The year was 2011 and I was on my way to see my girlfriend when I saw her, basking in the sun as if she hadn’t been outside in forever.

“Jongin!” She motioned me to join her on her blanket, her smile sparkling.

“Hi,” was all I could come up with. I was squeezing on the strap of my bag as if my whole life depended on it. “Drying your hair in the sun?” Smart, Jongin, really smart.

“I just felt like I needed a break. You? Meeting Krystal?” She protected her eyes with her palm so she could look at me. And I wished she hadn’t. Because the way she looked, blushing from the sun heat, hair wet and sloppy dressed like that – it only made me want to do the craziest things. Like ask her to run away with me. “Earth to Jongin!” Yiseo laughed, waving her hand towards me.

“Yeah, sorry, meeting Krystal. She said she has some good news to share,” I shrugged, stepping backwards. “I should go now. See you later!”

I wanted to believe that I didn’t run five flights of stairs, but the way I was huffing and puffing when I knocked on their apartment’s door proved me otherwise.

“Oh babe, did you run all the way up here?” Krystal wrapped her arms around me.

“Yeah, apparently I did,” my arms automatically returned the hug. Being with Krystal was so comfortable, like wearing your pajama an entire Sunday. “You said you have good news?”

“Yes, yes!” She dragged me to her room, excited. “This came in the mail today,” she then handed me a rather thick envelope.

“What’s this?”

“Open it!”

I had a bad feeling from the moment the papers fell on my lap, looking all expensive against my plain jeans.

“Dear Mr. Kim Jongin, we’re pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into our abroad program for the 2011-2012 academic year,” I read out loud. “What’s this, Krystal? I never applied in the first place.”

“I know, babe, but I was thinking it would be a good opportunity for you.”

“You know I can’t afford this, Krystal,” I frowned, staring at the papers that offered all I ever wanted, but which I could never have.

“Don’t worry about that,” Krystal snuck to my chest. “Daddy will take care of that. Just say ‘yes’.”

“What gives you the right to play God with someone’s life like this?”

“Jongin-”

“Sorry, I have an exam to prepare for.” And I ran away, my fingers still clenched around the admission letter. Oh, I was mad. So mad, it hurt my chest! It wasn’t Krystal’s fault, I knew that, and yet it was so unfair how some had it so easy in life why I had to –

“Hey, be careful!” A voice drew my attention before someone pulled me backwards as a car zoomed past me. “Are you alright?”

“Yiseo! Yeah, I guess I’m fine, thanks,” I took a step backwards, my hands automatically hiding behind the acceptance letter. “I was just… going home. You know, exam period and all. How’s your studying going?”

She didn’t say anything, just looked at me inquisitively.

“Want to take a walk with me?” I heard myself asking.

“Sure, I can walk you home to protect you from predators,” she wiggled her eyebrows, making me smile. “So, did you two fight or something?”

“You could say that.” Despite the sun setting, it was still hot outside. “She wants me to go with her abroad,” I confessed.

“And you don’t want to.”

“I want to,” I corrected her, kicking away a pebble, “but I can’t. Plus, the way she did this…”

“It hurt your pride.” Yiseo wasn’t asking, she already knew.

“Unfortunately.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“How do you tell your rich girlfriend that she hurt your pride without sounding like a poor snob?” I wondered out loud, to which she laughed.

“Poor people problems can be quite the headache, huh?” She too kicked away a pebble before falling silent. She most probably had her own problems to think about. Song Yiseo had made quite the change in her life after the accident. Now she was always fighting me for the top place in our department. And sometimes, just sometimes, I’d lose on purpose by a point or two, just so I could see that glimmer of triumph in her eyes the day the results come out.

We just walked l