I actually got more feedback. Anyway, you guys think I'm just in a y mood, but these stories are really important to me and so is my writings. I'm very glad for the appreciations but if you write, you'll understand how frustrating it is not to get any feedbacks. 

Until then, happy reading folks.

The little boy everyone called, Yonghwa, stood in the corner quiet with his head hanging low.

Juhyun knew his name now. She was standing so far away that she wanted to move closer to him but she couldn't. Her body was trembling and it was because of fear. After all, it was all her fault: the accident, two people lying lifeless in the road, and a boy all sad and without parents all because of her— all because of her weak heart.

She couldn't bear the thought of remembering what happened that day, but they came to her like nightmares she couldn't shake off. 

And now as she watched his little savior, she felt her tears again, warm and endless. By the second, her sobs grew louder and she was starting to gasp for air to breathe and that's when she felt a couple of warm hands wrap her around for an embrace hushing her.

"Ssshhh, Juhyun-ah, it’s okay. Don't cry, please. You'll get sick again and Appa and Umma will be sad again. You don't want us to be sad right?"

Juhyun found herself breaking away from her father’s embrace and shaking her head quickly wiping her tears away. She didn't want to make more people sad because of her. "I-uh-uh-I'm sorry!" She said muffling the words because of her tears. "It-it-was all m-my fault!"

Her father quickly pulled her into another embrace. "No, no, baby. None of what happens is your fault. It was an accident! Don't think like that!"

"W-What’s gonna happen t-to Yonghwa now?"

His father tightened his hug on her, "I don't know Seohyun ah. I don't know..."

Her gaze went back to Yonghwa who didn't move an inch to where he was, and his sad eyes unchanging. She couldn't but hate herself, couldn't help but wish for everything to be just a nightmare she would eventually wake up from. But she also knew too well it was all her wistful thinking and the thought made her cries unstoppable. 

"He'll be okay, Juhyun ah. God won't let him down.."

"I'll protect him, Appa. I'll keep him safe... I promise..." Even at her young age, she understood what those promises meant, how much they mattered to her bleeding heart and to his, and how important for her to keep and fulfill them.

Juhyun had set two rules for herself from then on. 

I. don't fall in love

II. Keep your promises

What happened for the past six weeks have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride for Juhyun. Just when she thought her world would stop spinning and her heart was finally off her sleeves, Yonghwa manages to catch her off guard bringing her on the edge of everything.

How he does it is the mystery she knows she will never know— at least not in this lifetime.

Now as she sat in front of him in the ever silent library, she felt like she was swimming and drowning in a dream where Jung Yonghwa existed and the heart she held was whole and it solely belongs to the man she had loved for so long, only God knows.

Her gaze is unfazed as she followed his every motion, his every expression, and his every unspoken word. The next moment she knew though, he lifts his gaze to her, and she couldn’t find the resolve to look at away, so she held it with a little courage she found.

“You must be bored.” He smiles a little. “I’ll try to finish soon so I can take you home earlier.”

It was a sick thought, but if Jung Yonghwa was a dream, she doesn’t ever want to wake up.

“I’m fine, but can we go, um, go to that place again?” She smiles nervously. “That is if it’s okay with you of course!”

“What place?”

“The one where we can see a lot of stars tonight…”

His smile widens. “Let’s hope it doesn’t rain tonight then.”

She nods and only smiles back at him, feeling as if her heart had sp